feed me

car·nage [kahr-nij] noun 1.the slaughter of a great number of people, as in battle; butchery; massacre. 2.Archaic. dead bodies, as of those slain in battle. (rp blog; INACTIVE)

[popitcandy-blog]

"Maybe you could show me some of your favorite ones then," Candy grins, hopping up the stairs after them, throwing his hands out to his sides to keep his balance. "We could play some together, after all this is over. I’d like to do it now, but I don’t have any consoles myself and there’s no point if the power’s going to cut, like you said."

"I’d like to think domestic animals have more thought processes than them, since from what I can tell they seem to operate on pure instinct," he shrugs, but he decides to give up on his plan. Thoughtless or not, they’d probably end up dragging themselves up the stairs.

He makes a thoughtful noise, thinking back on what happened earlier. “Did they?” he asks, frowning slightly. “I didn’t notice. I was a little preoccupied trying to get my spray can to really pay much attention to it. If you insist, though…”

[hungryforcarnage]

"If you can figure out how to get to where I live, sure," Caedes sighs, running a hand through their hair. "...You'll have to find it yourself, though. For my own safety."

"...You'd be surprised at what pure instinct is capable of," they say, frowning slightly. "My stomach runs on pure instinct, and look at how far that's gotten it. Wild animals are more dangerous than you think'd think, Candy."

"It doesn't really matter, anyway, as long as we survive." They stop at the top of the stairs, looking around. "...You said the third floor, right? I wasn't keeping track, so... is this the right floor?"

[popitcandy-blog]

"The electricity is still on, thankfully," Candy says, nodding and shutting the door behind Caedes after they enter. "I’m not entirely sure how- magic, maybe? Regardless, the power’s still running. I don’t really play video games though. They weren’t part of my childhood and I haven’t gotten the chance to really play them. Do you?"

"Fast doesn’t exactly mean they can climb though," he hums, making a thoughtful face. "The steps are a little big and high so they’ll have to be able to stretch their legs properly to climb. Even if they can, as long as you’re fast enough and you shove hard enough while you’re on the stairs, they’ll tumble on down. It won’t be too difficult to handle them. It’s not like they can really get into the tower anyway." He knocks on the door, knuckles gently tapping on the stone.

"Jumping ones though… Where did you see those? I didn’t know there were ones like those. There’s a lot more different types than I expected…"

[hungryforcarnage]

"...I play games a lot, I guess," Caedes nods, humming a little. "I have more money lying around than I need, and I don't have anything else to kill time with between meals and selling things to customers."

"The power will probably cut soon, though, if no one's maintaining the magic that keeps it going," they say, looking around the inside of the tower. Not surprisingly, it's not that different from the one they live in. "...I don't think we'll really need any electricity for now, though."

They shrug again as their attention focuses back on the topic of monsters, looking at the stairs. "Even if the steps are big, that won't necessarily stop them. Dogs and cats can get up stairs just fine, so I don't see why these things can't. They're agile enough to kill people and pose a threat to us, so I wouldn't be surprised if they could get up these stairs in no time."

"I just meant the monsters from earlier, actually," they continue, heading towards the stairs. "The one going after you jumped at you. ...Or, at least, I think it did? It all happened too quickly for me to realize what was going on, honestly."

[hungryforcarnage]

[xxxx]

They're so hungry, and everything seems like it's going wrong, but what does that matter? Their hands are splitting open in front of them and teeth are peeking through the gaps and their body's splitting into four jaws instead of two and that doesn't seem right, they don't remember things being that way in the past, but they can't focus, they're hungry and their stomach is screaming and they're screaming too, because they're so goddamn hungry, and they can't see, there's fog everywhere and it's soaked into every fibre of their body--

There was a human survivor on the street earlier, they think, returning to reality as a familiar scent drifts down the street; something in their head was telling them to keep it alive, they think, to ask it questions, escort it to safety. But, ah, it's gone, it's not there anymore; did they eat it? It had been human, after all, and it had smelled so good and melted in their mouth, a delicacy, but somewhere along the way they'd realized that monster flesh had such a texture, coarse and putrid, rotting and festering as it digested in their stomach, and human just couldn't match that taste no matter how absolutely delicious it was.

They're still hungry. There's a human screaming somewhere far away -- and they are too. They're so incredibly hungry.

[popitcandy-blog]

"But that would be just boring, isn’t it?" Candy hums, shrugging casually and wiggling an eyebrow while heading towards the door of the tower, pulling it open. "I could do that, but there’s nothing for me to do at home that could keep me occupied for very long and I’d get bored pretty quick. I’d rather go out and have fun than just stay inside all day. It might be physically safe for me to stay in my room, but it’s not something that’s safe for my head."

"I’m up on floor three," he says, gesturing for Caedes to come inside. "It’s not too high up, but those monsters don’t exactly have the motor skills to climb from what I can tell, so I think it’ll be safe. I’ve been considering letting one in just to see if they can climb up stairs, actually. It might be fun to watch. Want to help me test it?"

[hungryforcarnage]

Caedes stares at Candy with a look of utter disbelief. "...I honestly have no clue how you've survived even a day in this situation, let alone over a week," They sigh, running a hand through their hair. "...Don't you have any video games or something? Or is the electricity out, too?"

"...I don't think we need to test that," they sigh again, stepping into the tower. "Considering how fast the ones we've seen are, they'd get up the stairs in no time.. ...Not to mention the fact that they can jump." They chew their lip and think, trying to visualize the tower's exterior and surroundings. "...They probably won't be able to reach the third floor from the outside, though. As long as they don't break in from the ground floor while you're out, I guess it's safe enough.

[forest-san-deactivated20150118]

alright since my dash is always empty of ngc stuff

please reblog if you’re an active ngc blog

[popitcandy-blog]

"Dangerous," Candy echoes, making a curious face. How so, he wants to ask, but he refrains this time, for once. He probably wouldn’t want to know the details anyway. Instead, he shakes his head clear, shoving the thought to the back of his mind, maybe for later.

"Yeah," he says, after clearing his throat, "I took a look around and went through each room I could get into. Some of them had more complicated locks or measures that I couldn’t bypass so easily, so I couldn’t pick the lock to all of the rooms, but it was enough. I’m the only one staying in the tower right now. I’m not exactly sure where everyone might be, but chances are they’re either out of the district because they managed to get past the gates or they decided to stay in their shops or something. Either way, they aren’t in the tower."

[hungryforcarnage]

"Mmm, I guess being alone's not horrible. We don't have to fight over food rations," Caedes muses quietly. "It doesn't matter, anyway. The two of us are probably set."

"...Which floor do you live on, anyway?" They say, squinting up at the top of the tower. "If you've got enough supplies, couldn't you just barricade yourself up there? ...I'm pretty sure that would be a lot safer than coming down to the streets all the time."

[popitcandy-blog]

"If I’m still alive, then I’m sure that other people are still alive too," Candy states, shoving his hands in his pockets. "Even if they’re all gone, we’ll figure out a way to feed you somehow. You won’t starve and die on me."

He stays quiet for the rest of the way, caught in his thoughts. It’s not as though he hasn’t considered the idea of everyone else being dead, but hearing it said makes him feel a little bit uneasy, like the idea actually has some actual weight to it. He doesn’t like it.

He blinks when Caedes speaks to him, too distracted to realize it at first, and he gives Caedes an apologetic smile. “What was that again?” he asks with a small laugh, scratching the back of his head. “I heard tower and safe, but that’s about it. Can you repeat that?”

[hungryforcarnage]

"I wasn't serious when I said that I'd starve," Caedes huffs a little, though their expression is soft and the corner of their mouth is turned slightly upwards. "I ate before going to sleep. I can go a few months without eating, anyway, it's just that I'd rather not. That... can get a little dangerous." They frown slightly, eyebrows furrowing,, and step towards the tower instead, sighing.

"...Anyway, I asked if you were sure that no one else is in here. Wouldn't every other person in this district also come to the conclusion that this is the safest place to be in this situation...?"

[popitcandy-blog]

"There’s probably a couple of people that have seen what the effects are that could tell us, but that’s only if they decide to come out of wherever they’re hiding," Candy says, shaking his head. "I haven’t seen anyone at all, this past few days. The streets have been dead empty, besides the monsters. It’s a little disheartening, really."

He takes a deep breath at the mention of being attacked again before nodding, picking up his pace. “Yeah, you’re right. It’s only a couple of minutes away. Let’s go a bit faster and get there before anything else happens.”

[hungryforcarnage]

"I wonder if everyone's been eaten," Caedes says slowly. "...There were too many people here for them all to have been evacuated, though I have no idea how well those went. ...I might starve if this goes on for too long."

The two of them make it the rest of the way without being attacked, luckily enough; soon enough, the tower's silhouette can be seen through the fog, looming over them. "So, well, I guess we're here," they say, turning to face Candy. "...Are you sure no one else is in here, though? You'd think everyone else would also think that the tower would be the safest place to go..."

[hungryforcarnage]

[xxx]

They're hungry. Caedes tears into a dead monster, tossing the corpse deep into their stomach -- they end up choking, gagging and retching and emptying their stomach's contents, a filthy mess of shattered bone and deformed body parts, but when they've finished heaving they go right back to feeding on monster carcasses. They're so hungry, it shouldn't be possible for them to be this hungry after eating so much, but they're starving and the monsters taste horrendous but they're still wolfing them all down anyway because there's nothing else around to satisfy their hunger with.

They'd found a human survivor, a few hours ago, and he'd been so happy to find another human only to be eaten up within seconds. The human flesh tasted heavenly, and they'd been so glad to finally eat human meat again -- but they soon found themself yearning for the texture of monster flesh, and then they were swallowing down yet another monster once again. But they're still so hungry, and there just isn't enough to eat -- there never is.

[popitcandy-blog]

"Who knows," Candy shrugs. "Like I said, I have my theories about it. I just can’t help but think that it’s a result of pollution, magical or not, or something like that. Maybe someone ended up casting the wrong spell and the lake reacted to it, or maybe it was the effect of chemical reactions from certain mixtures being dumped into the lake that created those things. Maybe it’s a government experiment, done in order to test a new drug they’ve created. There’s so many possibilities for the cause of this, but yeah, you’re right. All we have to do is survive."

"I’m not quite sure about all the effects it has on people, in all honesty," he says slowly, frowning slightly and crossing his arms over his chest. "Those are the only ones the city announced. There could be more than we aren’t aware of because they weren’t publicly shared with us. I just have the feeling that it’s a little more than that though, so it’s best to treat it with extreme caution and avoid contact with the water and fog as much as possible."

At the last question, he lets out a small scoff, rolling his eyes. “You think I don’t know where I live, at the very least?” he grumbles. “It’s not going to be like that time at the restaurant, okay. You should give me a tiny bit more credit. I’ve been going back and forth to this tower ever since I came here, and I know all the roads heading to it.” He glances around quickly, taking a moment to recognize his surroundings, before jerking his head towards the small flower shop on the corner of the street. “We’re only three streets away now.”

[hungryforcarnage]

"...I'm sure someone will know about what happens if you breathe in too much fog, or drink that contaminated water," Caedes says distractedly, shrugging. "There have to be at least some survivors other than us. This is one of the busier districts, anyway."

They frown a little; it's true Candy has an advantage in this situation, knowing the area around his home. They were only really familiar with back streets and areas close to entrances to the hidden district. They peer around the fog, hoping to recognize some buildings or a landmark, but fail to do so.

"...Anyway, we should hurry, I guess," they say, a little cautiously. "It'd be a pain if we got attacked again."

[popitcandy-blog]

"Nah, it’s fine," Candy says, pushing their hand away from the scarf and tugging the sides of his jacket closed. "Cold or not, I’d rather your injury be dressed than not. I don’t think open wounds should be exposed right now, considering the fog. I’m not quite sure what it is, but it’s obvious that it’s bad news."

"You missed out on a lot during that week though, didn’t you? Basically what happened was that those things came out and people either tried to run or they decided to hide and it didn’t take very long for them to take over the streets." He lets out a small sigh, twirling the end of his ponytail around his finger. "Besides that though, I honestly don’t really have all that much information to share, I have my theories, but I’ll save those for later. I told you most of what I know already, and the rest of my knowledge is that those things came out of the lake, apparently, and that the fog and the polluted water has physical effects on people, such as fever, throwing up, hallucinations, outbursts of anger, the likes. That type of stuff."

[hungryforcarnage]

"Came out of the lake... I wonder what happened to make them come out all of a sudden," Caedes says quietly. "They couldn't have just suddenly appeared one day. Well, I guess it doesn't really matter, as long as we can survive."

Their face twists up a little as they think, and they ask, "...Are the side effects of inhaling fog and drinking polluted water really that bad, though? The way you describe it, it just sounds like a really bad fever..."

They continue to squint through the fog as the two of them walk, trying to spot the tower, though it's near impossible in the fog. A thought suddenly occurs to them, and they turn to face Candy. "...Hey. How do you know where we are in all this fog? ...Are you sure we're not lost?"

[popitcandy-blog]

"If you say so," Candy hums softly, reaching up and patting Caedes on the shoulder. "Accidents happen though. Just try to be a little more careful, involving them and do your best to avoid eating them, this time."

At their look at the scarf, he only shrugs back. “Don’t give me that look,” he huffs, rolling his eyes. “I’ll wrap it properly when we get back. It’s only temporary for now, until we get back to my room. It shouldn’t be too far. We just have to walk a couple of blocks, take a right, then go straight, then take three lefts and go straight before heading right again and we should be in front of the tower.”

"After that, we can stay to rest a while," he nods, eying Caedes and noticing their slight fatigue before beginning to walk ahead. "I have a little more about the situation to explain to you anyway, if you’re interested."

[hungryforcarnage]

Caedes blinks once or twice, staring at Candy with a strange expression. "...I've had worse injuries before, you know, so you can just take your scarf back. Though there's really no reason to waste supplies on something small like this. ...Besides, aren't you cold?" They look at him with a questioning look, moving to untie the scarf from their arm.

When he mentions having more to explain on the situation, though, their attention snaps fully onto him. "...What else is there, anyway?" they ask slowly, peering into the fog. "I don't remember there being anything else that was really serious, at least not when I went to sleep..."

[popitcandy-blog]

Candy frowns at hearing that Caedes ate one of them, making a face. “That can’t be too good for your body,” he says, letting out a small sigh but he shakes it off, heading over towards Caedes. He can’t say much about it after all, it’s kind of his fault that they even had to eat one. Beside, he’ll trust Caedes to have a better judgement on their body than he does.

"Just a moment," he mutters, pulling off his scarf to wrap around the injury on Caedes’s arm, bandaging it and tying it with a neat ribbon, peering at his work before deeming it okay. It’s not like it’s bleeding or anything, but he doesn’t think that open wounds should really be exposed to the fog. "Now we can go."

[hungryforcarnage]

"It tasted gross, anyway. I don't think I'll be eating any more of them," Caedes shrugs. "It was an accident. ...It just so happened that swallowing it was the fastest way to empty my mouth."

They squint a little at Candy when he ties his scarf to their arm. It's going to be a bother when they'll have to fight monsters again, they think, but they don't move to take it off.

"...Thanks, I guess," they say, a little tiredly. The fight had been more draining on them than they'd realized. "...Lead the way to the tower, then."

[popitcandy-blog]

His fingers fumbles to wrap around his can of hairspray, barely managing to reach it before it rolled too far away, and it only takes him a moment to pull out his lighter of the pocket of his jacket. He crawls away as fast as he can, wincing at the feeling of the cold, wet snow on his knees, bleeding through his jeans, shaking his head in annoyance while he runs his finger down the grinder of his lighter, pressing down to start it.

It doesn’t light, no matter how many times he tries, flicking it over and over to try and start the flame until his finger starts to ache. Shit, Candy thinks, breath caught in his throat when he realizes it and suddenly freezing in place, heart dropping to the pits of his stomach and his heart thumping loudly in his throat, out of gas. Fuck my shit. Of course, just my luck to run out, now.

He winces when he turns around and it towers over him, and he closes his eyes, clenching them shut while waiting for impact. It never comes though, and when he slowly opens his eyes, it hangs from Caedes’s jaws lifelessly, until they toss it off to the side, turning back.

"Ah," he says, opening his mouth and closing it when he attempts to answer, before shaking his head and clearing his throat, slowly standing up and brushing the snow off his knees. "I’m, I’m fine. I managed to dodge the first strike. How about you?"

[hungryforcarnage]

Caedes' expression distorts a little. "...I'm fine. They weren't all that strong. Most people in the rich district are more dangerous than that." They hesitate briefly. "I... did accidentally swallow that first one, though."

They chew their lip slightly, and walk over to where their gas mask lies on the ground, picking it up and dusting it off before replacing it over their face. "...I don't think eating just one of them is going to cause any serious trouble, though, so let's just get back to the tower and get some supplies for you."

Pulling their hood on and picking up the pipe from the ground, they shoot a quick glance at Candy. "Come on, let's go before any more show up."

[popitcandy-blog]

Candy only gives them a reassuring smile, tucking his can of hairspray underneath his arm to free up his hands to give Caedes two thumbs up in support. “You’re doing great,” he calls out encouragingly, thumbs held out strongly. “Keep going, you can do it, Caedes! I believe in you!”

This one isn’t too fast, so he’s pretty sure that Caedes can take it just fine with a couple of more swings. He thinks that it might be taking damage, with the way it looks like it bruises and can barely move its limbs. It’s a good sign that they feel blunt trauma, and he wonders if they can suffer from concussions as well.

He’s too busy thinking to notice the monster creeping up behind him, silent and fast, and when he finally realizes its presence, it’s a bit too late. It’s right behind him, about to swing its claws, and he jumps to the side, trying to dodge it and stumbling over a large clot of snow. His can of hairspray slips out of his grip because of that, and he lets out a large curse because of it, rushing to get it.

"Cae, heads up! There’s another one!"

[hungryforcarnage]

After a few more strikes with the pipe, Caedes can definitely tell that the monster is taking at least some damage; unfortunately, their arms are starting to get tired, and the longer this keeps up, the weaker their blows are going to get. They can't tell how injured the monster is, either, and they're starting to run out of patience; they're used to fighting weak humans with little to no means to fight back with.

The monster swipes at them, and it grazes their arm -- it causes no damage, as far as they can tell, but it's enough for them to make up their mind. They drop their pipe and yank off their gas mask - a minute or two of fog couldn't hurt that much, could it?

It only takes a single bite to catch the monster in their jaws, and within seconds, its skull and rib cage are crushed and shattered. It's at that moment that they hear Candy scream, and whip around to see another monster approaching him. Oh, fuck.

It takes only a split second to react - before they've realized it, they've swallowed the monster's body whole. It tastes horrendous, like a mix charcoal and gasoline, and they very nearly retch and throw it back up, but there's no time to waste, because the monster's approaching Candy again, and they throw themself at it in an attempt to stop it first. They clamp their jaws down the instant they hit it, and then the second monster goes limp in their grip.

They straighten themself out once they're sure it's dead, and then turn to face Candy. "It didn't hurt you, did it?" they ask him, breathing hard as they struggle to regain their breath.

[hungryforcarnage]

[xx]

At the fourth monster they've killed this afternoon, Caedes hesitates before digging in; they've already eaten three today alone, plus the other two from the day before. Normally, they'd be full after two or three bodies, but now they're at their sixth meal and they're still hungry.

Maybe I should stop, they think, and wait until I find a human to eat. The monsters taste like shit anyway; they don't know why they're still eating them.

More fog is beginning to roll into the area, and Caedes deliberates fleeing to an area with cleaner air, for the time being, at least. They'd lost their gas mask sometime in the night while they'd been hunting for food, and the rational part of their brain is telling them to retrace their steps to locate it; but then their stomach growls and a pang of hunger wracks their body, and they decide, fuck it, a little more fog can't possibly hurt them.

They open their jaws wide and pick up the monster carcass, tossing it in the air before catching it again and slowly forcing it down into their stomach.

[popitcandy-blog]

"Hey, I could just torch it but I’d like to know if hitting it over the head would work," Candy says, shrugging. "It might be helpful to know for later, after all, just in case. The more information we have on these things, the better. Who knows, maybe they’re especially weak to blunt force or something."

"Don’t worry though," he hums, giving Caedes a thumbs up, "I’ll just stand over here and watch. Just call me over if you need a hand. Or rather, a makeshift flamethrower."

[hungryforcarnage]

"Yeah, you want to save your spray for dire situations, so risk my life instead, got it," Caedes says, rolling their eyes tiredly and stepping away from Candy. "...Let's just hope this one's not too strong."

They stand still for a moment, trying to decide the best way to approach the monster; it's already noticed them anyway, judging from the way it's started to run at them. There's not much time to think, so they grip the pipe in both hands and opt to face it head-on.

The pipe its the monster square in the forehead - it makes a loud bonk as it connects. The monster seems momentarily stunned, but the swing must've been too weak to cause any real damage, because within a couple of seconds it's recovered and is launching itself at them again. It's easy to dodge - the monster's pretty slow, so they swing the pipe at it again.

A hit like that would've probably knocked out a human, they think, but it doesn't seem to be doing much at all to this thing. They cast a nervous glance back towards Candy, trying to make eye contact.