Rue ran in her wolf form. She felt the wind whip past her ears. The leaves brush her fur. And she let the wild claim her.
She ran and ran. Isolating herself from the world. Looking for the freedom she had pursued for so long. Even now, when it was nothing but a fleeting dream, as she ran, she let herself be captured by the feeling she longed for.
She ran, shrinking to her hybrid form mid leap before bounding off a massive charging boar with the agility of a cat before digging her claws into the cliff she had chosen as her destination. Her fingers dug into the semi rock semi dirt soil cliff easily.
It took mere five minutes for her to scale the hundred meter tall cliff. And once she reached the top, she transformed back to human. Letting her feet dangle from the edge without a care, Rue took a deep breath, looking down at the endless wilderness.
Never in her life had she ever imagined of a place like this existing. For so long, she had believed that only wolves and the vampires existed.
Her eyes caught the movements under the shadows. The massive boar who was turning left and right, the group of giant apes who looked at everything with a vigilant eye. The green python as thick as a human, draped on a tree, bathing in the meager sunlight that peeked through the clouds.
It was beautiful. The quiet calmed her. The wind bristled against the fur carrying scents that touched her senses. It was liberating.
She let her gaze wander. The forest was beautiful. The green sea spread for kilometers, being bordered by a set of steep mountains and cliffs that formed a natural basin.
However what took her attention was the mountain of rock that rose from right smack middle of the forest. A single granite formation large enough to to be called a mountain. As she looked at it with a casual gaze, she noticed a hole. It was a big hole, the edges smoothened and discolored with countless years of wear. She couldn't see the inside. It was too deep, and all she could see were the shadows that masked the depth.
It looked massive, even from afar. More than big enough to hold a house. And she was curious. While she was a wolf, who got turned to a slave by a monster, she was still young. Her desire to explore emerged like a small ember, buried under heather.