[ WP ] A hunter talks to his prey after the kill

The heaving mass of flesh and fur gurgled slowly to a halt. Shanes body moved slowly with the beast as its energy faded. He puffed into the cold morning air, arms wrapped around the giant almost in embrace. He gently tugged at his blade and eased it slowly from the animals neck. Blood gushed from the wound before slowing to a quiet stream. The beast lay still with the forest it called home, its warmth in life ever fading. Shane looked upon his kill with a sense of guilt. Its magnificence was eerily apparent as it sprawled in front of him. 
 
 He placed both hands on the head of the beast and closed his eyes, taking a deep breath through his nose. The smell of the creature mixed with the trees and the earth, its aroma flowing into Shane as he took a moment to appreciate his bounty. The sacrifice would not go unnoticed. He slowly opened his eyes and looked to the sky, the sun filtering through the treetops, the clouds drifting silently by. 
 
 `` Thankyou great forest.'' He began. `` You have provided one of yours so that I might provide for my own. I'm sorry I had to take this life. It will provide the fuel for many more.'' He moved his hands slowly upon the animals great neck. `` The cycle continues.'' He let out a long sigh as he began to cut into the body, pulling his knife along slowly like the opening of a zip. Its organs fell and slopped into a heap at its side. Shane reached inside the great giant, its warmth still evident, pulling at the remaining parts and motioning them to the ground. 
 
 He wiped his hands in the undergrowth and slipped his blade into its holder on his belt. Placing his hands once more upon the animal, he whispered a final thanks. He grabbed one front leg and pulled it upwards, its muscles large and imposing, a shadow of what had thundered through the trees not long earlier. He pulled hard at the leg and twisted his body with the animal, draping it across his back. With a tense grit of his teeth and a final heave, he dragged the other across his shoulder. `` You will not be forgotten'' he said, but there was no answer.
