Bearclaw Valley Be Prepared

An argument wasn’t expected from the children, much less one that was backed by actual points. It took him a moment of watching them and seeing that they weren’t moving for the words to fully register in his head, bringing a frown to his lips. “I haven’t been to the top,” he stated, looking between them before his gaze settled on the lighter girl. “But I’ve been inside. I was born in this valley and live here currently, I see the drop from inside the walls every day.” The perspective given from within the valley made him lose interest in ever climbing the outer walls; any sort of incline made up of rocks and rubble wasn’t to be trusted, especially when the top presented such a danger even without the loose footholds.

Turning his gaze towards the other child—her demeanour and tone towards him making her weariness clear, which he viewed as a reasonable approach to have towards strangers, even if it annoyed him at times—he couldn’t keep his frown from deepening. “Have you ever climbed a mountain, or anything like it, before?” he questioned. “One wrong step and you’re falling. It doesn’t matter if you can see in front of you or not, the ground can give out at any moment and there’s nothing you can do to save yourself.” He almost wished that they weren’t in Desna’s pack, just so he could leave them to climb and, eventually, fall to their deaths without it coming back on him.

“Look,” he started, taking a slow step forward. “I know you two are in my sister’s pack—that’s the only reason I’m trying to help you two. I don’t want her getting upset over the deaths of some kids, so why don’t you just listen to me?” When seeing his sister’s stomach swollen with unborn whelps, he’d felt almost jealous. But now, whilst dealing with two kids, he couldn’t understand why anyone would ever want them.