To Grow

I stayed around my territory as much as I could. I could not risk a proper fight, because the uncomfortableness would distract me. At least, the other big furred ones and the quick furred ones would be too busy making tiny ones to challenge me.

I sat around, with nothing to do except to go for an occasional hunt whenever I was hungry. 

Periodically, I checked to see if the mating period would be over yet. It was not until a very long time. How can they even hunt like this?! 

Once it was over, I quickly shifted into my quick furred form, then my big furred form. They felt so fast and strong compared to my two-leg form. It was nice. I also expanded my den so that the small alcove for myself was bigger, though the entrance was still slightly too small for me.

I stayed within my territory, driving out other ones, and eating my fill in prey and berries.

Then the small cold came, once again, and I ate as much as I could, staying in my big furred form for the whole time. Soon, my big furred form was bigger than usual, which surprised me quite a bit. 

I laid down in my den and fell into a trance once more.

-=Somewhere else, one week later=-

"Hurry! Run this way!" Alex yelled as her classmates streamed into an empty den, and her with them. It was winter, and the weather had decided to go with blizzards and hails. At least, that's what it felt like, but their teacher, Mr. Ross, said that it wasn't considered a blizzard, and that the small snow particles were just going too fast so it felt like hail. Alex decided that Mr. Ross was wrong. This was definitely considered a blizzard, with the way the falling snow was obscuring everything else.

Why did we have to come during the winter?! Alex complained. She knew why, because blah blah big predators in hibernation blah blah blah.

If this is just the outer forest, with trees this thick, how would the inner forest be? Alex wondered. And that squirrel! It was so big! And had those weird spiky bone things everywhere! It looked like a ball of spiky bits. 

Then that pack of mutated wolves came after us! Alex was still in shock and awe of them. They were big enough to reach her elbow, and the way their eyes somehow glowed. She knew they were some of the animals considered less mutated than the others, and she couldn't help but wonder how mutated the other animals were. 

They had chased them, getting just close enough to them so they kept running, but slow enough that they wouldn't exhaust themselves too quickly. The wolves had been playing with them. But once we reached that tree, they just stopped chasing. Weird.  

"It's so fucking cold!" Terry, her classmate, complained.

"Well maybe it's because you took off your coat to impress the girls," scowled Tera, Terry's twin sister. "And stop complaining. We're all cold."

"Then why can't Alex just light a fire?" Terry whined.

"Cus there's no fuel, dumbass, and besides, do you want to kill us all with the smoke?" Tera said snidely.

Everyone here had a mutation that allowed them to use a power, but right now, they were still too untrained to use those powers correctly and to their full potential. Alex could only conjure up a spark at most times, and sometimes maybe light a flame the size of a birthday candle fire.

Because of that, though, their class was a small one.

There were only ten students.

"Uuuugh. Why did I have to be stuck with my idiot brother!" Tera groaned.

After that, there were no more conversations starting. Everyone just huddled closely together. Mr. Ross cleared his throat, and said, "We're going to stay here until the snow abates, and then, we'll leave. Kate, Hannah, and Ryu, look around this den for anything we could use. Tera, Terry, and Harlan, go see if you can block the entrance some more. The rest, put all your rations in the middle, then look for something helpful to do."

His orders were obeyed promptly. Everyone here has been training to be heroes, and had been taught to obey any orders from their superior no matter what.

A gasp from Hannah rang throughout the cave.

"What's wrong?!" Jorge, her boyfriend, asked.

"Th-there's a mutated lynx sleeping in here!" Hannah stage whispered. That abruptly silenced the whole class, including Mr. Ross.

"How big is it?" Mr. Ross whispered to her.

"It's laying down, but- but I think it might be my height when standing up?" Hannah whimpered. "Can I move away from the lynx?"

"Yes. Class, be as quiet as possible. This mutated lynx is hibernating. As long as we don't disturb it, we should be able to leave safely. This lynx is probably also the reason why the mutated wolves stopped hunting us. Tera's group, make sure to leave a gap big enough for us to escape if the lynx wakes up."

The group had already succeeded in leaving a few small holes, but nothing large enough for a human to fit through. 

The class obeyed quietly, and went on to do their tasks, with the occasional furtive glance toward the lynx's location. 

That entrance looks slightly too small for an average mutated lynx to fit through, so how did it fit? Alex wondered, looking at the entrance to the lynx's sleeping spot. 

Then, someone sneezed. Alex whipped her head towards the source of the sound, and saw the horrified and blushing face of Emery. 

Next, she glanced at the entrance to the lynx's separate alcove, and sighed in relief when there was no movement.

There was a clatter as Emery's friend, River, dropped a canteen.

Then there was the sound of claws scraping the ground as something large moved in their direction.

Alex looked for the entrance, and saw that Tera, Terry, and Harlan had only managed to widen a hole large enough for a toddler to fit through.

Everyone's faces paled as they took in the situation.

"E-everyone, except for Tera, Terry, and Harlan, take defensive formations! Tera's group, continue your task." Except for the waver at the start, Mr. Ross' voice was even and calm.

Everyone shifted into the defensive positions drilled into them quickly.

There was a scrape of a claw on dirt, and to her surprise, instead of the mutated lynx they were expecting, it was that of a wolf.

The wolf seemed to be confused too, casting its gaze around us. It seemed to be... curious? It's tail began sweeping from side to side, like how a dog's might, and melted. 

She winced as she heard bones cracking, and flesh ripping. She didn't even know that flesh could make an audible rip.

After a few seconds, the form of a... human stood before them. It... she was tall, about Alex's age, 15-16ish. She had long, tangled black -maybe brown- hair, long, uncut nails, and skin pitted with scars. She had ears like an elf in stories and movies. Her face had one scar that stretched from her jaw and up to her nose. All of the above could be explained away, but her eyes and teeth. Her eyes had no whites. It was a solid dark yellow, with one slit-like pupil that contracted and dilated as she focused on them, glinting with an animal-like intelligence. Her mouth opened to reveal sharp fangs, a snake's tongue.

Then she made a noise that sounded like talking, except it was hoarse and rasping. I stared in horrified fascination as it growled to herself and paced around, like she was frustrated. As the...whatever paced around, her messy hair hung in front of her face like a curtain, but the creature's eyes never left them.

"W-what?" She heard a voice whimper, only to realize belatedly that it was coming from her.

The creature took three steps towards her, tilting her head like a bird, and said, with a raspy and hoarse voice, "W-what?"