The hunger gnawed and raged in her like a living thing. It was only quieted with food temporarily. Nothing in these woods, save maybe the rats, were large enough to sustain her appetite. Especially the small squirrel snacks she had been living off of. They were just fur and bones mostly. Not like those juicy deer creatures. Rend salivated at the memory of the feast when they had awakened on the hill. Pickins had been slim for her since that day
Making a deal with the plump rat had not been her idea, and she had not agreed with her pack mates. They had herded the rest of their meal off to hide in some den under a waterfall, and she had wandered into the woods to explore their new home and walk off her frustration. She did not like it, the dense forests and mossy trees made her feel cramped. They were perfect for skulking around, but not for chasing down prey she quickly learned. Making deals with feed creatures was beneath them. They should just eat as they please.
When she had finally come to join her brothers at the door under the water in the evening, they were gone. There were signs of a struggle or fight and some feather bits... and a strange bottle of liquid left behind. The hunger was starting to rear it's head once more, so she had sniffed that bottle and tried a sip to see if it helped her stomach pangs. It seemed to quiet them, for the moment.
Following the path the group took, she saw many alive deer creatures had been with her kin. They seemed to have escorted the bone crushers, or took them hostage? The deer were tasty but also a bit scary. They had sharp horns, but more so they had strange magic. It made her very uncomfortable because she did not understand it.
Rend had followed the path and tracks all the way to the edge of Homewood, where they entered the barrens. The path went cold there, swept away with the dust and unreadable hardpack earth. She had paced and mulled over this predicament. Had they taken the others out there to kill them off? Or banish them to their fate? A day of looking had told her the area was immense and nearly uninhabitable. Especially for a creature that would need sizable meaty kills to survive.
Rend had been faced with a hard decision; keep searching out there and possibly meet whatever fate they had, or find them... or stay in the woods. There was water, food and plant life here that could sustain her. But none of her kind apparently. This was not their habitat it seemed. Why had the deer creatures started this, and then where had they taken the others? She chose to stay and to do so very stealthily. Rend knew she would need to be very careful.
A lone bone crusher could take several of those 'noulicorns' she was sure, but in the end they would be able to overpower her or use that weird magic. And this was their home land. So it would be best to bide her time. She skulked around, mostly at night, living off what she could hunt of the small worthless creatures of the land. Eventually, she snuck in closer and found areas the deer congregated, places they called home. She saw fawns playing, and wanted desperately to take one.. or two. But how soon would that alert them she was there? It was best to observe them, use her mind. She was less impulsive and more controlled than her brothers. She could be patient. Maybe.
The deer were stupid, they did not act like there were dangerous predators around... or any dangers at all really. They skipped around singing, they played with their magics and picked flowers. They made shops and feasted on berries. They let their fawns run wild and they never watched their backs. The dappled shade and sun of the moss and trees were perfect camouflage for her pelt. Rend quietly observed and tried to understand. She came so close to them sometimes she could have leaped from her hiding place and feasted right on the spot. Self-control was a constant painful struggle.
Rend bided her time, looking for the right opportunity. She would catch a grown one off guard alone and she would demand answers. And once she got those answers she would also have a feast. There was something changing in her, and it was deeply troubling. She would have to make her move, and quickly. Her body was preparing to bring forth new life, and the instincts to feed were about to overwhelm whatever wits and control she had left.
