Yitzah had come to her conclusions long ago about war and strife. Her mind had been forever set and made by her sister's brutal death. They had died right before her eyes, and there was only one creature she could lame. There was only one foe worthy of her rage.

The bug monsters.

It was they, and no other, who had called forth flame and lightning and other magics to hurt and maim the people she loved. Their screams had gone on too long, their flesh had sizzled, and what she had seen that day in the jungle still haunted her nightmares. All other foes and beasts paled in comparison to the bug men, and there was no room in her hard little heart for more than that one, all-encompassing grudge. Everything else was just not worth it.

That was why she thought that war was stupid. Why, she often complained (whether people were listening to her or not,) did people – did Sisters, even – fight each other? Sure, anger in the moment sparked duels, and some people just needed to beat others and get beat up sometimes, but to come together in a big, bloody clash? To fight and die? For what? Why?

The true dangers were elsewhere, and to fight so vigorously over anything else was stupid - Stupid and, moreover, wasteful. How many resources had been eaten up by war? How many able bodied people had died? Stupid.

Yitzah was convinced that the bug monsters were behind it all. Yitzah would never forget the infernal hatred that gleamed in the oculars that they used for eyes, the cruel intelligence that had tormented her sisters until their screams were no more. They were smart, cunning, evil monsters and war was clearly a part of their scheme to turn people against each other. That way, when their nefarious plots came to fruition, it would be easy to conquer and kill everyone left standing. Or something along those lines. Yitzah didn't pretend to understand the monsters.

At the very least, Yitzah was pretty sure that the Extremist rebellion was their doing. Why else would Sisters attack other Sisters, if not pushed into it by the whispers of an outside force? Who cared if there were hybrids? Or if someone loved an earthling? It was not any of Yitzah's business and as long as they stayed out of her way, she could not care less. That the others were reacting in such an impractical way proved that they had been tricked.

People, Yitzah was finding, were stupid that way. They lost sight of the real threats, the real concerns, and got caught up on race and gender and old grudges. The Obans had killed her mother and eldest sister (probably), and yet she did not think of the fire tribe as anything other than more earthlings to deal with. The tribe had not killed them, a few individuals had. The war had. Whether that war, too, was a plot of the bug monsters, Yitzah did not know. But she did not hold the Obans accountable for the deaths of her mother and sister. She had better things to do. They had better things to do. Life moved on.

She did not hate the Extremists either. They were just stupid and hurtful and wrong, blinded by their hate to what really mattered. If that was what they decided to do, fine. If they were satisfied with their new, gross, swampy home, then fine. That was on them. That was what the bug people wanted. Yitzah did not care.

Yitzah never wanted to fight in a war. War implied that there were groups of people fighting each other. Yitzah hunted the bug men, and until someone else recognized the threat that they posed, she would likely be hunting them alone.

War that may be, yes, but that was a very personal 'war'. It was nothing like the wars she had heard about, nothing at all. Yitzah was determined not to fight in any other war unless it furthered her ends – her bug-men killing ends.

Or, of course, if someone she cared about was in danger. She would fight for the black brothers and for Anya, her few friends in the world. Otherwise, why bother? Yitzah did not care. She was on her own side in this, and was happy to be so.

Her goals were clear. Her path was set. If war happened again, then she would ignore if if she could. And if she could not? Well... she supposed she would have to fight, then.

But she would not like it.