I don't hear him either... or smell him down these tunnels, Jigano admitted in return, his own voice far fainter than the lion's. He had resisted learning the Attuned mental speech for so long, and even after he had begun to practice it, it had mostly been in order to learn to shield his thoughts, not to reach out with them. He struggled just to connect with Remi, a mind he was at least familiar with, and was afraid that he wouldn't be able to reach the farmer at all. The only reason he was even trying was because of the alchemist's own calling through the Attuned link; that was the only hint he had that Emmett was Attuned as well, and might respond mentally even if he was too wounded or far away to reply verbally.
The snake continued to slip through the tunnels until Ronin called them back. It was a simple matter to assure the star-touched man that he was fine, and to go find the others, before he shifted to his slender fox form and used his nose to follow his own reptilian scent-trail back at a quick trot, shifting to his human form while he was still in the darkness and stepping out with a nod to rejoin the others.
It had been too many days. The bard's heart had grown heavier with each one, and his usual verbosity had subdued to near-silence unless asked a direct question as the search continued fruitlessly, and hope had slipped further away with each sunset. Though he did not voice his fears aloud, he was afraid the mission had become one of recovery and closure, rather than rescue. Still he arrived each morning, willing to put his animal senses to the test so he and Remi could explore twice as many tunnels as they could have done with only one Attuned. He worked on a map in the evenings, tracing the routes he had taken and transcribing what the others had found as well so they could try and avoid repeating areas that had already been searched. He was not the fine artist that Remi was, but when it came to simple lines he was competent enough, and the alchemist was distressed enough by fear for his friend that Jigano didn't want to put the finicky work on him.
Now he followed towards the back of the group as they explored together, trusting to the lion's nose to pick up stray scents. Whenever they passed intersecting tunnels he would pause to make a notation in his journal before hurrying to catch up with the others once more.
The snake continued to slip through the tunnels until Ronin called them back. It was a simple matter to assure the star-touched man that he was fine, and to go find the others, before he shifted to his slender fox form and used his nose to follow his own reptilian scent-trail back at a quick trot, shifting to his human form while he was still in the darkness and stepping out with a nod to rejoin the others.
It had been too many days. The bard's heart had grown heavier with each one, and his usual verbosity had subdued to near-silence unless asked a direct question as the search continued fruitlessly, and hope had slipped further away with each sunset. Though he did not voice his fears aloud, he was afraid the mission had become one of recovery and closure, rather than rescue. Still he arrived each morning, willing to put his animal senses to the test so he and Remi could explore twice as many tunnels as they could have done with only one Attuned. He worked on a map in the evenings, tracing the routes he had taken and transcribing what the others had found as well so they could try and avoid repeating areas that had already been searched. He was not the fine artist that Remi was, but when it came to simple lines he was competent enough, and the alchemist was distressed enough by fear for his friend that Jigano didn't want to put the finicky work on him.
Now he followed towards the back of the group as they explored together, trusting to the lion's nose to pick up stray scents. Whenever they passed intersecting tunnels he would pause to make a notation in his journal before hurrying to catch up with the others once more.
