A drumbeat rises around him and his vision wobbles.
Heartless, heartless, heartless, the voice in his head chants, as he feels the world whirl in orbit, feels his place in the universe change as the planet hurtles ever onward.
The Ripper, now witheringly grim, looks at him, raises a hand to his own mouth. Bite, he mouths silently.
Daniil bites in without thinking about it hard enough, sinks his teeth in and winces at the copper taste, tears until the mouthful is ripped away and swallowed roughly with too few chews.
Not so heartless anymore.
The bull heart is heavy in his hand- really, he should hold it with two, but one hand is occupied with wiping blood from his mouth and holding him back from retching.
He casts a look to Burakh. The drumming continues, louder and louder. Burakh nods, and Daniil bites in again.
Daniil shudders and knows, in his heart, that he's going to be sick later- and more importantly, that this this won't really change things. He's half convinced that Burakh lied to him- that this is going to make him one of them in the eyes of the Kin and somehow make his job here easier seems farfetched.
Yet he eats the heart as the Herb Brides dance around him. Burakh does a hand gesture and mouths stop once Daniil has eaten about half of it, and he chokes the last bite down.
A worm stares at him. Burakh turns his head down. Daniil remembers what they talked about before this started.
There is a part that is up to you. You make the choice. Prove yourself.
Daniil raises the heart into the air, his hand clenching, nails digging into the muscle.
Prove yourself.
He crushes the remaining muscle in his hand and throws it to the ground, some unfamiliar voice ripping its way out of his throat and screaming. Burakh looks up in startlement.
Prove yourself.
There is blood in Daniil's mouth, and blood on his hands, and blood smeared across his coat. There will be more blood, but no more bloodshed, not if he can help it. He pulls his gloves off and throws them on the ground. Prove himself he will- he storms up to Burakh and points at his face.
"I will root this plague out, and all the people who wish to impede my progress with it. I am not wasting any more time on pointless errands or useless rituals. I'm going back to work."
He drops his hand down and turns to storm away, but before he can, Burakh catches his wrist in one hand, and Daniil is not remotely strong enough to pull away.
"Then let's get to work."