Alexander woke up with a jolt and inhaled deeply and desperately like he had been drowning. He saw darkness. There was a loud rumble ringing in his ears. Suddenly, a white flash illuminated the sky for a second and thunder followed a moment after. He could hear it all around him, a familiar sound. It was raining. He touched his face and realized he was completely drenched. He felt weak, exhausted and… hungry. He was extremely hungry. He clutched his stomach with both hands. He needed to eat.

His hands sank into the mud as he tried to stand up. Once he was crouching he had to hug the tree that was behind him for support, until he finally stood. The only thing in his mind was to find food. He began his search in a trance, slowly making his way on shaky legs. The heavy rain limited his vision to a few feet around him, yet he continued. Anything would do. Anything to fill the void in his stomach.

As he dragged his feet across the muck that was the forest floor, a heavenly smell invaded his senses. Immediately he started salivating. His entire being concentrated on finding the source of that delicious scent. He ran towards it as fast as he possibly could, tumbling and staggering all the way. His breathing grew heavy just by thinking of the pleasure he would feel by eating whatever it was. The aroma intensified as he approached it. He pushed his body to the limit in order to get there as soon as possible.

Finally, he saw a blurry silhouette in front of him, almost hidden by the rain. He froze. Wasn't that…? The smell hit him again and made his fingers twitch in anticipation. It was truly heavenly. He shook his head. What was happening to him? He couldn't eat- No, it didn't matter. He had to. He had to. He had to.

'I must devour it…'

Alexander threw himself at his prey like a hungry beast. That's exactly what he was. Nothing more. His prey didn't make a sound as he tore off pieces of slimy meat. His prey didn't even flinch or fight. It was already dead. He had killed it.

He retched and vomited to the side. He had killed it who knows how long ago. How much time had passed? How was he still alive?

But its corpse smelled so good. He couldn't control himself. Again, he tore into the rotting carcass of the huge bear, forcing the food down his throat and holding back his gag reflex. This time he managed to gulp it down. He couldn't stop a moan of pure bliss from escaping his mouth. He needed to satiate his appetite.

The heavy rainfall persisted and bore witness to his shameful display. He wasn't able to control his cravings. His body moved on his own. No matter how many times he vomited, he came back for more. There was no doubt he was no longer human. He couldn't fight against his instinct. This body… this monstrous body…

Alexander sat on top of the lifeless bear and laughed, staring at his hands. He was completely healed. He hadn't realized it, but somehow his left arm bones reattached and the wounds closed. Did it happen while he was eating? No, it must've happened while he was unconscious. Even the wound on his stomach disappeared. The only reminders that the fight did occur were his torn and bloody clothes and the corpse he was sitting and dining on.

'So, judging by the amount of decay and worms in the carcass,' he gagged as he thought, 'I must've passed out for a while. Around a week, perhaps. Assuming no one found me and I received no external treatment, I guess it's safe to say that it took that long for this body to heal itself. It must've taken a lot of energy too. I suppose that's why I was so hungry… No, I shouldn't make that assumption,' he sighed, 'Either way, I must learn the limits of this body- No, my body. My body. I can't lose control again.'

He knew he was back in control when the stench coming out of the corpse repulsed him. The fact that he consumed putrid meat bothered him a lot, but he only hoped that his body could handle it. It probably could. If not, he was fucked. He jumped off the mountain of flesh and set out to look for a shelter, more food, and water. It seemed that he could survive a while without water because he didn't feel thirsty at all. However, he still took advantage of the rain and drank out of the puddles.

As he walked, he began to strike the tree trunks with his fists while varying the amount of strength behind them and he found out something quite unsettling. He couldn't leave a dent or a mark in any of them, let alone break them. Even when he put all of his strength behind it. In fact, it hurt him.

"It's like I thought," he said aloud while shaking his hand in pain, "Shit, that's tough! Ugh. Well, two options. These trees are harder than normal or that thing's skull wasn't as hard as I speculated. Man, I wanted to believe I was super strong. Maybe these trees evolved to become the hardest thing in the forest," he pouted as he inspected the bark for any sight of damage, to no avail, "But that doesn't sound likely."

He believed that determining the actual explanation behind what happened would greatly increase his chances of survival. It was high priority. He could very well find himself in a similar situation in the near future, and knowing his luck he knew he would find something worse than that superbear. Assuming the wrong thing would lead to his demise.

"And what if that particular bear had some kind of disease that weakened its skull?" he wondered as he resumed his search, "There aren't just two options. Fuck. With my limited knowledge, they might as well be infinite. So, I can't draw any conclusions yet… the only thing I can do is remain observant and learn whatever I can."

He lost track of time thinking and exploring while the unyielding rain continued to fall. He wasn't sure what he was looking for. Anything that would allow him to rest undisturbed and without fearing an attack would be nice. He found a promising enormous tree that almost completely blocked the torrent of water pouring down from above thanks to its abundant layers of branches and leaves. The few streams that managed to reach the ground cascaded like tiny waterfalls and settled in countless puddles around the tree, though some of those puddles were big enough to be called ponds. The tree's roots were big enough that the trunk itself hovered above the ground, making it possible for Alexander to easily fit and live underneath.

He could only imagine how beautiful the scenery would look when the sun came out and illuminated the place. He wanted to stay there. However, the more he inspected it, the less appealing it seemed. First, the space underneath the tree had multiple openings that were big enough for a creature the size of a superbear to enter. He could try and cover them with dirt, but that would take too long and raised another concern; what if it flooded? He wasn't sure it was possible, but what if it happened?

'Therefore, if I want to stay here the safest option would be…' he thought as he observed the lowest layer of branches, impossibly high. He sighed. 'Yeah, no way I make it up there every time I want to sleep. How would I even get down?'

With a heavy heart, he moved on ahead.

After a long period of time walking while deep in thought he kicked himself back to reality as soon as he saw a gray shape peeking through the water curtain. He took a sharp intake of breath and ducked under the foliage. He listened. The cacophony of raindrops hitting the ground was overwhelming and the only thing he was able to hear. Nothing else. He waited for a couple of seconds until he moved, slowly, to catch a glimpse of whatever it was.

As he approached and almost slipped, the outline became sharper and more pronounced. When he realized what it was, he exhaled in relief. It wasn't a superbear or a living being. It was only the entrance of a cave. Wait, a cave? That could be useful.

Alexander stopped just outside the entrance and heard the rhythmic tap of dripping water echoing inside. It had a narrow entryway that barely had any room for him to pass through… which was a good thing. He gulped. Still, he had to make sure if there was another way in. He had to. He didn't know how much time had passed but he was beginning to get slightly tired and he needed somewhere safe to rest sooner than later. With this in mind he pushed through.

His eyes adjusted very quickly to the darkness, yet his nose suffered for a while with the damp smell permeating the small cavern. In less than a minute he hit a dead end. Well, it continued to go up, but he had to climb. Did he dare? It didn't seem like a difficult task, as the ceiling got higher and the passageway widened. The harder it was to get to him, the better. Yeah, he could make this work. He carried on.

After a fairly easy climb, he was welcomed by a medium-sized empty area, with a couple of stalagmites hanging from the ceiling, dripping water. He searched for any other openings and found a couple, but they were small enough to disregard. After inspecting it for a fourth time, he felt satisfied. More than satisfied. He didn't know the chances of this, but he managed to find an apparently secure shelter to spend the night on. He sat down with his back to a wall, facing the entrance, suddenly feeling tired. Why was he so happy about it? It was a shithole. He would have to sleep on the ground and search for food if he wanted to stay in control of this bizarre body that regenerated a broken arm.

"Perhaps I should drag the corpse here, huh? I'll have something to eat for a while, even more so because I'm a sickening scavenger," he found himself crying, "What the hell. At least I can still feel like trash! Yeah! This self-pity proves I'm still human!" he shouted at the top of his lungs and immediately choked, covering his mouth as he wept, "I'm still human…"