Day One: Morning

[Minoshia]

Confirming his dogged vow, the dark overlord of the night sky had relinquished his dominance over the heavens as Apollo guided his chariot over the morning horizon – the infinite strength of his winged horses carrying the weight of the sovereign regent of burning light. The rise of the daytime power brought forth a new empire onto the world, one much different than its predecessor. Streaking colors bled together above the rolling hills, a beautiful disaster on God’s canvas. Enjoying a rare moment of peace, the dark prince sat with his back against a titanic oak and drank water, a lackadaisical glaze filtering over his charcoaled eyes.

Ignorant to the scheduled change of the guard in the sky, the Konat warrior had become more interested in his surroundings. An array of plant life adorned the ground around him, different sized bushes and small trees wrapping around a small clearing. One thing he knew all too well was that environment played an important role in survival. The wind was holding a steady breeze, washing over the vegetation the wind had become Mozart – welding together a legion of random sound into a beautiful harmony. A single leaf moved against the rhythm, it had moved one second too early or one second too late, either way the sweeping poetry of nature had been interrupted. The sensitive ears of the warrior had sensed the movement and perked immediately in the direction of the disturbance.

Minoshia popped onto his feet, his legs folded like spring loaded cannons. Foliage at the bottom of the bush ruffled with suspense, the heat of his stare could have burned the bush in an instant. Bursting forth from his hallowed home, a young rabbit parted the wall of leaves and exploded forward, landing softly in the clearing. In an instant he had become prey, and his expression noted the obvious – his eyes mutated into windows of fear. Padded feet skidded to a halt as the lagomorph attempted to change direction. In observing his reaction time, it could not be determined he had been removed from the hunt for so long, the Konat’s legs straightened and he launched forth as does a bullet from a gun. The coney gave one last courageous, albeit fruitless, effort towards extending his mortality, catapulting forth with a combination of pure strength and adrenaline he made the greatest leap of his life and for a single moment he could taste the palpable scent of freedom fill his nostrils.

Fingers tightened quickly around his neck and brought the cottontail crashing into the ground, compressing his lungs and forcing out any breath of liberty he had obtained. With a flick of his wrist, Minoshia snapped the neck of the carrot loving fiend, allowing the limp corpse to rest idly in his bony claw. He pulled his legs underneath him and returned to a squatting position, rotating the expressionless animal in his hands. His eyes pierced the fur of the creature, searching for the most viable point of entry.

“Ah, there we are…” Minoshia plunged his teeth into the exposed neck of his prey, ripping open the fur and giving way to an ejaculation of blood from the wound. “You were foolish to come near me, my furry friend,” He gripped the open wound with his fingers and began peeling back the fur from the muscle and fat – effectively skinning the rabbit.

Soon there was nothing left of the rabbit except a limp bulk of meat resting before the alien warrior, stripping some leaves from a nearby bush he wrapped the agglomerate of tasty muscle and slid the package neatly into his bag. Eyeing the bread, he decided that for lunch he would create a rabbit sandwich – and it would be delicious. Slinging the pack over his shoulder he decided his rest had come to an end and it was time to resume his hike. He opted to carry the bat over his shoulder now, growing ever more paranoid with each progressive step.

With every incident there seems to be a lesson learned. We have laid out our goals; we have even declared them to the moon. What we need to do now is formulate a plan, a direction, in which these goals can be achieved. Survival is the key to success, the path to the Holy Grail, and it must be achieved at all cost. Wouldn’t we agree?

“Of course we agree you fool, that might as well have been rhetorical.” Minoshia whispered aloud, a menacing grin crossing his face.