Hatame let out a small huff of breath. He highly doubted her sincerity; Uxia didn't look fine and the way she looked everywhere but at him solidified it. While gryphons didn't make much eye contact with each other, as too much was considered a sign of hostility, he'd learned over his time amongst humans that it was quite the opposite for them.
But before he could call her on it, she spoke, and it took him a moment to get what she was talking about. "What? Come back? Why would you wanna--"
It clicked then. Before the animals come. The corpses he'd seen. A sick feeling tugged at his gut and he snapped his beak shut. There had been no time to think of make connections before and it had never occurred to him that those bodies had any relation to her.
That she knew them.
Glancing up at her again, he gave her hand a light headbutt and nuzzled against her side, the most he could really do by way of comfort in this shape. "I'm sorry."
"It was not your fault. We were not strong enough." I was not strong enough. If she had gotten to them better, been stronger, maybe her companions wouldn't be dead. The world around them was getting clearer as they walked, the taint receding.
She just wanted to drop and sleep for a year. But that wasn't an option just yet. Once there was a little more distance between the tainted area, she would rest a few hours before going back. Just needed to keep walking.
"It's not yours, either," Hatame said, keeping pace with her and blinking as the area grew brighter, only a thin film of darkness remaining. It was eerie to watch, and probably would have been far more disconcerting were he not thoroughly exhausted, and had he not just fought a slug-bodied, scythe-armed demon.
He gave Uxia's hand another nudge. "Here, c'mon. Why don'tcha get on me? I've strength enough to carry you."
"What? No. I'm fine. I can walk." Uxia finally looked down at Hatame, somewhat startled by his offer. She had to admit, she did like him as a gryphon much better. He wasn't as...irritating when he was in this form.
"You sure?" Hatame gave her as skeptical a look as a gryphon's facial muscles could make. "It would be quicker this way."
"You are as tired as I am. Over burdening you wouldn't help any." There was little sign now of the demon's world left, though the air was still oddly quiet. No animals were around, no sounds beyond the ones the two of them made.
She had a point there, he'd admit, but he still didn't like it. Tail lashing behind him, anxious to put as much distance between the slaughtering ground and them, he gave a small nod.
"And overtaxing yourself won't help any, either. You need rest."
"Yes. And I will rest when we are away from this place. We wont have to go far, the world will be gone soon, only a small scar left on the land." Ja'lar would have been able to heal that, but that was beyond the scope of her magic.
Silence settled, both to worn out to talk much as they walked. Eventually, Uxia had to stop. Her legs were trembling with exhaustion and she knew she had reached her limit. "Here. We need to stop now."
Without waiting for a response from Hatame, Uxia dropped down, slightly clumsy as she hit the ground. She needed rest, and food, but she had run out of food back in the demons world. And she could feel....Hatame still. His fatigue was blending with her own and it was...strange.
As soon as Uxia said they needed to stop, Hatame dropped down heavily beside her with a loud sigh of relief. His muscles burned from exertion and his breathing came in short bursts even though he'd only been walking. It probably didn't help that his exhaustion wasn't the only he felt--he could still feel Uxia there, her aches and weariness, her hunger, her pain blending with his own.
He stretched out next to her and let his wings half unfold, head resting on his clawed front feet. Even if he had the energy to shift right now, he didn't have the energy to care enough to bother. Besides, with his clothes long gone it would just be cold sitting around in his skin.
"I can still feel you," he muttered into his paws, and he could feel her more than ever now that he was resting.
Nodding, Uxia removed her weapons, laying them out and shucking her backpack off before curling up, head resting on the backpack, "Yes. I still don't understand it." It was cold out and Uxia shifted, moving closer to the warm griffon, her back pressed against him.
She wanted to probe more into the spell, see what she could figure out about it, but her worn out body couldn't take it. She had been up for days, no food and utterly drained after that fight. It wasn't long before she was fast asleep, snoring softly.
As soon as Hatame felt Uxia relax against him and heard her breathing even out into soft snores, felt the signals along their...connection...calm down, he shifted closer and curled his body around her. The temperature was dropping and while his thick fur and plumage was keeping him warm, he knew how frail human bodies were.
Lifting one large wing, he lightly draped it over her body. But even then, it was a while before he slept, and he only half-slept. They were in a strange place and he wasn't fully convinced that there weren't still beasts and things prowling around and there were some pretty large natural predators skulking through these mountains.
Besides, he hadn't been the one that had lost people he knew and cared about, and he could feel that not all of Uxia's pain was physical.
The warrior slept for a few hours, nuzzling tighter to Hatame as the temperature dropped and her dreams grew darker. Having another living body next to her helped, though her expression was still dark and small sounds would escape her.
Still, after a few hours, Uxia woke up, adjusting quickly to realize where she was and that Hatame's wing was stretched out over her. She was still drained, her body still sore, but she wasn't ready to drop. There was enough energy to do what needed to be done.
Sitting up, Uxia felt Hatame wake up, both physically and sensed it along the link. She was going to have to explore that more, but taking care of her companions and finding food were higher on her list.
"Hatama. I'm going to be back. You can wait here."
