She was silent a moment, wondering if all Crows think as he do, that they are changed by every life they take. What a strange point of view for someone who is, for all intents and purposes, a hired killer. Drumming her fingertips on her thigh she shakes her head. She does not agree with him, and though she isn't keen on starting an argument over such a thing she can't hold her tongue. "There are some problems with that analogy. A baker might know how to hold a knife, but only for the purpose of cutting bread. I assume you know how kill someone. It doesn't vary too much between humans and Darkspawn."
"As for you suggestion that killing without thinking makes one an animal, well I would say that this again, depends. In the heat of battle you don't always have time to think over your every action or reaction. You kill, or you die. It can be as simple at that. When it comes to non-life threatening situations, that is what separates men and women from the beasts. Violence is not always the only course of action. But every situation is different. You can't for example, control what others will do. Only what you do."
She let out a long breath, unaccustomed to talking for so much. Something about the topic rankled her. Perhaps it was the suggestion that she was an animal. Even if the Crow had not meant it that way it hit a raw nerve. Her motives for fighting had been questioned before, in fact it had been thrown at her that she seemed to enjoy fighting too much and that there must be something wrong with her. But she didn't believe she was as unthinking as was often suggested. There was just no time to think in the situations she usually found herself in. When someone meant to kill her, she wanted to assure that they died first.
Perhaps the base need of survival was the same in men and in beasts, but did that make her one for not wishing to die. She doubted the Crow wanted to die anymore than she did. He seemed to imply as much. Shaking her head she glanced at him. "You said you were forced to become a Grey Warden? I don't understand. Couldn't you refuse?"