Night Killer. Life is a slow race.

Part 37: Mourning

Killer's teeth clench with disgust as he picks up a roasted bunny; the scent of burnt flesh pours into his nostril cavities. The poor rabbit's head falls to the side as he holds it in his hand. *Even when we aren't on missions we still absolutely destroy lives- suppose that's why we're under Nightmare's roof huh?* Killer thinks as he lays the rabbit on his arm to hold to his chest. He looks away and up into the forest.... what used to be a forest; it's just charred remains now.

He continues to walk through the ash, shoes getting absolutely ruined by it. In the distance he can see where the fire still burns. He kind of wishes it was the house that burned instead- or that he didn't get his emotions back. He has a soft spot for animals... especially small animals. This is why, as he scans the ash covered floor, he takes extra care to look for the smaller forest dwellers. They won't feed Horror, that's why feeding him isn't the reason he's looking for them.

A simple burial. It won't compensate for their untimely demise, but he feels inclined to give them one since they won't be used for food. It will be a while before any animals come back to scavenge, even then it will mostly be seed eating birds

This is why he wishes he didn't have his emotion in this moment; his soul aches for the little lives lost.

As he searches his eye settles on a silver glint from afar. Holding the earlier rabbit tighter to his chest, he carefully makes his way over to the eye catching object. His face further contorts once he stops beside it. A cat, obviously a beloved pet- now reduced to a pile of burnt flesh and fur. The light from the fire in the distance reflects off of the tag.

Killer crouches down closer to the small, domestic creature. He reaches out and pets it, grimacing at the uncomfortable feel of the rough, burnt skin. "You poor thing-" He whispers before moving to carefully pick it up, "I'm so sorry..."

Killer feels more hate than usual dripping down his face. His body's twisted form of tears- He holds the cat against his side so he can turn around and head back to the castle. He won't go all the way there- no. Right at the tree line is where he stops, gently laying down the two creatures. He stares down at them for a few seconds before huffing and pulling off his shirt. He covers them up, wanting to discourage any animals from tearing into them..... Not that they will with the smell of burned wood as fresh as it is.

He clenches his fists as he turns back into the forest, to look for any other lost souls. Killer also keeps an eye out for bigger animals, like deer that managed to die from smoke inhalation before they could escape the blaze. Those ones he can gather for Horror-

It takes him just another 30 minutes before he has obtained 3 more rabbits, which he holds in his right arm, and a fox, which he carries in his left. He wishes he could pull them all out of the ash, but he knows that's an unrealistic desire. He comes out and places them under his shirt with the others. Saying his sorry once again before turning away and returning to the charred habitat.  This time, Killer is going out to actually get Horror's food. He still has to do his job after all-

He walks back out, remembering the mental note he made for the location of a deer. It was a young stud, probably looking for a group of females to rule over before its life got short. Killer is able to make his way straight to it. The one thing good about the fire, is that the smell keeps the bugs away for a while. Making it a good source of food for Horror.

Killer wipes some of the hate from his eyes, so he can see better, before pulling a knife out of his inventory. It's a thick knife, used for hacking away at bone and wood,  perfect for what it's about to be used for.

He grabs hold of the deer's head and hacks off its antlers. This boy isn't going to be used as a decoration, no need in having them getting caught on the forest floor as he drags him back. Then, he goes down to the deer's back legs and creates a slit through the pendant of one of the upper legs. Next, he shoves the other hoof through the hole making the perfect handle to drag him back.

Killer puts his knife back in his inventory before grabbing hold of the deer. It takes 12 minutes to drag him back to the castle, where he leaves him by the door. Horror can butcher the poor thing himself-

Feeling like the deer was a good enough size to last him, Killer heads back to the treeline, grabbing a shovel from the back shed along the way. *Why is it so easy to kill humans and other monsters, but so hard to simply bury an animal?* Killer thinks, contemplating his situation, *Because animals don't do bad- their nature is to survive and reproduce...*

Killer digs each their own graves before laying them gently down respectively. Before he sets the cat down though, he cuts off its collar. 'Rudey' -it reads; He puts it in his back pocket for safe keeping before picking his shovel back up.

He cringes as he buries them, more tears dripping from his sockets. "I'm so fucking sorry-" He says again as he finishes, "You didn't deserve this shit-"

----
Depressing-

If anybody doesn't understand the visual of the deer handle, just say and I'll put a link to a video that gave me the idea.

I hope everyone's day is going wonderfully ♥️ Sorry this one is short, but i feel like the ending summed this one up correctly and it wouldn't feel right to continue it.