Despite Matteo’s subtle attempts to dump all the manual labor onto Muu and Ash again, Muu’s oddly uncooperative streak and Ash’s own rabbit-dressing duties had led the winded boy to deal with firewood-gathering himself, banished to the woods to search for dead branches. Though it was a warm season, there was still plenty of deadfall from the previous winter, and soon, a reasonably sized bundle of wood and dry grass was collected.

Did it feel good, doing a simple, manual task after all the time spent being tossed in unreasonable situations back at the caverns and tunnels? Naw, work was still work, no matter what the shape.

While Matteo gathered wood, Muu was promptly ignored as Ash went about finishing up her bloodied task. A thick stick was enough to serve as a shovel for burying the entrails and the head, while a thinner stick broken from the bushes was easily sharpened into a skewer for spit-roasting the rabbit. It would have been ‘healthier’ to boil the meat instead of roast it over flame, as the fats and oils would flavor the bubbling water, but taste was king, and once Ash got the fire started, the aroma of hot rabbit flesh was simply divine. The flesh cooked quickly over the fast-burning flame, and even had a crispy char at the end of it. One rabbit wasn’t nearly enough to sate the stomachs of them all, but well…

…it certainly was tasty!
[@Burger][@Skyswimsky][@Buzzkill]