'Pounce? Are you alright?'

Her voice ringing through the fog around them. He didn't respond. He was afraid, hurt even that he could. No. That he could do this, even without negative intentions. He was so afraid but why was this event so alluring. He craved, more. Wide and wet eyed he turned to the tall ethereal being. Licking what was left on his lips as he quivered out a soft response. "I....I don't...understand"

Having unknowingly dispatched the poor rabbit he was uncomfortable. This was his first experience near death. It was unsettling and something he felt he could never grow used to. He ignored nearly everything else, he did't even act as if he knew Eve had just landed softly upon his head. The poor thing was in a turmoil that he would remember for a long time. But with hope, this lesson of life would be one that stays with him, forever.

"Oh, love...." She sighed, walking towards her tiny cub. Kneeling swiftly so that she was at eye level with both Eve and poor Pounce, who seemed to be starting to cry. "Dear heart. There's...something you need to understand." "It's okay to feel upset about..." She glanced over the now dead rabbit and the blood on Pounce's whiskers. It was only a newly hatched child, discovering its ability to kill. How would one go about making this acceptable? "About...being hungry." "All creatures need to eat. I eat plant life, as you may have seen. Other creatures, like Eve here and yourself, eat the scurrying ones you find. And I need you to know that it's alright. They're not like us, they don't talk, and they're not very bright. They are, essentially, prey." She wouldn't mention that there were other deer she had seen in the caves that were prey-minded, rather than intelligent like her. It scared her to meet one, seeing them mindlessly bolt as she tried to speak. It left her speechless for days afterward. "You have to eat them, my love. And it's okay. If you don't eat, you will go hungry, and that's very bad. Remember that, alright?" She paused, then kissed Pounce's forehead, under Eve's talons. "Remember that I will love you no matter what." "Now, when you finish eating, you can hunt with Eve, alright? I'm positive rats taste different than rabbits, so that will be interesting for you, I'm sure." She smiled. "This is how I speak."

She was sweet in her explanation, taking the time to explain why this was ok. He began somewhat to understand the notion that, killing for food was ok. But that would be the only exception. He didn't even like killing for food. It made him feel guilty. But most of all, it made him afraid of what he might grow to become. If he can do this sort of act and this age. Then what will he be capable of later on?

Shaking his head he listened to her. Allowing negative thoughts to melt under her soothing voice. She cared, and she was pure. She balanced his anxiety and fear to where he was able to smile again. 'Remember that I will love you no matter what' Laughing happily he nuzzled into her kiss. He would take away a great deal of knowledge from this.

That there was no need to feel bad. But even if he did, that it was ok to have that emotion present. He could still respect and have a joy for life. Even if he had to take it away in order to sustain his own.

He also understood now why all the little woodland friend's he had come across would not speak to him. They were different. He had to eat them, it was life. Because if he did not he will go hungry and that's very bad. A sigh let from his lips and he looked up to her and Eve again. A smile on his face that only dissipated with wide eyes as they spoke of rat hunting.

"I....I think I will do that later....I don't wanna do it unless I have to again..." It wasn't that he didn't want to go hunting with Eve. He would rather not run into another event such as this. Especially if he didn't need to. Eyes flickering over to the still carcass he nudged it again. Staring at it, feeling a weight over himself. Only to dismiss that as Eve who was lightly standing on the small cub. His nervous mind would melt away under the very taste of iron he will soon devour day after day. He would joyfully eat away at the prey. Happily lapping up ever ounce of nutrition it offered. Bones and all, under the watch of his two friends who stood by with reassurance. This was ok. It was ok to enjoy this meal. It wasn't a waste. It didn't die for nothing. Yes, he was ok with it now in the moment. Chucks of flesh happily being ripped up and devoured with zeal. He may not enjoy the process it took for this meal to die. But eating it was no doubt his favorite part!

[EXIT/END]

"Speech"

"Thought"

Clover smiled at her little Pounce, so trusting, so sweet. She could see it swallow her explanation with some difficulty, calming down as she kissed the child. Pounce...Pounce wasn't just any child, she knew. This was her child, her beauty, her treasure. She loved its enthusiasm, its boundless trust in her, its endless happiness for life. She couldn't remember being like that as a newly hatched gem. All she could remember was Saudade and that crippling self-doubt, that fear of rejection, that shyness because of her horrible stutter. Love made her stronger over time, love that she gave to her Pounce freely and happily. She loved Pounce. She smiled still as the cub spoke with the Eve, hesitant and unsure. "Do not waste your food though, my love." She said explicitly, gently, feeling that cold unease within her stomach again. Pounce went at the dead rabbit with gusto, devouring it bones and all, going crunch slick smack snick scrunch. She turned her head away at seeing intestines and tearing muscles, her smile going rigid as she stared into the mist as if on look out, the only sounds around that they could hear were that of the child happily eating the cadaver it had killed. [end thread] "This is how I speak."