Rising Sun Valley that sad earthly scene

Immediately, the differences in how they would have handled things were evident. Though in her youth, Echelon could not empathize in the slightest what it would be like to lose a child, be it stolen or by the hand of death. The hatred, while an emotion she more than likely understood, seemed out of place in the dialogue he provided. She was a silent listener as he spoke, never once encouraging him to continue on with his story or urging him to stop where he was. He needn't give out his life story at all; she gleaned enough from what he said to suggest his life thus far had been nothing but one tumultuous situation after another.

So when he did prompt her at last, she was silent once more. Not because she was lost in thought or had nothing to say, but rather because she found herself arranging what it was she would say. "You are too quick to place blame on yourself, and just as quick to shift it to others." A beat of silence chased after her statement in the cool air. "You're a wolf of Tartok. A wolf that does not turn its back on family — its pack. Your failures are not yours alone. Your pack failed you, as a reflection of how you failed yourself." Again, the words seemed stilted. She hated conversation, at times, especially when it involved emotion. Such a puny, fickle thing.

"Even now you act as though you are alone when you also follow Tonravik," she commented, not even sure with herself if she had his judge of character pinned down. She barely knew him. But then again, she lacked the articulation to describe what kind of creature Tonravik was. The words were there, but she simply did not wish to piece them together. "You should have used your anger in other ways — did you not learn anything from your aokkatti? From Tartok?" At that point, she kept her distance, knowing that her words were everything far from kind. The disappointment was evident and even now, she wasn't sure if she was trying to help him or aggravate him.