Blackfeather Woods ash and dust

The girl growls lowly, the sound one of pure frustration. The boy speaks, and his words make sense, and she knows that to allow the boy to be taken by this one would be a kindness. She can not think them capable of infanticide, and her gaze shifts to the boy cowering at her feet. In this cave awaits only death for him; fragile as he is. And yet she is selfish,  for he is what keeps her sane in the dark and silent stone. Her hackles prickle and her tail lashes once, but her decision is already made. At his final words, she felt a flash of shame and anger; he deserved life outside this cave. And yet, she did not? Was she to fade away here, too old to claim the sanctity of youth but too young to be a threat to anyone here, to make her own escape?

Swiftly, she ducks her head, scruffing the pup and dragging him towards the boy, the movement brisk. There is wet anger in her eyes, the kind that teeters on the brink of self-pity and misery, as she tells him, "go with the boy, Cyron. he'll take care of you,"  How swift events unfold, and yet how can she refuse the boy with the threat of violence and her own angry emotions turned against her?  "if you, or she, hurts him, I'll kill you. I don't know how, but I will." Her words reek of desperation as she tries to ensure his fate, but as things stand the threat is empty. She steps back, oddly enough, wishing Vaati was here, for what purpose she does not know.