OOC here! :: Word Count → 621
Sophie giggled as Hamza butted his head into Leon's leg, nearly knocking her big brother down, and was given a carrot for his trouble. She padded a bit higher on his back as Leon settled down to talk to her, her ears perking up brightly as she nodded. "Uh-huh! I'm gonna learn everything!" She promised, or more probably threatened, as she was determined to be the most useful person in the whole world. Her dreams would probably narrow themselves down to more of what she could actually accomplish when she grew older, but for the moment, she wanted to know everything; she wanted to be the best at everything, even if some of those things wouldn't be the most physical, seeing as she couldn't even beat her twin at a simple wrestling match. Then again, he was getting so much bigger than her, while she stayed...tiny. She was somewhat worried about that, but kept her doubts to herself as Leon continued.
"I'd like that," She admitted quietly, as learning to hunt from Leon meant that she would get to spend a lot more time with him, and that was something she'd love no matter what they were doing. As he leaned back against Hamza, she scooted closer to him, laying down across the bison's large spine and laying her head against her paws. He mentioned that it would take a long time to know everything he did, and that she'd only understand some things when she was older, but she looked at him with wide eyes and wondered if perhaps that wasn't so true. She'd come to understand a lot in the past few weeks, after all, even more than Boothe had; though he, perhaps, wasn't trying to understand, so much as revel in their sudden freedom. She couldn't help but pipe up hesitantly, "I'm allowed to understand sooner though, right? I mean...if I do..." She was always worried, now, about what she was allowed to do. She'd do her best not to understand things until Leon said she was ready for them, if it turned out she wasn't.
Leon asked her what she'd like to learn the most, saying she should only focus on one or two things at most at one time, and she paused to give it some thought, before she looked down at him, blinking hesitantly. "I wanna...learn to hunt. And...to paint, like I do in the pretty tent. I wanna do it properly, though. Everyone else makes such pretty pictures," She added, a wistful note in her voice, and shifted her paws quietly, turning her head and blinking in surprise as he began playing with her tiny foot. She flexed her toes, and then shifted closer to him again, pleased when she didn't go slipping down the side of Hamza's flank. Leon spoke again, and she laid her ears back hesitantly, a worried look crossing her face. "Like...like the silver things. The...knives." She remembered, as the fight that day with their father was still quite clearly etched into her mind. She laid her head down again, and blinked at him, her eyes looking more worried than eager at the thought of learning how to hurt people. "I...don't know if I want to know how to use those..."
He continued playing with her foot, and she let him, but the doubts began to creep back in as she watched his large hand holding her oh-so-tiny foot in it. As he made his declaration, she lifted her blue gaze to him, and tried not to look worried as she gazed at him almost desperately. "Y'think so?" she asked quietly, and then, even more so, "I'm not too small?"
Sophie speaks