Wolfheart

~Show Yourself~ (10)

I was spurred onward by adrenaline, my mind had fallen into the pits of emptiness, nothing registered and nothing did I think. Instead I retreated into the very back of my soul, allowing the wolf in me to reign supreme. The predator surfaced gratefully and I was somehow able to fly across the earth at even greater speeds, paws softly drumming the moss and leaves, steadily.

The pain that shot up through my being every time my feet connected with the ground, but it was ignored by both myself and the wolf inside of me. I did not stop, racing blindly in one direction, branches slapping my face, one even tore my left ear, but it was also disregarded. Eventually I collapsed out of fatigue and discomfort brought to me by my broken ribs and torn ear. I fell into the shallow mud alongside a gently bubbling creek. The waters became blurry as my eyes shifted into darkness, lashes fluttering closed over pupils.

I dropped my fur, and lay as a human, pressed close against the cold, wet dirt. My breathing was heavy and ragged, one of my ribs must have come close to piercing a lung, and I was grateful they did not.

Soon, I lost sense of all around me, and faded into unconsciousness.

* * *

I murmured and rolled over, squirming a little, squeezing my eyes shut tighter. I reached out blindly with my hands, confused. My fingertips were met by the cold water of the creek, the cool shock shivered up my arm, and my eyes cracked open.

At first, my surroundings were naught but vague shapes, until my eyes focused and I was able to look about myself. I remained motionless upon the bank of the stream, same as I had been when I had collapsed. As I brought myself to sit slowly, carefully, I took note immediately, and with a jolt, that my ribs were no longer in pain. I held my right hand to my side and pressed experimentally, baffled. "My injuries..." I breathed, automatically reaching up to the ear that had been ripped by a probing branch. There were no blemishes, as though it had sealed over of its own accord as I had been unconscious.

Glancing around, I realized it was now approximately mid-morning, yet who knew how long I had been in a slumber. And what confused me the most was that I was completely unharmed, and felt surprisingly warm despite lying in the cool mud alongside a brook.

I remained seated in the dirt, arms lifting my torso off the earth as I took in my surrounding area. Within minutes, I eventually realized something else was there that had not been the night before. There was something that looked to be like a pile of fruits and nuts. Baffled, I crawled toward the stash, Lanakila's sheathed sword clinking on the ground, wondering how the fruits had come to be there. Without touching it, I raised my head to look around again, sniffing the air experimentally. There did not seem to be any other beings about, but I could not explain the reason behind my wounds being healed, and the food having appeared.

Instead of eating, hungry though I was, I decided to explore. I was not to let my guard down and consume the food left for me if there was someone else about. Though I could not fathom nor recall anyone else who may have been within the Evermore. Getting to my feet slowly, still tired from my dash that night, I began to move about experimentally at first. I stretched my arms out wide, and above my head, they appeared to be in good shape, as did my legs.

Something moved to my hind left, my eyes and head snapped in the direction, and the movement fell still, and the mild rustle it caused quieted. Alternate to investigating, I shifted into my wolf body. One of my ears twitched when it caught the hint of a slight vocal sound in the area the movement had emanated from. Ignoring it, I lowered myself to the ground next to the pile, and placed my head upon my paws. Upon first glance I would appear to be naught but a relaxed - yet quite unusually large - gray wolf. But I was attentive, attentive, taut, and focused. 'Come on out,' I thought to myself, occasionally eyeing up the area I knew must conceal another being. 'Show yourself.'