for so it is written

"As am I. It was... difficult, being without her," Ronin murmured, a smile still in his voice even if his expression had grown a touch more solemn. "She isn't much older than Aoife. I keep forgetting that. When I got back, seeing her... she was almost feral." He sighed; Sugar, sensing the dip in his mood, of course tromped over to deliver some fuss of her own.

The term demigod had Ronin snorting, the word belonging to myth and legend in his mind, not an ex-captain of an army who had gotten himself blown up by a monster. "A demigod, huh... Well, it sounds better than demihuman, I'll give you that much."

He nodded, finding himself feeling quite elated at the prospect of seeing Jigano again, especially if it was to do some monster hunting. A bow, though... Ronin wrinkled his nose at that. "I'd prefer to cross swords, truthfully. I'm at least familiar with a blade!"

"I cannot imagine." Jigano shook his head, looking to Isuma fondly. The gryphlet had brought light and joy to his life, helping him to heal a bit of his past and learn to open up and trust others again. Something she continued to do every day. And Isuma was just as eager to pounce on her companion as she was on her friend, giving Sugar an encouraging peep before bounding over the table to leap onto the lorekeeper's shoulder and purr as she rubbed against his cheek.

Jigano grinned and nodded acknowledgment that demigod was the better word, and made a mental note to title Ronin's chapter with that when he began work on it later. But first he slid the directions for Maea's government hall across the table, offering his new... friend? a smile. "Swords it is, then! Maybe once the rains settle down and the mud dries up."

Isuma's purring was interrupted by a rumble of a different sort, and he looked to her with surprise and then rueful understanding. Pushing back his chair he rose, reaching across the table to offer Ronin his hand. "I'm glad you came by, Guildmaster. And I'm looking forward to our next meeting. But for now I'm afraid I must find the young featherduster here some lunch," he grinned, suspecting the other man knew exactly what that entailed with Sugar's appetites. "But don't be a stranger. With luck we'll see each other again soon!"

Accepting the directions to the government building and slipping the paper away into his pocket, Ronin smiled back at Jigano, even as Sugar leapt into his arms and clawed her way up his shirt to drape around his shoulders. "Swords it is," he agreed. "Sounds like a good plan - and please, call me Ronin. Everyone else does." Rising to his feet, he reached across and shook the bard's hand, Sugar trilling her goodbye to both Jigano and Isuma.

"Ah, I know that feeling. Feed her quick, and pray she naps well." He winked at the other man, scritching Sugar under the chin and heading for the stairs. "I have a feeling we will!" He grinned before heading up and out of the guild, feeling a good deal better about the world outside the barrier than he had done before.