5 Define Cannibalism

The cold was now really getting to me my mind was getting a bit foggy and I was ready to start gnawing on myself.

Then I heard hope. Well, some type of it anyway. I heard voices. I was instantly energized as I turned my ears to the sound. It was faint but I didn't think I was wrong.

I headed towards the voices. Upon peering over the crest of a hill I saw 2 figures 100 meters away in thick coats walking and talking but I couldn't tell what they were saying.

Even though I was hungry learning more about humans in this world is crucial. So I crept closer. I'm a red fox and although my coat got thicker for the winter I still didn't blend in well.

Luckily the 2 guys seemed preoccupied in their conversation. I snuck closer unfortunately their voices didn't get any easier to understand. They didn't speak my language.

Even on earth, I hadn't heard anything like it. It was bizarre-sounding. It sounded like nothing on earth. I didn't hear anything recognizable though except for some vowel and consonant sounds.

Well although I'd normally like to avoid eating humans it's also not really a problem now that I'm a fox. I decided that I mind as well act quickly and quietly before I run out of energy or think too hard about the moral implications of eating the species that I used to be a part of.

The other thing I noticed as I got closer was that I was even bigger than I thought. Foxes in this world must be bigger than the ones in my previous life. Or the humans are smaller. I think it's better to use humans as a baseline though.

My parents would be a bit bigger than even the largest foxes assuming these guys were at about at the avg height of men in a preindustrial society they're 170 ish cm or like 5'6. Could be taller but assuming that they are with my tail I'd be 2.1 meters long(7 ft.) and about 80cm tall(2.6 ft.). I'm basically the same size as a wolf from my world just a little less bulky.

I continued sneaking up and when I was within 8 meters. I formed ice spears and claws deciding to attack the man who had a hand resting on his pommel first.

The 2 weren't ready for a sneak attack and only one of the guys noticed. By the time he yelled out though it was already too late for the man I targeted. He was wearing a leather jerkin but the ice spike that I spent so much time practicing was as sharp as a sewing needle and pierced through his heart right after slicing through the jerkin like butter.

The man still alive yelled at me clearly angry probably saying he'll avenge his friend or that I'm a coward for attacking like that.

I didn't care I started to lunge for him but I jumped to the side before diving in fully because it seemed like something was wrong with the way he was anticipating me charging him. A second after he threw a small fireball at where I would've been.

The fireball was pretty pitiful though. but he was able to throw the magic which was interesting. It didn't matter though it seemed like the most powerful magic he could use is the equivalent of a 12-year-old who just discovers what you can do with a lighter and some bug spray.

Nothing too crazy as long as I know it's coming. we spent the next 5 minutes trading some blows. my fur got singed in a few places but I got in a few good jabs at him a few weren't strong enough to really hurt him but the ones I aimed at his legs were clearly taking their toll. his movements were more sluggish and the snow around him was dyed scarlet. Furthermore, he never got a hit with his sword on me. It's quite easy to deflect swords when you can use 2 spears to do it and conjure more if any break.

I also had the speed advantage over him. It was just a matter of time before I got an opportunity to finish him. A bit later it happened. He tried to use his sword as a downward cut with both hands. This left him wide open. Instead of dodging or parrying like I normally would, I leaped at him brandishing my long razor-sharp claws at his eyes. I had one claw on each hand pierce deep into his eye sockets killing him.

The fight left me even more starving than I was before and I was running on pure adrenaline. I ate and ate and ate satiating my hunger. I tried my best to not think about what I was eating.

The more I thought about it the more I wanted to throw up. I intentionally avoided the more human parts of the bodies like the faces. It was still plenty of meat and it was the first time I felt full in 2 months.

I was still cold though so I took the less bloody coat and draped it over myself to protect myself from the cold and I took the sword and scabbard off the 1st corpse. My ice blades are nice but a sword is more durable, although I don't want to carry too much so I left the other sword behind.

In addition, they had a small coat that couldn't fit either one of them and looked like it was much more expensive than theirs. It even used a fox tail for the collar, truly terrible to see my brethren becoming clothes. Is what I would say if I was a loser. Even if I have the body of a fox I don't identify as one. Actually, I do, but only when eating. Shit, this logic doesn't make sense even to me. I swear being alone might've been good for my mental health but it feels like I'm getting dumber.

Well, I guess my only option is to focus on myself if I put it that way eating the men and making the foxes into a coat wouldn't matter.

I thought about burying them but I thought it would be a futile effort. Either the snow would bury them, or the people from the village would go out looking for them and bury the bodies after they find them.

I should investigate more on human civilization so I wanted to secretly observe their village. Since the men weren't carrying any game much water or other supplies I assume they were going out to hunt.

It's weird that they'd even expect to find anything though I hardly found anything even after weeks so these guys must be desperate.

Regardless I decided to follow the footprints they left behind back to the village they belong to.

I walked for almost 2 hours without finding any village and the tracks became less clear. I started to wonder if I lost the trail or somehow made a wrong turn when I saw an igloo. The weird thing is that this igloo didn't have enough room for even the 2 dudes I came across let alone the whole village.

I needed to investigate though so I began to walk closer.