[OoC: Oh god sorry this is long]
Eira dropped to her knees, slender arms encircling the half-dead man, tears already blurring her eyes in a potent mixture of fury and empathy. Of course, that had always been her problem, at least from a dragon's standpoint. Too sympathetic. She'd always been the most human of her little Clan, and had anyone ever let her forget it? Certainly not her mother, with her exasperation; never her father, with his eyes that were stuck somewhere between disappointment and disgust whenever he beheld her. She'd never been one of the treasured children, never been a model of animal ferocity and predatory excellence. It had been partly that which had forced her out of the fold; she'd wanted everyone's approval, but known that by gaining it, she'd be sacrificing her own. It had always been too high a price; she never regretted not paying it, just regretted the fact that she'd ever had to.
Even still, it was hard not to hate her family. They didn't see their actions as right or wrong, because they simply were. The lion does not tarry over the killing of the gazelle; she kills and eats, because that is life. Eira knew it was the same for her siblings, for her parents, even with Kaida's childish ploys, her older sister's steadfast leadership, her eldest brother's innate manipulation. She hardly knew her own little brother, but she knew that surely there was something instinctive in his killings, too. They were dragons. Dragons ate humans - usually. She couldn't hate them for who they were, and it was a waste of time to wish they would change when she knew they never would, probably couldn't.
But that didn't make it right, surely?
Still cradling the poor, broken man, Eira's head snapped up toward her siblings. Her brother spoke first, but Emilia's words were far more cutting. Probably because they were true. Words leapt to her tongue, instantly repressed; she knew her sister well enough to remember that a sarcastic remark would only make things worse, even if her disobedient nature raged against her logical side. Instead, she flicked her eyes back to Electi right before a desperate cold sank into her chest. She had only a moment to watch her younger brother's face twist into something almost like sympathy, an apology to her etched into the grimace on lips, before the deep chill wrapped itself around her heart and squeezed. Of course, Aeizith wasn't attacking her, but when you touch the coldest ice, you still get burned.
The man in her arms hardened, never even making a sound. She dropped her face, pathetically human tears dripping onto his frozen cheek and solidifying instantly. The ice bit at her arms, and though she struggled to push her healing magic into the hardening form, she knew it was helpless. You can't heal the dead, and this man could be nothing else. She could only draw in a shuddering breath, a single hand flitting to her cheeks to rub the betraying weakness away roughly. Fool. Stupid little fool.
"I came to do damage control," she replied to her brother, biting the words out as she lifted her face. "You can't expect to keep destroying towns and killing innocent people without drawing attention to yourselves. You're strong, but dragon hunters still exist, Electi. You're jeopardizing everyone's safety." It was the only way she knew to fight, appealing to his sense of reason. Turning to Emilia, she stood slowly, absently rubbing at her still-cold arms. "What if one of them caught one of you? No one knows I'm.... like this," the words grated past her teeth, even as she rebelled against them inside, "But you're all going to get found out. There's whispers out there, you know. Dragons aren't just a fairytale to everyone." She half-turned away, feeling her gut churn at her young sister's actions to the bloody ice. Part of her was disgusted; part of her was actually hungry. Gods above and below, she hated herself.
