Fairspell Meadow Bon-voyage

68F°, currently it is clear and set during the afternoon. Located in Kintla Flatlands, fairspell meadow | ooc notes: before she goes inactive, gotta get this lil girl moving! | tagging: @Stryx maybe?

Hungry. That's how she felt. The wolves by the river were kind but they were not family - something felt strange being there, especially with all the new puppies coming in it made the little fireball uncomfortable. No one was her mom, or dad, her siblings were scattered too and Conquest wasn't any better off. It left the little girl feeling... sad? Lonely? Empty. Not quite knowing how to describe it, the ember girl didn't linger on it for too long as she focused on one main thing... survival. 

With a little rumble in her tummy, she followed the scent of the closest thing that smelled like food for a while. Keeping her body low to the ground to hide as much as possible, she snaked through trying to follow her nose. The smell wasn't all too good, not fresh at all, but it was something. When that something came into view, Connie could barely contain herself before digging in. The carcass was barely good, the smell and taste were off for someone who was so accustomed to something fresher... but it was edible at least. 

Taking little bites and keeping her attention around her, the pup chewed and kept herself hidden as much as possible. Trying not to gain too much attention despite the bright red coat she was sporting, only growing brighter with highlights of gold the older she got.

The scent was pungent. It swept through the meadow as a plume against a backdrop of summer blossoms, with the baked grass smell predominant. Much as it drew the child out of hiding it would draw Stryx along, although she was not in such dire need and so her approach was more lethargic. She had been hiking this way for some days and was hungry; she had less interest in the foliage but kept an eye out for familiar bits and pieces all the same, unable to break the habit that had been worked in to her during her training. She spied tangled vines climbing up the base of trees (most of which looked pathetically withered in direct sunlight), a patch of young squash vines maybe. They would not produce anything until summer's end. Maybe she would mosey back this way for a sweet treat in the autumn.

It was the sound of chewing that made Stryx pause and focus her attention again. Plants could not devour you - not with teeth and certainly not quickly - but there were plenty of other creatures in this unknown wilderness and so Stryx would have to remain alert. It sounded like it came from somewhere low, close to the earth. She thought of wolverines foremost. It was too far south and much too warm for those creatures, though. As she prowled closer other creatures came to mind: skunks, stoats, raccoons — so when she finally caught a glimpse of the corpse and the small bundle of vibrant fur tucked in close to it, she was surprised.

It was a child. Could have been born during the passed season. Striations of gold gilded the bundle, encircling them in a faint aureate glow. Stryx had been frowning as she'd come close but now she felt the expression melt from her features. She didn't say anything outright - not wanting to alarm the child - but began to hum a soft little tune to herself, loud enough for the child to hear but soft enough to seem indirect. Stryx investigated the other side of the carcass as if she hadn't even seen the child.

At first, she was engrossed in the carcass, filling her little belly with revenous passion. Ears flickering to try and listen in but all she could hear was her own chewing and was surprised to see someone else walk by so suddenly! Lifting her head from the carcass to stare and give out a few warning barks to the stranger, she wasn't certain what she would do if they were unfriendly... bite? fight? They were so much larger than she was (for now). But the stranger moved on, almost ignoring the child and at first she was thankful to be ignored but as the other found her place at the opposing end of the beast - Conquest took a bold look from where she stood to look at the stranger.

With ears flat against her skull, eyes large and pupils engulfed as she tried to study them carefully, she would duck and try to hide should they look up to her - but still try to figure them out whenever possible. Who were they? The lack of interest was enough to pique her own. They were acting strange in comparison to the other adults she had come by recently.

Imagining Connie sneaking little looks makes me melt aaaah.

Through the protests of tiny mewling barks, Stryx continued to hum. She picked at the dead thing's hide. Bits of hair came free, then flesh, and soon she was invested in tugging away the more foul parts to find the softer meat beneath the surface. It was probably all pretty rank by now, but she like the tense feeling coiled in her shoulders as she worked, and the possibility of a meal (even a nasty old one) could not go ignored.

The child snuck little glances at her. They were curious - maybe afraid at first - but Stryx did not say anything nor did she move against them. When more of the tough parts were shredded and she could finally investigate the innards, she began to pull a length of intestine free - but then felt it wasn't adequate for herself, surreptitiously flinging it like a garland over the rotund corpse's belly that it may drape near the child.

There was value in it - and Stryx chose to put the child first, wondering if they would go for this easily pilfered bit of soft, rubbery tissue. Meanwhile to that, Stryx began to dig in to the chest of the creature by way of the belly - shoving her face in the hole she'd created.

Sneaky sneak peek!!

Too busy with the stranger being around to really focus on filling her belly to the brink of exploding, she simply kept an eye on the female, sneaking little peeks from over the carcass and around the side as if she couldn't be seen despite the brilliant ruby of her pelt and shining gold accents coming through in the light. With wide curious pupils, and flattened ears, rounding her features and trying to keep small, it wasn't until the intestine flew over the body of the fallen beast, hitting her in the head with a wet "thud" and startling her to the point where she angrily lashed out with a bite - 

wait a minute

food

Her grasp on the garland-like thing was less of a fight now and more of a chewing as she focused on the first reason why she was here, food. Once again easily distracted, she tugged and pulled at the thing with some head shakes to try and rip it free, to no avail. Despite it all, she kept trying and would eat her way up.

Most of the viscera was on its way out. She felt the supple flesh of the liver as it gave to her teeth, and the taste was just starting to turn foul. Stryx gobbled that up and did her best to avoid the spleen, as it had begun to turn solid with desiccation; the blood that ran from the organ was sluggish and tar-like. Signs of rot had flooded her nostrils but this was something else, and Stryx pulled her face free a moment later, gasping for clean air. Tendrils of sinew hung from her teeth. A line of cold fatty tissue was stuck to a tuft of coarse chin fur. Her cheeks looked rosy with a bit of bloody blush.

She felt the body shift, and with a small lift of her head she watched as the child tugged at the entrails. They were the pinkest parts, the healthiest by far, and it was good they went to the little one. Stryx knew her body could break down all kinds of things; but for such a young child to survive, they would need help easing in to the whole meat thing. Did the little fireball even have teeth with which to chew? She was so small.

The woman huffed a breath and turned away - blowing a chunk from her nostrils that was half phlegm and half other, spraying in to the grass and being lost thereafter. She took a greedy breath and sank to her haunches.

She did her best with what she had, little bites here and there, it took some time and effort but the reward was well worth it in the end. At least she was able to digest this stuff before it all went to hell around her, before home seemed like an impossibility and frankly, the little fireball didn't care much to find it now either. If they didn't care to find her, she wouldn't make the effort to find them too.

In fact... while chewing her little piece that she managed to rip off of the gummy, chewy, awful tasting thing, ruby eyes ran their way over to the stranger and Connie thought to herself. This woman at least seemed safe enough, she shared the food, and didn't seem keen on kidnapping her either. Perhaps, maybe, she had to think about it for a whole 3 minutes to be sure - but maybe she would follow this woman for a bit and see what might come of it. Even if the bigger wolf would be just enough to keep the bigger scarier monsters away, it was good enough. 

We can end this here if you'd like! Have Connie just tag along silently lmfao