1 Introductions

Clicking echoes through the wind, and carrying with it an unusual odor foreign to the nearby residents. A brown wolf rouses gently in his slumber by the noise, sounding more and more distant as he drifts off repeatedly in and out of sound and soundless. It is only when a voice calls to him by name does the brown wolf wake with a start. Radiant beams of sunlight enhance the lush woodland grove surrounding him in his wake. And for a moment, all is calm as the beauty before the brown wolf seizes his racing heartbeat. Then a realization dawns on him, leaving his heart to sink. Eyes, the color of damp moss on bark, stare bewildering at every shade of greenery covering the landscape.

It had been winter before, moments ago even as the cold still bites at his skin. Panic strikes through his chest like a blade of frost, then fades. The warmth from the sun's heat is snuffing out the cold now, along with the memory of winter. It was a memory he was trying to remember, but it dissolves all too quickly from his mind.

Lifting himself, he goes to stand upright, but a sharp pain caches the brown wolf off guard, and he stumbles. A strange sound plays short from his mouth, causing his heartbeat to escalate. The pain flares up from his right arm, specifically nearest to his wrist, and horror overcomes him.

'Wolf paws?' His mind shrieks. Another strange sound eludes him, leaving his eyes to widen in response. It sounded like a yip, a doglike sound, a wolf cry, and it came from his own throat.

Immediately the brown wolf tries to speak while glancing down at himself petrified. Instead of a scream, all that departs from his throat and through his teeth is that of sharp whaling and whining.

"No-no! Wait, calm down," a gentle feminine voice says. "Gather yourself. It's going to be alright."

The brown wolf whips his head around in alarm, only to find a grey-colored she-wolf standing at the edge of the small woodland grove. Only her face and neck are shown through the brush while the rest of her is hidden.

Witnessing such a beast conversing in human speech sends the brown wolf into a full-blown panic. Yet his own words became muffles of nothing but wolf language overlapping. Every yowl, bark, and whine replaces a thought he tries to speak out loud. And the lack of communication only makes his situation especially worse.

"Deep breaths, it's going to be alright," she says again softly, attempting to sound reassuring. How smooth her speech sounds in the jaws of a wolf feels wrong. It's as if the wolf had devoured the woman speaking, but the wolf spoke for her instead kind of wrong. The she-wolf takes two steps forward, becoming nearly fully visible to the brown wolf struggling on the ground to get as far away from her as he possibly can manage. She pauses with one paw frozen in mid-step.

Despite feeling hurt by his actions, the she-wolf puts on a small smile and continues calmly, "It's always difficult to speak human words with a mouth full of wolf teeth, but continuing to panic like that will only have you speaking in wolf tongue. If you calm down now, I can help you form the words you wish to speak. It'll get easier after, I promise."

The brown wolf stares at her. His thoughts press densely with questions perhaps she can only answer. But how? Who is she and where is here? So many questions clogging his throat, it's useless to deny it. He's bound to the she-wolf's mercy, with who else to help him? Who else? So, he tries calming down by taking gradual deep breaths. Once the she-wolf notices this she speaks to him again just as gently as before.

"So, this is going to seem a bit weird, but think like a human and how you would speak as one. Like, for example. Remember how your tongue moved with every sound of a letter that reached your lips and try saying a word. Start small and work your way from there."

A curl from his lips, unintentionally exposing teeth following a huff, the brown wolf thinks, 'How in the bloody hell does that reckon to make any sort of sense?'

One of the she-wolf's ears twitches slightly, twisting back as if listening before turning her attention elsewhere.

While doing so she adds, "It only works if you are calm. Any outburst of high emotion will send you spiraling into a fit of barks and growls rather than of spoken words."

Shyly her gaze falls back onto the brown wolf with an unclear gaze, "Maybe," she murmurs, "maybe we can start with names? I have a simple name that's easy to say if you'd like to hear it?"

He doesn't even attempt to show any signs of approval. A stubborn trait no doubt, but the idea of giving up his name to possibly a witch or demon that could do unspeakable things to him made him reluctant to do so. Instead, he watches her very movements cautiously.

She gulps nervously, "I am called Kate."

Kate. He's never heard of a witch bearing the name Kate, but then again he's heard stories of demons taking the form of wild beasts such as bears, boars, and wolves. They liked to play games with their victims, impossible riddles, tainted offerings, and lascivious illusions to name a few. But in those stories, the demons held an ominous gaze as green as sin. He stares at her for a moment longer, seemingly deep in thought until heaving a lengthy sigh. He needs answers, and in order to get them, he'll have to communicate. Licking his lips and teeth, trying to get used to the way his maw feels, the brown wolf lowers his jaw steadily. In a way, one could say the brown wolf was smiling as he attempts to mimic Kate's name. To his astonishment, after a few Kah sounds the name comes out as smoothly as warm buttermilk and becomes easier to repeat. The only odd thing that came from speaking her name was how his voice sounded. It appeared a lot rougher than he remembered it sounding.

"There you go! See? That wasn't so hard. Well, now you know my name, so, " Kate trails off somewhat avoiding eye contact, but the brown wolf knew what she wanted to ask. A name. His name. It took him a moment excessively long to remember it but when the word finally came to the surface, he plays out the sounds of each letter in his head while pretending to be already saying them through his maw. Recognizing how simple it had been to repeat Kate's name, he voices his own with a little more confidence, even though it sounds even stranger this time.

"Eee-than, " he says softly to himself before swallowing.

"Ethan, " he repeats, this time loud enough and understandable for Kate to hear.

"Mm-eye... my nay-em is Ethan." Strange, Ethan thinks, as talking through the jaws of a wolf feels unnatural, yet it comes across as second nature. A brief thought passes over Ethan's mind, thinking if he, as a wolf, and this she-wolf could converse in human speech, what other animals are capable of the same language? No! Such a thought is absurd. Perhaps the most logical theory is that he is dreaming. Ethan will soon wake back in his warm bed to the smell of cedarwood crackling as it burns in the fireplace. Rich scents of pumpkin spices, cinnamon buns, apples, and cranberries suddenly fill his thoughts and make both his mouth and eyes water. It had been so long since he tasted her festive sweets.

"Hmm," she hums, breaking Ethan from his thoughts just barely. "Ethan is a nice name. It sure has a better ring to it than Kate."

Kate's tail wags jovially for a quick moment as her eyes fall onto his maw seeping with a clear liquid. "Are you hungry? You're drooling a lot." Then her eyes catch the tears clouding his own and her mood falters limply with sorrow.

They fall quiet for a bit.

"There's a village not too far from here, and a girl there that knows me well. I'm sure she'll allow us to stay the night. The woods out here are pretty scary at night." Kate mumbles suddenly, her tone differing drastically.

Ethan takes notice and wonders, 'What could frighten a wolf capable of speech? Any man would believe that animal the devil if words happened to spill out from its maw. Though, her eyes are nothing like the devil's unless of course, his are deep pools of blue instead of hellfire.'