Deep in the chaotic rainforest bordering the gulf lies a long-forgotten temple.
Inside are intricate paintings and carvings depicting a prosperous civilization, humans shown living alongside incredible beasts in everlasting peace.
Built with guidance from nature's spirits, the once-great temple is now abandoned, consumed by the surrounding vegetation. However, deeper within some things remains.
Dormant, but growing stronger with each passing moon.
Until one night, when the moon shines brighter than ever before, they rise.
Everything happened at once. One moment, I was dreaming sweet dreams of my previous life. The next, I was trapped in a cacophony of other recently awakened spirits struggling to leave the resting place. Disoriented and unable to comprehend what exactly was happening, I get pushed along the gigantic waves of souls rushing towards the outside world. Unable to keep my bearings, I was ungracefully shoved over the temple's stone steps and into the overgrown path ahead. After a moment of recollecting myself, I survey my surroundings and, to my shock, take in the decrepit state of the temple.
It was barely visible; all of the surrounding vegetation had clearly reclaimed it some time ago, but how long ago? In my last memory of the temple, before begrudgingly joining the other spirits in communal hibernation, the temple was beginning to look unkempt. Still, it wouldn't have been anything a few of our humans couldn't handle. Now, thick vines were pushing through the stones and tearing the temple apart, flowers were growing through the cracks, and in the place of what I remembered was once a tiny sapling, was a gigantic tree, whose roots pushed up and through various spots in the cobblestone path I was standing over. Wait, standing?
I looked down to see that I now had paws with visible claws and was clearly standing on four limbs. Looking underneath myself, I could see my light belly and a medium length tail that was relatively fluffy. I attempted to look over my shoulder, and while unable to determine the color of my pelt due to the darkness of the tree's shade, I could tell that I had darker back with some notable ticking. I was obviously some sort of canine, but I needed to see my face to fully confirm what sort I was. It had been a very, very long time since I had taken a physical form, especially one such as this one. I was much more used to birds, with their mobile wings and lighter bodies.
After another moment of trying to remember how to walk in this much more massive quadrupedal body, I circle around the tree and spot a small pool of water. The moon, which seemed to be unusually bright (though that might've been due only having been awake for a few minutes and not having yet adjusted to the presence of light), was shining right into the pool, illuminating it. I approach the tiny body of water and study my reflection. A rounded face with a long, broad snout, a large nose, and fluffy triangular ears, which weren't very large for my head. A wolf then. I was for some unknown reason in the form of a wolf. Inspecting the reflection further, I noticed my bright yellow eyes. From what I could remember, wolves didn't typically have such striking eye colors, but they complimented my pale face and cute brown nose very well.
Having had enough of staring at my own reflection, I look around and consider my next move. The temple was clearly no longer a suitable home. Maintaining it was the responsibility of the humans; a spirit such as myself couldn't hope to restore it to its former glory. And that begged the question, where were the humans? They had migrated before the spirit hibernation, but they never returned. If they had, the spirits would've been roused from their sleep by their presence. Had something happened to them? Or worse, did they abandon them? And on another note, where are all of the other spirits? The tumble down the temple steps distracted me from seeing where they went. There were far too many questions and no way of finding answers, at least not right now.
I look up towards the brilliant moon and make a decision. I must find those answers, somehow. I leap into the air, expecting to return to my spirit form, only to crash back into the ground. I let out a huff, annoyed by this inconvenience. Walking it is then. I search through the sparkling night sky and find the north star. I decide to follow it, to see what the world holds in store for me beyond my old home.
After the reawakened spirit's commitment to the trek to seek answers, they began their journey.
In the beginning, they acknowledged their surroundings, noticing how much things had changed over since they were last awake. They had spent a long time in this rainforest; it was their home for hundreds of years. They couldn't help but recall many sweet memories of their companions and community. It was a lovely place to live. Everyone was always happy! However, beloved memories quickly shifted to thoughts of concern. It was the perfect place to live, and now it was gone. These feelings drove the spirit to push further through the rainforest to find anyone for some answers.
At some point, for some reason, the spirit began to move through the terrain without much thought. The movements of their canine body became monotonous. They crossed streams and large barriers with no consideration. Something had happened to the spirit's mind, but the body continued to travel north, following the north star. It pushed further beyond the biome's edge, through hundreds of miles of unfamiliar terrain, until it entered a simple deciduous forest. The spirit's mind was unaware of the great distance traveled, but it was merely dormant. It would eventually awaken without complications. The body, however, had done nothing but move for multiple lunar cycles. It was growing tired, hungry, and very thirsty. Eventually, the lack of physical necessities being met caused the body to collapse.
When the spirit regained consciousness, they were immediately hit with the worst physical sensations they've ever felt. Their body was sore, and they had the worst headache thrumming through their mind. Unable to even stand and not knowing what else to do, they began to crawl forward. Their vision was hazy, but they could see a lot of greenery. A lot more light too. Was there even a dense canopy up above? The air was also less humid than their familiar rainforest. Where had they ended up? Suddenly, their paw became submerged in something cold and wet. Straining their vision, they could see their paw was in a small pool of water. The dryness of their mouth was suddenly unbearable, and they quickly scrambled forward to lap up what was surely a gift from the Creator. Once hydrated, the spirit was promptly well enough to notice just how hungry they were. They shakily got back on their paws and looked around.
They were at a crossroads with three faint diverging paths. The left seemed to lead to open grasslands, the middle to a peaceful forest, and the right to foreboding mountains. Before the diverging paths, however, was a small dark figure. The spirit, curious, approached the figure and discerns that it is, in fact, a stone idol of some kind. They took a closer look and noted that it was in the shape of some canine. Perhaps a wolf? The small idol wasn't very detailed; it looked more like a toy a human child might make to practice. Instinctively, the spirit sniffed the idol and pressed their nose to the cold stone. The small idol began to glow with a golden light, startling the spirit into backing away. The idol started to rise, and the glowing intensified. Air currents swirled around the spirit, and they could hear a faint and familiar song emanating from all around. The spirit tried to see what was happening to the small idol, but it was too bright; they instinctively shut their eyes and turned away.
When the strong wind and song faded, the spirit opened their eyes and looked to where the statue once lay. Surprisingly, in its place was a monochromatic wolf. There was no other color on this wolf; it had a gray nose, gray skin, white claws, and its fur only had more shades of black, white, and gray. Curious once more, the spirit inched closer to the body and sniffed intently, though cautious to not touch it. The spirit did not yet have much experience with the sensitive nose of a canine, but they were able to notice something was strange about the wolf's scent. Namely, the fact that it was nearly impossible to pick up a distinct mortal scent. The wolf still smelled like the little stone idol, not like a living breathing thing. They circled around the wolf, trying to find a scent. Instead of a scent, however, their nose caught an irritant. It could've been some pollen from a nearby flower or a speck of dust brought by the wind; the result was the same—a very sharp sneeze right into the ear of the dormant wolf.
The monochrome wolf responded like any other being would if awoken by a loud sound with no warning. It let out a piercing shriek and attempted to get away from the noise as quickly as possible. The spirit, surprised by the response, let out a yelp and backed away from the other wolf. They watched as the other wolf attempted to gain its bearings. The other wolf was much larger than the spirit. Its eyes were unfocused, wildly scanning the surroundings, and they could hear its ragged breathing. The spirit, wanting to catch the other wolf's attention, let out a low and concerned whine. The other wolf hears and turns its head sharply in the spirit's direction. It intently watches the spirit, and after a few moments, snarled, "What did you do to me?" The wolf turned its whole body to face them. Hackles up and teeth bared, it barked, "What have you DONE to me?"
The spirit is confused by the aggressive response. What had they done? They didn't know. The other wolf lunges toward them before they can respond, and the spirit only barely manages to dodge the attack. "I don't know!" the spirit tells the wolf, panicking. "Who are you? Why are you so angry?" they question. The other wolf does not answer and only growls before attempting to rush another attack. The spirit tries not to fight back but is quickly losing patience. In a moment of frustration, the spirit retaliates and latches against the other wolf's throat.
The other wolf is shocked and freezes in the spirit's grasp. It stands entirely still, barely breathing, and the spirit can smell terror emanating from the wolf's pelt. The spirit is exhausted; staying latched to the other wolf was making it difficult to breathe. They let out a low growl, a warning, before letting go. Once released, the other wolf takes in a deep breath and huffs to spirit, "Well? Answer the question."
