Change in Life

Chapter 12. Playing with Death

As the winds started to change and the clouds thickened, the fox's cheerful demeanor faded and brought them back to the cruel jab that was surviving. All the cicadas and crickets in the grasses stopped their chirps, making the fields an eerie place to be. Not a soul was out there, save the foxes. 

Jade and Blake were only ten meters away from the woods edge. They placed their meals in the grass with the wind blowing over their bodies. The weather might have changed, but really, it was just like any other night.

Jade looked to the sky, deep in thought. 'Thank you for giving me confidence throughout that experience, Blake.'

'You would have done the same for me,' Blake replied, hiding a proud grin. He turned slightly to her and found a firm smile of appreciation on her muzzle, and her tail flicked happily.

They continued to grin sheepishly at each other as they began to eat. Chickens weren't that easy to eat. The task of defeathering seemed too much of a hassle. Yet the distant taste of chicken made imaginary flavors dance on Blake's tongue. He began slowly, but not before being startled that Jade had already dove through. First, he pulled all the feathers away from the body before they got to skin. Every time they grabbed a feather, he would get a tickle in their noses, or a small fluff snort up his nose, causing he to sneeze. Once a mouthful patch of feathers covered the ground at his chest, as well as a couple caught in his whiskers, it was an easy bit of food.

At first, Blake was put off by the sight of pink chicken breast. Normally, consuming poultry in this state would give him wicked stomach aches, not to mention salmonella poisoning. He wasn't sure if the same could be applied to his new, stronger digestive system. Considering foxes were known throughout history to raid hutches and eat chickens, he thought little of it.

Plus, he had eaten worse...

Our first real hunt together, Jade thought as she ate, occasionally catching a glance at him.

For them, the beginning of every night would always start the same: they would wish each other luck with the other's hunt and go their separate ways. Although she liked being alone so she could concentrate, she reveled when she thought of coming home to him. And this raid made her love having him near even in a hunt. She was more than happy to have him stay in her den. With dark thoughts, Jade wished he would never find a new den. It would kill her to see him go.

Suddenly, she flicked her ears, stood up and looked at the hill they had come over. She stared at it and listened very carefully. Over the winds, she could hear a ghostly rage aimed in their direction. Something was wrong. In an instant the pleasant heat that fluttered in her face vanished.

'What are you looking at, Jade?' Blake asked as he chewed

She couldn't answer. She was concentrating so hard that she couldn't hear anything... But the inaudible sound she was straining to listening to. Blake couldn't hear a thing, but he could see that Jade was worried about something. She then heard the silent rumble and her ears perked.

Blake left his chicken in the grass and went up next to her. 'Is something wrong?' He still couldn't hear anything.

Once again, Jade didn't answer. The wind started to blow hard, making the blades of grass slash past their bodies. The clouds had clogged up the sky. The light of the moon was no longer visible. With the sky locked up and the night becoming its darkest, the rumbling got noticeable, even for Blake.

'It's happening again...' whispered Jade, her eyes wide.

She pointed her ears back against her head. Her blood ran cold. The terror she felt was so strong that Blake could sense it. The undeniable aura of unbound horror resonated from her. She began to slowly walk backwards, cowering down to the ground. She was fully lying on the grass with terror in her eyes. Her body was shaking as she relived the upcoming moment she had experienced a mouth ago.