Izotz blinked when Hani mentioned that particular job as a herald. He stared ahead for a bit, as if in a daze, until he blinked again and turned his attention back to the Fairy again. Somehow, considering how talkative she'd been despite being a stranger, Izotz could actually foresee the Fairy carrying on a job like that. He silently kept that detail in mind, because you honestly never knew.
"Yes, well... What can I say, I tend to sacrifice myself for the well-being of my followers, but I will remember that you prevented me from getting my beauty sleep," he complained, but all in jest; he was far from being a good liar, and the words were only a tease.
At the mention of the way Hani's tribe was lead, Izotz's mood drooped. At least, it didn't sound like she'd been mistreated, but giving different treatments to the males and the females was something the Frost disagreed with. He thought it unfair to place or judge one's capabilities — the limitation of said capabilities — solely based on gender. If a female proved to be strong or intelligent enough for the job, he would give it to her.
"That's not something I can agree with. I wouldn't want anyone else to be my supportive leader besides Slavica — and she's a female as strong as any male we have here." If he ever had daughters? He wouldn't bear to teach only the boys how to rule; he would give the chance to his daughters just as much.
"But I guess we probably come from a different mentality to begin with. The Hive was founded by a female Paragon, and to my knowledge, we've had just a few more female leaders than male ones." Sadly, that legacy probably wouldn't last long, considering how pampered and attention-seeking the females were becoming.
"Hahah, well... Yes, Nyala's father is just as moody as she is," Izotz admitted with a large, sheepish grin. Oh dear, if either of them heard him say that, he would be in for it.
"But I would be lost without her father, that's for sure. Sometimes I wonder why he didn't just rule the clan until they shaped a good leader for the job." After that, though, was a smile.
"But I'm glad it seems like I'm doing an okay job. I just tell myself there's no way I could possibly be worse than the leader before us." At least there was that, right?
"Even if I have to stop everything I'm doing comes sun high to recuperate in my old age," he added playfully, though he really wasn't that old. Well, a little bit older than average, but he really wasn't
old in the literal way.
That said, it didn't take long for the two to reach said destination, now capable of getting a good look at the two Paragon, and even hearing what they were saying.
The female Lavamancer was lying on her stomach, carefree, as she pointed out certain spots of the wall. Her tail hung limply from the edge of the little cliff; from the looks of it, the tail had been ripped apart before, where bits and pieces had almost seemingly been stitched back together. Only tidbits of fur hung at the tip still, but it looked like parts of her tailtip couldn't let the hair grow back anymore.
"Yes, around... the middle there. That should do it," she instructed as she pointed out towards the spot she meant from a distance.
Huffing, the male Lavamancer sucked in air before breathing a dark, metallic-looking fire from his mouth, straight at the particular spot the female Paragon had pointed at. After the cloud of metallic dust disappeared, a thick layer of metal-covered rock was left right where the Lavamancer had breathed.
"Enough?" he asked quietly, not sounding particularly excited to be doing this job.
Unlike the female, who just gave him a happy smile and clapped her hands together with content.
"Excellent.""Careen, Tapio!" Izotz called out to them, stopping just a little ways away from the little cliff the two were standing on.
"Would you mind coming down here?"When their names were called out, both Paragon turned around to face their leader. The female looked relaxed, and even happy to see him, whereas the male looked a lot more edgy and not as comfortable. However, without saying a word, both Paragon complied with Izotz's request. The female made her way down with perfectly-timed jumps and agility, whereas the grey male slowly made his way down by flight, up until the two reached their leader on the ground.
Without even letting Izotz explain why they were here, the female Lavamancer perked up when she noticed Hani. Immediately, the Lavamancer skipped over to the Fairy and grabbed one of her hands and closed her two over Hani's.
"You have to be that Paragon Dunstan found on the Plains just a few days ago. I won't like, I was really curious about you!" she spoke up, tilting her head to the side and grinning excitedly, despite her voice and composure being gentle and quiet by nature.
"I'm Careen, and this big boy is Tapio," she introduced, knowing the male Lavamancer wouldn't even try to interact. And so, she would force him to interact.
Upon being introduced, Tapio lowered his head and looked in Hani's direction, although he quickly glanced away. He didn't seem uninterested or wary of the Fairy; instead, he looked like he was just shy and wasn't very interested in any sort of social interaction.
"Humph... I'm... Tapio," he blurted out quietly and awkwardly, though not with any ill intentions.