Nocturne Summit Kurayami

This is for @Kapros ^^<3

The moon broke through clouds overhead and glittered against the stone.

Along the rocky slope there prowled a lean figure. The thief’s gait was easy, despite traversing along a dangerous footpath in the dark of night. Haru searched the mountain for a place to bed, but he had not had many fortunes in finding one. The chill of the air swept through his coat and shuddered him. The man’s gaze shifted from the rock to the slope that led down.

In the distance, Haru could see a lake. The water glistened against the moonlight, even at that distance. There were forests that stretched for miles. It would mean opportunity to hide from the chill of oncoming winter and a place where he could hunt.

Resigned, Haru began the journey down the rocky face and toward the base of the mountain range.

With the moonlight to guide him, Kapros roamed.

He had found something freshly dead thanks to the halo of silverlight; it caught upon the round belly of what was once a deer, and his approach spooked something smaller than himself from where the belly had been torn.

Kapros was eager to dive in, but the sound of the creature made him invest more effort in a little bit of chase. The carcass would be there if he failed - which was likely to happen as the raccoon went trundling through the dark, up the rise and in to the blackened hills almost immediately.

With a snort the wolf turned back to the fetid deer remains at a lazy saunter, ignoring the sound of stones scattering beneath quick feet, as he presumed it was only the retreating lesser creature.

The scent of death filled his nose. How had he not smelled it before?

Haru turned his head toward the fragrance and then stiffened at the sound of scattered stones. He didn’t know if it was from his own paws or if there was another creature in the area, one who sought a fresher meal. The thief could only imagine what kind of wildcats prowled the mountain at night. Their eyes glittering, saucer-like. Haru shuddered at the thought.

Hunger outweighed the concern he felt. If it was dead and he didn’t need to exert energy to bring it down, he wasn’t about to turn away from it. The lean figure prowled toward it, following the aroma of sinew and blood. Just before reaching the carcass, Haru all but ran into another hunter – or another scavenger.

Sorry ‘bout that, the thief sneered, taking a step back and squinting in the low light of the moon.

Karpos was about to take his first bite when something twinged along the back of his neck. A ripple effect of nervous energy trailed up and down his spine, prompting him to look up.

A stranger came trailing out of the dark; their eyes were on his meat and without thinking he stepped closer to it, rounding his hip towards the distended belly.

Apology on the wind.

Eh? What for? He sniffed the air sharply, not taking his eyes off the leggy fellow from who-knows-where. Karpos didn't really want an answer.

His belly rumbled, and he hastily looked from the meat to the rangy fellow. I call dibs.

Almost runnin’ into ya, Haru explained with a heavy-lidded stare. The thief’s narrow muzzle curled into a lazy smirk.

Might’ve stuffed my snout right up yer tail end, there. And that wasn’t an appealing thought for either of them, Sawamura was sure. The stranger wasn’t a bad looking man, but Haru had little interest in other men. At least, for having a body that would draw a romantic gaze.

Haru glanced toward the carcass with hungry eyes. The other claimed that the kill was his, he’d laid dibs on it. The thief wasn’t too concerned with trivial matters like claims. Sawamura was hungry. He wanted a piece of the carcass, at the very least.

How about I uh… I sing ya a song fer a bite?

Haru didn't really want to do that either.

No, the idea of a snoot up the booty was not a pleasant one. Kapros' jaw hung slack for a moment of revulsion while his lips curled up and back from his teeth.

He caught how the stranger looked at his meat and he closed his mouth, narrowing his eyes. Would have ta be a damn good song.

What kind of trade was that anyway? Was this guy a bard? Ugh. Bards.

Tsk. What else you got?

Haru cursed internally. He hadn't expected the offer of a song to work, but he'd hoped that it might be enough to charm the stranger. Desperation had never looked so devilishly handsome, not that Sawamura would want to draw that kind of gaze from this guy. 

It didn't matter, anyway. The song bit wasn't going to charm the man. He wanted something else. 

Well, I s'pose I could stick my nose up yer tail end, if it'd get me a piece. 

But Haru wasn't going to like it.

God, he really was a bard.

Fuck no! Kapros was fine with a little booty sniffing as a friendly hello, but he had standards.

He looked to the dead thing and tried to ease his racing, panic-filled pulse to something a little less manic. Thoughts of shiny red meat and the taste of sweet fat. It helped.

How about this... Kapros drawled as he thought aloud, staring at the near-to-bursting belly of the sprawled deer, not a coarse hair out of place.

We make a game of it. Take turns shovin' that nose somewhere else, his buggy eyes widened as his brow raised up, and tossed his head to indicate the newly dead.

Winner gets the meat. Loser keeps their guts for garters.

Alright, alright... was only making an offer. Some might not refuse. I dunno yer type. 

It wasn't like Haru had been eager for it. His narrow gaze regarded the stranger for a few moments. The thief didn't really like what all this sounded like. When the other guy gestured to the deer, Haru licked his chops. 

How 'bout I just wait over there til yer finished and I'll just take whatever ya left? The coyote gestured with a swinging motion of his muzzle toward a tree that looked like it'd provide a bit of cover and quiet. 

Then we don't need to stick our snouts anywhere unsavory, mmm? Haru offered a lazy half-smile.

Bah, you're no fun. His upper lip twitched as he sneered.

Can't have something for nothing though. This here is mine. Got it? You want some, you'll have to play. He braced himself against the earth and took a defiant step in to the stranger's path.

You plunge your gob in that belly there, and if you pull out more ah, hah, red string of fate than I do, then deal's a deal and you get a meal. He wasn't kidding; this guy could either play tug-o-war with some innards or he could go chase down his own caribou, but he wasn't getting this without some participation.

Which in hindsight is massively hypocritical of Kapros, since he'd just found the thing dead without a hassle.

No fun? Haru offered a nervous laugh. His riverstone gaze shifted away and then back to the other figure.

The strange wolf went on to say that something would not be given without working for it. The thief had a feeling this would be the answer he got. He wasn’t thrilled by it. In fact, while the proposed idea sat unanswered, Haru debated how far he’d have to slink away before he could come back for the scraps. There was no way this guy would eat all of it. The animal had plenty of meat on the bones.

Alright… sicko...

The coyote sighed, a heavy huff of a noise that left through his nose.

If he got sick of it, he could just grab whatever was within the reach of his fangs and scurry away, or so he figured. Haru shifted his narrow gaze back to the challenger and frowned. His heavy-lidded stare was unimpressed with the circumstances he’d found himself in.

We taking turns or is this a shared experience? the coyote inquired. His snout drew upward. He squinted at the other man.

Yeah, turns.

As if he would give this guy a chance to bite and run, or whatever. Kapros huffed to himself a small laugh as he moved around the distended body of the fallen thing, giving the other wolf an opening.

Plunge on in there, grab something, and hope it doesn't snap! His smirk grew long and crocodilian as he settled to his haunches. I'll sit right here and wait my turn. Winner gets it all, though.

Of course, he wanted them to take turns.

Haru glanced toward the distended belly of the animal and frowned again. Perhaps he wasn’t as hungry as he thought. The idea that he would be the test subject for digging around through innards was not appealing, even with his stomach clenching hungrily. The thief did not want to happen upon something sick. As he stepped toward the animal and sniffed, Haru had his mind filled with wriggling maggots.

Sawamura nosed the belly of the animal and scowled. He offered a slippery smile to the game-player and then parted his teeth to tear away the flesh of the deceased creature. It pulled apart like silly putty.

When Haru took a few steps back, he had a string of innards that stretched to the inside of the beast. He tugged a bit harder and found the string of red was firmly attached to something inside. With a violent yank, Haru was able to rip it clean from the animal and hold it in his mouth. The innards stretched roughly a yard.

Alright, yer up, he gurgled from blood soaked lips.

While Kapros watched, the soot-colored man moved to prod at the belly and decide for himself where best to insert his snout. Rather than watch the game unfold, Kapros watched the man. It gave him much more entertainment — plus it benefitted him to study his accomplice in general.

The boy was squeamish. Kapros had figured that out by the discussion before the game. If he had a weak constitution then that'd make him more of a mark and less of a potential recruit.

In went the snout, out came the entrails.

They stretched and did not want to give, but finally they were extricated and lay strewn like red garland, much to Kapros' delight. He was standing by the time the other wolf had finished his turn.

Ah, okay, hup! Kapros murmured as he moved about, inspecting the belly and the gaping hole where the other wolf had pulled some of the tissue out. It smelled pretty foul but no worse than the pits where Kapros had been born; and before another word could be spoken, he speared the hole with his sharp snout and gripped at something with his teeth.

After shaking his head and shoulders to and fro a couple times, something finally detatched interally and Kapros pulled away, bringing thick ribbons of flesh with him. It looked long as it was stacked in his mouth, but when he was free and his jaw hinged, out spilled three small lengths in to a messy pile.

He'd lost; but he didn't look at all bothered.

Haru relaxed visibly when the other fellow jumped willingly toward the fallen carcass. He was only pleased to know that he hadn’t stuffed his snout in a smelly heap of diseased guts for the sake of some sick stranger’s amusement. The game had been turned into a real competition, then. The man with yellow eyes entered the hole and pulled out a heap of guts in his teeth. Sawamura squinted sharply and grimaced at the sight of it. He must have looked a horrible mess.

Figuring that he’d lost, the thief huffed a sigh and shuffled his paws a bit. When he glanced down at the mass of entrails that had been removed from the belly of the animal, he saw that they were broken pieces of a large pull. A giddiness swept through his belly, and he grinned at the man across from him.

Well, how ‘bout that?

The coyote snickered softly and smacked his lips. The taste of the blood on his snout was more appealing with victory in his mind.

I s’pose I could share with ya… fer a song.

Haru snickered again, following this with a hearty chuckle. He wondered what the man would say now.

The man smacked his lips as he began to lather his tongue across them, clearing away some of the steaming red from the entrails; he sank to his sharp little haunches and spat some of the mess out.

A song! Ah, I don't count myself a bard. Rules of the game say I get to keep my pull, and it's fine, I'm not so hungry. Besides, if what he'd heard tell of these prey beasts, there was disease running rampant through them. The less he had to eat of it, the better.

A good game though. And you didn't even wanna play! I had to talk you in to it. Tch. Kapros' tongue lolled from one side of his lengthy face for a moment, then he slurped it back in to his head and set about pecking at the entrails on the ground, using his paws to hold them in place while the rest of him contorted to pull them apart.

The strong taste of blood sausage filled his mouth to the molars, but he did not complain.

If he hadn’t been that hungry, what had the fuss been for?

Haru’s expression puckered slightly. He wasn’t a fan of feeling as though he’d been made into a fool, but he also wasn’t certain if that was what had happened. The exchange with the yellow-eyed fellow had been a peculiar one, but nothing that seemed sinister. The thief had passed through the eyes of worse, that was certain.

When the man began to pack up his guts, Sawamura sniffed a bit. His expression remained soured, but he eyed the stranger with a curious and watchful glint to his gaze. The thief wasn’t certain if the man would be leaving, but he didn’t really want to be left alone with the remains of the meat. It wasn’t like he could eat the whole thing, right? That had been his point to begin with.

Alright, alright, no song… but I can’t eat this thing all by myself.

The game hadn’t been much fun. Haru wondered what other things this yellow-eyed man got up to.

Was a bit gross, ya know? I like nice games n such. Who can nap longest in the sun? Ya know?

That isn't much of a game, Kapros remarked cooly, as he tucked in to his entrails.

Slurping up some of it, crunching noisily through other bits with his molars, letting it squeal like rubber on his teeth.

A games gotta have stakes! Decent ones. Something worth winning. You looked hungrier than me an' I wanted some entertainment. His sharp shoulders rose to a hunched shrug.

Ah, speaking of — you got some... Shmutz, over there. Motioning with his nose, then a wave of his paw, at, well, everything. They were both pretty grisly. As soon as the other wolf went investigating themselves Kapros would begin to giggle as he ate.

The thief listened with a small nod.

It seemed that the yellow-eyed man was either an adrenaline-seeker or he liked to see how far he could get strangers to go his way. Sawamura wasn’t certain how he felt about it, but he figured that he’d ended up with a warmish meal and a bit of company for a short while. Where was the harm in humoring the wants of another?

When the figure remarked on the messy face of the coyote, Haru chuckled sheepishly and drew his tongue along his muzzle to swipe at the remaining blood and food bits.

Oh hey, what’s yer name then? What… uh… what d’ya do when yer not trying to get me to poke my snout in some dead thing? He snickered a bit, but the interest he showed was genuine enough. It wasn’t too often that Haru found himself in the company of strange fellows and he didn’t want to slip away without a moniker, at least.