Getting my bearings in this place was a real pain in the ass. Which sun should I follow? Okay, I don't know why, but I had a clear sense of where I needed to go—apparently the woman was guiding me. The freezing air barely bothered me, though the steam puffing from my mouth when I breathed proved it was really below zero here. Yeah, my throat still ached, but I wasn't cold. Trudging forward exhausted, I tried to piece together all these scattered puzzle pieces into one picture, but nothing fit. Memories were slowly vanishing, like old photographs turning to ash in flames: images and shadows—that's all that was left of them. I couldn't remember my name anymore, only that I was a soldier. No family... never had one. Mother ditched me, father was a drunk loser. I remember the orphanage... orphanage... Damn it, someone's wiping my memories clean, leaving only military skills! Wait, this isn't right. I'm not just some killing machine.
"Aren't you?"
Shut up!
Yeah, definitely, she's in my head. Get a grip! I was killed, and... I think all this talk about souls turned out to be pretty damn real. You'd figure my little soul should've gone to the pearly gates, but this witch hijacked it.
Werewolf.
I looked at my claws again, caked with dried blood. In our world werewolves were called, I think, half-human-half-wolf, fairy tale creatures I'd only seen in pictures in old books and movies. If a heart can beat outside the chest, then I guess fairy tales are real life here. Those "hunters" have prosthetics that blow our technology out of the water, but at the same time fall short... A different branch of human development?
I growled into the emptiness. My head felt like it was boiling over, again I wanted to slug someone, kill someone. The wounds on my chest had completely healed. Good thing this dog body at least has decent regeneration.
I stopped dead. A breeze, footprint tracks in the snow, a smell. What a mouth-watering smell... My stomach rumbled. I clenched the fangs that had replaced my teeth. An unnaturally heavy flow of drool poured in a stream onto the clean snow.
Where? What is that smell?
Pressing close to the ground, I quickly sniffed around, moving my head like a bloodhound. I was tracking, hunting for the source. Nearby, real close. I didn't even notice when I dropped to all fours again. This had to be something delicious. How I wanted to eat! Where did this hunger even come from? I burst out from behind a tree... and the thrill of the hunt turned to horror. A man was staring at me, a human being. If not for the rifle in his hands with more of those gears, he could pass for a simple forest ranger from my world. Jacket with a fur collar, hat with big floppy "ears," red nose—and pure terror in his eyes. His lips shook as much as his hands. I could smell sweet blood pumping through his veins, how tender meat was just begging to be devoured... I took a few steps forward, using my hands for balance.
"P-p-p-p..." he stammered, and the rifle shakily rose to his hip. The double barrel stared right at me.
One lunge, I need just one lunge. One swipe. I tensed my leg muscles...
No! Damn it! No! Eat people?! Stop, can't! Run, man, get the hell out of here! I need to scare him off!
My angry and drawn-out roar made the stranger jerk the trigger, and the shot went wild. Are you completely nuts?! Run away!
Jumping up, I clawed the tree with everything I had. My claws felt the bark's resistance, but still left a huge gash on the trunk. Nearly tripping over himself, the forester finally started running... how painfully slow he's moving... and those massive snowdrifts aren't helping. I need to somehow kill his scent, I need to eat. Come on, wolf nose! What, is there nothing in this forest except human meat?
I closed my eyes. My nose still caught the smell of sweet blood, the smell of human.
More, find more!
I was choking on spit. A thin trail of scent, like a lifeline, pulled my body along. Again my mind went on autopilot. Whatever it was, it's moving. Please, don't let it be human!
Under heavy breathing and powerful lunges I spotted a couple yards away...
A deer? Yes!
Closing the distance, it wasn't even a chase. How fast can I move? Unable to stop in time, I literally bulldozed the poor animal, snapping its legs. Food! Food! Food!
Opening my jaws to taste the meat I craved, I stopped again... The terrified gaze of the young deer was aimed straight at me. Breathing rapidly, the animal tried to move, but broken legs are a death sentence.
My trembling hand ran over the unusual fur. Where I come from, deer don't have markings like this. Black patterns wove across the white hide, looking like suns with twisted rays. With my palm I covered the wild, terror-filled eyes of the dying beast. With my free hand I ended its life with one precise blow. Instincts took over, and saying to hell with everything, piece by piece, I started devouring the raw meat. And while I fed myself, only one thought spun in my head: "I won't become a monster..."
If this body wants to eat meat to survive, then I'll eat meat. But I won't be some soulless animal that only follows its urges. No! You hear me? You picked the wrong guy!
A chunk of bloody flesh fell from my jaws and, along with a heavy sigh, a cloud of steam escaped. It drifted away to the treetops. I need answers. Why am I here? What's all this for? But there were no answers—no distant scream, no quiet whisper. Only the mangled carcass and me, wiping my jaw on my own black fur. If you sniff carefully, you can tell how human differs from beast.
The urge to chase the man was gone, good. Only the invisible compass points exactly where that "lucky bastard" ran. Are you mocking me?
I let out another heavy sigh.
The sun seems to be crawling toward sunset; it should be easier at night, right? Plus a whole army of armed thugs probably really wants to settle the score with the killer of their buddies. Can't blame them. But I'm not planning to surrender either.
With a noticeable boost of strength and energy I continued the journey, following the invisible guide. At least it was encouraging that the forest looked like a forest. Its pleasant smells gradually pushed out the metallic taste of blood from my nostrils. In the distance I could hear some birds chirping, under my heavy footsteps snow crunched satisfyingly, and because of this all the small critters that for some reason hadn't hidden from the snow scattered long before I got close. Old trees, like toy soldiers, stood motionless in formation. And I felt only one desire—to drop to all four paws.
Yeah, calm down. When I don't need to run, I'll walk on two legs... Like people... Damn.
About twenty minutes later the silence was finally broken:
"Wolf..."
This time I reacted more calmly, stopped. I need to listen.
"I'm still very weak. The village you're heading to isn't your final destination..."
"Then why?"
"I... I must show you. You'll understand a lot by seeing this..."
"You promised to explain everything."
"I can't. If fighting starts again, I'll need energy to help you. Sorry... wolf."
She left. How does this even work? Damn it, I ate her heart, and...
I scratched behind my ear with my claws. To hell with it! Maybe... maybe I just need to say "thanks." Did some magic really protect me from that sound cannon and suck the poison from my wound? Okay, let's see what's so special about this village. I even found the strength to bare my teeth in what might pass for a grin. No, really, this is actually pretty funny, damn it. Different body; possibly different world. And I'm still blindly following someone else's orders. Ha!
Snow crunched under my paws. I wonder, if needed, do they have group therapy sessions for werewolves here? And I still remember that garbage, huh? Like they say, bad stuff always sticks better than good. Though I don't have that many good memories to begin with. Enemy dead and you're still breathing—does that count as good?
While my old consciousness still hangs around, I already have a few unspoken rules... First—don't eat people. Second—kill animals only when hungry. Yeah, it's not much, but I think it's enough to stay myself for now.
I stopped.
Third rule—don't forget about home? Do I even need it? After all, seems like I died, but maybe there's a way back?
Hmm, pointless to think about it now, the threat of a bullet to the head is still the biggest problem.
After a short walk my nose tingled again with the smell of human flesh... Looks like the village is close.
I took a deep breath. Good, smells tasty, but there's no wild craving anymore.
The sun crawled faster toward the horizon. Is it normal that the gray star is still sitting there? Does night even happen here?
As if hearing my thoughts, nature itself showed me how it works when I came out to a small clearing. In the last rays I made out several houses. Again, everything looked pretty normal. Wooden houses, smoke curling from chimneys, I can already see people... No, there's a whole crowd there, everyone's gathering around... Hmm, looks like there's a scarecrow or fence posts, can't tell from here. Okay, let's get a closer look, however pointless it might be.
The gray sun gradually dimmed, and the world was covered with the familiar night blanket. Staying low to the ground, I tried to move fast and quiet. Here's a small fence. Someone's garden—naturally buried under a mountain of snow, no one in the windows, it seems. The big crowd of people is getting closer, I heard angry shouts, curses... crying? What's going on there?
"Look, wolf... This is... our world." The sadness in that whisper made me feel cosmic loneliness.
Hiding in deep shadow, I carefully peered out from behind the last fence... I couldn't help but squint from the bright light. Fire? People set something ablaze. I studied the center of the crowd carefully... If I had eyebrows in the usual sense, they would've shot up to my hairline from surprise right now. What I saw was... This is insane. What the hell is happening here?