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“I think he did. I mean…we did too, right?”

“No, Vespyr. We did not. We grew up in a society, and we learned to despise it just like Papa. It’s because of him that we like this kind of lifestyle.”

She kept quiet, and I wondered where she had left Papa as he hadn’t arrived at camp yet.

“I believe that I was born wild at heart. I always knew this is where I wanted to live.”

“Whatever. Believe what you want, but we weren’t born to live out here. We followed Papa. There’s no other reason why we’re here.”

“Then why did you also choose to come live out here if you don’t believe you were born to do so?” Vespyr asked in a murmur.

“Because I made up my own mind about how I feel about society. But you…you let Papa and books tell you how bad society is. You have to have your own opinions on things sometimes, sweet girl.”

She studied me closely as she let my words sink in, and as always, she took them and juggled them until they made sense.

It was easy to change her mind with just a few words, and as much as I hated to admit it, Vespyr was naïve as fuck.

I sighed, watching her eyes turn sad. “Hey,” I whispered, closing the distance between her and me and placing my hand on her cheek to caress her soft skin. “I’m happy you’re here with us. I just wish you’d start thinking a little more with your own brain instead of agreeing with everything Papa says. He’s not always right, you know?”

Her eyes were fixed on mine, and while she once again let my words sink in, she nodded.

“I know.”

“You’ll see. There will be times you’ll have to fight your own battles, and we can’t always be there to help you. There will also be times you’ll have to make your own decisions, and when that time comes, you’ll realize how powerful you can be. You have to put yourself first sometimes.”

“But I’m not a selfish person,” she told me, her eyes now dropping to the squirrel in her left hand.

“Then learn to be one. I’m not saying you have to be rude or unhelpful, but being selfish isn’t necessarily a bad thing. Especially in the wild.”

Leaning in, I kissed her forehead gently as I placed my other hand on her cheek as well.

“You’ll learn. And you know I’m right here if you need any more advice.”

She nodded and looked up, smiling gently. “I love you, Fen.”

“Love you too, Ves. Now, show me how you skin that squirrel. Haven’t had this kind of meat in weeks.”

*

Papa had arrived back to camp when Vespyr was already done with the squirrel, and we put it and a few fish from the day before over the fire for dinner.

“You two wanna go down to Jason’s and ask for the quad? We could use it for the wood, and maybe ask if we can also borrow his chainsaw. Gonna be quicker to cut down the trees,” Papa suggested.

I looked at Vespyr who was excited about building a cabin for Papa.

We had our treehouse, and no matter how old we’d get, we’d always sleep up there.

But since Papa thought a cabin would be best for him, I didn’t argue any further.

“We can go first thing tomorrow,” I said, looking back at him.

“That would be great.”

He got up from the table, leaving Vespyr and me sitting there with all the leftover bones from our dinner.

I was playing with my knife underneath the table, running my fingers along the blade and seeing how hard I could press it against my skin without cutting myself.

It was fun, but I’d rather run that blade along Vespyr’s skin.

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