Thyrus found the pine trees a good place to find all sorts of wonders.  The pine needles littered the ground and the scents of life and decay below them spoke of many mysteries to be found. There was a different scent that drew him now though.  The boy recognized the smell of blood and followed it with only a few wrong detours.  Another pause happened as he spotted a mouse and tried to whack it with his tail.  Missed, and his tail whacked against the rock instead.  Someday he’d quit missing.

Recalling the blood scent Thyrus continued on until he spotted it.  The young fox carcass seemed large to the small boy.  The meat was already gone other than the slivers of it left behind.  The head was a mixture of flesh-covered areas and hard bone exposed in other spots.  

Thyrus waited for several minutes, watching and making sure the fox's killer didn’t come back.  Unless it had died from something else?  Thyrus slowly approached the corpse, looking at it anew with wonder and a grin starting to form.  You could make all sorts of things with something like this!  His gaze went to a glazed-over eye that seemed to stare at him in silent appeal.  The other eye was gone.  Why only one?  

Thyrus bit into the neck spine and snarled as he shook at it, trying to separate skull from body.  He twisted his jaws one way, then another, gnawing in determined frustration until he felt it pop.  One of his pup teeth also fell off but that was ignored.

"Thyrus Mendacium"

It was nice to have a bit of freedom. Mom and dad had given the pups permission to peruse the island as long as they were careful. Besides, Fever knew they always send one of their animal friends to spy and watch them. It had become a sort of game; trying to escape the watch of her parents companions. It was a fun game too even though she usually lost. Today Fever had meandered down to the pines. It was an enjoyable place to be. The dark and mysterious nature of the large conifers drew the girl in. She felt very comfortable in the dark. So did her brother Thyrus, it seemed. Crouched behind one of the sap covered pines, the horned girl watched as her even smaller sibling grabbed some bones in his mouth and gave them a shake. She snorted softly, then stepped out from behind the tree to see what he was doing. "That thing stinks," she told him as she drew in closer. "What are you doing with that thing anyway?" Her little nose wrinkled in distaste, flashing a bit of fang in the process. She wondered if mom and dad would be mad if Thy came back smelling like dead things. "Speech"