Ruby nods at his comment about his brother. "The powers can be difficult to handle. I mean, I don't even have powers, I'm just observant and eventually memorise how people respond to things, and the conclusions I came to with that... Well, if I had the things beamed into my head, maybe it would be maddening on its own. But with a power that already had me stressed? That would break something."

She takes another sip of her water. "Honestly? I think something would be missing if I lost the power to talk to animals. Sometimes it can be scary - there's a difference between feeling that something wants to hurt you and knowing that it wants to hurt you - but for the most part it's pleasant. It's a lot easier than communicating with humans, as long as you don't get frustrated too easily that you can't explain super complex ideas to them. And," she pauses and grins at him, "the shoulder crow made me look totally badass. Some of the newer kids, and kids that showed up that summer, well they thought I was awesome for that, as well as for my helping to train them."

It was a warm memory, even if the situation had been terrible. It was memories like that which occasionally made her question if the cult had really been all that bad, before she remembered the rest of it. But even still, she could look back and remember how pleased she was.