In the silence, Esra takes a deep breath.

"You do not want to die. Neither does the fish I tried to catch, the plants I harvested before this mess. The tree that makes the seeds you eat certainly doesn't want you to eat its children, insofar as a plant can want. What intrinsically grants your life more value than theirs? Is it that my eyes find commonalities between your form and the form of my race, making you seem 'cute'?

Does it not seem capricious to choose what lives and dies based on appearance? I want to survive, you want to survive and our food wants to survive. Sadly, as long as plants, animals and people increase their numbers given opportunity there will always be conflict for scarce resources. Does not the tree shade the grasses?"

Esra gently sets the squirrel on the ground and steps away. He swallows and then snaps his fingers. The weave responds and flame springs into being.

Spoiler: OOC
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Esra casts Create Bonfire at the squirrel. If the rest of the pack tries to attack him, he's going to cast burning hands at them. If he misses, he will keep trying.

Was he able to short rest/use arcane recovery during the float?