Rat Race

He had thrown himself into the shallows, but somewhere in the back of his mind he wasn't keen on following his prey into the depths of the river. He had never swam before, and when his feet no longer felt the bottom a slight panic rose within and he turned around until he could feel the ground again. He watched the creature swim away, but it wasn't long before the wolf in the water herded it right back towards him. His own tail lashed, the boy crouching the way a feline would when stalking its prey. The voice in his head and dulled to a low murmur, but as the capybara drew closer, the voice grew. "Get it. Rip it apart! Taste its blood! Bathe in it! Destroy it!" Cloud shook his head. Subconsciously he hated hearing that voice. It always sounded so...dangerous. So bloodthirsty. It wasn't him. Or...was it? Was this really him? Did he truly crave blood and gore? He struggled with himself for a few moments, almost enough time for the capybara to make it back to the bank and make a mad dash towards the trees, but Cloud was quicker.

"Kill it! Rip its throat out! Don't let it get away!" A wild snarl left Cloud's maw instead of the 'NO' that he wanted to scream. Eyes bore the telltale signs of something wild and primitive. He wasn't himself. The mud coated beast dug his claws into the soil and moved forward with speed he didn't even know he was capable of. Fur bristled all over his body, the muddied parts sticking up in untamed clumps. Drool and spit flew from his mouth as his teeth bared as far as they could go. The capybara that was in his sights would have made it, perhaps if Cloud had better control of his ill mind. But the beast that resembled something rabid barreled right into it with all the force of bull, knocking it hard into the mud.

Cloud of course, would go tumbling with it. Feet tripping over its fat body and sending him rolling into the mud, but the voice urged him forward and the now bloodthirsty beast was on his feet once again. Lunging towards the capybara's throat, Cloud's teeth clamped firm and hard. The high pitched scream of the capybara would go on for several beats, until Cloud violently shook his head and heard the 'snap' of its neck. Mud and blood spattered every which way, coating him and the ground. But he wasn't quite done yet, no. He would continue to shake his head, digging his teeth further into the flesh of the creature. Canines ripped muscle and tendons, going all the way until the bone. Over and over and over he would rip into its neck, shaking and shaking until finally...one hard swing would finally send the body of the poor creature flying towards the water, landing just short of it in the mud. He was left standing there, the head of the capybara in his jaws. He was breathing hard, his trance not yet over even as blood spilled onto his feet and pooled on the ground around him. Even the other wolf had been forgotten...

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