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She was a princess, but that didn't mean she didn't work and didn't work damn hard. That was what it was about, right? Working for the good of the pack? She had a bright pelt and two horns on her snout, she really needed to live up to that. And she needed to live up to her rank and set a proper example for the pack.

The pack. She stopped and dropped the deer she'd been dragging. Why was it so small? It bothered her, especially the shortage of males. Her mother, the Maman, had explained most of the reasons why, but it didn't make Phoebe feel any better. Westfall was a great pack, the greatest! But it was small, and had dark coated females in high positions. Not that they didn't work hard to earn the position, she admitted ruefully.

But still...

Even if it was a small deer, it was still heavy and awkward. The combination of dragging the deer and worrying over the pack's size was enough to distract her entirely from her surroundings. After all, she was pretty deep in the pack boundaries and more than safe.

She jumped when Muerta approached, but recovered quickly. "Hello Muerta," she said, dropping the deer once more. "Yes, I brought down a deer," she said with a small amount of pride. She was still pretty young, after all, and still somewhat new to hunting. She missed as often as she succeeded, and every catch was a victory. Proof that she wasn't just a lazy layabout and could pull down a deer.

She thought quickly, trying to remember the other dragon's rank. Huntress. Perhaps it wasn't so bad that the pack was small after all. "And yourself? Have you had much luck today?" she asked politely.

Phoebe flinched as Muerta started to talk about death. Right. That was why she avoided her. "I suppose," she said carefully. And when she thought about it, it was true. She was a meat-eater, she killed to live. But it wasn't a pleasant topic or one she particularly enjoyed talking about.

Phoebe didn't quite growl, but she did dig her claws into the earth. Is that the way she thought of her? Just some soft princess, some good for nothing layabout? But that mention of death, again. Perhaps Muerta was just trying to be polite. Perhaps. "I am a princess," she said simply, "not the heir. No heir has been chosen, and until the day someone is selected, my sisters and I live as no more than common members of the pack. All that sets me apart are the horns on my snout and the knowledge my mother drilled in my head. Mostly the knowledge," she added, "the complete history of the pack and what each job entails. But what use is that knowledge if I can't even get my paws dirty? I did not really know how to hunt until I brought down my first deer. That is a knowledge that can not be taught, the taste of hot blood."

Phoebe nodded slightly at Muerta's words, gaining some respect out of the other dragon's admission of not understanding. Admitting getting something wrong - yes, that took guts.

The nod shifted to a flinch at the mention of death. But Muerta was willing to look at things from Phoebe's point of view, why couldn't Phoebe do the same?

She was a princess.

Muerta was a member of her pack.

She had to understand, she had to. She took a deep breath and thought about her first hunt, her first successful hunt. The deer, struggling under her while she choked out its life. The blood, seeping into her mouth. Death, yes that too. "And that sensation is tenfold when you took the life," she said slowly. "But I have never seen a dragon die and do not wish to." She shuddered at the very thought.

Phoebe looked at Muerta in surprise. How had she overlooked this dragon? It was true that she was a bit... morbid... but when you looked beneath the surface, there was something, something bright and beautiful and thoughtful. She looked down at the deer, and thought about Muerta's words. "It's wrong to kill without reason," she said slowly. "But for food, to live... it is needed. I think I'm starting to understand. This deer died so that we might live, and we should respect that sacrifice." She looked at Muerta hopefully, ever the attentive student.

"Yes!" Phoebe said, starting to get genuinely excited. "Yes, that's it! They're... they're... connected." She grimaced, but laughed nonetheless. She liked pushing herself and thinking about things in new and different ways. Challenges, thinking games - she missed those. No, this was far better than any dull memorization. She paused and tried to get things straight in her head. "If there was no death... if there was no death, there would still be life but it would like, like a rock. We'd sit there, and we'd exist, but we'd have no reason to fight, to struggle. Because how can you know you're happy if you've never been sad?"

Phoebe listened eagerly to Muerta, like dry earth during a storm, and carefully considered her question. "The easy answer is that if there were no males, it would be very hard to have children," she said, "but the truth... I suspect the truth is different. Tied to life and death? I suppose if we were all female, and there were no males, it just be... too much of the same. The males provide something different, a contrast to us. And they are rather useful." She smiled shyly, and admitted, "I did rather like having my dad around while I was growing up. He was always very loving towards my sisters and I."