"I will return," he assured Titanite, and then turned, pacing away.

When they were some distance off, he continued. "'Something?' A Gembound? What is it?" Vargas, had Alpha been even a little less useful in general, might have shown impatience. As it was, the creature was generally level-headed and had good common sense. Perhaps it simply didn't know how to define this "something" it had found.

Titanite watched them go. Its father didn't look back. There was no farewell, no socialization, just... departure.

Leaving it alone, again, with the trees.

"Goodbye," it rasped after them, softly, though it wasn't sure either of them heard.

Vargas glanced back, too, offering an indifferent nod and a grunt, and then paced forward again.

Orthoclase-Alpha's description seemed to awaken no recognition in him; he listened, and then grunted again.

"It went dark..? Strange--you can show me the thing, if you like. I don't know what it might be. Algol may," he added.

He pushed his way through the brush, huffing as he went. "We will see when we get there."

That was the end of that, then; and Vargas threaded his way from Eridanus, his massive child in tow.