Kubo paused at the low end of an upsloping tunnel, climbing just high enough to peek over the edge of the slope before advancing. He hadn't been running through the tunnels yet, only out of a sense that running would only bring him to new horrific places faster, and too much speed meant stumbling onto the wrong creature, or into the wrong place.

He was trying to stay calm. He'd thought that if Mother were there to advise him, she'd have told him to stay calm. But it was work. Nothing in her stories had prepared him for this. Some of his own life had prepared him for this - but not nearly well enough.

When he spotted another Legionnaire at the top of this bend in the path, the obvious visual cues that something was wrong with Roland didn't stop Kubo from climbing into view. He'd come across a creature once who'd been twisted into something no longer human, and that creature had protected and taught and loved him as he'd always hoped his father would. It took more than the warp of transformation to make Kubo afraid of a friend after he'd met his own father in such a twisted state.

"Hey," he called, his voice soft, yet carrying with his showman's projection. He kept his back near a wall as he moved. "Over here - are you all right?"

Relief at having found another Legionnaire was already relaxing him by fractions.