Big Salmon Lake Etched in the snow as it is in my soul

Her ears twitched as he laughed, then spoke. He was in better humor than she might be about it, though in some things... perhaps the only thing left to do was to laugh. Hydra felt far too bitter to feel any amusement toward the losses she had suffered in her lifetime. Most she had gotten past, but the latest left a new, gnarled scar upon her heart larger than any other. It would harden, in time; Hydra worked again to build an impenetrable wall around it. 

He seemed to confirm her suspicion, in not so many words; her ears cupped forward again but he made no mention of anything further. Then again, I did not ask, she rejoined, her voice absent of condescension. For she had not; she had only observed what his actions seemed to indicate. Hydra peered around them, looking for any sign of her subordinate and not seeing her there. She would continue to follow her nose, but there was something about the stranger that kept her there for the time being. Not for too much longer, but... 

Well, she might as well see what sort of man she was dealing with. We all lose battles in life; it is simply the way of things. What is important is that we win the war, she hummed. It was how the battle-hardened Hydra saw things, in any case. She would ever live to fight another day, regardless of the hurts she suffered. She took a step toward him, sniffing at the air none too absently as she observed all around them. Win or lose, though, I suppose we all die. But how would you like to win? She inquired, her question coming then at last as her interest lingered.