II
Pflrglknpf slunk slowly along the damp earth. He hadn't eaten in weeks and already his body began to consume itself. He could feel his mass slipping away each day. It wasn't the sort of situation a Baron of his stature should be in, even if he was currently exiled. Pflrglknpf's esophagus extended past his head, probing the air for any scent of prey.
Slowly, he began to detect a foreign scent in the air. He couldn't tell what it was, but he knew it didn't belong in this swamp. As he crawled forward, the smell grew stronger. It was definitely foreign, probably some refugee from the nearby exotic game ranch. Pflrglknpf crept onward, his gut reminding him of weeks of hunger.
Soon, he found himself near a clearing and the source of the stench. It was not as appetizing as a snail or worm, but it could certainly be eaten, even if it was most assuredly alien. At his stage of starvation, unfamiliarity was the least of his worries. It was shameful for even a peasant, much less a member of the Regency, to lose his mass to hunger. Pflrglknpf saw the creature move into view. It was definitely an exotic, and a grotesque one at that: a biped with long appendages and what seemed to be very little hair. To think that any being would seek such prey out was monstrous. Even so, the desperate rarely have the luxury of choice and Pflrglknpf was not about to begin eating trees.
He inched forward, careful to avoid any branches that would crack under his weight. The Baron's esophagus could only project so far, and he needed to get in range before he struck. Luckily, the odorous biped seemed to be oblivious to his presence. Once, it looked directly at Pflrglknpf's photoreceptors, but continued its nervous meandering and mumbling without pause.
It crouched, examining a small plant that was most certainly toxic. Pflrglknpf inched within range. His esophagus shot from his belly and latched onto the creature's side. It tried to escape, but the suction was far too powerful for this hairless biped to break. Pflrglknpf let it drag him across the ground as it tried to escape. He didn't dare risk needlessly expending energy at this point of starvation.
His body broke down more of itself to produce the enzymes required for such a feast. He could feel them spurt through his esophagus toward his prey. It screamed in agony as the digestive slurry contacted its flesh. Pflrglknpf felt energy surge into him. He gripped a tree as the creature ran past. The resultant jerk caused some damage to Pflrglknp's delicate body, but it would heal. His prey fell to the ground, the eventual fate of all clumsy bipeds.
It tried to stand, but the Baron dragged it toward himself. Fresh gouts of digestive juice poured toward the creature as it clawed at the mud to escape. Nutrients poured into Pflrglknpf's gut faster than he could process them. Despite the smell, this would be a good meal. He crawled toward the creature and enveloped it. Hard nodules wrapped in flesh pounded against him, but his skin was far too tough for such feeble actions. Even if he was damaged, this meal would make regeneration easy.
He regarded his surroundings as he calmly sucked the juices from his struggle biped. In a nearby clearing, a large fence bearing a sign, "Grlrgkhn's Earth Exotics." Earth? The biped stopped fighting as Pflrglknpf gorged on a fresh burst of meaty slurry. That place must smell horrid.