Jigano still had a few stones that he'd gathered from the Whispershore in Longheat to make his suncatcher for the Midnight Party, and he'd brought the best of the lot today. Ashy and smudged from helping with the cleanup efforts, he made his way to the pool in the late afternoon light to admire the beauty of the place, as there had been no time to do the last time he'd been here.
The L'ma had gone back to the depths and he had been drawn to other places and undertakings since then, both at home and abroad. Festivals, training sessions, council meetings, prayers...
And Deepfrost just around the corner, with LongNight lurking at its end.
The warmth of the day belied the cold weather back home, and he was weak enough to linger in its comfort a little while longer before returning to the chill of Leafchange in the Hollowed Grounds. Isuma appreciated it as well, though more for the shiny beetles that she could still pounce on in the undergrowth as her companion's thoughts drifted like the tide he watched.
He rolled the flashing emerald stone between his fingers, green as envy and clear as the ice of the Sea of Glass, before tossing it in to the waters of the pool to sink like the stone it was, casting his wish with it.
Ronin
The plunk of the stone landing in the water was enough to stir Ronin from where he had fallen asleep in the shade of one of the palms that bordered the Miana Pool. He had little time to himself these days, between Remi and Seren and the rest of Torchline, and in truth he hadn't even intended to fall asleep. But here he was, basking in the warmth of the end of the day, blinking dazed blue eyes across the pool at...
"Oh, Jigano. Hey," he said, voice rough, and he hid a wide yawn behind his hand as he shuffled to sit up. "Your wish must have woke me up. If that's the case, thanks." Grinning, he ran his fingers through his hair to try and neaten it up (he was unsuccessful). "Sorry for interrupting you."
He hadn't thought to look for anyone napping in the underbrush, and Ronin's voice caught him by surprise, even as Isuma reeped! happily and bounded over to try and 'tackle' the Dark Star. It was a blatant ploy for ear scritches, but she was also a Mighty Hunter and she had successfully knocked over Rory and Jigano a few times, so maybe it would work again?
Isuma's happy recognition eased any tension Jigano might have felt at the shock Ronin's voice had given him, and he grinned over at his sleepy friend, ambling towards that end of the pool. "I feel like I should be apologizing," he quipped back. "Remi won't forgive me for interrupting your beauty sleep." He paused by a breadfruit tree, compelling a sleepy bird high in the branches to nip through a stem and let a ripe fruit drop into his hands before he continued on his way. "How have things been with you lately? A lot has changed in a short amount of time," he added ruefully, thinking of the volcano, the new governor, and everything else underway with Deepfrost approaching.
Letting out a laugh as Isuma bounced over to attack him, he dutifully fussed the gryphlet with ear scritches, smoothing out her feathers and glancing lazily back at Jigano. "Shhh, Remi doesn't know that I sneaka way to get beauty sleep," he said with a wink (even though, really, Ronin hadn't known he would be falling asleep either). "No need to apologise - who knows how long I'd have been out here without the interruption?"
Stretching his arms above his head, he adjusted himself to sit against the palm with Isuma in his lap and groaned dramatically as Jigano asked his question. "Friend, one day we shall meet and nothing will have changed whatsoever. I'll probably be dead," he joked, as if that should explain exactly how he was doing. "Remi is adjusting to becoming Governor, and Torchline is recovering from the eruption. Just in time, too. It will be a busy Deepfrost."
Isuma purred in contentment as she 'subdued' her prey and claimed her rightful reward, cuddling happily into the attention from Sugar's companion. Her own followed at a more relaxed amble, grinning at the wink and the admission of playing hooky. "Then I'm glad I was able to wake you up before you lost the whole afternoon. Though it doesn't seem like a bad way to spend it." He flopped down amiably beside the captain and called fire to his hands, grilling the breadfruit in his palms as they chatted.
The dramatic groan flashed an understanding grin across the bard's face, and he snorted at the joke. "I think you tried that once already. Didn't stick, if I recall," he teased back, settling in to listen to the brief updates. "What's Deepfrost like in Torchline? Will you be spending LongNight relaxing on the beach this year?" And gods most fortunate, didn't that sound enticing? He really needed to get Rory out here and convince him to spend the week away from the Grounds this year. For both their sanities' sakes.
"It doesn't does it? I'm glad I didn't lose the whole afternoon as well, but I would be lying to say I haven't enjoyed it so far," Ronin said with a crooked grin, absently smoothing out Isuma's feathers as Jigano came to join him. The bard's quip was dark and Ronin appreciated it very much, his laughter ringing around the Miana Pool.
"You know, I have tried it, haven't I? Perhaps I'll just have to resign myself to a complicated life, filled with volcanic eruptions and goodness knows what else." Sighing but not sounding overly sad about it, Ronin's smile still faded at the mention of Deepfrost in Torchline. If only.
The hunter shook his head, a grim sort of demeanour falling over him. "I will be at the Hollowed Grounds this Deepfrost. I have been tasked by Safrin to help with Longnight," he explained. It would be a lie to say that he didn't have very deep anxiety about it, given how well his previous Longnights had gone.
It was good to hear Ronin’s laughter again. They’d seen so little of each other, first due to divine intervention and then due to the craziness of both their lives that Jigano was very glad this afternoon had brought a chance to catch up once more – this time without any need for work excuses or worries about how much had changed between them.
”Fewer volcanoes, please,” the bard requested with dry humor. ”We wouldn’t want those getting overused. Those are more of a ‘special occasion’ kind of calamity.” Like 50th anniversaries. Really, you only need one in a lifetime.
He was surprised to see the hunter’s humor fade away at what he had thought was a simple enough question. A silver brow rose in surprise at hearing of the goddess’s task, but he nodded slowly. ”It would be nice if they would give us an alternative to the Voice’s portals,” he pointed out with a wry smile as the scent of the cooking breadfruit filled the air, and Isuma scrambled to perch on Ronin’s shoulder and peer over at the treat in Jigano’s hands. ”But I’ll be doing the same for Ludo.” He tilted his head questioningly at his friend. ”I know they’re not always on the best of terms, but do you think they’d mind if we teamed up to help each other out? I’d feel better having a friend at my side while I sing for lost souls.” He paused then grinned ruefully as he split the roasted breadfruit open and offered Ronin half. ”Though I should probably ask what sort of ‘help’ you’re expected to give first?”
"Well, luckily enough for us, the one volcano in the vicinity seems mighty sleepy after its last tantrum." And it could bloody well stay that way, in Ronin's opinion. Yes, Remi had been fine when he had decided to run headlong towards pools of lava, but that didn't mean the hunter relished the thought of him being in such constant danger. Especially now that Ludo had gotten its rags all over him.
Chuckling quietly as Isuma scrambled up to perch on his shoulder, Ronin smiled at the little gryphlet and heard Jigano out. "Sorry to hear that. The less people put in danger the better," Ronin said as the bard mentioned being outside as well, and he wrinkled his nose in agreement about the portals. Having vowed not to use them only for a goddess to decide otherwise left a bad taste in his mouth.
"I'll be honest, they won't be around at Longnight. We will. So if you want to work together I'd be more than happy." He nodded, accepting the fruit with a nod of thanks and tearing off a bit to offer to Isuma. "As for the 'help', well. She turned me into a luxere, believe it or not." He smirked across at the bard.
Life is funny like that, these days, he sent through the Attuned bond, as if to demonstrate.
Jigano nodded emphatically in agreement on the volcano, his attention turning to the snack for a moment, making sure it was cooked through just right. Just in time for talk of LongNight to arise, however distant the looming threat felt in the moment, surrounded by sun and surf and tropical warmth.
"I knew the risks when I asked for the post," he said with a slight shrug and a wry smile. "Ending the monsters would be the ideal solution to keep everyone out of danger, but until we can find a way to make that happen there are still those who need help in the night, both among the living and the already-dead." Unattended candles that set a house ablaze and left its occupants unguarded in the night. Families that ran out of wood or food halfway through the week, with no way to keep warm or survive. Those that became ill and needed medical help... or those like Vanya, in Ronin's own experience.
And of course, the souls of those previously lost to the dark, captured and held by the monsters for years and centuries.
He chuckled at Ronin's point that the gods had little say over how they chose to accomplish their tasks during the black week, taking a bite of his own fruit and then blowing belatedly through his cheeks to cool the sizzling treat. His jaw almost dropped at the voice that echoed through the Attuned bond, and he hurriedly shut it and swallowed almost without chewing, wincing as the morsel burned its way down. Ah... well. That is unexpected... but extremely useful, he added, giving his chest a few thumps as Isuma peeped concern while holding her tidbit in one talon. Are you out on 'guide the living to safety' duty this year?
Ronin could only nod along in agreement as Jigano explained about Longnight; if the Sage had decided to take it upon himself to help, he was hardly in a position to tell him he was wrong. For Ronin it was a lot more personal, and much more likely to be a one time thing. "It would be nice," he murmured as he blew on the breadfruit to cool it down, "to get rid of the monsters once and for all." Unlikely, however, from what he had witnessed so far.
Unable to help it, the hunter chuckled at the reaction that his attuned speech received from Jigano, shrugging his shoulders apologetically (and being careful of Isuma perched there). "Mm, it's been quite useful since I've learned I could do it," he agreed, blowing again on the treat before taking a tentative bite himself, not wanting to scorch his tongue.
"Honestly, I'm not sure," he said of his actual 'tasks'. "I imagine so, if any get stuck outside. Otherwise I'll be trying to herd other luxere towards the places where most people are gathered."
"'If wishes were fishes'," Jigano murmured wryly, looking out over the Miana Pool, "we'd all cast nets'." He rolled his shoulders in a shrug. "But we're stronger than we were. One of these years someone might yet find the key to a weakness that will let us turn the tables on them." To make the hunters the prey, and the smile the bard flashed was all fox, sly predator hiding disguised behind a human's blunt teeth.
The old Remi had taught him to value optimism again, after all. Wishing, at least, did no harm.
Burned by his own breadfruit, it took Jigano a moment to get his outside voice back as Isuma peeped happily at the brief 'ride' she got from Ronin's shrug. "That's something I should be able to help you with in return," he agreed, relieved that the job was also one of protection. They couldn't claim to be not looking for trouble, not when they would be outside in the dark, but at least they weren't going to deliberately tweak any specific monstrous noses this year. "If you'd like?" Meddler that he was, Safrin's last lesson to him still rang in the cracks she'd left in his soul, and the offer was made more quietly, a little subdued as he glanced to her put-upon demigod.
"Maybe so," Ronin agreed absently as he stared back out at the Miana Pool, absently nibbling on his half of the breadfruit. "And until then, at least it seems that we are getting better at defending ourselves. Learning the rules, staying inside, preparing properly. Fingers crossed this is the quietest Longnight so far, for us Outlanders." He very much doubted that, given that he was going to be spending it outside. But that actually seemed preferable, given his experiences so far.
Giving Jigano a smile in return, Ronin nodded gratefully. "I would like," he confirmed, his tone relieved. "And with the Attuned bond, hopefully it will be even easier to keep in touch than before. And you can know that I would never knock to get inside when I am in luxere form. So anyone pretending to be me can definitely be called out or ignored."
"Seconded," Jigano agreed fervently to the wish for a quiet LongNight. "Some of our people will be going to Halo for the season, before it closes. Probably mostly farmers and tradespeople with small children," he mused. "Not too many Outlanders in that group so far, that I've heard. But I suspect - I hope - that more will shelter here for the week. It sounds like Rexanna and Remi worked something out. The fewer people in the Grounds for the monsters to focus on, the better. Though I suppose that's all the more reason for some of us to stay... as 'bait' to keep their attention," he added wryly, not particularly liking that train of thought, but not seeing a way around it.
He just wished that Rory wasn't one of them.
It was with relief that Ronin accepted his offer, and the bard smiled warmly back at his friend as he blew on his half of the fruit before taking another bite. "That will help. Especially when I'll be singing. I haven't quite figured out how I'm going to get in and out yet... but having a luxere around to help light the doorway and hopefully keep the shadows at bay might provide some protection." He hesitated, then tilted his head soberly at Ronin. "I did offer to the Council that I wouldn't stay with the rest of those sheltering in Sanctuary, since I'll need to be opening a door at least once. I may be at the farmhouse with Rory when I'm not out with you and the lantern, if I can devise a way to get in and out without putting him in danger."
Ronin nodded gently - he had heard as much that some of the citizens of the Hollowed Grounds would be going to Halo or coming to Torchline. How the people of the tropical isles felt about that he wasn't sure, still, but as one who had experienced Longnight in the Hollowed Grounds, it was not an experience he would wish on anyone. Let them be angry; it was only for one season. "I do wonder if the monsters will know that there are less people to terrorise," he mused quietly; did they have enough sense to be that savvy? It certainly felt like it.
The problem of getting in and out of doors, though... Ronin shook his head. "There were the dreamfish that Safrin summoned, in past years. They stave the monsters from the doorways, if you are lucky enough to have one bond itself to you," he remarked. "Perhaps you could make one of the empty houses into a safe haven for you? Then there is no risk to Rory." But a monster could still sneak in and wait for Jigano, while he was out. Wonderful. "Either that or just spend the time outside with me," he said with a smirk.
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