A dark world. Running. Running. My paws are bleeding. The light is so far away. The ground hurts, and the darkness is getting closer. Faster. The light is going away! But Im so tired. Should I sleep in the dark? Maybe I should? Is it safe? Should I look behind me-

"!"

With a jump, Balto got up and hit the roof of the cave with a thump.

"Ouch.". This cave is tiny. It wasnt this small when I got went into the cave. It is so cramped in here. Did the cave entrance get smaller as well?

Squeezing out of the cave, Balto is struggling to get a grip on the rocky soil outside. And with a small yelp, he shoots out of the cave with a tumble and at the same time confusing a single crow sitting on a branch.

While the crow is wondering about the lines, Balto has gotten back up and shakes the dust off his fur.

Wolf, am I hungry. And Im thirsty too, I wasnt so thirsty when I went to sleep either. So I have got to find something to eat. Well, back to the river where I lost that bark bear. Hopefully it isnt near the river. Walking through the forest again, everything seems to be smaller for some reason. The tree branches are much closer than normal and the patches of grass seem to have shrunk too. For Balto, this is really odd. He is feeling hungry, but after walking outside in the sunlight, the hunger has subsided a bit. Which is also weird, because hunger isnt supposed to go away like that. Should just get to the river.

On one side of the river, there is a small group of rodents. They are bigger than normal rats, with purple skin and skin-like armor like an armadillo. The bigger one is actually a darker shade of purple, a sign of it going to grow into a stronger version of the rest. Just like how there are normal wolves and dire wolves, or like how normal grizzly bears might turn into a bark bear. However, Balto bit down on it and killed it with a single bite before it could react. The other rodents jump and run away in fear. Balto bites down again on the already dead rodent and rips off a piece of meat off it before starting to chew.

The crunch of the hard outside together with the bones makes it fun to chew on, and the soft insides makes it feel like a crispy chicken nugget. However, Balto does not know what a chicken nugget is, and therefore can't make the comparison.

The armored rat wasnt really filling for Balto, but a drink is needed right now. He walks over to the riverside and jumps back quickly.

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"What the fuck was that!?". Looking at the river water from a distance, Balto takes slow steps and carefully looking at the water surface. Looking over the water, Balto sees what is in the water. He knows that water can works like a mirror, but that isnt what he usually looks like.

His head looks normal, but it is way bigger than normal. Not only that, but he has a red stripe going from his snout all the way to the top of his head. Perplexed, Balto looks back to his back. And to his surprise, his back has a similar stripe going all the way down to his tail root. The part of the stripe going between his shoulders actually has much thicker fur, which is standing out more compared to the fur further down his spine.

It almost looked like tightly grown grass.

Panicking, Balto quickly got on his back and tried to rub it off. But for whatever reason the weird hair growth didnt get off. He got back up and tried to rub it off on a tree instead, but that didnt work either. Now, more worried than scared, powerwalked over to the river and rolled around in it. A Dozen of minutes later, Balto was panting and looked back over his back. And to his great disappointed, the red hair was still there.

"Well shit.". Balto huffed as he shook the water out of his hide.

If I can't get it off, I guess I have got to live with it. I am still hungry, where did those rodents go?

*Sniff,* I wouldnt get full of rodents, they are way too small. Something like a deer would be nice. Or maybe that weird meat Mother once brought me when I was young. So nice and soft. I am starting to drool at the thought. Mmmm. I never asked her what it was, if I knew what it was I would ask her what it was.

But before Balto could continue fantasizing about the mysterious meat he ate in the past, the itch was back. He winced, and his skin started to shake. Seeing this, Balto got scared and started to scratch where it was moving. But just as quick the itch came, it went away again.

Balto was properly confused. But also worried.

Mother said that sometimes, monsters could grow wrong and become stupid. That they would try to fight anything they saw or eat everything as well. She said they are called Abominations. Could it be that I am turning into one?

This morning has been a complete shitshow. First the cave is suddenly too small, then this weird red stuff is growing on me and now Im probably going to become an Abomination too. Or maybe Im just evolving? Mother did also say that when monsters evolve, they change a little. Am I evolving? I should've paid attention when Mother tried to teach me stuff.

"Argh!" While not paying attention to where he was going, Balto somehow managed to slip on something, and landed snout first into a pile of shit.

The smell. It smelled like rotten eggs times a hundred. Balto could feel his nose shrivel up in the stench. He whips his head up, but halfway he starts to projectile vomit, creating a beautiful scene of wonder and majesty.

While running away in pain, he felt that something was laughing at him from somewhere. Balto could only care about getting to the river.