Cascade

Eve Of The Can Kingdom's Demise

And so, a few more days slowly passed along. I spent a good bit of that time reading. But when I wasn't reading, I would attempt either conversation or interaction with the cannibal.

I'd give it the occasional pat when it brought me something useful. I'd let it curl up beside me every now and then. Sometimes I'd talk to it about random things, like the weather or what I was doing.

Throughout this I found that the cannibal didn't seem to be much of a talker himself. He'd grumble this and that occasionally. He'd make an, often confused, reply. In the end, though, he seemed happy enough with companionable silence.

However, the funny thing was that the creature did seem to be trying to understand me. It would give me all its attention when I spoke to it, its brow furrowed with what I assumed to be concentration.

So I'd taken to pointing at things occasionally and calling out their names. He seemed to get it most of the time, but others he would curl his lips back and snarl. I guess some things were just too confusing... Either that, or I wasn't making sense.

I yawned, stretching, and winced as I felt my spine pop. Ow...

I rubbed my bleary eyes as I looked up from my book. I'd awoken this morning on my own, no cannibal in sight. Not the most unusual thing, but when I headed to the fountain there were no fish waiting for me. The creature hadn't been by yet. A bit odd, the creature was typically rather punctual, but I hadn't thought it mattered. I'd shrugged it off and settled for a breakfast of junk food.

Still, though. It was noon now. Where had it gotten off to? Had it run into trouble?

I felt my heart beat a bit faster. If that was the case, was it coming back? If it wasn't then it was likely I'd be able to leave soon.

I frowned. Then again, if the creature was just really late, I'd probably just end up running into it on the way back to Asphalt.

I let out a huff. guess I should wait at least a day to see before running off. Back to reading then.

It turned out that I didn't have to wait long. Not five minutes after, I looked back up when I heard the sound of claws on brick.

I felt my eyes widen as I took in the image that lay before me. The cannibal was making its way over, its frame drooping as it dragged its feet. It had leaves and twigs stuck everywhere, and were those briars? The creature seemed to be covered in thin scratches, so they must have been...

In its teeth, the creature held a large brown rabbit by its scruff. The cannibal made its way over and placed the rabbit at my feet before slinking a couple of feet away. I winced as it flopped against the bricks with an exhausted huff.

It grumbled and let out a quiet snarl, but didn't move.

Okay... It didn't seem to be in a very good mood so perhaps I should leave the creature be for now. I slowly put my book away, trying not to disturb the cannibal by moving too quickly.

I looked the rabbit over and found it free of mutations. I felt my stomach flutter. Finally, something other than catfish!

I set about preparing the rabbit as quietly as possible. It wasn't necessary though. Whenever I glanced over at the cannibal I found it to be lost in its own thoughts, eye squinted and looking glazed.

I soon gave up attempting to be quiet and just went about like normal. The cannibal didn't look my way.

The creature only began to stir once I'd gotten the rabbit cooking over the fire. I watched as it started to remove the various plant life that was stuck to it. Its lips were curled into a grimace and it was growling.