He shifted his hands on his staff to try and still their shaking as Ronin gathered a coat and made ready to leave. He never knew how to deal with grief, but mostly he was still in shock, and he nodded grateful agreement to the sliver of hope that Ronin offered, however improbable he already knew that it was. "Yes," he said quietly instead of protesting. "I was near the barrier scar, looking for signs that the blight was crossing over from the Greatwood..."
When Ronin was ready, Jigano led the way, Isuma crouched on his shoulder and giving Sugar only the barest peep of greeting, too subdued by mourning to offer anything more cheerful to her friend. The bard's steps were far from his usual confident stride as he led the way into the darkened streets and through the town, his eyes shifting instinctively towards a fox's pupils to guide his steps beneath the chilly stars. "I dug for... for awhile, I don't know, I lost track of time. Until it was too dark to see much in the hole anymore. She was wreathed in flames the whole time. It shouldn't have been able to survive trying to eat her." The words fell like a mantra or a prayer, hopeless hope of 'shouldn't haves' and 'couldn't haves' that would undo the past few hours echoing like silent screams in the sepulcher of his mind.
When Ronin was ready, Jigano led the way, Isuma crouched on his shoulder and giving Sugar only the barest peep of greeting, too subdued by mourning to offer anything more cheerful to her friend. The bard's steps were far from his usual confident stride as he led the way into the darkened streets and through the town, his eyes shifting instinctively towards a fox's pupils to guide his steps beneath the chilly stars. "I dug for... for awhile, I don't know, I lost track of time. Until it was too dark to see much in the hole anymore. She was wreathed in flames the whole time. It shouldn't have been able to survive trying to eat her." The words fell like a mantra or a prayer, hopeless hope of 'shouldn't haves' and 'couldn't haves' that would undo the past few hours echoing like silent screams in the sepulcher of his mind.
