The fog pressed around the ruins like a living thing. Renkai padded carefully along the moss-covered stones, tail low but twitching with tension. Hunger had been sated, wounds had healed, and for the first time in weeks, he felt… different.
It began as a strange awareness. A tingling in his paws, a warmth along his spine, like the forest itself was humming through him. He stopped and sniffed the air. The fog seemed denser, heavier, but also… softer, almost welcoming.
He pressed a paw to the ground, and it felt more alive than ever before. Every stone, every root, every fallen leaf seemed to vibrate with hidden energy.
And then — almost by accident — he shifted.
It started in his limbs. His paws lengthened, his body stretched upward, bones reshaping themselves. He let out a startled yip — but when he opened his eyes, the forest looked different. Taller. Clearer. More real.
