Water splashed through the air and scales shimmered in the watery light of the early dawn. A thick yellow beak clamped down on the tail of a rather decent sized fish and took off into the air.
Isacaire hadn't hunted for just himself in so long. It seemed that ever since the earthquake things had gotten worse and worse in his eyes. Of course Étaín was getting a little better, that made him smile at least. Even the pride was healing itself.
That wasn't what bothered 'Caire though, it was that the valley was destroyed and reeked of loss and sacrifice. So many had attempted to survive, so many had given their lives for others to survive the madness that had ensued. As a vulture Isacaire felt as though he wasn't welcome, thanks in part to the scavenger vultures that had come in droves to attack the peaceful lions of the valley after the deaths of those around them. He was treated just fine by most but as a bird he got to see more than the lions around him saw.
The lions were tied to the ground. The majority hadn't even seen the full extent of the damage the earthquake had done to the fragile ecosystem of their valley. With them so far from others it made it hard for 'Caire to imagine that they'd do well for a while in the future. Of course they were surviving now and there were more members coming in to the pride now.
That didn't save it though.
Sighing, the vulture flipped the fish around and swallowed it head first. All the fish in the world couldn't sate his deepening hunger for something else that was hidden in the recesses of his instinctive hollow bones. It felt like it was just out of the reach of his thick bone-crushing claws but 'Caire was aware of something there... something.