Had he said too much? Too little? ...Or did it matter? He had never realized that home could be a person and not a place. Oh, he had sung the ballads about it, but he'd never understood it before he had arrived on Caido and found a friend who touched him so deeply. And maybe it was too soon to speak it aloud and give it power, but there was an ember glowing in his chest that said it was real and that the fire didn't have to burn him. It could light his way, instead, amidst the shadows he had chosen to dwell among.
Here, now, they were talking together for the first time, and it wouldn't be the last. He wanted to reach out, to offer, to ask, but Rory was injured and there was so much that lay between them and ahead of them that some of the uncertainty fled from the fox's eyes and he smiled at his friend. There would be more words in the future, but sometimes it was better to show than to tell, and they didn't always need words when their actions spoke for both of them.
Such as now, in the way their hands touched, and held.
And the flash of worry in Rory's eyes that had Jigano's thumb instinctively rubbing a reassuring circle against the back of the hunter's hand, comforting, as the hunter had comforted him.
"We have," he said softly, though he gave his friend a look of concern at the fear he sensed as much as saw before respecting Rory's courage and answering his question instead. "Some in books, some from gods, but most from speaking to people who have long memories." He hesitated, then smiled at the gentle blond, as Isuma squeaked in her sleep and began to twitch little talons, chasing something small and tasty in her dreams. "Did you know that the Abandoned were once called the 'Acquired?' A far more fitting name, I think." He glanced down again, then back up, his eyes going solemn. "Do you... do you know why the Spire was constructed, all those years ago, and the barrier along with it?"
Here, now, they were talking together for the first time, and it wouldn't be the last. He wanted to reach out, to offer, to ask, but Rory was injured and there was so much that lay between them and ahead of them that some of the uncertainty fled from the fox's eyes and he smiled at his friend. There would be more words in the future, but sometimes it was better to show than to tell, and they didn't always need words when their actions spoke for both of them.
Such as now, in the way their hands touched, and held.
And the flash of worry in Rory's eyes that had Jigano's thumb instinctively rubbing a reassuring circle against the back of the hunter's hand, comforting, as the hunter had comforted him.
"We have," he said softly, though he gave his friend a look of concern at the fear he sensed as much as saw before respecting Rory's courage and answering his question instead. "Some in books, some from gods, but most from speaking to people who have long memories." He hesitated, then smiled at the gentle blond, as Isuma squeaked in her sleep and began to twitch little talons, chasing something small and tasty in her dreams. "Did you know that the Abandoned were once called the 'Acquired?' A far more fitting name, I think." He glanced down again, then back up, his eyes going solemn. "Do you... do you know why the Spire was constructed, all those years ago, and the barrier along with it?"
