Another rabbit died in her hands, its throat crushed as she held it between her fingers. Bloody fingers grasped tightly around its tiny throat, breaking it with a simple twist.
It died so fast and so easily.
The act of killing, a horrible deed and disgusting act. Dispensing such acts to another creature? Bringing its own end? It disgusts her.
But after dying countless times, it became a necessity. Unavoidable and a must. Too many times she died, too many times she felt the bite of many. Too many times she felt her body being torn apart.
Too many times she felt unimaginable pain.
Far too many times...too many that she became accustomed to it.
Pain? She welcomes it. For not feeling pain meant death, the separation of mind to the body, incapable of comprehending that it died already.
Pain is a reminder that she is still alive.
After countless times, after so many loops and deaths, she starts to learn and discover.
This field, whatever it is, is a place separate of time and space. Many hours have already passed, maybe even days but daylight still remains even after trying to survive the onslaught of murder bunnies. Even so, the day still persisted. The night never came.
Then there's the bunnies, the murder bunnies.
When she started killing them, she felt disgusted and horrified by what she had done. She would immediately get over it as soon as the rabbits started tearing her apart without respite even. No matter how many she kills, no matter how many times she returns from death, the rabbits always come back.
She might be stuck in a loophole of some sorts, a terrifying prospect especially with the implications. Grey Boy had instilled fear across the states with his attacks, to be stuck in a forever looping timeline. Unable to do anything but watch everything happen over and over again.
Except her situation is far different.
She has choices. She can do whatever she wants. She has freedom to act and save herself from this place.
Yes, save herself.
Gone is the timid girl, what remained is a desperate girl who's survival comes first. She wasn't fueled by the need to go home or to see her father again.
No, she is fueled by an instinctual need for survival. After so many deaths and experiencing the pain, her body and mind have adapted to the need to avoid it yet at the same time adapting to as much as possible for survival.
As the saying goes;
"Troubled times make strong men."
And so Taylor adapted.
--------------------------------
A death squall fills the air as Taylor snapped the final rabbit's neck, killing it. The girl herself is a bloody mess. Her body was torn apart in many places, bitten by sharp teeth and claws. Her clothes in tatters, nothing more than rags and her plain underwear covering her modesty.
Finally, she collapses, throwing the carcass away as she drops on her back. Her breathing was heavy and painful. Everything aches and her head feels dizzy. She may be experiencing blood loss at this point.
No matter, she already succeeded.
By some miracle or through sheer will, Taylor finally did the impossible.
She murdered an entire warren of killer rabbits with nothing but her bare hands.
A bitter chuckle escaped her lips at the absurdity of the situation. After so many deaths and so many dead rabbits, she actually did it.
She did it.
Then why does it feel so hollow for her. As if the achievement of murdering the entire field of rabbits wasn't good enough.
Why does she feel disappointed?
Why is she disappointed in herself?
Souls consumed:
Rabbits of Caerbannog
Rolling ability: ???
Taylor sat up at the strange feeling swelling in her chest. The strange message continued to play in her head and the feeling got worse.
Something is happening and it's changing her.
Ability rolled:
Caerbannog Dweller
Then it was gone.
"What just happened?"
Suddenly, a small squeak gained her attention. Right in the underbrush, there's a tiny black thing.
A baby black rabbit.
Her first instinct is to wrap her hands around it and twist its tiny body, breaking every single bone it's body and killing it quickly.
Yet she didn't.
As she watched it cower and huddle beneath the blades of grass, trying to be as small as possible, it reminded her of someone.
Her.
So weak and so helpless. It's a fragile creature, like she is at the beginning of her stay in this place.
She should kill it. It will definitely grow like the rest, a dangerous killer. Even so, she didn't move a single muscle. She's content with resting for now. Killing this one won't change anything.
Mercy is given, a single chance.
"Here, you'll die alone here." Taylor carefully picked up the tiny thing. It barely fit in her palms, it was too small. A runt probably.
"If you rip my throat open, I'll kill you too." Taylor blankly warned the tiny critter. If it does rip her throat open, now or maybe later, she won't blame it.
She gave it mercy so she has to take responsibility for her own actions. She orphaned it, practically destroying its life.
Just like them.
"I'll never be like them." She promised to the little critter. It merely twitched its nose in response.
And then finally, something happened.
In a blink of an eye, Taylor was gone, leaving behind a carnage of blood in the Fields of Caerbannog.
----------------------
"Hmm, what do we have here?" A slayer muttered to himself as he looked at the girl lying in the middle of nowhere, curled protectively around a small black rabbit.
A rabbit that he is pretty familiar with.
A type of carnivorous critters that practices cannibalism due to its voracious appetite for flesh, overhunting its territories until no prey is left than their own kin.
A Caerbannog Rabbit.
"What a mess." The old slayer sighs, pulling down his straw hat to rub his head full of greying hair due to age.
By the looks of the girl's clothes, she is no local. Probably came from those futuristic realms. The question is how did this girl come into this crossroads and how did she manage to get a hold of a baby Killer Rabbit?
"Looks like you're coming with me missy." The old slayer decided, lifting the sleeping girl off the ground and walking back to his cart loaded with a monster's carcass.
She's deeply asleep, she probably won't notice sleeping beside it.
"There you go." The old slayer says as he lays her down comfortably, ignoring the stench and blood of course.
Then out of nowhere, a beast emerges, attracted by the smell of blood and the prospect of a free meal.
"Goddamn it. I stopped too long." The old slayer cursed, grasping the katana on his side. Cold blue eyes stared at the approaching beast.
It was a Wyvern, a draconic creature. Kin to dragons, they are massive flying lizards who have wings for hands. Unlike their pure draconic kin who stand on all fours, Wyverns stand on their hind legs, making them appear bigger and stronger.
This one has bright green scales, powerful thick muscles and a strong scent of blood emanating from it.
"Juvenile. A hot head at that." The old slayer muttered as he analyzed its scent. It's a young one, hunting merely for sport and expanding territory. Probably got attracted to the scent of blood and came to investigate due to its stench.
Afterall, the carcass on his cart is an adult Wyvern.
The adolescent wyvern growled menacingly at the slayer, eyeing the dead adult version of it on the cart. Its instincts are now in overdrive.
With the death of the adult, its territory is now for the taking.
But first, it has to kill the prey that took out the old one.
"What an annoying brat."
As the young Wyvern was about to release a deafening roar as a challenge, the old slayer already moved.
"First Form: Water Surface Slash."
Before it knew it, it was already decapitated.
The old slayer sheathed his katana after flicking off the draconic blood before it took root to the blade, not wanting to lose its purity for demon slaying. With a sigh, he turns towards the headless carcass.
"Great! Now I have to deal with two dead bodies!" How is he supposed to transport this back to town!?
With that, he went to work in trying to find a way to cash in these bodies. Waste not everything.
As he works, something can be seen far beyond the horizon.
A massive tree, reaching towards the sky. Its canopy was unseen due to how high it was. Its trunk is impossible thick, far bigger than any continent in the world.
As Taylor slept peacefully, little does she know that she has entered a realm of impossibilities.
Welcome to the Roots of Yggdrasil
-The crossroads between worlds-