Jaden suddenly woke with a start, the way he often woke lately. This time he realized he had been running at a very fast speed, because he skidded on a thin layer of snow atop grass. He slid and stumbled falling into a snowbank that had piled at the foot of a large tree. Scared, shivering and confused, he stumbled and shakily stood, frantically looking around to try and get his bearings.<br/><br/>Once more nothing looked familiar. His white silk shirt was still stained in random places with blood not of his own, which was now soaked by the wet snow he had just fallen into and clung to his body. He was in the middle of nowhere, wearing next to nothing and there was snow all around him. He was clearly panicking, breathing hard and wandering around on the spot, trying to figure out where he was or what he should do. Frustrated, he put his hands on his knees and stared at the ground in an attempt to calm down.<br/><br/>"Alright, I can do this." he muttered, "It makes no sense, but there has to be an explanation. I was kidnapped, then chased, then..." he stopped, closing his eyes hard trying to remember. All that came to him was a feeling of pain, then afterwards his memory was fuzzy, only of inconsistent settings and situations. He could remember standing next to a dead deer at one point, he woke with a dead rabbit in his mouth, and he remembered something about a bear, but not much else.<br/><br/>Holding his arms for warmth, he sighed and began climbing a hill. Atop he gazed around the frozen landscape, the feeling of dread washing over him. There was nothing in any direction. Panic began to rise again but he tried to calm himself by taking a deep breath.<br/><br/>Smoke?<br/><br/>He did smell something, but he couldn't tell the direction. Maybe he imagined it? That's probably it. His mind was breaking now and anything is possible... But then he saw the whisps of smoke near a hill surrounded by trees. Before he knew what he was doing, he was running again, still slipping on snow and stumbling a few times, but it gave him hope. He ran frantically, then suddenly came across a river, where he tripped and fell headlong into it. When he came back up, he was trying to recover from the shock of the cold water and stumbled to get his footing, not noticing the large brown bear on the bank taking a drink.<br/><br/>It roared and reared up, swatting it's paws in Jaden's direction. He tried to cry out but the cold water had stolen his breath. He only was able to stumble back in the water, falling again on his backside.<br/><br/>"N-No! Go away!" he muttered. The bear roared again and ran for him, but Jaden bolted as well, water flinging in all directions, flying from his soaked silk shirt as he flailed to get ahead of the beast. It chased him in the opposite direction of the smoke, back through the trees. Jaden ran with all of his might, but he definitely heard the bear gaining on him.<br/><br/>Something snapped in his mind as this situation reminded him of exactly what happened. The kidnappers chased him just like this when he tried to run. One changed in mid stride into a monster of a beast and bit him. Yes, now he remembered. He was bitten by whatever it was. But how was he alive?<br/><br/>His realization distracted him enough for the bear to gain on him and it felt like a house fell on him, pinning him to the ground. It roared in his face and his adrenaline ran high. He was never more scared in his life, and no one was around to help him. This was it. He would die here.<br/><br/>"No....." he muttered with a stifled voice, then let out his frustration and the feeling of helplessness in a desperate yell, "NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO"<br/><br/>The sound that erupted from his throat surprised him and the bear. It was the loudest howl he had ever heard. The howl made him feel more powerful and his body burned as he struggled against the bear's weight.<br/><br/>When the bear was thrown off of him. Jaden jumped to his feet and looked down at his arms, now large and muscular and covered in fur. His hands padded and tipped with sharp, black claws. Wait, he had a tail as well? Sharp teeth? And why was he so high off the ground? The bear seemed smaller than before for some reason. The bear got to it's feet and rushed at him, but instinct took over and he turned to the side, grabbing the bear in a headlock. It struggled against him for a moment, grunting and growling, but Jaden's white powerful arms remained tight around the bear's neck. With a quick twist, he heard a snap beneath the thick hide of the bear and it went limp in his arms. He waited a moment to make sure it was dead, then he quickly jumped back, trying to sort out what had happened.<br/><br/>He was now taller, covered in fur, had claws and fangs, and he just killed a bear with his bare hands. Alright, his mind had finally gone and his fantasies have taken over. Time to wake up now, right?<br/><br/>He walked over to the nearby river and peered into it. What stared back at him, was a Werewolf.<br/><br/>Right, that just proved it.  He was probably imagining all of this and he was freezing to death in a hole somewhere. There was no escaping death. He was probably already at death's door and this was his mind's way of coping with what was to come.<br/><br/>Jaden gave up and sank to his knees. His exhaustion caught up to him as adrenaline wore off and he slumped back to lie beside the river int he snow. He felt the cold snow soak into the fur on his back and he closed his eyes. He felt himself drifting off and he passed out.