Chapter Text
The sound of the trees rattling in the wind was the only ambiance on that dull night. Hinata was the only sign of life as he limped. His back leg dragged behind him, leaving a trail of blood in its wake. Everything was a haze of pain. A wolf without a pack was weak. Hinata had just learned that lesson.
It didn’t take long for his body to finally give in to the pain. His large body collapsed heavily on the forest floor. He could see a bright light in the distance, slowly getting closer. Hinata didn’t care. Why should he care anyway? He was going to die. The light slowly dimmed as his consciousness faded completely.
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Warmth. That was the first thing Hinata felt as he woke up. He was someplace warm. He hesitantly twitched his paws and pricked his ears. He could hear the natural sounds of nature but they sounded muffled. His back leg hurt but not as much as when he first injured it.
Slowly, Hinata opened his pale green eyes. He was in a den. His eyes adjusted to the dark area and he quickly took in his surroundings. He was in a small cave, much like his old den. Hinata was confused to say the least. He remembered limping through the woods after he got attacked. He was nowhere near his old den when he collapsed.
Hinata shook his head and concentrated on his memories. He remembered the bright light approaching him. After that his memories were fuzzy. He was in an enclosed space with no smells of the forest. He fully jolted awake as he remembered there being a human cooing softly to him.
He scrambled up only to yelp as he put too much weight on his injured leg. He growled in frustration as he stood up more carefully and quickly made his way towards the smell of nature. His fur was bristling as he busted out of the den. His sharp eyes quickly scanned the area around him.
He was in a wooded area that didn’t look that different from his old home. What was different was the shiny mesh that seemed to cut off his escape. Cautiously, Hinata walked towards the shiny material and sniffed. The smell was tangy and he wrinkled his nose in disgust.
At this point he was fully prepared to start panicking. He didn’t know where he was or why he was here. What would he do now? The silver stuff was blocking his escape so where is he supposed to go? Is he going to die here? What will happen if-
“Hey, hey”
Hinata physically jumped at the unexpected voice. He whipped his head around in a frenzy, trying his best to continue to growl intensely.
“... Look up”
At the request of the soft voice, Hinata raised his head. On the tree directly above him there was a small feline. She was by far the smallest feline Hinata had ever witnessed.
“Who are you? And where am I?”, Hinata demanded even as his fur shook with fear.
The small feline let out a huge yawn, showing her small sharp teeth. Hinata took the opportunity to observe the small creature. Her gray fur was extremely fluffy and well kept. Her eyes were a pink color and she moved slowly, as if it was too much effort.
“I’m Nanami. You’re the new arrival”, the cat stated lazily.
“New arrival?”, Hinata was beyond confused at this point.
“You were injured right? My human must have found you and brought you to be treated. Her name is Monomi”, Nanami stated casually as if her words weren’t striking fear into every part of Hinata’s being. He was captured by a human?
“Wh-what’s going to happen to me? Am I going to die?!”, Hinata asked in a panic. His fur was bristling in alarm.
Nanami tilted her head slowly. “... Die? Why would Monomi heal you if you were going to die?”.
Hinata looked at his injured hind leg. Indeed, it did look better than when he collapsed in the woods.
“... Let me explain more”, the feline slowly stated as she scrambled down from the tree. Hinata admired her bravery as he could have easily decided to kill her.
“My human takes in hurt animals like you. This area is your enclosure. Basically, it’s your territory. There are enclosures on the other side of this fence. Remember to be nice to your neighbors”, Nanami stated, extremely slowly.
Why the hell would Hinata want to communicate with animals that are just human toys? His ear twitched and his nose wrinkled in disgust.
“... I know that look”, Nanami stated, her fur fluffing up even more. “You’re looking down on everyone else before you’ve even met them”.
Hinata startled at how easily Nanami read his mind. Her eyes were narrowed as she glared at him.
“... Listen. I know you’re a wild animal, but you may end up liking it here”, Nanami said slowly.
“Like it here?! How am I supposed to like it here?!”, Hinata growled at the idiotic notion.
“Here you’ll be taken care of. You’ll be given food, shelter, and friends. Those friends may be from different species but they are still friends”, Nanami’s eyes shined with determination.
Being friends with animals that are supposed to be his prey? How was he supposed to accept that?
Nanami slowly started walking toward the silver mesh and jumped on top of it. “I’ll be back tomorrow. It’s getting late. Monomi lets me lay between her legs when she sleeps so I’m not missing that”.
“Then what am I supposed to do?”, Hinata asked, irritably.
“I dunno. Sleep I guess. Or do whatever wolves do. Monomi will bring you food in the morning. If you’re nice to her she’ll let you meet the others… I think”, the feline slowly started walking towards a large building with bright lights shining from within.
Hinata was left alone. His fur prickled at the idea of being stuck in this place. All the information that feline gave him was swirling in his head, only adding to the panicked feeling stirring in his chest. His eyes drifted to the quickly darkening sky. At least that always stayed the same.