The Beast Within

Chapter 1: Fated Meeting

"Achoo-!" A cute sneeze echoed the small dark cave as the black-haired boy curled his bare body into a ball while wrapping a dirtied red cloak around himself. The cloak was not enough to fully shield his tiny body from the cold air no matter how hard he tried pulling his knees closer to his chest. His tiny pink nose twitched and he sneezed again, this time, his eyes lazily fluttered open.

A weak yawn escaped his mouth, his face gently nuzzled against the red knitted fabric, giving it a few whiffs as he did every morning. Kazuto stared innocently at the red fabric in his hands, fully aware of how dirty and rumpled the cloak has become. The sweet-smelling scent on the cloth was completely gone already, yet he did this every day to remember the kind girl he had met in the village. "A-su-na..." He sweetly repeated her name every morning and smiled fondly at the memory.

Picking up a piece of sharp twig in on the ground, Kazuto carved the end of the stick onto the dirt, making a vertical line just directly beside the rest of the lines he had drawn before. He was making tally marks to record the number of days that had passed since he left his home. His smile fell when he counted the marks as he realized that he had left his parents back in his village for roughly three months now. It was during the fall season back then when the tragedy happened and it was a miracle that he was still surviving in the wild alone as a small child.

Shivering from the cold, the boy remembered that he needed some clothes after transforming back into a human. He went over to a pile of old clothes gathered in a secluded corner of the cave. They were clothes he had picked up from scurrying around the nearby village. They were children's clothes, thrown away due to being tattered or no longer fitting their owners. Kazuto collected them whenever he came across them and washed the clothes in the river before drying and storing them in the small cave he currently called home. He tossed on his clothes and used old rags to wrap his tiny feet to keep them from making direct contact with the snow when he leaves the cave.

He rummaged a bag beside the clothes pile. The bag contained various tools and utensils. The boy had collected them over them months while wondering around the forest. They were apparently dropped or abandoned by hunters who were camping nearby. He took out two empty copper containers and went over to the large rock covering the cave exit. Gripping his fingers on the side of the rock, he pulled hard to slide the rock to the side in order to leave the cave. As he stepped outside with his containers and wooden spear, he slid the rock back in place to conceal his home, piling the snow around it to remove any signs of the rock being moved.

Kazuto had picked up a few survival skills while spying on passing hunters. He learned how to make fire from dried branches but had burned or cut himself in his many attempts. He learned also how to fish for food since he was too reluctant to harm small animals in the forest and just by eating wild herbs wouldn't suffice for a growing boy. He had basic knowledge of medicinal herbs from his parents' teachings and they helped a lot whenever he had gotten sick or injured from falling, overstepping on traps or bitten by the wolves. It was thankfully due to his keen sense of smell from having becoming a half-beast that assisted him in picking the right herbs. Although these survival skills were important, there was still a limit to what he can do, such as storing food and water for the incoming winter season. When he came across old copper containers and cups, he decided to pick them up to help him store some water.

Kazuto puffed out his breath and watched how they turned into mist in the cold air. "It's so cold today..." He shuddered, pulling his favourite red cloak around his body to keep warm. What he was wearing now could barely shield him from the winter but he only had to endure it until sunset where he turned into the beast. His beast fur had a thick double coat that could protect him during the night. However, that didn't make him feel any happier.