Fur vs Skin | on hold

2.

↠C h a p t e r T w o↞
INTO THE WILD

❝Not all who wander are lost.❞

▼▼▼

My whereabouts were unknown to my consciousness. The path of how I arrived to my direction now, was nothing more than a blank slate, unsure of how I survived conjuring among the void in my mind. I couldn't remember much of anything besides a flash of images. The shock that courses through my veins prevented my mind from reeling back to the previous events, I wasn't able to think but feel.

I felt cold. The air that spiraled around me pricked at my skin, the sensation of pins-and-needles coating every inch of my body as frigid air took its home in my system luring me down the path to hyperthermia. My wet clothes were like lead as they slowed my pace, my feet dragging with no destination, the images of how I have become wet wedging no familiarity inside me.

My shoes crunch the snow in my path as the wind blows harshly against me, violent tremors rack my body, the temperature in the atmosphere dropping lower as the sun sinks below the horizon; taking the light of day with it.

The throbbing in my side was now a numb ache, the blood long dried on my skin. I limp my way through trees and over dead snow-covered branches, not sure where I'm headed or where I will end up. Minutes crawl by and I can barely push myself further to walk, my hands are frozen to the tip and my legs burn from exhaustion.

The world swayed and I fell to my knees, the snow biting at my skin to the point it felt like needles stabbing at me repeatedly, puffing out heavy breaths as my energy began to disappear like a flame in the wind.

My hand slams into the ground to keep my body upright, my vision swimming. A howl in the distance floats into the air and carrying to my position, shaking me to the core. A part of me knew I was close to danger and if I didn't value my life I needed to be getting a move on, now.

My body denied me as my arm gave way under my body weight, falling to my side into the blistering snow, dead to the world; another howl slicing through the air. My heart beats an uneven rhythm on my ribcage, my body aware of the danger close by. My vision blurred the surrounding objects, nothing clear to me, but the feeling of me becoming numb from the ferocious cold that wanted to drag me with it and into the wind; it was slowly getting its wish.

As my consciousness slipped with each passing second, another howl pierced the heavens soon followed by a guttural growl, this time much closer than before. Rustling leaves grabbed my attention off to the side as I sluggishly turned my head, deep in the bushes, yellow eyes glared at me burning their way into my soul; a place I couldn't tear my eyes away. The world darkens and the last thing within my sight were those potent yellow eyes.

×××

I woke in and out of consciousness and every time it felt like I was swaying in the air, the feeling of weightlessness registering in the back of my mind. This time my eyes peeled back slightly, enough for me to gaze upward at the sky, tree leaves blocked my few from studying the sky completely; it was a baby blue as the sun rose. The world still swayed and moved from side to side, the shadow of the bare branches passing over my face, it was then I realized the pulsing heat beneath my body that surrounded me. My energy hasn't yet restored but that didn't stop me from turning my head to investigate.

A weird tingling sensation filled my body from the tip of my toes to the top of my head, it maneuvered its way to my heart and through my veins leaving my form warm and fuzzy and thoughts slightly scattered; any discomfort I felt vanished into thin air, the most heat coming from someplace on my side. I barely felt the wind that still blew harshly.