[There is no inflection to the words, nothing in the tilt of his chin or the furrow of his brow to betray whether it is meant to be an insult or simply a correction. But the lack of that inflection is perhaps more damning than anything.]
Only that you are not frivolous with the life that others endangered themselves to save, and that you likewise do not endanger the lives of the other Hosts.
[His priorities were narrow. Keep the young Hosts alive. Give them the tools that he could to see that they survived to become fully fledged members of the Nest. Beyond that-]
We offer you the chance to fight, because few prefer to simply hide and wait for death to find them. [He takes a long breath, lets it out, and when he speaks again, it is with inflexible words] This is not a war. We are not soldiers, we have no army, we have no kingdom. We have only our lives, and we are being hunted.
[They were like creatures thrashing in the jaws of some great beast. Perhaps, if they struggled hard enough, they would do some injury to it. He does not say as much. It was not helpful.]
no subject
[There is no inflection to the words, nothing in the tilt of his chin or the furrow of his brow to betray whether it is meant to be an insult or simply a correction. But the lack of that inflection is perhaps more damning than anything.]
Only that you are not frivolous with the life that others endangered themselves to save, and that you likewise do not endanger the lives of the other Hosts.
[His priorities were narrow. Keep the young Hosts alive. Give them the tools that he could to see that they survived to become fully fledged members of the Nest. Beyond that-]
We offer you the chance to fight, because few prefer to simply hide and wait for death to find them. [He takes a long breath, lets it out, and when he speaks again, it is with inflexible words] This is not a war. We are not soldiers, we have no army, we have no kingdom. We have only our lives, and we are being hunted.
[They were like creatures thrashing in the jaws of some great beast. Perhaps, if they struggled hard enough, they would do some injury to it. He does not say as much. It was not helpful.]
You should adjust your expectations.