You can't let her die alone. You run down from the tree and into the camp. You approach Duchess. You can now see her wounds are grave. Duke's teeth punctured her lungs and the force of the bite broke some of her ribs, bones poke out from her chest. She is taking shallow breaths, her lungs are filling with her own blood.
You run up next to her head. Her tongue is out limp and blood is dripping from her mouth. She doesn't move an inch, she can't even look at you, but she says in a raspy voice, "Lulu, is that you?"
"Yes Duchess, it's me." Your eyes fill with tears and it feels like your chest is going to burst. You reach down and gently stroke the top of her head.
"Was I not scary enough?"
"You were plenty scary Duchess. You did the best you could." Tears pour down your face.
"It wasn't enough." She pauses for a moment, "Do you think Moki will be okay?"
You blubber "Yes she'll be okay," you lie. Snot flows from your nose.
"That's good. Do you think I'll see her again someday."
"Yes, Duchess you will and you and her will play and dance all the time." You are barely able to keep it together.
"That sounds nice. Will you be there Lulu?"
"I hope so, Duchess. I hope so."
She doesn't say anything else. She begins gasping for air and convulsing. A large amount of blood spews from her mouth. She stops breathing, twitches then goes limp. She lays there completely still, eyes dim.
You cry uncontrollably into her neck. You cry so much you get dizzy. You stand up, walk away and throw up. The grief has made you so sick that you fall over on your back and pass out on the ground.
You wake up, you feel something on top of you. You blink your eyes. It's a pidgey looking at you. It cocks its head back and forth then squawks, "this ones still alive!" It jumps off you and flys away. You get up slowly. Judging by the sun it's only been few minutes. You look over where Duchess is.
Three pidgeys are pecking at Duchess's body. You watch in horror as one of the pidgeys pecks one of her eyes out and pulls it out. A cord is attached to the back and it snaps off. The pidgey holds it in its beak then lifts its head back and swallows it whole. You can see the lump go down its throat. The end of the cord sticks out of its beak.
"Get away from her you monsters!" You charge them, electricity sparks around you. They squawk and fly away scared. They land on a branch nearby. There are four of them.
"Are you going to eat her," one chirps.
"Come on, leave some for us," another says.
You glare at them and threaten, "I'm going to cook you from the inside out if you don't leave." Electricity sparks all around you.
They all fly away squawking. They don't fly far. They just wait in a tree about a hundred yards back, watching you and waiting. You look down at Duchess. They must have been working on her for a while. Most of her underbelly is missing. Her guts are pulled out on the ground, chunks missing. Seeing her like this almost makes you break down crying again.
You take a deep breath. This is the way of the world. The strong get what they want and the weak suffer the consequences. A new resolve has formed in you. Your quest for a Thunder Stone is a good one. You will use the power you gain from it to protect the ones you love and bring vengeance on the wicked.
You swear that once you find a Thunder Stone you will hunt down Duke and kill him. You will free Moki from his den. You walk off, north, back to the fork in the trail. As you leave the pidgeys swoop down and begin pecking at Duchess again. You don't look back.
