Wendigo
As the snow fell onto the already white blanketed ground, protruding from the frozen veil is what seems to be a lifeless creation of Nature. This creation, white skin, closed eyes, red crimson liquid slowly dripping onto the snow.
What happened to this creature? No one knows except those who were there when it passed onto the next life.
This creature will never be able to tell its story. Whatever happened here, it will be buried with this creature for he is the one who knows the truth.
But that remains buried with him, now and forever. Perhaps there is a way to tell you the story, but only time will tell.
Three years ago
March 3rd, 1926
A German shepherd/ wolf mix is sitting near the forest, watching it. A sled team had gone in, making an attempt to rescue a group of travelers heading to Dead Horse. The team had left three weeks ago... and still have not returned.
The town was getting worried, saying that wolves killed them… which struck the hybrid deep to the very foundations of his being.
Balto, the town hero, is sitting next to him, staring at the forest as well.
"I say we should look for them," states Balto.
"Got any leads on where they are?"
"Who needs leads when we have noses? We'll make an attempt to get their scent… if we can't, then we go on blind faith."
"Ah, blind faith. It only fails when you lose faith in it."
Balto rolls his eyes and, as he stands up and starts walking into the forest, says, "Alex, you're a dork, you know that?"
Alex chuckles and says, "Yeah, I know. Hey, there has to be one dork around and no one else volunteered for the position so… why not?"
Balto sighs heavily and asks, "So… we might need others to help-"
"Why do we need them? They haven't done anything for us… though I guess I have to call Kaltag-"
"Don't… Don't even go there. That's the last thing I need to remember. Anyways, let's go get Kaltag, Nikki, Star… who else?"
"Um… Ryan-"
"Because you have a crush on her," teases Balto, a sly smile forming on his face.
"No… it's because she's good at-"
"Good at getting your attention in more ways than one."
"No… never mind… So… Kyle, Hunter, and…"
"Hunter is in Anchorage and Kyle ran away after some random event that I don't really remember well. So… just looks like you get to bring a crush, eh lover boy?"
The German shepherd/ wolf's face starts to turn three different shades of red.
Balto chuckles and says, "I'll get Kaltag, Nikki, and Star. You can go get your girlfriend and whoever else you desire."
The German shepherd/ wolf mix nods and runs off to go get Ryan, all the while Balto is chuckling as he walks back to town.
"Reminds me of my son in a way."
"The beast willingly shares its kills with these companions (wolf, bear, raven, or eagle) and these animals have been known to travel with the Wendigo."
Nome, Alaska
The Siberian husky/ wolf mix, born from a dog mother and a wolf father, is walking around Nome, a white flower hanging from her ear.
She notices the others looking at her, bringing a wave of confusion over her curious mind.
Why are they staring,' thinks Ryan as she continues walking down the snow covered street.
The German shepherd/ wolf mix, after nearly running out of breath, turns a corner and, as soon as he spots Ryan, stops dead in his tracks.
The natural beauty of the female would have stopped him anyways, but it's what she had on that made his heart burn with the flame of passion and his brain clouded in fervent fear. Hanging from her ear is the very thing that projected her beauty, with the exception of her presence of course.
As she approached him, he, not even realizing his eyes were locked onto her like a professional sniper.
She stops in front of him and, seeing that he is staring, just like the others had been staring, asks, "Why is everyone staring at me?"
He smiles and before he can say anything, his mind, having created two sentences to answer her question, mixed them together. "You look very… flower on your ear…?"
Ryan, a look of confusion on her face, lowers her head and places her left paw directly where the flower had been located. She brushes it off and, as it gently lands on the snow, smiles and says, "It's beautiful… can you help me put it back on?"
'Why did she take it off in the first place?'
Alex smiles and gently picks up the flower before lightly placing it at the base of her ear. She nuzzles his neck and thanks him before asking, "So, what's up?"
Shock had taken over him after she nuzzled his neck. 'Oh God… I… Uh… Uh… Uh…'
He couldn't think of anything so, as a first reaction, looks at her and says, "Um… Um… Balto… and I are going… Um… humping in the woods. Want to come?"
He smiles… and she glares at him. "What, do you think I'm going to give it up so easily?! How about you and Balto hump each other you-"
"Hump? Oh! Sorry, not humping," to which he hits himself with his paw, "I meant hunting. You know, for sled teams- I mean for the missing sled teams… Sorry, being around pretty girls makes me a bit of an idiot…"
And he places both paws over his mouth. 'Uh-oh… Uh-Oh Uh-oh Uh-oh Uh-oh Uh-oh!'
She smiles and gives him a wink. "Oh you think I'm pretty, eh? Well that's pretty sweet of you. Tell you what; when you get back, we'll do a little humping ourselves. Does that sound okay?"
The hybrid frowns and asks, "Don't you mean hunting?"
She starts to walk away and, hearing his question, simply says, "Nope," before walking down the street.
He smiles widely, now understanding that she liked him too. He turns… and stops dead in his tracks. He was supposed to ask her about coming along… well… he did ask and she turned him down before inviting him to mate with her. Perhaps he could find someone else…?
Wendigo Fever is perhaps the most feared. It is a terrible curse, overtaking the mind and body of the unfortunate victim. The first symptom of the curse is a strange scent, detectable only to the intended victim. After absorbing this disturbing odor, the victim experiences a long night of weeping and horrifying nightmares. Upon awakening, the victim experiences a burning pain in the legs and feet, which becomes so intense that the victim runs into the forest, shrieking like a maniac, and discarding clothing and shoes all the while.
Three hours later
The mix is still sitting on the sidewalk, the light of day being replaced with the cool darkness of night.
"Well… this is bad…"
And as if that wasn't enough, the wind started to blow even harder. "Well… isn't this lovely?"
And that's when he heard it. It sounded like a roar, but it was more of a wail, created from pure agony. He looks around, confused as to what it was.
He hears a door open and a man, ripping off his clothes as he ran to the wilderness, all the while screaming "It burns! It burns! Help me!"
The hybrid, curious as to what the man was thinking of doing, follows him. From what he could tell, the man was completely naked, no shoes, socks, pants, shirt, jacket, gloves, or anything else, having taken those off.
As they approach the forest, the wailing roar increasing in volume, the man rushes into the forest, the hybrid following shortly behind.
As they come to a clearing, three miles into the forest, the man falls to his knees and starts weeping like a madman.
"Please… Please… Please… Please…"
All he says is please, over and over, an unending streak of the same word.
The hybrid is sitting behind the man, wondering what is going on, when he hears a loud noise. He turns and sees… well… he doesn't even know. It resemble a man… wearing a deer skull, though he had some weird clothing on… and he also had claws, or perhaps they seemed like claws. In one hand is an axe.
The creature slowly walks towards the man… and the man panics and tries to flee, tripping over the hybrid in the process. The mix slides in the snow, stopping when he hit a tree stump.
All the hybrid can hear is the sound of screaming, followed by steel slicing through flesh and bone. The screaming eventually stopped… and the smell of blood filled the air and flooded his nostrils.
Everything hurt… and that scent seemed like it was so close. He opens his eyes… and the deer skull man thing is right in front of him, staring, almost as if it was curious. He starts to whimper as the creature raises one of its claw/hand things.
The creature looks at him, almost as if it was asking, to which the hybrid stops whining and whimpering. The claw/hand of the creature slowly comes down upon the hybrid's side. It wasn't a touch that hid violence. It was as if the creature was being friendly…
Its hand slowly goes to the hybrid's rump before relocating to his head, and then gently going down to his rump again.
The hybrid smiles as the creature continues to pet him. Odd, the first impression he got was that the thing was a murderer… but now, now this thing seems rather friendly.
After about thirty minutes, the creature stopped, stood on its feet, and walked towards the carcass of the man. It picks up the body, slings it over its shoulder… and disappears, running rather quickly into the forest.
Alex pushes himself to his feet, wondering if this was a dream. He then turns towards town and begins his journey back home, not even thinking about the dead man, though the creature still preyed upon his mind.