[Astraea Olath'barra]

As she strode through the crowded streets, Strae's hands still clenching and unclenching the bagh nakh in her hands, she noticed that the girl had come to move in stride with her. She let a slight smirk of arrogant superiority slither onto her face as the pair maneuvered through the crowd, Strae contemplating the girl's words. It was indeed a good question; one Strae wasn't even sure she knew the entire answer to. She did know a few parts of it, however, and she'd be damned if she let this dark-skinned elf know any better than that she knew the full and absolute truth.

"Because I am at an interesting stage...or rather, I will be soon. That stage will be a period where many stagnate. I will need to find a concrete reason; a way to move myself forward by force if I must, for fear of never advancing again, if not sliding backwards. The best way to accomplish that is to find a worthy stepping stone." She glanced sideways at the girl out of the corner of her eyes before letting her crimson orbs return forward as they moved in time.

"Currently you are not worthy...but when one cannot be found, the next best option is to create one yourself. I recognized the look in your eye, because I had it once myself. You hunger for something, you just don't know what. With the proper nudgings you could begin to move forward and make something of yourself...thus I speak to you in hopes of crafting a stepping stone to help me advance that's worth my time." Her grin cracked wider to reveal a flash of pearl-white teeth.

"If you fail, all I have done is waste a few breaths and moved on with my life, and you pass into the footnotes of history. If you succeed, than you become so much more, and at the cost of a few breaths I potentially gain something of great worth...something that will help me move forward by making you worth my time." She knew exactly what she was saying, so she decided to say it plainly...she always was a bit more direct then most of the more tricky Vysstichi.

"So yes, at the moment, I am using you. And if it works, I will continue to use you, until I find you worth the ultimate use. If you rise even beyond that; if you succeed in becoming my stepping stone without dying, so much the better for you." Telling her racial sister this was a huge risk; it was possible she would leave or go away from Strae, but though she couldn't explain it, she had a feeling.

A feeling that she had hooked this girl's interest. Even if she knew she was going to be used, it was quite possible that at the cost of being helped in moving forward, she would accept the price of being used. It was a small price to pay, after all, and if she did well enough, she just might live through it all.