Golden Glade It rips you to shreds.

Although Sugar's strengths lay elsewhere, she immediately wanted to offer her help. That impulse gave her pause. Although she was a caregiver by trade, she focused on her family, not perfect strangers. Then again, he wasn't a stranger any longer: he'd introduced himself as Zeppelin. All the same, Sugar mused about her compulsion long enough for him to say something else.

This time, she didn't give him the benefit of the doubt; he was definitely patronizing her. Sugar felt an odd sense of disappointment, though she told herself it wasn't worth getting upset. Maybe he thought she was younger, especially because of her size. "My parents are at home," she replied levelly, "and I'm not really a kid. I'll be in the adult ranks in a couple of months." She also boasted two trades and was working toward a few specialties, though she bit back the urge to tell him that. She had nothing to prove to him, despite her peculiar urge to do exactly that.

After a pause, Sugar couldn't help but helpfully inform him, "I heard we're almost as short on prey as we are on greenery, unfortunately." Her lips twisted into a frown, not just because of their predicaments but due to the queer turmoil inside her. This desire to help him, even impress him, was inexplicable, and yet there it was, beating at her breast in time with her heartbeat. "But since I'm more or less scavenging anyway, I could keep an eye out for any signs of game."