I didn't understand it at first. It was confusing. I had never understood 'language' before, so when I could see and hear patterns that I couldn't see before, it was confusing. My head hurt.

Though I didn't understand it fully, I could sense the crude meaning behind the words.

Initializing...

Initializ-

ERROR!

Species not found.

That's not right.

I am a dog. I am a dog. I am a dog.

I am a dog!

Species not found.

I am a dog?

Analyzing...

Species analyzed.

3 species have been found.

Species:

1̵̨͝.̛̀͟͜͡ ̢̀҉̨ư̵̸̵ņ̸̛k̡҉̸̴̢n̵̷ò͞w̴҉̵n̕͞͞

̡̛̀͜҉2҉̵.̛̀̀́̕ ̀͘U̷̡ǹ҉͠k̀͟͏̷n̸̷͠o̸͡͏̴w̶̵̶n̢҉

3. Primordial Wolf

Initializing complete.

Then the pain came. It was monstrous. The pain from before was like a walk in the park compared to this. My whole being was on fire. Like I was sandwiched between two suns. My bones were magma. My skin was liquid. I couldn't breathe. I couldn't think. My vision which was already black turned red.

I howled as loud as I could. Louder than I ever have before, hoping to release myself from this pain.

Then suddenly the heat went away and it was replaced with biting cold. So cold. It was freezing me to my bones. I didn't even have time to start screaming, I was already still as a rock. Though the liquid in my body should have been no more after the heat, somehow some remained, or it never left. Still, it froze. Froze colder than ice from Antarctica. My bones contracted and shattered into dust. My eyes felt like they were going to explode. My vision was fading. I was falling into the eternal sleep.

Then it stopped. For a while, nothing happened. I was floating in a black void with comforting warmth and I lost track of time. Before I knew it, a pressure hit me. Not painful or anything, just a strong pressure like a hug that was too tight. Nothing changed though, I was still in a black void. Every once in a while my body would move or a warmth would flow into me.

But, something changed. All traces of warmth disappeared and replaced with it is an all-encompassing chill. My stomach growled. I was hungry for the first time, but I couldn't move. So, how would I get food?

Days have passed. I'm not sure how many. All I know is that my already weak body has grown weaker. My skin has tightened over my bones. My stomach is eating itself. And, there is a faint smell of blood coming from behind me.

The only thing that stops the hunger temporarily is eating a cold substance below my body that I have named The Cold. I don't know what it is, but it fills my stomach.

While eating The Cold, I noticed it had a ‘zing’ to it, like electricity dancing across my mouth. The Cold with more ‘zing’ was more filling. Since then, my legs have grown strong enough to move; I can travel for about an hour before my legs give out. As I ate more and more of The Cold, I could feel my insides warm-up and the once violent wind turned into but a small gale. I didn't know where to go, how long until I reached a place with food, or with others. I decided that as the only clue of civilization nearby was the trail of blood, I would follow it.

The smell of blood was getting more potent as I followed the trail. I’ve learned, or is it honed, into a sense of danger. Now, even though I can’t see, I don’t hit anything or stub any toes (I do occasionally trip though).

Suddenly the smell became overwhelming. There were seven or eight unique sources of blood. Most of it was old blood, while one source was still new.

I ran as fast as my weakened body could until the chill beneath me turned warm and the wind upon my back was no more.

In front of me, I could hear the softest of breathing and the heat of blood flowing beneath my paws. In this cave, I could tell there laid four dead canines and three dead humans. The scent of their blood was too close to my own and humans to be anything different. Though the biggest wolf, in the back of the cave and surrounded by the dead, was still alive. I could tell she was very strong because even her shallow breathes warmed me to the core and her wheezing almost blew me away. Though I had no visible clues, I could tell she had fought off most of the humans and canines. Her claws stunk of both human and canine blood.

I felt a weird feeling rise in my chest.

Grief.

Like the feeling of losing the one closest to you. My nose picked up another scent this time.

I couldn’t remember the last time I smelt it. It had to be when I was a baby because it was the smell of a mother. My mother.

Through sheer raw emotion, my eyes opened up. I stared upon the first thing I had seen since the accident. My mother, a wolf, bleeding to death alone. I could see the proud wolf she used to be... no, that she still is.

The refusal to back down was a permanent glint in her icy blue eyes. Her majestic white fur laced with blood, new and old. Claw marks ran across her stomach. Sharp clean cuts ran along her back. Patches of fur singed off. Then there were the old wounds that turned into scars like a large gash an inch above her right eye. Though she might look like a worn-torn animal, it only enhanced her majesticness.

She stared at me. I could see her letting go, the light in her eyes was quickly fading. I could see she was at peace now.

Anger, sadness, confusion, wrath. All these emotions that were about to bubble over in me calmed down. Replaced by it was icy fury.

These emotions were so foreign to me. My mother never died, much less in front of me. I didn’t know what to think.

I didn’t know what came over me. I didn’t know this wolf before a few minutes ago. I’m just a dog. How could she be my mother?

In my confusion, I look down and see the snow-white paws of a little pup. I quickly backed away in surprise. Had it been there the whole time? Or was I just that unfocused?

I tried to get away, except the paws moved at the same time and direction as I did. I tried many things to escape the pup, but they always copied me.

I got so tired I couldn’t move a muscle more. I lied down, and at that moment I realized; they are mine.