Aurora finally grew tired of carrying the pup around, and called for Gut to stop. Exhausted, she dropped the pup onto the ground, and flinched when his head bounced. As she stared at the white-coated little one, a sickening feeling of dread welled up in her chest. He was dead. As she looked down at him, she saw that his chest was not moving. He was not breathing. He was dead. She slumped to the ground in defeat. Beside her, the dead pup's body was beginning to stiffen. She sighed.

After a moment or two of silence, she called out to Gut, "If you're going to eat him, at least take him away from here so I don't have to [i]watch[/i]. And try to be quiet about it."

With that, she stood up again and continued on her way through the trees...