Naji felt the strange urge to laugh, and a few quick, panicked chuckles slid past his throat. He felt a little hysterical, but he tried to push it down.
"To think you were..." he paused, "I guess it...no it doesn't make sense at all, but what he said does...how..." he muttered to himself a moment before looking up, "Do you, ah, do you have a name...?"
This deepened the frown somewhat. "I am called Altair. He did not tell you this?"
"It didn't come up. But this is..." he shook his head, "This cannot possibly be happening. How could you be a bird? I don't...what sorcery would do such a thing?" he pressed a hand to his head in an attempt to calm his raging thoughts. "I'm so confused."
"You mean to say you know nothing?"
There was no mistaking the grated and agitated tone in Altair's voice. "About what?"
"About the nature of our situation!" the elder snapped, as though it were obvious, "He told you nothing? About why we're like this?"
Naji frowned and shook his head. "I...he simply said he wanted me to help him with something. I am in his debt, so he said I must repay him by lending him my aid. It didn't specify to what end or what I needed to do. The night was coming and he just told me to watch his eag--you--and said he would explain come morning."
"Tell me what you do know then. Every word he said to you."
Naji was beginning to grow annoyed himself with the badgering. As far as he could tell, he had not done anything wrong here. He was the victim. It was not like he asked to be entrusted with this secret, and what a secret it was. He would rather have nothing to do with any of this, but he owed a debt to Malik, and he had no choice but to pay it somehow. So he did he best to explain everything he could, repeat everything that was said. He was no more sure than Altair why exactly Malik had involved him.
At some point Altair had taken it upon himself to sit of a small rock ledge while Naji endorsed his tale, and so he followed suit, plopping himself heavily on the ground because really, he needed to sit after all this. It didn't take him too long to wind down his tale, and then he waited for a response.
A Long Time in Coming- Men of Lore, The Myth Becomes 3/?
"To think you were..." he paused, "I guess it...no it doesn't make sense at all, but what he said does...how..." he muttered to himself a moment before looking up, "Do you, ah, do you have a name...?"
This deepened the frown somewhat. "I am called Altair. He did not tell you this?"
"It didn't come up. But this is..." he shook his head, "This cannot possibly be happening. How could you be a bird? I don't...what sorcery would do such a thing?" he pressed a hand to his head in an attempt to calm his raging thoughts. "I'm so confused."
"You mean to say you know nothing?"
There was no mistaking the grated and agitated tone in Altair's voice. "About what?"
"About the nature of our situation!" the elder snapped, as though it were obvious, "He told you nothing? About why we're like this?"
Naji frowned and shook his head. "I...he simply said he wanted me to help him with something. I am in his debt, so he said I must repay him by lending him my aid. It didn't specify to what end or what I needed to do. The night was coming and he just told me to watch his eag--you--and said he would explain come morning."
"Tell me what you do know then. Every word he said to you."
Naji was beginning to grow annoyed himself with the badgering. As far as he could tell, he had not done anything wrong here. He was the victim. It was not like he asked to be entrusted with this secret, and what a secret it was. He would rather have nothing to do with any of this, but he owed a debt to Malik, and he had no choice but to pay it somehow. So he did he best to explain everything he could, repeat everything that was said. He was no more sure than Altair why exactly Malik had involved him.
At some point Altair had taken it upon himself to sit of a small rock ledge while Naji endorsed his tale, and so he followed suit, plopping himself heavily on the ground because really, he needed to sit after all this. It didn't take him too long to wind down his tale, and then he waited for a response.