Verdigris Ravine muscle

me too!

he would not receive it. he would only receive less anger than zoug had given, a visible reduction of the older man's annoyance. talisman must be treated like a pup, he saw, in order to learn organically what a child of the desert would know.

he lifted another claw and flipped the snake over, exposing the pale underbelly. he pointed to where a cut could be made, and then the creature pulled out of its skin.

zoug grunted at the rattle clustered upon the snake's tail. he pointed toward the head of the skinned reptile, its fangtips exposed in a death hiss. "poison." no word for it besides a gesture, though he made a show of sniffing its mouth. if talisman did the same, he would be greeted by a sharp tint of the venom against the musk of the serpent itself. zoug made the paw-sign again for poison and nodded.

the older man chewed off the snake's head. he would carry its body back to the ravine, and the skin now belonged to the boy.

the desert did not wait and neither did zoug, his trot direct and swift.