Stonewatch Timbers What more could I want?

A burst of motion and sound rushed at him from behind, forcing him to lift his nose from the fallen foxes' den and turn his head. His pale eyes caught the sight of a winded Cessair delivering death to the final autonomous vixen, and as she straightened her posture to greet him, they hovered on the dual cut that continued to trickle blood from her nose with the single thought of, I bet that stings.

"Hey," he returned with a brisk smile of his own, before turning his attention back to the squirming children. They seemed to be utterly upset, clearly aware that something was gravely amiss in their world but still rendered too stupid by underdevelopment to fully comprehend the fate that awaited them.

"What do you think? Should we gather the bodies, or leave them where they lie as a warning to any other vermin that want to come too close?" the king asked her, as he contemplated the question himself. It seemed best to allow the varied scenes of death to forewarn competitors, yet the thought of one of the children witnessing the carnage should one of the adults choose to take them for a stroll this way bothered him. It was the way of life, and yet he wanted to shield them from what might seem to them as senseless violence.

Regardless, he crouched down and nosed his muzzle once more into the foxhole, jaws finding the children's small, warm bodies and quickly ending their squeaking lives with a few slicings of his fangs.

Sorry this has taken me forever!

The hunt had been exhilarating. A little exercise and a rush of adrenaline was a welcome change from Cessair's lately quiet days. As much as it had been enjoyable, though, she found it repulsive, too, the more she thought about it. Looking around at the three carcasses that represented the two wolves' handiwork, Cessair couldn't find it in herself to be satisfied. It wasn't their fault that they had been born foxes, and it wasn't her fault that she had been born a wolf. But such was the way of things, and this was just the way it had to be.

Cessair's first thought in response to Gent's question was that she wanted to gather the bodies. Then she scolded herself for her desire to give them a burial. It certainly couldn't mean anything to the deceased, so the task wouldn't be worth the amount of time it would cost. The distracted woman continued to ponder as Gent reached into the den to end the helpless cubs' brief existences. Cessair cringed to hear their cut-short cries. While it would be good to leave a warning in the hope of preventing a repeat of today's hunt, she couldn't help but imagine how it would affect the royal children if they were to encounter the gruesome scene.

Then again, leaving the bodies as they were could attract scavengers, and the flies and stench that would come with rot would almost certainly attract curious pups. Yes, certainly this was sufficient justification! "Let's gather them. I would really hate for any of the children to see this." Sure, it may mean other foxes, unaware of the danger of the nearby wolf pack, may choose to settle too close. Certainly that wasn't ideal, but, distasteful as the task of killing the fox family may have been, Cessair knew that for the good of her pack she would certainly be willing to do it again. She closed her eyes and tried not to think about it as she gingerly took hold of the first carcass.

His gruesome job finished, the man reclined, lifting his mammoth skull to meet Cessair's choice. He licked the blood from his maw thoughtfully, considering her presentation. Perhaps she was right, maybe this whole scene and its justification would be a little too recondite for his children to comprehend. Anyways, even if they didn't find the material too upsetting, Minka might still be displeased that he had risked it at all. Deciding to follow his pack mate's advice, he clawed at the den's ceiling, collapsing it and effectively creating a barricade of soil between the permanently sleeping kits and his world.

"Alright, let's take these somewhere outside of the territory then," he instructed as he hoisted himself back up onto his paws and trotted over to @Cessair. A smile was thrown her way as he also offered, "Thanks for the help with this," before leaning down to grasp the two remaining bodies between his jaws. Once he was certain that his grip was secure, the man took off at a brisk pace with his new friend on his trail. They would take the foxes far enough away so that the stench of their death would not lure the curious tykes outside of the safety of the pack's borders before discarding them unceremoniously. On their return trip, Gent pointedly struck up some idle chatter with his company, an easy way to better know her and her demeanor. This had certainly been a productive hour or two.

/Fade

(This post was last modified: Nov 06, 2015, 01:46 AM by Gent.)