It had managed to tear it's way out of the casing, now that the pressure wasn't hauling it forward by the neck. Grey, 'dead' eyes peeked open, staring at wet, sopping stonework. Legs forced up, it's vision swaying.

It - he - could not shake the crawling feeling from somewhere in it's guts of... earlyness. Incompleteness.

But a more pressing sting was survival, and instincts. It forced itself to it's towering height, bony head and neck swinging around to take in more of it's surroundings.

It did not know where it was, but... forgivable, given it had, in some way, just been 'born'. There were living things off in front of it, and its innards bade that it eat. It could see them by the heat of their blood, their temperatures.

Two larger shapes spoke between eachother, and their forms were not terribly unlike it's own. it's gaze tore elsewhere, immediately settling on a moving, wet thing that was very warm indeed. It was slithering and meandering its way towards the two tangled shapes. Perhaps it sought them as prey - but most importantly it was distracted, so the somewhat wobbly Creature shambled forward after it - far quieter than it's size and gangly, bony nature should have allowed.

The moving, damp prey was nearly to the like-it-but-not-its, when creature's hoof came crashing down, in a harsh cutting motion, just behind and into the slimy thing's eye - an instinctual placement. The prey went still, limp, almost immediately.

It's jaws and teeth caught it and dragged it in, sharp, tearing teeth chewing. Another small warm thing fell free of it, and vanished between the shapes of the two not-its, but it disregarded this, chewing, tearing, and swallowing down the deceased slime out of sight.

It was still hungry. It stalked forward, and began to see the not-its in proper color, and form, not their writhing temperatures from afar. There was a foreign, aggressive movement across the larger one's haunch - it could hear them talking, not that the words made any sort of sense.

The dracula bat was torn free of it's perch, and vanished down It's jaws quicker then the slime before it.

Finally, it regarded the pair of not-its. Something in it's brain suggested they were prey, but that fluttered out against another instinct - mimicry. Follow. See what they do. Imitate.

The small warm prey from before, both of them, had been drawn to the Not-Its like moths to a flamelight.

The clear solution was simple, if It followed the not-Its, it would find prey, and it would be fed.

"...I don't think that's a horse."

It's ears twitched - the longer it listened to the thrashing speech of the not-its, the clearer some meaning became.

"Well, we can't just leave him-  poor thing, they're skin and bones, hungry enough to eat bats, and the slime, probably rats too-"

The smaller, lighter one's posture was less unsettled, less wary of It. The lighter not-it was soon on it's hooves, examining It with a slight probing snout. It held still, and tilted it's head -but craned It's neck with interest at the warm damp toad perched on the lighter not-it's shoulders, teeth glinting.

"No- No. Not food." The lighter not-it's face was sudden in It's, and creature stilled, and slowly retracted it's neck from the direction of the shivering toad.

"...See Shield? He's alright. Just hurt, and... well it can't have been good for it, being down in the lake."

It's stare shifted to match the lighter Not-its, to the larger one, the 'Shield'.

"... You're not going to-" The Shield sighed, staring over at It again. "...as long as your 'Creature' doesn't attack us, Litany."

The lighter not-it - the Litany? - seemed to settle into relaxation at that.

"Come along."

The creature's head tilted again, and it fell into step behind them.