SUMMARY: The creatures that the Winchesters hunt have lives too.
CONTENT WARNING: Character death. Dark subject matter.
~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~ spn ~ ~
Mama was shaking my shoulder.
"Girl," She said to me in a hushed voice, "They're back. We need to go."
I sat up, blearily wiping my eyes. Mama had Baba on her back already, in the sling. She helped me stand and I followed her as we made our way carefully through the forest.
We walked for what seemed to be hours. We were in a deep part of the forest that I had never been to- the undergrowth was thick and there was soft moss on many of the trees. The overhead branches were so thick that not much sunlight got in.
"There should be cliffs in that direction." Mama pointed.
"Maaa," Baba whined, and made the noise that indicated she was hungry. Mama sat down on a fallen log and loosened the sling, then she pulled it around and opened her shirt so that Baba could feed.
"See if you can find some berries, Girl." she said to me. I was nervous about leaving her, and not being able to find my way back in this part of the woods. I moved a short distance away and looked for something edible. I found some wild onions, but that was all. I brought them back and showed them to Mama.
"I'll go hunting later." she said. Baba finished nursing and Mama stood and slung the child onto her hip. "We need to keep going. Those Trackers aren't going to stop until they find us, and I need to get you safe."
I had lived out here all my life, with Mama, and then Baba came after me. Mama changed sometimes, into a different creature, and had to run with the full moon. She told me I would change too when I became older. There had been others like us in these woods, but most of them had been hunted by Trackers, who were also known by the name Human. Mama said she had been Human once too, a long time ago, before her change occurred. She would tell me what it had been like sometimes. Before Baba came, she had started to teach me shapes that she said made words. She would take a stick and draw in the dirt, curves and lines. She said they were something called letters, that formed words, which was what we spoke. And that people put words on paper and read them, but I didn't understand what any of that meant. I tried to copy the shapes she made, but I wasn't very good at it.
We had met up with a couple others of our kind, and stayed together for a while. One of them got killed by a Tracker, and then the female disappeared one day. The other male left because he said that I slowed them down too much. And then Mama's belly had begun to swell, and eventually she gave birth to Baba.
We started to walk again. It was just getting dark when we reached the cliffs, and Mama was able to find a small cave for us to rest in.
"My change is coming soon." she told me. "You need to make sure you stay safe in here."
I gathered leaves and moss to make a comfortable sleeping area while she went hunting. I watched Baba as she played with some pinecones I had found on the forest floor.
Mama came back with a rabbit. She tore the fur off to get to the meat underneath and handed me a leg. She chewed some of the meat and then took it out of her mouth and gave it to Baba. Baba turned her head, making a face, and pointed to Mama's chest.
"No, child." Mama said. "You must learn to eat. My milk is drying up." She held the meat up to Baba's mouth, and Baba whimpered, but then she opened her mouth and let Mama put the meat in. She ate a few bites of food like this. After we ate, Baba and I settled down to sleep while Mama sat at the mouth of the cave.
Mama left us for a time the next day. I found some vines and tried to plait them into a rope like Mama had shown me before, to keep Baba occupied. She was learning to crawl, and curious about everything.
The sun was low in the sky when Mama came back. She had several cuts on her arms and face. She had brought a couple of squirrels for us to eat.
"The Trackers are still out there." she told me. "They think that we destroyed a campsite and killed the Humans that were there. I smelled a different smell, one that is of our kind but also something more. I will have to go back."
"No, Mama, stay with us." I said. "We can hide until the the ones who did the damage are found."
"Girl, I have to find out who is doing that to the Humans and make them stop. If I don't, they will keep hunting us."
We left the cave the next day, in search of water, and found a stream not far away. Mama's change was coming, I could tell; she was restless and her eyes would get that faraway look in them. She couldn't be still, and wasn't quite present when I spoke to her.
She had me take us back to the cave to make sure I knew the way. I was carrying Baba on my back.
"Let me find another rabbit." she said, taking us in a different direction.
"Mama," I called."I don't know that way at all." I followed her cautiously, always looking around to find landmarks. She got farther and farther ahead of me after a while. We came to a big hill that led down to a ravine, and she skittered down the hill and started to climb downwards. At the bottom of the ravine it was flat. I had no idea how to get down there with Baba on my back, I wasn't used to her extra weight. I tried to walk partway down the hill. Baba was fussing; she was hungry and wanted Mama.
I saw Mama turn and she looked up at me and held her hand up, meaning silence.
"Shh, Baba." I said over my shoulder.
I watched Mama look around. She was on high alert, her nostrils flaring and her eyes wide. Something was there, she could either smell it or hear it. I shifted Baba around to my hip and shushed her again. I moved back into the bushes, behind a tree.
Suddenly there was rustling in the woods and then a tall figure stepped out of the trees. A Human, one of the males, with short hair. He carried one of the metal things that Mama said was called a gun- it could hurt you or kill you dead. Mama faced off with him, holding her hands up as he pointed the gun at her.
They spoke, and I couldn't hear what they were saying at first. Her voice became louder and more agitated. She said, "I can help-" and Baba, responding to the upset in Mama's voice, cried out, "Maaa!" loud enough that both Mama and the Human's heads turned. The Human swung his gun to the side, in our direction, and that's when Mama jumped on him.
They fell to the ground together, fighting. I heard more rustling and another tall Human stepped out of the other side of the ravine. He was holding a gun up in front of him and walking slowly toward them.
Baba was whimpering for Mama. I clapped my hand over her mouth. "We must be quiet!" I told her.
As Mama fought with the one on the ground I heard the Human with the gun say, "Dean, I can't get a clear shot!" Mama and the male rolled in the leaves, fists flying. Suddenly she was on top of the Human, and I saw the glint of the small knife she carried, as she raised her hand up high above her. I heard a loud sound and the gun flashed. Then Mama slumped forward, blood pouring out of a hole in her chest, and the male pushed her over onto the ground.
Baba screamed beside me when the loud sound happened. I covered her mouth again and said, "Shh, shh, shh, Baba, we have to hide!"
I saw the Humans looking around. I hoped they had not heard Baba, although she was whimpering quietly.
"What was that?" the one who was standing said. I knew we had to leave then. I wanted to stay, to be able to bury Mama, but I knew we had to get back to the safety of the cave. I turned and began to run through the forest, trying to be as quiet as possible, and trying to comfort Baba, who was weeping.
I was lost. I had no idea where we were and no idea where the cave was. I had no idea how to tell if the Trackers were coming for us. I found a clearing, where some huge trees had fallen, and the overgrowth of vines on and around them made a sort of haven underneath. I crawled underneath between the trunks and held Baba in my arms. She was almost asleep. It was getting dark; when I woke up in the morning I would look around and try to find the cave again, and try to figure out how to make it in the world without Mama.