The Woods ✔

Unknown Body

The woman didn't leave him though he wanted nothing else but be alone and tend to the pain that paralyzed every fiber of his being. Occasionally a leg or a hand twitched but otherwise he only focused on breathing in and out.

She touched him surprisingly gentle yet he still jerked away from her hand. It hurt and he whined when she hoisted him up. There was no chance his legs would be able to carry his weight after he had lived on four paws for so long. Nevertheless she tried to balance him somehow on his feet while he leaned heavily on her for support.

It was so, so cold and his whole exposed body trembled and he had to grit his teeth to keep them from chattering. The pathetic sparse hairs rose in an attempt to keep him warm and he huffed derogatively. No wonder humans spent so much money on clothes with this sorry excuse of a fur.

"Come, we'll go upstairs and clean you up," the woman prompted and pushed him to the door.

Every step was exhausting and the concrete hurt his feet. He felt truly like a newborn that stumbled uncontrolled wherever it went because it had no clue how to use its body. Suddenly he had those overly long and lanky limbs and no tail to help him keep his balance. It was a mystery to him when he needed to bend which joint or when to flex a certain muscle.

"You're doing great, honey," the woman cooed upon reaching the doorway. Caden panted and held on to the frame to rest for a moment. He still wasn't fond of his situation but the prospect of leaving his cell made him comply with her plans, at least for now.

"Robin, can you help us, please?"

Caden flinched when a second pair of hands supported him on his other side. They steered him through a short hallway to a seemingly endless staircase. Although it had a normal length he was sure that he would never reach the top.

"Do you think you can carry him?" the woman asked this Robin-guy who nodded. Caden hissed weakly when he got picked up but secretly he was glad because the muscles in his legs already quivered and burned from the exertion.

Ascending the stairs didn't take longer than a minute and he sighed as warm air engulfed his body. Through his blurred vision he noticed a kitchen, then a living room and finally a bathroom with shiny tiles and white furniture. It had to be evening because the lights were on and it was dark in front of the window.

Robin set him down on the closed toilet lid and kept a hand on his shoulder to keep him upright. The woman held a cloth under the tap and wrung out the excess water after wetting it.

"D-Don't touch me!" Caden forced out and winced at his own raspy voice.

"I'll just clean you up a bit."

If he had been still in his cougar form there wouldn't have been any problems with showing the woman exactly what he thought about her plan. Now he could only growl weakly in protest and endure the whole procedure.

The blood got wiped off of his hands and the sticky sweat along with any dirt that stuck to him scrubbed off of his tender skin. She even ran the damp cloth a few times over his head to swipe back the unruly mop of hair that hung in his face. As soon as she turned back to the sink he shook his head to reverse her attempt at taming his hair. Robin chuckled softly and squeezed his shoulder.

They brought him back into the living room and he huddled into the corner of the sofa Robin had placed him on. Luckily it was warmer than in the basement, nonetheless he still shivered and snatched a blanket from the armrest to cover his nudity.

A big window covered nearly a complete wall and he stared confused at the blurred figure that stood in front of it between some bushes, the lower part of the body hidden behind plants. A pale face with high cheekbones, thin rosy lips and a long, straight nose stared steadfastly back at him and he pulled back his upper lip to reveal warningly his canines. The face did the same but it had little, blunt teeth instead of fangs.

Caden suspected that the person was quite skinny and had reached adulthood not long ago.

He curiously cocked his head to the side and the person imitated him whereupon he growled in irritation.

He brushed the annoying strands of hair out of his eyes and furrowed his brows when the other one imitated him again perfectly. Cautiously he waved and gasped at the exact mirroring.

There was nobody outside! This face was his own face, reflected by the glass.

Cautiously he touched those thin lips, let his fingertips trail down to his chin, up to his cheek, over the bridge of his nose to the other side and down again to his jaw where he finally let it drop dumbfounded back into his lap. It seemed to be impossible that this was him.

Somehow despite the last three years he hadn't thought that his human body had grown, too. In his memories he was a kid struggling through his teenage years with awkward growth spurts and even more awkward bodily changes. And now he was an adult. As awkward about his body as a teenager but still physically and mentally an adult. The realization left him flabbergasted.

Attentively he looked for the two strangers who seemingly were in the kitchen and talked to each other with lowered voices. Afterwards he took a deep breath and pulled off the blanket. His assumption was right, the body belonging to the face was indeed skinny with bones that were clearly visible under the pale skin. There were slender muscles, too, and the scary man was not the only one with scars.

"Damn," Caden whispered, amazed by this unfamiliar sight. He wiggled his toes tentatively and pressed them against the soft, ochre coloured carpet. They were totally different from his usual paws and without the leathery pads much more sensitive.

Hastily he spread the blanket back over his body when Robin entered the living room. The man was slim with kind green eyes and dimples whenever his lips twitched the slightest bit. Caden felt less threatened in his company and hadn't the desire to growl and hiss at him the whole time.

Maybe Robin was also a shifter - he had this distinct wild smell on him - but his body felt too sore to care about it at the moment. The only thing he wanted to do was curl up in this pretty comfy spot and sleep for at least the next forty-eight hours. Just thinking about it made him yawn.

"Did you eat all the tuna again, kitten?"

The woman's shout startled him and he ducked behind the back of the sofa.

"Err, no," Robin replied with a guilty blush and Caden bit his lip to suppress a smile.

"You did," the woman sighed.

"I'm sorry!" Robin indeed looked honestly sorry and watched the activities in the kitchen with a worried frown.

Caden nuzzled against the back rest and tucked his hands under the blanket to warm up his new body, the banter of the two strangers fading into the background.