Blacktail Deer Plateau Bring it on, baby. I can take you and your spatula.

Maiming and murder, killing and woe. Siqsa's words dripped like acid, burning a picture into Rue's mind of a pack drenched in blood and misery. Such an existence seemed hardly feasible to Rue, and so she assumed that Siqsa's description was an exaggeration concocted to provoke something inside of Rue... pity, perhaps? Surely no one actually wished to be pitied. Fear, then? It did seem more likely that the young man was attempting to frighten Rue, to push her away before she discovered any more vulnerabilities. Yes, that must be it-- it was a very mercenary-esque thing to do, to build up such a disturbing image for oneself that no one noticed the tender, crying pup within. 

Rue's gaze grew stormy as she realized the young man was pulling back from her, throwing up a defensive wall of disconcerting images to keep her away. She would not pursue or attempt to break his wall apart; she suspected it could very well be the only mental and emotional structure keeping him safe. "You learned that way of life well enough it seems.." she said simply, voice impassive, "..so you can learn a new way just the same. If that's what you want." Despite his sour words, Siqsa was far from an embittered old man set in his ways. Just as Mouse Kid would learn, Siqsa would learn too. 

Siqsa made some kind of.. joke, was it?.. about getting on Rue's nerves, and Rue took that to mean that he was uninterested in continuing the conversation at the previous depth and magnitude. They had gotten pretty profound there for a minute, considering Siqsa's age and the fact that the two of them were relative strangers. Rue could understand Siqsa's desire to discharge the atmosphere in favor of lighter conversation. "To get on my nerves, you would have to catch them first," she joked back, voice slightly teasing, hinting a challenge. "And I'm afraid you're far too slow to do that." Rue tensed, ready to spring away playfully, and her tail switched back and forth in anticipation. Would he take the bait, or stubbornly insist on continuing to wallow?