{"sf1_id":813964,"sf2_id":null,"title":"The Ancient World: All Alone","author":"AlphaColt","words":1617,"posted_at":"2015-02-01T09:18:00.000Z","tags":["Death","Female","Feral","Fox","Male","Story Series","Story game","Virtual Reality","Vixen","Wolf","Wolfess","blood","dying","kill","killing","teen"],"url":"https://fse.anthro.fr/stories/813964-the-ancient-world-all-alone","original_url":"https://sofurry.com/view/813964","image_url":"https://www.sofurryfiles.com/std/thumb?page=813964\u0026ext=.jpg","description":"","content":"\nThe Ancient World: All AloneIt's been a month...I think, and there is still no sign of my\nbrother or anyone else. The last intellectual being that I saw was that\nwolfess. I can still see her dying face in my mind, like it happened yesterday,\ntrying so desperately to breathe as the wolf crushed her throat. Those bright\ngreen eyes filled with terror as the life left from them. I keep thinking back\nto that day, wishing I could have helped her somehow, but what could I have\ndone? The beast was twice my size and would have killed me easily. There's a\nquestion I keep asking myself. Why? Why was this happening? Why did they do\nthis to us? My nerves are shot. I live in fear and this need for\nsocial interaction is driving me insane. I don't know how much more of this I can take.\nI've been walking in this forest through endless nights and haven't seen anyone,\nand that is what scares me. I can hear movements and sounds coming from all\naround me; my ears twitch back and forth. The leaves on the ground rustle, the\ntrees above me sway in the wind, branches fall to the ground, and twigs snap in\nthe darkness. The distant howls and eerie cries from whatever creature they\nbelong to sends chills down my spine and makes my fur stand on end. Maybe I'm\nbeing paranoid, but it feels like everything within a mile knows that I'm here;\ntheir eyes fixated on me, waiting to make a move, waiting for me to let my\nguard down. But I don't; I grip my makeshift spear tightly, ready for anything.\nDrudging through this vastness with little, and sometimes no\nsleep, has deranged my mind. I feel like I am becoming part of the forest,\nmoving silently and unnoticed as I use the stars to navigate. I eat from the\nsame fruit-bearing plants that the other creatures do. The darkness was eating\naway at me, turning me into a creature of the forest; a creature of the night. It\nwasn't until I had collapsed from exhaustion, drained of the little energy I\nhad left, that I saw the first sign of there being any sun to light up this\nstrange world. It was strange though. All the creatures in the forest seemed to\nhave disappeared as it rose slowly over the horizon. I could not keep my eyes\nopen. I had reached my absolute limit and fell into a deep sleep.I am not sure how long I had slept, but the sun was now\ndirectly above me, and when I awoke, I was in a better state of mind. I had my\nstrength back, so I took advantage of the day to gather food and make some\nbetter weapons. I constructed a knife from a sharp rock that I wedged in a\nbamboo looking plant and then wrapped it tightly around it with strips of my\nmangle shirt. I saw no more need for the ripped garment, so I took it off and\ntied it to my shorts; the only clothing I had left. As I moved through the forest during the day, it seemed\npeaceful; the beasts where nowhere to be found. That was ok with me, but the\nsun was moving quickly. I hurried to gather as much as I could before the\ndarkness fell. I had a new weapon, some strange fruit and berries that I was\nafraid to eat, but my hunger was stronger than my will to not. The rest that I didn't eat I wrapped in my shirt and tied it back to my shorts. As the sun\ndisappeared, I hid myself in some thick brush, fearful that the beasts would\nreturn and see me.The days here are very different. I am not sure how long the\ndarkness lasts, but even when the sun was out, it was still very distant and\ncold, but the dark grey fur on my vulpine body keeps me warm. My eyes have\nadjusted well to the darkness of the forest. At first I thought it was the\nstars that lit up the forest floor, but I had forgotten that I am now half fox.\nSurely my vision has been heightened.The forest was alive again and I was right back where I was;\nalone and terrified. As time passes by, I can feel something changing inside\nme. A switch has been flipped and I can't control myself. My mind is being\ntwisted and deranged, putting thoughts there that aren't mine. The darkness has\novercome me. I am now one of them.With my senses heightened, and my breathing controlled, I\nfeel in tune with my surroundings. I don't care anymore. My movements have\nchanged from my usual rogue-like self, hiding in the shadows, to that of a\ngiant, stomping around the forest. This alerts the creatures around me and out\nof the corner of my eye I see movement. A creature about half my size lunges at\nme, but I was faster. I took the spear in my hand, and as it neared me, I\nthrust it into and out the back of his neck. While still in\nmotion, I drove the spear into the ground, took my knife in paw and stabbed the\ncreature over and over until I was covered in its blood. The creature, which\nresembled that of a panther, lay still on the ground, unmoving. I started hyperventilating\nand as I look back at the creature, a wolfess lay there instead. I dropped my\nknife and fell atop of her with my head on her stomach, screaming and crying.\"I'M SORRY!\" I yell, \"I COULDN\"T SAVE YOU!...\", sobbing\nbetween each breathe. I could still hear her screams in my head. They were\ngetting louder. So loud in fact, I could discern the direction it was coming\nfrom. When I came to my senses, the wolfess disappeared and the beast was there\ninstead.\"Nooo!\" my ears perked up and twitched to the direction of\nthe voice, \"Leave me alone you bastards!\"It was a female voice and it wasn't too far off. I gathered\nmy spear and knife, and took off towards the sound of her voice. Quietly, I ran\nthrough the forest. As I jumped over a creek bed, I came to an area that wasn't\novergrown with vegetation. It was darker here; only the trees remain, spaced\nout every few yards. I could hear running; a biped. The footsteps were loud and\nfamiliar. Then I saw her; a vixen running at full speed with her fluffy tail\nstreamlining behind her, twitching as to keep balance to dodge the incoming\ntrees. Her attackers were at her heel. A wolf pack of three were howling and\nbarking as they ran after her. They weren't as big as the wolf that I had\nencountered before. I ran after them, being careful not to make too much noise. I ran\nnext to the creek bed, parallel with the vixen. She was slowing down. Fatigue had\nbested her. The wolf lunged at her and grabbed her ankle, pulling her to the\nground. It then jumped on top of the vixen as she screamed. I was at a full\nsprint when I let loose my spear. When it made contact with the wolf, it\nimpaled the beast through its stomach with such force, that it knocked the wolf\noff of her and sent it sliding. I kept running and stopped myself as I slid to\nretrieve my spear. The other two wolves stood still as they assessed this new\nthreat. Their bright yellow eyes now fixated on me. Their fur was as dark as\nthe shadows of the trees.As I looked back at the vixen, her blue eyes were wide with\nfear. She gasped and jumped back a bit from seeing my blood-covered face. I\nturned back to the wolves and they had inched themselves closer. As I took a\nstep forward, they took a step back.  \"COME ON!!!\" I yelled as I took another step forward.This startled one of the wolves. It yelped and bumped into\nthe other, creating panic between them. The other wolf jumped forward, lunging\nhimself at me. With anticipation, I lunged forward as well, meeting him halfway\nas I drove my spear down its throat, impaling the beast. The other wolf was close behind him. I\ndropped the spear and drew my knife just as the wolf latched on to my shoulder,\nbut not before burying the blade deep into its heart.I growled in pain as the wolf fell to the ground, releasing\nits jaws from my shoulder. I fell to my knees in pain, exhausted from the\nfighting and running, but I mustered the strength to free my bloodied knife and\nspear from the two wolves and stood back up to tend to the injured vixen. She\nwas still stunned and scared. As I took a few steps towards her, she tried to\nmove back, but the pain in her leg prevented her.\"Whoa whoa...\" I said in my most calming voice, \"I'm not going\nto hurt you.\"She said nothing as she looked me up and down. Then I realized\nhow I must look to her. \"Listen. I may look like one of them, but I am\ncertainly not. Please, let me look at your leg.\"She gulped some air, and then finally nodded. As I walked\ntowards the vixen and kneeled down beside her, I stopped to meet her eyes. They\nwere dark blue with flecks of green. They were enticing. But there was\nsomething different about them. They seemed almost familiar. Then it donned on\nme.I tilted my head sideways, \"Lilura?\"Her eyes opened wide as she gasped, \"Link?\""}