The games were beginning.

For a moment she feels a blade of fury for her brother, having left her alone, a proverbial bait for all the hungry sharks of Asteraia. Then she shoves that thought down because it made her weak inside. If Blackthorne had ever known of such a weakness he would exploit it as a means of either strengthening or breaking her. Natiya could not let him down, yet still, she is quite obviously nervous as she drops the toad at her feet. Instinct demands that she cover it with a paw for it was her kill yet she is loath to move in the presence of this creature. His grin is full of amusement but that meant little. Wasn't her brother eternally amused by the world? It made him no less keen to strike out at it.

A flash of fur to her left makes her hackles rise, nose twitching with the urge to bare her slender fangs as a reminder that she was not prey, regardless of what these wolves liked to swallow. It was the dual-colored boy who intensely disliked the Darkbringer. A reciprocal feeling if she had ever seen one. Ripper's words made one ear turn back as she warily skipped her eyes between the two, ever on edge. "Hello," she responds tersely to Ripper. It is a struggle. Her adrenaline is up, the need to be curt boiling, but they are males and instinct demands that she show a bit of deference.

Yet when Kajika chimes in it is the last part of his sentence that catches her attention and suspicion flares. So, they seek to try and draw secrets from her lips. "I'm not sure what I could teach you, but I'll give it a shot if you've a mind for something." The words are out before she realizes it, her lyrical voice sharp with an undercurrent of glass, a tight lipped smile on her maw. Inside she is shocked by her own behavior - perhaps the slightest widening of her pupils could give it away. She has never spoken to another in such a way. It is very reminiscent of her own family. Her eyes slide back to Ripper, her smile softening slightly, sweetening her features a bit. "Titles are proof of strength. Do you not have one?" Her words are not as biting as they were with Kajika, more curious, trying to ease the conversation away from getting her back up again. Two against one was not good odds.