Aery sighed. [color=00a99d]“I doubt my sense of self-preservation will let me be stupid,”[/color] she told the Fire girl. [color=00a99d]“But you? You’re the one who should be careful. We can’t win. We just can’t. Maybe it’s better to go without fighting, at least without being visibly defiant.”[/color] A tear dripped down her cheek and she angrily scrubbed it away. She forced a trembling smile onto her face, looking up at the slightly taller girl. [color=00a99d]“I hope you get someone who respects your courage, and not this… brute.”[/color] She felt good for saying it, though she knew she’d probably pay for the remark later. And just thinking about that retribution made all the blood drain from her face and what felt to be a Gordian knot tangling itself in her stomach.

[i][color=7bcdc8]And as far as what I want for myself? Well, I don’t even know that much. I just want to live, but I don’t suppose I even deserve to do that. I’m just a coward and a weakling and I can’t even try to stand up to these monsters like my sisters. I don’t deserve to live, not when my people are fighting back and all I can do is cower and tremble.[/color][/i] Her knees buckled and she stumbled, catching herself before she could fall. Tears were pouring down her face again and she couldn’t cease the flow; she tucked her face to her chest, letting her long dark blonde hair fall forward and hide her shameful emotions from her sisters. Her thin shoulders trembled but she did not make a sound; that much, at least, she could choke back to not shame her sisters further.
[@agentmanatee] and [@NarcissisticPotato]