Blackfoot Forest Step by Step

He muttered a quick word, then let the subject drop. Silence settled between, an atmosphere Andalusia didn't seek to break, and she turned her focus to their surroundings again. Hurt still simmered within, but she took the lead, unwilling to let what had been rule her actions now. Trees and grass shifted back to rocky slopes, and she allowed the ever shifting scenery to guide her thoughts to where they'd been before.

She would have been fine to stay silent for the remainder of the trip, but Sebastian thought different again. Fear did not seize her this time. Instead, her brow twitched and she flicked her tail, her legs continuing in their constant climb, and her heart retaining a steady beat. She was in control again, and the ground beneath her rooted her in reality. Her memories were her business, and she had already indulged him in everything she wished to share. It was her right to remain silent as much as it was her right to speak, and she chose to deflect his hidden intrigue - she had enough siblings to know prying when she saw it - and let the topic die again. "Nothing to be sorry for. It wasn't like you knew." But at his next apology she couldn't hold back a breath of laughter, and she glanced at him with a glint in her eye. "That was a yell?" A distant smile danced over her lips, not as full as what she'd pulled the day before, but satisfactory in the moment. "I grew up with four brothers. Don't think I can't handle a little shouting."