Fanv's third time waking up in the cave was far more pleasant than the last two. For one, she wasn't dying or starving. Not that she had actually noticed how hungry she was the second time she woke up. She'd been too distracted by her new form to think about things as normal as hunger until she had smelled the blood.

The wolf stretched as she stood up, making satisfied noises as her joints popped. She felt slightly stiff but that's probably because of the healing she did earlier. Speaking of earlier, how much time has passed? A couple of hours? A day? Now that she looked around she noticed that this couldn't possibly be the same cave she'd fallen into when the guards chased her. There was no hole in the ceiling to let light in yet she had no trouble seeing. There was a kind of ambient light with no obvious source. Curious, Fanv began searching around for the source of the light, feeling her way around the walls looking for secret holes or clues as to how the cave remained lit up.

Upon closer inspection, the walls that seemed solid before actually turned out to be filled with small holes and openings that remained hidden at first glance thanks to the way the rocks were angled around them. The walls were rough and solid in most places but in others, it was dotted with holes half covered by the stone itself and half covered by a strange brittle material. It looked just like stone but crumbled upon touching it, revealing the true size of the openings in the wall.

Some holes were barely bigger than Fanv's head while a few of them were big enough to fit her if she crawled. She hesitated for a bit then moved her snout inside one of the bigger holes and inhaled.

A musky scent that reminded her of rats and other troublesome rodents filled her nose. But there were also unfamiliar scents that made her even more curious. Something smelled like mud, not the dry dirt or softer soil in the clover room, no it was a wet swampy sort of smell that suggested plants and mushrooms and slimy swamp-dwellers. There had been a swamp a fair bit away from her village and the fishermen or travelers that sometimes went there had all smelled like that when they returned. Fanv crawled a bit further into the hole as she pondered the scent when suddenly a bright flash of light made her yelp and backpedal out.

Something hissed furiously at her. She could only growl back and try to back away further as the blindness from the sudden flash faded. She barely had time to dodge the beak that shot out towards her front legs. She pulled them back just as the beak snapped in their former place with a sharp sound. The head of her attacker then retracted in an instant to protect it's own exposed neck when she snapped her jaws in its direction.

What stood in front of her was a terribly overgrown turtle. Overgrown in both the sense of size and in the fact that all parts of its body except the shell were covered in roots and vines from various plants. The plants were all muted shades of green and brown, almost looking grey if one didn't look directly at it. And the turtle's shell is a glowing bright white.

The turtle was just small enough to not get stuck in the big holes in the wall, which wasn't exactly small as it was nearly half as tall as Fanv. It hissed furiously at her until she backed away even more from it, snarling and growling in return.

The turtle's behavior pissed Fanv of. She didn't like getting bossed around even though she was pretty sure the turtle's beak could snap her bones in half if it got a hold of her. And its head moved fast compared to its stubby little legs. The head shot out and retracted, snapping its beak and hissing in challenge as they begun circling each other. The turtle didn't want here there and Fanv didn't want to let it have its way just because it was big and angry and could probably break all her bones at once if it tackled her-... Actually, it might be a good idea to let this one go. I'm just going to back away slowly and let it keep the murky cave to itself-!

The turtle's shell dimmed for a second then another flash nearly blinded her again. That was the last straw. If it's going to throw a hissy fit even though she was going to let it be then it deserves a fight.

That was the first bad decision she made. The second was her decision to attack by pouncing onto its shell. Her claws found no purchase on the smooth surface and slipped out under her, making her crash headfirst into the ground. The turtle then whirled around and snapped its jaws around her tail. Fanv shrieked as she felt it snap in two, then she spun around and slammed her jaws around the turtles still exposed neck. Her jaws clamped down hard on its thick neck and the momentum of her lunge shook the turtle's balance, making it topple over halfway onto its side.

It still had its jaws locked around the torn flesh and fur of her tail and as the wolf tugged at its neck it started thrashing its clawed legs, cutting a deep slash through her right shoulder and earning another sharp yank to its bleeding neck. The turtle had tough skin however and the thick muscles were making it hard to bring it down. Fanv bent her hind legs and then pushed herself hard into the turtle's side, toppling it over and placing her on top of it. Unlike the top of its shell, the underside of it was rough and grey, stained darker by rotting plants and newer ones taking their place.

The wolf wrapped her long fingers around the section where the shell ended and the neck began and then she dug her claws into the exposed flesh. Her locked jaws kept the head from retreating into the shell and the turtle screamed, a high pitched squeal of anger and fear. It's short hind legs thrashed about, slashing many shallow cuts into her calves. But the wolf did not budge. She kept on tugging and yanking until a wet tearing noise signaled the end of the turtle's life. It squealed one last time, half drowned in the blood that filled it's mouth as the wolf tore its head off.

With a crunch, the spine snapped and the flesh gave. Blood splashing in torrents from the severed arteries, showering the raging wolf with the sticky dark substance. The turtle's shell stopped glowing slowly as she tore into the open neck, yanking out bit and pieces and fighting her way into the shell itself to get at the soft innards. The shell didn't budge however and she only reaches the parts just within the hole in the shell. Frustrated and exhausted she gave up after having pulled out and swallowed as much as she could from the shell and eating all the legs. The bones had been too hard to bite through but the Cartilage between them had snapped after enough tugging, letting her remove them as she ate to avoid choking on them.

The rodents watched as the New one tore into the Glowshell, splattering blood everywhere and growling in fury at the unbudging shell. If they were lucky it would give up on the inside of the shell and leave it where they could get at it. It would be no problem for most of the many kinds of rodents in the cave to get inside the shell and feast on the fresh kill. They would need to be fast however since without the Glowshell the cave would soon become dark again and nasty things hid in the shadows. The Glowshells ate darkness, and so any place within a certain radius of them became lit up, but not brighter than dusk outside. To have one killed would mean this area would soon become home to many dangerous creatures that fear the light.

Oh? The New one has stopped feeding. It looks conflicted, confused, unsure. Why? It just felled a strong monster, it should be happy. Normally the rodents didn't question things. But now they were waiting for the New one to leave so they could feast. And ever since the New one had appeared in the caves they had found themselves thinking more and more. As if a hidden limit to their intellect had been lifted, allowing them to evolve further much quicker than before.

Yes, the New one brings many good things. New cadavers to pick clean, a new threat to the top predators that would feed on the rodents. And perhaps the most important and confusing thing yet; the ability to understand words. The other rodents turned their gaze away from the cadaver and the New one resting close to it, to the one of them that had begun shifting around. It clawed at the dirt and stone of their tunnel and then,-

Snap.

....

Snap, pop, crack.

They watched as the hare began to grow and twist into a new shape.

Yes. The New one certainly brought many good things. It brought an opportunity to evolve.