The brightest light casts the darkest shadows

He hadn't been able to make himself go back into the Temple, not yet. Not now that a bit more of the world had been opened up to them, with broad - if still dark - skies and refreshing breezes and space to breathe and think and be again. He was dressed in his usual clothes: fitted brown trousers beneath pale colors, undertunic with wide sleeves and overtunic without that fit close to his lean body, and over it all a thick cloak of white and grey furs. His long white hair was pulled back in a loose tail, contrasting with his warm-tan skin. Jigano tilted his head back, relishing the reflected warmth of the Spark Bird behind him as he ambled slowly towards the Atheneum. He needed to find Edy, needed to check on his guildhall, needed to see Isla and reconcile what had happened for himself but...

For now, it felt good to simply be free again.

Or as free as the Spark Bird's power could make them. Wry humor stirred beneath the weight of guilt and sorrow and exhaustion that had banked its usual liveliness since Long Night descended, the light of hope drawing it out again as he compared the sphere of the bird's protection to the Barrier. But at least Long Night would end, eventually, and they'd regain the land currently denied to them by the monsters. It would take more than time to break the barrier separating them from the rest of the world, but pieces were falling into place to make that happen.

He was too weary to hum, but his shoulders seemed a little straighter, his steps more confident, as he reached up to pet the little gryphlet perched on his shoulder where she nestled against the side of his neck and purred contentment at his rising spirits.

The sound of a footstep had him pausing and looking around, suddenly - in a way that was almost unfamiliar after so long without it - hopeful. "Edy?" he called, rich tenor ringing clearly between the quiet buildings.

Maea

Maea stopped, brought to a halt in the shadows between two buildings as much by the wrong name as by the strangers voice. She had not expexcted anyone else to be around, and as always the discovery that she'd come face to face with someone startled her. Realizing where she was standing however, the girl hurried forth into the light, squinting as the brightness sting her eyes. For all that the bird was a blessing, she could not rest entirely easy in the promises of complete safety the legends promised. The darkness still frightened her, the shadows pregnant with monsters unseen, just waiting for her to relax...

Once her eyes adjusted to the brightness, she found herself staring openmouthed at the figure before her.

"You look like me!" she blurted, too surprised at seeing the same white hair, milky skin and pale eyes on anyone except herself. It was a first, just like the Sparkbird and this prancing about outside during the LongNight, or indeed her spending the week alone... Too many changes, and it had all started when the outlanders arrived.

This one though... might just be the more pleasant of them. Being unique had never appealed to Maea, so coming across someone like herself was quite a relief. She found herself smiling towards the man, shy and awkward as she was intrigued.

The first thing Jigano noticed was that the person belonging to the footstep was not Edy. In fact, she was very nearly the strong, brazen, dark-skinned girl's exact opposite physical opposite. He had just opened his mouth to apologize for the misunderstanding when the girl - young woman, really - spoke up in surprise, and he blinked as well. She was such a petite little thing, but her voice was lovely, and it was clear where she had made the connection between them. Though his skin was a warm honeyed brown, his hair was white as the snow around him, just like hers. His eyes had a deeper, more vibrant color, but they both shared the color blue, and he found his lips quirking into a slight smile at the rush of unexpected familiarity. He hadn't seen someone else with white hair since... well, since his mother or his mirror.

He hid his smile smoothly in a graceful bow, however, reaching up instinctively now to balance Isuma as part of the motion, the gryphlet - also pale in her whites and grays and soft blues - nearly faded into his cloak and hair. "My apologies, lady. I was looking for someone and had hoped they had found me first. I did not mean to insult or startle you." He rose with his weary face schooled back into familiar lines of curious courtesy as he reached up to touch his hair, and nodded at hers. "I didn't realize anyone on this world shared this mark. You are the first I've seen. Are you an outlander as well?"

The formal phrasing of his speech brought her quickly back to her senses, and though she felt an inclination to move closer still and stand beside the man, revel in this unexpected kinship... Maea lingered where she was. Out of reach, out of touch, unconnected. Some things would never change, after all.

"No" she replied, and regretted it. Having to disappoint him, not being who he had searched for. "I've always been here. Though you haven't, I'm sure I would have known..." Those who were different always stood out after all, one way or another. In a society as small as this anything different would be strange, frightening, to be viewed with suspicion or rather not at all.

Come to think of it though, the silhouette of this person might not be entirely unfamiliar. Had she not seen him when the Sparkbird arrived? There had been so many people around, and the light of the bird so blinding, but she had seen something pale in the midst of a huddle of others back then... Perhaps the Outlanders were less intolerant of the unusual, or simply so numb to everything by now that white hair and colorless eyes ceased to be a big deal.

And yet, and yet. To her it was not so easily shrugged away, because the very existance of this tall, whiteclad stranger was like a ray of light to her. How very strange, that something so trivial as haircolor could make her want to get to know someone. It seemed petty and whimsical even to her, but at this point Maea would have leaped at any excuse.

"Who is Edy?" she asked, while inching closer. The little creature that balanced on his shoulder was a blur of white on white to her poor vision, and she strained her eyes to try and make out what it was. Not a cat, nor a ferret... and was that wings?

"No," he agreed. "I've been here less than two full seasons. I spend much of my time in the Atheneum though, or working at the Rathskeller tavern." Had she been one of the lost souls who had sought out the Temple's protection for Long Night, afraid to test the walls of their own homes, or to spend the week alone? He was far from a hidden scholar, though, regularly seeing to personal errands around the Settlement and known to no few residents of the town, but then, his hair blended well with his cloak, and in the snow he didn't stand out nearly as much as he had in Leafchange.

His fingers held a feather, mostly hidden by his body, whose glow paled in the light of its previous owner's magnificently radiant form, but of perhaps of greater interest was the curious gryphlet who peered at Maea from wide golden eyes. Isuma peeped a greeting to the girl, wriggling against Jigano's shoulder and fluffing her wings in her excitement to meet a new friend. The bard smiled, raising his free hand to calm her as he stood, relaxed and unthreatening as he let the snow-white girl dictate the distance between them. "Edy is a friend of mine," he explained, smile widening as Isuma nibbled his fingers and reep!ed imperiously to be let down to investigate the new human. "She... she was one of those who helped to rebuild the perch when the monsters broke it. We have her to thank for the spark bird's appearance but... she disappeared from the gathering." He hesitated only a beat before offering Maea a nod and a lopsided smile. "And I am Jigano, Provost of the Loreseekers Guild and bard of the Rathskeller." Again the gryphon squeaked and he almost chuckled as he found her climbing into his hand, even though she barely fit there anymore, legs and wings spilling out and kicking in her eagerness to be moving. "And this is Isuma. Who, I think, would very much like to meet you."

There had been so many unfamiliar faces at that time. She had been far too preoccupied with the arrival of the bird to pay much attention to anything else, and as for Edy... though Maea had spent the past few days in the Temple, she had mostly kept to herself and tried her best not to get in anyones way. People had been coming and going all the time, foolish men and women leaving and returning as if this was some kind of game, a dare to see who could survive and who could not... Afraid of getting dragged into that mess she had avoided most everyone, spending her time at the shrine or huddled in a corner.

"I'm sorry, I have not seen her" Maea said, with her attention mostly on the wriggling creature. "There was another girl out a while ago, but I don't think she's the one you are looking for."

She offered Jigano a rather timid smile and bobbed a curtsy in response, enticed into upholding her manners by his polite ways. "I'm Maea Valair" she replied. "I live in the Outskirts normally, maybe that is why we have not met before..."

A bit startled to realize the curious Isuma was about to climb over to her, Maea held up her hands for the creature, too intrigued to resist even though she had never seen anything quite like her before. Those were indeed wings, and a tail, a birds head on a cat's body.... and then she realized what that meant, and what it suggested about Jigano.

"I've heard about gryphons, but never actually seen one before" she said, a touch of awe in her voice. "So many things have begun to change since you all came here...It's as if you make things happen just by being around."

"Edy has dark skin and black hair, but... I don't know which way she went," he admitted, looking morosely around the buildings that were largely dark and boarded up, either out of fear of the night or because their owners had taken shelter elsewhere. "She might have gone a different way..."

But this timid girl did not deserve to brushed off, either, and Jigano was admittedly a little fascinated to find another white-haired individual, when he had thought he was the only one. "It is a pleasure to meet you, Ms. Valair," he said gallantly, prevented from bowing again by the active gryphlet who wanted into his hand, and the feather he dared not wave around too energetically. "I'm glad we have met now. And in the Spark Bird's light, rather than the doldrums of Long Night - Isuma, please!" his courteous speech was interrupted by an eager Reep! of delight from the little gryphon kit as Maea held her hands out. Surrendering to his little companion's wishes - a not uncommon occurrence, no matter how he liked to think he was not so easily swayed - he allowed her to clamber into the pale girl's small hands, where she promptly sat and looked up at the stranger with wide golden eyes that seemed utterly delighted to find someone who looked a little like her human.

"Ah... yes," he attempted to recover the thread of the conversation, bemused. "I hadn't either, until her egg hatched. But, from what I've heard, things did used to be quieter. I'd apologize for saying that it's because we don't know any better... but I'm afraid that, even when we do, we still manage to find trouble," he admitted ruefully. "I hope we haven't caused any problems for you, though?" Not that he could speak for all Outlanders, but there were a few he was fond enough of to want to keep them out of trouble if he could. Though... fewer, now that Isla had become... different.

Maea nodded. "The girl I mer was blonde and fair, so I'm afraid I won't be able to help much." Which was a shame, really. She would have liked being useful for once...

Being called miss was strange, and shebegan protesting, saying that Maea was enough when Isuma decided they'd ignoredher for long enough. Accepting the little creature into her hands, the girl breathed in deeply in amazement. The touch of warm fur and sharp claws and the notion that she was holding something very much alive in her hands shocked her senses like nothing else could. Staring back into the clear eyes of the gryphon with equal fascination, she was made dizzy by the torrent of things she had seen and heard and been told about, that could no longer be dismissed as exaggerations or a strange dream. It was real, all of it, from the Outlanders to the Sparkbird and... Her gaze moved from Isuma to the giant of a bird that perched quietly on the manmade structure above their heads, and returned thoughtfully to Jigano.

"Problem? No. Not yet. Or perhaps a few problems is what it has to take to change things... So far I think you've done more good than harm. This one came because you saved the perch, after all." She nodded at the beautiful lightbringer, though avoided looking at it for too long as the bright light radiating from it made her eyes hurt.
"Do you know how many generations have passed since anyone last saw it? Many. I sometimes wonder... if we have become too complacent in our captivity, so focused on staying alive that we've forgotten about the why's and maybes of the outside."

Flushing at how much she was talking, the short girl lowered her gaze to the ground. Surely he already knew this, being lorekeeper and all.

Jigano shrugged, letting the lost lead go with only a little disappointment. It would have been nice if Maea could have given him a lead, but without it he wasn't any worse off than when he headed out from the Temple.

Isuma's long tail curled around her forepaws, then uncurled as she examined Maea in return, clearly pleased at the girl's pale coloring so near to her own. When Maea turned towards the spark bird, however, Isuma stood, balanced precariously in the small woman's hands, and turned beseechingly back to Jigano. He sighed, fondly exasperated, and held his hand out so she could hop back and then be set down to chase shadows on the snow while the humans talked.

"Well," he mused, following her gaze to admire the spark bird - and the repaired perch she rested on. "It was a group effort, I believe. It took a company of half naturals and half outlanders, to fix it. Though... the sign on the notice board made it sound like she still came, sometimes. I hadn't realized she had been absent for so long." He shook his head, returning his attention to the pale woman with a healthy dose of respect and approval in his gaze at her ruminations. Embarrassment over such brave thoughts? Oh, that would not do.

"Some have," he agreed, thinking of one or two in particular. "But not all. Those still brave enough to wonder keep the spark alive for the future, regardless of how many Outlanders fall into this bubble-world. We provide different viewpoints to look at the problem from but..." he tilted his head, smiling at the shy girl in spite of his weariness. "It will take everyone's talents, natural and outlander alike, to free ourselves, I think. Having the courage and flexibility to see beyond what is to what could be is just as important as being able to fling fire or lightning at the problem."

The fair-haired girl grimaced at that.

"Better to hope and pretend that it will make a difference than let people give up hope and drown in misery. You'd be surprised how quickly some would give up if there was nothing to hold on to."

Returning Isuma to her owner, she tucked her hands into the sleeves and drew her shoulder up towards the ears, as much against the cold as to ward of the uncomfortable thoughts. Was she not the same, after all? Complacent, resigned, all too comfortable with letting things slowly crumble, as long as none of the bad things happened to her. Well, the bad was coming for all of them sooner or later, and Maea wished she were brave enough to be one of those who stood up with fire and lightning to fight it. She wished she had the strength, and indeed the time to find all those aspects within herself. Jigano's words were encouraging, alluring almost, instilled her with a moment of desperate hope...

But it died again when she gazed at him and the features of his face faded into an indistinct blur. A year ago she would have been able to make out the shape of his eyes and seen the lines if wear and worry that traced them, but all she had now was the moonlight halo of white hair around an indistinct blob flecked with pale blue. Like a child's drawing, smudged almost beyond recognition. How long before that too would fade, and light would be denied her altogether?

"What kind of lore do you keep?" she asked, almost wistfully. "I..." But then she hesitated, and broke off. White hair or no, he was still a stranger. Dumpning her problems on him would be rude, and already she was preventing him from going about his business. "I'm sorry, you were looking for your friend. I should'nt keep you..."

"Perhaps not so surprised," he said a little sadly, glancing out into the shadows where the spark bird's light didn't reach. "Hope takes courage and strength. Misery is the easier path, even if you know when you start walking it that nothing good will come of it." But she wouldn't be interested in sad tales of broken hearts and weary souls, no. They were speaking of hope, and Jigano made the effort to find a smile for her again, unaware that she couldn't really see it.

The smile became lighter as Isuma returned and then began to play, the gryphlet chasing away the shadows within him as effectively as the spark bird had done for the would outside - which was to say, for a little distance, but not completely. They still waited for him at the edges of his thoughts, but for the moment he could ignore them enough to pretend like everything was normal, or close enough that no one else on Long Night would notice.

Maea was looking at him intently, though. Intently enough that he raised a brow in confusion and polite curiosity, wondering what it was that she saw. For a moment she seemed to straighten, pulling herself up a little taller, but he blinked and it was gone, the pale girl small and wistful in the spark bird's light.

"It's alright," he said gently, hearing the hesitance in her voice. "She might yet come this way, so staying here to wait for her works just as well for me. And I keep all the lore I can get my hands on!" His lips quirked up into a smile as Isuma started attacking his bootlace with kittenish ferocity. "Most of what I know is from my world, where I specialized in technology from the rain of stars. Here, it's like starting over again... but I will learn what anyone is willing to teach, and what I can absorb from the books in the Atheneum." He made a sound that was almost a chuckle, if it hadn't been so weak. "My loreseekers all have different specialities that we can pool together. Amalia is a baker and knows much of the lore of the gods of this world. Samuel is a bookmaker and a writer of tales, with a deep knowledge of the myths and poets of Caido. Isla..." he stumbled over the name, the light in his eyes dimming as he dipped his head. "Isla... was... a doctor, with extensive medical knowledge." He took a steadying breath, looking up again with a lopsided smile. "All are welcome in our hall. Everyone is able to contribute something that may be of use to someone else."

"Well, if you're sure..." she said, hesitant at first but then with an actual smile when Jigano seemed comfortable enough to stay where he was. Talking to him was different, not something she usually did, and Maea found that she was enjoying herself. A remarkable thing, in and of itself. Listening to the way her new acquaintance described his proffession, the girl was surprised to find that she recognized a few of the names he mentioned. Perhaps she had spent too long in the Outskirts, and not enough time in the settlement or the sanctuary... Things had been happening here that she had not been aware of, interesting things. It all sounded very impressive, and quite daunting. Maea tried to think of something she could add to all of that, but between the long bouts of sickness and the majority of her time being spent either hunting or tilling soil, she couldn't really think of anything.

"My brother has a farm" she revealed anyway. "I work with him most of the time, and hunt small game when the crops are not enough. His family keeps growing though, and there's not really enough for everyone. Especially not at this time of year. I decided to come here instead... I've been meaning to find a healer to look at my eyes anyway."

Squinting a little as she looked up at Jigano - and with him being more than a head taller, the albino girl had to tilt her head back to manage -  she paused, but was emboldened enough by his kind manners to dare ask.

"What happened to Isla? Is she...?" She did not finish the sentence, all too aware what might happen to people during the longest night. Selfishly Maea hoped she was wrong; if Isla really was that good at healing, maybe she knew how to fix Maea's eyes. And of course, surviving was always preferable.

He nodded reassurance to the girl, finding a small smile to echo her own when she seemed to decide to stay with him and talk awhile, basking in the warmth that radiated even to here from the Spark Bird's glory. The unexpected gift of some of the details of her life were met with grave courtesy and the respect due for such information. Jigano inclined his head in understanding, but winced slightly at the mention of a healer. In better times he would have controlled his expression better, but even with the recovery that had come from Rory's touch, and Ludo's task, and Amalia's smile, and the spark bird's return he could not completely overcome the weariness that his lack of dreams and Long Night's trials had left on him.

"What happened to your eyes?" he asked gently, noticing now that her 'intent' expression was more of a squint. Was she having trouble seeing him?

Her question had him growing quiet for long moments, before he sighed and gave a little shake of his head. "To be honest... I'm not fully certain, myself. Everything I've heard is second-hand but... there was an injured luxere, and she tried to help it, but the monster that had hurt it was still there, and turned on her instead. She was killed, but Ludo brought her back in the body of a unicorn who bonded to one of her friends..." He shook his head again, sighing. "It all sounds so fantastic, but she is gone... and there is a unicorn in the infirmary now, that can heal people with a touch of its horn. So." He shrugged a little helplessly. "The mistress of the Rathskeller is also skilled in Healing magics. But for a medic... I don't know, now. Perhaps one of the glassmakers in town could help to make you a pair of spectacles in the meantime, until you can get them fixed more permanently?" he suggested hopefully.

Ah, she'd said too much. Maea haven't meant to reveal anything about her sight, or rather lack of it, but her tongue har loosened and as it was the matter most closely on her mind these days... She sighed, looking away as no attempt to focus would bring Jigano into sharper view, and the effort made her head ache.

"It's... My vision was never any good, really. Things were blurry in the distance, and too much light hurts. But lately it's been getting worse, and there is darkness creeping in from the sides."

She tried to sound casual, but could not entirely hide how scared she was. To slowly go blind, not knowing if there was a cure or whether anything could be done, with or without magic... Not to mention the fate of someone as young as her being tied down by such a handicap. What would the do with the rest of her life? How could she hunt, or farm, or do anything at all if the couldn't see?

Thinking about Isla was a welcome escape, though Maea wasn't sure the woman was really better off. Frowning, she said as much; frank and undiplomatic as could be, no doubt about to ruin both the good mood and the budding beginnings of a friendship.

"She should have been allowed to stay dead. Ludo never gives anything for free... no doubt there was a price, and a steep one too. I can't believe... can't imagine how steep it must be to make something like that happen."

However incredible, this was something she had no trouble believing. After all, har the not lived in a bubble all her life? The gods were a part of everyday life, more so for some but undeniably present. Miracles did happen. Sometimes.