P a n g a e a
broken your servant I kneel
it seems what's left of my human side
is slowly changing in me
There was so much going on, so much crowding in on her mind that had previously been focused on a desperate bid to feed herself. She clenched her teeth, her own vision swimming with the pain of reopened wounds, of the twisting of her stomach from hunger, the shaking of adrenaline wasted. Would this be how she died, succumbed to her injuries after the battle, unable to hunt for herself? She really was as good as dead without a pack, wasn't she? She managed with quick meals, holding still at just the right time to snap up a bird passing in flight. Or able to startle a small rodent that thought a horse lying in the grass was no threat.
But such small meals did nothing but egg her on for more. To remind her with the touch of flesh to her tongue that she needed more. It wasn't enough. Such wounds would have had her pack hunting for her in the past. Her pack made sure she healed and was cared for on her own. She was finding her weaknesses, her shortcomings so much more apparent. She couldn't be weak in front of a stranger. She struggled to her hooves, a losing battle, her taloned hindlegs unable to handle the stress, and she'd collapsed back onto the ground. She jumped at his words, looking up to realize he was still there, that he hadn't gathered his pack member, and left her. Why the fuck was he still standing there?
"What the fuck is a clinic?" She snapped, ears pinning back, her temper worse from the constant state of delirious hunger and pain she was in all the time now. His command to stay had her clenching her teeth, "Can't stand anyway." She finally grumbled, before collapsing back into the grass and weeds, still carefully curled around any 'weak' points on her body. Her ears pinned back deep into the bound back cream curls, as he mentioned going to check on the elk she had hoped would be a meal before 'fixing her up.' Instantly her entire body tensed; what the hell did that mean. Fix her up? Was he gonna make sure she didn't attack anyone else's packmate? She didn't know it was a pack mate, she was just hungry! She just needed a meal. Her eyes watched him, uncertain, trying to hide the fear that she saw as only weakness. This really was going to be the end of her. She'd gone after something she shouldn't have, and now he was going to 'fix her up.'
He spoke to the elk then, the creature unshifting, exposing wounds to the air that had the mare forcibly stop breathing, even as the scent of blood seemed to make her stomach rumble all the harder. Instead, she buried her face deep into the grass, the soils, just waiting for him to do whatever he would to her, whatever he intended to do to 'fix her'. Would he kill her quickly? Make her suffer? Leave her somewhere unable to hunt and starve to death slowly? What punishment would he deliver?
Perhaps this world was more eat, or be eaten, than she had first thought. So ignored them both, instead, shifting back to a sitting position, nudging her own wounds, licking at them and wincing at the tangy taste she knew to be wrong, pressing on them until puss and liquid wept from the injuries, ignoring the pain that had her limbs twitching. She didn't let up until they ran with just watery blood again, ignoring the scent of infection, licking the wounds a second time, not able to taste the disease as severely. She needed to get away from her, find something else to eat, and avoid retribution she was sure was coming. There wasn't any fruit around, but maybe she could dig up roots with her hooves, see if those would hold her over until she could hunt a real meal.
It wasn't enough time, he was approaching again, and she flinched back, away from him, expression guarded, refusing to show fear when he did whatever he was going to do. She wasn't expecting his words, though. Why would he care about what happened? Why would that decide how he 'fixed her'. Would he go easier, kill her faster, if he knew what had happened? Or was this a trick to catch her off guard? She wouldn't barter for her life, however. She had more pride than that. "Fucking hunt with the Teryr." She responded dryly, "It moved faster than I expected from it's size." She raised her amber gaze up to his, holding her head tall, unflinching, "Look, just do whatever you're going to do, quickly. If you plan to just kill me, get it over with." She added with the pride of her people, unwilling to be scared away from the prospect of death. "You said you planned to 'fix me up,' what ever the fuck that means. But if that's just code to make sure I don't hunt something else I'm not supposed to - then just make it fast."
What else could he have meant after all? The saurian mare refused to back down in the face of challenge, in the face of her perceived death, though she hoped Duellum would forgive her for leaving him truly alone. She just hoped this stranger did what he planned quickly and didn't draw it out. "So kill me, the rate things are going, I doubt I'll make it through the winter in my condition anyway."
"Speech"
Thoughts
@Gareth
Notes: Alright! Gareth can now slam into her, and startle her out of her hunger-induced tunnel vision.
when suddenly it changes
violently it changes
there is no turning back now
you've woken up the demon in me
