Oh, there were emotions. Nida pulled them over to a door and opened it up, where he was met by the excited warbling of a red chicobo. She was tied, by a harness and leash, to a table, and the other guard in there looked a bit annoyed by her.

"I'll take my lunch now," Nida said, and the man bounced to his feet and slipped out, not even commenting on Jacob. Once the door was closed again Nida pulled both chairs out at the table and moved to a basket by the corner to take the food out to reheat by the fire. Jacob could join him for lunch.

He was getting pretty good at ignoring the way the chicobo pecked at his boots too. She was nearly tall enough to reach his knees, but she was still focusing only on his boots.

"Jacob, this is Hibiscus. Hibiscus, this is Jacob. And he's asking about Yuki."

The bird must have recognized the name and warbled in delight.

"Yes, he's most definitely still here."