The largest of the group held his heaving belly as it slowly tricked with worryingly dark blood. His pudgy face was set into a stony, agitated glare out at the soft light growing in the distance. Needing to be helped in walking made him spit blood onto the stone faces in disgust. His weakness had nearly cost him his life, nevermind the lives of the others. He felt like he could feel the air filling the wound at his flank left by the lion's maw, and the ebb of blood in tune to his heartbeat was beginning to wear on his will.

He was too hurt to help carrying the beast with them, but he made sure to give it a few good stomps in the skull before they left. For good measure. The light of the lanterns they held began to be overpowered by the light in the distance and for a moment, the scenery seemed to wave and warp as he passed his eyes over it. He had lost a lot of blood, and he was tired beyond limits he ever knew he had.

The congregation of lanterns had attracted a gathering of other humans like him. All dark-eyed and gape-mouthed. They made him sick to look at. Frightened. Weak. Just as he was, but he refused to accept the similarities. Instead he lifted himself from his supporter, his vision was too bleary to see whether it was the woman or one of the other men, but he pushed them away to stand on his own.

But when the clean-shaven man opened his mouth not to grunt, but to speak, the large man shot an angry glare. What was this noise? This... speech? His mind felt fuller. His mouth moved to its own will and he growled out in a voice that sounded more feral than man.

"Pain. Hunger. Eat."