Halo supposes that she’d be a ghastly creature if he wasn’t as used to seeing… things. Things that were broken and things that were bloody and strange. Things that could be ghastly, even. Delya and Dimitri, they were strange creatures that liked the ripping and the shredding. They’d taught him, even at his yearling state, how to take down prey. Fast prey. Yes, the two elder creatures were quick and agile, and Halo was strong. His mother had been built for brute strength and brutal honesty, and being raised by a couple of very, very strange monsters? Yes.
He isn’t scared, but there’s something about the woman before him that demands respect. Halo isn’t a stranger to creatures like this, and he knows that it’s appropriate to drop his head slightly, watch her with careful eyes. Respect. He will respect the creature that has the power to end him right here, right this moment. She could. He didn’t doubt that. Yet there was a boldness to the creature that would keep him from being downright scared. No. Halo didn’t do fear. He didn’t know fear, not as well as everyone else did. Being afraid of certain things was healthy, and he lacked that too. Maybe that’s why he was… he was the way he was.
She speaks to his face now, and he’s glad for that. “If I was to shout, and you were to shout back, I wouldn’t be able to hear you. It’s easier to speak to your face, like we do now.” He finds enough of her words with his eyes, trespass among them. He understands that he may have slipped up, but the pale creature also doesn’t know how better to go about that. He’s young. A yearling beside the larger woman, though he would grow up to be strong and bold. He would need help. He would need training. Ambitious as the creature was, Halo knew he needed something else.
The dark creature asks why as well. Halo thinks for a moment, allowing the words to form in the order he needs for them to. It’ll take a moment, but he can get all the words together. “I know this place like the back of my hand. I’m young and willing to learn. I won’t stop until I get what I want or what I need.” There are words that come past his lips, and his phrasing is less fluid than it maybe should be. He was young. He would learn. If there was one thing Halo was thirsty for, down deep in his bones, it was knowledge.
Halo longed to thrive.
halo
my clothes are still soaking wet from your brother’s tears |