Shadows That Bleed

by YamiYugiPuzzleshipper

Pure-Bloods are said to be myths, not even well-known within stories. "A specialized genetic coding of the moon and the dire," their spoken lore proclaims. They are creatures beyond the power of mortality, gifted by the gods themselves. Known as the Eternal Ones, their existence once extinguished, resurrection foretells a powerful omen.

11. The Aftermath

Disclaimer: I do not own Yugioh

Update schedule: Every other day (no update on June 2nd)

Chapter Warnings: COPIOUS Amounts of Blood and Death, Mentions of Dead Bodies, GRAPHIC depiction of Change, Mentions of Vomit and Gore, Animalistic Instincts, Fear, Pain

Okay, so! Holy shit, I did NOT realize it had been so long since the last update. I got COMPLETELY blindsided because of work and it completely destroyed me and my motivation for a little while. I apologize so much for it. But, yeah, there's my excuse. I was also EXTREMELY hopeful that I would get this finished and edited and posted before now, but then I got distracted writing a three-shot about dragons (? I don't know how, don't ask). Anyways, I'm going to TRY to get the next chapter up (it's not as long as this one so let's hope) up on or right after Sunday since that's my day off.

Anyways, happy reading~

Chapter XI: The Aftermath

Work Log Entry XI: June, 1996

June 4

The expected due date is approaching quickly.

She appears to have grown far healthier since the last ultrasound we performed to check on the cubs.

The Pure-Bloods inside of her appear to be just as healthy, if not more.

The event of her pregnancy seems to have brought about more life in her mate as well.

When Yugi's eyes opened again he was backwards, or maybe forward. Perhaps he was somehow sideways. All he could see were the trees, long lines of dark gray with shadows that painted them black with only the lightest touch of moonlight. A panic rose within his system, cold and all-consuming, as if to replace his blood. His body twisted in a nervous spasm of muscle, a useless flex of his fight-or-flight instinct. The movement brought with it such pain that he could not swallow his screams. He shook, and his body bounced hideously with the immense force of his tremors. His heart, seemingly so weak before, now pounded with such strength as to make his entire body pulse painfully. The taste of his blood came upon his tongue with the density of thick mud, bubbling upwards into his mouth and cutting off his scream with deafening gurgling.

He jerked again, and his muscles fell still for only a moment as the gurgling grew abruptly louder. Pain tore upwards from the very core of his body, trailing through him as if following the design of his bones. He could not taste it around the blood, but he knew they were not the same. It filled his mouth and spilled over his lips, so hot he felt it might scorch his skin. He could not breathe as it continued to overflow and he wanted to move his body but everything was too heavy. His head swam, unable to truly process that the trees were blurring and dancing within his weak vision.

Something nudged him faintly. It gripped his shoulder firmly but gently. He choked and sputtered, pulled forward into an upright position. His lungs screamed and he coughed several times in horror, body shuddering painfully once more. He spewed something from his mouth in rivulets, the heat burning his skin like fire as he nearly fell face first into the dirt again. It splattered onto his hand, then onto his clothing, coating them in what felt almost like hot pudding.

It came to him in a disconnected spurt of knowledge that he knew nothing of what to do with. The sensation of the thing which grasped his shoulder slowly began to take form in his exhausted mind. Reality seemed to bend before his eyes as if by his choice. Very slowly he found his eyes pulling themselves from the sight of the trees. The creature drifted within his vision like the smallest of clouds passing over the sun. Staring at it so openly did nothing to convince himself of the truth of such a situation, however. Rather, it was the fact that he felt its grip on his shoulder so prominently as he tried to focus and concentrate on his breathing.

There were so many of them touching his skin through his clothing. There was such a startling but pleasant heat basking over his skin like water. Yugi wanted first to laugh and then to sob. His eyes took in the sight with a feeling of dreadful joy. Before him the canine stood, teeth gripping tightly upon his shoulder, holding him upright, allowing him not to choke on whatever this new fluid might be he expelled. Its dark fur was flat, its muzzle creaseless, not a sing hit of the former ferocity it'd displayed. But its eyes were not on him, instead peering off into the trees, standing guard and watching the shadows for any new threat.

Yugi shuddered, his left leg twitching as if in an isolated spasm. He lurched forward but the action was held fast and only part of his body folded as the rest willed he do. His throat burned and that new fluid, he realized, was a disgusting off-white color and, momentarily, his mind trickled forth with the idea of frothy spit. His body pulsed violently, heat slamming through him with such immensity he almost screamed again.

It dribbled from his mouth slowly, or perhaps it was the sluggishness of his straining mind which pushed it back to such manageable speed. The wolf did not release him and though the absolution of its presence should have been comforting, it was anything but.

That small splinter of panic inside of him before then was growing immensely powerful, nearly sweeping his precariously balanced mind right over the edge. A new and terrible horror had come over him. The edge he balanced on, as jagged as the carved earth before a pit fall trap, seemed to fester and swoop within his mind.

Was the wolf here to help him or was it there to gain an easy meal?

Such suspicion was hardly helpful, but natural instinct borne such fear in him. He had watched—or heard—this wolf kill the other two. Who was he to think he was special enough it might save him somehow, for whatever reason? The reality of it all was that he wasn't. He did not have a single advantage over the other two that might make it wish to do such a thing for him.

But why should he be fearful when he had no chance or means of escape? In a pivotal moment, the wolf could snap him up like a bone and he wouldn't be able to fight back. He was too tired and his body too heavily weighted. His mind was so weak that he honestly could not think of much more than the presence of the animal next to him.

Yugi shuddered and his entire body shook, nearly folding into a ball. The canine tightened its grip almost immediately, keeping his right shoulder somehow still despite his spasm. His body pulsated with pain, so violent he nearly screamed again. Another bout of that liquid splattered from his jaws and he trembled harder, quaking, his entire body burning. His clothes were soaked in it, that frothy foam-like substance which left him so noisily.

He felt his fingers ache and hissed as he attempted to pull them away from where it rested on his leg. A long trail of slime followed his hand, making his head spin, and his stomach sloshed at the sight of it. Bare skin greeted his eyes, pale and creamy, almost white from the cold, and showing him a sharp contract from the liquid that covered his skin.

Yugi stared at his hand, wondering at the sight of it. The fingers were coated, almost caked, in a dark sticky substance which was soaked with whatever it was he had expelled moments before. Cautiously, unable to look away, he watched his hand shake as if it were no longer connected to his body. He watched it drip, large wads falling, just like that of the foam from the wolves' mouths. He blinked and something slithered to the forefront of his mind like a snake traveling through desert sand.

Why was he looking at his own skin? He could have sworn he had seen the darkness of his own jeans moments before. But, looking at his skin slowly, forcefully peeling his attention away from his quivering hand, the darkness was still there, splattered across his skin. But now, his mind slowly working its way forth from the panicked state it had been cowering within, realized what in fact it truly was.

He groaned, a pathetic, airy noise that had no more impact than a leaf in the breeze. He was naked, and soaked completely in dried and fresh blood. His stomach twitched and his heart pounded for a moment, making his entire throat throb with the sensation. Yugi recognized it now as well, the sticky, frothy substance gaining a true name inside of his head.

He was covered in blood and vomit, all his own, but horrifying and disgusting despite what little comfort that should have brought.

The groan that left his mouth now was still far too weak to be considered more than a simple exhale, but the spasm that wracked him immediately afterwards was enough to make the wolf release him. Its leg trembled and collapsed beneath it, buckling like a broken stick. Yugi heard it whine but it didn't fall over as he did. He landed on his side with a yelp that pushed every hint of air from his lungs with such power he forgot himself. His head pounded and his heart lurched. His stomach heaved but his mind drew to a hideous blank. Something burned inside of his chest, so deep within him he almost thought he was being incinerated somehow.

And then his brain scrambled. The burning grew tenfold, and then eased slowly, somehow, with such violent sensation that he shook for a moment once more. He realized, blinking with such a vague reality of his own reactions, that he had drawn air into his lungs again. His body was, slowly but surely, fighting to stabilize its collapsed position. His lungs were swiftly inhaling and exhaling, bursting with the pain of such actions and nearly making his head spin.

A shifting noise made his eyes flicker, straining themselves, peering first at winter-hardened grass. Then, slowly, they focused on the blackness of the sky, the night so dark everything seemed to blend together in a monotonous abyss of black and gray. Then, as if reluctant, small spots of white seemed to come forward, with tiny halos of gold and silver. The leaves, still so drained of color, began to take form, layers upon layers of dark gray, deepening to a black that reminded him of his own unconsciousness. And then, as if summoned, a new shape took form before him, blocking away the shades of color with such strength it seemed almost to warp reality.

Amidst the blackness that threatened to swallow his senses there, he found himself lost. A stunning glow of twin orbs, so spectacular in their reflections of light, seemed to blind him for a moment. His mind, so laden with the effort to take in the things surrounding him, almost did not recognize it. The bursts of color, so vibrant and terrible, glowed like lanterns, almost seeming to cast light through the darkness. And Yugi could not help but quiver as his mind finally differentiated the reality of them from his growing fear.

The wolf was standing over him, its entire body one mass of black so deep it seemed almost to splinter reality into nothing but the most hideous of abysses. There was no beginning or end to its intensity, only the vibrancy of its eyes, which glowed like red headlights. Its head lowered, he only realized when its breath, hot and steady, ghosted over his skin like rippling water. A single bit of fur twitched along its side, stirred by the movement and exposing yet another wound which glistened, slick and thick, in the moonlight in pronouncement of fresh blood.

A rattling groan came forth, still pathetically weak, and he shook once more but his eyes would not look away. A disgusting pop and splintering noise made the air crackle like lit kindle. Pain scorched through his back, his spine trembling beneath his skin in ragged jerks and arches. He sputtered, choking, unable to do much more than stare blankly as the pain seized his mind with infinite control, effective in its cold grasp upon his senses.

An extremely hot, burning liquid began to come over the skin of his neck. Painful and disgusting, it sloped downwards in rivulets of what he could only imagine as shining black.

A gust of air tickled his senses, sweeping over him, and his heart pounded. It caressed his skin like mist, gentle and somehow comforting. The exposed muscle twitched and quivered in the midst of such a touch, and Yugi felt his lungs expand and contrast in a rapid pant as the pain coursed through him violently.

Something warm, strong, and rough ran along his skin. His spine writhed beneath his flesh, a snake of vertebrae that refused to still. The movement on his throat was soft and gentle despite the roughness of the exterior's touch, continuing in rapid but shallow and, yet, somehow deep strokes. Pain in the sensation was easily outdone by the steadiness, so much so that it became a strict comfort for which he might dwell upon as his spine continued its hideous dance beneath his skin.

He loosed yet another small, weak and altogether pitiful groan, so low that he almost could not hear it himself. The wolf growled softly in response, but the gentle caresses of its tongue did not falter. Gently, slowly, the wet muscle continued to work at the wound. Its breath touched his skin in quick and startling bursts, short and rapid, so much so that even in his disoriented state Yugi could tell it was growing very clearly stressed.

The muscles in his arm bunched, knotting painfully, and clenched so tightly that they might lock there. The gleam of the wolf's eyes sent his head into a violent tumble, spiraling with such efficiency it made his heart pound violently enough to pull itself past the immensity of the pain of his spine for a split second.

The earth seemed to shift and split beneath his head, breaking in ragged lines of dirt and stone, of dead grass and splintering roots. His alignment shifted, his body shaking, and his mouth expelled spittle of harsh yellow bile and dark red blood. The black canine growled once more, with such an edge that it was not hard to imagine it was impatient with his limited capabilities as well.

The muscles in his legs had begun to knot and coil, following his arms. He felt the air rush from his lungs once more, shutting tightly as if they had collapsed upon themselves. He choked, unable to do anything more than fear they might not open again. But his mind, as blank as it was, did not suppress his instincts enough to cause his lungs to remain prone as they were formerly. They expanded and contracted swiftly, efficient and powerful as he gulped in air as quickly as possible.

The wolf's tongue grew more persistent; as did the heat which came with the gushing of his blood which dripped from the hideous wound he knew marred his neck. The pain laced through him with such power it reminded him momentarily of the wall with which his head had cracked upon from his collision with Ushio in the alleyway.

The scents of the forest around them swelled up, surging towards him like open floodwaters, crashing through him violently. The sickeningly sweet and sour and disgusting smell, which came to him immediately, threatening to swamp his ability to breathe altogether, punched a hole through his mind's capability to focus on the rapid licks the wolf applied to his neck. Pain shot through him more fully than ever before, and the stench of his own bile made his nose ache and burn, almost sizzling with the intensity. Though it pressed heavily on his own nasal passages, it did not block away the powerful impact of the frozen earth, the thick scent of rain so heavy in the air, moss and mold and bark, the trees and the lighter aroma of the leaves, the decay of the water-logged branches, his own blood, and the wolves' bodies. All of it crashed into him, scent upon scent, first a wave, and then a slow parade in which his mind differentiated the sweet from the sour, the living from the dead, the old from the new, the soft from the hard.

It was terrible, overwhelming, and for a moment he wanted to wail in distress, but slowly it faded as if carried by nothing more than a passing wind. In his mind's eye something shifted and eased itself, first forward and then into a background thought as if growing dormant or perhaps settling into a gentle existence. Still his senses worked rapidly without his coaxing, and the feeling of alienation began to come forth with the reality of such a situation.

They all knew the truth of what the scraping noise was which accompanied each touch of his exposed muscles as his skin quivered. They all recognized the potential of the gentle rasping and bubbling of which accompanied each breath like fire in his veins. They all accepted the pain of which came with the hideous snapping and popping of his spine where it seemed to split at the discs. They all had the foreknowledge of the meaning behind his intestines and stomach shaking and sliding as if attempting to rearrange inside of him. They all took in stride the soft breathy pants of the wolf which tickled his skin and made his ears ring gently with shock.

He could feel every grain of dirt and sand against his pores, the moss which pressed into his body and cushioned him gently. Every breath which came over his skin beat against nerves he had never before known himself to possess. The wolf radiated such strong body warmth that it bordered the heat of a glorious bonfire against the winter air. It was merciful and gentle in comparison to the molten lava which began and ended in his bone marrow.

His mouth was caked with blood and bile, hideously vibrant as it lingered and danced across his taste buds. His snacks from the festival, all of them eaten in an attempt to keep away his own potential to attack someone, was now a suffocating and immense pressure of which he could only detect bitterness in all its strength. The metallic of his blood was like that of heated copper, burning him with such intensity his heart raced and ached.

When he stared at the wolf now, no longer able to deny himself the sight of it and growing dizzy from the sight which greeted him as the leaves began to sharpen and the colors grew more muted, he wanted once more to vomit. Though it seemed to have recovered rather well for the most part, its healing seemed rather stunted.

The circle of flesh around its eye was caked with blood, clumps of it dried in a ring of deep black almost sharp enough to blend in with its fur. The mangled flesh of its muzzle hung in a long string of sinew, but the pink of which he had seen the exposed muscle was no longer as vibrant. In fact, when he focused on it, it looked almost as if it tiny strands of dark fur were beginning to grow there once more, covering the baldness.

The wound he had seen the fur quiver around moments before had grown black as well. But he knew with absolution that the hairs were truly growing back. He could see the very edges of the new strands of its undercoat emerging against the small hint of light cast by the moon above.

Its nose, glinting faintly in the darkness, formerly split and bleeding profusely, now looked as if it had never been wounded safe the dried crusting of scabbing which had accumulated beneath its former cut. Its right foreleg no longer seemed shaky and, though his sight was stunted with his inability to truly move by his own free will, he did not catch sight of that flash of white he had seen before during the fight.

In the brief seconds of its movements to withdraw and return immediately, the wolf gave him the slightest glances of its immense body and not a hint of it available to his eyes was white, nor shiny with spilled blood.

But it was the eyes which drew his attention the most, so powerfully so that they shook his very core with their intensity. The vibrant color was laced with only the faintest gleam of black, its pupils nearly nonexistent in their depth, an inkiness that was simply a set of twin pools surrounded by iridescent red. It seemed to blur, blending together, bleeding into one another, red and black swirling together with such efficiency it was almost as if the shadows were being illuminated around the black cores. The strength of which the rings of color surged forth were immense and bright, glittering as if pale with the light of the moon behind the wolf's head, almost impossible to see. A halo of bright red like hellfire with the vibrancy of lightning surrounded each dark ring, spreading outwards to a single circle of black which disappeared completely into the mask of its almond-shaped gaze.

Staring up at it, the intensity of such a sight was enough to knock the air from his lungs as if the wolf had tackled him forcefully to the ground. Such violence in a trivial moment was horrifying to him, the idea of such power overwhelming his senses. How was it possible fur such a powerful impact to come from something that, barring the circumstances, was usually so mindless and everyday?

It was such a painful realization of destruction that he almost missed the way the pain began to fade away slowly from his worn system. His head seemed to have cleared somehow, though its focus remained heavily on the immense canine looming over him, thoughts clear and startling with their clarity. The pounding of his heart, bursting through him with such terrible pain, had faded into nothing more than a slightly thumping within his chest, so calm and soft it was almost overlooked.

The convulsions of his spine and the molten heat of his marrow had even changed to a manageable warmth that had stilled his body completely. The only motion now was that of his own breathing, soft and calm, in which his chest moved in simple rises and falls with each expansion of his lungs.

Yugi swallowed hard and watched the canine staring back at him closely, studying intently and refusing to look away. Very slowly, as if balanced by some outward source, its body lowered to the forest floor. A shaky, stressed breath left its muzzle as its hindquarters touched the earth and its fur quivered, rippling, with the movement.

Yugi wet his lips, at first in response to his own stress from moments before, and then quickly in surprise. Something wet, hot and yet cold all at once, had met his taste buds slowly but surely, and the sensation was enough to truly startle him. He froze, remaining that way for several long moments, and then blinked slowly as he tried to process the strange occurrence. His mind did not have an answer, though it felt more than faintly foreign and prominently alien as he struggled to think of what it could be. His body twitched as a new panic began to rise within him.

Had something gone wrong? Even more so than before? Was it possible his own mind could not identify it because he was perhaps trapped in a place between the wolf and himself? Maybe his mind had splintered too far to grasp the reality of what might be happening to him and so he could not recognize the new situation.

He felt another spasm rock him, so forceful that his legs jerked as if in preparation to flee. The violence of the terrified movement sent a reaction through his upper body and he flailed as his axis became tilted and nonexistent. A scream threatened to tear through him but he felt his weakness before he recognized it. The newly formed muscle, coaxed forward by the saliva of the other wolf and his body preparing itself for the Change, came apart with such a terrible scream itself that it reverberated in the air like the roar of a waterfall.

The wolf was on its feet immediately once more. Yugi shook and trembled, a spasm coursing through him once more, and his legs jerked again. He craned his neck, panicking, and scrabbled, wanting nothing more than to pull himself up again. But a weight pressed down upon him suddenly. His shoulder protested the intensity of its impact, the way it tore through his muscles with such fire it made him tremble again. Blood gushed from his neck, surging forward like an ocean wave, the harsh stench of it making his heart pound and the sticky liquid spill somehow faster.

The wolf's claws pressed harshly into his shoulder, flattening and pinning his upper body effectively against the ground. It snarled furiously, the noise enough to make his quivering stop for a split second as terror seized him. The moment passed, however, almost as swiftly as it had come. His body shook though it was unable to push the wolf away. But a strange sense of calm came forward, weak and underwhelming, crawling through his senses without any urgency.

The wolf's tongue ran over his neck's exposed muscles again, gentle and persistent. He blinked, a slow and unsure movement, and his eyes turned on the other wolf once more. But the position had changed in some way his mind could not grasp. A pathetic hope rose in him, immediately squashed away as he watched the wolf at work again. Whereas he had been able to see it more fully before, now all he could see was his head was tilted sideways, its left ear almost completely hidden away beneath a blanket of white.

He thought it was his flesh for a moment, until it stirred faintly with a breath that the other lycanthrope let out. His skin did not fully feel the impact of its exhale either, instead passing over it with a gentle twitch that beguiled his panicked senses for a moment. For a brief second nothing made sense to him. And then a new clarity passed over him, swift and powerful.

He had changed. The white which moved before his eye, which blocked the touch of the animal's breath over his skin, was his own fur. It was a dirty color, slathered with blood from his wound and the canine's tongue smearing it gently with each soft stroke. Bewilderment, harsh and cold, settled into his bones with such intensity, he thought his marrow might freeze. He licked his lips again, unsurprised when it passed over his sweating nose again. But what he did notice this time instead was the new sensation of sharp, smooth incisors gliding beneath and above the flat muscle, the way his canines encased it completely.

His nose and tongue tickled with this new touch. Briefly his first instinct was to laugh, but in such a form he doubted his ability to. He closed his eyes again, breathing in deeply, and the forest's powerful scents swirled through him before he exhaled slowly. His limbs were exhausted, weighed down so immensely he almost could not even feel them fully. He felt as if his spine had pulled itself, stretching painfully, but now was seemingly limp as if it too had been broken as the brown wolf's had been forced to. His muscles were still bunched under his skin, coiled like snakes preparing to strike.

He tested his control weakly, stretching his limbs faintly, so gently that he almost missed it despite himself. He wanted to move more but a snarl, swift and loud, cut his exploration short. The noise was menacing and low, and even his easing panic buckled beneath its clear meaning. He felt the tongue pass over his skin again, gentle and soft as it took on its former rhythm, and closed his eyes for a moment.

Yugi concentrated, trying to think of a way to question its persistence, hoping to maybe tell it its movements could be ceased. For a moment nothing left him and no movement could encompass his ability to comprehend a way to communicate with the darker animal which kept his shoulder braced against the forest floor.

The noise which left him was a soft and strangled high-pitched whine so small he almost missed it himself. He was not surprised by the tone itself, simply that it had left him, and he swallowed hard at the idea of it. He knew enough of canine communication to realize that he was playing submissive rather than aggressive.

He watched, almost bewildered, as the softly-rounded black ears pricked towards him, flicking almost distractedly. The canine raised its head slowly, tilted to the side, and Yugi found himself staring at a pair of bright red eyes once more. The sight of them chilled the blood in his veins and his heart sped up dramatically.

A clear malicious gleam made them sharp, imposing and dangerous, so powerful he felt his spine tighten somehow despite his initial numbness. The wolf's lips drew back just enough to bare its teeth but no noise accompanied it and so he took that as a blessing in itself.

He followed the pull of an instinct which told him to lower his gaze and the tension passed through the air almost immediately. Its head lowered again to his throat, tongue lapping insistently at the wound once again.

Yugi felt a small chill pass through him, crushing any protest he might have formerly had. He did not feel the pain that he should have and the gushing of his blood was nothing he felt any longer, but he realized the wound must still have been open. He must have still been bleeding and profusely at that.

The horror of such a thought made him whine again, sharp and panicked. The noise that answered him was a terrible and hideous snarl which made his insides quiver violently. He trembled and a new instinct came forward, crawling on its belly for his attention. He moved without prompt or command, twisting his shoulders to brace themselves fully across the top of the roots of the tree flanking him. His mouth opened, his tongue falling against the roof of his mouth, and his tail tucked against his belly so tightly he almost thought they were one and the same.

His panic became nothing more than the smallest hint of concern towards himself and his condition. He stretched his neck out, nearly flattening his entire skull against the ground. He waited, tensed and taut as a bowstring, but relaxed immediately. The other canine snorted and its tongue passed over the wound again, gentle and fast as it had been before. He hesitated, opening his eyes and peering at the world in its new positioning around him.

The grass blades looked like icicles, gray at the top where the little hints of color remained and silver at the bases where it was stripped. The dirt shifted faintly when he breathed, small gusts of air making it swirl in bright glittering clouds almost akin the white of his own breaths when they danced in the darkness in puffs. The moonlight which touched it painted it silver and white, with the faintest touches of cobalt blue. He blinked, feeling his tongue pressing against the roof of his muzzle, and scraped it slowly along the grooves of it. The blood there was almost nonexistent, but the taste remained, sharp and disgusting against the flat muscle.

The soothing laps of the other wolf's tongue trailed further downwards, towards his chest. Where his collarbone should have been, the tongue pressed more firmly, trailing over it in swift strokes. He kept his forelegs folded, the sensation making his paws quiver faintly. It was a strange new touch, somewhat bewildering, and he wanted almost to melt into it as if it were physically possible.

A spasm swept through him once more, his muscles and bones shaking. His lungs seemed to burst with the effort to breathe again, his chest aching as it seemed to flatten, the narrow cavities of marrow within his ribcage burning. He yelped, a loud and painful cry, and his limbs each kicked in the wake of another spasm. His spine tightened and pushed inwards, his bones beginning to rapidly pop and shift beneath his skin. It sounded like gunfire, rapid and painful, and each burst of noise brought with it such keen pain he let out a scream that changed from guttural and animalistic to a hoarse, strained human cry.

His throat ached and burned. The muscles screamed and split once more. His limbs kicked. His scream grew somewhat louder, voice cracking. It died almost instantly, silenced as the pain crushed his lungs into near nonexistence. His shoulders flexed and shifted, his arms bursting with pain throughout each nerve ending.

He was staring up at the stars rather than the grass now, and the position made his heart pound and twist painfully. He trembled one time more, painting, and found his breath almost catching in a sob. His blue-violet eyes, straining themselves to truly see around him, caught the gaze of the black canine which watched him with a more curious expression than he had ever seen a dog wear. Its head was tilted, its mouth opened faintly to show the tiniest hint of its bottom incisors. Its ears were pricked forward, its brows were minutely furrowed, and its eyes glittered with such iridescence that it made his head spin for a moment.

The wolf shifted forward, leaning over him more fully, and lowered its mouth to his face. Hot breath fanned over his cheeks gently, intense and laden with the smell of his own blood as well as that of the wolves'. It sniffed first his forehead and then, with a slight strain of its powerful neck, drew in his scent deeply within its large lungs. Its nose was cool and wet where it briefly touched his skin, trailing from his own down the left side of his cheek and then crossing a path to the other side of his mouth, lingering for a long moment.

They remained frozen, staring at each other for what felt like an eternity before finally Yugi attempted to move.

He struggled, trying to pull himself into a sitting position. The black wolf leaned forward, its face close to his once again, and snarled furiously. His hands shot out to push at the canine's chest, terrified as his instincts begged he defend himself. The downy undercoat teased his palms with deceptive softness, the raw muscle beneath it harsh and taut. His eyes widened drastically, fear slamming through him mercilessly as the wolf curled its lips back to show its white incisors.

The canine was so close that he could see each ridge of enamel, the edges of the gums where the roots formed, but mostly he could see where its fangs protruded from the healthy pink flesh. It did not slobber nor foam, but its expression scared him more than the two wolves ever could have. Its ears were angled for him, its brows scrunched up, muzzle wrinkled just enough to show its teeth, and its eyes blazing with ferocity.

They were bright, full of human frustration, glaring at him dangerously. The sight of it and the soft growl that came again made him shove, but the animal did not budge. It remained looming over him, watching with a cold intensity that made his insides ache with fear. His throat burned when he swallowed, threatening to split the skin there again.

He thought to expose his neck and lie back down but instead opened and closed his mouth as he struggled to think. He had an idea to cry out in pain and fear but wondered if it would trigger an attack instinct. Some predators reacted that way and he found himself at a loss as to whether canines did the same. Regardless, whether it applied to them or not, he did not know the same was true of lycanthropes.

"I just want to get up for a second," he whispered weakly, watching as the wolf's lips fell back to lie over its sharp teeth, its stance still aggressive as its fur began to slowly flatten once more. Its eyes flickered every direction for a moment and it sniffed deeply, then finally moved back several steps. He hesitated, unsure of what more to do, and then waited as the wolf continued staring at him fiercely. The canine moved another step back and then remained there, refusing to budge whatsoever. The red eyes remained locked firmly on his, burning and furious.

Yugi pushed himself into a slightly upright position, only enough to lean back on his palms and watch the black animal closely. The wolf kneaded its paws faintly, shifting its weight back and forth in an almost nervous expression. The small teen studied it for a moment and then reached up to rub his neck but halted at the guttural snarl that broke forth. He shivered, watching as the canine glared, teeth showing, fur bristling, tail beginning to come up. He lowered his arm immediately, pressing his palm into the cold earth and curling his nails into the dirt. The silence that came over him was almost smothering as they looked at each other.

"Okay, whine twice if it's bad and once if it's terrible."

The wolf hesitated for a brief moment. Its ears angled towards him and it raised its tail to wag slowly. A spark filtered into its eyes, making them glitter, and Yugi recognized a wealth of amusement there. A long, low whine came forth with what sounded akin a soft growl as an undertone. Then its head tilted fractionally, tail wagging again only once in what seemed like the most sheepish expression he had ever seen.

Yugi tilted his head slightly, exhaustion tugging at his senses, his body aching with the new touch. The wolf growled again, staring, and the small teen opened his mouth only to have the canine lunge forward angrily. Its tongue flicked out and Yugi reached out to prevent its teeth coming for his throat.

But its head merely cocked to the side in order to run its tongue over the wounded flesh. But the action did nothing to quell the fear with which he found his insides aching. His muscles clenched up tightly and the panic slammed through him violently. His hands shot out to shove the canine away, palms hitting it hard enough to send it stumbling sideways. A snarl immediately ripped through the air and Yugi nearly cried out in shock at the impact of it. His ears rang with pain and he nearly screamed as his hands moved immediately to grasp at his hair tightly. He curled up into a ball, panting and feeling sick to his stomach as he cried out in pain and tried to ignore the newest pain which surged through him.

The wolf bared its teeth and the long fangs chomped together violently only an inch from his face. He flinched and tried to shuffle backwards but his spine was pressed against the tree trunk behind him. Bile dribbled from his lips before he could think straight, burning his insides viciously, and he sputtered, practically choking on it. Blood was beginning to move up to his throat in a disgusting flare of harsh metallic taste, muddy liquid which scorched his tongue and made him vomit harder. He trembled again, muscles locking as they had formerly, and he cried out in pain, spittle flying from his jaws.

His spine arched painfully, jutting hard enough to make his entire body completely fold inwards. His nose burned, the smell of his stomach acid and blood making him dizzy. His head swam, skin beginning to feel heated and stretched, itchy and burning. He hissed in pain, the exhale coming through a nose running with blood. His eyes clenched shut, his muscles twitching and writhing beneath his skin as if they were a horde of insects. Tendons bulged as his fingers sunk into the earth, digging desperately to keep himself balanced. His heart pounded and jumped, ricocheting within his skull with such power he nearly wailed. It rattled within his ears, leaping first and then dropping towards his stomach, threatening to come out when he breathed raggedly, blood dripping from the wound which he again heard reopening in swift tearing.

It came in rivers of deep red, flooding his mouth and then spilling to the earth in rapid gurgles as he breathed deeply. His face was caked in the sticky liquid within moments, dirt mixing in sharply enough that he thought he might tear his skin open as he jerked violently. Eyes opened in mere slits, Yugi found his attention locked on the lycanthrope once again.

The wolf stood before him with its fur quivering, mouth opening narrowly, eyes stretched wide in what could only be described as the most open of horror. Its body was frozen, staring with such blank fear that he felt vomit well up inside of him again, a seizure sweeping through him so that his head shook violently in wild, hideous jerking movements.

He could feel it as it began to tear further, ripping like threads of fabric between the blades of a pair of scissors. The noise echoed in his head, fierce and violent, and his entire body shook with the rattling echo which claimed his thoughts so effortlessly. His spine arched and popped as if it were breaking and stretching again. His heart pounded painfully with such spurts of heat he nearly felt he was alight.

His mouth opened to its fullest, a scream of noise threatening to come from his lungs though it had no breath to travel on, his jaw stretching outwards with such pain he felt his body was bursting at the seams. His teeth lengthened, curving and sharpening even as his tongue grew thicker and flattened out. His fingers began retracting, his thumb pushing itself upwards with such cracking noises as to mirror ice breaking, sliding upwards until it rested at his wrist.

His nails darkened, curving and sharpening as they stretched outwards, curling until they had lengthened to an inch beyond his fingers. The tendons in his hands bunched up until the backs grew stronger and bunched together, his palms growing rapidly calloused and rough. His ears started to rise up towards the top of his head. His eyes began to grow narrower, a film seemingly developing over his retinas to give them a sharp and intelligent gleam.

Fur slowly began to push out of his skin, coarse and thick, soft strands of a downy undercoat slowly parting and expanding in place for the long guard hairs growing to take residence. His knees popped and bunched together, his heel bones forcing themselves upwards, splintering loudly and forming the hocks of his hind legs. His pelvic bone began to press inwards, hips gyrating until the skeleton began to crunch as if compressing, snapping horrendously in the cold air. His organs slithered noisily as they began to rearrange themselves and expand in size, growing bloated at almost three times their size.

His spine tightened and then contracted, splintering and jutting beneath his skin like the scales on an alligator. The pelt beginning to cover his shoulders and neck bristled and shook, and his skin rippled as it spread quickly towards a quiver. His tail drooped pathetically in fear and acute pain. His head remained pressed hard against the ground, teeth clicking as he tried to contain the scream that threatened to come out. The black wolf growled, a fearful and anxious noise, and he opened his eye only enough to peer at him with a near and growing blindness.

A terrible pain came through him, making his body shiver as he struggled with a new, unbidden concept which crept into the forefront of his mind. Fear made his pelt ripple and roll over his body with such power his skin shook pitifully. A new, seemingly long forgotten instinct began to warm his blood. His paws scrabbled, each movement laden with such effort he panted at the mere thought of being able to claim his footing again.

His claws caught on the roots of the tree beneath him but did not render him unable to get up. He pulled himself onto his stomach, hindquarters seemingly knotting together as they threatened to buckle under his weight. He pressed his chin against the dirt, weakened muscles aching, and his legs shook under the strain of his weight as he struggled to pick himself up.

The wolf did not move, standing so still it was almost statuesque. Yugi raised his head, tossing it abruptly in the direction of the darker canine, and stumbled back a step. The other wolf merely tilted its head, red eyes wide in shock and that open horror once again. He, on the other hand, did the opposite. His lips pulled back, tongue running over his teeth, and his fur lifted in a panicked bristle. His tail trembled and his ears flattened against his skull.

The black wolf's ears flicked and Yugi snarled fearfully as it took a step forward. It paused only momentarily and then growled angrily, chomping its teeth as its tail came up in a show of pure aggression and dominance. It wagged once, like a flag drifting in the wind, and it seemed to loom over his petrified cowering body. A few long seconds passed, the two of them staring at one another in frozen stances.

Yugi's head seemed suddenly to open, colors exploding behind his eyes with such power it made his legs buckle. His lungs ached violently, unable to draw in and expel air with the stress of such a task. Images passed into his mind with such strength it made his heart hammer.

First came the moon, a bright and startling orb of vibrant white and silver which drenched the world in cold light, illuminating the clouds around it in an iridescent cobalt shade. Then came the stars, brilliant and sparkling like sunlight cast upon the surface of a deep black pool, beautiful and glistening like gems in the sky. An eclipse danced through his mind, the sun colliding with the moon, blocking away the light and leaving only a ring which looked faintly like a curl of bright red fire.

A speckled belly, brown and white flecks of color, painted multiple hues b the layers of feathers which stretched outwards in flight, clashed against bright blue and gentle brushstrokes of white. The sound of claws breaking the bark of a tree, splintering the trunk's cover in harsh strokes, made his head spin for a moment.

Then came the softest of touches to the earth, light but powerful, announcing the smallest of steps as a wolf traveled. Leaves passed from their glorious summer green into first yellow and then orange and finally red, curling upwards and dancing in a wind which shook them. Bursts of heat came over him, the forest bright around him, the leaves dappling the grass beneath their paws, the light an intense and beautiful golden shade like liquid topaz. A wind passed over them, separating their fur with gossamer fingers, stroking his skin with such a chill it made him shiver and nearly cry out with surprise.

He stumbled backwards as if in search of following the gentle touch. His balance was precarious and his body nearly fell with the action of raising his right foreleg and passing his paw over his muzzle in mounting distress. Yugi felt his legs weaken, threatening to buckle beneath him, and panted sharply at the effort to hold himself up. His entire body shook and pain made his head spin.

He did not know these images. He had never come across them before. The reality was that he had not encountered them beyond images in books or online or with only his weaker human sight. He had never heard the dirt shift beneath a canine's paws or the bark breaking beneath a wolf's thick claws. And yet, somehow, they had begun to sear themselves into his head like a permanent branding.

A snarl, low and reverberating through the air, brought with a new and horrifying concept. His paw quickly pulled from his face, legs trembling even as he attempting to distribute his weight evenly again. His eyes widened, locked in on the other wolf, a sinking feeling of despair and terror made his insides heave painfully. The darker canine's tail came up straight and its ears pricked further forward, lips curling back to show off several teeth.

Yugi felt as if the earth were spinning beneath his feet. He thought the world was tilting around him in a slow and unsteady spiral. He did not know if the lightness of his head now, the way things danced in front of his eyes, was from the loss of blood or the images which had invaded his mind. They had to have been the black wolf's memories, hadn't they? Somehow the other lycanthrope had implanted images and sounds in his head. They were like tricks, played between them like some kind of card game.

He wondered vaguely if perhaps he might be able to do the same but his exhausted mind could not truly process such a concept. Part of his body insisted he make a run for it. The very idea made his legs want to buckle and his fur shudder along his spine. A more prominent instinct came forward, however, and he found himself lowering the front of his sluggish body into a weak bow, chin scraping the ground. His tail became tucked beneath him, his back legs shaking in an effort to nearly send himself falling. He twisted first his jaw and then his neck, forcing himself to roll over onto his side. A whine bubbled out of him as he attempted to make himself smaller and more docile.

For a long moment he thought his effort all but worthless. The other animal's tail remained up as it moved towards him, and its teeth still glinted in the moonlight, as scarce as it was with the trees to block it. Yugi let loose another whimper, his throat aching and his lungs feeling as if they were not able to do more than fold in on themselves due to the stress. The other canine blinked and its tail lowered abruptly, head tilting to the side. The white wolf's eyes were growing paler, almost lifeless, glazing over. Its chest was rising and falling too swiftly to be anything more than a hideous struggling pant for breath. It was wracked by one small shiver and seemingly went limp but for the tiniest of wheezes that left its mouth.

The frost was everywhere around him. As he ran forward, the snow fluttered into the air like powdery mist. A yip left his mouth, gentle and excited, stroking the air with gossamer fingers. The soft white crystals rose into the air with such grace it looked almost like birds taking flight. He sprang and as his paws touched the snow again, he threw himself to the side. The movement caused him to roll, his paws flying into the air, his entire body trembling with exuberance. He could feel the multitude of eyes which scorched holes in his pelt, watching his display as if with a sense of duty.

He crawled forward on his belly, a lithe body of long white legs and dark black claws. As his eyes flickered briefly around, he found them all stumbling nearby, tails low behind muscular, almost rigid bodies. Their fur was glossy, almost glimmering, and for the briefest of seconds he thought perhaps they dappled and glowed like stars. Each pair of glowing eyes was caught on him, but they looked oddly lifeless, far from portraying emotions as he looked at them slowly, scanning each of their faces.

He crawled forward further, wagging his tail, and his pelt quivered as the snow scraped his underbelly. He stretched his limbs, the bones popping, his heart pulsing with warmth, his body tingling with power. The stillness of the forest, with its beautiful draping branches crested with the lushest of leaves, made him feel even more joyful. In the darkness, where the moon touched the earth, he felt a gentle and soft caress along his fur, as if touched by nimble fingers. Every part of his body welcomed the touch and he had the faintest desire to arch beneath it as if he were a cat starved of affection.

A shadow seemed to pass over him for a moment. His fur quivered. His delight vanished. He bristled, springing to his paws. His fur rose in a bristle. He almost growled. Then he abruptly felt it pass. That gentle stroke of fingers on his body returned. He blinked slowly, lazily, and his tail wagged happily once more. Before him, the snow came up in a puff of bright white, glittering with shades of blue and gold, the softest hints of gray and silver. It danced like glittering water and he found himself overjoyed at the sight of it. For a moment he wondered at the shape before him, dark fuzzy shadows of deep gray which confused him considerably as the snow began to slowly settle once more.

He blinked, wagging his tail, but did not move. Instead the newcomer leaned towards him. A light gust of white came with a warm exhale close to his own nose. He blinked again, confused further, but his tail remained parallel to his spine. A soft and delicate smell like autumn-warmed leaves bathed his senses. And then a cold, wet, soft nose wiggled in front of him, sniffling deeply. Their breaths mingled, bright white mist in front of both of their eyes.

A bright pink, warm tongue stretched forward, making his nose wiggle as it passed over the calloused skin. He wagged his tail faster, opening his mouth in a pant. But the other wolf, larger and beautiful before him, did not reciprocate. The most noticeable of expression he gained was a simple toss of its tail from one side to the other in a singular movement.

The stars made its eyes shine, from the center of its pupils and outwards in vibrant color. He thought of light beneath water and the glitter in the bright green and blue-flecked gaze made his body quiver with excitement. Each strand of hair on his body shivered, a gentle but powerful touch.

He dropped to a bow, front legs stretched out and his tail wagging desperate for attention. He wanted nothing more than to take off running, snow flying, and to be able to see someone beside him as well. He wanted them to chase and then maybe the game would even grow to more than just two players. He didn't think he wanted anything more.

The other wolf merely tilted its head and in the moment it took for them to do so, something flickered in his joyful mind. It was somehow condescending, as if leering at him, a simple tint of darker fur and glowing red eyes, ears pricked forward, a small touch of white from the teeth in its open maw. For the briefest of moments his heart seemed as if it might pound out of his chest and a small bite of pain claimed his throat. It was the slightest of tickles, almost nonexistent, and in the light of his minute acknowledgment it seemed to flare.

Do not think about it, a new voice coaxed, and for a moment he thought it was himself. But for some reason no true thoughts would form for him beyond the smallest of images, of gentle nudges in different areas of his brain. It was not foggy but that attempt to pay attention fully was not within his capabilities. And there was no voice to accompany those small images, fragmented as they were.

He raised his head and straightened, on edge as an instinct within him buried so deeply seemed to crawl upwards to occupy his mind as if demanding his focus. It was, somehow, as if the wolf had stuck its muzzle into the soft flesh of his ear and whispered there so that they might reverberate. It was strange and wonderful a sensation and the tickle of it was almost affectionate. But, as he flicked his ears every which way, attempting somehow to trace the noise, there was nothing safe the reality that it was not his own thoughts within his head or spoken outwardly.

The realization brought to him a hideous pain along his neck and so he jerked violently at the burn that greeted him there. His fur rose into a bristle and he bit at the air, desperate to shake the irritation which claimed his skin. He snarled, tossing his head in agony, and stepped back once on shaking limbs. Another, more curious, touch came with the pain, so soft and small that it was almost unnoticeable.

He means to wake you.

His head turned, eyes wide, even as that soothing touch seemed to burn away rapidly. For a moment he could not understand anything but that flaring pain. Had the wolf spoken again? Had he himself thought something? And the acute ache began to ease, if only slightly, and with its mild withdrawal, he found himself comprehending somehow.

He attempted to force the images, the sensations, into a form of communication. He hoped to speak, to whisper to them, to plead, maybe even beg, for a salvation from the terrible fire. But the most he could do was waver on his paws, nearly falling over, and found himself breathing so roughly it seemed like the ragged roar of rushing water in his ears.

It will become easier with time, came the startling but soft, stern voice. With it came a movement this time. He bristled again, fearful it might anger his skin further, and was startled when the brown and gray face came closer. The gleam of its eyes was so gentle it made his body relax faintly, just enough to let the other lick his forehead once. Things shall come to you as you grow familiar with it all.

Yugi stepped forward, shaky but holding his balance, and he wished for a long time that felt like an eternity that he might be able to share his own thoughts with the other as well. He wished that contact might give him way to the other, that they might communicate somehow, so that he could ask and receive answers. But the movement seemed only to wind him and cause the other to step away.

A small, all but inaudible whisper of buzzing in his ear began to make the downy hair in the canal there quiver. At first he listened, alarmed that perhaps the overall distant welcome of the others around them had turned cautious, but it came to him slowly that the atmosphere had not changed. And, though he strained his ears, the others did not so much as seem to be breathing. The only sound of such an action seemed to come solely from him, soft and almost raspy around the edges.

Despite his initial fear he found himself listening to and admiring the noise. It was growing softer, almost dull, but only the deaf could mistake the emotion behind it. There was such relief it seemed to blanket him, and it was startling to realize it was not he himself who possessed this vivid and beautiful emotion. There was, however, an underlying urgency which seared him and there was no rush for which he could set off with to attempt welcoming such a powerful expression.

Slowly his mind began to take from his surroundings a sense of familiarity that bordered horrifying. The calm washed away as if by mere nonexistence, and a dubious sense of something like mounting confusion came to the forefront.

Had he been there before? The trees, with their gleaming trunks which glowed as if lit inside by a star within their cores, seemed so tall and foreboding somehow. The leaves were almost transparent, with veins as delicately woven as spider webs colored cobalt and silver. The branches seemed almost like a massive canopy with their branches so tightly intertwined that they almost made a staircase into the starry heavens. Layers of snow glittered like the surface of still water and shimmered with such prowess as to enchant those looking upon them. The moon shone in a scarred face of glowing silver with traces of blue and deep purple, with a glorious halo of vibrant gold like sunlight. And the stars were beautiful diamonds of shining silver with white cores touched by a similar ring of color…

Where was this place? He craned his neck, peering up towards the cloudless night sky, where the galaxy was woven in the most beautiful ribbons that it could ever hope to possess. He could not produce to himself a name but his mind seemed to know and thus accept it all the same.

The tickle in his throat grew to infuriating heights, burning so fiercely he wished to scream if only it might quell it. He stumbled and almost fell, heart pounding and head seeming to flip the world every which way. He whined softly, so startled by his own release of noise that he nearly fell backwards in terror. His ears rang so hideously that he nearly cried out again, and his stomach dropped painfully as he flattened his ears against his skull. There was a strange and disgusting new touch that came over him, making his fur quiver, and an undeniable weakness began to pull at the muscles there.

He felt it ooze slowly, dripping down in splatters almost akin drops of paint. The burn came tenfold but eased faintly with the soothing rhythm of that warm touch which brought with it only momentary relief. His throat ached but the whine with which he might have expressed himself was immediately swallowed away. It faded on its way, scratching only halfway to his mouth and dissipating as if its existence was nothing but speculation.

He truly desires your return, young one, the wolf before him whispered in a voice that mixed immense sorrow and living joy into a melody of pure longing. Yugi, staring blankly, was overwhelmed by the gleam in those eyes, holding his attention so fully it nearly numbed his own crippling pain. It was almost as if he were staring into a deep sea of vibrant blue-green somewhere between teal and ocean and the only emotions there were those portrayed in its own voice. You should return to him, young one. He shouldn't be forced to mourn another friend.

Friend? The words seemed to trigger something in his mind, a snake which propelled itself forward from its formerly coiled position. Images came forward, with such intensity that almost knocked him off his feet. It came in a flash of deep blue, bleeding into an earthen shade as deep and thick as flowing honey and slowly into a familiar mixture of muddy brown and mossy green hazel. With the colors came small spikes of pain, of vivid and overwhelming heat which made him jump and growl his anxiety. A flash of lights came through his mind, candles and lanterns of paper symbols across the front, strung up and glowing in the dark night. Acrid smells burned their way through his nose and a terrible taste lingered on his tongue, the lights danced into darkness and starlight unlike the beauty of the forest surrounding him. Splinters of red, a shade of which he had never seen before, engulfed him as if trying to become his only focus.

He twitched and fell sideways, crashing with a sharp cry of pain. His legs flailed and kicked and he bit at the snow in distress. His throat let out a furious ripping noise like clothes stretched too far to their limit, splitting at the seams. The muscles ached and burst with explosions which made spots form behind his eyes like stars dying in the night sky. He bared his teeth, squeezing his eyes shut and panting desperately as his claws scraped against the snow and his body shuddered. In his mind's eye he still saw that shattered but beautiful longing in the other wolf's blue-green eyes and it made his body shake somehow harder.

You are going back…

The words, though spoken in encouragement, did nothing but feed a deep and growing personal rage that he'd never recognized within himself before. He snapped his teeth, eyes open, and wished only for a moment that he might inflict a similar pain upon the other. His forelimbs spread and stretched, to lengths that seemed far too vast to be natural, and he let out another scream before buckling inwards, spine arched and jutting outwards as if it might burst from beneath his fur.

His head snapped back and up, as if to mirror a howl, but the noise that gurgled out of his sore throat was a bubbling wail of despair and terror. The forest around him seemed to flicker like fireflies, his heart pounding and stomach dropping. He panted, unable to make sense of this new assault to his already weary senses. A sense of disconnection came slowly over him, and he squirmed pathetically against it like a fish caught on a line. His eyes, tired and seemingly so painful they might burst from their sockets, flickered upwards at a source of movement.

The wolf was pressing its brown muzzle into his fur on his cheek, a symbolic farewell, but with the movement his sense of connection came to him more fully, until for a moment it felt the other were bestowing it to someone else altogether that they had lost and mourned for far too long.

There was a gentle sunlight like the slow rise of the immense star, with such dappling to its soft rays that it was no question that it was just becoming dawn around them. Dazed and foggy like frosted glass, blue-violet eyes opened into slits, peering almost lazily into the trees around them. The lapping at his neck seemed somehow different, a puzzle his groggy mind could not fit together, and he swallowed hard. There was no growl to warn him away from doing so and he nearly laughed in surprised delight. Despite his abundant confusion and near disability to think clearly, he could differentiate the smallest of details between the wolf's efforts now and the ones before.

The tongue was not as broad, it seemed, with a smaller and more concentrated shape. He closed his eyes again, dizziness swelling up and claiming his shaken insides. He shifted, drawing himself closer together, and in doing so became aware of the reality that his limbs were no longer as narrow and had abandoned their strict bilateral symmetry of the canine skeleton. A breeze came forward, alerting his still rather estranged mind that he was clearly naked rather than dressed as his body trembled at its cold touch.

Yugi opened his eyes into narrow slits once again, peering downwards to catch a glimpse of the wolf as if to cement it in his memory. But what greeted him there was much more than he had originally suspected to find. There was a mane of hair as unruly as his own, spiked and even crested with a vibrant red akin the eyes he remembered. Long, goldenrod bangs so alike his own framed a matured teenage jaw with such a sharp angular structure he thought of its teeth. A slender-fingered palm had been raised towards it and a small, pink tongue ran over it as if it were sampling the blood still there. When the other moved to lower their hand to the ground, the action made the golden lightning bolt streaks of their hair noticeable as they glinted briefly where the light touched them.

He turned his attention to the other's eyes, drawing in a deep breath to steel himself for what he might find there. They were sharp, angular, slanted as if to match the strength of his jaw, and framed by such long lashes he almost mistook it for lines of kohl drawn there. For a brief moment he could not catch the color of them as the other male's head was still lowered and watching his palm. Then, abruptly, he looked up, and the intensity of his gaze made Yugi nearly tremble with shock at the sight.

They were as red as freshly spilled blood and crushed rubies with a fire that spoke of such cunning and strategy it nearly swept him into a mindless spiral of shock.

His heart pounded, dancing within his chest so harshly it might jump through his ribcage. The dangerous ferocity of its gaze was not aimed at him in any way, simply the expression of which his eyes naturally possessed. And, amidst that depth of color and emotion, the surface of the gleaming orbs was almost glass which showed his own reflection there as if he were the only thing in their line of sight. There was the faintest of shadows to pronounce the presence the trees around them but his own reflection was the only one vibrant and seemingly given life there.

Yugi shivered and barely restrained from blinking, sure that should he do so the mirage in the other's eyes might fade. Did his own eyes hold that quality now as well?

The other male slowly sat further upright, but where he expected tension there was only a nonchalant blink. Yugi, as tired as he was, could not stop himself from nearly scrambling to sit up as well. There was something all-encompassing and powerful, secretive and lively, about those eyes, and he was desperate not to lose contact with them. But how was it possible for a teenager to seemingly hold the answers that dwelled there? Or was he older? Had he existed so long that he had managed to fight to discover the depth of that knowledge within his eyes? Was it merely the disease in their veins, passing through them both as unnaturally as black oil, which made the other retain his juvenile appearance?

So caught up in his own thoughts was he that he almost did not notice the main difference between them. He was so enamored with the beautiful and powerful gaze of the other lycanthrope that it was impossible for him to look anywhere else or even fathom the idea of doing so. But, it occurred to him as the other reached up and scratched at his neck, that the gleam which met his eyes was that of a metallic plate. It looked flat and engraved, almost like a dog tag, but it was clear there was no ring and there had been something behind it, as the black leather of the band that held it around his neck looked stretched. It dipped towards his collarbones, glittering with the coming sunlight, and looked curiously almost like a collar.

Yugi frowned, puzzled, and tilted his head as he stared at it. The other male seemed not to care about the blatant interest, instead almost relieved somehow. The band looked as if the buckle had been placed beneath the belt so as if to give the appearance of being completely bound to its wearer. There were no adjustable loops to change its size so he guessed he might have gotten it custom fit for whatever reason. And, when it scratched against a deep black fabric, it finally came to him exactly what it was he had noticed between them before the collar had become his main focus.

The other was fully clothed. And Yugi was not.

When the other's eyes drifted downwards, it occurred to him only vaguely that he was checking his wound rather than trying to get a look at him, but he reacted all the same. He let out an almost guttural noise, springing forward to shove him, and the other was caught off guard enough that he nearly fell with the impact. But he was faster in recovering himself and, so, instead of falling, he caught his wrists and batted them away with a much more powerful noise than Yugi could have ever hoped to produce.

It again seemed to reverberate in his bones and his muscles locked briefly, his heart pounding violently and making his ears roar dully. The adrenaline that coursed through him did not cease, however, and the moment the control of that snarl seemed to ease he shoved again, unable to help himself.

The grip on his wrists tightened. The bones threatened to snap under the force. The skin ached and pulsed. The red eyes flashed again. His own reflection in his eyes quivered. He breathed out weakly. The other shifted his weight. Yugi swallowed a groan.

His insides tossed. His lungs collapsed. He trembled again. Was he changing? He felt himself go limp. The wolf's weight eased slightly. Teeth chomped mere inches from his face. He winced, closing his eyes. The submission wasn't working. He nearly groaned again.

Panic seized his belly and writhed like a snake. He breathed hard, bracing himself. Let him do what he wanted as long as Yugi got to see another day. He didn't care anymore. As long as he wasn't killed, he wouldn't fight him again.

The grip on his wrists loosened. Yugi didn't move. As long as he was limp, he wouldn't fight back. He needed to stay limp. Opening his eyes would ruin that. He'd try to push him away again. And then he'd be killed. There was no chance of outrunning the wolf, nor the smallest possibility of outsmarting it.

Something touched his cheek. It took him a moment to recognize it. The small gust of an exhale made him falter. The trail of exhales drifted slowly downwards. First it was the edge of his mouth. Then it went to his neck. And finally it stopped at the dip of his collarbones. He shuddered violently. The hands on his wrists pulled away completely.

He froze, unsure of what to do. When he exhaled again, his blood heated. His skin prickled pleasantly. The heat and then coolness which followed thrilled his senses. A tongue traced a path from his ribs to his collarbones. Yugi trembled, though with what he was unsure. It was not something he wanted but it was still so terribly pleasant. He swallowed away a growing whimper of anxiety. He could never win if it came to a fight…

Abruptly, as if spooked, the other jumped up. Yugi remained statuesque for a long moment. Then the sound of earth shifting met his ears. He couldn't help but blink. His eyes shot towards the other wolf. It stood several steps away, nose wrinkled and eyes distant. He almost seemed not to realize Yugi was there any longer.

The smaller boy scrambled for something to cover himself with. His cheeks heated, somehow ashamed of his body's reaction. The slight arousal was horrifying to him. He swallowed hard, pointedly ignoring the other lycanthrope. He breathed in roughly and then glanced over.

The red eyes were completely focused on him again. And they were aimed at where his hands were covering himself. His lips quirked upwards somewhat and his eyes were dancing. If he openly smirked and waggled his brows, he swore he'd call him Jonouchi.

"Jackass," Yugi hissed, unable to stop himself. The shame rolled off him in waves for a brief moment before he steeled himself. So what? Someone had just licked his chest. Anyone else would have been aroused too. In fact, he thought that was probably the whole point of doing it. But, as he went to glare at him, he found the other's amusement had been replaced by the most innocent of confusions. His head was even tipped to the side, as if his wide eyes were not enough. He looked younger, somehow childish and small. "You…don't know what I'm saying…do you?"

Were werewolves supposed to be American maybe? He frowned and chewed his lip. If they appeared more like North American gray wolves did that make them more likely to understand English? That was a small issue, considering he only knew the tiniest of phrases from his friend Rebecca and her grandfather Arthur. He had never even bothered to ask his dad how to speak English and so he was stunningly lacking in his knowledge of the language beyond reading it.

He clicked his tongue, furrowing his brows as he considered his limitations. But the wolf's reaction made him stop short. His eyes had grown narrow and his lips were twitching with what looked to be the beginning of an irritated snarl. Yugi faltered at the expression but found himself relaxing again when the other blinked and the look cleared from his features.

Drawing on what little experience he had handling that language, he attempted it. The words made his tongue feel swollen and heavy with unfamiliarity. His voice caught on several syllables. "Do you understand me?"

The tone was raspy and small, disconnected. In response, the other male blinked slowly and tipped his head to the side. His brows furrowed. His eyes flickered as if concentrating hard. But the words were considered slowly and with fragmented desire to understand. His focus was still, at its core, aimed at the wound on the other's neck. The words took longer than average for his muddied focus to translate and came in streams of noise and then brought tone and meaning. He nodded at him slowly, but his gaze was heavily shadowed with questioning.

Yugi groaned. What did werewolves speak?

"Probably not Japanese," he grumbled under his breath.

The wolf's eyes narrowed into slits but the sixteen-year-old missed it. His mind was already several steps past paying attention to the other wolf, staring as he considered multiple things. What was probably not Japanese? The wolf frowned minutely. Him? That was probably true, but he still understood the language through exposure to it, so why was he attempting to speak to him in such a heavy and halting tongue? Did he not realize he understood?

His lips pulled upwards into a miniscule smirk of pure amusement. If the boy thought him stupid, then why shouldn't he string him along some? There was no reason not to have some fun with such ignorance.

Yugi looked up, voice coming out in clumsy streams of words that sounded so jumbled it was almost impossible to decipher. He knew this language sparingly by the way of his grandpa's textbooks, and the Arabic words were so faltering he almost cringed.

"Do you understand me?"

The red eyes narrowed into gleaming slits of something almost menacing. His lips pulled back to show off a single canine and the disgust was apparent when he blinked at him slowly. He knew that language, recognized it well enough, but it was nothing he wished to hear. He chomped his teeth when the other opened his mouth again. The smaller boy jumped, visibly startled by his sudden ferocity, and then nodded immediately.

"Okay, so, Japanese then. Do you know it?" Yugi asked, voice coming out momentarily sharp. The tone surprised them both and the other lycanthrope shot him a furious look before turning away abruptly. His nose twitched, working at something in the air, and the smaller boy bristled at the dismissal.

"Do. You. Know. Japanese?" he ground out from between his teeth. His tone gained him attention for all of the time it took him to give him a withering glance. Yugi found himself chewing his lip anxiously, horrified by the idea that he might not be able to fully communicate with this boy.

If there was a barrier and all he could do was speak to him through animalistic body language, he thought himself screwed. He might have loved canines, but the fact was he didn't know much about wolves and how they communicated safe the fact that a raised tail meant aggression and a tucked surrender. He knew they had facial expressions which bordered human capability in their wide ranges, but he had no way to figure out the way they worked.

The wolf shot him a dismissive glance and it was clear enough to tell him that he understood the words he was saying. He was listening, and very intently at that, despite his lack of visual attention.

Yugi started weakly to his feet, legs as shaky as those of a newborn fawn's as they nearly buckled. A hand caught his wrist, steadying him almost effortlessly. He blinked wide eyes, somewhat shocked, at how tight his grip was upon the limb. His palm was warm, comfortably so, but it somehow seemed to burn his skin at the contact. The moment passed almost immediately, however, as his own skin flared hot and then cooled itself as if countering it before stabilizing itself.

"Thanks."

The wolf did not respond but only released him when he was sure he was steady. His hand fell to his side again and he glanced lazily over his shoulder. Yugi stretched his shoulders in a small shrugging motion and a bone popped.

Those red eyes were on him immediately once more, burning and altogether pressing on his consciousness. That unnatural gleam was back, more so now than seemingly ever, and all he could see for a moment was his own reflection there, caught in an abyss of gleaming red.

He felt his skin crawl. Ushio, Kokurano, Tomoya's father, the Burger World employee, and even Valon had failed to project his reflection back at him through their eyes. There had been that brutal, all powerful, keen intelligence that no human could ever hope to match, but there had never been something as startling as that. Was it a natural defense mechanism for older werewolves? Was it something that they learned as they grew older? Was it taught themselves so as to shield one's emotions and confuse an opponent by reflection of their own state of mind?

"I've never seen eyes do that," he breathed out weakly, tone somewhat horrified and yet somehow awed all the same. But neither of them missed the brutal hardness that underlined each word as if they might sharpen and become weapons at his will.

The other teen stiffened faintly in response, his lips pulling upwards faintly, but then slowly fell back. The gleam of outright ferocity that had immediately swept Yugi's breath away was gone now. He snorted dismissively and turned away before the smaller teen could even blink fully. He was several steps past him before Yugi recovered himself enough to spin around.

"Wait a second! Where do you think you're going? I want my clothes back, you fucking pervert," he snapped, eyes wide as the other spun around to face him abruptly. The movement was so fast Yugi nearly flinched but held himself evenly despite his momentary fear.

"Clothes."

The lycanthrope gave him an unimpressed look, red eyes bored, and as Yugi watched him, he clicked his tongue against the roof of his mouth in clear mockery. The smaller boy blinked stupidly at the sight of his nonchalance and nearly groaned out loud in annoyance.

"Where are my clothes?" he demanded, crossing his arms and scowling at him. The other blinked and then mirrored him, even mouthing words but clicking his tongue repeatedly instead of speaking. "You're so mature."

He repeated his mockery but poked his tongue at him.

"Seriously. I need my clothes. This isn't funny."

An arched brow spoke of the contrary and the lycanthrope gave him a lazy and amused smirk which somehow made his features seem so much younger. He looked, in that moment, as if he could pass for a small child, if not for the sharpness of his eyes.

"Clothes!"

He mimicked him silently, clicked his tongue, and then stuck it out at him again.

"Oh my gods…" The smaller boy grasped at his hair in annoyance and then scowled fully. He puffed his cheeks out unhappily as the other wolf looked over his shoulder again. He had to find some way to make him stop this game and give him his clothes back or else he was screwed.

The day after the festival people were normally up and about early in the morning and, considering dawn seemed to be just barely creeping past them, walking home naked was not in his best interests. Besides that, he thought he would rather die than have to do that in the first place. He didn't think he could manage that on his best day.

"Hey," he muttered when the other seemed as if he might walk away. His head turned, his eyes widened, and he blinked in curious confusion. Yugi drew in a deep breath and then squeezed his eyes shut for a moment. He mimed it, pulling on first the underwear—because the gods knew he had to be accurate about it—and then the socks, right then left. He pulled up phantom pants and buttoned and buckled them, then threw the shirt over his head before hesitating. He had been wearing his jacket, right? He didn't suppose it mattered in all actuality, considering it was probably ruined after the attack. He shook his head to banish the thought—he'd deal with it later—and mimed pulling it on as well. He considered his shoes but decided against it and instead looked up again.

The other boy was gaping at him. His red eyes were wide with shock. His mouth worked once and then twice and then his shoulders shook as he clapped his hands slowly. Yugi blinked and nearly screamed in frustration. He still wasn't going to give him his clothes back? He'd made such a massive fool of himself for nothing?

"Please, I'm sorry for pissing you off earlier, okay? But I need my clothes back. I seriously need to get home before my mom and grandpa start freaking out…"
He frowned at him openly and for a moment Yugi wanted to flinch away from him. His expression had fallen and shattered into absolute nothingness, a desperate and disgusting hollowness claiming his features. He blinked and tossed his head once before beginning to walk past him, expression blank and nearly lifeless now.

Yugi stumbled after him and caught his arm, making him spin on him with teeth aimed for his face. He stopped the moment he recognized him again, however, and instead merely granted him a small ghost of a smile before turning away again. He pointed but Yugi hesitated, uncertain if he trusted him not to disappear on him at some point, and then finally looked as well.

They were neatly folded, placed on top of a couple of roots. He had obviously been too concerned with Yugi's wound to go far from where they had fallen, but he'd somehow forced his own Change in order to strip him down and put them aside. The compassion that had come through in that single act made Yugi tremble briefly; he was somehow overwhelmed by the sight.

The wolf stared at him with an unnerved intensity that made his insides quake when he glanced at him sideways. His eyes were windows instead of mirrors this time, showing him his own emotions rather than his reflection. Between the two of them Yugi wondered who might be worse off with their growing confusion.

"Thanks…" He cleared his throat weakly and the moment passed. The other turned away from him as if he did not exist any longer, and Yugi released him in order to brace himself shakily. His legs strained beneath him as he stepped forward, and he nearly buckled with the pain that shot through him with each movement. He felt the wolf watching him, probably ready to help him again with his balance if he needed it, but it did nothing to quell the sudden bitterness that swept over him.

The Change had been so much of a toll. It was so far too taxing to even consider another time it would happen. It would be all too easy to kill himself in the middle of it. The blood loss was a contributor, yes, but it was not so amazing as to pull him away from his initial thought. He had been worried long before and it was only growing. Who was to say that his next would not be the last thing he ever did?

He almost glanced over his shoulder to see if he could find a similar weakness in the other wolf, but the effort he would have had to put in would not be worth the small prize he might or might not have gained in response. Instead he fell harshly on his ass when he moved a little too fast, and huffed as he looked over his shoulder now. The red-eyed male didn't so much as blink, arms crossed as he leaned against another tree trunk nearby and watched him lazily.

But his eyes were on his legs, the point of his weakness, and Yugi found himself flustered as he scowled at him in frustration. He didn't like that his eyes seemed almost to predict which might buckle first, to dictate the odds of his fall.

The least he could do was help him up. But he wolf did nothing but watch and so Yugi shot him an annoyed glare before struggling to his feet. His muscles almost screamed in protest and he clenched his jaw to keep from crying out himself. He nearly fell but caught himself, swaying unsteadily for several moments, and somehow managed to draw himself forward a step. The pain sent fire through his veins, nearly tossing him to the ground again, but persistence had always been a strong trait in him, something that he had never truly thought to be a gift before then.

He licked his lips and took a second step, glancing at the wolf and smirking smugly. But the other's expression was anything but leering as he had expected. Instead the left side of his mouth was pulling into a small encouraging smile as he nodded at him to keep going. He would not help him should he fall over but he was still there, watching silently.

There was a moment where he almost wanted to ask for help but another part of him was oddly too proud to do so, something almost against his immediate nature. There had been enough humiliation on his behalf and now he refused to go to the other for help. Besides, he imagined he would only receive a shake of his head in response as it was. He knew he was watching the way his muscles bunched and trembled and he would continue his study should he fall again, and it was somehow liberating to have such knowledge.

It seemed almost as if he too were watching to see if he could make it, through this and then until the next full moon and after. Maybe he was seeing if he would survive them, as this was only his first, and there was so much experience that the other seemed to have for himself. Surely he wouldn't have wasted so much time trying to save him if he thought he might die from it all, right? He was likely waiting for Yugi to prove himself worth such effort.

The red-eyed lycanthrope kept his gaze unwavering upon the smaller teen. If he could gather up enough strength to keep moving after this whole ordeal, he'd be able to survive the next Change and further until he was competently accustomed to them and could do it by his own will. The first few were always the worst as the body was unused to bearing a second form, of having its every muscle and sinew and tissue change so that the bones could push and mold themselves into those of a wolf's.

For the time being, it would leave him weak and disoriented and far from willing to move around, but it was better in the long run to have him do so now. Or it could easily make him a target for a more experienced wolf looking for a fight.

Yugi collapsed into a bundle of limbs next to his clothing and spun around with a loud "Ha!" as if they had placed bets on the task. The wolf did not so much as blink but instead nodded briskly, not the least bit amused or surprised by this turn of events. For a moment he thought he might have offended the other boy but found himself unable to focus on that as his mind circulated to the idea of getting home.

His mom had probably already called the police. There was most likely even a search going on. With the recent mutilations, they would never allow a missing teenager to slide through the cracks. They had probably spent the better half of the night doing so, especially if Anzu had told them her half of his disappearance. How they had failed to find him already was another question altogether. But he didn't think he cared for the answer regardless.

He angled his hips, wincing painfully, and slid his boxers on before he could rethink the action. His tailbone ached and pulsated with its own isolated pain, as if it possessed a poison which dwelled only there. He felt a sting behind his eyes as he sat back again, grabbing his socks and wincing once more. He pulled them on a moment later, then worked on his jeans, hands nearly trembling with the force of exertion.

He panted, already exhausted, and figured this was a well enough place to stop for the moment. "Thanks for—" He made the mistake of looking up, unaware that the intensity that had come with the other's eyes had long since left him. Immediately his stomach dropped and his heart seemed to falter. Despite himself, he had grown hopeful that the other was the "alpha" that Valon had spoken of before, but the fact that he had left him so easily made the idea an incredibly dubious one.

He looked away, frowning, and felt a cold, bleak hollowness claiming his insides.

He hated it when he was all alone like this.

Yugi tried to follow him the moment he spotted a flash of red from the very crown of his long hair. But his limbs were so weak that the moment he rose he fell again. In a heap of bunched limbs and clothing, the small boy groaned softly and struggled to push himself up from the ground. Pain shot through his limbs and burned at the bottom of his chin where he had scraped it. His tongue was bleeding where his teeth clipped the surface of it. It swelled in his mouth, to the point that he thought it impossible to remain behind his teeth with his jaw shut as it was. He let out a soft groan of a noise and looked up slowly as he saw the other teen continue along without a backwards glance. He struggled, scrambling to his feet and wincing at the pain that came over him, so encompassing that he nearly collapsed onto his side.

He whimpered softly under his breath, swallowing hard, and then forced himself to take a seat with his back against the trunk behind him. Breathing slowly and deeply, his heart pounding, he tipped his head back further into the bark, trembling briefly once. Bright flares of pain shot through his exhausted system as he drew his legs to him, wincing and trembling harder. He clenched his eyes shut, his entire body aching and trembling further, and his mouth opened just enough to breathe from between his teeth.

His fingers sought out the worst of the damaged muscles, the tips pressing into his nerves. He whimpered again, unable to stop himself, but continued his investigation of which patch of skin was most sore and what might be worst than the next. Every part of his body seemed to pulsate with ache, tearing at his insides, and his frame shook once more. His teeth clicked softly, chattering despite his swollen tongue, and his ears throbbed with the sound.

He moved his fingers in soothing tugs and pushes, hoping to lessen some of the pain where his muscles had pulled tight and his skin felt worn and weak. It was not as gentle as it should have been, but he was trembling too hard to be able to lessen the force of his own touch. He listened for anything around him that might pose a threat, but all that greeting him was the birds chirping overhead and a breeze rustling the leaves and tree branches. There was the harsh clicking of his own teeth, echoing like drum beats in his eras, the force enough to make his head spin. He sought for the sound of the wolf moving about the dying undergrowth but found nothing, unable to take in any further noises.

He glanced over his shoulder and flinched violently at the way his neck protested the action. His shoulders bunched up, the back of his arms so cold that it felt as if they were pressed against ice or soaked in water. His tongue tasted earthy and metallic, nearly smothering the undercurrent of autumn leaves that he knew was the other wolf his strained eyes caught nothing but the stirring of grass, of a couple of ants moving near his hip, and the sight of a single squirrel in the branches. There was nothing he could catch with sight, hearing, smell or taste, and though he knew his own vulnerability, he decided to take that as his answer towards danger being nearby. There was no reason to stress his already taxed body with scanning his surroundings any more deeply.

Though his body was still too wound up to bother with relaxation, he moved his hand from his leg to his flank. The strained muscles ached and pulled beneath his touch even as he began to try once more to massage some of the pain away. Exhausted and growing somewhat hungry, the small teen cast a brief glance around before getting to his feet again.

It was an agonizing test, the effort it took him to draw his legs to his stomach and grip at the bark of the trunk behind him for leverage. It took what felt like hours of long and arduous work just to simply draw his aching tailbone from the ground. The shaking of his body did nothing to help him as he nearly fell forward into the dirt again. It seemed to take another hour just to fully find his balance.

He could move for only several minutes and the seconds seemed to pass so slowly forward that he thought himself wading through water or drying cement. His legs buckled faintly and he settled for another few minutes, biting his lip and chastising his slow progress. There was no way he would escape any other wolves that might come for him at any point with such a lousy inability to walk properly. He listened again, straining his ears, and his stomach clenched as he tried to locate the other male who was still steadily walking away from him.

For a long minute he rested and then slowly got to his feet again. It was the slowest progress he had thought he had made in his life. It seemed even harder than the time he had woken from his attack from Ushio and made his way up the stairs to take a shower that night. It was impossible to put into thought just how hard it seemed to him now to consider such a terrible wound had been inflicted yet again.

The constant cycle of movement and rest left him irritable and exhausted. It seemed as if he would never gain any relief or stamina to make the task easier. But he knew there was more ground gained the longer he moved. There was a small, almost unnoticeable gain of stamina, he knew despite his distressed frustration.

His attention towards walking was diverted abruptly. A movement to the left in his peripheral made his head snap around. A tail was twitching, a long fluffy red shape which moved like a reed in the wind. The squirrel was drinking from a small pool of water, fur fluffed and body tense. He wondered if it sensed him or if the other teen might have been around. The sight of the water made his pain fall second to his thirst. His throat ached and burned and his body pulsated briefly as he watched the surface of the pond ripple faintly.

He wondered briefly about the bacteria he might swallow but it would not be worse than what he was already forced to deal with now. He doubted there was a strand of anything that might win against the lycanthropy and hurled himself forward. His sudden appearance made the squirrel cry out and race away, bristling, fearfully. He ignored it, palms scratching themselves against the small rough stones littering the bank.

Excitement coursed through him for a brief second, so relieved was he at the sight of some ease to his pain. But it was dashed abruptly as a new thought occurred to him briefly.

When he was younger he had tried to drink water from a cup with his tongue. It had been extremely unsuccessful—but that was mostly because his mom had put an end to it before he had even begun it. For the briefest of moments he considered trying it here and then shook his head hard.

A shifting image within his head turned abruptly cold and disgusting. His reflection had become a hideous twist of blood and a thrashing body turned pale white beneath the moon. Writhing and shaking fingers digging into the earth, bile flooding from an open mouth, he almost did not recognize it. But, as if the other wolf had placed it within his skull as he had earlier, he saw himself there. He was writhing, shaking, vomiting and struggling to remain coherent or even to breathe properly.

Yugi shivered, eyes flashing open, and stared at his own reflection once more. It was weak, drifting, and seemed darker than it seemed to normally appear. He stared blankly at his own image there, eyes flickering slowly downwards to the wound he knew lay there.

The smallest part of it was open, barely showing the harsh red of its torn flesh, but it was no longer bleeding. The cells had all stitched themselves together in violent splashes of deep crimson and harsh streaks of black where the excess had dried in large clumps. The skin was hideously swollen all around the wound, bright pink that spread in long lines where the tan wolf's teeth had scraped through his flesh with an attack intent on killing. When he pulled on the shirt's collar, the sight of it nearly made him scream.

The wolf had not only torn open his throat but his chest as well. He had known this, of course, but now he was looking upon it whereas before it had been nothing more than a thought in the back of his mind. He had been so blissfully unaware of the damage done that he had been hopeful it would be nothing but a few claw marks at the most. But he had been unprepared for the magnitude of it as he stared at his bloodied skin.

The flesh from the sides of his neck in the dip of his collarbones had been torn viciously. The bone beneath was probably just as likely harmed by the attack, suffering scrapes as Tomoya's own had. He pulled further on the cotton material, peering at his chest and ignoring the pain from his chin folding against his neck. He remembered the other wolf's tongue burning his skin for long minutes at a time touching his skin there. The center of his ribcage was invisible to him until he pulled the hem of his shirt up enough to expose the skin there, flinching at the sight that greeted him there as well.

There were long streaks of dark black crusted blood there, lines of pink that said his flesh was still torn open and visibly healing. His stomach ached as he looked the wound over before dropping his shirt back into place.

He settled back slightly, watching the water for a moment. Despite himself, he was able to sit back on his haunches comfortably. His focus was caught, diverted from his pain to a new and burning realization. The very fact that he was even healing right now had to have been because of the saliva that had coated his skin while the wolf had been licking at his wounds. The DNA and RNA had to have been laden with natural chemicals to promote a more rapid rate of healing. He knew of animals licking their own wounds to find infection and promote healing but obviously this had been just as powerfully altered as the rest of the disease's properties.

He knew, staring at himself in the pool of water, that his head should have come clean off with all of the vomiting and writhing which had incapacitated him during the Change. His head honestly should have rolled off and his ribs pounded to a powder. The persistence of the other wolf had to be the only thing to save him in all reality. It had to be the very thing that had managed to keep him from dying again just that night.

He glanced over his shoulder briefly. He could not help the wave of gratification that swept over him immediately at the thought but another occurred to him just as fast. Was the other boy the one that they had been after in all actuality? Had he simply crossed paths with them by accident and so been punished for it? Had that been why their efforts had been turned to the other canine so fully that they barely paid him any mind? Or, if he had not been there, would the fight have broken out regardless and the wolf been killed in the meantime? Had he been the reason he had managed to survive the ordeal?

He had clubbed that wolf upside the head with a fallen branch and saved him by some miracle. It seemed impossible to discount the fact that if he had not done that, perhaps the wolf would be dead now but he would never have gotten hurt himself. But then, was it not a good learning experience about the properties of the disease growing in his veins?

He frowned at his thoughts and glanced over his shoulder once more. His hands burned and he looked at the cut palms for a fraction of a second. He could use his hands, cup the water, drink, get up and leave again. But his hands looked disgusting and it seemed gross to even consider. He didn't even want to contaminate the water with the layers of blood, dirt, and dried vomit he knew caked them.

Reluctantly he pushed the thought of water away, ignoring his parched state. His throat itched, his tongue feeling even more swollen. He blinked, swallowing hard, and looked about him more fully.

The forest was not too thick around him, though he knew it was more because of the pond than anything else. The soil was gritty under his fingers when he shifted the dirt away. It was a shade darker than the sand, softened by touches of water but not completely soaked. The rock beneath him was a smooth slab of dark gray, cold and weathered. There was a small slope to the earth around him but not enough to be considered a hill. The trees were thicker beyond the few that strayed closer to the water.

He got up, pausing only to dust his legs off and look his hands over. His skin was scraped and sore but it seemed clean aside from a small spray of pieces of wet, dark sand. The skin was somewhat irritated, pinking at points, but for the most part he thought it was fine.

Actually, as he looked at it more closely, the thought occurred to him that they almost seemed to be healing before his eyes. The pink tint seemed to be fading, the red of his open wounds seemed to be becoming smaller in size, as if the skin were mending itself. There was the smallest, faintest tingling of sensations to accompany the slow draw of skin towards the centers of each cut, but he hardly felt it as he continued his inspection.

For a small moment the feeling of this tingling crept downwards, throughout the very ending of each nerve. It swept back and forth, through him, trailing through his legs and arms as if to repair itself despite the pain. Then, slowly but surely, it began to ease away the ache in his muscles to a lower, almost burning sensation. With the new addition of relief, the small teen took a more comfortable seat, legs crossed at the ankles, and began to gently pull and push on his tender flesh again.

A drifting scent made his head snap up, eyes widening momentarily, and then he shook his head with a small smile. The wolf was nearby, quite possibly watching him for all he knew, and the realization was both relieving and somehow frustrating to consider. Why would he hide away after all this time? He had clearly been watching him and now he sat aside and did nothing but stare?

Yugi couldn't figure out the reasoning behind it—or at least not fully, because he certainly had a few ideas—and he wasn't sure he truly cared. It was just the fact he was still around, that he had not fled away so completely, that quelled some of his nerves.

He didn't know where exactly the wolf was, nor if there was anything looking around waiting to sink their teeth into him again. After the couple of weeks that he had suffered through, he found himself almost expecting it more than anything else. The somber note of the idea made him sit up more fully, done with the task of humoring himself of easing the ache in his bones.

He needed to get home, though now he wondered if his mom really had called the police to search for him. The idea made him tremble minutely before he got to his feet and stretched his legs out completely.

The small teen sighed and walked a few short steps. The movement took longer than he had expected despite the slight ease he had bestowed himself. Now he pulled his right leg from the ground and bent it completely, following it up immediately with his left before stumbling forward again. Tiredly, with a glance around, he frowned and looked throughout the undergrowth for a moment so he put his hands in his pockets.

It was twenty minutes after Yugi had started to make his way home that the wolf found his way back to the small clearing. Nose to the ground, licking his lips to smear some of the blood away from his jowls, ears flicking about, the canine did not so much as spare a glance in the direction he had taken. A small, gentle pull of muscle and light warmth told him more than his senses ever could. But he did not follow it, instead lowering his muzzle to the pool and taking a small drink.

He ran his tongue over his mouth again, the dried blood warming and seemingly melting beneath his touch. He blinked leisurely, opening his eyes into mere slits as his toes pressed a little more firmly into the earth. The softened soil, wet and slick beneath the calloused skin, molded to his paws, a cooling sensation like water brushing over the pale skin under his coat. His claws sank further into the earth, giving a soft but full gritting noise as the grains of sand were forced to shift under his weight, separating into thick, somewhat grooved indentations. His reflection rolled as if the wind were touching it in only one place, black fur glittering where the weak morning light touched the surface. Each individual hair came with the detail of absolute precision, each the same shade of glossy black even where the light crept over them through the gap of tree branches. He watched the way his eyes minutely rolled and rippled, dancing with movement, and his brows twitched in the smallest of movements as he peered into his own gaze almost expectantly.

With a blink, he turned his head, dismissing himself as his ears flicked. A chattering noise made his tongue run over his mouth again, taking with it the excess of water and remaining blood on his whiskers. Fur momentarily rising to a bristle with growing tension, his tail moved slowly from side to side no further than the outside of either hock, the wolf inhaled shortly to scent the air.

A low, rumbling groan crept through the air akin a snarl growing in his lungs. A dull, lingering pain came with the noise, rolling through the center of his being with enough force to make his body quake once. The ache grew to a sharp, intense tickling sensation, sweeping over him purposefully, and he curled his lip in dissatisfaction before turning around to look into the trees.

The chattering had long since grown quiet and the single bout of chirping he heard further along did nothing for him. His hunger demanded satiation, but his energy from the strain of helping this other boy put away all instinct to travel in pursuit of prey. He would have to wait until something was closer to him, so near that he would not use too much energy or time hunting it. The noises which drew his attention, made his head snap around so that he could stare, or tilt his chin upwards, were far away, so estranged in distance that he snarled in disdain.

He tossed his head, shaking himself out as if he were soaked with water. The measly rabbit he had eaten moments before seemed to do nothing for him now. Living off of what little prey still wandered in the forests as winter drew closer was not something that would fully support his survival. Hunger followed him beneath the trees like a constant and overbearing scent, lingering beneath his skin and burning at his insides to make him quake unhappily.

The serow had moved north, out of his range, and he dare not follow them. The prey animals may not have known nor cared for the scent marks they had passed so carelessly through but he did. It halted him within a mile of its reach, his entire body freezing in response. Had the pack been smaller he might have braved it in his determination to quell his hunger. But all of their scents blended so powerfully together in a perfect weave of smell as to persuade a weaker wolf of only one residing there, a lone wolf with a large territory.

But he was not a fool. The scent was so unnatural and strong that he knew there were more. He was unsure of how many but he felt confident in his assumption that there were over twenty. And no wolf with their fullest wits would ever make the mistake of encroaching on such a massive pack's territory.

He heard a branch snap and his head turned abruptly. Ears pricked, eyes widening faintly, he blinked and inhaled deeply once. With the breath came the rolling touch of branches and cut leaves where ants dug into the sides in their last harvesting of food. There was a drifting hint of blood he had spilled moments before as well as the slight twist of bark which had been scraped when he had misjudged his own leap. The earth came in the singular scent of wet dirt and falling foliage. And then, slowly, he caught the smell of what he had been attempting to find and single in on.

The boy was bleeding faintly. The knowledge came in a small flicker of iron across his senses. It was heavily metallic that he was forced to wrinkle his nose to avoid flinching, his lip curling back. It was a punch where it rolled through his nostrils, harsh and terrible, with the same intensity as that of an open flame. An otherwise healthy curl of smell came forward, like drifting wind touched by the softest hint of rosemary and mint and maybe even lemon. They came before the undercurrent, which the boy was wholly more easily recognized by.

He came to him as something like summer sunlight, intense and warm, with an airiness of that of the wind drifting through the trees. There was also the harsh stab of something highly chemical, making his nose hurt and his head pulse weakly as his fur bristled further, then the softer tone of sweat and salt. There was only one other hint beneath these, so soft it was almost unnoticeable. He could not entirely describe it, as he did not think he had ever been exposed to it formerly, but it was easily the most powerful thing he had ever come across.

His tail twitched as he lowered his head and looked through the trees. He didn't have to follow his scent to know where he was. Even without this seemingly powerful tie between them, he could simply rely on his sense of hearing. He made plenty noise as he moved around. The wolf was not sure if it was because he thought it would keep away other predators or if it was simply because he was too exhausted to exercise caution.

He turned his head, looking around once, and then crept forward. His own ears caught the sound of his paws as gentle and brief touches, like whispers of silk ghosting over someone's skin, but another animal would have missed it entirely. He was, as most lycanthropes were, almost as silent as a shadow whenever he moved about. A dying fern scraped against his paw, touching his dewclaw, but the fringes of the leaves felt like ants cutting into his skin with their teeth. He blinked once slowly, lazily, but did not pick up his pace. He did not have to worry about the boy escaping him.

He was moving so slowly that it would be impossible to overlook him unless he overtook his pace. But the movement, as slow as it was, was a good thing. The boy would not be as weak during the next Change and so they would not have to cross paths often afterwards. If the boy remained healthy there would be no reason for them to share the same space any longer.

A small, glittering dewdrop of water swelled to its peak atop a fern leaf caught his attention, noticeable only to his peripheral. His head turned, eyes widening momentarily, and he looked it over for the fraction of a second it took him to pace towards it. His jaws opened and his tongue ran over it so swiftly it was almost a blur of movement. His teeth clicked as he pulled away, keeping his slow progress towards finding the other male.

His tail swung from side to side lazily, his gait easy but strong all the same. His back paws landed in the same place as his front, easy and leisurely. The forest was alive around him, awakening sooner than the sun's slow ascent, and he found himself nearly whining at the pang that came over his stomach once more almost immediately.

The new noises within his ears made his belly rumble desperately for more food. He licked his jowls again, more as a distraction from the familiar pangs than the idea of a hunt, and felt almost as if he were being mocked when he tasted the dried blood that still remained there. The effect it had on him was an unceremonious quiver, pelt rippling over his muscles as his body tingled briefly. He did not scent the air again, however, as if there was prey to be found nearby, he would do so easily.

His ears flicked again. The boy had stumbled and nearly fallen over. He could hear his blunt nails scrabbling for purchase on the bark of the tree nearest him. His shoes were grinding against the soil and the grains made a harsh protest in his ears. He curled his lip back, mind vaguely pulling itself away from this knowledge. For the smallest fraction of a second, his mind recalled upon itself the pleasure of his larger meal from what felt like months before.

The serow had filled his belly for a day and a half, despite what had been an unusually immense size and vibrant health. He had stalked it for hours, using the natural stamina of his canine body to conquer it. Willpower alone had granted him the strength to hunt it so effortlessly for what seemed to be hundreds of miles. He had bled it mercilessly, taking chunks from its wooly fur and snapping its right foreleg with his powerful jaws.

From there it had to have been one of the easiest hunts he had ever partaken in. It had limped and tripped, stumbled pathetically several times, and when he had caught it, it had had been attempting to pull itself up from the ground. The tree roots had given it enough purchase but the broken limb had ensured him victory.

Now, listening to the boy, he felt his stomach snarl furiously. His blood seemed to heat fiercely beneath his skin. His eyes grew narrow, his lips curling back. His fur rippled over his body, like water running over his body. His movements sped up. His vision sharpened. The trees ripped past him in excruciating detail, sharpened hideous blurs of gray bark and curls of browning moss. Branches looked like daggers, split in numerous spikes of wood. The leaves were highlighted by each vein, dancing in the limited sunlight. He pounced over a large fallen log and snarled with desire. The sound of the boy falling again made him tremble. He snapped his jaws. His tongue swept over his lips.

He angled his ears and sped faster. His muscles burned with energy. His stomach rolled and his body tingled. His mouth opened further. His tongue slapped against his right cheek. His eyes narrowed further. He snarled, licking his jaws again. His paws came in soft thuds as they crashed against the earth. A branch snapped where the boy was moving. He growled and chomped his teeth again.

A loud, wet and pulsing clap of noise boomed within his ears. It rolled and burst forward vibrantly. He growled again, launching himself faster. The woods grew thicker around him. The undergrowth seemed to strain forward to touch his paws. His claws dug into the earth, forceful and dangerous. His ears flicked once more. His muscles rolled. His body turned as the boy moved again. The pounding became the only noise within his ears. It burst through him in time with his own heart. He snarled and lunged.

The boy was only a foot away.

Yugi spun around, entire body tingling with warning. The wolf was hurtling towards him. Its brows were pulled downwards. Its teeth were showing, glittering like dagger points. The thick, curved fangs flashed. Its chest quivered with the force of its body as it was propelled forward. Its legs stretched outwards. Its toes were spread as far as possible. The claws scraped through the air with the sound of a whistle. He opened and closed his mouth stupidly. His body shook once in shock. A realization dawned on him. It was headed straight for him.

The trembling became a full movement. His body twisted and dropped abruptly. The air shot from his lungs with the force. He gasped and his head snapped around. The wolf was past him in what his mind perceived as a large black blur. He blinked, startled, and then looked up again. The canine was still moving at top speed. But its paws were no longer on the ground. There was a hideous scraping noise, furious in his ears. The animal was kicking loose debris to the forest floor.

He gaped, craning his head nearly all the way back to keep up. The squirrel screeched and attempted to race off. The wolf shot from the trunk to the end of the thick branch in one moment. Then it hurled forward. The squirrel screamed loudly. Teeth closed down on its windpipe. The noise cut off abruptly. Yugi blinked up at the sight above him. The wolf settled almost like a cat, its slender frame lending it almost perfect balance. Its teeth cut furiously through the small piece of prey. The bones cracked and burst beneath its molars.

Then the noise was gone and the wolf was sniffing pathetically. His jaws were opened faintly. His nose continued twitching latently. His ears pricked forward and then around. His body quivered. His tail bristled minutely where it hung over the side. He pulled his paws apart and peered into the spot between them. The bristle traveled up his spine. His tongue ran over his mouth. He shivered and then turned his head.

The boy was still staring up at him, gaping mindlessly. His blood was the most noticeable thing in the air, but there was only the slightest of scrapes on his skin which bled red. He did not see the point of cleaning them for him. Instead, his stomach growling even more furiously, he turned his head and whined pathetically. He was so hungry and the only thing he knew of that would be easy to catch was the very person he had spent the entire night attempting to save.

He shivered and then felt the bark more forcefully under his paws. His claws scraped its surface, forcing it to splinter. His mouth opened and closed once. He glanced at the boy and then to the trunk. Hungry and tired and growing near spiteful, the canine took a small step towards the end of the branch. There was no reason to remain up there. The noise of the squirrel when it had screamed would have easily scared away any and all prey left to be seen.

Yugi watched it as it picked its way carefully down. Unlike a feline, the action was not as fluid. Rather, at first the wolf began little jumps from one branch to the next, and then seemed to measure its distance from the ground. As it hesitated, the black claws on each foot sank visibly into the wood. The efforts were somehow graceful even as it remained frozen, eyes scanning once more. Then, as swiftly as he had paused, the great canine threw himself forward. His landing was precise and powerful, muscles coiling and relaxing beneath his beautiful pelt.

The movement had been so easy that Yugi found himself questioning his own eyes. He had seen a dog on the internet climbing a tree but it had been under twenty pounds and the tree far wider, with a sloping trunk. This one was almost completely vertical safe the tiniest curve at its base.

The muscles bunched up in the canine's hindquarters as the large wolf took a seat a few feet away. He blinked lazily towards the boy when he noticed his stare. The red eyes glittered as he regarded him for a small moment before just as swiftly turning away again. His tail moved slowly to his side, almost as if he might curl it around his large paws. His nose twitched, his mouth opened only the smallest bit, and his eyes closed after a moment.

Yugi flinched when he heard the noise that came to his ears. It was low, gurgling, and at first he thought it was a snarl. But then it grew and the wolf trembled momentarily. It came like rolling storm clouds and then slowly began to die away into nothingness. It took him only a moment to recognize it, as he himself began to echo it as if spurred on by the sound. They looked at each other after a moment, the wolf tilting his head before flicking an ear to the side as he turned away again.

He was uncertain whether the look in his eyes had been friendly or not but it did not make him pause. He got to his feet slowly, unsure of his own weight and balance, and straightened to his full height clumsily. The wolf turned immediately to him once more, blinking dark red eyes curiously, and his paws shifted as he kneaded them lazily. The sting of his weight pushing on his bones made him nearly crash again, but he breathed in through his teeth and managed to keep from buckling.

He took a couple of steps forward, making the wolf blink and tilt his head in surprise. They peered at each other and Yugi stopped a little away from him, lips lifting up briefly into a tiny smile.

"Change back and I'll get you something to eat."

The wolf hesitated for only a moment, staring at him. His tail wagged once, a slow and deliberately cautious action. His eyes danced with embers and he thought the gaze was almost hopeful. For a moment he looked as if he might leap to his paws immediately. Then it passed as swiftly as it had come. The wolf's expression was that of pure, unbridled skepticism.

"Change back and I'll get you something to eat," he repeated, amused as the wolf's expression grew thoughtful. The mocking edge of his expression began to grow confused. His brows furrowed further, pulling together. His ears pricked forward more. His eyes grew enlarged and with a curious confusion. He shifted his weight, pulling his paws up momentarily before lowering his head and craning his neck to examine him more thoroughly. He sniffed, clearly attempting to smell if he might be lying as animals were said to have the ability to do.

Taking the chance, the wolf opened his mouth with a soft line that showed his bottom incisors and then breathed out a small exhale that crystallized as a large white puff of air. Yugi found himself unconsciously mirroring him, surprised when his mouth opened and a sharp, cold gust of air made his lips and tongue tingle pleasantly. He blinked, startled, and both of them watched each other curiously. The seconds passed, blue-violet clashing with a fathomless red. Then the wolf's mouth opened fully and his tongue lolled out in a small, almost friendly pant. His head tilting to the side, the canine audibly shifted his weight forward as his long tail wagged slowly again.

Yugi blinked, smiling in amusement as he thought unconsciously of a well-trained dog waiting to go on a walk. He nodded lazily, watching the way the other perceived his movement with another small shift of his balance. "I'll wait right here," he assured him. The canine was on its feet and trotting away before he could even blink, disappearing from sight within mere seconds. He watched the direction the red-eyed animal had wandered off in, surprised that he was still smiling and feeling somewhat self-conscious about it now.

He supposed making friends with the other male was not such a bad thing in light of it all. The entire situation meant that having someone else in his corner could hardly be a bad thing. Being alone in all of it seemed as if it might be the worst it all had to offer. And maybe this wolf was not his "alpha" but having help with the entire situation regardless could not be a thing to regret.

He tossed his head to banish the oncoming melancholy that he knew would flood him. His mouth twitched downwards as he realized that the other had not returned. He narrowed and strained his eyes to catch sight of him. He hoped with everything inside of him that it was not his immediate thought of something going wrong with the Change that was keeping him. He shook his head and bit his lip hard enough to cause it to nearly split, swallowing his thought to call out to him. But what was there for him to truly say? What was he meant to call? "Here, little werewolf, over here"?

Somehow he did not think that was the best thing to do. Besides the fact that the other was taller, he wasn't altogether certain no one else was nearby. If there was somehow a search party in the woods which had eluded his ears, what would they think or say about it? How quickly would he be locked in a mental asylum for saying there was a werewolf in the woods? And, besides that, what would he do if it alerted their location to another lycanthrope? If there was more than a simple spat between those other two and this black one, then he would be risking another hideous attack.

Unsettled by his new train of thought, he began to turn around and take a few steps in every direction. Taking himself in a full circle, the small teen felt blood in his mouth more than he tasted it. He narrowed his eyes, disgusted by the heat bathing his tongue, and struggled to suppress an uncomfortable shiver. He ran a hand through his hair, closing his eyes tightly and breathing in roughly.

There was no way he could have been hindered by the Change. He had done it so fluidly mere minutes before, without so much as a second thought. What could have possibly been an issue when he was so clearly in control of it all?

Yugi shook his head sharply and started off towards where he knew the pond to be. A sound made his eyes widen, snapping open, and his spine grew rigid as he tensed in confusion. His head turned quickly, his mind nearly spinning off its mental axis, but the noise was steady in its direction and so he hesitated.

For a long moment, heart pounding fearfully from his former thoughts, he was unable to do anything more than quake. There was nothing that could assure him that there was nothing in the forest to hunt him.

He trembled once, opening and closing his mouth. He blinked, horrified, as his mind immediately sprang forth with the idea that there was honestly no telling what might be waiting to greet him. He thought to turn and flee but he felt immobilized, frozen and cold in fear. He nearly fell back as he drew in several large breaths, reaching up bite his hand. He yelped, disgusted and terrified by the taste that greeted him there, earthy and metallic and acidic to the point that it caused his empty stomach to roll hideously.

His eyes flickered and peered upwards. His mouth opened and closed. He trembled. He had just given away his location. The noise ahead of him had silenced. He breathed out roughly once.

The noise resumed abruptly. He blinked and his eyes widened drastically. His heart pounding in his ears settled into a dull roar. His eyes sharpened and his mind seemed to pulsate painfully. A ragged, intense burn came over his senses. He blinked again. His mouth opened and closed again. He trembled harder and his tongue seemed to swell. His vision swam for what seemed like a lifetime but his mind had opened.

From the darkness of his thoughts came a single and notable image which sprang forward just as the wolf had before barreling up the tree trunk. He shivered, horrified by the sensation but also somehow warmed by it. In his mind's eye came the very clear and powerful surging image of water. It rippled and dripped, splashing violently, and as it moved about, the sun was blocked away by something immense above it. Something kicked within the depths, rising out, and then slapped into the water once more. Claws and fur clinging to pale skin made the fear melt away.

The image drifted immediately away again as he recognized it all. The wolf was playing around in the water, splashing about happily. As Yugi approached, the canine ducked his head beneath the surface. It almost looked as if he was trying to fish, but the small teen realized he was simply cleaning his face with the still water. The water was too shallow to encompass him and force him to swim, but it was still deep enough to just cover where his wrists would have been. The wolf turned to him, dripping wet along the face, and his tail wagged as he snapped his jaws at him in pleasure. The click of his teeth echoed in the still, open air even as he panted, peering at him, and then abruptly raced off into the trees again.

Yugi let out a single small laugh born of both momentary embarrassment and genuine amusement. As soon as the canine was out of sight the small teen made his way back to the rock he had been perched on and took a seat. His skin was tingling, his entire body overwhelmed with exhaustion as he glanced about him. When nothing seemed to come barreling towards him, he relaxed enough to lessen the tightness in his spine. He leaned forward, tucking his elbows onto the surface of his knees, and peered in the direction the wolf had vanished.

The lycanthrope emerged a minute or so later. His expression was somewhat puzzled and yet frustrated all at once. His mouth was turned downward at the edges, his red eyes framed so deeply by his long lashes that they almost looked black. His gaze was locked on his wrist, however, where he was rotating his hand somewhat lazily. For a moment Yugi thought that perhaps he appeared fascinated, swept in by the color of his own flesh.

The idea made the smaller teen frown. He was so pale in comparison, he noticed, and that fact alone was somehow enough to make him feel tiny despite the distance between them. As the other approached he was unable to look away from his face, the light tan he sported, and his stomach twisted. His skin was some kind of rich shade that lingered with the best of both a bronze and creamy complexion, with a gentle warmth that made one's eyes lock with envy and aesthetic pleasure.

But, as he tore his eyes away, breathing raggedly in frustration, his gaze instead locked on the thing that caught his attention more than anything else. The jacket he wore was a beautiful and deep shade of teal, the color with the richness of seawater, as gorgeous as a gem. It was stunning, but the effect that it gave his eyes was something of a puzzling one. Rather than giving them a brilliant boost of luster and mesmerizing incandescence, it seemed more to highlight just how exotic and unnatural the boy truly was.

It made them burn like lava, heated like the very core of a flame, and lent them the depth of the ocean, but made apparent the keen intelligence and predatory shadow that lingered within them. The unnatural shades put together so closely and set against his skin made them spark as if he dared one to point it out, and so terrible was the effect that Yugi nearly backed up fearfully.

He turned away again, furious with his momentary hesitation. He did not need to make a fool of himself, nor anger the other teen. There was no reason to do such a thing by any means. And, as he considered this, he could not help but look at him once more. How long had this boy been stuck like this, living in the woods as an animal? Did he know what actual food tasted like?

The closer he got the more he had to consider it had been a long time. He must have been stuck like that for far longer than a day or two. It could have been months or years for all he knew. The thought made his insides twist, sorrow taking residence in his veins more prominently. He could not imagine having to live in the wild and hunt for food, unable to do more than the most basic of animalistic behavior. It was so much easier to simply pay to have something he wanted, eating without all the effort it must have taken to hunt down even the smallest of meals.

"You ready?"

The taller boy ignored him for a long moment before raising his eyes from his wrist and tiling his head to the side. His eyes sparkled with amusement and his lips pulled into the smallest of grins as he walked past him.

Yugi huffed and then smirked, rolling his eyes as he shook his head. He had been expecting more of a response after the initial reaction he had gotten when he had first offered him a meal. But the oddly dismissive acknowledgment he bestowed upon him now was amusing to its own end so it did not even occur to him to complain about it.

He spun on his heel to follow, practically jogging to get to his side when he saw he was taking much larger strides than himself. The suddenness of his arrival made the other tilt his head towards him, eyes quizzical and gleaming like embers and sunlight. Yugi graced him with a slightly sheepish smile but turned away immediately, though careful not to lose track of him from his peripheral. He would not so much as allow more than an inch to come between them.

In all reality, the boy was probably his only means of protection as well as direction should he lose his way. He'd been to the city a couple of times, he knew that much, and he remembered the direction he had come from when the other two wolves had rushed him had been only a little ways from the festival. He'd cut around it completely, using the woods and waiting, though for what Yugi was still unsure.

They continued their pace in a leisurely stroll, as if they were nothing but old friends walking through the woods. If he had been with Jonouchi or Honda, there would have been jokes all around. With Anzu he probably would have been trying to gain her attention elsewhere. She was a nature lover and had, on multiple occasions, paid more atteintion to greenery than him whenever they had been alone in the woods. But, now, with the lycanthrope, who would not so much as open his mouth and only gave him small sideways glances that burned his skin, there was only a companionable silence.

He thought he should have been fearful or cautious, intensely aware of everything, but something about the other boy was oddly disarming. Either it was the fact that his own body language was so relaxed and nonchalant or it was that he had saved him earlier. He wasn't sure which it was but he hardly thought he cared either.

He was grateful not to feel as if he needed to dodge away from him at every moment or hide completely. He didn't give off the same air as Ushio, who Yugi had avoided at all costs.

He glanced at the trees, took in the small shadows that stretched downwards to make the sun dapple their skin, but could not find it in himself to think much of it. He was tired, hungry, and, as if beckoned by his thoughts, he felt as if he needed to watch the boy beside him. Something was burning intensely into the flesh of his neck, along the line of the wound that still marred it. His lips pulled downwards, tugging into a complete grimace, and his eyes flickered quickly to the side.

The wolf blinked but did not raise his eyes from the curve of skin. Yugi halted, eyes widening drastically, his spine tensing with the thought that he might spring at him suddenly. Maybe he was luring him further into the woods so that he could kill him or maybe he planned to eviscerate him and leave his body at his own front door…

He trembled and the movement made the other lift his eyes. His expression was one of curiosity, mild and confused, and the red of his gaze flashed like blood spilled in sunlight. Yugi shuddered for a fraction of a second, blinking, and the other tilted his head to the side before narrowing his eyes. His brows pulled together, his eyes scrunching up in the corners, and his lips twisted faintly on the right side. For a moment the smaller boy nearly flinched back, but then recognized something that he had not thought to see before.

The new expression was a mirror image of his newest emotion. He was just as suspicious of him at that moment as he had been of him when he had turned so fully. Staring at each other, Yugi found himself blinking stupidly, stunned that he might even consider he might be doing something of a suspicious nature. But then, cheeks feeling flushed for a moment, he realized he had no basis to suspect him of anything either.

Pursing his lips, he turned away again, sucking on his teeth before shoving his hands into his pockets. The fresher cuts lining his palms itched and his skin stung momentarily at the new touch of fabric, and then sighed softly as he continued walking. The other hesitated only for a second and then hurried to his side, keeping pace with him as easily as he had moments before. In his peripheral, Yugi was somehow surprised by the grace and speed with which the other boy moved. His gait was a swift and swinging one, somehow surprising in the way he managed so easily to look canine-like in his human skin. His arms swung in time with his longer legs, both ending and beginning with the other in perfect sync.

Yugi shivered and looked at himself, wondering if perhaps one day he might adopt that same attribute. Was it a werewolf thing? He knew wolves did it when they trotted around, or even when they simply walked, legs moving quickly and efficiently to carry them wherever they desired but then. How was it possible that lycanthropes were able to hide themselves when they might have such a telling sign?

He swallowed hard, stomach twisting lightly as he glanced sideways at the other boy again for the smallest of seconds. It was so much easier for him to be able to say that the other was a werewolf but not apply it to himself. The very idea of labeling himself as such made his skin crawl. He frowned, feeling small and weak, and insidious illness sweeping over him immediately. It was so disturbing to even take such a title and apply it to the boy beside him.

Werewolves were supposed to be a myth, not fucking reality.

He let out a rough sigh, feeling further sickened as his stomach churned and his skin began to grow feverish. How was it even possible that someone might be able to say that they were a werewolf and keep a straight face? If someone had ever said anything of that nature to him at any point, he would have done the typical thing and thought they were a loon.

And yet, he'd seen Ushio change, he'd seen Tomoya's broken body in place of the second canine's, and he himself had gone through the Change. Just hours ago, he had been lying on his side, ragged and bleeding and vomiting his guts out, a wolf with white fur slicked back with grime.

There was no questioning it. He felt his head spin for a moment. Whereas finding them a reality seemed somewhat plausible in his mind, the acceptance of it was heavily overshadowed. Why was it that he, of all people, was the one who had been infected like this?

Melodramatic as it was, he found himself feeling oddly betrayed and disgusted by the idea in and of itself. But wasn't it the most logical feeling he had had in days? He felt as if he hardly knew himself anymore, his perception twisted so completely that there was no true knowledge of how he processed his own emotions on the immensity of the subject.

He wanted almost to ask the other how it was that he seemed to be so used to the idea. He seemed so immensely comfortable in his skin and Yugi was almost furious with the fact. But, even as he thought this, another idea sprang into his mind.

The wolf had not turned his head to look at him when he had sighed. But, when Yugi looked at him, he was staring at him. He'd been watching him the entire time, staring at him silently. And his eyes were once again frozen on his neck, burning his skin like an open flame.

The smaller boy nearly cursed himself, stopping abruptly. The halt of movement made the other follow suit, both of them staring at each other once more. Bristling, the smaller teen let out a harsh breath, unsure of what more to do with himself. The other's eyes flashed and flickered, the leaves drifting with a small stir of wind, the light hitting them to make them look like a deep, speckled sea of red wine. The depth of them scared him for a moment and he nearly tensed further at the way his pupils seemed to glitter with the reflection of sunbeams. The emotion reflected in those eyes was lost behind some kind of sheet of ice, as if the surface of his gaze were nothing more than chips of frozen water bathed red.

His expression was void of any tell and his shoulders remained lowered, the tension lost in them as they blinked at each other. But the wolf did nothing to hide the fact that he had been watching him, studying intensely. He pursed his lips again, flushing faintly, and sighed softly.

The other had been watching his neck again, as if he expected the healing skin to simply split in half before his eyes. He supposed it made sense, as he himself would have done the same had it not been he who had been the wounded one. He would be just as blatant with disregard towards shielding the other from his inspection as well. There was no reason to shield him in any respect. There was no reason to shield him in any respect. There was not even cause to consider it in the first place.

He looked away again immediately, however, unable to witness that intense stare any longer. He tilted his head to the side, swallowing hard, and narrowed his gaze into slits as he felt a small sting in the column of his neck. It did not travel elsewhere, and, as he considered it, melted into nothing more than a gentle tingle. The movement brought the other's attention to him once more, staring at his neck again, though it did nothing to frustrate him. Rather, he was almost grateful for the attention he put into watching over his recovery, something that he was almost flattered by as he glanced at him from the corner of his eye. He hesitated a step, but the other failed to so much as blink beside him. He stepped right past him, not even pausing to glance back at him as he continued.

"W-wait! Wait up!" the smaller teen cried, eyes widening as he hurried to his side. He stumbled once, his right leg nearly buckling, and bit back a groan of desperation as his muscles throbbed. Somehow he managed to hold his balance, limping a step and then another to race to the other's side.

His haste was unnecessary, he realized a moment later. The wolf had stopped and was watching him over his shoulder, head only partially turned. He was tracking him with his other senses more than his side, motionless as he scrambled to his side. Panting from the pain and feeling his head swim momentarily, he realized he did not even have the other's full attention. Instead his eyes had been tracking movement from the branches overhead, most likely a squirrel or a stray bird. But, as he got fully to his side, within inches of brushing against him, his keen gaze was locked once more on his neck.

For the smallest fraction of a second he wanted nothing more than to thank him for his concern while snapping that he didn't need him to stare at him like this any longer. The words had almost crept into this throat when they smothered themselves abruptly. He almost swallowed his tongue as he was caught staring wide-eyed into that powerful gaze. His attention had finally fallen upon his face again, startling him so violently that he nearly cringed back and moved aside a few steps.

He swallowed hard and then turned away, staring straight ahead as he ignored his pain to quicken his pace. The other did not even hesitate to keep at his side, eyes still locked solely on his neck. He again had the impulse to snap but instead smothered it forcefully, shaken by the idea of eye contact once more.

There was something just so unnatural and keen that it scared him to even imagine his gaze as it was. The idea of it was somehow pitiful to himself but he could not help it as he again sped up but failed to lose the other or his intense eyes. Outrunning him seemed impossible—even more so than thinking he could have survived Ushio's attack without the intervention Tomoya had provided.

It occurred to him that the wolf matched him perfectly in speed and stamina, though his strength and energy far surpassed his own. If he snapped at him, what was to keep him from lashing out and all but finishing what Ushio had begun?

There was no guarantee that he had even saved him from those two wolves for more reason than taking momentary mercy on someone weaker than him. Just because he had spared him didn't mean he would not turn on him suddenly and kill him if he saw it necessary.

He shivered and looked at him again as quickly as he could, afraid of eye contact. The wolf was faster than him again, however, and the moment he looked over he was unable to turn away from what seemed like crushed rubies cast in a pool of fresh blood. He hesitated, unable to do more than stare in response, shaken and rooted to the ground, and then snapped his head away again. The other was noticeably undeterred and his eyes merely lowered to his neck.

It was a pattern of Yugi glancing at him, locking eyes, and then violently looking away again, for the entirety it took them to get out of the woods. Yugi was irritable that he nearly snapped at him more than once, locked eyes again, and grew so fearful he might provoke him that he immediately turned away again. He didn't know what to do with himself so he continued to hurriedly pace himself for the direction of the house.

He was never more thankful than that moment that the clinic was so close to the forest. The relief that bloomed in his system as they neared the break in the trees was almost enough to make him burst forth in a sprint. It was almost as if he had found the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow as his insides quivered and his heart pounded faster, his body reacting with such fervor it almost brought him to tears.

He thought for a moment that he could almost relate to those survivors in movies that escaped whatever horrors were chasing and killing them all. He almost laughed at himself but then halted mentally, his legs even slowing as his thoughts began to flicker backwards.

Dear gods, what had happened to the two wolves in the woods? Had they changed back after dying? Or was it that that was just a thing in the movies?

He blinked, eyes wide, and then frowned as he glanced over his shoulder.

Had he seen the bodies back there? He could not recall in that moment. He wracked his brain, chewing his lip, but came up with nothing.

Pausing at the line of trees that would lead to the streets, he found himself looking first at the path they had taken and then at the wolf. He hadn't…eaten them…had he? He grimaced, feeling sick to his stomach as his head spun, but then he paused immediately after.

He had not had time. He had been caught up in helping him, cleaning his wounds and making sure he survived the night, and there was no true window in that timeframe in which he could have done it. He would have had to have left him at some point and Yugi might not have been an expert on lycanthropy, but he did know from his medical studies that he would have bled out if he had so much as wandered off for a small window of opportunity.

No, he had not eaten them. He hadn't had time.

Yugi frowned, unable to keep from looking back through the trees again. Would they even find their bodies before they were picked apart? And would they be human corpses or canine?

What would they say if they found them as wolves? Would they conduct tests, try to figure out what it was that had killed him? Would they find out about the lycanthropy in their veins?

And then what would happen afterwards?

He shuddered, but could not find it in himself to truly consider going back there. There was nothing for him there, just his own vomit and blood long since dried which would be washed away when the rain they'd been predicting came later. There might not even be a link left to tie him to the entire thing by the end of the day if he was lucky.

Yugi turned away, glancing at the other wolf and granting him a wry smile of amusement, and then started ahead again. It was really only as he stepped onto the asphalt that he realized the severity of his own appearance. The blood might have been washed from his skin and his body more or less intact, but his clothes were still covered in dirt and bile as well. He thought if he looked in the mirror he would be disgusted with his own appearance and anyone who might spot him would think he had dug his way out of a grave.

He squeezed his eyes shut for a moment and then shook his head sharply once to dispel the thought. It didn't matter. He would make sure his mom and grandpa weren't awake when he slipped inside, grab some food for his guest, and then hurry to take a shower and keep from sight for a little while until he was sure he was once again presentable. There was no reason to scare his family more than his disappearance might have already.

He blinked, suddenly freezing in front of his own doorway. Had he been worried without reason? Had his mom and grandpa failed to call the police? No one was there and he didn't think he could smell any engine exhaust or heated rubber where tires would have touched the road.

He frowned, glancing around with a feeling of intense unease, and then looked towards the other boy who was following his tense movements as well. His nose was working furiously, his mouth curling into something like a silent snarl, and his eyes flashed briefly as he continued to work away at his surroundings with his senses.

Despite himself, frustrated, the smaller teen found he was somehow unable to look away as the wolf continued his observations. It was abruptly a question of his own irritation now, something that crawled forward and claimed his attention with such power that it nearly blinded him. It was as if his mind had shut itself but for this one idea and now he found himself spinning around to face the wolf completely.

In a fit of desperation the other boy nearly snapped at him again, confused and unable to focus further than this one all-encompassing thought. What was his reasoning for saving him? Why had he bothered with the task when he seemed to gain so little from it?

They were not having a discussion, the other was following him for food, and there were two bodies left in the woods for people to find. Yugi had never understood how someone could do something without even the slightest intention of gain, though he himself had offered this very thing more often than not.

It was stunning to find himself pushing away the very concept of altruism as it applied to someone else, unable to even truly consider it. The wolf had followed him for a meal, but saving his life could not have been something driven by so simple a necessity. There was much more to it—there had to be, no matter what anyone else might say or think on such a matter.

There was no way that the wolf had chosen to save him for no other reason to have make itself feel good.

Ego hardly seemed like a large enough motivator, as saving one's life did nothing but make them seem the hero, and wouldn't they have rejected the offered food if that was the reason? The wolf had all the means necessary to kill whatever piece of prey it chose. It could stalk silently through the streets and attack and feast on a person should it choose. It could just as easily head off into the woods and hunt until its energy was worn and its body too tired to function any longer. As he looked at it, he thought its power unlimited and terrible in comparison to his own.

Its teeth and claws and narrow build and strong jaws were built for the hunt. It could kill as easily as yawn, and it could outrun any animal it set its mind on. There was no need to follow him home as it was.

The only other reason he could think of was that perhaps it was lonely. But then, why march off in search of food and make him play charades instead of watching and helping him if that was the case? Why would he have stood around and watched while he tried to move around again? There was no rhyme or reason to its behavior and Yugi was unable to stop himself growing infuriated as the seconds passed.

He seemed like one of those people that chose to be alone rather than was forced by circumstance. The reality of it was that he doubted it so wholly made his skin crawl and his jaw clench with frustration and his blood heat with a flash of hatred so intense it made his legs feel weak.

Tomoya had been that same kind of person. Unlike Yugi, he had often been comfortable when eh was alone. He had never been especially keen on getting and retaining others' attention. He had preferred his own company with a few close friends whom he shared his time with. At school he was mostly alone unless he chose to sit with someone else. It was his own desire to be on his own or sit with another person, never anyone else's. There were no circumstances that caused it.

The idea of his deceased friend made him bristle further. If he had not bitten him then none of this would have been happening. He might have been dead but he wouldn't have to struggle to navigate his life because of some disgusting disease forcing him to change most everything that made him Yugi. He wouldn't have a wolf standing near him in a human skin, scenting the air around his home and growing more erratic in the way his tension was growing. He wouldn't have such pain in his body or a neck wound so hideous. He wouldn't even have to deal with things that had seemed so fictional beforehand.

His gut coiled violently and he breathed in harshly. It was not the fact that Tomoya had saved his life, nor even truly the means that infuriated him at the moment. It was the very fact that it had been forced to happen in the first place. There should never have been a reason for him to be bitten, nor for him to cross paths with the wolf in front of him.

And yet, he realized that if he had not made eye contact with Ushio those days before, he would not have been bitten. He would not have provoked him into attacking. He would not have had to run away or play dead or get himself all but murdered alongside Tomoya. He wouldn't have gotten his friend killed in the first place.

He clenched his jaw again, narrowing his eyes, and breathed roughly once more. His body shook for a brief moment and then the anger passed, a sudden and intense clarity washing over him with enough power to nearly knock him off his feet as he closed his eyes.

He didn't know that. He had no idea if Ushio had been planning to attack him before then or not. It would have been so easy to blame everything on circumstances and the lycanthropy but he couldn't do that without making himself feel ashamed and foolish.

He shook his head, sighing, and looked at the other teen again. His lips were still curled, his nose still working, and his eyes flashed dangerously in the light. But, as he continued watching him, Yugi realized he was not even slightly focused on him.

His surroundings were pushing on him somehow, making him strain and grow further tensed. His eyes shot to his finally, at first cold and furious, and then he blinked. Keen curiosity and interest mingled with a soft confusion that made him smile faintly as he tilted his head and stared at him in response.

There was no elaborate plan to kill and eat him. He knew it as plainly as he knew his own reflection.

There was nothing malicious in his gaze, despite the terrible color and the strange gleams that decorated it, the endless shades of red lingering there, the wild and almost ominous glow that seemed to surround his pupils. In fact, the exact opposite was what greeted him as he faced him fully.

That keen gaze was glittering, innocent and childish in expression, with a glowing confusion that made his lips twitch further in amusement. Even a small hint of frustration could not take away the immensity of the simple emotions there.

He shook his head briefly and then began to turn away. But, as if startled by his actions in such a painful way as to force several words out, his mouth opened and Yugi froze in place, eyes widening in shock at the very idea. He had not considered that he might speak to him, though he knew from his body language that he was not completely cutting him off in any way. But then, as quickly as it had started, his mouth shut again and instead he tilted his head curiously to the side and studied him further.

The small teen bit his lip and shrugged, feeling as if he was unable to even attempt coaxing him into conversation. Instead, blinking, he found that the other's angle of attention had returned to his neck. However, his nose was still working to scent the air furiously and his mouth, formerly relaxed, now curled at the corner again. His lip drew up to show off his right canine momentarily in clear distaste.

The teen drew in a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment, frowning. "You can talk, right?" he muttered, turning his head to look at him over his shoulder and watch him closely.

The other boy did not respond to his words for what felt like hours, instead smelling the air and raising his shoulders minutely as if in defense of himself, before abruptly nodding. The movement was so reluctant that for a moment Yugi felt bad for even having the audacity to ask, the look of hesitancy crossing his features making his stomach twist.

"But you don't."

Those red eyes stretched extremely wide, glimmering with something that he did not truly recognize. He was surprised by the way he looked at him with such a stunned expression, peering as if he had not expected him to come up with such a simple explanation, nor accept it so easily. He wondered if perhaps he had thought he would fight him over his silence for whatever reason.

Yugi nodded slightly, feeling the tiniest inkling of frustration course through him for a moment. He pursed his lips, flustered, and sighed softly in annoyance at it all. Of course the wolf helping him would be a mute by choice.

Could his life get any harder?

"Okay."
The wolf tilted his head and stared at him in surprise. Silence was hardly something that most people accepted so easily. He had expected arguments and maybe even something like a verbal lashing of some kind. Most times it was seen as condescending and disrespectful.

"Don't worry, it's fine," Yugi murmured, glancing over his shoulder again to stare at him curiously. The genuine gentleness in his voice made the other blink and then frown at him as if in confusion. "I didn't mean it in a bad way. I just…I was curious, but it's okay. You don't have to talk if you don't want to. Don't worry about it."

The taller boy was silent for what felt like an eternity. His eyes flickered and his mouth pulled downwards for a moment. He frowned a little more fully. He tilted his head and stared at him, red eyes glowing faintly. He seemed to fully consider the entire idea of his acceptance as nothing more than a falsity. He was not really sure the reason but his doubt sent him into a spiral of unnerved sympathy and wonder about what had happened to him.

He felt strange as they made their way towards the clinic again. He could hear the other boy behind him, his breaths growing rougher and deeper. He paused, glancing over his shoulder again, and frowned as he took in the sight of the other boy. He looked sick to his stomach now, with cold red eyes that glittered like glowing embers for the briefest of seconds.

He dug his hands further into his pockets, clenching his fists as he swallowed hard and felt as if his tongue might swell in his mouth. He frowned as the other boy continued to search out his surroundings with such tension that he found himself frozen in place. Yugi almost thought he expected more wolves to appear out of the shadows.

His eyes had grown a shade darker, suspicious and harsh, a deep color like that of blood. They exercised such vicious caution that his skin crawled. The surface of his gaze was hard like sheets of ice painted red once more. It had clearly become more of a uniform color now, something that he had not seen but once in the woods. When the sun hit them they looked like concentrated spikes of frosted glass, perfectly clear yet holding a dense fog of some kind all the same. His pupils had become slightly dilated, bleeding into the inner edges of his dark irises and when he turned his head to regard him in return. The reflective surface had come forth once more tenfold, to the point that Yugi nearly cringed at his own emotional instability staring back at him.

There was such fear and a touch of hatred in those dark eyes that made his body feel tight and cold all at once. He was filled with an instant and hideous dread which swept him nearly off his feet as he stared at the other boy. He opened and closed his mouth and his reflection followed suit faithfully where it played upon the dark surface of the other's enlarged pupils.

He heard it when he turned his head, the way that his neck actually snapped forcefully at the action. His eyes shot to the sky for a second, staring up at the clouds which seemed as scattered as his own thoughts. His lungs expanded with a deep inhale, drawn to their maximum capacity with the force of it. When he slowly lowered his eyes back to the other boy, he found that his gaze was darting around faster, all but terrified.

"Are you okay?" he finally asked, swallowing hard as he struggled to completely absorb this new sight before him. He looked as if he might run at any moment and, as Yugi truly took him in, he could see that he was holding himself on his left foot and his right was partially raised so that the sole was off the ground.

The wolf looked at him for only the tiniest of fractions of a second, eyes flashing, and then nodded at him curtly. Yugi blinked and he was already looking away again without a single hesitation. The smaller teen was not sure whether to be relieved or annoyed by such a blatant dismissal. On one hand, it meant that he no longer had to stare at himself in those red eyes, but, on the other, it felt like he was making a point of showing him just how little he actually mattered to him.

And again, Yugi found his thoughts circling back to why he would have bothered to fight off those two wolves and later lick his wound shut. What was the point of it all if he was simply going to do something like this of all things? The smaller boy ground his teeth together unhappily and narrowed his eyes into slits. Was the wolf really not going to say anything? Was he really not going to tell him what it was he expected of him or what had upset him so much? Surely he didn't expect more then what he was already offering for his help?

He might have saved his life, but if he planned to continue treating him like crap like this, he did not see the point in bothering with him more than necessary. Why should he even bother to think to remain nearby if this was what he planned to do?

"Come on, this way," he grumbled, ignoring his initial idea to snap at him in frustration, there was no reason to risk this wolf's ire should he turn on him like Yugi was unable to stop fearing he might. Hr swallowed hard and then ignored the way that the other merely stared at him as if he could not comprehend his words. "You're going to have to stay quiet and follow me because I'm almost one hundred percent sure my mom is home with my grandpa right now. I don't want to have to explain to them that I spent the night in the woods going through my first official Change as a werewolf while this other wolf was licking my neck until the skin healed."

He could stop himself from feeling sick to his stomach as the words left his mouth. He really should have died. His head should have rolled off his shoulders during the time that he was having such violent spasms.

The other wolf snorted and Yugi's head snapped around in surprise. The lycanthrope was smirking widely at the statement, red eyes gleaming with pure amusement. When he shook his head slowly and watched him, Yugi snickered with a small laughing smile. He was unable to swallow away the rush of satisfaction that crept through him at the thought of having made the other smile.

It had seemed so impossible moments before that now he was filled with a strange sense of pride at having accomplished such a feat. If he was not so exhausted and relieved, he might have wondered at how strange it was to feel such elation over something so simple. It seemed so common and everyday that it was foolish to even consider it to be more than fractionally humorous.

Yet, Yugi barely noticed it as he neared the dark red door that marked the house's entrance. But he heard it before he felt something almost like an intense sting make its way through the core of his spine and spread outwards violently. The boy was panting behind him, so loudly that it made Yugi's entire body freeze in place. With the noise came a startling rush of confusion and mounting fear that made him spin around, body once again growing rigid with horror.

The red eyes were so wide they almost seemed to swallow his face with the way that his body seemed to have grown abruptly smaller and weaker. It was as if the life had been drained from his body, swallowing him away as his frame seemed to curl inwards and crumple upon itself. He looked moments away from shaking as if he were nothing more than a leaf stirred in the wind by a violent storm.

His spine was entirely too tightly wound, straightened to the point that Yugi feared it might break if he so much as looked at him the wrong way. The red eyes glittered fiercely, though the color was now a single band of vividness against two large spheres of perfect black. They were glazed over and almost muddy in expression the two colors almost seeming to blend into each other in swirls of chaotic foggy brushstrokes.

His jaw was opened so that he could pant and his entire body trembled with the force of each breath he took. He was frozen in place and the color had drained so completely from his face that he looked almost ghost-like in complexion.

"What?" Yugi asked, eyes widening drastically in horror at his expression. He looked around frantically for a moment, frozen in place and unable to do anything more. The other was still completely statuesque safe those frame-wracking pants he continued to exhale. His head snapped around again, breathing roughly in response to the other's acute fear, and found his jaw clenching tightly as he struggled to comprehend. "W-what's wrong?"

The lycanthrope turned his gaze on him fully, staring in a disconnected way that made his skin crawl and his heart pound harder than ever. His lips pulled back, twisting upwards, and a snarl bubbled out of his throat and mixed in with something like a hideous whine of pain and terror. It curled upwards into something akin a scream, heaving his lungs with enough force to cause them both to flinch at the sound of it. Yugi was immediately frozen again, ice claiming his skeleton as he swallowed roughly and bit his tongue until it nearly bled.

Oh gods, was he hurt? He nearly bit his tongue in half in growing terror.

Why had he not checked before while they were still in the woods?

Why had he not considered doing it when he had had the chance to check him over completely?

He could have looked at each inch of flesh if he needed to. In that fight his face had been mangled and torn open, muzzle bleeding with strings of tendons hanging from his skin. He'd been covered in blood, his forelimbs' muscles and bones exposed in combat. His back leg had been ripped open as well if he remembered correctly, though he was not completely sure.

"Are you okay? Are you hurt?" he demanded sharply, voice lacing itself with panic. The red-eyed teen stared blankly, jaw still slack as he panted heavily and his body quivered with each breath. Something dark crept across his eyes, like a shadow drifting over his gaze, and then they began to grow clearer as if some kind of clarity had come to him. "Are you—?"

A hideous, long, low snarl split the air. Yugi flinched at the sound of its undertone, shaking his head as he backed up a step involuntarily. His stomach twisted violently and curled inwards as if it were attempting to collapse on itself. His mind scrambled, struggling to find the words to calm him some, and his mouth grew drier as he stared at the other's immense fear and failed to think of a single thing. He did not look as if he were dying and there was nothing to meet the eye that might suggest he needed help.

"If you calm down, I can look at your wounds and—"

The words seemed to have the opposite effect of what he wanted to achieve. Slowly the red-eyed teen narrowed his gaze, expression frosting over with ice, but the ominous glow was now three times as strong. The dangerous gleam burned into him as if searing through him and lighting his very core on fire, growing more hideous as his lips curled back further. A snarl was loosed before he could blink and he flinched as the other chomped his teeth violently in front of him.

Did he suddenly consider him a threat?

Yugi was no match for him if that was the newest idea he had come across. Being in front of his house did nothing for him, as the home field advantage seemed to be but a mere myth at the moment. The wolf could simply tear him to pieces before he so much as blinked. He would not even be able to open his mouth before the other eviscerated him and completely devoured his organs without a second thought.

There would, of course, be no witnesses. He realized now, as he noticed the light was still weak where it hit the other's eyes, that the winter was the lycanthrope's camouflage. The days were so much shorter and the nights longer, the sun too weak to offer true solace. No one was home anymore, having already left for work, and no one would bear witness to his murder.

The snarl rumbled and then lowered, growing increasingly deep as the seconds passed. His mouth opened and then closed again violently, making him tremble. He stepped back, horrified by the way the other snarled and snapped. His entire body was wired to spring forward, nearly lunging at him even in his frozen state. Yugi backed away again as the wolf snapped his teeth once more.

He lunged forward. The smaller teen fell backwards. The other turned on his heel. Yugi barely blinked before he was gone. He gawked after him. His mind stumbled to think of words. He opened and closed his mouth. Then he fell backwards against the cement again. He exhaled harshly and watched the white cloud that came with it.

He squeezed his eyes shut and sighed heavily. He had just fled and Yugi had no idea how to find him again. And if it wasn't for the fact that he suspected the other of having knowledge of this new lifestyle he would let it die. But he needed help and he would not let such an opportunity pass him by.

The wolf seemed like the only one willing to help him now that Valon seemed completely out of the realm of possibilities. Groaning in frustration, the small teen opened his eyes into slits and stared upwards. The blue of the sky, formerly blinding to him due to the rising sun, was now growing gray with gathering storm clouds. He nearly shivered with satisfaction at the sight of it.

For a moment he thought to lay there until the rain started. Then he would get up and go inside but anxiety pressed hard at his spine. He had no idea when his mom or grandpa might get up. And he needed to be prepared and far from disgusting in disappearance when they crossed paths.

Feeling sick to his stomach and lightheaded, he drew himself into a sitting position and groaned at the effort with which his back popped loudly. He groaned and bit his tongue until it nearly bled before blinking lazily and finally pulling himself to his feet.

The moment he unlocked the door and stepped into the house, he leaned against the wooden frame. Exhaustion weighted most of his body, his senses aching with the fatigue which plagued him so heavily. He tipped his head up, his scalp pressing against the glass and cooling his skin lightly for a moment. He strained his ears, trying to hear around his own breathing and the dim roar of his pulse. His stomach twitched and his mouth grew dry as he blinked slowly and frowned.

The beat of his own heart made his head pound slowly and his ears ached with the force of it. He blinked stupidly once and then narrowed his eyes faintly as he continued listening as keenly as he could. But his own body produced so much noise that he could not seem to get past it to catch any others in the house. The muscles ached and stung in the left side of his throat.

Slowly, his ears nearly ringing with the effort, he finally caught the sound of outside beats and thumps. There were slow, weak, and soft, but with such a steadiness that for a moment he feared they were failing. And then he found his thoughts circling around the fact that they must have still been asleep. He settled back more firmly, opening his eyes into narrow slits and staring into the dimly lit room of the registration area.

He frowned faintly, swallowing hard, and then sighed softly. He had been sure that they would be awake and waiting for him. He had expected them to have called the police. He had expected to have to wade through them to simply get to his own front door. He had, after all, failed to call them before the end of the festival.

He hadn't made plans with one of his friends to call them and say he was going to spend the night. He had no idea what it was that made them fall asleep when normally they would have still been freaking out. They would have easily been wide awake and waiting, maybe even coordinating teams for a search.

He shook his head and then tipped his head further up, running a hand through his hair even as he stared at the ceiling. One of his friends had to have covered for him. He breathed out roughly and nearly laughed at himself. Oh, thank the gods he had such good friends.

As he got to his feet again the idea was almost enough to make him sink to his knees on the stairs. He wanted almost to curl up there and close his eyes and sleep for hours. The relief made him warm all over, but it also chilled him to the bone somehow. Yugi had treated them so badly recently and they were proving to him just how gray they truly were in all actuality.

He closed his eyes again and then forced himself to shut the door behind him and start towards the upper staircase door. He stepped as lightly as he possibly could, applying his weight in small increments to keep the noise down. Several of the steps tended to creak loudly in certain areas, and navigation could take large amounts of concentration to allow someone to sneak around undetected.

His stomach growled as he stepped onto the final stair and started towards the kitchen. Immediately he paused, eyes widening drastically, and his mouth opened in shock as he looked over his shoulder towards the rooms behind him. He swallowed hard, watching the door and clenching his jaw for a brief moment before sighing softly and hoping the tension would leave his body.

His stomach gurgled, bubbling with hunger, and his mouth grew drier as he swallowed roughly and began to make his way into the kitchen finally. Small pangs rose from the bottom, sloshing towards the top in violent bubbles that burst with enough pain to make him flinch backwards. They pushed upwards and then back, alternating with enough force that he nearly stumbled.

Was this how the other had felt the entire time?

He had to have been staring just as much as Yugi was now—maybe even more so, at any rate. He frowned uncomfortably, narrowing his eyes into slits, and chewed his lip until blood filled his mouth.

Did lycanthropy make someone this hungry? He could never recall ever having had such a large appetite before. Or was it possible that his metabolism was simply acting up after the stress of the entire situation? Panic, he knew, took up a lot of energy, so he was not oblivious that it could be the cause of his sudden ravenousness.

Despite this thought, he was not so oblivious that he was deterred from the idea that either of them could walk out of their room at any moment and spot him. He halted in front of the fridge, swallowing hard before spinning on his heel and making a run for his room once more.

He did not so much as pause to shut the door as he began to hurry about stripping out of his clothes. The gray shirt he had been wearing was completely soaked down the front in a mass amount of blood. He shuddered, staring blankly at the blood-soaked fibers and feeling his head ring faintly as he blinked slowly.

He would end up either getting rid of it or washing it himself and trying to spend some time getting the blood out of it. He dropped his jeans quickly, hissing in pain as he breathed in roughly at the sensation of the fabrics scraping at his skin. There were no cuts, but it still made his flesh feel as if it were on fire as he blinked and looked at the two articles of clothing on the floor.

He snatched them up immediately, fear making his spine tighten for a moment, and then headed over to the hamper. He dug his way to the bottom of the pile he had accumulated, trembling with relief that he could cover them nicely without throwing in clean clothes.

He dropped the lid back and leaned against the wall for a moment, closing his eyes tightly as he relished in the beautiful chill the plaster offered him. He settled minutes later into an entirely different outfit, falling back against his mattress with a relieved sigh. His mom and grandpa were still fast asleep even as he blinked lazily up towards the ceiling and sighed softly again.

He sat up minutes later, looking over his new outfit of dark royal blue jeans and a black sweater with a small gray vest over it. Exhausted, the small teen leaned forward, contemplating his reflection in the body-length mirror, and narrowed his eyes as he took in his appearance. He definitely needed a shower—and he would do it before his mom or grandpa got the chance to see him—but it was relieving to be able to say to himself truthfully that he did not look like something that had been dragged through the mud for days on end.

But he made the mistake of tilting his head and looking towards his neck.

The wound was hideous enough that he nearly flinched back at the sight of it. It was not bleeding, thank the gods, but the severity of it was not shielded by the new growth of skin that had already mended together once more.

If he was ever squeamish he would have puked the moment he had looked upon it. He didn't even know if it was really the sight of it that was so terrible or the fact that it should have killed him that made it so horrible to see.

How had the other boy even managed to draw enough nerve to keep looking at it, let alone licking it in order to stimulate healing? He thought he might have fled rather than attempting to stay around so long.

He let his eyes slip over to the corner of his mirror and then looked into the further part of the reflective glass to take in the end of the closet. He hardly went in there unless it was absolutely necessary. His most often worn outfit was the school uniform, because he was there six days out of the week and because normally after school they went to the arcade.

On those days there was no reason for him to change clothes, as going home would take too long. If he helped with a surgery he was put in the medical scrubs and normally just threw on a pair of clothes he didn't really care for beneath them. The closet was really just used for the rare outfit he used to impress someone when his mom deemed it necessary for whatever reason.

And, hanging there in plain sight, as he had hoped, was the small, thin-looking scarf it was the only one he wore, deep black with a material almost like yarn but fuzzier. He wore it in the winter on colder days because it retained much more body heat than most would assume it could.

He snatched it, nearly taking the hunger with it, and wrapped it several times around his neck. The image in the mirror made his skin crawl for a moment but he shrugged it aside in order to make sure that none of his neck was visible beneath it. He would need to find a choker later instead, so that it didn't look as suspicious as it might if he walked around with it on at all times.

His mom would eventually turn on the heat and he'd have to take it off to avoid sweating buckets later. With that fact aside, however, it looked ridiculous either way. He had to wrap it around his neck more than four times to keep every bit of skin covered. He realized he could see a thin choker and cover the majority of the wound later, but for the moment, this would have to do.

Twenty minutes after the shower he took followed by digging through his drawers in search of a thinner choker that he might wear that wouldn't seem foolish in comparison to his outfit, the scarf was caught in a forkful of salad. It tugged and slid from where it had once been firm around his neck. He groaned and reached up, undoing it and listening hard for any sign that they were waking up, and then grit his teeth in frustration. As he went about tugging it out of the teeth of the fork and making his way to his room once more to make sure he still covered it, something caught his attention.

Dread crept through him with an icy touch like a snake slithering through his veins. His bones caught and held the tension that sprang within them. The skin along his neck tingled and burned, itching as the fabric rubbed against it. He tugged it away, horrified, and dropped it to the ground as he took a few tentative steps towards the mirror. He was frozen before the glass, eyes wide and mouth falling open into a small circle as he breathed in deeply.

The skin was shifting and molding. The flesh had grown bright red, irritated and flashing as if in protest, and his body froze in place once more. He shuddered, reaching up to touch the surface there, and heat surged through his fingers with such intensity he yelped and sprang backwards.

He dropped his hand away, hissing and shaking it out as he stared stupidly at his reflection. The heat swallowed the very nerve endings of his neck, tingling with such intensity that made him feel as if he had burned himself. He bit back a loud whimper, reaching up to bite his hand as violently as he dared, feeling dizzy and small as he continued looking.

The flesh, as red as it was, was slowly but steadily mending itself. A small stripe of white where the initial cut had been made was fading into a creamier color, almost the shade of his tone of skin. His head swam, staring at it blankly, and the harsh line of the wound seemed to be shrinking in its very size, even with the wound sealed as it was.

Watching this happen before his own eyes, he wished he could hide beneath a rock somewhere. He wanted nothing more than to have the earth swallow him whole so that he could hide away altogether. The reality of the entire situation bit at him so harshly that he felt he might rather die than have to deal with it all.

As the heat faded from his skin, he realized with horror that the entire thing seemed to have healed completely. He reached up, clawed at his skin, leaving long lines of bright pink that bordered a furious red, and looked for any outline he might find there. But, as the seconds passed and his diameter of inspection changed and increased to the whole of his neck, he realized it was gone.

The tissue when should have scarred, which should have been so hideous as to make one looking upon it sob in despair, was absolutely gone. Any hint of its existence had been wiped clean.

He laughed, a watery noise in his rising hysteria, and for a moment his eyes stung violently.

---

It was while he sat in the living room, watching a drama about hospitals, that he realized what it was that had altered his healing in the woods. The doctor had mentioned something about health, how it would kill the man if he continued eating cheeseburgers as he wanted. He had said something about cardiac arrest and clogged arteries and, as if summoned forth by the words, his mind had supplied the answer.

He had vomited before the Change had begun. And what he had been eating had been nothing that would have helped his health in the grand scheme of things. He took into account the fact that he had grown so stressed beforehand that he had not been eating enough as it was. When the festival had come about, the lack of substance had already begun to take its toll on him.

Within moments of the Change coming around, his body had been forced to buckle beneath the weight of it all. If not for the wolf, he would have unwittingly signed his own death wish. He would have bled out instead of having his skin pull itself together to reverse the wound as it lost its jagged edges of torn, serrated flesh.

The persistence the other wolf had bestowed upon healing him had been the only thing to save him. If he had slackened even slightly in his determination to heal his wound for him, he would have been the third body to be found in the woods.

Okay, so now that we all know it's Yami (which I'm like nine hundred percent everyone already knew that), the reason he's not being named at any point or introducing himself to Yugi at the moment is actually a huge plot point later in the story. So there's a reason for him not being called by name as of yet.

I'm hoping not to have anyone too confused playing the pronoun game later, but if it does get confusing, tell me and I'll go back and edit and work on it again to clear it up some more.