[ He's quiet for a long moment, just watching Root. Waiting for any hint of mockery or disrespect to the dead, or his sister. The wounds are still raw, perhaps always will be. He feels their loss in him like a phantom limb, twisting through his soul.

Then: ]

She's kind. Brutal when she needs to be. Stone cold in the field. [ He nods just once, firm. ] She taught me how to survive when I was nothing but a green idiot. But she still shows mercy, sometimes. It always costs her.