Work Text:
I met Sensei when I was just a cub, while I was wandering away from my mother. He was strange, and unlike any creature I had seen before. He was large and grey, with a black marking on his left ear. He called himself a "Wolf".
Sensei taught me about the world around us; the earth, the trees, the other animals. He told me that it was for when I would take over as the forest's guardian after his death.
The summer after we met, we saw a human at the base of a cliff, hands clasped. When she looked up and saw Sensei, she began shouting. "Ame, Ame," is what I think she was saying. "What does the human mean?", I asked Sensei. He told me that she was a very special human, and that I should treat her nicely if I ever saw her again.
A few days later, two more humans came, a male and a female. "The female one smells like Sensei", I told him. He said he did not know why.
The next spring, Sensei congratulated me, saying that I was now one "year-old". I was finally able to snatch a rabbit from him when we caught prey. Was that what a "year-old" was? I asked him how many "year-olds" he was. He said he was twelve. Wow, I had a lot of catching up to do.
One more spring came a while later. By then, I had grown into an adult. Sensei stared at me, and when I asked why, told me that I looked just like his Sensei had. I wonder what his Sensei had taught him.
For some reason, we visited the same cliff the next summer, and the first human was there again. This time, she did not see Sensei, yet he looked sad about it. Why did he put so much effort into teaching me how to conceal myself, then?
When the human left, we went to the bottom of the cliff, where an orange lay on the ground. Sensei picked the orange up, looked in the direction that the human had left in, and raced back up the cliff, leaving me to frantically follow him.
I met a vixen with fur the colour of the autumn leaves surrounding us, and we grew close. When my cubs were born, I introduced them to Sensei. I asked him why he never tried to find a mate, and he told me that there were no other wolves left.
When the harsh winter that came after took both my mate and cubs away, Sensei was there to comfort me.
I never tried to find another mate in the seasons to come.
The autumn of my fourth "year-old", I began to grow weary. Sensei, as strong as ever, slowed down to let me catch up as we walked through the forest together.
By the time the air started getting colder, I could hardly stand. Sensei brought me food and water whenever I needed it, telling me that everything would be alright.
During my last breaths, I apologised to Sensei for not being able to catch up to his number of "year-olds" and take over as the guardian of the mountain. He said it was fine. He lay by my side as I struggled for breath, assuring me that he was proud of what I had achieved. I did not have the energy to respond to him anymore.
I closed my eyes, and felt my life slip away
I thought heard a human crying next to me as I exhaled one last time.