Chapter Text
The doe lapped contentedly at the water, likely parched after running for so long. The river bank was quiet except for its usual sounds, of flowing water and chirping birds and the rest of her herd quenching their thirst. She never heard the wolf coming.
Within moments, the birds had flown off and the deer scattered haphazardly, and Yudai stood over his kill. Deers were beautiful creatures, he had mused as he watched from afar, the doe’s big eyes sparkling in the sun. Maybe, in a different life, he could just admire them from afar, but in this one, he needed food. This deer would last him a week… which was about as long as he could stay in one place anyway.
He dragged his kill back to the hideout he had found, a little dent in the rocks that was barely visible in the darkness of night. He would have to do something about the smell, though. Vampires wouldn’t catch his scent unless they passed very close to the cave, but the stench of blood and dead animal would draw their attention, so he hid his stash deep within the maze of rocks, and went back to clean up behind him. It had become routine in his years of living as a lone wolf on the run - what had once been a struggle to reach shelter before nightfall every day had now become the matter of a few hours, leaving him ample time to dawdle, rest, and feed his curiosity.
It was easier this way, he thought to himself often. Alone, he could be swift and nimble, escaping the moment he sensed danger. Alone, he was a small target, easy for the vampires to lose in a forest they were not nearly as familiar with. He had seen too many wolves captured and killed because of their need to protect each other, because of a mere moment of delay caused by their concern for each other. It’s a quality fundamental to wolves, integral to living in packs, the way they are supposed to live. But in the life they had been driven to, in a life spent avoiding a predator that far outmatches them, they simply couldn’t afford that anymore. He reminded himself of this often, every time it got a little too lonely and a yearning to be the Yudai he once used to be, even for a moment, grew too strong. The life of a lone wolf was the only practical one now.
There were other reasons why he would never approach another wolf with a hand of friendship even if he ran into one, ones he kept buried deep inside, never to see the light of day. The smell of smoke in the air, voices he had grown up with warped into shrieks of pain and fear, his mother buried under rubble, screaming for him to run. Memories that he never wanted to revisit. Memories he could never forget. Memories he had no desire to recreate.
He washed off in river, perching idly on a tree as his fur dried and observing life around him. He watched as a frog ate a fly, and a snake then ate the frog. Just as he had hunted the deer earlier in the day, maybe it was their destiny as well, their place in the chain, to in the end succumb to the predator above them - killed for blood or killed for sport, did it even matter? But the fly doesn’t just wait for the frog to eat it, nor does the deer wait for the wolf to hunt it, and so the wolves, too, keep fighting to survive. Vampires weren’t invulnerable; Yudai had slain enough of them to know that by now. He would never lay down and die, and he fought to kill as much as he fought to survive.
A commotion in the distance distracted him from his wandering thoughts. Crows and vultures circled a patch of the river bank around a bend in the river, an ominous sign driving all others away. Yudai jumped out of the tree, unable to help but wonder. He had passed that place earlier in the day, and there had been nothing to see. What wretched animal had found its end there in these short hours?
He bounded towards the site, eyes widening and pace quickening as he caught a scent that was too familiar. The birds scattered as he barged in, unsurprised at the sight that awaited him.
The wolf was no more than a pup, in his early teens at best. His gray fur, soaked in the river, was still visibly burnt black at the edges, small body littered with gashes and burns that had undoubtedly gotten infected. Yudai wondered how long the pup had run before he succumbed to his injuries, falling into the water and letting it carry him to his death. He wondered if this is how he had looked seven years ago, when a vampire caught up to him after two days of running with no food, water, or sleep and threw him into a river, almost drained of blood, abandoning him for dead.
He hadn’t been dead though, and neither was this pup. It was something vampires often failed to realize - wolves were built to persevere. He had made sure his would-be killer learnt that lesson, moments before he staked her in the heart. Maybe this little wolf would teach his attacker a lesson too, one day. Yudai couldn’t help but root for him to, but when he felt the pup’s feeble heartbeat, his heart sank.
That was the reality, wasn’t it? Yudai had survived, be it by luck or sheer force of will, but many did not. Most did not. This pup would not, not unless he was helped, cared for, and treated. He couldn’t have run too far with his injuries or fallen into the river too long ago, which meant that vampires would not be too far away either. The sun had already started making its way down. The best thing Yudai could do now would be to make a run for it, put as much distance between himself and the vampires as he can. The pup was in a hopeless state. Even if Yudai tried, it was unlikely he would be able to help. He had to leave, as soon as possible, otherwise he would end up dead as well.
But Yudai hesitated.
The vultures were still on surrounding trees, waiting eagerly for their next meal to finish dying. The animals that had scattered with his arrival were slowly creeping back, the noise of the forest carrying on as it always does.
Yudai picked up the pup, the same fangs that had torn into flesh earlier that day wrapping gently around the small body. He was a bit too old to be carried like a baby, but Yudai’s giant form had little trouble bearing his weight. They still had a few hours before the sunlight disappeared, enough for Yudai to put a couple dozen miles between them and this river bank. His lips quirked ruefully thinking of the week’s worth of food he had stowed away that morning. Guess he wouldn’t be able to taste it after all.
He straightened up, took a last look back, and started running.