“Falling for You”

By: Nightwish fan

On one bright and sunny Friday morning a teenage boy wolf wanders a forest in search of adventure…

He was still a very young wolf, a little over two years old by the looks of him, but he was much older. For this wolf, was an anthro. A human born with a very special gift. The ability to shape-shift into a wolf or a werewolf. His hair, of fur, was a deep jet black. His eyes, bluish-grey, with hints of yellow near the pupils. He was very tall and very lean. When he was in his anthro or human forms he sported a black leather jacket over a zebra striped shirt with black jeans and black boots. He also wore a black medallion around his neck, which his father gave to him when he was younger.

As he was walking in the forest he began to pick up the scent of another wolf. He always enjoyed the company of wolves, thinking them much more pure than most humans. However, upon reaching the source of the smell, lost all cheerfulness he had before. The wolf was a girl, about his age too, and was standing on the edge of a cliff! It was evident she intended to jump but before she could he grabbed the scruff of her neck with his teeth and hauled her back. As soon as he did this he was rewarded with a slashed shoulder and an angry snarl from the she-wolf as she pinned him down growling in his face. “Why? Why did you do that?”. The male wolf winced in pain and gasped out, “because no one so young and pretty should die like that”. “You fool”, she said turning away, “you wouldn’t understand”. “Try me”, he said, licking the blood from his shoulder. “My parent died on this cliff”, she said, tears running down her cheeks. “I should be with them, I should be dead too”. “Do you really think they’d want that?”, he said wiping away her tears, “they’re in a better place now, and I know they would want you to keep living”. “But I miss them so much”, she said walking closer to him. “I know”, he said nuzzling her, “I know how it feels to lose someone”. “Y…Your parents died too?”, she said coming even closer. “No, but two good friends of mine did”, he said staring back. Taking another step forward, he nuzzled her again, deeply. “Wh…What’s your name?”, she said smiling a little. “I’m Ash”, he said, “but what’s your name?”. “Ember…”, she said taking another step away from the cliff. “Ember, that’s a very cute name, for a very cute girl”, he said smiling back and walking very slowly, away from the cliff. Ember blushed but started to walk beside Ash, away from the cliff. “Th…Thanks”, she said smiling at him, now in a flowery meadow. “Your welcome”, he said, “maybe you could come stay with me? It must get awful lonely on your own”. “Wow, really? That’s so nice…”, Ember said looking at him bashfully, “no one’s ever been so nice to me before”. “I’ve never had a better reason to be”, Ash said curling his tail around Ember‘s. Ember’s eyes widened when he did, but she didn’t stop him. Instead, she leaned over and whispered into his ear, “Ash can I show you something?”. “Sure! I have something to show you too. You go first”, he said looking into her eyes. “Ash…I’m an anthro”, she said as she morphed into a human. “Me too”, he said turning into his human form. “Y…You’re an anthro too? Wow…”. “Yep, I sure am. I thought I was the only one”, he said flashing his most radiant smile. “No, you’re not alone”, she said hugging him tightly. “I’m really glad I found you”. “Me too”, Ash said hugging her back, “but what do you look like as an anthro?”. Turning anthro she said sweetly “like this”. Ash also turned anthro, and walked over to her blushing, “your really cute as an anthro”. “Awww…thanks, your pretty cute as an anthro too!”. Ash blushed some more, then moved a little closer and said, “maybe we could hang out sometime?”. Ember laughed and then said “aren’t we doing that now?”. Then she suddenly leaned over and kissed him on the cheek, looking into his eyes, smiling at him. “Hey Ember, can I take you somewhere?”. “Okay”, she said smiling at him. As they started walking, still anthro, Ash slowly felt around for her hand and held it in his own, which was shaking slightly. Ember smiled at him, still holding his hand, and curled her tail around his. And all Ash could do was smile and keep walking…

When they reached the place Ash wanted to go to, they were on a grassy hill gazing at the sunset. “Wow, it’s so beautiful”, Ember said sitting down, now as a human. “Yeah it sure is”, Ash said sitting down beside her, also human. Then he added shyly, “just like you”. Ember giggled and kissed Ash again, this time on the lips. Ash’s eyes widened and sparkled as he was kissed and then he pulled her closer and kissed her back, just as the sun was going down. Then he laid down, and she laid down, and they watched the stars come out, together.

Next morning Ash awoke to find Ember still laying beside him, smiling as she said “good morning sleepy head”. Ash smiled back and turned into his wolf form, curling up beside her, “good morning”. Still human, Ember patted his head and scratched his ears playfully. He yipped happily as she did. Then she stroked the fur on his back and he laid down, indulging in all the sweet attention.

About thirty minutes later Ash heard her stomach grumble and whined, “are you hungry Ember?”. Ember blushed slightly and mumbled “maybe a little”. Ash got up and nuzzled her saying, “okay then, I’ll go bring down a deer”. “I’ll come with”, she said, also turning into her wolf form. “Alright then!”, Ash said smiling, “Lets go hunt some deer!”. And they walked of together side by side…

It didn’t go so well. Two hours into the hunt and they hadn’t caught a thing. They were just wandering the forest aimlessly. Finally they found a quaint little den, obviously abandoned, and flopped down on it, exhausted. “Man! I can’t even find a rabbit out here!”, Ash said sighing, “I’m sorry Ember”. With a growling stomach Ember answered back, “it’s okay, we’ll find something”. But Ash wasn’t comforted by this. He wanted to help her as much as possible. It felt to him like the opposite was happening since the day he met her. It was nice, but it was making him feel guilty. As he was thinking he felt a hand on his shoulder and turned around to see Ember, now an anthro. “Tilt your head back”, Ember said moving behind him. “Tilt my head back? Uh…okay”, Ash said a little confused as he lifted his head up. Then he saw, or more felt, the reason why. All he saw was Ember bending over him and nuzzling him sweetly, her hair covering his face. Then, she curled her arms around his waist and pulled him backward till he was lying down in her lab. She smiled at him, stroking his fur and whispering in his ears. He didn’t want it to ever end. His whole body was shaking with happiness. But yet he still had the growing concern that he wasn’t doing enough for her. So when she fell asleep, he stealthily walked out of the cave, to go get tomorrow’s breakfast.

After about two hours he returned in the early morning, dragging his prize back into the den. But when he got inside, he couldn’t find Ember. He looked everywhere, but it was as if she vanished. Then he heard a long, sad howl. He knew instinctively it was Ember, and he ran towards the sound. And when he reached her, he experienced the worst case of dejavu he had ever had. There she was again, standing on the edge of the cliff, crying. He started to run towards her, shouting her name. But she didn’t here him, and he watched in horror as his beloved stepped of the cliff. Desperate, he made a giant leap towards her, just grabbing her leg and turned swiftly. As he did this, Ember flew back on the cliff and landed with a thud, away from the edge. As she was picking herself up, she saw Ash and ran towards him crying, “Ash! I…”. But her voice stopped abruptly as she realized what had happened. When Ash had spun around to save her, he took her place on the edge of the cliff, but he had his back to the cliff and wasn’t able to keep his balance. So with a gasp, he reached out as if to touch her, and fell backwards off the cliff.

Screaming his name she ran towards the edge and looked down. His body was being thrown around like a rag doll. His limbs flailing, he bounced of the rocks and fell in a heap at the bottom. Ember stood frozen for a moment, then ran down the other side of the cliff and kept running till she reached Ashes and bent over him crying. “Ash, Ash! Are you okay?”. Ash’s eyes fluttered open and he coughed up blood, his breath sharp and raspy. He was a real mess. His skull was cracked and Bleeding profusely. His legs, completely shattered, and lying limp in front of him. As well as three broken ribs and serious abrasions all over his body. He slowly, painfully, gasped out “Ember…why?”. “I thought you left!”, she said crying, “oh, God I’m so sorry Ash!”. She cradled him in her arms and nuzzled him all over. Ash coughed again and whispered “I love you…I would never leave you”. Ember stroked his fur, crying her reply, “please don’t die Ash, don’t leave me”. “I won’t”, he said trying to nuzzle her but wincing when he did. “Please Ash, rest”, Ember said gently setting his head back down. “Okay”, Ash said shivering from the cold and the pain. Ember saw the shiver and covered his body with hers, keeping him warm. Then, Ash fell asleep. He slept all night and into next day without any disturbance. When he did wake he found Ember in her human form bandaging his wounds. When she was done Ashes smiled at her and kissed her, now human, saying “so, when are we going home?”. Ember looked at him curiously and replied, “you mean you still like me?”. “Of course I do, just as long as you don’t try to jump again”, he said laughing. She laughed too and said “Okay Ash, I promise”.

And she never did. From that day on she indulged in every minute of life good or bad. As for Ash, well, he couldn’t be happier. About eight months after his fall and he was completely healed. It was like it never happened. Yet another happily ever after.

The End