The Forest’s Chosen

Kael stirred.

The fire had long since died, its last embers no more than dull orange ghosts in the ash. A chill clung to the air of the cave, and his fingers were stiff beneath the blanket of fur he'd pulled around himself.

Beside him, the wolf was still asleep, its side rising and falling in steady rhythm. Without thinking, Kael shifted closer, burrowing into the warmth of the animal's thick black coat.

"Guess I should be thankful you're here," he murmured softly, voice hoarse from sleep. "Never thought I'd end up depending on a giant dog in the woods."

The wolf twitched its ears but didn't stir. Kael let his fingers trail lightly over the coarse fur.

He didn't know what the creature was exactly—direwolf, almost certainly—but it wasn't just a beast. It watched him. Listened. Waited. There was something in those green eyes, a mirror of something Kael hadn't yet put into words.

A connection.

He stayed there a little longer, tucked into the space between the wolf and the wall, letting the residual warmth ease the ache from his limbs.

Eventually, though, necessity tugged him from comfort.

He sat up, blinking in the dim morning light that filtered in through the narrow mouth of the cave. The snowfall from the night before had stopped, but it had left the forest blanketed in white.

Kael stretched his arms above his head and exhaled slowly. His body still ached in unfamiliar ways—everything was too small, too stiff, still new.

"I need more firewood," he muttered, scanning the few remaining sticks beside the dead fire.

He checked his small pouch. A few wrinkled berries, nothing else. His stomach was already twisting.

"Okay," he said, standing. "Time to explore."

The wolf lifted its head at his voice. Kael grinned.

"Coming?"

The wolf stood with a lazy shake and padded beside him.

---

Outside, the air was sharper, cleaner. The sky was a bright gray, diffused with light from the clouds. Snow crunched under Kael's boots as he walked through the forest, trying to memorize the path from the cave. He didn't want to get lost.

He kept his eyes peeled for anything useful—wood, berries, anything edible. He pulled down a few long branches from a tree where snow had shaken loose and uncovered dry bark.

At one point, the wolf stopped suddenly, ears perked.

Kael froze.

Then the wolf bolted into the underbrush.

Kael waited, heart thudding.

Moments later, the wolf returned—its muzzle stained faintly red, a small rabbit hanging limp from its jaws.

Kael let out a breath.

"Damn. You're efficient."

The wolf dropped the catch at his feet. Kael bent down, inspecting it. He nodded in approval.

"I guess that's dinner."

They kept walking, deeper into the woods until Kael spotted something—worn stones, overgrown with moss, shaped in a rough, almost path-like way.

A road?

Or what used to be one.

He walked to its edge, scanning the trees. There was no one, no movement, no sound except for the wind.

His instincts screamed not to go further.

He turned back.

"Let's go," he said quietly. "Far enough."

---

Back at the cave, Kael unpacked what they'd gathered. He laid out the wood, restoked the fire, and carefully prepared the rabbit, doing his best with the knife he'd found.

Once the fire burned steady again, Kael wandered into the smaller chamber with the hot spring.

He undressed slowly, carefully folding the heavy fur coat to the side.

Steam curled off the surface of the water.

He slipped into it with a sigh.

The warmth enveloped him instantly, loosening knots in his shoulders, easing the ache in his legs.

After a few minutes, he leaned over the edge and caught his reflection.

For a moment, he didn't recognize himself.

His face was young, rounder than before, framed by long, wild black hair that tumbled over his shoulders. His skin was pale, untouched by sun, and his eyes—

He leaned closer.

Bright green. Deep, sharp, almost glowing in the low light.

He blinked.

And then laughed, short and incredulous.

"Well... at least I'm pretty," he muttered.

He stared a moment longer, then noticed the wolf sitting near the edge of the chamber, watching silently. Their eyes—his and the wolf's—were nearly identical.

Kael tilted his head.

"We match," he whispered.

The wolf gave no response.

Kael finished washing, pulled his clothes back on, and returned to the main chamber.

There, beside the fire, he wrapped himself again in the cloak.

The wolf curled beside him.

Kael stared at the flames in silence.

His thoughts wandered—back to the scent of warm bread, the clink of jars being filled, his mother's quiet voice as she labeled preserves by hand. The low hum of a country kitchen. The steady movements of his father outside, fixing fencing or checking cattle.

They hadn't been the warmest family, not in a storybook way, but they were his.

And now... he was gone.

No warning. No goodbye.

Would they even know? Would they think he'd run away?

He swallowed hard, feeling a tight ache rise in his chest.

"I miss you," he said aloud, his voice just above a whisper.

The wolf pressed closer.

Kael glanced over at him.

"You need a name," he said quietly, half to distract himself. "I can't just keep calling you 'wolf' forever."

He thought for a moment.

"Shadow?"

No reaction.

"Ghost?"

The wolf blinked at him.

"Too on-the-nose anyway."

"Storm?"

The wolf gave the faintest of huffs.

Kael smirked. "You didn't like that one either."

He thought again.

"Vale?"

The wolf twitched an ear.

Kael raised an eyebrow.

"Vale?" he repeated.

This time, the wolf gave a small, subtle nod. Almost imperceptible—but Kael felt it.

He smiled.

"Vale it is."

He shifted deeper into his cloak, and the wolf—Vale—laid his head across Kael's legs.

Kael stared up at the cave ceiling.

Tomorrow, he would go back to the tree. Try to understand more.

Tonight, he would rest.