The girl looks one way. Nothing.

She looks the other way. Nope.

She looks up. The foliage from the trees obscure the view of the sky almost completely.

Damn, I’m lost.

Having long given up on searching for the wolf, the girl decided to go back to the river and cross it, in hopes of finding human civilization. If only she knew which way went back to the river.

Indeed, getting lost while wandering aimlessly around a dense forest is pretty easy.

Needless to say, the girl was tired. The disposition she had at the beginning of her journey was gone, catalyzed by the blood loss from her wound. She could no longer exert herself to walk such long distances; following the road would have been miles more wise, at least then she would have a chance of survival, even if she stopped.

Sat beside a tree to rest, she fixates her gaze on to a beetle passing by her and spaces out. Strange thoughts flow through her mind, none coherent. They were like memories, memories buried so far in the crevices of her subconscious she couldn’t form a single image of what they were supposed to be; it was all just a blur.

Forgetting about any potential dangers, her mind began sinking deeply into unconsciousness. Her head became unsteady, her eyelids heavy, and she fell asleep.

The sun was still up, but she just didn’t have energy left, no matter how much she rested.

Hours pass; the girl sleeps past the sunset and into the night, and it looks like she’s going to sleep until morning, but a weird sensation interrupts her slumber.

It feels wet. The surrounding air becomes warmer, and there is a strong smell of rotting meat.

She opens her eyes, though still half-asleep. Something continuously pushes against her face, and she tries to push it away.

“Hey... Stop that...”

It stops. She puts her hand on her face and feels the slimy substance dripping down. She then gets a better look at whatever it was.

Wolf.

The shock instantly jolted her awake, though she remained frozen in place.

It looks at her with its blood-red eyes, its horns emitting a strong glow. In its mouth rests the dagger, glowing as well.

It still just looks like a really big dog. Which it is, but it’s just a bit too silly.

For whatever reason, the wolf doesn’t attack. It doesn’t seem at all interested in attacking the girl; does it not see her as a threat? Maybe it’s just toying with its food?

Instead, the wolf just sits in front of her, wagging its tail around excitedly, kicking up dirt. It lowers its head and softly puts the dagger down on the ground.

The girl cleans the wolf’s saliva off her face, confused and curious about the animal. Why did it take such a liking to her all of a sudden?

Slowly, she takes her canteen and takes a sip, never taking her eyes off the beast. It sits there wagging its tail.

She gets up and approaches it, extending out her hand, seeing if the wolf will let her pet it. It doesn’t move, and the girl caresses its fur. It’s not exactly soft, the large animal’s hairs are like needles, though feeling the warmth from its body was still quite pleasant.

The girl was not familiar with the concept of domesticated beasts. She just didn’t understand its behavior and didn’t know what to do.

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What now?

She slowly bends down toward the blade and picks it up. The wolf watches her attentively.

She picks up the rest of her things and begins walking toward a random direction and, sure enough, the wolf follows her.

She continues strolling around a bit more, but it’s too dark for her to see anything and she trips all over rocks and exposed roots, falling and almost hitting her face on a tree, but the wolf stops the fall by biting her robe and pulling her away.

The girl stops and looks at the wolf. She lets out a sigh, both annoyed and confused by the situation she’s found herself in.

The wolf then gets down on the ground and stares at the girl.

She understands what it’s trying to do, and humours it. She mounts the wolf, it immediately gets up, makes a turn and begins moving. The girl doesn’t know where it’s headed, but hopes it’s either out of the forest or somewhere safe.

She had never even heard of a beast that matched the wolfs description. She knew about goblins and some other common beasts, like slimes, even regular wolves, but this one mystified her. It could at any moment attack her, and she would be helpless to defend herself, however it chose not to. If anything, it acted playfully, seemingly trying to get her attention at every turn.

Her dagger glows brightly again, and she notices the light it emanates is similar to that of the wolf’s horns. She first assumes it’s merely reflecting the light, but fiddling around with it, it becomes clear that the glow is the dagger’s own. What’s more, when she put the dagger closer to the wolf’s horns, it shined so brightly she could no longer see the blade.

She deduces that the dagger is made of the same material, of the wolf’s horns. If that were to be true, then it was likely a rare beast, whose horns were high-quality material used in forging weapons.

The girl looks at her injured left hand. She couldn’t move it. The damage was probably already permanent, and if left untreated for much longer, she could very well die because of an infection.

She had also lost plenty of blood her body couldn’t replenish and grew anemic. Her weak little body was pushed further and further with every moment she stayed breathing, and contracting an illness, even one such as a common cold, would surely kill her.

And now, at her lowest, her life was entrusted to a beast, a creature she didn’t believe was capable of feeling emotion.

It didn’t take too long; they arrived at the wolf’s destination.

A small cave, where it had made its den.

A den? The wolf wasn’t female and most definitely wasn’t a mother with cubs. Instead, the cave was filled with trinkets. Shiny rocks, jewelry, tools; a completely random assortment of items sat on the cave floor in a large pile.

It was like a dragon hoarding treasure, only much less majestic.

Arriving, the girl gets off the wolf and stumbles her way towards the pile. She shuffles through the items, the scavenging mindset she had acquired the past few days kicking in.

There really isn’t anything useful sitting there, at most a couple of copper coins, one of which was completely folded in half.

Suddenly, the wolf bolts out of the cave, running off somewhere.

The girl walks away from the pile and sits in a fetal position by one of the cave walls, awaiting its return. The air grows colder.

She struggles to think about things too thoroughly, having to focus just to stay awake. Her breathing is slow and inconsistent; you could see the light fading away from her body.

“Sleep well... my... child...”

The girl begins whispering a lullaby, not being able to follow a particular rhythm, and and having difficulty remembering which word came next.

“... It’s time... to rest. I’ll be by your... side... tonight... and... the next. The day... I’m not... you... you can cry... have... have your sorrows... be... wept. But... don’t follow... the... the...”

She pauses for a few seconds.

“You... don’t have... to be... next... Sleep now... my child. Tomorrow... is blessed.”

She doesn’t know where it’s from. Or, well, she doesn’t remember.

Just then, the wolf returns with something in its mouth. It’s the flavorless fruit again.

Saliva flows from the sides of the fruit, dripping down to the ground.

The wolf drops the fruit in front of the girl.

The girl extends her hand, reaching out for the fruit. Yes, the fruit. She knew that fruit. What was its actual name again?

The girl stops. Instead of taking it, she clenches her hand.

I don’t know that fruit.

She gazes deeply at the object laying on the ground. The saliva makes it glisten.

Safe to eat? Commonly grown in villages? Not sustainable? Why did she think that?

I don’t know that. I’ve never seen that fruit before in my life, I don’t think so.

Her brow furrowed. Strange information kept creeping into her mind, acting as though it was always there. Were it the suppressed memories she felt earlier?

But, it just wasn’t possible for her to have these memories. She knew her origins, she could remember her past... right?

Where did I come from?

She looks at her hand again. There was an air of surrealness to it.

A throbbing pain hits her head, followed by a ringing which overwhelmed her senses.

The wolf nudges her with its snout, letting out a whimper. It lays down by her side, with its stomach exposed.

The girl lays down with it, using its body for warmth. She closes her eyes.

...

The rain falls.