--James, APU Dorms--

  I had dragged the really heavy sacks across the room, maneuvering around the 'trees'. Well it seemed one sack was heavier than the other two. Oh, it seems I made a trail in the dirt with the heavy sack. I saw an unusual sight when I looked back at the trail, it was of a giddy Sera practically jumping up and down while stalking me. Well, her sight was focused solely on what I was holding.

  “Open it, open it, open it.” She crept a little closer. Seeing her this happy, made me feel a little excited as well, so I obliged her. I bent down and examined the three bags. Two of them were identical burlap sacks with the laundry emblem on them, much like the one the Bear-kin took. Both with tags on them, one with my name on it, the other with Sera's.

  The last burlap sack, which was the primary of focus of Sera's attention, had a logo that resembled a nondescript piece of meat on it. Loosening the draw strings and peeling pack the sack, I was greeted with a black bag. My view of the black plastic bag was obstructed when Sera's hand was placed upon it. She curled a finger and poked a claw into the film before cutting the bag down the middle length-wise.

  With the contents exposed to the air, the heavy smell of iron filled my nostrils. It didn't smell bad, on the contrary, it awoken a hunger inside of me. I looked up in time to Sera do a little dance before she nearly shoved me to the side. “Help me drag this over to that tree.” Her voice sounded excited. With her grabbing one corner, and I on the other, we dragged the bag with a carcass in it a short distance away. It didn't seem necessary to haul it off such a short distance, but it did stir up the hunger even more, for unknown reasons.

  Opening the bag wider, I get a proper look at the carcass. It looked to be a giant set of ribs with maybe a hindquarter attached to it, maybe belonging to a cow? Sera said not another word before cutting her claws in between some ribs and carefully removing a slice. She dangled it above her head before settling it in her waiting jaws. She let out a squeal while closing her eyes in delight.

  It was then she notice me transfixed on her face, “What, is something on my face? Come on stop staring and eat, you definitely need to.” She grabbed another sliver of meat between the ribs and eyed it. “Here, eat up. No need to hold back.”

  “Oh, uh, sorry, I've never eaten raw meat before. Also, it looked like you were enjoying yourself so much.” I admitted.

  “Never- You never ate raw meat?” She looked at me incredulously. She then took the sliver of meat delicately held between her claws and enclosed it in a fist before trying to stuff it in my mouth. Well, it felt like she was trying to punch me, but the bloody piece of meat found its way into my mouth all the same. “There, how is it?”

  It wasn't an explosion of flavor like I was expecting, but the hunger that was being stirred up by the little dragging ritual seemed to only be satiated by this. Satiated seemed to be the wrong word, no it deepened a craving for this delicious meat. I understood it didn't taste better than being cooked, but for some reason, it just scratched that itch that I didn't know I had.

  Looking back at Sera, I realized I didn't answer her yet, “As we used to say, 'That tasted like another.'” I smiled awkwardly.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to Royal Road for the genuine story.

  She just beamed at me, “Don't need my permission, dig in.” I tried mimicking her in cutting out the meat between the ribs. The sliver I retracted from the carcass wasn't as long or as thick as the ones extracted by Sera, but they were just as fulfilling as the first bite. Looking at my hands, they were absolutely covered in blood. The skin around my fingertips was fully covered.

Nearing the last of the rib meat had being consumed, Sera had quickly snatched up the last, much to my disappointment. Seeing as that the battle for the ribs had proven to be lost, I looked onto the haunch that were included. Hmm, I can figure this one out.

  I didn't wait to have Sera show me how to take a portion of meat away from this. So, at first I tried cutting into the haunch with my claws, but it gave a bit more resistance than I initially assumed, so I placed another hand on the meat before ripping a chunk with the other. A little enthusiastically, I brought the meat to my lips and took a bite. Strangely, this meat was more bland than that of the rib meat, but felt just as satisfying.

  After I grabbed another chunk in the same manner, I looked at the strange sound coming from Sera's direction. She was trying to stifle a giggle while looking at me. This prompted me to look down at myself an I saw that in my somewhat brutal feasting, I made quite the mess. I suppose my only saving grace was that my shirt was already red, the shorts are ruined though.

  Nothing to do about it now. Resigned in defeat I place the meat into my mouth and felt a little dribble of blood on my chin.

I paused before I would take another chunk in a brutal manner, so instead I watched Sera. She seemed to trace over the lines that striated the muscle, seemingly without much resistance. Also, I just noticed her claws were sharper than mine. Yeah, let's go with that.

  She then lifted a strip and let it dangle for a moment before slipping it into her mouth. Seeing her so clean, aside from her fingertips, really irked me. I've never picked a carcass apart, but how can she do it with such finesse? Ignoring the smug looked aimed at me, I just rip another chunk. Biting into this particular chunk made me realize that my stomach probably can't handle more than what was in my hand. So I slowly chewed through the remainder of the meat in my hand, all the while I just watched Sera beautifully dismantle the corpse in front of her before devouring each piece.

  I have to say, while the cutting was slow at the start, it was efficient. She seemed to eat through the meat more quickly than I did, in more volume as well, while keeping her clothes clean at the same time. I had half a mind to just toss a little blood in her direction.

  It didn't take long until she realized I was watching her eat, “What? Stop watching me and eat.”

  I shook my head a little, “I, uh, I can't eat anymore. I'm full.”

  “Full? Already?” She held another strip another of meat, “You need to eat more, this is supposed to last us for a couple of days. Also, you need to eat more, you are so skinny.” She eyed me again.

  I glanced down at myself I couldn't help but mutter, “I'm not that skinny.” I placed my hand on the what remained of the haunch. With a strained will, I forced myself to rip another chunk and bring it to my mouth once more. I can already tell my stomach is going to kill me. I glanced over Sera again only to see that she was now staring at me intently. I guess it was payback for watching her eat. I slipped the meat between my lips. It felt weird to eat without the need nor will to eat.

  While doing this it seemed to take an eternity to choke down the handful I had grabbed. My stomach has yet to get to that painful state but I imagined that it would come with any bite now. I looked over to Sera, whom had stopped gorging herself and had continued to watch me. She seemed content in encouraging me to eat more, even to hand a strip of meat into my bloody hands.

  Looking at her then back at the meat then back at her, I sighed. Throwing the meat into my mouth again, I chewed slowly. Oh, there it is. I felt as though my guts were stretching to there limits, and have started to protest. “I don't think I had eaten this much meat before.”

  She seemed to come to the same conclusion, “You were done a disservice growing up, did your parents not give you enough to eat?”

  I mulled over her words for a moment, she seemed fixated on my physique . “Well, the orphanage had to order meat from suppliers so they cooked it to kill off the bacteria. And given that there were at least ten children at any given time, they probably cut portions so everyone could eat. That being said, I never went to bed hungry and I am rather thankful to the sisters at the orphanage.”

  I saw that my words seemed to wipe the faint smile from her lips, she seemed lost in thought for a little bit before she stared at me with a resolve behind her gaze, “You need to eat more.”