Smells like......CARROTS!!!

Following the straight main cobblestone road, Salvatore continued to casually stroll without a care in the world as though he were a tourist visiting a famous foreign city, taking in the various novel sights of Rabbit Town, and although the streets were empty, with his superior hearing he could easily hear thousands of racing heartbeats all around him inside most of the buildings and directly beneath his feet beating heavily, as well as smell the almost palpable numerous variations of the scent of thousands of rabbit monsters.

Carl however, who had seen Rabbit Town hundreds of times before was immune to the various novel sights of the storybook town. Instead he continued to search the town for even the slightest sign of life, after all, if there was no one around then there was no one for him to ostentatiously display his awesome perfect self.

More importantly, how was he to garner the endless adulations that only one as awesomely perfect as he was worthy of receiving, while happily basking in the countless gazes of immense jealousy and admiration of the masses.

However regardless of where he looked, not a soul was to be found, after all, unlike the rabbit monsters in the Valley, the inhabitants of the Rabbit Kingdom were cognizant and not feral, and after countless generations of living in safety had lost the basic killer instinct that all monsters had.

This did not mean that they were not strong, on the contrary they were a lot stronger than any rabbit monster in the Valley, however as long as they were self-conscious and not backed into a corner, they would continue to act like ordinary cowardly villagers and hide.

Nearing the center of town, Salvatore was surprised to find a massive square stone fighting platform, 3 foot high in the center of the large town square. Despite it grand dimensions of 300ft x 300ft, the platform only took up 1/6 the space in the town square, and seemed to be for both training large groups, and for holding grand fight tournaments. For Salvatore this was a decent sized ring, for during fights between experts 300 ft was easily traversed in a matter of seconds.

As they reached the center of the town square Salvatore suddenly stopped as he sniffed the air, detecting a fresh yet familiar scent,.... the scent of blood.

Listening intensely, he detected the faintest of sounds originating directly ahead in the far distance that was slowly growing louder as it grew nearer.

Surprised by Salvatore suddenly stopping, Carl glanced around once curiously before asking, "What is it big bro, why did you stop?"

Narrowing his eyes in contemplation Salvatore solemnly replied. "I smell blood and hear,....running."

Wincing his face up in confusion Carl reflectively spoke "Smell blood, hear running?"

Nodding his head with his eyes closed Salvatore spoke as he concentrated on the sound "Yes, several individuals are running towards us,...50...119...150..wait, yes 150 exceptional heartbeats, and 1 individual with a very powerful but unwavering heartbeat, they must be very strong."

Raising his long ears, Carl strained his ears to the limit, listening for the sounds that Salvatore spoke off. At first he did not hear anything, but just as he was about to speak he suddenly heard something far in the distance, and although he could not hear any heartbeats he did indeed hear a faint thud, thud, that was definitely the sound of many feet running.

Quickly jumping to the roof top of the highest nearby building, Salvatore looked far into the distance, his light golden eyes faintly glowing as he searched for the origin of the sound of marching.

"Hmm...., "

Thinking about the smell of blood and marching suddenly caused Carl to think of something terrifying. Mumbling faintly aloud, Carl crossed all of his fingers and toes as well as both his ears for good measure, as he silently prayed that he was wrong.

"FUCK, PLEASE BE WRONG, PLEASE BE WRONG, PLEASE BE WRONG, PLEASE BE WRONG, PLEASE BE WRO..!"

Opening his eyes now filled with a trace of fear, Carl's head darted back and forth, desperately looking for the slightest sign of danger, while his ears swiveled like satellite dishes swishing every which way searching for any new sounds, and his nose wiggled cutely as he sniffed their air for the scent of blood.

"Big bro can you see anything?"

"No, but I can faintly smell a new odor, hmm,... this is,... carrots!?"

"CARROTS, FUCK,....FUCKITY, FUCK, FUCK, FUCK, JUST MY FUCKING LUCK, ITS THE FUCKING BLOODY CARROTS!!!"

Immediately Carl jumped off Salvatore's hand attempting to flee, however Salvatore's vacated hand darted out lightning fast, casually grasping Carl in midair like a tossed stuffed toy firmly around the middle.

Still desperate to escape, Carl struggled to break free of Salvatore's firm, viselike grip but to no avail as Salvatore raised Carl to eye level and glared at him, before flashing a small heartless grin as he shook his head from side to side causing Carl to give up all thoughts of escape.