Don't care if you think I'm dumb [o, hunting]

[BLOODHOUND.]

To say that they were interested in the alligators... was an understatement. They found the massive, lazy beasts interesting, and often, would steal away to admire the power and ferocity within their fat, scaley hides. They were smart enough to keep their distance, often scrabbling to higher grounds to watch from afar, out of reach of those massive jaws.

Today, was one such day. Bloodhound had spent quite a bit of the early morning hunting rabbits, for both them and their raven friends to eat. Between chasing rabbits and dodging traps, they could already feel exhaustion settling into their frame, especially as the days grew longer and hotter. They'd rested for some time beneath an old, dead tree, coughing and wheezing, trying to catch their breath. They could feel their asthma getting worse as time went on. While there was a relative lack of pollution in the air, they weren't sure if the radiation here, and the fact that the land itself seemed to be a human dumping ground, was exactly healthy.

They had been making their way to the swamp, with a couple rabbits on their back, when they had heard two familiar voices, bickering about... something. Bloodhound padded over, watching the scene. Their acquaintances were thankfully, immediately recognizable. Bloodhound stalks forward, a little smile hidden behind their mask. A few crows that had been following them, land in the trees around the three of them, watching Bloodhound intently, waiting for the rabbit corpse to fall.

"For a man who developed a corrosive gas, I thought that you would not mind a little blood, Doctor." Their tone is teasing. They are, however, interested to learn more about how exactly the two of them are coping with this new life. Neither of them had seemed to be previously accustomed to the wilds, to hunting and killing their own meals. And it became more apparent, the closer they came. It didn't take a genius to find out that neither of them laid a tooth or claw on the raccoon. No blood from its ears or nose... had they choked the poor thing out?

It was creative, they supposed. A bloodless kill. Eating it would not be so kind to their sensibilities, if blood was what they were avoiding. Feeling death between their teeth, a life pulsing away. It was something they would have to come to terms with, if they wanted to simply survive.

They move a ways away, towards the forest, and turn their head back, to nudge off one of the carcasses. They step away, towards the pair, as a number of crows erupt from the trees, beginning to tear apart the corpse behind them.

"Be proud of your kill, show respect for its life. For the strength that it gives you." They state, their gaze locking onto Caustic. "Know that a bear that bests you would not hesitate to feed."

THE TRUE TEST IS BEFORE THE ALLFATHER.