When Wraith saw Hextor land next to her, she knew that Valyrie would not be far behind. She wasn't too sure if she wanted to be alone right now or not, but she didn't want to be rude to Hextor when he was only following orders.
Wraith knew that she would have to make such decisions for herself, so she didn’t expect Valkyrie to do it for her. But she had hoped at least to get a better idea. She felt her heart sink when Valkyrie explained that all she could do was lead her in the right direction. But what were the directions she could take? She didn’t know if she knew about what she could be to make a proper decision. She liked that Valkyrie didn’t want to make her decision for her – it made her feel very grown-up – but she had also been hoping for a little more guidance.
Wraith watched quietly as Valkyrie stroked a small kitten. Wraith hadn’t noticed it show up, but she’d seen her sister with it before. She wasn’t sure if she liked it – on one hand, if she had been younger, she would have loved a friend like that. But now that she was older, her instincts said she shouldn’t like it since it was another predator. Of course, it was too cute to dislike and Wraith knew that all it could eat were mice (and she didn’t want any of those!) so she supposed it was alright.
Her heart rose when Valkyrie continued, this time with more suggestions. Fighting, scouting, hunting – yes, she knew all of those things. But hearing Valkyrie helped in a strange sort of way. Her sudden onset of insecurity was quenched with Valkyrie’s assistance. Though, none of those things sounded particularly interesting. She thought maybe she could be a warrior, like her father, but wasn’t sure if she wanted to be a hunter. She already hunted with the clan – especially now that she’d been old enough for a few months – but she didn’t know if that was what she really liked. She wasn’t good and she wasn’t bad; it was just a part of life in Inferni.
Again, Valkyrie interacted with another animal. Hextor cooed at Valkyrie and Valkyrie made some noises back at it. It didn’t sound the same as when she spoke to Wraith, so Wraith figured it must have been noises the owl understood. Hextor seemed to understand, so Wraith was very impressed.
I guess all of those things are okay, she began slowly. I know you can’t decide for me and I don’t want you to, but… umm… I don’t know if I want to be any of those things. If I have to do that for the rest of my life, that sounds kind of… boring, she finished lamely. She accompanied her half-hearted explanation with a sigh, but then pulled herself together.
I’d like to learn,” she added. I like learning, she said. About anything. And animals. I like how Hextor knows what you’re saying. Can I just learn… and that be my job? Her suggestion was accompanied by a small smile. She knew her sister would always look out for her, so she just hoped that this wasn’t asking too much. Val already did so much, so it almost seemed mean to ask her to do any more. Maybe one day Wraith could be good enough at something to help Val out instead.