I might not have bothered if I hadn't noticed the shovel as I packed. As it was, the grave was a little shallow. Both because I was tired of the undertaking and because I used too much force and broke the old handle on the tool.
And I am not digging down further with my bare claws to bury something that I do not plan to come back and eat later. Which I do not. It's already a somewhat ridiculous thing I'm doing, to be honest.
My homeland did not have such a practice as covering our dead with earth, but Helene knew that the humans here did. I'm hoping if I'm ever caught by this man's friends - should he even have any - that they will consider my action a good deed.
Elsewise, I would have just dragged him to an exposed area for scavengers to disassemble, like is natural. Like the boneyards I'm used to.
I positioned his body in the grave with the decomposing head facing east toward the rising sun. It probably means nothing here, leastwise in whatever religion he followed, but it was a cheap concession to my own tradition… that may do no wrong.
Why did I even care which way this murderer, to put it politely, faced?
Perhaps it was just that some part of me needed the ritual of it. Needed to acknowledge that even this man, who had made his living killing the closest thing to my kind in this strange world, deserved no less dignity than I would have given a human corpse from mine.
A little wish to honor the familiar cycle I grew up with.
So I've hauled him to this hole with my own clawed hands. My siblings would have been scandalized at just about everything I've done or experienced since I arrived.
But they are not here. They might have made different choices, but that only makes sense. We're different people, after all. Them. Me. Helene.
> I don't know what will happen in the future, but that's not going to change. I can only be Citra Lomdi. Okay? <
Inside, the blue eyes of my black furred partner just looked back at me. Into the hopefully still lilac color that should exist on my fox form's eyes. A feature that I knew so well in the mirror in my palace bedroom.
An appearance that I know this human body does not have.
Sure, it's irrational to think a few days in another form is enough to alter my long grown spiritual representation. But there was a time when I also would have found it highly irrational to believe in a concept like transmigration and multiple worlds.
As I used the broken shovel to scrape dirt over his body, I reflected on the irony of my finds today. A werewolf hunter had died, providing tools, goods, and a helpful means of survival to… a werewolf.
With this good deed, perhaps in his next life, he could be something less destructive. Or at the very least, not someone who collected parts of sentient beings as mere trophies.
When the grave was covered, I collected a few rough stones in the dark to pile on the site. As a marker for anyone that comes to find him. The sort of attention to detail that might make it seem like I was giving proper care, if I'm caught here next time.
> I'm actually surprised nothing tried to break into his hideaway to get to him. Do you have any idea why they wouldn't? <
I speak to my wolf, who only huffs unconcerned at me as I scrub my furry claws. The parts that had to touch him still smelled like death. This attempt to get clean uses an alcohol that I found under his cot… while removing the blanket and wrapping up the corpse.
A clear distillation that smells like nothing anyone should ever ingest, human or not. I was surprised it didn't burst into flames just by existing!
However, I was not going to travel to the nearest source of water on the map and contaminate it. It also seemed a shame to waste the bottles of water I found when this alternative was here. So, I scrub.
When I feel I've disinfected myself appropriately, I shift back to this body's 'natural' human form. I look around the hideout and decide to go lay outside on the ground for a few minutes. More wind movement out there that can make it just a bit easier to breathe.
It doesn't take long before I want to wear clothes - or have fur! But I abstain from giving in to both desires. To give myself time to just think, suffering in the chill autumn air.
This is the first real break in constant activity… since I woke up in the forest. After exhausting myself from running all night. The anger against Jace and Chad rolled back to fear of being caught.
Fear of…
"Dying, huh?"
In my kingdom, we understood death differently than here. The nation maintained vast boneyards where our dead would be returned to the cycle of nature. Picked clean by the varieties of animals into consuming aging carrion.
Nothing wasted. Nothing trapped beneath soil where it would slowly poison the earth instead of quickly decay. The body was simply a vessel, after all. A housing for the soul on its journey. Something I have learned was more true than I knew.
I pause my self reflection, thinking instead of the wrapped remains I covered just a while ago.
> Had his soul already begun its journey to a new vessel in this world or some other? Or did it linger, confused by the strangeness of my attention? In any case, at least he wasn't murdered. <
My wolf shifted its head at my fox spirit form that appeared just to bug it again. I smiled in reality.
"I'm not sure how I would get one of those 'anacondas' from this world to this location in order to cleanse his soul."
I almost laughed while speaking, even though the joke required context that my companion wouldn't understand… context I quickly started to explain.
> It relates to a practice of my homeland that I never really questioned the sanctity of. Those who died violently required the sacred intervention of the Serpent shifters. Bodies were consumed by great-sized snakes of theirs. <
The whine it gave made me think it considered me to be crazy. My follow up would not smooth that impression. Not that I was trying.
"The idea was to ensure their souls weren't lingering due to the taint of violence. The deity in the greater pantheon we worship, the one related to ends and beginnings, is none other than a snake. You see now?"
Its quick bark was clearly placating. Clearly just trying to get me to stop talking. So I simply moved on and stopped sharing my superfluous knowledge. I get to my feet and dust off the debris that clung to my upper back and legs.
"I'm a little tired, but we should keep going. I just need to grab those things."
My entire form erupts with long black fur. Claws and snout extend, teeth sharpen to fangs, and my whole shape alters with increased muscle size and elongated bones.
And judging by what I saw in those jars… a little unfortunate shrinking of my brain.
I stalk toward where I left the backpack that I am taking with me. Luckily, I already messed with its annoying straps to make sure it was wide enough to put on. I would not want to manipulate those pieces with these claws.
When I grab the lock on a little table nearby, I notice something that slipped my attention before. A silver colored device had fallen off behind the furniture that a little push made accessible.
My clawed hand carefully presses around its metallic edges… reasonably sure that it is not actual silver. Flipping it around shows the black looking glass on the other side.
Helene did not have one of these kinds - few in the Duskpaw owned phones at all - but she knew what a 'smartphone' was. The same sort of thing Chad was aiming at me to record his little 'video'.
I skim more of her thoughts and decide that if this has been sitting there as long as his corpse, it was probably 'dead' as well. A potentially valuable find, nonetheless. Certain technology always seems to fetch a decent resell price in any world.
I slip the lucky windfall into this backpack of good fortune and take one last careful look around. The lock goes on the latch easily enough. Securing this place against…
> Actually, if someone like me… or even another human came here, this structure isn't exactly that strong? What good was the lock he used? <
A crass snort comes out of me, both for realizing it late and for bothering to question my wolf. It didn't matter, anyway. The important thing is that the timely death has provided me with resources I desperately need.
A practical perspective. Perhaps slightly coldhearted, even. But survival wasn't a completely gentle business, even as a princess. Only just a little more grim… at the moment, than I am accustomed to.
I'll have to find a way to make that better somehow, before the child is born. If I can. A safe place and stable food.
I quickly consult the system map again to confirm my direction. Toward the city and its opportunities. Toward the task I was given and what might come from completing it.
The blue light that makes up almost everything this interface does stands out against the dark. Reminding me of the color of the eyes of my wolf.
And those of the pack of werewolves this body belonged to.