The first breath is always the hardest.
Just taking in the air in lungs that had long collapsed is already difficult as it is. The pain that follows once they are filled can never truly be described.
What follows is the coughing fit, as what was not supposed to follow the air is spit back out. It's enough to make ones stomach wretch in response.
Out of instinct, the body forces itself to roll of of the back to help spit bile and mucus out. Then, the eyes open.
Through tear filled eyes, the sight of the forest and the night sky could be seen. Plants both familiar and unknown could be seen as soon as they looked around.
"The f-fu-MMM" The woman tried to speak, only to suddenly climb to their hands and knees and throw up.
It took several moments for her to fall onto her butt and hold her furred chest. Wait, furred?
"The hell...?" The woman panted softly, looking down at their body.
Even in the pitch black of the night, she could clearly see the brown fur that covered her long fingers that tipped with cruel looking claws. Just by looking, her long legs seemed much taller than what she was used to. Her toes also held similar claws at the tip. The fur that lined her body felt rough to the touch, like that of a dog who hasn't been bathed in months.
After noticing her body was thin enough to see her ribs under the shredded cloth that surrounded her, she heard a familiar sound a small distance away.
"H-hello?" She called out, crawling to her feet. The new height felt staggering, but she ignored it as she saw the source of the choking.
"Just keep breathing!" She shouted as she bolted towards the similar wolfish creature that she was.
After a few stumbles, she finally fell to her knees right next to them and overlooked their body. Their fingers were clawing at their throat where a leather band was tightened. Their wolfish maw was cracking open for air and dim yellow eyes bulged in pain.
Using her claws, she dug between the leather and fur and pulled hard. Thankfully, her claws were sharp enough to clip the edge as her fingers slipped to send the leather band flying away. Immediately, the sound of air rushing into the person's maw was heard, followed by a coughing fit.
"Sit up and breathe." She ordered as she helped them up to pat their back. "Slow breaths, nice and easy. You alright?"
"I'm 'right love." The man groaned in a hoarse voice, placing his head between his knees and giving a sigh.
The woman's eyes flew wide open and her head cocked back a bit at the response. "Wait, Carter? Don't tell me this is you?"
"You know...wait, Captain?" Flabbergasted at first, the man then gave the woman a happy smirk. "Ya look uglier than I 'member."
"Quiet you." The woman chuckled, smacking the man on the back of the head. It was then that she stood up and looked around. "Shit, check for others. They might be struggling as well."
"Yes Ma'am." Carter immediately found his footing to begin his search. It only took a moment before he stumbled and held his stomach. "Christ, this mah body?."
"Worry about that later. I hear someone over here." She replied quickly before rushing over.
After a few long steps, she was able to get somewhat used to the new speed her body was giving her. What irked her was how weak she felt in general.
These thoughts were quickly dismissed as she got closer to the sounds of gagging and throwing up. Rushing through the trees, she realized her hearing was much better than before. This new body was simply amazing.
"Sound off!" She called out as she approached the sources, Carter quickly following behind.
"A-Armstrong, here!"
"Jenson, present."
"Paltov, present."
"Good to see you all are alive." She panted, holding a tree to steady herself.
"Captain? Holy hell, did you turn into a werewolf?" Jenson asked in shock, scooting back quickly.
"Says you." Carter chuckled through his heavy breathing.
"Any idea where we are, Captain Nilson?" Paltov asked while slowly standing up.
"We can worry about that later. Armstrong, stay here and see about getting us a fire going. Paltov, find anything that's edible. The rest of us will go out and see if there are any other survivors." Nilson nodded to the rest before turning and rushing into the woods.
"That's our Captain for you." Armstrong sighed as he slowly stood up. "Even with a new body, it's always mission first."
"That's why we've always followed her, private. Besides, shit's gone so far south that I don't even recognize half of the plants here." Paltov clicked her tongue as she walked over to a tree to place her white furred palm on it. "Safe to say, people, we're in over our heads here."
"Not to mention, we're naked and have no weapons. Well, except for this." Jenson sighed, tossing Armstrong a knife that was held in a rough made leather sheathe. "You heard the Captain. Let's move."
With that, Armstrong began to pace around the area looking for dried sticks and loose leaves. Paltov stayed close to the place where they would be making camp, observing the plants with a quizzical eye.
Carter was the first one to find other survivors. After making sure they were alright, he lead the two back to the makeshift camp. Paltov made it back around the same time after finding a bushel of berries.
After an our had passed, Nilson and Jenson came back with a few more survivors. Carter came back last with his head hung low, holding a metal collar in his hand.
"I found this on one of us. They had long choked out before I got there." He clicked his tongue as he tossed it next to the fire for others to see. "This damned thing wasn't even bolted together. Just clapsed on with a lock."
"That's the same one found on the bodies next to O'Hara here." Jenson sighed as he knelt to look at it.
"Any ideas, sir?" Paltov asked Nilson with a cocked brow.
Nilson was Ieaning against a tree, arms folded over her chest and eyeing the collar. After a moments, she looked at the rest of the crew and sighed. Almost everyone here was apart of her platoon back in the past. Each soldier was carefully selected by her as being the best in their fields despite being in the military.
Now they were, as Jenson out it, Werewolves. No cloth could be seen on their furred bodies, yet none looked cold in the slightest despite seeing their breathes faintly in the air.
"Well, there's good news and bad news, as well as more good news. Which do you wanna hear first?" Nilson asked as she walked towards the fire.
"Bad" Everyone else answered unanimously.
Nilson couldn't help but smirk, shaking her head as she squatted by the fire. "The bad news is, my hobby has come to life."
"Really?" Carter asked sarcastically, making Paltov come up to smack him on the head.
"What makes you so sure?" Summers, one of the survivors that was found recently, asked with a glare, hugging her chest.
"First of all, that knife Armstrong has. Everyone here can clearly see that it was not factory made. Not only that, it looks like shit compared to what Jenson makes in his spare time." Nilson then nodded to Jenson, making him sigh.
"She's right. I shit out better knifes while drunk. This one was clearly made by a child. Not only that, the collar itself looks like it was forged over a long period of time." Jenson explained while gesturing to the scrapped metal.
"Secondly, the fact that Paltov can't recognize a lot of the plants here."
"Actually, Captain." Paltov spoke up, gesturing to the tree next to Carter. "I apparently recognize that tree, even though I have never seen it before. It's a Quelk Tree, used to make staffs and other magic talismans. How I know that, I'm not sure."
"That brings me to one of my good news. It seems everyone here has some sort of inherited memory from the person this body belonged to."