The Wolf

I'd like to say thanks to SJ_Sofie as she made all the drawing and gave me the idea to write this.

A small wolf wandered into the clearing. He started to eat the grass, as he was starving. He was an odd wolf, a vegan with a very bizarre name. His name was Shadowfang. This particular wolf was kicked out of his old pack because they didn't like that he named himself. The pack hated wolves that named themselves. They believed it was the job of the mother and that was that.

Suddenly, he felt a strange feeling behind him. He turned around and there was a wave of darkness slowly inching itself towards him. He felt rage, malice, and hatred radiating off of it. It terrified him.

The mass enveloped the edge of the clearing, spreading faster around the edges. All he could do was stand there, frozen in fear. Shadowfang's fear turned into desperation as a tendril of dark emotions reached towards him, like an octopus swimming in the water. It was a foot from his face before he snapped out of his trance and jumped away. It missed him by inches. He turned and ran.

All the negative emotions around his were starting to affect him. It wasn't a nice feeling at all. He felt fear and anger welling up inside of him. He knew he was running for his life. He abruptly stops in a middle of a leap of his. Something was around his back right leg.

The light colored wolf turned to look at it. A tendril of darkness had grabbed his leg and was pulling him back. He watched, horrified, as the bottom of his leg seemed to disintegrate into the darkness. Something seemed to be pulling him back as he struggled to get away. He felt heavy, like there was a mental barrier in front of him.

Then, as quickly as it came, the mass of negativity receded into the shaded forest. Shadowfang felt relieved. The heaviness lifted from him and a strange lightness replaced it, like he was a cloud that swooped low to the ground. Then he fell. He tried to stand up, to feel that strange weightlessness again, but his back paw was gone. He fell again. The wolf tried and tried and tried, but every time he just couldn't get the balance he once had.

Eventually, Shadowfang gave up. He wept silently as he crawled his way to the trees on the opposite side of the clearing. He was going to get as far away from that blackness as he could. And he was going to get help. There was no way he would be able to get around by himself for long.

He stood up carefully, using a tree next to him for balance. He whimpered quietly as his damaged back leg scraped against the bark. Using his giant fluffy tail to steady himself, he tried to stand again. To his surprise, he could actually stay up. Shadowfang took a deep breath and took a step forward with one of his front legs. He paused again, afraid to fall again. Then he kept walking, or hobbling to be more exact. Fortunately, it seemed like he was able to hop with his back leg and move his tail so he could kind of walk in a first line.

He walked and walked and walked until his legs started to ache. He had finally made it to the edge of the forest. Shadowfang started sniffing around, searching for a whiff of his old pack. They were the ones he wanted to tell about his experience. Hopefully they will help him too.

He followed their scent to a stream running from a waterfall to his right. Leaves crackled behind Shadowfang, but he didn't notice because his ears were filled with the raging sound of the waterfall. Suddenly, something bit his tail and he fell on top of his injured leg, yelling out in pain. He laid there for a second, squeezing his eyes shut and waiting for the pain to subside. When it lessened, he turned to take a look at his attacker.

It was another wolf. Shadowfang recognized him at once, but didn't say anything out of respect. It was a pack rule to let the pack leader speak first.

"What are you doing here Shadowfang?" The leader said. Shadowfang could hear faint growls of the rest of the back behind the trees. He didn't move from his position on the ground. Fear crept inside of him again and doubtful thoughts filled his mind. But he still needed to tell someone about this.

"You have to help me. A dark mass of emotions ate my leg. I don't know if I can survive on my own out there," He begged. The leader gave Shadowfang a questioning look, thinking he must be crazy to think up this "dark mass of emotions" thing.

"You cannot join us again Shadowfang you were cast out of the pack and there is no way you can undo it," With that remark, the leader turned around and jumped back through the forest, flicking his tail to tell the others to follow him. Shadowfang was left alone on the riverbed once more. He sighed, wondering why he thought that they would listen to him. Maybe he was just worked up from the dark mass attack.

Shadowfang slowly got back on his feet, falling over a couple of times before he could finally balance himself again. He stumbled over to the water and took a drink. Shadowfang was used to being on his own now, but that didn't stop him from being lonely and scared right now. Pain shot up his back leg as he lost his balance and fell into the water. He laid there, unable to move, for a long time. Night fell, and he closed his eyes, falling into a restless sleep.

~   ~   ~

When Shadowfang awoke, he was in a different place. There was a wire fence surrounding the small area he was in. A couple young trees were sprouting from the ground, and small bushes littered the inside.

Shadowfang got to his feet and started walking around. He sniffed everything, looking to find a sense of where he was, but the only thing he could smell other that leaves were humans.

Shadowfang's panic turned to surprise when he realized he was walking. Without using his tail excessively. And without any struggle at all. He turned to look at his damaged leg, wondering if he was just dreaming. What he saw surprised him even more.

His leg was still only half there, but there was a contraption put on the end of it. Shadowfang could tell it was a human's work. Made out of mostly wood and leather, it fit his leg perfectly and was as comfortable and as the softest moss.

He ran around the fence area, happily jumping and waving his tail along the way. This was great! He could walk again! After some time, he got tired and decided to lay down for a quick nap.

~   ~   ~

A sudden loud noise jolted him from his sleep. Shadowfang leaped to his feet and started searching for the noise. He growled as he saw two humans heading towards a roaring truck. One of the humans turned and waved to him. He growled on. They got into the truck and slowly drove away. On the back window read Animal Rescue Team, but of course Shadowfang couldn't read it. He couldn't read and was paying more attention to where he was.

Shadowfang was standing next to the river that he fell asleep in. He turned around and saw that his back leg still had the prosthetic that the humans made for him. His "dream" that he thought he had wasn't actually a dream. He had a leg back, maybe not his leg, but a leg he could run and jump with. For once, he was actually thinking of humans positively. They did help him walk again after all.

And so Shadowfang became the happiest lonely wolf ever.