Jigano appreciated a good audience, and even more when that audience was helping to pick out some dry clothes for him to wear! At least her house was warm enough that he was no longer freezing, but standing around in wet things was decidedly more chilly than he liked to be for any length of time.
"Yes, in fact, as we discovered on a different adventure entirely - but yes, you have to see the story through to its end! There seems to be some flexibility in the tales, depending on your choices, but you cannot, say, simply walk off in a random direction to get out." He grinned wryly. "Though, at the time, poor Samuel and I weren't entirely sure what had happened or what was going on. We thought we'd been sucked into a storybook, but we weren't certain. We were worried about taking the firebird back to the king... he was a suspicious and selfish sort, and his vizier was definitely up to no good. But we didn't see any alternative at that point. It seemed to be the way the story wanted us to go so... we convinced her to come with us willingly, and headed back to the palace."
He could see the clothes she had gathered, and his eagerness to be dry again hurried his words perhaps a bit more than he might have done otherwise. "The king offered to grant us a boon in exchange for the bird, and she warned us that her feather could protect us - though from what, we didn't know. Sam took the feather and handed her over - and as soon as he did, we were betrayed!" He clapped a hand to his chest with a flourish, giving Rexanna a roguish grin. "The vizier set us up, framing us for robbing the treasury. We were threatened with execution - by being boiled alive! Poor Sam had ended up the main protagonist, and courageous heart that he has, he managed to slip the feather into my hair just before they caught and bound us both while they set up the cauldron and started the fire beneath it." He shuddered theatrically.
"The king and the vizier, cruel monsters that they were, wanted to come right up to the edge of the cauldron to watch - which was just as well, in the end. The feather Sam had left me slid down my hair to rest against the ropes binding me and burn through them, leaving me untouched - but free! Before they could push Sam into the cauldron I leaped across the distance and used all my strength to tip it over. If it had been the real world, it wouldn't have worked," he admitted ruefully. "It was far too heavy, large enough to boil a bull nearly whole. But the book wanted the story to come to its end, I believe, and so one of the chains holding the cauldron up snapped, and it rolled over onto the king and vizier - and the firebird they had with them, bound in the silver net."
By now his expression had sobered, blue eyes solemn. "We thought all three had perished, but we were still in the book. But when the guards came to tip the overturned cauldron back over - the king and vizier had burned alive, but the firebird-- was gone!" He spread his hands, grin splitting his face. "In her place was a princess in robes of red and gold, with fire in her eyes. She had been placed under a curse long ago, but we had broken it! And she was so taken with Sam's good heart and courage that of course she asked him to marry her and rule at her side." Here Jigano chuckled, blue eyes twinkling. "She was, ah, not really his type, but he graciously accepted, and the moment he did we found ourselves back in the Atheneum, safe and sound, with nary a bruise nor burn to show for our adventure!"
With the tale come to a satisfying close he looked piteously at the dry clothing his hostess had found. "Ah... now... in exchange for my story, would you have a place I could change, by chance? Or if you'd rather, we can continue on to the Temple and I can find a private room in the infirmary to do so."
"Yes, in fact, as we discovered on a different adventure entirely - but yes, you have to see the story through to its end! There seems to be some flexibility in the tales, depending on your choices, but you cannot, say, simply walk off in a random direction to get out." He grinned wryly. "Though, at the time, poor Samuel and I weren't entirely sure what had happened or what was going on. We thought we'd been sucked into a storybook, but we weren't certain. We were worried about taking the firebird back to the king... he was a suspicious and selfish sort, and his vizier was definitely up to no good. But we didn't see any alternative at that point. It seemed to be the way the story wanted us to go so... we convinced her to come with us willingly, and headed back to the palace."
He could see the clothes she had gathered, and his eagerness to be dry again hurried his words perhaps a bit more than he might have done otherwise. "The king offered to grant us a boon in exchange for the bird, and she warned us that her feather could protect us - though from what, we didn't know. Sam took the feather and handed her over - and as soon as he did, we were betrayed!" He clapped a hand to his chest with a flourish, giving Rexanna a roguish grin. "The vizier set us up, framing us for robbing the treasury. We were threatened with execution - by being boiled alive! Poor Sam had ended up the main protagonist, and courageous heart that he has, he managed to slip the feather into my hair just before they caught and bound us both while they set up the cauldron and started the fire beneath it." He shuddered theatrically.
"The king and the vizier, cruel monsters that they were, wanted to come right up to the edge of the cauldron to watch - which was just as well, in the end. The feather Sam had left me slid down my hair to rest against the ropes binding me and burn through them, leaving me untouched - but free! Before they could push Sam into the cauldron I leaped across the distance and used all my strength to tip it over. If it had been the real world, it wouldn't have worked," he admitted ruefully. "It was far too heavy, large enough to boil a bull nearly whole. But the book wanted the story to come to its end, I believe, and so one of the chains holding the cauldron up snapped, and it rolled over onto the king and vizier - and the firebird they had with them, bound in the silver net."
By now his expression had sobered, blue eyes solemn. "We thought all three had perished, but we were still in the book. But when the guards came to tip the overturned cauldron back over - the king and vizier had burned alive, but the firebird-- was gone!" He spread his hands, grin splitting his face. "In her place was a princess in robes of red and gold, with fire in her eyes. She had been placed under a curse long ago, but we had broken it! And she was so taken with Sam's good heart and courage that of course she asked him to marry her and rule at her side." Here Jigano chuckled, blue eyes twinkling. "She was, ah, not really his type, but he graciously accepted, and the moment he did we found ourselves back in the Atheneum, safe and sound, with nary a bruise nor burn to show for our adventure!"
With the tale come to a satisfying close he looked piteously at the dry clothing his hostess had found. "Ah... now... in exchange for my story, would you have a place I could change, by chance? Or if you'd rather, we can continue on to the Temple and I can find a private room in the infirmary to do so."
