Joseph wakes up with an unknown, slimy, substance on his wound. Worried that it might be infected he runs over to the body of water he found yesterday to look at his reflection. Surprisingly, his wound still looked exceptionally clean. Unable to figure out what it is he decides to forget about it and go on with his day.

Joseph starts out his day by sharpening a couple of smaller sticks, about knife size. Afterward, he goes fishing. After catching three it is now mid-day and he heads out, his goal still firmly in his mind.

‘I have to find someone who can teach me to become stronger. That’s my only option as of now.’

Though his parents taught him many things they never told him of the terrain past the mountain the village was on. In their eyes, he would never need to know this information because he would never leave the village. So all Joseph could do is pick a direction and travel slow and carefully, looking out for any signs of people and he could then ask for directions from there.

After traveling the remainder of the day he hunkered down at the bottom of a tree. Out of the three fish he had two were cooked and one was raw.

Crunch, crunch, crunch.

The all too familiar sight of a wolf with a cut across its head came into Joseph's view. This time without a fire the wolf walked up to only a few feet away from Joseph. The wolf stood slightly crouched as if prepared for anything. Joseph tossed to raw fish over to the wolf and it picked it up, never taking its eyes completely off Joseph.

“I’m not going to try anything I swear, I don’t want to get scratched again!”

The wolf backed up slowly then turned limping into the night.

As they traveled the wolf got closer and closer to Joseph, literally. Now when Joseph walked during the day the wolf stayed within his sight. Either going ahead or staying slightly behind him, and at night.

Joseph laid by a fire he had made for the night with the wolf only feet away from him, staring at him intently.

Tap, tap, tap. Joseph tapped his finger while laying on his back. He looked at the sky then glanced at the wolf who was staring at him, then back at the sky. Sighing Joseph rolled over putting his back to the wolf. He squeezed his eye’s shut trying to force sleep to come.

“Gahh!”

Joseph rolled back over facing the wolf who had now scooted closer to him. The wolf had one leg further out than the other as if it was frozen mid-scoot.

“How am I supposed to sleep with you breathing over me. I know you have been following me but I could at least pretend like you weren’t there when I went to sleep. Don’t just look at me! You’ve stopped limping so you should be able to get yourself food now? So no need to follow me!”

The wolf just stared back at Joseph, unmoving.

“Whatever, I guess I’m just not getting sleep tonight.”

Joseph woke tired from staying up late. He felt something on his stomach so he opened his eye’s grabbing hold of the unknown object.

He now had the upper half of a rabbit in his hands, his shirt covered in blood.

“Wha—What the—”

He threw it away from him, now completely awake he stood up trying to get the blood off with snow. While wiping the blood off and cursing to himself he heard something in the distance. It was coming from the, mostly leafless, forest of white trees. Stopping what he was doing he listened closely.

A fierce growl, then a high-pitched yelp he had heard somewhere before.

“Is that?”

Before he could ask the question, the wolf who had been following him for a couple of weeks now came running out behind the trees. Its backside and face covered in blood, the sight terrifying Joseph as it ran at him. He hurriedly grabbed his spear bracing for the attack. Then a much larger wolf who had blood around its mouth came running out of the woods. This large wolf was solid black.

“I’m not going to be able to outrun that,” Joseph said to himself as he stood there shaking. The blood-covered wolf ran past him. Joseph slid his grip further down on the spear trying to give himself as much reach as possible. He then thrust it out. The large wolf who looked almost twice the size of the other one stopped about twenty feet away from the tip of his spear. It looked at him, then the fleeing wolf, and back to him picking its target.

Though his body raddled he kept the spear out. It was the only thing between him and the wolf. Dropping low the wolf approached, seemingly taking its time.

One, two, three. Joseph thrust his spear at the wolf missing twice and the third being caught in its mouth. Joseph pushed hard attempting to shove the spear down the wolf's throat.

The wolf backpedaled, dropping its rear and shaking its head side-to-side. Joseph quickly pulled the spear back to him, pulling to his shoulder. He then swung as hard as he could, striking the wolf in the jaw. Its head turned to the side from the blow but that was it. it looked back to him angrier than ever.

‘I don’t have time to wrap my arm with my coat. Even if I did it might still break my arm if it bit me.’

While Joseph panicked the wolf lunged forward. Caught off guard, Joseph could only bring the spear across his chest as the wolf bit down on it. It now stood over him as it bit down snapping the spear in half.

Joseph, a twelve-year-old boy, stood no chance against this creature. Its paw sliced his chest as it lifted its head up shaking the pieces of the spear out of its mouth. Joseph was able to stab its front leg with one of his stick-knives as it shredded his chest. The wolf jumped back as it reached for the stick logged in its shoulder with its mouth.

While it was off, Joseph attempted to crawl away, crying from the pain and unable to lift his head from the snow. After only a few feet of crawling, he passes out from the pain of dragging his freshly injured chest across the ground.