"How could I not?" Jigano asked his friend, raw guilt in his eyes as he looked up at Sam. "I have to try. I don't know who took them or why... yet," he added, eyes going flinty. "But I can't leave them behind." He accepted the cup of tea, holding it in his hands without really seeing it.
He took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts as he stared past his friend for a few moments. When he met Sam's eyes again he had regained most of his composure, though the shadow still lingered in his eyes. "We followed a fox named 'Ianto' into the woods," he began. "He mentioned something about the woods being owned by a people called 'the Fae' and shortly after that Amalia, who was guarding our rear, was... vanished." He frowned, raising the tea automatically to his lips to wet them and soothe the tightness in his throat. "I saw signs of someone else having been there... bits of a disguise, the ghost of a trail... the claws of something big scuffed in the dirt. But she wasn't even given a chance to call out. I sent our flier back to the Settlement for help, but... she never arrived. And then Ianto said it was an ambush and we ran... Caiside disappeared from my side moments later. The fox was long gone by then, he took off in a different direction. And I... I don't know if I truly escaped or if I was allowed to," he finished, grim and guilt-ridden. "But... I'm going to need all the help I can get. Sam, have you ever heard of these 'Fae' before?"
He took a deep breath, organizing his thoughts as he stared past his friend for a few moments. When he met Sam's eyes again he had regained most of his composure, though the shadow still lingered in his eyes. "We followed a fox named 'Ianto' into the woods," he began. "He mentioned something about the woods being owned by a people called 'the Fae' and shortly after that Amalia, who was guarding our rear, was... vanished." He frowned, raising the tea automatically to his lips to wet them and soothe the tightness in his throat. "I saw signs of someone else having been there... bits of a disguise, the ghost of a trail... the claws of something big scuffed in the dirt. But she wasn't even given a chance to call out. I sent our flier back to the Settlement for help, but... she never arrived. And then Ianto said it was an ambush and we ran... Caiside disappeared from my side moments later. The fox was long gone by then, he took off in a different direction. And I... I don't know if I truly escaped or if I was allowed to," he finished, grim and guilt-ridden. "But... I'm going to need all the help I can get. Sam, have you ever heard of these 'Fae' before?"
