Authoress' Note: In case you're wondering, Dawn is now living among her own kind once more. However, not everything is in paradise since everyone is wary of her.

New characters were introduced last chapter, so let's review who we met so far.

Midnight: Dawn's current guardian after she ran away from her adoptive mother, Mary. He is protective of our little light.

Winter: Leader of the currently nameless pack intermixed with Native Americans. What is the name of the pack and the tribe? More coming soon.

Ash, Willow, and Gray: A group of wolves that works closely with Winter. They are involved with ensuring the safety of the pack and tribe.

Raven Skulls: A secret order that was responsible for the death of Dawn's mother, Autumn.

This chapter will delve into the lingering attachments that Dawn has with her past, especially with a certain evil uncle you MIGHT be getting tired of by this point.

Oh, and I'm going to have to listen to some music to write these next few chapters since Dawn will have to go through some rough changes.

Slight warnings of child abuse in this chapter. Thankfully, it's in a flashback, but it is still painful writing it.

~Chibi Mirai Gogeta

Song reference used in this chapter: Johnny Cash-Hurt (listen if you wish, the lyrics of the song make more sense in context)

Dawn of the Hunter

Chapter 7-Worthless

Footfalls echoed through the empty farmhouse that Dawn found herself in as she walked around completely lost and disoriented. She had no idea how she ended up back home, but it seemed eerie how muted the colors seemed to be compared to her last visit in the house. She shivered from the coldness that permeated the walls, her breaths coming out in small puffy clouds while she searched the vacant place.

"Ma! Pa!" Dawn called out worriedly. Her heart ached at the thought of not seeing them inside the home.

No, she was not home. Not with them absent.

Running through the house, she soon reached her room and saw the silhouette of a man standing at her bedroom window, the light obscuring who was there.

"Pa?" Dawn called out, eager to be with the man that she trusted deeply. She started to approach the man, but it turned into the last person she wanted to see.

Sam.

"Hey, you worthless little brat," Sam smiled cruelly at her, his face twisted in a sneer. "I told you not to say anything to them about how I treat you..."

Dawn turned to leave, but her bedroom door slammed shut. Clawing at the door with her tiny hands, she found that the doorknob refused to work as it rattled without giving way in the slightest.

"No! Let me go!" Dawn cried, screaming as he started approaching her in a menacing way. "Stay away from me!"

"You broke the agreement by telling them," Sam coldly told them. "I'll make sure you never see them again..."

"Please! Stop!" She felt his large claw-like hand grab her sharply by her wrist. She saw him dragging her towards the window of the house as the snow began to billow through the torn and dilapidated thin curtains. She tried to fight him, but each blow was ineffective as he suddenly swung the arm holding her towards the only way outside.

______________

"STOP!" Dawn screamed as she felt the tears running down her cheeks, jarring herself awake from the deep sleep she had been in. Almost instantly, she felt something warm move around her as she woke up disoriented.

"Are you alright, child of Autumn?" Midnight's concerned tone reached her ears. She found herself staring into the orbs of the wolf that had taken her into his den and was shielding her from the chill that was in the air.

"I... I... I had a bad dream," Dawn whimpered as Midnight gently wrapped his front paws behind her back and laid his head against the crook of her left shoulder.

"It will be alright," Midnight reassured, holding her. Tears were streaming down her face as she buried herself into the dark-furred creature. He held her in his grasp gently, a soft cooing emitting from his throat to comfort her further.

"I... I want to go home... go back to how things used to be..." Dawn lamented. She hated the fact that everything that she knew was no longer valid. It was as though she had been displaced yet again in a short amount of time.

"You know that's not possible," Midnight reminded the girl that he seemed concerned about. "If I took you back, there is a chance you would die living in those inhumane conditions those land destroyers live."

Dawn pulled away from Midnight, but he refused to relinquish his hold on the child. He knew that right now, she was in a great deal of emotional pain, but like her physical injuries, these too would heal.

"I should have taken you away that day in the forest, but back then, you were still uncertain about yourself," Midnight continued, obliviously unaware of how Dawn felt at that moment. "That man who raised you might have raised you to be a human, but that man was never your father."

"Who... who am I?" Dawn asked Midnight who looked at her with understanding.

"I cannot say, but the girl named 'Dawn' isn't who you are anymore," Midnight finally released her. "Child of Autumn, if and when you are able to revert to your true self, you will finally understand why you should give up the notions of living among the land destroyers. That includes being called by that ridiculous name they gave you."

"You... you won't call me by my given name? Why?" She seemed saddened by this. All of the others—that were human—always called her by the name she had inherited when she was just a mere babe.

"That name doesn't suit you," Midnight answered her honestly. "They called you that name based on the circumstances in which you were found, but that name doesn't define you in the slightest. It's worthless..." Dawn felt almost though Midnight was making her feel less of herself and ran out of the den. "Child of Autumn! Where are you going?"

"Away from you!" Dawn yelled back at the wolf as she ran. Her foot still ached from the slight sprain that she was still recovering from, but she continued to run, not caring where she was going. Even the cold air did not perturb her, and she would sooner prefer it over the judgmental werewolf that wanted her to give up the last semblance of her human life.

As she ran, Dawn saw huts made of logs and branches tied together. She had no idea who any of these people were as she ran past a few Native Americans that were carrying brushfuls of food from the storage house. She ran until she reached the wooded area and slowed down to a walk, her breathing coming out in gasps.

'Why would he want me to forget my name? It's the only thing I have left other than...' Dawn looked at her wrist and realized that the bracelet she had was gone. 'My bracelet! I must have lost it! But I don't know when and where I lost it... I only have my name... if I give that up, then I would have lost everything that my parents gave me...'

She was so lost in her thoughts was Dawn when she suddenly ran into someone. "Oof!"

"I... I'm sorry..." another child-like voice muttered. Dawn looked and saw that she had ran into a girl her own age as her black hair obscured her face. "I'll be going..."

"Wait!" Dawn caught the girl's wrist, stopping the child from running. She had to be around the same age as Dawn was, but she was trembling. "Why are you running away from me?" The girl was silent while Dawn brushed the dark locks away from the mute child's face. Hazel eyes sparkled as she looked at the werewolf child briefly before turning.

"I... I shouldn't be around you..." the girl admitted. "Werewolves and Natives may live together, but that doesn't mean they should talk with one another..."

"Why?" Dawn felt that this rule was stupid. "I'm sorry, but whoever said that is wrong. You shouldn't be afraid to say something and look them straight in the eye while doing so."

"My... mom... she doesn't agree..." the girl told Dawn. "She... she blames me... says I'm worthless..."

Dawn heard these words and recalled the number of times she heard this from Sam whenever she did poorly in school.

"You're a worthless brat who is mentally retarded..."

Sam's voice echoed in her head as she released the girl's wrist. The child ran while Dawn found herself once more in her uncle's basement.

______________

Dawn felt him slap her across the face as she landed on the floor, tears streaming down her swollen cheek while the man towered over her.

"I don't know why I keep your worthless hide around," Sam spoke coldly towards the child. "You failed your classes again."

"I'm trying..." Dawn told the angry man, but he was not hearing any of her complaints.

"Trying ain't good enough," Sam sneered coldly. "You're a worthless brat who is mentally retarded... keep this up and I'll throw you out on the streets and tell your parents that you ran away..."

"No! Please!" Dawn cried. "I'm really trying! I've been studying hard, but it's too much..."

"You are not going to eat dinner for a couple weeks," Sam condemned the child. "If you so much try to sneak anything from the refrigerator, I'll know, and I'll start making you take cold baths before you go to school!"

With nothing else to say, Sam stormed back upstairs and slammed the door shut, the sound of the locks being affixed to the door. It was to prevent the child from escaping the prison he had made to entrap her in once she came home from school and having free rein of the rooms upstairs. Picking herself from the floor, Dawn went to the suitcase and once again pulled out the brooch, holding it close to her as she sought what comfort it could bring to her.

'I wish I can go home... pa would be able to protect me if I was at home...' Dawn thought to herself. As usual, she looked at the design, wondering what its significance meant. Ever since she had received it, she had found herself secretly wishing that she knew where it came from and could meet the wolves again.

______________

'I am... I am worthless...' Dawn thought angrily to herself, tears streaming down her face as they cooled and reddened the flesh. 'Why...? Why am I here? Why am I no longer worthy of the name my parents call me? I wish someone, anyone would treat me like my pa used to...'

Soft footfalls were heard as Dawn glanced behind her and saw Midnight standing there, almost though keeping his distance.

"Child of Autumn... no, Dawn," Midnight called out to her when he saw the grief on her face. "I didn't mean to devalue who you are..."

"A bit late for that," Dawn looked down at the ground. "I thought things would be better here, but it's just like they were when I was at school..."

Dawn saw Midnight revert to his humanoid form and approach the child. He pulled her into his arms, his hand resting on top of her head in a comforting manner. The heat of his body was welcoming after spending what felt like hours standing out in the dead of winter with only the basic gray coat that was dirtied and torn.

"What have those land destroyers done to you?" Midnight questioned with concern in his voice as he felt the child tremble in his grasp. Dawn clutched to him as her tears soaked the cotton T-shirt he was wearing. Lifting her off the ground, the wolf-turned-man carried her further into the forest.

______________

Snow covered the ground and the barren limbs of the trees. Dawn looked around while Midnight held her in his grasp to keep her warm. She had seen snow many times, but where he brought her seemed magical since she began to calm down and stopped crying.

"Now that you have calmed down, do you mind telling me about yourself?" Midnight asked the werewolf child.

"I... I was always called worthless," Dawn admitted to the man who seemed more attentive to her than uncle had been.

"Mmm... that would explain why you ran from me earlier when I said that your name wasn't suited for you," Midnight sighed as his hand carded through the girl's hair in a comforting manner. "I'll be honest—your human name has no value here, but if you wish for me to call you that, I will."

"I would prefer it," Dawn told Midnight.

"Even so, the others will continue to call you the 'child of Autumn' since you do not have a given wolf's name."

"A given wolf's name?" Dawn repeated, wondering what the significance her name meant to them.

"Wolf cubs are usually given a name based on the circumstances of their birth, but you were never given a name..." Midnight noted. "I don't know why, but there were circumstances around your birth that forced Autumn to take you and run..."

"What was my mother like?" Dawn questioned.

"She was an alpha female that was highly valued due to her immense knowledge of the world around her," Midnight told the girl. "Most of the males treated her with respect, including our leader Winter. Around the time she was due to give birth, a Native woman, a medicine woman, by the name of Fortune came to us and told Winter something. Whatever it was, it made Autumn take you away from here..."

Dawn was quiet. She was none of the things that Midnight described and wondered if she was abandoned by the woman out of shame and fear. "I'm nothing like her... she sounds so great and important..."

"Dawn, until you are older, you have yet to see the value you have in yourself," Midnight told the child. "Whether you are a child of an alpha female or otherwise, you are still who you are."

"I want a wolf name then!" Dawn exclaimed, sitting up straighter before she shifted back into his body by the touch of his hand.

"Hmm... that would be something I cannot give you easily," Midnight admitted honestly to the young girl.

"How come?" Dawn looked at him in confusion.

"At some point, you were in your wolf form, but no one other than your mother caught a glimpse of it," Midnight answered, his hand gently rubbing her back. "If you are still capable of reverting into it, then and maybe then I can think of a potential name for you."

Dawn wondered if there was a way to fully reclaim her true self. If there was, she would find a way. She promised herself that she would.