After a long rest and recovery, Renny limped down to the river, scrubbing his body and clothes clean of blood before heading back to the injured rothound. It was still resting but had healed a great deal, and he knew food was all it needed now. With the two larger hounds dead, the answer seemed obvious, he could serve them up.
For a moment, he hesitated. Would that count as cannibalism? But this was hell. Anything went here. If cannibalism was a sin on earth, punished by damnation, then in hell, surely it was fair game. He shrugged off the thought and sliced the carcasses cleanly before laying the meat before the rothound. It wasted no time, tearing in hungrily.
"Well," Renny muttered, watching it chow down in delight. "Guess that answers it." He said it almost proudly.
Still, unease lingered. Would more hounds come again? At least this one was recovering, if another fight broke out, it wouldn't be as helpless. But the question gnawed at him: why were they after this hound in the first place? Smaller, weaker—he would've thought the bigger ones might protect it, maybe even treat it like their own pup. Instead, they despised it, like it was something else entirely.
Different colors, sure, but they were all rothounds. So why the violence?
After a while, the hound finished both carcasses, not even bones left behind. Man, these creatures are truly rotten. The fuck? Renny thought, eyeing it with fresh caution. If it could devour two full-grown rothounds alone, then what was he to the hound? Just dessert.
But instead of turning on him, the hound licked his shoes. At first, Renny thought it was cleaning up before eating him, but nope, it was thankful, excited even. Soon it was hopping around him, tail whipping like mad.
Renny couldn't help a small nod, pleased despite himself, before shaking his head. Look at me… rejoicing with a beast. Man, hell is weird.
After a moment, he gave the creature a name, Oliver. Then, half-joking, half-curious, he asked Oliver why the others had been after him. To his surprise, the hound barked back as though speaking, and somehow Renny understood. Seemed in hell, nothing was truly lost in communication.
Oliver explained that his siblings had been ambushed by the blue rothounds. Renny asked if his siblings were just as small, and Oliver barked in agreement. They were different, not like the normal rothounds.
"Then why'd they ambush your kind?" Renny pressed.
Oliver lowered his head, a small whine in his throat. He didn't know.
Renny nodded slowly, taking that in. "And how do you know if your siblings are still alive?"
Oliver lifted his muzzle. He could feel their heartbeats, although it was weak, but still there. He was lucky to have escaped capture himself.
"Alright," Renny said, sliding his dagger back into place. "Can you sense where they are? I'll help you free them."
Oliver barked sharply, joy bursting from his chest, and bounded ahead. Renny followed, and together they began their journey deeper into the forest.
Renny stayed alert, worried they might run into more rothounds, but to his surprise, none appeared. He guessed the two blues he had already faced were the only ones sent after Oliver. Honestly, even one would have been enough to drag the little hound back, two was just to make sure.
They pressed on until the trees thinned and a cave revealed itself ahead. At the entrance, Renny activated his demon eyes, searching for familiar traces of cause energy. What flickered back at him were five distinct threads of loss.
Turning to Oliver, he asked, "How many of your family are held captive?"
The hound gave a sharp bark. Five.
That confirmed it. Oliver's siblings must have lost something themselves, something deep enough to give off the energy of loss. Renny exhaled, dagger hand tightening.
"Alright," he muttered. Together, he and Oliver stepped into the cave.
It was pitch dark inside, but Oliver moved with such confidence it was clear he could see perfectly. Renny, on the other hand, would have been blind with his normal eyes. Thankfully, his demon eyes turned the blackness into clear sight, almost like walking in daylight. Still, he knew the price. Using them didn't burn like the royal eye, but it drained his stamina the longer they stayed active. He had learned that much from experience. Luckily, He had rested enough before reaching this place, and since he hadn't activated the demon eye until now, he could afford the strain. With his vision sharpened, he followed Oliver deeper into the cave.