thunderfrost

Salvia Eternity · 09-06-2012, 09:08 AM

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Meat kept them alive. Meat was life—they had suckled on milk made from meat, grown on it, and now lived on it as true predators did. True one might sample oddities now and again, but they were, by in large, animals that lived by eating other animals. Their hot breath reeked of rotting flesh and ketosis. One need only smell this to remember that the beautiful pelts and streamlined bodies were made from the bones and blood of other things. They were not gentle creatures nor were they merciful. It was only for the pack that such savage nature could change, but Salsola was not like this. They were a Family, but one that survived because of the paranoia, secrecy, and fear that drove them. Love was a far cry here, replaced instead by the respect that is born out of terror.

So the gift given was one instead of manipulation; it suggested a favor, something that was earned instead of given freely. Salvia was not one to flatter or to give away goods. She did this in part because the girl had helped and in part because it further secured her place. Sirius had taught her this by doing it to her. As he had thrown invisible chains over the Tiger, so she now did with this red-furred daughter of a witch. It was so subtle that she had not even recognized herself doing it. These were the lessons that she had learned being applied in practice, but as ingrained as they were to her nature she barely saw it happening.

Chunks of meat vanished down her gullet, and it wasn’t long after that she withdrew and took up the would-be watch, licking blood from her face and staring into the woods. She remained silent and still, almost statuesque if not for the pink tongue that emerged from her mouth every now and again to clear away the bulk of the red there. Her pale fur would stain until she washed it; perhaps something she would do once the carcass had been picked clean.

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