Smokin' Hot

One of Kali’s favorite things to eat was smoked meat. It had such a unique taste, salty and just chewy enough to be appetising but not squishy. Most importantly, it wasn’t a big bloody mess. The Klein girl hated getting her paws dirty with the nasty entrails of a kill. Intestines were slimy and long and stomachs stank. Yeah, she could do with a good liver or heart, but the rest, in her opinion, could be tossed right into the red goop that her brothers loved playing with so much. It stuck between her toes and got all over her mouth and chest when she tried to eat fresh kill, which made her feel not at all like the regal princess she was. So, smoked meat was the perfect solution.

In fact, Kali liked it so much that she decided she wanted to try and make some of her own. First, she needed to hunt down some food. A rabbit would do, she decided. Though they were quick and hard to catch, they always tasted the best and their furs made such perfect bedding. Honestly, sometimes she swore she was sleeping on a cloud. It seemed luck was in her favor that day as she came across a warren tucked into the roots of a tree, a pale, plump hare sleeping the day away convinced that it was nice and safe from her. It was cute, really, how naive it was. She wanted to crush it, so she did. Her jaws shook and shook the helpless little furball until it squeaked its last squeak, going limp in her jaws. She spat it on the ground, its blood soaking into the snow and coloring it a quite pretty crimson, but she skirted the puddle with distaste. The girl took a moment to clean her dainty jaws, pink tongue sliding across her lips to rid them of the red substance before she picked up the creature by its back leg and carried it to the mountain.

She dumped it haphazardly outside the den, picking up some mostly dry sticks and shoving them into a decent sized crevice in the rocky slope. Then, she picked up a bigger one and headed up to the red goop. Her brothers were idiots, to be sure, but she supposed they did serve their purposes sometimes. One of those times being their discovery on how easy it was to make fire with the hot molten rock. She stuck the tip in for just a moment before dancing back, wincing at the heat the tried to singe her whiskers clean off her face. It was impossible to be near it too long lest she get burnt. The minor burns that littered her siblings’ pelts proved that much.

She carried the flaming stick back to the crevice, sticking it inside and waiting for it to ignite. The flames slowly came to life, lighting up her golden mask in an eerie glow and she smirked. My, she really did have beauty and brains, didn’t she? Luckily the crevice was fairly tall, but reasonably shallow. She was able to take two other sticks and wedge one into the ground to act as a base for her smoking skewer. Then, she made quick work of gutting her kill, tossing the entrails other than the heart and the liver to the side for Wendigo and Misery to fight over later. She ripped strips of meat off the bones with her teeth, tossing a few inside the nearby den to Abaddon, who ate them up happily.

The girl skewered them to the stick, shoving the opposite end into the shallow wall until she found a solid hold then balanced it on the base stick to keep it held up. The two were secured with some vines, the fire was stoked, then all there was to do was wait. Which, of course, she didn’t like at all. While she waited she cleaned herself up and set the rabbit pelt out, covering it in snow so that it could be preserved until the thaw where it could be set in the sun to cure. She played with Aba, talking to him absently while he curled himself up against her plush fur. She talked with her mother when she came by the den between her duties, explaining to her with pride what she was doing. She fed the fire, checked the meat, all of it taking hours. Her childish patience was on its last leg, she just wanted to eat it right then and there! Finally, after 8 hours and just before the rise of dawn, the meat was firm and dried.

Kali took the stick out from above the flames, taking it into the den and snarling at her siblings when they dared venture near her to try and steal some. Only her mother was allowed a few pieces of her hard work, and when she finally got down to have some it was so good she thought she would die. It took all of her willpower to not gobble it up in one bite like some primitive beast, taking little bites to savor its flavor. Maybe all the work and waiting had been worth it. Probably not, but maybe.