Rebirth in the wilderness

An enormous silver pelted wolf stood majestically atop a hill, it's eyes radiating an oppressive feeling of dominance.

The landscape beneath it was one unfamiliar to that of Japan with tall coniferious trees spreading out forming a tall canopy.

The wolf's mouth opened to let out a howl and in that same moment a bolt of lightning fell from the heavens descending upon the earth. The electricity crackled in several arcs, at it's center stood a vague outline of a person.

At the heart of the pillar of lightning, bones of a human formed and were slowly wreathed in muscle. In the once empty sockets full of nothing but darkness a pair of orange eyes now stood glowing with a hint of madness. Lastly, the ethereal figure was covered by skin along with shoulder length black hair cascading down his head.

Hāto took a deep breath then he fell to the ground without control over his new body.

It hurt, every ounce of his body screamed in agony, but that was a good thing. It simply meant Hāto was alive. Maybe it was pathetic for him to still want to live but frankly he couldn't care less.

He felt worthless but at the same time unbelievably happy. Hāto was happy to be alive, was that so wrong? No, it wasn't.

Laid bare with hot tears pouring down his cheeks, Hāto felt himself slowly lose consciousness, waking up a few hours later with the sun further west in the sky only to feel his conscious mind slip from his grasp moments later.

Night came and Hāto lay under the moon's veiled embrace with seemingly no end in sight to the vicious cycle.

In the beginning he tried to keep track of time but after the first few days of drifting in and out of consciousness he had all but resigned to his fate.

Just on the verge of giving up, Hāto woke up, only this time without falling unconscious immediately after.

After what seemed like an eternity, his mind which had been damaged beyond measure had finally healed, or was at least starting to heal.

Hāto felt as though his head was going to split from a headache, but managed to shrug it off.

What happened to me?

There were so many questions on his mind. The fact that he also couldn't remember anything only fueled his unease. However, in the midst of his disordered mental state one thing remained.

It was his name. Hāto, written with the characters for limitless and desire. Both words coalesced into a single meaning, vanity. That was his name, the essence of his very being.

Knowing his name didn't mean everything automatically fell into place but Hāto felt close. Sitting underneath the moonlit night his eyes regained some sort of clarity.

Hāto's belly rumbled informing him of his hunger, he had not eaten anything In the last few days and his body was slowly becoming aware of the fact.

He spared a glance at the charred remains of what was once a proud wolf. The sight was far from appetizing, but Hāto had been lucky to even come across something even remotely edible.

Not long after, his teeth sunk into the ashen mass desperate for a semblance of a meal. Even after being roasted by lightning, eating the flesh of the beast felt like chewing on strips of metal.

Saying it was unpleasant would have been a grave understatement but Hāto continued to gnaw away at the beast.

A few more days passed in silence before Hāto finally gained complete awareness and with that came a sudden realization.

He was naked and in the wilderness to boot. Hāto doubted he was going to be arrested anytime soon but it certainly did a number on his mental health. He wasn't a pervert, absolutely not.

After endlessly doing nothing but eating and sleeping Hāto finally came up with a new goal. It simply wouldn't do for someone to find him in his current state.

He clumsily rose to his feet like a newborn lamb desperately fighting to remain standing and then he fell, spectacularly, even with his face to the ground. It took a couple of moments before Hāto could shrug of the humiliation of falling like a baby.

This is so embarrassing. Come on, Hāto. what are you, five?

Streaks of bright red flowed down his nose making his slightly swollen face seem much more formidable that it was supposed to.

One more time. You can do this.

After briefly psyching himself up, Hāto quickly rose on his feet. Only this time, he actually managed to remain standing.

He took a brief look at his surroundings and smiled.

Who knew walking could be so difficult.

After a long period of investigation he discovered he was currently high up in a relatively small mountain range.

Although something else drew the bulk of his attention. At the heart of the mountains, the tallest one had a large crevice running down all the way to it's heart.

Hāto shuddered at the sight of the cataclysmic visage. He wasn't a person who usually believed in myths and fairy tales, but after witnessing some bizarre things, now he never said never.

Wait a sec.

Hāto felt like he had gone through something life-changing. Something he wasn't supposed to forget, but he had.

He could already feel himself coming down with another headache. It was best to leave the problem of his past to a more future version of himself, yes. Future Hāto would handle it.

For now his primary focus was the grand sight of the peaks in front of him.

It's almost like someone split the mountain.

But that was impossible, probably.

Hāto climbed further up the mountain , making his way to higher ground where he would get a much better view of what lay below him.

After a long arduous journey across the steep mountain range he finally saw it.

Underneath the moonlight, the edge of a town could be seen somewhere in the distance. It's interior stood obscured by night.

At the foot of the mountain Hāto found a large decrepit building that looked no different from a haunted house.

A smile spread across his face. After being through hell in the mountains, things were finally looking up for him.

He set out with renewed fervor, a new goal in sight. He was going to reach the house before dawn even if it killed him.

Well, maybe not quite. But something along those lines.