His feet hurt.
It was probably a stupid thing to be bothering him, but Ran had hardly slowed down for the past couple months, eager to put as much distance between himself and where he’d come from as possible. He could hardly get the images out of his head - the foam dripping from his parents’ lips, the look in their eyes, the stumbling and shaking. Ran had gone to visit his aunt’s pack for a handful of weeks, and that was most likely what had saved him from suffering the same fate as his parents.
He felt bad for running, but what choice did he have, when his mother looked at him like she didn’t recognize him?
The boy had spent the first little while terrified that he would… change. Become like them, somehow.
But it hadn’t happened.
His aunt had been kind enough to him when he ran back to her, but she had her own pups to worry about - both the yearlings and the newest litter - and there wasn’t enough space for Ran to stay, regardless. And besides, he didn’t really want to impose.
So up north he had traveled, half-expecting to transform into some drooling monster at any moment. But it had been some months now, and nothing had changed, so maybe it was safe to stop for longer than a night or two.
Ran had stumbled across a pretty, green thicket. Oddly vibrant for the time of year - evergreens, most likely. He sniffed curiously at some of the stuff growing on some of the shrubs, but as hungry as he was, he didn’t think he would be any to stoop to eating random plants. In fact, he recalled being told that some plants could kill you if you weren’t careful.
His stomach growled - loudly - but he wasn’t desperate enough to risk it.
Instead, he kept walking, until he came across a small opening in the ground. Tilting his head to the side, Ran crept up toward it - it kind of looked like the den his mom had made, expecting this year’s litter of pups. His tail thumped a few times on the forest floor behind him, wondering if someone would be coming back to this little den at some point. It didn’t smell like anyone now, so perhaps not this year, but maybe the next?
It looked almost like it would make a nice den for Ran, if he needed a place to sleep for a few nights. Feeling bold, he climbed halfway into it, his rump the only thing sticking out.