Watching the sunrise on the horizon, shining through the morning fog covering the hills and mountains of the forest, I take a deep breath enjoying the refreshing feeling of cold air rushing into my lungs. Then I take a swig of water from my flask. What a wonderful morning it is.No school, no responsibility, no relationships, nothing to worry about just pure freedom.

The campfire has long been reduced to a smoldering pile of ash and embers. As I move to stand up my joints pop, I set the small figure I had been carving on my improvised log bench and go back to the task at hand.

I want to try finishing my hut in the morning so I can go hunting for lunch. For a start, I need to look around for materials. I need something to reinforce the walls so they can stand the elements, something like clay or perhaps mud would be ideal. And I need a lot of moss to give it some camouflage as well as insulation for the winter it's not that far away.

I heard that clay can be found in bodies of water, and I need a bath, so why not take a dip into the lake and look around a bit.

As I enjoyed the cold embrace of bathing in a mountain lake, as luck would have it while splishing and splashing as I appreciated the refreshing water. I stepped on something slippery, that after further inspection turned out to be a clay deposit.

Well, that answers the question of how to get clay I. Stepping out from the water, droplets rolling off my skin, hands filled with a combination of clay, gravel, and mud, I start getting to work. I also added some fibers from the tall grass nearby to the mix to make its structure a bit sturdier once it hardens.

Now I smear the resulting improvised paste on the outside of the walls of my shack. Making sure to fill every nook and cranny, it took me till noon to finish it all. By now the structure of my home looks like a round boulder that is submerged beneath the ground and inside of the cliffs wall.

It was around that time that my stomach began to protest once more so I decided to add the moss after my hunt. With a smile of anticipation, I jumped into a sprint running wherever the wind shall take me. Not much later my body was already flying past the trees, there was no sound as my body subconsciously adjusted to make the least amount of noise possible as I moved.

A while later I arrive on a small clearing and there I spotted my pray for today, a group of around a dozen boars digging up the soil on the search for the treasures of the earth. Releasing one or the other odd grunt and groan ever so often as they munched on roots, mushrooms, and whatever else they could find.

I have to get closer else they run away before I can catch them. And where would the fun be when I just chase them till they collapse from exhaustion.

As I pondered about what to do a feeling made itself known inside of me, it felt like my body was trying to tell me something. As I concentrated on trying to understand what it was trying to tell me, my body started to change. My bones cracking and popping as they shifted underneath my skin. My body compressing as I fell on all four. I felt as if I have been stuffed into clothes a size too small, but I could tolerate it.

In the place where my monstrous body once stood, now stood a deer with majestic antlers and jet black fur. With dignified strides, I walked out from beneath the trees as if the ruler of these woods. The boars spared me a glance or two before going back to their digging. Not minding the green eyes or black antlers.

Seems my half-assed strategy of just playing herbivores coming for the grass is working far better than I expected, but who would have thought I have the ability to transform into... a deer. I need to test this ability more when I get back home. For now, it's time to hunt.

Walking further towards the group of boar, I swallowed the saliva in my mouth as I arrived only a few meters away from my prey. Their scent is making my mouth water. I just kept walking. But when one of the boars saw me this close it suddenly started walking away creating more distance between us. Does it know? Or is it just instinct? Well, let's see how far I get with this tactic. It's thrilling.

I stalk closer and closer. Until the boars got annoyed. Most of them just walked a bit away but one of them charged at me and although it was not my intention it still works for me.

As the boar got closer, I pounce in its direction as well. My form reverting with pops and rattles as I flew through the air. The next moment lasted only seconds but felt like an eternity.

My claws sinking into its stomach, my jaws clamping down on its neck. Holding its jaws away from my body with my right hand as it desperately snaps in my direction. I tear its abdomen open guts spilling as it released a squeal that faded into gurgling. It laid to my feet as the beast began drowning in its blood. It was such fun. After seeing their companion the others have long run away while releasing panicked cries. I began to eat.

First I devoured the heart, the feeling of energy flowing into my body accompanying the incredibly strong taste, next to were the eyes, they popped in my mouth like candy filling it with a sweet flavor. After that, I tore the corpse apart, eating all the meat I could dismantle. I should probably learn how to do that professionally in the future.
After I finished my meal I took some of the larger bones, such as its ribs and the bones of its limbs. I don't know what I'm going to do with them yet but I shouldn't waste materials. As for the pelt I wanted to take it with me but my unprecise and novice attacks had ruined it. Well at least at my level of leatherworking, which was nonexistent.

I bound the bones together with some long grass and other fibers. As I walked back to my hut, hanging my bone bundle lazily over my shoulder, I remembered that I still need moss for the roof so I began looking for a big moss carpet on the forests floor. My eyes roaming over the surroundings. And I found a good place only after a few minutes.

A bit later I was back home. Putting down my bundle of bones near the bench and throwing a rolled-up blanket of moss near the hut. I spun around on my heels and start walking back in the direction that I came from.

Time passed and after a few more tours, I have finally enough moss to start. I unrolled one of the rolls. Then I put it on top of the wall, ripping it into the right shape in the places where it doesn't fit. I repeat this process until the whole wall was covered. Now my hut looked like an overgrown sphere or a medium-sized hill, the entrance hole giving the impression of an old and withered bunker.

After admiring my handy work I dive into the lake once more to rid my body of the dirt and blood covering it.

Now cleaned off I sit down on my bench once more. I begin to think about what to do next. I have finished building my house. I could explore my surroundings a bit or maybe experiment with that shapeshifting ability or is it more accurate to say transformation ability. No matter it's only around 6 pm and I don't feel link sitting around. Let's test that ability for now.

In the next four or so hours, I tried anything that came to mind. I was able to transform into a deer and a boar. I thought about it and remembered the feeling of energy flowing through my body. I conclude that I need to consume the heart of a being to gain its form. Although I feel there is still more to that energy.

I also discovered that my transformation does not simply copy the appearance, but just gives me the ability to turn into a form of my preys species. While doing so I discovered that my transformation still has some of my features such as eye color. To which extent I retain features, is not yet clear.

While experimenting I also noticed my ability to perfectly mimic sounds I have learned. And as I experimented with this ability I found that this doesn't only apply to animal sounds but to other sounds as well, to the point where I could even mimic the sound of a branch breaking or splashing of a stone hitting the lake's water.

When I had finished, the night had begun to envelop the world in its embrace, only a few rays of sunlight were left piercing the vail. I was bored. I could try to sleep. But I don't feel like it. And I don't have anything even resembling a bed. I could go hunting again, not that I feel hungry but it's fun. And I could need some fur to build a makeshift bed out of or to make some clothing with. I don't actually have any right now. I'm just a monster running through the woods in my birthday suit and although it doesn't bother me much it would be nice to have some.

Also now that I know I can turn into creatures whose hearts I've devoured. I might as well hunt some more. Thinking logically a bird would be nice for traveling. And I've always wanted to know how it feels to fly like a bird.

Having made up my mind I take off into the brushes once more. Enjoying the freedom as I go. The air blowing past me. I swing myself into the treetops jumping between branches I climbed to the top. Overlooking the sea of trees from above was a wonderful sight to behold even more so with the light of dusk.

I could hear the wolves howling as they declared the beginning of their hunt. The flapping of wings in the background as the ravens flew behind. The hoots of an owl accompanying the nightlife melody of insects going about their day... uhh night.

I could eat one of the wolves but they are known to be vengeful. Then a raven maybe, they would give me access to the skies, they both aren't bad choices. Owls are too stealthy I would probably need ages to find one but the idea of flying completely silent does sound nice. But let's follow the wolves and ravens for now.

Swinging from tree to tree feels like I've become some monkey. I stalk them for what feels like an eternity. I watched as they singled out a few deer from a large herd and began a wild chase. After an hour they had finally caught them and were now tearing the animals to pieces. Their panicked cries, a symphony of pain as they were being devoured alive.

I come closer, trying to get a better look. That was when a wolf raises his head and sniffs the air. The next thing shocked me. He looked in my direction, directly at me, I could see a scare spanning over his muzzle. I've been found out. Seems I can still be discovered via smell but it's still weird, the smell shouldn't give such a precise location, at least not so fast.

Soon after the other ten or so, wolves noticed as well but as they took a hostile attitude the first wolf stared at them and released a low but threatening growl, the other wolves shrunk back becoming more passive. His mannerisms look... human or at least intelligent.

He motioned over with his head as if inviting me. Might as well, I walked out of the underbrush. I could have sworn I saw surprise flash through that wolf's eyes at this moment. He is acting with wisdom, very interesting. I slowly neared them with my guard up.

As I arrived near the wolf with the scar on his face, he motioned to one of the deer corpses. Is he inviting me to eat with them? I don't know why but I nodded as I walked over and started to eat. It's only been a day since I moved into this forest but I feel some kind of bond to them.