From the Lands Turned to Soot

"He could be magically animated," Roland suggested. "A golem of some sort. Scarecrows don't run about all by themselves."
"That would mean he takes commands," Jackson pointed out. "And I haven't seen Shingles do anything that suggests he has any orders at all."

"I...well I've heard some stories about those beings but couldn't tell you anything important about them. Knew someone who was interested in all that is all."

"Oh?" Roland's eyebrows shot up. "Who?"

"Doesn't matter. They're not here anymore." Her tone of voice nor facial expressions changed, but her eyes looked straight ahead into the bleak piles of rocks instead of the horizon or her companions.

"Ah." Roland looked down at the ground. "I'm sorry."

There followed an awkward silence. Rhys wasn't going to be the one to break it either.

"Did he die?" Bug asked eventually.

"Something like that." Avoided Rhys, a bit uncomfortably.

"Thay was very rude," Jackson chided. "You can't ask humans things like that, Bug."
"I was just curious," Bug snapped.

Rhys shifted her eyes and bent down to pick up a stone, acting for a moment interested in it and not on whatever the two of them were talking about.

"Well you can't be curious about dead people. It makes them sad."
"It makes us sad too," Bug pointed out. "We still talk about dead people."
"But humans are more sensitive," Jackson emphasized.

She gritted her teeth and clenched the rock in her fist. "I'm gonna go make sure ragdoll's doing alright." She turned and began to retrace their steps before slipping off into the boulders. Braving the scarecrow alone was better than listen to two a sociopath and a halfwit argue about her personal business.

"You'll be lucky to find him!" Jackson called after her. "He moves fast and often disappears for days on end."

She had no intention of finding him, she'd be glad if she didn't. She was tempted to leave altogether, but she wanted to know what was on that map. She threw the stone and it skittered down the side of a ledge. She'd have to catch up with them later. They couldn't be far from shelter now.

"Think she'll come back?" Jackson asked in concern.
"I hope not." Bug walked ahead.