Hollow's Grove (The Preliminary Version)

Chapter Thirteen: The Bear And The Hunt

I awoke to the sound of snuffling. My eyes snapped open. I had made camp amongst some thick mulberry bushes. My heart began to pound as I could hear the snuffling getting closer to where I lay. Taking a short quivering breath, I edged towards the small gap in the bushes. My eyes widened with horror when I saw the bear, it stood around 6 foot 5. It had black fur, and it also had huge claws.

I gulped and began to move back into the bracken. That's when the bear froze. I felt my blood turn to ice. Did it catch my scent? Suddenly the bear gave a low growl, dropping to all fours I watched it begin to walk around, sniffing for something. I sat completely still, not wishing for the bear to notice me. The bear stopped once more. My heart was in my throat, what now?

Suddenly without warning it got up on its hind legs and lumbered off, back into the maple trees. I took a long breath and closed my eyes. I could have possibly been killed by a bear. The thought kept replaying over and over within my head. I decided that I was no longer welcome here. I hurried back to where I had slept, grabbed my backpack and pushed through the bushes out into the warm morning sun.

I trekked for a few hours before coming to another large river. This river had a large salmon population, I felt my stomach rumble. I hadn't eaten much for over almost forty eight hours. I mean I had grabbed a few berries to snack on while walking, but I needed something more substantial. I dropped my backpack upon the ground. I decided that I was going to set up my camp here for the night.

Soon enough I had undressed and was wading into the cool waters. The wolf had awoken once more and was wagging its tail with excitement. It yelped when it saw that I held a large stick in my hands. "Yeah, so, I don't have claws right now." I muttered to the wolf. It gave another yelp, I rolled my eyes, "To bad, it isn't the full moon yet, so I have control." I threw the stick into the water. I smirked when I saw that I had pierced one unfortunate salmon.

The wolf threw back its head and gave a triumph howl, and I gave a chuckle. I reached down and picked up my makeshift spear, the salmon was on the end, speared right through the gut. I nodded with pride. Even in my normal human form I still had some wolfish features, like the talent of hunting. The wolf was pacing with impatience as I waded back out of the cool water and onto the bank of the river.

"Hey, don't worry. I will make sure to cook it later." I said as I sat my body down and let myself dry out in the warmth of the sun. The wolf gave a soft, playful growl, and went back into its small corner of my mind. I laughed to myself. It was nice to at least have a companion, even though every full moon this companion would take full control of me...