She understood his hesitation to answer her question, she doubted that anyone he’d met had actually tried to hold a conversation for too long. People didn’t take well to Striders, they tended to avoid them. She stayed silent as he had his mental debate, her eyes never once fleeting from the edge where the sky touched the waterline. She felt safe here, she let her mind escape the horrors of the day. She wasn’t the favorite, in her family or in her town. Oliver however, Ollie was the most well liked person to ever exist... in her opinion at least. He got on with everyone, he never fought, he was perfect. She took that away, and she’d have to live with that notion.<br/><br/>When he finally spoke up, she turned her head, her vibrant green eyes resting on his solemn expression. She felt a pang in her heart as he expressed his past, the path that brought him to where he was now. As he described the loss of so many people, people that he had tried to protect, she frowned and looked to the ground. She could tell he was trying not to let that recount affect him, but it was evident in his voice.<br/><br/>She stayed silent for a moment, thinking her next works over. “You can’t protect everyone, that’s just not the way this world works.” Her voice held a sadness to it, though she kept her tone level. She wasn’t sure how to truly respond to his reasoning, she just had to voice her opinion carefully.<br/>“I don’t like hope. Because in the beginning, I was handed so much hope. They told me things would get better, that a new beginning was coming but... it’s not a fact. Hope gives people false optimism.”<br/><br/>She really wasn’t one to be a downer in this already unfortunate situation, but she’d seen anough torment in her life. She’d lost enough that she eventually became sick of it all. The world was the way it was, and she had to live it through as it is.<br/>“Maybe you’re right, maybe people do need hope. They do need someone to show them the way. But what happens when that isn’t enough?” She looked over to him, offering him a slight smile. “I don’t know, I’ve only ever known the fear. It’s just so... confusing.”