Rise of the Devourer

Chapter 27: Interlude: Just a Bunny

In the village of Layfar, in a rather unassuming bush, a bunny was crouching. The bunny was by all means a rather regular animal. But this one in particularly was unsatisfied, and was searching for something.

The bunny chewed on grass, eating food. It was hungry and so it ate. This had always been the case. It had never had to think about that. It simply ate when it was hungry and slept it was tired.

But recently, it had been captured. The bunny was terrified, and had felt scared. But then, while still captured by the giant creatures, it had been given something.

Something delicious.

It wanted that. It wanted more of that life.

So it chewed on grass, and thumped its feet angrily. This was not enough anymore. But… how could it get more of that other thing?

The bunny thought, and it thought long and hard.

It was not really good at thinking, and it got distracted rather easily. But this time, it really gave its all in thinking.

And it came to a conclusion.

The giants must have the life-elixir. The red beacon of delicious life, the nectar of dreams that it had been fed upon. So if it wanted more, it had to go to the giants again.

The bunny wiped its face with its hands, and rubbed its long ears as it continued to chew on the grass. It had a plan now.

And so, after it had enough, the bunny hopped. And hopped and hopped, as it began to make its way back into the village.

It took some time, before the bunny saw the first giant. It was not a particularly big one, and this one had long fur on its head. The bunny jumped closer, before rubbing itself on the giant’s leg.

“Oh! A bunny! Hello? Do you want something?”

The bunny did not understand the little-giant’s words, so it continued to rub itself against its leg.

“Are you hungry?” the giant asked, before reaching into her clothes. “I only have this leaf.”

A leaf! The bunny liked leaves, and this one smelled nice. So it took a bite, and another, before quickly it began to nibble on the leaf.

“You’re cute,” the giant said, running its hand through the bunny’s back. It liked that, and let her continue, as it enjoyed its meal.

But wait! That’s not what it wanted. It was here for the life-elixir. That the life-mother had so graciously fed it.

And so the bunny paused, before thumping its feet as it tried to cling to the little-giant’s leg.

“What? Oh, you want to climb up? Okay,” the little giant said, as she picked the bunny up.

The bunny felt a bit confused, but did not resist. Maybe she was going to take it to where the life-elixir was?

“I wonder if I can keep you. I doubt Nat would let me, though. Or mom. But you’re just so cute,” the little giant said before touching its nose. The bunny sneezed. It did not like that, but it would tolerate it, if it meant more life-elixir.

Soon, the little-giant began to walk, talking her further into the town. Very quickly more and more giants began to appear. Some were smaller than the little-giant, but most were a lot bigger. Some scared the bunny, and so it found cover in the little giant’s arms. Others gave it food, and it accepted the ones that smelled nice.

“Mom! I’m back!” the little giant shouted.

The bunny ducked, not enjoying the loud shouting from the little giant, but it sat patiently. This was where the life-elixir was. All it had to do was hold on for a little while.

“What took you so long Auri? And what’s that?” the bigger giant asked. This one also had long fur on its head.

“It’s a rabbit I found! It was really friendly and kept snuggling up to me. Can we keep him? Please? Please please please pleaaassseee?”

“I already have enough problem with you and your brother. We’re not going to get a pet that you’ll get bored of in a week and leave to die. Not to mention, that’s a wild rabbit. It’ll run away very quickly.”

The bunny sat quietly, listening to the giants make sound. It did not know what was happening, but it hoped that if it waited, maybe they would give it some life-elixir?

“No, Auri. I don’t want to hear any arguments, let the rabbit go.”

“But look at it!” the little giant exclaimed, holding out the bunny.

The bunny looked at the bigger giant, before it tried to reach out for her. Was she the one who would give it the life-elixir?

“I know… it’s adorable. And really friendly. Which is just another reason not to keep it. Maybe its someone else’s pet and got lost. Just let it go, and it’ll go back to its home,” the older giant said, before grabbing the bunny.

The bunny heard the little giant shouting something, but the older giant carried it outside, and placed it on the ground, before closing the door shut.

Staring at the door, the bunny wondered just what had happened. Where was its life-elixir?

It went to the door, and tried to climb up on it, and claw at it, but it did not budge.

After a while, it gave up, and turned around.

Hmm. Perhaps those giants did not have the life, elixir. Maybe it should try a different one?

The bunny hopped around, going to a different giant. This one was taller than the little giants, but not as tall. It also had almost no fur at all anywhere.

“Oi, what’s this rabbit doing out here?” the furless giant said, bending down as it picked the bunny up.

“A girl brought it because she wanted to keep it. She’s been crying about it for a while now,” a different giant said. This one was a lot taller, but also more thin, and had short fur on its head and face.

“Hmm, I’m getting a bit hungry. Some rabbit might be good for dinner,” the furless-giant said, holding up the bunny. The grip was starting to hurt, and from the voice, the bunny had a feeling this man was not going to feed it anything.

Instincts kicking in, the bunny began to thrash its legs to free itself. It moved and struggled, kicking at the air before it turned its head towards the hand holding it and bit.

Something changed. A liquid flowed into its mouth, and the bunny felt a familiar taste.

It did not wait to think on it, as the furless-giant let go of it, and the bunny ran with haste. But the taste stuck in its mind.

That thing. That was what it wanted.

The bunny ran and ran as the furless-giant gave chase for a while before stopping. Soon, it was in tall grass and hidden, and it sat thinking.

That thing had tasted similar. But it was… wrong.

It was not enough. It did not have life in it. It was not the same.

No no no no!

That could not be! How, how could it find the life-elixir again?

The bunny huffed and jumped in anger before thumping its legs angrily. It needed more. Needed to find the right kind. But where? Things seemed to have it in them. Maybe… maybe it could try to take it out of them?

The bunny thought of this. It had seen animals eat other animals. The bunny only ate grass, but it knew some of the other things ate animals. And when they did, it saw the red thing come out. Maybe it could try to do that?

The bunny ran through the grass, trying to find something. After some searching, it found a squirrel. The bunny hid in the grass, waiting for the squirrel to come closer. It waited patiently, watching the little creature more before it jumped and— and the squirrel ran away before it could do anything.

The bunny watched the squirrel all the way up on the tree and thumped its legs in frustration. Maybe it needed to try something bigger.

It walked around once more, searching, before finding a big boar. The bunny thought about it, before it ran in and kicked at the boar. The big creature turned, kicking at him, before it snorted and walked away.

The bunny thumped its feet, and charged again, this time biting at the boar’s leg. The boar kicked once more, and this time, the bunny flew back.

Pain. It hurt.

It saw red blood coming out of it, and fear filled its heart.

No no no! It could not lose its life-elixir!

The bunny sat, breathing heavily as the wound slowly healed. The life-elixir it had been given before was still working, but it was all almost gone now.

It could not do that again or it would die. It needed something small enough, but also large enough, and not very fast.

The bunny hopped through the grass, trying to search for something that would fit. As it walked around, it saw another bunny, peeking out from a burrow.

An idea came to the bunny.

The other bunny would not think it was an enemy. So… it could then attack and get its life-elixir.

And so it approached the other bunny, and sniffed and greeted it. The other bunny looked a bit confused, but after sniffing around a little, it turned back around, ready to return to its burrow.

Then the bunny jumped, and this time it did not miss.

Teeth bit into fur and skin, as the red liquid filled its mouth. The other bunny thrashed, but it did not let go of its prey, and continued to dig in. It kicked with its legs at its face, hitting as hard as it could.

Slowly, painfully, the other bunny stopped moving. Red coated the bunny’s fur now, its mouth covered in a coat of blood. After the bunny knew its prey was dead, it began to eat.

The red things filled its mouth, and its hunger began to be fullfilled.

It had hunted. It had killed.

It felt good.

Words erupted in front of the bunny as it finished eating its brethren.

You’ve killed a normal rabbit!

You’ve gained the [Cannibal] perk!

You’ve gained the [Kin-Slayer] perk!

Experience points awarded for your first kill!

Evolution unlocked.

Would you like to Evolve into a Murder Bunny?

Yes/No?

The bunny did not understand what this was, but something in it knew that it had done things correctly.

And so, it reached out to the glowing words, written in the color of the life-elixir, and selected yes.

Pain shot through the bunny’s body, as it collapsed, twitching on the ground. Consciousness faded in and out as its body began to undergo changes.

After a long long time, the bunny opened its eyes again, and found itself… changed. It could think more clearly now, it could smell better. It could smell blood. There were claws under its paws, and a horn that jutted from its forehead. Its teeth were sharper as well, and its eyes saw more clearly.

The bunny looked around, feeling an entirely new set of instincts take hold of it.

It was a hunter now. And it wanted more.

The sky turned red, as the bunny sat up and gazed upon it. In the sky, a giant ring of red light lit up, as an eye looked down upon the world. The bunny saw the eye, and felt a vast presence look back upon it. It was vast, vaster than anything and everything the bunny could even imagine. The eye gazed into its soul and the bunny trembled with fear.

But… there was another feeling in the bunny.

Kinship.

The eye hungered.

It too was a predator.

Just like the bunny.

The Watcher’s Eye looks into your soul.

You’ve been inflicted with [Madness - V]!

The bunny felt the madness encroach upon its mind, and it welcomed it.

It would hunt. It would grow. And it would evolve.

But first, it had to find the life-mother that had given it the elixir it so desired.

And so the bunny sniffed the air, before finding the trail of the delicious scent of life, and began to follow it.

Thus began the journey of the murder-bunny.