Moonspear Let me tell you

She nodded, with the dance of a smile in her eyes. "An Ostrega, through and through." There really wasn't any particular reason she hadn't told Vela before, except that it had made things more interesting for a little while. Family sometimes acted one way toward each other, and another toward outsiders, and Andalusia had simply been curious to see if the same was true of Vela.

"I can fight, but not as well as a warrior by trade. I know enough for self-protection, and that's about where my experience ends." Knowing self-defence was a skill she had needed to use on more than one occasion, but her tactics were better for solo spars than group manoeuvres and were only really suited to protect herself against the average predator or hostile wolf. Blackfeather had been a different battle - yet she still wished she had been in the fray. They might have won the war, but none of them had been very prepared for what they had faced.

Needless to say, Vela's answer both surprised and pleased Andalusia. "I'd hope any respectable wolf would say something before they leave." She wasn't blind to how much her words bit a hole at herself; she had once been the one who'd run without saying a word, after all - but Andalusia had long left that wolf behind. "I want to be frank with you, Vela, like I was with Hydra when she took me in. I was separated from a very dear friend of mine after the war, and have been looking for him ever since. I don't know what that means for me here, and Hydra knows this already. But let me make a promise to you - if and when I find him, I won't leave your family in the dark. Finding him might mean I have to leave, but I will tell your family before I do. Your parents have done so much for me, and I don't take the kindness you have shown me lightly. Even if I wind up on the road again, there will always be loyalty in my heart toward you."