In the cellar, Mike was prompted by his mother to do whatever it was that she wanted him to do. "Hold this over here," and "gimme that knife," as well as "nick this spot over here." Surprisingly, after ten minutes of cutting, they were able to remove all of the fur from the Tauros in one go.

"Kheh, a little trick I learned before I had ya... ain't it cool?" Syrup admired that her son was always attentive and cooperative... even more than that, he was fascinated by her knowledge. "Now then, bring that pelt over here and let it soak in this water while we start cuttin' our flanks and such."

Syrup began chopping up the skinless Tauros and made the proper portions out of it. What used to be a whole Tauros a few hours ago had now become various cuts of steak, ribeye, rump roast, a pelt, horns, and many bones. Very little of the bovine had gone to waste.

Mike still was amazed. His mother barely cooked at all, so she would always serve up either pancakes, raw steaks or eggs, and water. That was all. Anything fancier than that would have to be brought in from the saloon in Gambitville that she would visit from time to time. Come to think of it... Mike had never been to that saloon in town, his mother would never permit it.

"Hey Mikey-boy, how's that pelt drying up?" Syrup asked Mike as she continued to cut up the Tauros for its succulent beef (all the while licking any stray blood that stained her paws).

"O-oh, it's... going okay." Mike sat on a small crate which, while he was dealing with any bones and such that his mother had left him to clean up, ensured that his tail's flame was positioned near the pelt which was being hung to dry.

"I'm fine over here..." Mike also couldn't help but lick the blood off his claws, it tasted delicious... but probably not in the same sense that the reader is accustomed to. At that point, Mike remembered that back in Tao Village he knew a handful of guild members and others that were particularly bovine. Even if what he and his mother were doing would be unthinkable to talk about in front of them, what he did at home was what he did at home. At the same time, whatever he did in Tao Village would stay in Tao Village. He wouldn't dare mention to his mother the many embarrassing details he had suffered. Perhaps if Mike ever came back to his position as Guild Leader, he would make sure that none of his easily preyed upon members would go to Gambitville.

...On that note, though, Mike wouldn't have minded devouring a handful of the cuts his mother was busily making... "Yannow... maybe if I could just have a bite right here.." Wait, what was he thinking? He shook his head to snap out of it. Clearly being famished had almost brought him to potentially anger his mother; he needed to stop this, or at least try asking.

"Hey mom, why can't we just eat these now?" Mike whined to his mother in hopes that he could do just that.

"Naw, can't do that! It'd spoil our dinner at the Saloon, and there's someone there I've been dyin' to show you to!" Syrup said as she continued to hack large pieces of beef into manageable sizes. "...there! I think that's the last of it. I hope you're done over there, cuz I am over here!"

"Oh! Yeah, I just finished cleaning these bones, and I think the pelt is all nice and toasty. What do want me to do with them?" Mike perked up at the mention of the saloon, as she had always talked about how it was such a grand place.

"Here's some rope. Put the bones in a bundle and wrap them all up inside the pelt. Make sure ya tie it up nicely too. That's our dinner money. I'm gonna just put all this meat into our icebox." Syrup started stacking the pieces of meat inside what looked like a giant wooden box in an orderly manner. It may have looked like just regular wooden box, but inside, it was lined entirely with a thin layer of nevermeltice, a wondrous substance that kept whatever was stored inside this box chilled. Such a fantastic invention would be incredibly useful in preserving foods for days and days... but for a very costly price, why should it simply be called an 'icebox'?

Finally, the two of them were complete with their task that would seem macabre to the many herbivorous residents of Tao Village, and just in time too! The sun had fallen halfway into the desert horizon, painting the once-blue sky with many hues of orange and red.

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Part 4 of "Reprieve" by

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