They had heard Brightheart's call for guardians to care for whatever creature she was resurrecting. A useful creature, presumably. Roamer had no reason to think that an Ascended would resurrect anything that wouldn't help advance their collective goal of healing Vykeli. The call had come during his and Ysalone's return to the Homewood, and to nobodys surprise, he had seen the young doe hustling toward him shortly thereafter to encourage him to answer the call."I don't know that I need a familiar, Ysalone," Roamer said as the doe pestered and dogged him from the side. She saw zero downsides to showing up. In fact, her lovely partnership with Sprite the Jackhop seemed to add fuel to her persuasive fire. Wasn't a familiar helpful? Sprite had helped them out in the past by digging out holes and scurrying into places the noulicorns wouldn't fit in order to pull out fascinating discoveries. No doubt, whatever familiar Brightheart resurrected would find some way to be similarly useful.
"I've gone this many years without having much help," Roamer mused. "I figure I don't need to have any now."
It wasn't that he was morally opposed to being aided, but the pragmatic side of him had to wonder what taking on a newly resurrected guardian would be like. If it came as an adult, fully capable of functioning and taking care of itself, then having one around could certainly prove useful. But if it came rather like a child, needing help to figure out its own limbs and capabilities, well... That was one burden Roamer didn't need.
Beside him, Ysalone continued to babble, finding a somehow endless list of positives to answering Brightheart's call. Her delivery was so animated, so passionate. The young doe found a way to grow personally attached to every cause she championed, and Roamer had to appreciate her for that.
The buck chuckled and shook his head. "Alright, alright," he said with a small sigh. "You've managed to convince me that this might all turn out for the best."
Ysalone, bubbly as always, let out a little squeal of glee and fixed him with a beady-eyed gaze. The buck shook his head. "Yes," he said, putting on a somewhat uncharacteristic show of drama by rolling his eyes. "We can head over there right now."
The doe nearly bolted off before he'd even finished his sentence. Roamer had to laugh, following along at a more measured, sedate pace. He liked to think of it as... dignified. Controlled, yet unhurried and assured. His companion, meanwhile, was likely a little lightning bug, zipping this way and that like a bundle of unstoppable energy.
So they walked, one bouncing about with obvious glee while the other followed. Ysalone would circle back once in a while to tell Roamer how excited she was - as if he hadn't already noticed - before running off again, trying in vain to convince the buck to speed up.
"It's not like we're going to miss it if we won't run to Brightheart right away, Ysalone," Roamer tried to say, but the doe wouldn't listen. She continued to buzz with energy every step of the way as the moved further into the heart of th Homewood, folowing Brightheart's call.
At long last, they came to the clearing where the Ascended guarded the remains of the new creature. Roamer and Ysalone fell in with the rest of the crowd that had arrived to take on this new responsibility.
"Look," Roamer said, voice hushed as he turned to Ysalone. The doe was staring in wonder at the gathered noulicorns, and Roamer himself felt a swelling of pride to his the way their kind had rallied to answer Brighterheart's request. "All of these noulicorns, here to do what we decided to take on. That's quite the sight, isn't it?"
Ysalone nodded. She had decided to linger in the back and watch the proceedings, so Roamer made his way forward through the crowd. He would have to speak to Brightheart and tell her he was here, so she would know to include him. Slowly, the buck made his way to the front. When he arrived, he nodded, glancing down at the skeleton before Brightheart and wondering what it might be. Something they'd all get along with, he hoped.
"I've come to answer your call, Brightheart," he said respectfully, before backing away to meld back in with the rest of the crowd. The buck made his way back and found Ysalone near the fringes, watching with quiet anticipation. "It looks like we're just in time."
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