02. Growing Pains

After seeing my mother take her last breath and hearing her words I began to shed silent tears, at the time I didn't understand what she said and it sounded no different than any creature making a sound, but it was forever stored in my memory as all other memory after that,which I can recall with perfect recall and experience it like I am still in that exact moment of time. It wouldn't be until many years after that I will understand what she said, but in that moment I still cried because instinctually I knew I had lost something very precious, but I didn't dwell long on it I was now in a new environment which needed to be explored with my childlike curiosity and despite just being born I curiously had the body of an infant who had full functionality of movement so I looked like a one or two year old toddler. Observing my body I realized I was clearer in complexion than my mother which left me a bit sad as she was the most beautiful creature I had ever seen and also the most powerful, granted I had yet to meet any other creatures as they all seem to intinctly stay as far away from the area I was at. My skin tone was a light brown but not too fair, I had no idea how my face looked but would find out it was like one was looking at an angel, that is the only way I can describe myself after seeing it in the reflection of a pond while exploring the forest, my face took on the same slim regal look of my mother but there was a clear difference in eye color which was a bit disconcerting, my Scelra was Pitch Black instead of white,My Iris was Blood red and seemed to glow a bit when hit by light in the dark and my pupil was slitted but not as pronounced as my mother's in her full form. My body was very fit for an infant just born and I seem to be inna semi state between my mother's first and second form, this did not concern me except that under my shoulder blades was an irritating itch that I couldn't reach, seemed like something was shifting and growing there but unable to come out same for my tail Bone, My toes had clawlike nails but was somehow beautiful which was the same for the nails of my hand that was as clear as water but looked deadly, my teeth were still the same and was more beast like and clearly meant to rip apart prey but my canines were the sharpest. I spent a good few hours admiring myself in the pond until the darkness faded away and the forest seemed to come alive, at first I didn't realize the difference until it started to become more bright with colors, my vision was so great in the dark that there was no clear difference until the colors in the world came back with the appearance of the sun, this had me staring even longer than when I saw myself for the first time, then the sun disappeared again, this seemed extremely quick to my senses yet at the same time all creatures around me seemed extremely slow, I realized this when I got hungry and saw an elk, I didn't try to hide my presence but still came extremely close to it before it saw me, I could have grabbed unto it to how close I got to it, but wanted to see what would happen if It saw me, and unsurprisingly it ran but I could keep up with it even though I was barely walking at a fast pace, I kept myself at a short distance dodging the trees that pop up every now and then but they were easily avoided while I kept pace with the elk that was doing all it could to escape my toddler form.

Eventually I got bored of our game of tag and decided to catch it by speeding up to a slight jog, but doing this I overtook it instead and I ended up Infront it, the elk seeing me Infront decided to ram it's horns into me at it's full speed, I panicked a bit and froze taking the full brunt of it's charge, but instead of being hurt the elk broke it's neck and only managed to push me back a few inches,I didn't even recieve a scratch, seeing that I was frightened for nothing I began to laugh,so loud was my laughter it disturbed the entire forest but I didn't mind this made me more daring in my escapades thoughout the forest.

Over the coming months I realized I was growing at a rapid pace but it would come in small burst and was not as fast as my intelligence which grew considerably dispite my lack of language, with this growth of intelligence I came to realize I was hearing things not only from my ears but seem to be hearing things also in my mind, for now it was gibberish to me but every now and then I realize I would hear gibberish that sounded like the sounds of my mother but had different intonations, and so I headed in the direction I was hearing these noises, Ironically this lead me deeper into the forest than away from it, it would take me a few years to reach these voices, not because I couldn't reach it in a few days possibly a few hours, as with my speed came the realization I never get tired nor do I need to sleep although I could if I wanted; no the reason it took a few years is because I was in no rush, I had all I needed in the forest and instincts told me I should wait, So I decided not to rush and trust my intuition, it seemed to work well for the animals in the forest and base on my observation saved their lives 80% of the time at least if it's not me who is hunting them but that is because I have an unfair advantage. I didn't bother to count the rising or set of the Sun and Moon but if I wanted to I can recall all of them along with everything I saw heard or smelt in each day and night, but felt no need to, my growth spurts left me in pain sometimes, it's like my body was fighting within itself trying to decide what it wanted to become and yet to make up it's mind so every now and then my bones would shift and displace especially during the fullmoon but it also happened in the day though not as intence as when it's a fullmoon, seems the transition that wanted to take place my body was not yet ready for it, there were also other wierd changes like when I entered an extremely calm state so calm nothing around me bothered me and even the animals that usually stay far away from my precence treated me no different from the ground they walk on. My scelra would become white instead of black and my claws would retreat to something less threatening this state took a lot to hold though and felt unnatural and was only beneficial to me during the times when my body starts shifting and hurt, during that moment I can ease the pain and even stop my bones from moving around, so for a very long time I practice being in this calm state, so diminished was my presence that my prey would sometimes come and sleep right beside me, but I never disturbed them when they do, feels wrong to not hunt properly and takes away the thrill of it.

I realize that I am now much taller than when I began my journey and is about 4'9, my instincts on heading towards the noise I hear every now and then in my mind as dimmed a bit but isn't completely gone, which means while there will be danger I could get away if I choose to run. So I started to head towards the sounds my mother made on her last breath even though they are a bit different.