Elena
when life knocks you down
calmly get back up
calmly get back up
Hunters and protectors alike traversed the wastes during the warmer seasons. To gather food or to stop dangers before they reached the Citadel, there always had been and always would be risks. Sometimes, taking those risks meant someone didn't come home in one piece or at all. It was something Elena understood, as did Morgan. But being prepared for potential injury and death when one knew it was coming, and having it come to you in the middle of the night were two entirely different things. No one could have been prepared for this night.
Had Elena not still been so shaken herself, she might have been able to soften her answer to Morgan. Might have left out the mention of her own loss. But would her offer of absolution, however small, have meant as much?
She nodded at Morgan's gratitude, mouth tightening at the mention of could-have-beens. "And if you had died, someone else would be blamed for your death. Likely the Healer, for not doing his duty. Or the former Warden, for not being able to protect anyone." She shook her head, unable to stop the sharp bitterness in her tone that came with that last claim. "I can't take away the guilt you're feeling. But people saw you up on the wall. They saw you attack the invaders. Anyone who says you're a coward is an idiot."
Had Elena not still been so shaken herself, she might have been able to soften her answer to Morgan. Might have left out the mention of her own loss. But would her offer of absolution, however small, have meant as much?
She nodded at Morgan's gratitude, mouth tightening at the mention of could-have-beens. "And if you had died, someone else would be blamed for your death. Likely the Healer, for not doing his duty. Or the former Warden, for not being able to protect anyone." She shook her head, unable to stop the sharp bitterness in her tone that came with that last claim. "I can't take away the guilt you're feeling. But people saw you up on the wall. They saw you attack the invaders. Anyone who says you're a coward is an idiot."
smile and very politely say
"you hit like a bitch"
"you hit like a bitch"
