//------------------------------//
// Adolescent 
// Story: Wolf of the Everfree 
// by Undead Equestrian Writer 
//------------------------------//

The Grey Moon wolves hadn't expanded in the past year, still sitting at seven wolves in the warm cave. The pups were now one year old, and all of them had grown well, and as the winter months slowly wrapped up, the alpha prepared to go hunting with his pack. In the section of the Everfree forest that the wolves were in, most animals included small game, like rabbits, beavers, squirrels, and moles, but occasionally a deer would wander into the area. As the wolves walked out of the cave, the alpha and mother being slightly bigger than the pups, the seven wolf pack was ready to hunt for food, as the yellow coated pegasus watched with fascination. She had built small platforms in the trees surrounding the wolves' cave and sometimes helped the wolves by leading deers into the area where the alpha wolf hunted.
Fluttershy didn't like feeding other animals to carnivores, but purposely starving the wolves would not be a better choice. So she decided that trying to help the wolves survive was the best option, as such a beautiful creature shouldn't have to go extinct. She quietly followed after the hunting wolves in her tree pathways, watching with intent as the wolves killed a couple of rabbits. One wolf always peaked her attention when she watched them. The wolf she named Kai.



Kai pounced on a squirrel and gave an internal smile as he saw the small update informing him of having killed the squirrel. When Kai was born and first opened his eyes, his brain was overloaded with information, similar to that of a video games status screen, and he passed out from the overload. He got used to the menus quickly, as while Kai had the body and instincts of a wolf, he still had his intellect and memories of being human. He regained a bunch of his memories after being reborn, who he was, some of his life, but he forgot a good chunk of it on purpose. The menus reminded him of menus from games that he used to play, he had the experience, skills, levels, attributes, talents, and other information that was locked or pointless for him. His suspicion was confirmed by Invas in a dream, who confirmed the menus were the way his memories adapted his gift.
Having been in the cave until now, he never had much chance to raise his stats or levels, but now that he was out hunting he could fill his stomach and raise his level. He had gained a couple of skills playing with his siblings, two levels of pain resistance, a level of wolf fighting, and four levels of communication between wolves. At level three of wolf communication, he could understand what his kin could say in English when they would bark or growl or yip.
He snapped from his thoughts as he licked his chops clean of blood, as he left the stripped bones of the squirrel behind. Another menu popped up when he killed the squirrel, telling him he had gained a level of squirrel communication, letting him understand tones in squirrel squeaks. He kept hunting squirrels, while his kin kept hunting for moles and rabbits, and failing miserably as Kai caught his second squirrel.
"I don't understand, I just can't catch them," his only sister complained as she pulled her snout out of a mole hole and stared at Kai. "How are you able to catch them so easily?"
"I'm just better than you, that's how," Kai joked as he bit into the dead body of the squirrel at his feet. Though he wasn't able to continue his eating as he was tackled by his sister, causing them to roll over and tumble down a hill. The two landed at the bottom of the hill, as Kai shakily stood and looked at his sister, who was bleeding on her shoulder. "Are you okay!"
"Y-Yeah, I just hit a rock on the way down, I should be okay," she spoke softly as she slowly stood up, whimpering when she put weight on the injured leg. The smell of blood filled Kai's nose as he looked at his sister.
"Damnit, I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have teased you," Kai apologized as he looked at his sister, at a loss for what to do to help her. The sound of running paws could be heard behind Kai, as his father ran down the hill towards them.
"What happened, are you okay?" his father asked as he approached his sister. She nodded as she began to slowly make her way back up the hill, father right behind her as Kai looked down at the gash on his leg. The wound could be seen closing before his eyes as he began to follow after his family.



"How many times do I have to tell you to not tease your siblings, but help them!" Kai's father yelled at him, baring his death at him as Kai was cowering against a wall, his eyes full of fear as he looked at his father. "Your stupid tactic just caused your sister to be stuck in bed for a few months, which hinders us as a pack!"
"I-I'm sorry, I didn't want her to get hurt," Kai spoke softly, unhappiness soaked into his voice, as he ran past his father and out of the open cave entrance, the spring rain starting to come down. Kai didn't know where he was going, but he just didn't want to be near his family. This was the same feeling he felt before he jumped in his last life. Failure. "I love her more than anyone else, I never wanted her to get hurt."
Kai wallowed in his own sadness as he laid down against a tree. If he could cry, he would, but the best he could do was just feel sad. The rain fell around him, soaking his coat, matting it to his coat. He never made his father that upset, he would occasionally yell at him or scold him, but he would never bare his teeth at him. Kai hadn't felt like his father ever wanted to hurt except for right then.
Wallowing in his own sorrow, Kai eventually dozed off, falling into a light sleep as the rain helped ease him into a soft sleep. Ever since he was reborn as a wolf, he never had dreams anymore, it was typically just nothingness, but occasionally he would get a visit from a god or goddess if they wanted to tell Kai something, but sleep was still enjoyable. It just felt nice to be able to leave behind fears and feelings.
When Kai awoke, it was nearly nightfall, the sun just barely hidden behind the horizon. The rain had stopped long ago, as Kai's coat was mostly dry, though the ground was still muddy and wet. Kai slowly stood back up, his belly and paws coated in mud from laying on the ground. He would take a bath tomorrow, but tonight he needed to get home and apologize to his family, especially his father and sister. The smell of rainfall was still in the air, as mosquitos began to buzz around, looking for large puddles to lay their eggs. The sound of the forest was now silent, and the stories his mother had told him of the forest at night like the trees moving and killing and eating all manners of creatures, or stories where the very ground itself would eat young wolves who would never be seen again. The dimming light and the uneasy feeling Kai was feeling began to play tricks on his mind, as he could swear that the trees were shifting in the shadows, and when a branch snapped in the darkness, Kai wasn't sticking around to wait for an answer. He ran as fast as he could to the cave, fear rising in his heart as he began to beg that the trees didn't hurt him.
He smiled as he saw the entrance to his cave, his lungs beginning to burn as he collapsed at the entrance, but something was wrong. His family didn't approach him to check on him, and the smell of blood was thick in the air. He could nearly taste the copper as his stomach began to feel upset by the sight he knew he was going to see. In the cave, his family lay butchered and eaten, blood-covered nearly every surface of the cave, the smell of copper mixed with the bile that tickled the back of his throat. His brothers all lay dead by their mother, their corpses were torn apart and mangled, their attempts to protect her met with vain, as a large chunk of flesh was torn from her neck. His sister's corpse lay dead in the spot she had been resting on, her chest having been torn into when she was asleep. His father was laying against the wall, the animal who did this to his family tearing into his body as his father looked up at terrified Kai, his eyes wide in fear, sorrow, and panic as he looked at the scene.
"R-Run!" Kai looked at his father, whose eyes stared back at him, now glossy and cold as the life left them, as the beast eating him turned his head to the new food item that entered its eyesight. The massive manticore stared at the petrified Kai. The manticore let out a loud roar as it turned its body to the wolf, who swallowed the bile in his throat and turned and ran. His father told his pups of one place they could run if something were to go wrong. A cottage of a pony who helped them survive the first winter in the cave. Kai ran with all his might, forgetting all about the stories of the forest as sunlight completely left the world, the forest now barely illuminated by the moon.
He doesn't know how long he ran, but his entire body was on fire as saw the silhouette of the cottage he was told of by his father. He began to slow, his body too fatigued to keep going, he got within around 15 feet of the cottage, and collapsed, his body had given up. He wanted to cry, he wanted nothing more than to cry right now, but no matter how hard he tried, tears wouldn't form in his wolf eyes. So instead, he left out a loud, pain-filled howl into the night sky, before falling flat on the ground, the pain in his heart immeasurable as he laid his head down. He just lost everything he ever loved, and now he was alone again. The only thought running through his head was the same as in his previous life. Kill yourself.
A sound filled his ears, as several soft steps in the wet grass approached the worn-out wolf. He could barely muster enough energy to open his eyes to look at the approaching sound, but he saw it. A pony. They were wearing cute looking pajamas, as they looked down at the wolf, worry in their eyes. With that last glance, Kai passed out from exhaustion, entering a dreamless sleep.



Fluttershy didn't expect to have any animal visitors tonight, but when the howl filled with so much pain echoed into the night sky, she couldn't help but go check. She turned on a small light in her room and looked out at the forest, and there he was. Kai was laying on his side in her front yard, not moving. Fluttershy didn't even need to think, as she rushed downstairs and outside hurrying to the wolf's side. She slowed her approach as the wolf's ears perked up at her approach, she got closer and looked down at the wolf with a worry in her heart. He opened one eye, and in his eye, she saw it all. The pain, the sadness, the hatred. He looked back at her, but closed his eyes and fell asleep, leaving Fluttershy with one job. She ran inside and woke up several animals for help, all of them understanding when she explained the problem, and before long, the wolf was brought inside and laid on a small bed.