Little Bit of This. Little Bit of That.

Soft, sweet tones of a child humming drifted through the dark, damp forest. A wordless, happy little tune. The notes stopped occasionally, but would quickly start once again as though the singer was completing some task and had stopped to concentrate.

Though the forest was formed of close knit trees, the child had found a rare clearing. Sunlight filtered down through crisscrossing branches, illuminating the area sufficiently for the task at hand. Tendrils of fog snaked into the clearing from the dark depths but were quickly devoured by the light above.

In the center of the clearing sat a young girl. She was humming happily as she worked on something. Again she stopped her song. A wet squelch could be heard accompanied by a grunt of effort, then the humming resumed.

Today, Aslatiel had decided to venture away from home. She had her aunt's snow leopard as a chaperone. The big leopard lounged in the shade as she worked. The pair had come across a young fox and had quickly ended its life. Now, in her little clearing, the cream and grey princess had her prey sliced down the center, thoroughly eviscerated. She was going to skin the fox, but she had something else in mind as well. She wanted the skull to take home. Maybe she'd give it to Azure as a gift. He'd surely appreciate the grisly present.

Elbow deep in the body cavity of her prey, the girl was in no hurry. She played with the entrails, squishing them between her toes. Her pretty little coat was flecked with blood, but her fore legs, chest and face were covered in it. Without looking up, the child called out to the leopard in her happy little tones. "Enki, do you think you could find me another fox?" Maybe she could have a matching skull for herself.