Florence
The only indication that I had was the dark and foreboding clouds above, before I was immersed in a tempest. The trees around me seemed to sway with the power of the wind, their ancient roots quaking under the layers of hard packed dirt. Branches and leaves above whipped around, thrashing against neighbouring trees and occasionally snapping off completely due to the force of their collision. I hastily jumped over one such branch that had dropped a few seconds prior, leaving me limited time to process the obstacle, and lithely land on four paws on the other side, to continue running.
The smells of the forest were overcome by the dampness of rain, and the earthy scent of dirt that quickly began to congeal into mud. My paws pattered against the thick substance, and I tried to swerve past the worst of the mud puddles, sure that I would be sucked into it whole if I mistakenly ran into one.
The rain stung my eyes, and I narrowed them to try and see through the sleeting attack of water. It drenched my fur and dripped off the end of my muzzle, causing me to snap at it in irritation. The scent that I had recently been tracking was growing fainter and fainter, masked by the torrent produced by Mother Nature.
I had nearly given up hope when I spotted the movement.
The silver wolf ahead followed a haphazard trail, no doubt confused by the weather. My determination had driven me to power through the forest and chase this one scent, whereas this wolf had yet to decide where to go. I caught up with it easily, crashing through the wet, green undergrowth and coming shoulder to shoulder with my prey; only I wasn’t hunting this one, I was following it.
I saw a flash of those angry, yellow eyes before the silver wolf bolted left, trying to throw me off its trail. Following as best as I could, I skimmed past trees and leapt over rocks to keep the wolf in my vision. It was a hard task, and I could feel my already limited energy fading.
The boom of thunder nearly caused me to lose my footing and slip into the muddy forest floor, but I caught myself and growled in annoyance. The telltale crack of lightning came shortly after, briefly illuminating the scenery in a flash of white before fading. That was all that I needed. I remembered seeing the silver wolf not running, but crouching behind a fern, obviously hoping to watch as I sped by, before running in the opposite direction.
Not fooled by the tactic, I tensed my muscles in one last effort, and lunged over the fern to collide painfully with the oblivious wolf. The slippery footing had caused my back left foot to slide out before I left the ground, and I was sure that it was twisted.
Yowling in pain, both the silver wolf and I lay on the wet forest floor, staring into each other’s eyes in anger. As we were both injured, we stayed put until I saw the silver wolf try to haul itself up once more.
He just didn’t give up did he?
In one swift motion – surprising myself at the speed – I shifted from a brown wolf into the smaller form of a bare human. I tackled him after doing so, and gripped onto his belly in an attempt to drag him to the floor. Normally, the feat was ambitious, but today, the rain provided just the right agent to help the wolf lose its footing and fall into a heap.
Eric morphed back into a human also, and snarled at me, baring teeth that were still pointed, but slowly receding to human molars. “Get away from me!”
In a low blow, I shoved my fingers into his blonde hair and tugged, making him hiss in pain.
“Don’t you dare run away from me again! I need you, and you know it!” I yelled helplessly at him, urging my voice to be heard over the roar of the rain.
Eric stared at me, and I took his silence as an opportunity to continue. “In case you haven’t noticed, I’m all alone in this. You’re the only lycan that I know in this town, and you need to help me!”
