Wolf's Child

The border of the Land of Fire, in the jungle.

As dusk fell, the setting sun painted the clouds on the horizon crimson, creating a breathtakingly beautiful scene of fiery clouds. A gentle breeze stirred the clouds, dispelling the sweltering heat of summer.

Wow... wow...

Suddenly, the cry of a baby rang out in the silent, deserted forest.

A short while later, a sound like running came from nearby. After the rustling, two adult black wolves darted out of the bushes and came to the crying baby boy. Their cold, eerie green vertical pupils were so conspicuous in the increasingly dark space.

As if curious about what was in front of him, the little baby boy stopped crying, opened his dark eyes as clear as the night sky, and waved his somewhat thin little hands haphazardly.

"Awooo... Awooo..."

The Little Ichigo white female wolf lowered her head and sniffed the baby boy, then let out two soft howls at the black male wolf, as if she were trying to tell him something.

"Awoo!"

As if in response, the male wolf howled, lowered its head, picked up the blanket wrapped around the boy, turned around, and ran into the depths of the jungle with the female wolf.

······

Four years have passed in the blink of an eye.

Deep in the jungle, a figure moved nimbly among the trees.

It was a boy who looked only four or five years old, with black hair, a scar across his jaw on his angular face, jet-black, unblemished eyes, and a few sharp teeth at the corners of his mouth. He was completely naked, but what was most shocking was the countless scars on his seemingly thin and small body.

"Awooo..."

The boy leaped onto a high rock and roared to the sky. In a moment, three gray adult wolves sprang out from the bushes beside him, stopped in front of him, bowed their heads respectfully, and howled softly.

"Awooo..."

The boy let out another loud cry, leaped off the rocks, and ran forward on all fours, with three gray wolves close behind.

After running a long distance, a valley filled with rocks came into view. Large and small, there were hundreds of wolves gathered here. In this area, they were the only wolf pack and one of the largest.

Seeing the boy running towards them, all the wolves automatically made way, lowering their proud heads and emitting low howls, as if welcoming the boy's return.

Turning his head, the boy grinned, revealing sharp teeth that looked menacing and fierce in the sunlight. Immediately, a slightly thin white wolf ran over and howled a few times beside the boy. The boy's expression changed, and he immediately darted away, weaving left and right several times before stopping in front of a cave.

"Awoo!"

The boy didn't rush in. Instead, he lowered his head and called out a few times towards the cave, as if asking for something.

Just as the boy finished speaking, another distinctly deep roar came from the cave. Hearing this roar, the boy entered the cave.

The cave wasn't very large, and it wasn't dark under the sunlight. The boy slowly went in, and what he saw was a white mother wolf lying weakly on a pile of dry grass. Beside her, a small black creature could be vaguely seen wriggling around.

Upon seeing the Little Black Wolf, which was clearly only newborn, a look of joy appeared on the boy's face. He quickly rushed over, his dark eyes fixed on the Little Black Wolf, and he uttered soft calls as if he were trying to say something.

Soon after, a black wolf entered. It was the Little Black Wolf's father, the king of the pack, and the boy's adoptive father.

That's right, it's the adoptive father. The boy is the baby boy who was taken away by those two wolves four years ago. Since then, the boy has become the wolf king's child and the next wolf king. For this, the boy fights and battles hard, and those scars are the best proof.

"Awoo!"

"Awoo!"

"·····"

Just then, howls echoed from outside the cave, filled with sharpness and resentment.

"Awoo!"

A fierce look appeared on the boy's face. He roared and was about to rush out, but was suddenly howled at by the wolf king beside him, and froze on the spot.

"Awoo!"

Dozens of adult wolves ran into the cave, howling anxiously. The wolf king seemed to understand something, turned around, picked up the newborn Little Black Wolf, and placed it on the boy's back. The white wolf also seemed to understand something, and disregarding its still weak body, picked up the boy, placed it on its own back, and darted out of the cave, running into the distance.

"Awoo!"

The boy asked the white wolf beneath him, puzzled, but received no answer for a long time. However, the boy dared not disobey his "mother's" words. Even after running a long distance, the white wolf still did not make a sound, but the boy witnessed a scene he would never forget for the rest of his life.

Many wolves, resembling him, were wielding sharp objects and constantly reaping the lives of their companions. Even his own "father," the most powerful wolf king in the pack, was no match for him and had his throat easily slit.

The boy opened his mouth, remained silent for a long time, and tears streamed from the corners of his eyes.

"Boom!"

A deafening roar, and flames engulfing the sky, turning the clouds crimson. The scene was just like our first encounter many years ago, only now everything had changed.

······

As dawn broke, a slight chill still lingered in the morning breeze.

Beside the winding path, a boy of about four or five years old lay on the ground with lifeless eyes. His small body was covered with scars, some of which were still bleeding.

"Awoo!"

The boy's cries rang out from time to time, and a Little Black Wolf, clearly only recently born, stumbled over to him and nudged his arm with its head.

"Awoo! Awoo!"

As if remembering something, a glimmer of light gradually appeared in the boy's lifeless eyes. He slowly crawled to the white wolf and leopard that had been dead for a long time, and whispered, tears streaming down his face.

"Awoo!"

Suddenly, the boy shook his head, let out a the Roar, picked up the leopard—two or three times its own size—and returned to the Little Black Wolf's side. He howled, his sharp teeth tearing a piece of still-bloody flesh from its wound, which he slowly chewed...

······

With the Little Black Wolf in tow, the boy walked straight ahead along the path. He didn't know what lay ahead, where he was going, or what he was going to do. He only knew that he had to keep walking.

As dusk settled, the summer twilight remained unbearably hot and humid.

After walking for a day, the path finally came to an end. What came into the boy's view were some strange "caves," not inside the mountain, but built on the ground. They were all made of wood and even had several openings in them.

The boy was quite confused. What was this? Not only that, he also saw many "wolves" like him, but different from his kind. They walked on their two hind paws and kept saying things he couldn't understand.

Suddenly, a fierce and ruthless look appeared on the boy's face. The "wolves" in front of him were exactly the same as those "wolves".

"Come and see! It's a little child!"

Seemingly having spotted the boy, a woman in her thirties immediately cried out.

Where is it?!

"They really are just kids!"

"Where did you come from? You're covered in injuries and carrying a Little Wolf!"

"That's not a wolfhound, is it?"

"·····"

Hearing the noise, many people gathered around, chattering and some even reaching out to touch and pinch the boy. Although he couldn't understand what they were saying, the boy didn't attack. He had a feeling that these people weren't bad and weren't with those "wolves."

"Awoo!"

The boy murmured something, as if he wanted to say something, but as soon as he opened his mouth, he realized that the people who had been surrounding him were slowly backing away, their expressions completely changed, filled with fear, terror, and intense disgust.

Disgust. The boy didn't know what that look meant, but he subconsciously disliked it from the bottom of his heart.

"Awoo! Awoo!"

The boy called out again, and the Little Black Wolf that had been perched on his head opened its eyes and looked at him curiously.

"Monster!"

"Get out of here right now!"

"Or I'll kill you!"

"Get out of here!"

"·····"

The chatter was still deafening, but this time, the insults were accompanied by stones and arrows flying from the air.

······

"Huff... Huff..."

Lying helplessly on the ground, the boy was pale and panting heavily. His body had been covered in new wounds, and bright red blood had formed a small pool on the ground beneath him.

"Awoo!"

With a slightly childish cry, the Little Black Wolf ran over from under a tree and nudged the boy's face with its head.

"Awoo!"

Despite the excruciating pain throughout his body, as if the slightest movement could kill him, the boy still let out a soft call, seemingly to comfort his "little brother" beside him, so as not to worry the Little Black Wolf.

Seeing this, the Little Black Wolf ran to the dead beast nearby, bit its body, and laboriously dragged it to the boy. With its newly grown teeth, it tore off a piece of flesh and held it to the boy's mouth...

······

Not knowing where to go or what the point of living such a difficult life was, the boy always wondered about the meaning of his existence.

In the stillness of the night, she curled up under a tree, cradling a sleeping Little Black Wolf cub in her arms.

He encountered the same situation again today. How many times had it happened? He was chased into the jungle by "wolves" of similar appearance to himself. The boy didn't know why; he only knew that the places where he had been hit hurt terribly...

The boy knew very well that if he hadn't run fast, he would have been beaten to death. He didn't care about himself, but he had promised to protect his "little brother".

The boy could only live in the jungle with his Little Black Wolf, fighting for his life against other wild beasts who were also struggling to survive.

Perhaps as time went by, the boy vaguely sensed that he might not actually be a wolf! But that didn't matter anymore.

Time passed day by Tenten, sunrise and sunset, and before I knew it, winter had arrived.

That was the coldest winter the boy had ever seen. They still couldn't venture too far out of the jungle because the outside world wanted to hunt them down, and what food could they possibly find in the jungle during the heavy winter snow?

Having gone without food for a long time and surviving only on the snow, the boy and the Little Black Wolf finally collapsed, unable to hold on any longer.

Holding the Little Black Wolf tightly in his arms, the boy was a little puzzled. Why didn't he feel scared at all?

Exhausted, the boy had no time to think. His eyes slowly closed. Was he really going to die?

In the dim light, the boy seemed to see several blurry figures...