May 20 2016, 09:29 AM
Bones was a very simple dog with simple pleasures; he enjoyed talking to Kerberos and the Lorekeeper, even if he didn't get to often. Especially with the Lorekeeper and her painfully twisted legs; it reminded him of his own barely-working back legs. He would do his best to hunt for the old canine-like creature, but his efforts were often met with silence. He wasn't too bothered, however - he knew that even staying awake as taxing enough for her and he didn't wish to keep her awake longer than she had to be. Kerberos, however - his three-minded brother, was filled with boundless energy. It was energy that Bones himself couldn't find anymore - something he had long since lost along with the ability to run around the circuit.
His second favourite activity was the aforementioned running. He used to do it every day - sprinting as fast as he possibly could when he was still a pup while his mother - the now broken hyena, Giggle - would watch quietly from her bone pile. He loved it to death - the feeling of stagnant Canis hair suddenly springing to life and surging through his fur and past his ears, opening his mouth and letting his tongue loose. Collapsing on the ground, panting happily and contentedly, only to get up again minutes later and do it all over again. Of course - he still could, but it wasn't the same. Bevy, poor Bevy, had done her absolute best to mend his legs and his spine, but the bones within his fur still creaked and ached if he moved far too often; but they never ached more than his heart does to return to the feeling of being a pup again; carelessly bounding through bones with his brother close by and his mother watching.
It did lead to his utmost favourite thing to do however - paint. He would grab rats and - perhaps crudely - kill them and paint with their blood. It was messy, it was gruesome, but it worked just fine. It left the marks he needed on the walls of Canis, and soon the walls had become wholly decorated with Bones' paintings of the people he knew and loved. There was Giggle and her newly-added bird companion, Kerberos and Bevy, and even Azazel. He wanted to paint their families with them - but Azazel had more children than the dog could keep count; but for now the bird-like creature and the mute-creature were with him, Liora and Ashtoreth. Under Bevy and Kerberos were their son - Bones' nephew - Scarborough. He was sad to see the drawings however; it reminded him of how he could never touch Bevy and show his gratitude for her, but he was able to touch noses with the dried blood on the wall.
It wasn't the same.
Bevy had faded on the wall; almost as if the blood and brick knew she was gone. Logically - Bones knew it was the frequent touching that caused the paint to wear out, but he couldn't help but find it strange that she was the only one fading into the wall, while Scarborough, her son, seemingly glowed. Perhaps it was his own eyes, however - but Bones never did have a taste for such theatrical drama such as this.
Among over-thinking, there were other issues that would arise with Bones' hobby. He had to run and hunt for rats. Often, he would hunt for painting before he would hunt for food - and in the past, he would receive strange looks from the gembounds who would offer him fresh kill; only to have him dunk his paws in it and begin painting. Perhaps it was rude of him - but now Bones would frequently find himself hunting for his own sake. He didn't like having to be dependent on other people anyway, it rubbed him the wrong way at times.
It was here Bones found himself now, however - crouched with his weight on his front legs rather than his semi-broken back legs, over-sized ears lifted and rotating as he waited for the chance to hunt. His ears could pick up a variety of things - but most importantly, it picked up on the quickened beats of a rodent's heart and the scratching of their paws in their burrows.
It only got harder for Bones to hunt, realistically, but he could do it well. It took mostly patience, the rats did not often come out of their burrows in fear of being hunted - the gembounds of Canis were often grueling, starving creatures after all, especially with beasts like Kerberos who had an endless pit inside of his gut. Bones waited in silence, eyes wide and ears pricked.
Eventually, he saw it - a fairly plump rat bumbling along the wall. Bones was not sure how anything could become overweight in Canis, but he wasn't about to argue with it. He leaned forward, slowly at first - until the rat spotted him. The rodent turned and began running the other way with it's tail behind it. The sudden movement caused Bones to leap out of his spot and come sprinting after it.
The rat - who had an amethyst gem sticking out of it's back - was surprisingly fast. Faster than Bones and his aching legs could keep up with, in fact, and within seconds Bones was trailing behind the rat, a good few feet away from being able to make the kill.
Bones slowed to a stop, and the rat turned a corner and went missing into one if it's burrows. The African dog was left panting and wheezing, lowering himself down onto his belly to catch his breath as he glared after the rat that had escaped him. He felt his glare soften abruptly however, as his head dropped onto the floor below and he lay for a good while, rapidly expunging hot air through his mouth.