Primal Love

Chapter 3 - First encounter

As I was walking I admired the nature around me. Everything was so green and beautiful. It also seemed so peaceful. Even though in the back of my mind I understood that I shouldn't feel safe, since I don't know what kind of dangerous creatures live in this jungle, I couldn't help myself and enjoy the scenery. I liked living in the city since everything was conveniently close but there is something about nature that has always called me and had a special place in my heart.

As I continued and observed all the different plants I realized that none of them seemed familiar to me. Some flowers reached the middle of my waist and some even my shoulders. They were beautiful and in all of the colors of the rainbow. The most beautiful were some blue and purple flowers that looked like overgrown lilys. But even though all of them were beautiful I touched none, since I didn't know if they were poisonous or not. From what I remember, if animals or plants were bright colors they usually are poisonous or venomous since the bright colors are used as a warning sign, so I didn't want to risk it.

As I was walking I also saw some birds flying around and some small monkeys high up in the trees but no big animals such as tigers or gorillas, which I knew usually lived in the jungle. But who knows what else I should be afraid of since this seemed like no ordinary jungle.

I was walking for what seemed like a couple of hours and I was growing tired and also a little bit hungry and thirsty. It was also hot since there were no clouds in the sky to block the sun and even though the trees blocked some of the sun's rays it didn't help with the temperature. Finally, I started to hear some water or at least I think I did, so I changed my direction and went in the direction of where the sound was coming from.

And I was right. Soon enough I came upon a small river. I walked to the river and kneeled. I looked at my reflection in the water and shrieked. My hand shot up to my head and I was surprised again. It wasn't enough to have a tail, I also had ears. What in the furry world was this? They were also very soft. As I looked at my reflection in the water they were dark purple with white tips. And the same as my tail they also looked like they could belong to a fox.

I started thinking again. I am pretty sure I died. I guess then I was reborn as a fox? But not like a real fox but a humanoid one. Is that normal in this world? From the nature I have seen and my surroundings I could tell that this didn't seem like earth or at least not the earth that I know. I am pretty sure that even the deepest and most isolated jungles on earth didn't have such large trees and these kinds of plants. So have I been reborn in another world? For now, that seemed like the most plausible explanation. I have read plenty of books, mangas, and watched anime, and isekai and reincarnation storylines were my favorite, but I never actually thought that something like that happening was possible. I mean, a girl can dream, but I always have had a pretty strong grip on reality so something like this, what was happening right now, seemed pretty surreal to me. I was never religious, but I did believe that something must happen to the soul after death. I didn't believe in heaven but reincarnation seems plausible to me. I mean if I was reincarnated as a fox, I wasn't about to argue about it. Foxes always were my favorite animal second to only black panthers.

I looked at my reflection again and noticed that some other things had also changed. Before I had dark brown hair and light blue eyes. I was never a beauty but people would often consider me cute. I had quite a chubby face, a petite straight nose, full eyebrows, long dark eyelashes, and full pouty lips. Now that I looked at myself in the reflection of the water I almost couldn't recognize myself. The biggest difference was my eyes. They weren't light blue as they used to be but they were pure gold color. My chubby face was no longer chubby but instead had a more slender look. My other features hadn't changed much but my face looked much more beautiful than before. It had an alluring, mysterious, and almost fox-like look to it. I admired myself for a couple more minutes and decided to test the water since I was pretty thirsty.

The water was surprisingly cold compared to the hot weather and felt very refreshing. It also was very clear and seemed quite clean so I put my hands together and took a handful. I brought it to my lips and took a sip. It tasted just like regular water and didn't smell so I deemed it safe enough. I took a couple more handfuls and drank until I felt my thirst quenched. After that, I sat down by the river in the grass, took off my shoes, and put my sore feet into the water.

I was sitting there, looking at the sun slowly going down and thinking about what I should do next. The most obvious next steps are to find shelter and food. It was very hot outside now but I had no idea how cold it could get at night. If I am lucky it could be a tropical night but it also could get very cold. So at least I should find something to sleep on and make a small fire to keep myself warm since I probably didn't have enough time until nightfall to make a real shelter. The food was another problem. Even though I wasn't starving I was still quite hungry. I had seen some berries on the way but none of them were familiar to me so I didn't take the risk of eating them. The last thing I need is to get poisoned while I was all alone out in the jungle. I could try to hunt but I didn't have any weapons on me and it would take time to make some. Also, I could try to fish since I had seen some fish swimming in the river while I was sitting there. That seemed like the easiest way, but I will have to wait until tomorrow to try since the sun was slowly setting and it seemed like it was going to be dark soon.

I sighed and stood up, still with my feet in the river. I stretched and decided to look for some firewood first. As I was about to turn around and step out of the river I heard a sound behind me. A sound that really isn't unusual in the jungle, but it sent shivers down my spine. It sounded like a piece of wood was stepped on and broke, but what sent the shivers down my spine was the silence after, as if someone had stepped on it and froze. It felt like eyes were burning in the back of my head so I took a couple of deep breaths and said to myself. "C'mon Cleo, you're not a pussy. You are strong and brave. I mean there were no big animals or anything strange on the way here. It probably is just a bunny. A bunny in a jungle. I mean why not? In my world bunnies don't live in jungles, but why can't they live here, am I right?" I calmed myself a little and took a couple of deep breaths. Then I slowly turned around.

At first, I didn't see anything. I scanned the whole jungle front from what I could see, then the ground but nothing. Just as I was about to turn back around I noticed something hanging from a tree. It was dark and shiny, then it suddenly moved. My eyes shot up and found big dark red ones. It took me only a couple of seconds to realize what they belonged to. It was a snake, but not just any snake, it was a ginormous black snake. I had never seen such a big snake in my life. I froze. For a second I contemplated whether should I just stay still and hope that it doesn't see me but I was looking it straight in the eyes so I am pretty sure it sees me. So I decided to try my luck and run.

The only way out was over the river since between me and the jungle that I came from was the snake. I took a step back and prepared myself to run. It didn't react to movement and just seemed to be observing me, so I took another step back. I was about to turn around and start running when I lost the ground beneath my feet. I slipped, I fucking slipped. Then I was falling backward and couldn't even use my hands to lessen the fall. The last thing I remember is feeling pain in my head and the world turning dark.