Sometimes it helped just to have someone listen... listen and understand. Remi was an excellent listener, but he had given the bard a broad description of having been through something similar with Ludo and his lion shift and for that reason Jigano knew the alchemist would understand in a way few others could. The question earned another sigh, smaller this time as he tried to control it better, and he turned his head enough so he could more easily see the seated man - without catching him in one of his exhalations.
It seemed to be to reward Wessex... for murdering the snake, as she murdered the Fae in the Greatwood, and the Mathair before them. The Voice just... appeared, in the portal's light, and she snapped her fingers and the serpent's body turned to ash. Regret and anger still churned in his thoughts, and his tail swept across the grass again, unable to hide his anxiety. She gave Wessex... something. Some light, I think. Some sort of power. Then Wessex went through the portal. To the winter land beyond, supposedly.
Remi offered little in the way of hope at first, but there was still something to be found there, and feathery-scaled wings rustled as he considered how he spoke of his own experience. What changed? he asked carefully, hearing the past tense of the alchemist's words. Even a manticore could be taken down though, and by extension a dragon, as Jigano had learned even before he had gotten a chance to spread his wings and fly. A pulse of empathy flickered through the bond, an understanding of how little size meant in the face of a world where all it made one was a bigger target.
Neither am I, he agreed, subdued. Have you changed as well, recently? Gained new shifts or magic? The way Remi was talking, it sounded like his strength had also increased again... though it didn't seem to bring him any more joy than Jigano's new shift brought him.
It seemed to be to reward Wessex... for murdering the snake, as she murdered the Fae in the Greatwood, and the Mathair before them. The Voice just... appeared, in the portal's light, and she snapped her fingers and the serpent's body turned to ash. Regret and anger still churned in his thoughts, and his tail swept across the grass again, unable to hide his anxiety. She gave Wessex... something. Some light, I think. Some sort of power. Then Wessex went through the portal. To the winter land beyond, supposedly.
Remi offered little in the way of hope at first, but there was still something to be found there, and feathery-scaled wings rustled as he considered how he spoke of his own experience. What changed? he asked carefully, hearing the past tense of the alchemist's words. Even a manticore could be taken down though, and by extension a dragon, as Jigano had learned even before he had gotten a chance to spread his wings and fly. A pulse of empathy flickered through the bond, an understanding of how little size meant in the face of a world where all it made one was a bigger target.
Neither am I, he agreed, subdued. Have you changed as well, recently? Gained new shifts or magic? The way Remi was talking, it sounded like his strength had also increased again... though it didn't seem to bring him any more joy than Jigano's new shift brought him.
