Jigano worked quietly beside Caiside as the other man began to reveal some of the history of a world the bard would never see. What was the difference between a raid and war to the farmers and townsfolk caught abed by the opposing side? To kings and nobles it mattered, of course; the pushing of borders, the raising of levies on grander scales. But to the common folk, those that he had been born into? Whether it was a raid or a war that killed a loved one, dead was dead. He had to bite back the question of whether those raids had been worth it, feeling the darkness prickling beneath his skin and seeking fault and blame and punishment for a conflict he had never seen and had no part in. He had asked for Caiside's story, and he wouldn't get it if he let the blight control his tongue.
"We will be here for awhile," was all Jigano said, voice mild but blue eyes sharp beneath the weariness that he wore as a cloak. He was curious after all, even as he sunk deeper into his affliction. "It would be a good way to pass the time, and I would like to hear more about you."
He almost smiled - wry and a little bitter - at the offhand comment about Caiside getting along with his father. His friend's smile was met with a cool shake of his head; not a judgment on the smith at his side, but on the father who had died in flames. "Perhaps," was all he said, without conviction. It was a little reassuring that the redhead had focused on tools at first, at least. That he had turned his hands to tools of aid and creation before contributing to death and destruction. Jigano followed the shaping of the pun with keen eyes before beginning on his own, grunting at the effort and frustration of his blows landing slightly askew from the shake of his hands. "No, as little as I could get away with. He wanted me to succeed him at his shop. I... wanted nothing to do with it, when I was young. I was a healthy boy, but never a strong one. Not strong enough to do or become what he wanted of me, at least."
"We will be here for awhile," was all Jigano said, voice mild but blue eyes sharp beneath the weariness that he wore as a cloak. He was curious after all, even as he sunk deeper into his affliction. "It would be a good way to pass the time, and I would like to hear more about you."
He almost smiled - wry and a little bitter - at the offhand comment about Caiside getting along with his father. His friend's smile was met with a cool shake of his head; not a judgment on the smith at his side, but on the father who had died in flames. "Perhaps," was all he said, without conviction. It was a little reassuring that the redhead had focused on tools at first, at least. That he had turned his hands to tools of aid and creation before contributing to death and destruction. Jigano followed the shaping of the pun with keen eyes before beginning on his own, grunting at the effort and frustration of his blows landing slightly askew from the shake of his hands. "No, as little as I could get away with. He wanted me to succeed him at his shop. I... wanted nothing to do with it, when I was young. I was a healthy boy, but never a strong one. Not strong enough to do or become what he wanted of me, at least."
