The Road to Satisfaction
Blood falls from his lips.
"What was I doing?" he asks aloud, vision blurry. His hands felt warm, warmer than they should be...and wet. Looking down, he catches sight of what must have been his hands, buried in a pool of deep, shining red, among white. Tie grimaces, knowing only that something has been killed. It was not him today, thankfully, but a loss is still a loss, even if it is a chimera.
At least he hoped it was.
His gaze moved upward following the pure white as it led upwards, long and winding, with that telltale wet crimson beneath it. It was a serpentine chimera, it seemed, one that he had torn apart somehow. Looking back down, he pulled his hands out, feeling the meat of the beast slip from his hands as he swallowed, the coppery tang of blood fresh on his tongue. He swallows again, feeling some of his strength return. He knows he didn't eat this creature, no matter how dire the situation had gotten. No, the bloodied bite marks and the ripping and tearing of flesh, the meat he had likely shoveled into his mouth by the droves...it was likely that of his stomach's.
He didn't know the name of the being that lived in his stomach, only that it knew his. It barely spoke, choosing instead to communicate through something far worse: urges.
Tie felt one right then, a painful gurgling in his stomach doubling him over as he felt wracked with pain. He knew what it meant. He was to eat.
Looking down at the mess that had been made, he could feel his nose turn up. The entrails, pulled out and scattered, flesh sliced, bones broken in his maddened hunger. It smelled horrid, and yet it looked the most delectable thing in the world. Swallowing again, his clawed fingers scraped more flesh from the open wound, and shoveled it into his mouth.
Disgusting. Horrid, even, yet it filled him. Oh, how it filled him. He continued, scooping mouthfuls of the flesh into his maw, his toothy Noroi Gakkotsu opening and closing, like a second mouth for him to feed. Blood spilled from his teeth into the recesses of the mask, the scent of it only feeding into the aching pain of his stomach. Again and again, he ate, crunching bone and licking blood from his lips as he gorged himself on the cursed beast's flesh.
He knew it was wrong, that as much as he could gain through this consumption, having it cooked or even just prepared properly would have been better for him, for his Aura. He had rice and other ingredients in his packs, but the hunger stripped of any patience, of any control as his teeth bit into skin, his tongue tasted blood and flesh over and over.
Finally, the spirit was sated.
Tie had lost track of time, but at least he was himself now. Standing up, he wiped the blood from his masked, toothy grin, and moved away from the corpse to prepare a fire, taking some flesh from it to cook for himself. He held back the urge to look back, to see the beast, to inspect its body for any specific ingredients or signs of other impurities that may infect the land with its corpse. He couldn't afford to do that yet.
As the fire crackled before him, he tried to focus, to remember. How long had he been out hunting this beast, he wondered? How long had he spent feasting on its flesh. He remembers the loud gong at its death, the triumphant roar he had let loose upon it, but beyond that, he didn't know. Tie shook his head. The man looked to his side, and ruffled through the sacks and satchels that lay there, looking for journals, notebooks, anything. They helped him keep track of these things. He poured over his notes, the dates on the pages, murmuring to himself.
Then, he found the most important piece of information. An increased regenerative rate. Organs that could take pieces of flesh and knit them back together, so long as there was enough of it, or else the creature would be back up in mere days.
The Beast Hunter looked over the massive body of the serpent. He noticed other open wounds along its body, more bite marks, broken bones, and other savage markings of others feasting on its flesh as well, of beasts seeking power and nourishment. With what limited knowledge of Flow he knew, he could spy the centers of the creature's regeneration, and moved to the nearest one, still gently thrumming with unholy life. Thankfully, the animals around the creature had aided in its consumption.
At least, that's what others might guess.
Dao Tie knew who had been eating.
Kneeling down, he felt his fingertips turned into sharp, fearsome claws, digging into the serpent's body, scooping out skin and breaking bones as he exposed the chimera's insides. The gash in its flesh grew wider and wider, and its sickening blood began to flow from the wound, still fresh, as it continued to attempt regeneration. He had to do this. There was no other way he could halt its regeneration, no other way he could think of that wouldn't leave it to wander. That's what he thought, at least, and thinking was starting to become very, very hard. He felt his mind turn fuzzy.
His stomach began to growl.
Deep within, he felt the corners of his lips turn upward as he opens his maw again, and buries his teeth into the beast's organs...
Blood falls from his lips.