07-26-2015, 05:32 AM
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Enough was enough, and Etojo turned towards the ruckus. The carcass dangling from his mouth as he held what he assumed was once rabbit by the dead creature’s ears. What would it take to finish his meal in peace? He found her by the tree, scars, skin and bone. Her mane an entanglement of feathers and muck. Her belly swollen with child. Empathy did not suit Etojo, but for a moment there was a twinge of emotion that stirred deep down within the bowels of his conscience, pity perhaps? Whatever it was it moved him, moved him to action, to come closer, perhaps help. He clenched his rabbit tighter, its half-eaten body swaying to the rhythm of his walk. As he drew nearer he realised he was not alone, a spotted mare who stood not far had already rallied to the caw. She seemed to have the situation in hand, from what he could tell the communication was flowing. He wasn’t needed here. He would take his rabbit and be on his way, find a nice secluded spot which indorsed silence and solitude so he could consume the rest of his rabbit alone and in peace. It was a good plan, a great plan, until the realisation hit him, the mare was stark raving mad, and the slither of emotion he so uncharacteristically harboured for her evaporated in the same way his warm breath vaporised to nothing in the frosty air. Perhaps he was needed after all, perhaps he would help. Help clear the meadow of what shouldn’t belong. “I wouldn’t bother,” he drawled into the crisp meadow air as he drew up alongside the mare with the spots, the cold chill of his approach suppressed thoroughly by the frostier atmosphere of the season. “She’s obviously not right in the head.” The rabbit made what he had to say sound odd and distorted, but it wouldn’t take a genius to understand his drift. “Let’s try this,” he mumbled, his pupil-less orange eyes narrowing with a wicked kind of mirth. And in one abrupt motion, Etojo flung his head upwards, releasing the rabbit he had held between his jaws. The blood and filaments of its flesh trailing the bulk of its mangled body as the rabbit carcass hurtled through the air and towards the dark coloured mare whose sunken flesh and ravaged body made her look like death. Etojo watched his carcass fly. Watched as it landed with a muffled thud next to the tree, near enough to her… whose emaciated body could be a match to his own. Although he wore leaves of decay instead of fur. After a small pause of appreciation for his excellent aim, Etojo moved forth. “Coming?” he asked of spots, as he gestured towards the tree, the dead rabbit and the insane. When he stood close enough, he reached around his body and broke off one of the long twigs which formed a part of his tail. A sharp spasm of pain shot through his body. The pain would be worth it, he told himself. And with the twig clamped between his teeth, Etojo lowered his head down towards the ground, towards the flung rabbit. “Look,” he said to her, as he prodded the carcass with the twig he had snapped from his tail, separating flesh from bone, coating the twig in solidifying blood “Look close enough and you can see white bone, blood red, death…” |