All that's left… was food, I had the wolf, and now a skill to help me cut it up. But how would I have cooked it? I'd die trying to cook it inside the cave. The smoke would kill me… or would [Toxin Resistance] work on the smoke? I'd have to try it once I had the materials for a fire. I could create a flame, briefly, but I was no better off than if I started with a small match. That wouldn’t keep me warm, or keep monsters away, or even cook anything without sufficient fuel. Not that I was going to complain about anything that gave me any sort of edge out here.
For now… get everything else prepared. Starting with this wolf, I took up the dagger by my side. As I stared at the wolf, knowledge came to me like instinct. I grunted as I rolled the wolf on its back then spread its legs out. Plunging my dagger into its taint, I started a long cut all the way from its ass to two inches below its lower jaw. Fuck, its fur was tough.. Guess it was called a rock wolf for a reason… my cut had been wavy and uneven. But I couldn't regret it now that I had begun. I continued onto the front legs, and then the back legs. Going from just above the paw up to where the leg connected to the body. After that, it was straight across the long cut I made up its body.
Next, peel open the skin, and separate the feet from the legs. Now these clothes were also covered in blood… Great. Here’s hoping my toxin resistance applied to any that got in my wounds.
Last was the head. Peel open the cut skin to get to the neck, and disconnect the spine from the skull. Putting my little weight into the blade eventually let me cut through, but now came the disgusting part… getting everything I don't need out of it. I grimaced as using the dagger I began to butcher the animal, cutting out the organs. The skill told me to keep some of them, which I abided by. The heart, kidneys, and even the tongue was food, and it even told me to cut out the scrotum. I tried to but my hand slipped and punctured it, ruining it, according to the skill. But for the other organs … yes, they had uses according to the skill, but with the tools I had on me right now, I couldn't make use of them. So out they went. I'd bury them in the sand relatively far from “home” when the sandstorm finally calmed down.
Right now however the meat needed my attention. Cutting, cutting and more cutting. I was exhausted as my tiny frame worked with this monstrous pile of meat, using [Physical boost] to give me the strength I needed for certain parts of the job. After hours of work, I gave a small smile of satisfaction as I looked at my finished product. Lots of food. Ripe for cooking. Of course… I also had the waste pile to deal with as well… the sandstorm was still raging on, though… but maybe now was the best time to go out and bury the heap of wasted materials. It would have masked my scent due to the winds, since there was no guarantee that my [Conceal] skill would cover smells too strong, or smells that I was carrying but didn’t technically originate from me. Standing up with a groan, I trudged over and slowly, using some of the fabric I had reclaimed from the destroyed tent, dragged the waste outside the cave. I needed to get reasonably far away so it didn't cause a rotting mess outside the cave, drawing opportunists that might see a little girl like this body like a meal.
It didn’t escape me that I continued to address this body as not my own… but I would unpack that later.
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As I walked through the orange haze, I wondered how long I had left to nightfall. It had already been… 6, maybe 7 hours since I killed the wolf? Surely nightfall was soon. My mind was about to wander, but it was interrupted by a horrifying screech. Then a large crash came right from down the path I was walking. That same screech had come from the wyvern.
With fear in my heart I dove to the ground and willed [Conceal] to do its work. I crawled into the shadows of the canyon formations, and then… it came. That gentle, calm whistling tune rang through my ears almost like a reassurance. It came from every direction, just like last time. The sandstorm died down, the raging torrents of wind that had buffeted my body vanishing like they never existed. Leaving the only sound to be that song ringing throughout the air. A dying screech had been made, yet the tune continued to its final note, leaving everything silent. How long had I laid there, frozen in fear, I don’t know… but eventually I forced myself to stand, and with each step taking as much willpower as I could muster, I walked forward. I was soon to be greeted with the sight of blood stained sands and crumbling rocks.
Whatever had killed the wyvern took its whole body without a sound, without any apparent effort. As I walked around my eyes were drawn to strange items lying about the ground; bright pink feathers. Each one was large, almost two feet long, and over half a foot wide. Maybe whatever killed the wyvern left these behind? Well, whoever they belonged to, they were mine now. I could use these to make arrows after I cut them down to size! I set about collecting them and by the end I held over 30 of the feathers in my arms. I figured leaving the organs here wouldn’t be too bad either. It already smelled like blood, so I doubted leaving some organs there to rot would change much. I made sure to keep the fabric I dragged them in however, I needed it to help solve my food problem.
Approaching the cave that I had just processed my hard won kill in, I froze. Something was wrong. My intuition was going off like an alarm. Without even thinking about it, my [Hunter’s Vision] kicked in. More footsteps like I saw in the cave. Following the tracks with my eyes, I found the beast… staring right at me.
This one was even bigger than the one I had killed. For some reason, however, it didn't approach me. Just stared at me walking back and forth. I was rightfully confused. Why hadn’t it attacked yet? The one I saw before seemed like a positively desperate kind of predator. A thought came to me, a crazy notion, and I slowly held forth one of the bright pink feathers and walked forward. The wolf backed up in response. Haha… you're telling me whatever killed the wyvern is so terrifying animals fear even its feathers? I don’t know what it is… but I felt the need to give it my heartfelt thanks as I waved the feather around walking towards the wolf who responded by letting out a few barks before running away. With a new found sense of joy, I watched as the sky turned orange, signaling sundown. I happily crawled into my cave, being sure to lay out a line of feathers as a blockade to prevent any beasts from wandering in. Tomorrow I will be trying to solve the fire problem. I just had to hope the meat I butchered today won't be too bad by tomorrow. Maybe smoking it would work? There were big leaves on the plants around the cave, so I could try to cook some of the meat in a pit. The main issue of smoking was I needed to soak the wood… maybe I could find some water. There was no way I could produce enough water to do the job.
For now, I had wanted to sleep, my body and mind were exhausted. I wrapped the leftover feathers in a piece of fabric and rested my head on it. That was my first day in the hell hole known as Tou’Ek.