Jigano grinned at his friend's curiosity, even though the memories he asked the bard to sift through were painful. It was nice to see the bright spark of interest in Sam's eyes, the eager desire to learn something new. It was precisely that quality that had drawn them together in the first place, and which had cemented the lorekeeper's certainty that the bookmaker would be a good fit for a guild based around knowledge.
"Jenny was human," he began, starting with the easiest. "Oni was a shadowkin. Small - barely three and a half feet tall - with greyish-black skin and pointed ears, and a long, hooked nose. Riz and Yohgel were goblins. Small, green-skinned, oversized heads with too many teeth and all. I know, not what you'd expect," the bard chuckled, though there was a note of wistful pain to his laughter. "But they were... extraordinary. And then Isuma..." he trailed off for a moment, head sinking down as his smile softened with both love and loss. "Isuma wasn't of my world. She was from... elsewhere. Her kind are called 'Kasathans' and she has ivory skin, a long narrow skull, and four arms. And then Hiraku... he was sent from the land of my ancestors, halfway across the world, at the behest of an Oracle who foresaw his need at our side. He didn't arrive soon enough to save Jenny..." Jigano exhaled slowly, raising his head again to offer his friend a lopsided smile. "But he became like a brother to me. Hiraku is stonekin, a people who have both human and some sort of earth elemental in their ancestry, with grey, rock-like skin. And Cass..." He shook his head ruefully. "Perhaps the hardest to describe... Cassandalee's body was lost long ago, but her spirit lived on in a... a sort of crystal matrix I carried until she no longer needed it." This time he didn't hide his grief, though it was not for Cass, but for others he had lost when the android's spirit had ascended to the stars and the aftermath of that moment of mingled joy and pain.
He took a few slow breaths, walking in silence for a little while before he seemed to process his companion's words. "I'm glad they aren't so scary anymore," he said with a smile, and appreciating the simple joy of that statement. "And that some of them are becoming friends. Like we became," he agreed. The day had been filled with unexpected emotional lows - and a few highs, too, and the bard was still a little off balance from the ride. But... even if Sam did drift away from him into Remi's orbit... that didn't change the good memories they had made together. He was not so churlish as to deny someone who had been - and still was - his friend that recognition. "You were a royal huntsman. And I... I was a horse." He grinned, raising a brow at his friend. "And you gave me a firebird feather to save me, even though you were afraid and in greater danger. I have not forgotten, my friend. Indeed, it is a memory I treasure."
"Jenny was human," he began, starting with the easiest. "Oni was a shadowkin. Small - barely three and a half feet tall - with greyish-black skin and pointed ears, and a long, hooked nose. Riz and Yohgel were goblins. Small, green-skinned, oversized heads with too many teeth and all. I know, not what you'd expect," the bard chuckled, though there was a note of wistful pain to his laughter. "But they were... extraordinary. And then Isuma..." he trailed off for a moment, head sinking down as his smile softened with both love and loss. "Isuma wasn't of my world. She was from... elsewhere. Her kind are called 'Kasathans' and she has ivory skin, a long narrow skull, and four arms. And then Hiraku... he was sent from the land of my ancestors, halfway across the world, at the behest of an Oracle who foresaw his need at our side. He didn't arrive soon enough to save Jenny..." Jigano exhaled slowly, raising his head again to offer his friend a lopsided smile. "But he became like a brother to me. Hiraku is stonekin, a people who have both human and some sort of earth elemental in their ancestry, with grey, rock-like skin. And Cass..." He shook his head ruefully. "Perhaps the hardest to describe... Cassandalee's body was lost long ago, but her spirit lived on in a... a sort of crystal matrix I carried until she no longer needed it." This time he didn't hide his grief, though it was not for Cass, but for others he had lost when the android's spirit had ascended to the stars and the aftermath of that moment of mingled joy and pain.
He took a few slow breaths, walking in silence for a little while before he seemed to process his companion's words. "I'm glad they aren't so scary anymore," he said with a smile, and appreciating the simple joy of that statement. "And that some of them are becoming friends. Like we became," he agreed. The day had been filled with unexpected emotional lows - and a few highs, too, and the bard was still a little off balance from the ride. But... even if Sam did drift away from him into Remi's orbit... that didn't change the good memories they had made together. He was not so churlish as to deny someone who had been - and still was - his friend that recognition. "You were a royal huntsman. And I... I was a horse." He grinned, raising a brow at his friend. "And you gave me a firebird feather to save me, even though you were afraid and in greater danger. I have not forgotten, my friend. Indeed, it is a memory I treasure."
