With horned rabbit resting on my tail, I make my way out of the rubble. However, as I head back home, I feel like I'm forgetting something.
Oh right, the basket. I remember I used it against the wolves and I'm kind of sad that it had to be destroyed so soon after its creation. Maybe I can still repair it? It's not that hard to make them, but it is very tedious and takes a lot of time.
I search around the riverbank and find the pile of fruits, stones, and wood. In the center of the mess is a shredded mass of leaves and grass.
Yeah, the basket is beyond saving. It's split into hundreds of tiny pieces. The biggest part of the basket still intact is only the size of a fruit. I'm a bit disappointed, but at least I have a spare. Here's hoping that one lasts more than a day.
Sighing, I filter through the mess. There are some things that could still be used to create something, but I don't feel like carrying them back, I can just as easily find similar ones anywhere else.
I turn to leave. As I do so, a green furry object catches my eye. It's the first wolf I killed in the fight. A large portion of fur around its neck is dyed red. I approach the wolf to get a better look.
There's this question that has been bugging me since the fight ended. What happened to me at that moment?
When I saw horned rabbit, something overcame me. It felt like I was being possessed by another being, yet at the same time, I was in control of all my actions. I remember it clearly, deciding to use my claws, biting into its neck. Was it hate? Anger? It wasn't even about horned rabbit anymore, all I wanted was the wolf to just die.
I'm reminded of the taste of the wolf's blood. It's nasty, the smell is horrible and it feels icky and slimy. It's definitely something I don't want to experience again.
Yet... why do I keep thinking about it? This is the first time I've ever encountered a wolf, much less killed a wolf. So why did it taste so familiar?
I feel something trail down the side of my mouth. I wipe it off and see a line of saliva on the back of my hand.
I'm... drooling? No, stop it, it's disgusting. As if I would like something so nasty and gross. I already have fruits and berries. I'm not desperate enough to eat something like a wolf that tried to kill me. So forget about it and leave.
I slap my cheeks and force myself to look away from the corpse, but I keep glancing back against my will.
Quit looking at the wolf! Its horrible, its dead, and it probably has rabies. Nothing about it looks remotely appetizing. If go near it, I might contract all kinds of diseases. I probably only feel this way because I haven't eaten since this morning, and I must be very hungry after the intense fight we had just now. So stop thinking about it and look away, the wolf is nothing but a tasty meat bag.
Ah! I meant rotten! Rotten meat bag. It's rotten, see? It's completely colored green! Alright, just turn around and walk away from the mea- the wolf. Walk away from the wolf.
"Pefu"
I look back and see horned rabbit nod at the wolf. It seems my inner struggle was obvious.
Sorry to keep you waiting horned rabbit, we'll head back home now.
"Gau"
As I turn around to leave, horned rabbit pulls at my tail and points to the wolf with a paw.
"Pefu"
Huh? Are you telling me to take it? No, horned rabbit, you misunderstand. I don't want it, in fact, I want to get away from it, like, right now.
Shaking my head, I continue to walk. Horned rabbit pulls at my tail again, this time with a bit more force. When I look back, horned rabbit points at the wolf once more.
...You really want me to take it don't you?
Ah, screw it. Fine. If I'm going to eat it, I might as well do it right. Besides, if I refuse one more time, I feel like the rabbit's going to tackle my spine.
I walk over to the wolf and lift it up.
Whoa, this wolf's fur is soft. Very soft. If someone blindfolded me and told me that this was the down feathers of a baby pegasus, I wouldn't even doubt them. Seriously, this is insane! It's puffing up the more I press on it. No wonder all of my and horned rabbit's attacks didn't affect them. They're literally walking pillows. Now, how do I carry it?
After a lot of effort, I manage to heft the wolf onto my back. The wolf is too big to sling over my shoulders, so I have to use my tail to support the lower part of the wolf. Since there is no room on my tail, horned rabbits new resting place is on top of my head.
It's really heavy. The combined weight of the wolf and horned rabbit makes it very hard to move. It's going to be rough, but it's possible. On the bright side, the cave isn't too far. I should think of this as a workout to get stronger.
◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇ ◇◇◇◇◇◇◇◇
Are we there yet? Please tell me we're there yet. I just want this ordeal to end!
I severely underestimated my own strength and stamina. The number of times I had to set the wolf down to rest... I don't remember. I think I left off at fifteen or was it thirty? It doesn't matter, I just know that it's a lot. It doesn't help that I still have to carry the rabbit around. It's definitely rested enough where it could walk on its own.
At one point I even contemplated on just abandoning the wolf, but I already put in so much effort so I might as well go all the way. This wolf better be worth it.
After walking for god knows how long, the cave finally comes into view. It took WAY too long to arrive, and it's not because I kept stopping every other minute or so. We ended up getting lost because, during one of my many, many resting points, I chose the wrong direction to resume traveling in.
By the time we found out we were going the wrong way, we had already reached the flower field. Now that was fun, at least, it was to horned rabbit. When it saw the absolute blunder I had made, the rabbit would have been on its back twisting while kicking its legs in the air. Except it did just that on top of my head. I could tell it was laughing and not suffering from an epileptic seizure from the incomplete 'pefus' it was making.
The moment I cross the entrance of the cave, I breathe a long-awaited sigh of relief and flop to the ground; the wolf and horned rabbit in tow.
"P-pefu!"
Horned rabbit hops off just before I crash to the ground. I used the wolf's fluffiness as a cushion for my landing. It's so good, I didn't even feel the impact. I should create a bed or a carpet with it later. I feel that it's a bit morbid to be using the wolf in such a way, but then again, this is the wolf that tried to tear off my shoulder.
Horned rabbit huffs at me as I relax on top of the wolf. It must be mad that I suddenly flopped to the ground like that. Well, excuse me rabbit, but last time I checked, you were just laying on my head. If you don't want to walk, then don't complain if the driver decides to hit the cold hard ground. Consider it as payback for laughing at me earlier.
"Gruao"
I make a weird sound as I roll off of the wolf. No idea how horned rabbit interpreted it. It just huffs once more and hops away.
Anyway, now that my eyes have adjusted to the dark, it doesn't look like anything has changed since we left the cave. Everything's where they should be.
Right, that's enough resting for now. Time to start on the reason I've spent the past few hours carrying the wolf for.
Standing up, I drag the wolf next to the campfire. One of the first things I need to do is get the campfire running as well as water to cook the meat in.
I grab the stone pot from the table and leave the cave, heading straight for the river. It's a five-minute walk this time. Horned rabbit follows behind me as usual.
After taking a quick wash in the river and return with a pot full of water, I load the campfire with some firewood and light it with firebreath.
All right! Water is done and the fire is on standby. It's time to prep the meat.
I kneel by the wolf.
......
......
......
You know, now that I think about it, being vegetarian doesn't seem like a bad idea.
I know I've gone through much worse before, but, I just can't help feeling squeamish. I'm no stranger to handling and skinning wild game, it's one of the lessons taught through the culinary classes I took. It's just that I feel really uncomfortable without using the proper tools.
Although my claws alone are more than enough for the task, they are still my claws. I would be handling it with my bare hands. Just thinking about it sends shivers down my spine.
Ah, damn it. I've already gone through all the effort. I can't back off now.
Forcing myself to continue, I bring a claw forward to the wolf. Then, pressing my claw against its fur, I make a quick incision into its flesh.
*Gurk* I keep myself from puking.
That's it. No more. I'm done. I'm completely fine with just living off of fruits and berries. The feeling of cutting through warm, squishy meat so effortlessly and the weird sploshing sound it makes is just too weird.
As I am about to get up and leave, I notice horned rabbit staring at me with those cold, harsh, judging eyes. Its blank expression basically said 'You're so pathetic. Can't you even prepare a simple dish? Lame. Such a loser. Get a life. Uninstall'. Well, I might be overreacting a bit, but it could be thinking that.
I look back at the wolf. The spot where I had made the cut is leaking red.
...I really don't want to.
Once again, I reluctantly bring my claws forward and force myself to continue. I tell myself my claws are just really sharp knives that have the ability to generate realistic artificial sensations, and that the wolf is only just a dummy filled with kool-aid. The lie can only go so far though. Eventually, I reach a point where I just completely give up and surrender.
After a long and gruesome hour, the preparations are finally complete. All that's left to do is to cook it.
I push the fur off to the side of the cave and cut a small slab of meat from the wolf. After dumping the meat into the stone pot and making sure it's entirely submerged, I place the pot into the fire.
Ten minutes later, I check the pot to find the water still isn't boiling. Is the stone pot too thick to heat up sufficiently? I'm going to need a stronger fire. Maybe firebreath will work?
I take a deep breath and use firebreath continuously at the bottom of the pot. Soon, I hear the water start to simmer.
It's really exhausting using firebreath for extended periods of time, but I doubt I'll be able to make a fire strong enough to do the job for me. If only I had some clay.
When I feel like the meat is cooked enough, I search around for a strong stick to pull it out with, but then I remember I'm a dragon and boiling water won't hurt me, so I stick my arm into the pot and pick it up.
The meat flops back and forth as I hold it between my claws. It smells absolutely horrible. You would think cooking meat would make it smell better, not worse.
Ehh... Is it really okay to eat this? I was joking when I said I might get diseases from the wolf, but now I think that's not too far from the truth. It smells like it died and then died again after being killed to death.
Well, it's all or nothing. It can't be worse than bitterleaves right? Let's get this over with.
Closing my eyes, I slowly bring my mouth close to the wolf meat while holding my breath to avoid its awful scent. Then, when I feel my tongue touch the tip of the meat, I bite down and tear off a small piece.
It's... actually really good?
I take another bite, and then another, and another. Before long, I'm tearing away at the meat until nothing was left.
I can't even begin to describe its taste. It is extremely gamey, far more than venison could ever reach from my previous life. It still smells absolutely horrible, but somehow it compliments its wild flavor.
I want more.
I cut a bigger slab of meat and place it inside the stone pot. This time, I increase the intensity of firebreath. When it finished cooking, the meat looked far more appealing. It's more tender to the touch and the smell became much stronger.
Mmm. Definitely tastes better too. However, I feel like something is missing. Oh! What if I marinate the wolf meat with some fruits and berries?
I gulp down the rest of the meat and grab the spare basket and run out of the cave. With the abundance of bitterbushes, it didn't take long for me to completely fill the basket with a large variety of fruits and berries.
Once I returned to the cave, I empty the basket onto the floor and sort the fruits and berries into piles. I also sliced the wolf into multiple smaller pieces and cooked them. I had to refill the pot multiple times as the water would evaporate after a few uses.
There's not enough wolf meat to taste test each type of berry and fruit combinations. So I decide to keep it simple and only use the berries that I felt would taste best with the meat.
Everything is now set and prepared, but before I start, I eat a normal cut to remember how the base form tastes.
Alright, let the taste testing begin!
For my first test, I eat a cut covered in the juices of a yellow berry. It's not bad, but it's not good either. The taste of the berry clashes too much against the meat.
The next test is with a berry that's completely tasteless. I expected to taste a normal cut of meat, but to my surprise, the berry ended up making the entire thing tasteless. Neat.
Moving on to the next test, I grab a red berry, crush it onto a cut, and plop it in my mouth.
It's DELICIOUS!
It's a completely different dish! The wild gamey taste of the wolf was replaced with a more vibrant, intense flavor. For some reason, the meat is far juicier than it originally was. This berry is amazing! I need to get more of them.
I eat three more cuts covered in red berry juice and soak in its aftertaste. As much as I wanted to keep eating meat with red berries, there are still other combinations I have to test out. I'll definitely come back to this one though.
I have high hopes for my next test. I'm using a green berry this time. I tasted it earlier and I really liked it. If the red berries were amazing, then this should be even better.
I crush a heavy helping of the green berry onto a cut and eat it. The moment my tongue registers its taste, I spit the abomination from my mouth.
Eughk! It's nasty! The meat and berry merged into a different, more vile taste. It took all the good aspects of the meat and threw it all away, leaving only the most distasteful parts and ramping it up to ten. I had to eat another cut of the red berry and meat mix just to counteract its awful flavor.
Yeah, I'm done with taste testing. I've already found something amazing, there's no need to risk my tastebuds to any more abuse.
Devoting the rest of the meat to the red berries, I eat away without reserve. A purr escapes from my throat as I get lost within its flavor. If there's anything good that came from eating the green berry mix, it's that it made the red berry mix taste infinitely better by comparison.
When I finished with my meal, I relax on the fur spread out on the ground.
This feels amazing. There are still those two wolves by the river. I don't care how long it takes. I'm going back for them. I want their fur and their meat.
From my resting spot, I watch horned rabbit play with its ball. It's trying out different ways to knock it up into the air.
Maybe living like this isn't so bad.