“Why will this maddening bone not break!” Nameless snarled, gnashing his teeth against the last of the six ribs he had chosen to remove.

His head was buried in the chest of what he had come to believe was the Matriarch of their hunted herd, her Stage, size… and now obvious gender, indicating as much after he had had the chance to look her over, without the threat of being maimed or killed.

The Matriarch had died quickly after he had separated himself from her; succumbing to the blood loss his wounds had caused, dragging the Phiomia into unconsciousness before the inevitable failure of her body. Just as quickly as she had died, had Nameless begun his work on her corpse – after checking on his siblings first, of course – digging into the flesh of her chest to begin carving a path towards the beast’s heart.

The entire front half of him was slick and sticky with the Matriarch’s blood, hair and fur stuck against his hide with chunks of coagulated gore and his face itching as the red liquid began to dry against his skin. With his paws to either side of the broad hole he had created in the corpse’s chest – teeth still firmly wrapped around the stubborn bone – Nameless disregarded the growing filth that continued to irritate him and pulled against the rib with every muscle he had.

Cords of muscle rolled under his hide with the strain, the bone beginning to finally shift slightly – when suddenly – it snapped away with a sickening *pop*. The sudden lack of resistance caused Nameless’s fangs to slip off of the ichor covered bone and himself to flip over backwards, landing in an embarrassingly contorted pile beside the corpse.

“Just because I emerged victorious from our fight, does not mean you need to shame me from the Beyond so much, honorable Matriarch…” Nameless grumbled, shaking himself free of what dirt had come to cling to his – already – filthy fur in the tumble.

Returning to his former place, Nameless noticed the previously stuck rib now stood straight up out of the wound he had made; similarly broken away from the chest like he had the other ribs prior, but still held tightly by some adjoining musculature.

Pressing a paw down on the osseous offender, Nameless shifted the rib down and out of the way, feeling as the ligaments and tendons connected to the bone protested under tension at the awkward motion. Some of the fibrous muscles snapped and popped as his full weight was forced down on the bone, the stress too great, as the rest of his body leaned forward into the now rib free gap.

Devoid of the ribs that stymied him so, the viscera partially obscured behind the former cage of bone was exposed to him in full. He had had but one desire in mind when he first began this fetid work and as his eyes alighted on the last true obstacle between himself and his… nectarean prize, he could not help himself from licking his blood-soaked lips in anticipation.

He ran his unoccupied paw against some of the remaining musculature, his claws parting the tissue and sinking into the major organ separating himself from the Phiomia’s heart.

His claws pierced the right lung with a muted *pop*, the pliant and flexible muscle of its skin providing an odd resistance to the sharp points of his claws before its inevitable failure. The red-pink organ opened at a careful swipe of his paw, revealing the odd porous constitution within, a slight clicking sound coming from his claws as they caught on – and severed – smaller fibrous structures inside.

He methodically cut more of the organ away, removing larger chunks with his mouth, spiting them out onto the ground before returning to dispose of more. A small mound of torn lung – building at the side of the Phiomia’s corpse – grew more and more, as the organ’s meat was delicately removed by the piece.

While not as frustrating as struggling against the Phiomia’s ribs had been, having to slow down so much, so close to the Matriarch’s heart was agonizing.

“Steady.” Nameless paused, speaking internally in an effort to compose himself, “The Matriarch’s heart is going nowhere, no reason to risk damaging it by rushing like a fool.”

He snorted causing blood to blow in his face, head buried in the beast’s chest as it was, the word “fool” bringing to mind the image of Fang careening through the air. That, ironically enough, did more to calm him than any amount of his own internal musings could.

Resuming, Nameless found the lung only had a digit’s width left to the portion yet unburrowed and uncut; that moment of realization coming as he made the last slice with his claws, the lower portion of the lung shifting to fill the space removed, uncomfortably squishing against him while still within the cavity.

With a few grunts, Nameless wriggled his way out of the Matriarch’s chest with a wet *squelch* and sat down on his haunches, glaring at the hole now partially filled by a lung once more.

“I am losing my patience, honorable Matriarch…” He huffed, looking over the hole in preparation for removing the new hinderance.

[Do you need help, brother?] Quiet’s voice interrupted his inspections, the sound of soil softly crunching under her paws forcing him to look over his shoulder.

[No. Problem mine. Thanks.] He replied, before adding, [Share. Later?]

His offer caused Quiet to smile, flashing him with her blood-stained fangs, her ears twitching, [Our siblings too?]

[Yes. After me.] He snorted, turning back to the Phiomia’s corpse, tail swishing against the dirt.

Quiet always managed to get him to speak just a little more… cohesively than he otherwise would. She was the most familiar and comfortable presence amongst his siblings – not that the others weren’t any less important to him – sharing between them a certain solidarity, “One a Sphinx too smart for her own good, the other smarter than he should be… like two rattling Flint Scales in a creche.”

With a huff he returned to the hollow he had created in the Phiomia’s corpse, the seeping lower half of the mangled lung still preventing his entry into the cavity.

He leaned down, sinking his fangs into the porous and pliant meat of the organ and began to try and pull the lung out. Light tugs caused connective tissue to rip away from the lung, loosening it more and more until – finally – it came away, revealing the dark pocket behind.

He licked his lips, smearing more blood around his mouth with his rough tongue, “It will be a difficult fit… but the heart is finally within my paws, even if I have not yet put my eyes or claws on it.”

He stuck his head and the front half of his torso into the Matriarch’s chest, his eyes watering from the scent of blood souring under the Brothers’ oppressive heat.

The cavity – now absent a lung – was as black as a night devoid of the Sister’s glow, his eyes forced to adjust to using only the barest trickles of light capable of slipping past his bulk. The slick innards pressed against him from all sides as he waited within the Phiomia for his sight to return, the space he had created having barely enough room for his paws to move or himself to breathe.

The moment he caught the barest detail of his gore covered surroundings, Nameless pushed himself forward, moving his head and paws just past the area the lung had vacated. He twisted, placing himself on his side, wings awkwardly contorted against him… and looked up.

He smiled, “There she is…”

Hanging above his head was the prize he had cut his way towards; the Matriarch’s succulent heart was held up by strings of tissue, as well as the thick branches and slim twigs of its connected veins and arteries.

He stared for a moment, unmoving, entranced by the massive “fruit,” before lightly shaking his head, “Thank you honorable Matriarch for this gift… even if you made me fight far more for it than I believe was necessary.”

With practiced – if not limited – swipes of his paws, Nameless pruned the heart’s branches away from it until but one remained. He opened his mouth and stretched as far as he could, feeling the lowest portion of the now dangling organ brush against his teeth.

Gently closing his mouth, he felt his fangs sink into its rich flesh - blood seeping out like the juice of a true fruit - granting him the purchase necessary to separate his prize from the last of its troublesome boughs.

The instant his claw passed through the final aorta, the heart dropped, causing him to bite down further on the precious organ as he found himself suddenly supporting its full weight alone.

“Mine…” Nameless rumbled in satisfaction, carefully – and uncomfortably – bringing himself out of the Phiomia’s chest, while avoiding anything that could damage his delicate prize.

He emerged covered in gore; fur and feathers coated and sticky with strings and clumps of coagulated blood and slimy viscera. But, as the light from above shone down, the foul appearance of his body did nothing to dim the smile that stretched around his fang gripped heart.

Only slightly smaller than his head, the thickly muscled organ whispered promises of a… “Hearty” and well-deserved meal, after all he had done to get it. The Matriarch’s heart gleaming under the twin suns; the well-defined lines of its muscular surface and the almost purple colour of its deep maroon flesh becoming all the more entrancing now under light.

The narrative has been taken without permission. Report any sightings.

Nameless leaned down and placed the heart gently on the ground, worried far less about dirtying the organ than damaging it, before he stretched and shook himself to relieve his body of the tension and filth that covered him.

Laying down – heart rested between his paws – Nameless looked over his shoulder once more, finding Quiet sitting on her haunches behind him, grooming herself, [Get liver? Share. After.]

He watched Quiet pause, tongue outstretched towards her dirty upraised paw, as she thought over his offer, [I will do it if I can have the larger half.]

[Greedy.] Nameless snorted at her shamelessness, [Big piece. Mine. Or. No share.]

She huffed in feigned displeasure, the lack of disappointment through their connection revealing to him his sister’s bout of cub-like deception, [Fine, but I also want some of its loi-]

[Mine!] A voice interrupted Quiet, splitting through their conversation at a headache inducing tone, [Prey! Mine! Move! Away!] Fang’s words rumbled through their telepathic bonds; carrying with them a vision of her ownership over the felled Matriarch, a claim that radiated a disdain and anger towards Nameless for wrongly stealing that which she saw was hers.

The audacity of his sister’s demands shocked Nameless, her emotions and delusions slamming into his mind and leaving him unbalanced for an instant. However, his shock quickly shifted as he caught Fang on the approach, her eyes and gait – even with all of the injuries making her movements slow and pained – displaying an open aggression and… superiority towards him.

His shock fled at the sight, replaced by anger… before that too disappeared under a shroud of calm that welled up unbidden from within him, “[Wisdom].”

Nameless better understood the unusual Trait now; recognizing that just as much as it had provided him knowledge, intelligence and a wisdom he should otherwise not have had, so too did [Preternatural Wisdom] seem to work to protect or guide him when certain circumstances arose, “That the only times this has happened thus far have involved my interactions with Mother – and now Fang – concerns me all the more though…”

The Trait tempered his emotions and aligned his thoughts, less so controlling them than… working in a similar – but more effective – manner as [Tactics] did, dragging out the best behavior and insights he had within his mind, necessary to navigate whatever was in front of him.

He felt the calmness initially provided by the Trait begin to twist itself into a more apathetic nature, an indifference as cold as a wet night. His emotions settled and his mind became as placid as the water within their den, his eyes falling on his sister as he realized why [Wisdom] had come to steady him.

“It seems she did not learn a thing from her fight after all…” Nameless mused in disappointment, placing himself over the Matriarch’s heart, “So, even if it may be… unpleasant for me after, it seems I must do what you could not, honorable one.”

Fang closed on him and the corpse, the string between them continuing to convey her disdain towards him, while she examined the Phiomia for what was likely the first time since they fought, [Prey. Mine. Leave.]

He stayed still – not even acknowledging her dismissal – watching as her eyes drifted over the Matriarch’s chest and down to the heart between his legs. She stopped, focus completely consumed by the enticing organ, a flicker of her excitement and anticipation reaching him, [Heart. Thanks. I. Eat. First. You. Leave.]

[Why?] Nameless questioned, the one word containing every bit of his displeasure and unwillingness to stand aside.

The question seemed to catch Fang unawares, the step that she had taken forward towards Nameless and the heart hitching mid-air. She stared at him, head tilting in confusion, [Why? Prey. Mine. Heart. Mine.]

She delivered her reply as though there was nothing to question – before continuing back on her way – as though there were no possible reason, that she could conceive, for him to doubt or refute her possession over the Phiomia’s corpse.

[Your. Prey. How?] Nameless rumbled, standing his ground, flooding their connection with the scenes of his battle with the Matriarch… as well as Fang’s own “fight.”

Fang physically flinched under the deluge of imagery, releasing a snarl as she glared balefully back at him, [Fight! First! My! Prey! Mine!] She flared her wings out as she snapped back at him, her fur standing on end, [Telepathy] sending a spike of hatred down from her end of their union to his.

He didn’t so much as twitch at her posturing or provocations, her aggression nothing more than a tantrum in his eyes, [My. Kill.] He asserted, putting a paw forward and tensing in preparation, waiting to see how Fang would react to his claim over the Matriarch.

Fang’s face contorted into a foul rictus – Nameless’s intent communicating a direct and unequivocable challenge to her assertions. A palpable sense of resentment rolled out from her like fog through the valley, the feeling so strong that he could sense Quiet retreat away from himself and their sister in fear.

[Mine!] Fang growled before leaping forward – claws exposed – landing just a leg away from him as she snapped and snarled at him.

He could understand what she was trying to do; see the hollow nature of her threats and realize that for all the vitriol she showed towards him, that the aggression she displayed was a false thing, based off of an overindulgence he had come to realize existed in greater detail the more time passed.

“You failed your daughter, Mother… But I will not make the same mistake.” With a hiss, body already poised to strike, Nameless lashed out with his right paw.

His four claws dug into his sister’s left cheek, creating bloodied rents in her tanned skin and batting her head to the opposite side. He felt her – and Quiet’s – shock at the move, Fang stunned dead-still by his attack, her anger and impetuousness momentarily halted.

But Nameless couldn’t end things there. Already feeling his sister’s tempestuous emotions starting to rise to the forefront of her mind once more – her violent inclinations beginning to pierce through the haze of her shock – he rushed at Fang with his own fully bared.

Nameless slammed into his larger sister, the combination of surprise and force allowing for him to temporarily overpower her despite their differences in strength. Striking her chest with his shoulder, he bodily pushed at his sister, using the momentum of his charge to try and flip her over onto her back.

Unsteady and wounded, Fang could only release a pained and shocked yowl, before she found herself on her hindlegs teetering on the verge of falling and revealing her stomach. Desperate, she lashed out – only capable of using one forepaw with the other still injured – cutting a shallow line through Nameless’s shoulder and lower right wing.

The pain was nearly negligible to Nameless, his focus solely on teaching his sister a lesson and asserting his claim over a kill that was rightfully his, but it did require a response.

He snapped his head upwards, smacking the crown of his head into Fang’s chin, closing her mouth with a loud *clack*. He felt his sister’s body shudder and go slightly slack at his unexpected attack, her mind clouding with confusion… and that moment of disorientation was not one Nameless would let pass.

With a roar he pushed off the ground with every muscle he had, feeling that new – and yet unknown – Skill come to life, allowing for him to draw out even more strength from them than he otherwise believed he could. His forceful shove took Fang off her paws, making her fall backwards, Nameless following her down while pressing himself close to her underbelly.

With a *thump* and a puff of dust, Fang landed against the ground on her back, immediately trying to twist her way out from under Nameless.

But Nameless was too quick, immediately reacting to her efforts; by snapping a paw down to pin Fang’s left wing to the soil, pressing his full weight down on top of her, and leaning down to force his fangs against her vulnerable and openly bared throat.

The instant his fangs brushed against her neck, Fang went still, any idea of further struggle halting under the risk of having her throat torn open. Through their connection Nameless could feel the burning animosity Fang held towards him grow hotter, but so too did he feel just as powerful a shame and fear begin to choke the heat from her.

She growled and snarled at Nameless as he held her life within his jaws, a hollow display of resistance to hide the humiliation and fear that he already knew was present, [Off! Thief!]

She hurled images and emotions at him like a Quill Toad at a predator, sending barb after mental barb at Nameless in a delusional tantrum that only enflamed his disappointment and frustrations surrounding her.

With a deep chested rumble, Nameless dug his fangs into his sister’s neck further, cutting her off mid-thought, [Whose. Prey. Now?]

Unlike Fang, Nameless’s mind was calm and controlled, his words carrying the full weight of his apathy and disdain towards his sibling’s behavior… as well as visions of the lengths he would go to assure that her “claims” ended here.

“Just because you are strong does not mean that the world – and others – will bow to your desires and demands…” Nameless kept his teeth where they were, waiting for Fang to realize she had lost, “And understanding ones having strength, does not mean you are without weakness or threats.”

He could feel Fang’s mind swirling about, still searching for a way to turn things around, desperately holding onto the false belief that even though he had her pinned that she was still the stronger of the two of them.

“Prideful fool.” At her thoughts, Nameless raked the claws of his right paw back, cutting through the flesh of the feathered limb it had pinned underpaw.

The sudden pain caused Fang to yowl and squirm underneath him, her movement causing Nameless’s fangs to dig deeper into her flesh. The fear he had felt originally slithering out from her mind once more, the acrid scent of the emotion spurring him on to put his “lesson” to its end, [Who. Is. Prey. Now?]

The change of a singular word – laced with the embedded knowledge of what more could come as his patience waned – killed the last hints of fight within Fang, as assuredly as Nameless could end her life with a single bite.

He waited however, even with Fang’s mind only granting him the sense of a meek surrender, teeth still threatening to rip holes in her throat, “[Telepathy] might be telling me she is done, but her body is telling me otherwise.”

Her body was still tense; whether from the continued risk to her life his fangs caused or for an attack she was preparing the moment he let his attention slip, Nameless couldn’t say, [Are. You. Finished?]

She flinched – her muscles tensing even more – before she released a shaky growl, [Yes.]

The tension that had Nameless so on edge disappeared, Fang fully surrendering to him and leaving herself completely at his mercies, [Good. Leave. Eat. Later. With others.]

Releasing her – he quickly stepped away – watching Fang closely as she got onto her paws and limped away, his sibling avoiding his eyes, “Hopefully she will learn from this… but, unfortunately, I have my doubts that one such humbling event can do so much.”

Nameless turned around and padded back to the Matriarch’s heart, catching Quiet staring at him along the way, [Yes?]

[Ar-are you alright?] She asked, a hint of fear souring her words over their connection, making Nameless frown.

[Yes.] He replied gruffly, sinking down to his stomach, heart resting in-between his paws, [Get liver. Now. Or. I. Take. Both.]

Quiet stared at him for a moment in astonishment, before shaking her head in a huff and walking towards the Phiomia, [Fine, but I get the larger half.]

Nameless sighed and took a large bite out of the Matriarch’s heart, using the organ as a way to ignore his sister’s demand, the taste no longer nearly as appetizing… while he contemplated what he might be in for once they returned to the den.