"Eh, most animals can do that without talking intelligently. But clearly you guys are people in the sense of having politics and medical expertise and names and suchlike, and the twolegs have not evidently noticed, so if songbirds and voles were people..."

She flicks the tip of her tail but doesn't verbally respond.

"Unfortunately I don't know how to tell, I didn't get a vole language for free with my summons, but, uh, if it would not be too far beneath your dignity to take food I make for you..."

(Fireheart is so uncomfortable on multiple levels!  He tries to hide it, and succeeds at only looking so uncomfortable on one level.)

"Why?"

"Look, I grew up eating animals, but on my planet the twolegs - who are so far as I know the only sapient species there - have phased out this practice because demons like me can make meat that's just as good, actually better on average, for cheaper, without hurting any animals, and those animals aren't nearly as bright as you! This planet by contrast observably contains some sapiences unbeknownst to some other sapiences, so if you can stand not catching the songbirds and voles while I try to figure out if this is even a concern, it would be a weight off my mind."

"You keep saying things that don't make sense."

"...I suppose I've been assuming that you guys are against murder. Are you not?"

"It's against the warrior code to kill cats under most circumstances . . ."

"Is it objectionable in any way to kill, say, me? Supposing this were feasible and you happened to feel like it for some reason."

"That would depend on what the reason was."

"What reasons would make it unobjectionable?"

"Well, if you were trying to kill me, for one."

"Apart from self-defense or the defense of the lives of others, anything?"

"Probably.  I'm not thinking of a specific one right now."

"Okay. Well. Because I can make arbitrary material objects including whatever food your hearts may desire, killing prey is not defense of your lives or those of others, because there are other ways to get food, and I don't know how many species on this planet are people and neither do you, so perhaps you could cool it with killing stuff till we know more."

"It's not my decision."

"You don't hunt?"

"Of course I do.  But I do it for the good of the Clan, and so it's not my decision."

"How long do you think it will take you to figure this out?" asks Fireheart.

"Uh, don't know. I can probably wrangle a mouse into completing a summoning circle but if that fails that's not conclusive for bluejays. Ideally I would not have to do it that way, especially since it's possible my being summoned here was a fluke of some kind and is not in fact reproducible."

"What would you trade us if we caught you some live prey for use in determining this?"

"I wouldn't! I would rather have minimally terrified live prey for this purpose and I don't think you're used to hunting to spec."

"How about for introducing you to some of the other Clans?"

"If there's something you want you can just ask me, making it would take less time than figuring out trade negotiations."