I take a second to study the display in front of me. Letting out a soft sight I wave my hand through to dismiss the projection like display and continue walking mindlessly towards the forest, hoping maybe I could find someone who could help me not be so lost.

“No stats, No levels, nor skills or talents…..Milas really left me hanging dry here didn’t he?”

I figure there’s no use in complaining and decide to just enjoy the change in scenery and have a pleasant walk. I’m not from a large city by any means but just being out here with nothing but nature is a nice change of pace. I end up zoning out and getting absorbed in the scenery not noticing I was coming up on a hump on the ground or a small creature moving in the grass behind me. Due to my lack of situational awareness I end up tripping over the lump in front of me and eat dirt.

“What the..?”

I cough out the dirt in my mouth and roll over to take a look at the cause of my unsightly situation. Angry at first I soon feel bad since the thing that caused the fall was in much worse shape than I was.

“Poor animal…”

The creature in front of me is about the size of a dire wolf from the old days back on earth only the paws are the size of my face and it has fang protruding down and reaching past the bottom of its chin. It’s obvious that the best in front has just recently lost a fight due to its singed fur and half of its right front paw is missing.

Concerned about the animal I reach forward to see if it’s still breathing and alive, but before I could tough a single hair I hear a small bark from the grass across from me and I get charged at and pounced on by a little ball of fluff, not much bigger than month old child.

Continuing to stand on my chest the little pup growls at me while staring at me with his bright green eyes. Luckily for me he’s still young enough to where his claws haven’t fully grown in and his fangs barely go past his lips. I notice while observing him there’s wet streaks beneath his eyes and he’s trembling slightly, all the while still protecting what I’m assuming now to be his mother.

“It’s okay little guy, I’m not going to hurt your momma.”

I lay back and put my hands flat while smiling gently at him to try and ease him and show I’m not a threat or danger to him or his injured mother. It appears to work since not long after he gets off me and goes back to his mother’s body, nuzzling her head trying to get a response from her. I feel my heart ache a little bit as I sit up again and watch from a distance. I can hear small whimpers as the pup sits down looking at his mother.

“I'm sorry little buddy.”

Slowly I reach out and gently pet the little pup, not really knowing what to do at the moment. I decide he just needs a second and to be with someone who could be considered a friend at the moment.

[System: Title acquired – Friend of the Black-Star Wolf]

Black-star wolf huh, I guess little buddy really is a wolf creature. But I don’t see any star on him?

Because I stopped petting him so suddenly he turns and looks at me curious as to why. I smile at him and dismiss the notification after making sure the title is active.

“Friend of a wolf pup huh?” I scratch between his ears gently. “I can live with that.”

The pup closes his eyes in kind of a look of comfort when I scratch him so I keep doing it for a little bit while I look once again at the mother. I can’t just leave her here. I look back at the pup who’s moved closer to be for more pets and scratches. And I defiantly can’t leave this little guy alone. He’ll end up dead within a week if I do. Getting the feeling as if someone is watching me I take a look around but I don’t see anything or any movement in the grass, but as I come back to the mother I notice her eyes are open and aimed directly at me. I don’t know how long she’s been watching but she’s not showing any signs of being hostile or on edge because of me being here or petting her pup. But I can tell just the effort of keeping her eyes open pain her, she won’t last long.

“Don’t worry momma bird. Your pups in safe hands, I won’t let anything bad happen to him. You can rest easy and leave him to me.” I tell these words to her softly as I move the pup beside his mother’s body so he can be with her for the last moments. Not wanting to intrude on them I give them space and slowly start to dig a shallow grave with my hands. Luckily for me the ground here is soft enough I won’t need any tools if it’s just the surface layer.

“Arwooo...”

Hearing the little pups howl I turn around to catch the mothers last look. Seeming to use the last of her strength she moves her head just a bit, in a kind of nod towards my direction and closes her eyes with a final exhale of breath. The pup howls once more and lowers his head. I reach out and softly give the pup a pat on the head.

“You’ll be okay little buddy, I’ll take care of ya.”

I decide to give him a bit more time before I move the mother’s body to the shallow grave. He may be a animal but they still need time to mourn their losses.

After a little bit he nudges my thigh with his nose and looks at me.

“You ready boy?”

The pup looks at me then the grave and moves to the side, as if he already knows what going to happen and agrees to it.

“Smart pup. I’ll be gentle with her.”

It only takes a moment to move the body to the grave and before I cover her with the dirt the pup comes over to take one last look at his mother. He uses a paw to push a small pile of dirt in the grave as a final goodbye. After he moves to the side I finish filling the grave forming it to a neat oval of raised dirt.

It's not a deep one but it’ll have to do for what I have, and it’s getting dark so I can’t spend much more time here. I need to find people…or at least a place to sleep for the night.

While still in thought I start to stand up and stretch, I’ve been crouched and sitting for a little while now so I'm a bit stiff. Thinking It's about time to move I go to get the pup and start walking, but the moment I turn towards him he’s up and poised to attack facing the grass patch across the grave from us.