Focusing on trying to focus

Was there anyone besides a bunch of pups in the pack that hadn’t contracted the sickness to some level?  None of them were in shape to work but at least Kotori and some others weren’t as ill as others.  All he had to die was make some damn snares to try and catch food so why was it so hard to do a thing that should be so simple.  

As the pup appeared a bit of ooze from his mouth fell on the rope.  Kotori was halfway through a resigned sigh when one of Az’s brood started kicking sand on his fire.  A snarl came from his chest, pushing itself out even as he jumped up to shove himself between the kid and fire.  She could either move or get shoved away from it.  “Stop it!” The look in his eyes was livid.  A madness of voices or lack of focus wasn’t needed for overreacting in this.  The fear of the darkness encroaching on his space was enough inspiration.

Kotori looked at the large pup and huffed out a harsh breath, glancing off.  “The fire is keeping the spirits away,” it sounded better than saying the darkness away.  Besides, Ikigai pretty much had Kotori sold that it was some sort of evil spirit or spirits doing all of this.  Who said they avoided light and that was why the instinctive fear of the dark?  Was it any crazier of an idea than what all else was going on?

“Sorry,” Kotori grumbled a moment later, and a bit of blue ooze dribbled down his jaw to land on the sand between him and pup.   He would go back to the snare once he knew the kid wasn’t going to try and put out the fire, “you aren’t supposed to get up close to it.”  Like Kotori was to protect it.  The heat was obvious against his flank, his one eye squinting but the fire needed protecting as surely as one's neck in a fight must be protected.

Kotori Fatalis