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Message: <blockquote data-quote="Autumn" data-source="post: 3584958" data-attributes="member: 50015">Jina gives Khalia a look of pure exhaustion. Any sense of adventure she had felt has vanished now, killed off by the harrowing journey through the night. If she had had any doubts before that she was right to stick with her brother then that night had killed them off. He isn't in his right mind, that much is all too clear. The hustle through the darkness has done nothing to help the ankle that she hurt, and she walks with a suppressed but visible limp as it throbs angrily at her. Her hair is a tangled mess. Her face and hands are dirty and covered in scratches, and it's obvious from the smears on her face that she's been crying recently. Sniffing, she rubs a hand brusquely across her eyes and stands up straighter, obviously making an effort to pull herself together and look like she's coping.  She looks back at Khalia, her gaze weighing and measuring. It's not as if she and Khalia were ever close. She'd always got the impression of a somewhat strict and cold woman, and nothing in Khalia's current manner is causing her to modify that view.  She would like to plunge straight off into the trees and after Jango, but she knows that she stands no chance of catching him that way now. Failing that she'd like to launch into a barrage of questions that might help her understand where her brother could be going and whether she'll be able to catch him up... but she bites her tongue, knowing that that too would be counterproductive. Little as she may like it, the situation calls for patience. So for the right now she is dependent on the Crusade's goodwill. On a practical level, that probably means Khalia's goodwill. "...It's my brother," she says slowly, making an effort to keep her voice as calm as she can. "I'm worried about him. I didn't want to let him travel alone." She stops awkwardly, the shadow of her failure hanging heavy over her words. "But I guess that's beside the point," she says hurriedly, her eyes dropping away from Khalia's. Her tone is businesslike now, though the telltale quaver of her anxiety has only got stronger. "You don't want to hear about our family dramas, right? You just need to know whether I'm going to make a nuisance of myself. Well... I promise I'll do my best not to." She makes an attempt at a smile, though the result is half-hearted at best. It's very obvious that she's distracted. All the vibrancy and energy that she normally exudes is gone. Or rather - it's there, but dispersed and shadowed, caught up in worry and anxiety instead of directed outwards at the world around her.</blockquote>

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