The stupid man fell asleep with his journal on his chest. I went to rip it apart, but I saw my name. I had gotten better at reading, but it still frustrates me. I mostly hate when people make me read. When I read myself, it's not too bad. Seeing my name, I left the journal alone.

I lay there in my truer form because it had gotten chilly. It felt good, fresh.

I was more tired than I would have liked to admit. I almost slept through the whole night. Almost. There was an owl who was hooting. I went to eat it when the sleeping hand landed on my back.

All my plans; ruined. There was no way he wouldn't notice.

But now there were only a couple minutes before the sun rose, so with no remorse. I jumped full force onto him.

I shifted. "It's morning!"

"It's night somewhere else..." He grumbled, trying to cover his ears.

"Okay... I'll go find some firewood for our dinner at night somewhere else."

My mind was running. I could get away. He would be none the wiser. He loves sleeping anyway. Only if-

"Absolutely not. I'm wide awake."

"Darn it."

He unzipped the tent, and I was off. I wanted to see if some fish spawned overnight. Or find another rabbit. Maybe something bigger.

"Izuku!" I looked back, having not yet shifted. "Don't you want to eat that rabbit? I'll prepare it. Find some dry wood, but stay close."

"Sure! I saw some yesterday about a kilometer-"

"Closer."

"Fine!"

I had smelled a herd of dear about a kilometer away. I grumbled, picking up dry sticks. I made sure to put a wet one in the group. Maybe the smoke will get in Zawa's eyes. Then he won't see me sneak off.

I walked back, dumping it on the ground. I looked while he skinned the animal.

"I could have just eaten it."

"I'm glad you had the control not to eat it. That would have been gross."

Har har. "Not."

"Gross."

"Is not."

"What about all its hair? It would get in your mouth. Gross."

I had nothing to say. That was gross.

"I win."

"Loser."

"Wolfboy."

"Human."

"Wolf-boy. You're human too, buddy." I shifted to prove him wrong. "Okay, if your wolfiness would be willing to clean up camp, we will leave right after breakfast."

I popped back into a boy and ran around gathering all the stuff. "How do you take down a tent?"

"I'll teach you."

Just like that, I learned how to take down a tent and pack it in the most efficient way. I also rolled up Eraserhead's light blue sleeping bag.

"How come you didn't bring the yellow one?"

I like that one a lot more.

"That thing is 50 pounds. As much as I like it, backpacking is when you pack light. I also brought that smaller green one for you."

"I saw it."

"Use it if you want."

"Okay."

It was still untouched. I had slept as a wolf anyways.

Breakfast was cook relativity fast. It was clear Zawa had done this before. He handed me my portion. "The rabbit is mixed in."

It was a soup thing. Smells great. I swiped it, inhaling the food. The rabbit was delicious. Kinda stringy, but that added character. My stomach growled as I took the last bite of my food. Just like last night, I got seconds, then thirds.

"You eat like a starved horse."

"You eat like a blind goat."

"A goat? Really? That's the best you got. Out of the two of us, you're the goat. Mister, licks his lips when a fly flies by. Gross."

"Fine blind cat who can't tell what real tuna is."

"As long as I'm a cat." He paused, "and thanks for not killing my cats."

I mumbled, "Not yet."

"Not ever. Oh, by the way, that girl was cute."

"Huh?" I didn't quite choose to hear him, as my attention was on the army of ants marching to our food.

I laughed and picked one up. It bit me, and I dropped it.

"Erase it! Our food! My hand!"

We both laughed as Aizawa moved our food out of the reach of the little devils. He also grabbed seconds.

The sun is now in the sky. We were off again. I shifted, following the trail a little ways ahead of the man.

"Izuku!"

I know, I know. I popped my head back into his sight, then ran off again. I heard a mumble of a complaint but didn't care. I smelled an animal not far ahead.

I followed my nose. I crouched. I poked my head around a tree seeing a tree rat. I stepped forward, watching my feet.

"I'm coming around this corner!" Zawa yelled.

The tree rat ran away.

UGH. I almost had it.

A couple of hours of this went by. I caught at least five birds, two rabbits, and a rat. Though, I couldn't ever snag a tree rat. Aizawa told me three rats were called squirrels. He also made me let the others go.

I caught wind of a smell I couldn't quite figure out. I started sticking closer to Zawa. I hoped he wouldn't notice, but sadly he did.

"And why have you graced me with your presence oh young one."

I shifted, surprising him. "I don't know" The phrase came out more of a sound than actual words.

"Okay, kid. Since I have your attention, we will be there in a couple more kilometers."

I smelled another smell, and without wanting to shift fully, I went into my half-form taking another breath.

The surprise on Zawa's face lasted a bit longer. I still hated this form, but it had a lot of benefits. I also hated to say, but it felt natural. Easy.

"Something smells."

Aizawa stopped, "Good or bad."

"I dunno."

"Is it an animal or human?"

"Who knows."

I shifted again, running off. I made sure to stay close.

The sun was in the middle of the sky now. The heat was beating down, the cool breeze long gone.

I was panting. We had stopped to take a break. Honestly, my feet are sore. I looked down to see a little trail of blood my paw was leaving.

UGH. No wonder it was sore. I tore a pad. Stupid.

"Hold up kid you're bleeding."

I shifted, taking off my shoe. Aizawa looked at it, shrugged, and took out the first aid, but he didn't put a bandage on it. We both knew it would fall off or turn into fur as I shifted.

That was a downside. If hurt and I shifted, the bandages would turn into patterns on my fur. So If I got hurt I had to stay in one form. But this didn't hold for stitches. Stitches came with me no matter what.

We came to an open field with another spring. Just like last night, we set up camp and started making food. I wandered the open field; Aizawa had called it a valley. I changed my color to match the growing grass. I was invisible.

There they were. Dear. By no means were they close. I was upwind. There was no way I could sneak up. I would have to try later. I could already tell they smelled me.

I found another rabbit, killed it, taking it back to Aizawa.

"Gross."

"No, it's delicious!"

The sun had set a while ago.

"Are we going to bed anytime soon, or can I-"

"Or. I have a plan for tonight. In fact. We can go right now."

"Go where." I asked suspiciously.

"Just follow." He took out a flashlight. We started walking. We came up to a builder that popped out of the grass. Aizawa started to climb. When we got to the top, he turned off his flashlight.

"Wow, a rock, how cool."

"Rocks are cool." He sighed, "Just look up."

The sun had been gone for a while. The bugs talked back and forth as the occasional owl hooted.

It's probably the same owl from last night.

I was speechless. Though it seemed dark, not only a moment before, the night sky was now lit with sparkles. "What, what is this? I didn't know there were so many." It was a moonless night.

"Beautiful isn't it? I forgot how much I loved this."

"What the crap!" I shrieked, "What was that!"

Zawa laughed. "A shooting star."

"Another one! Wait! Two, no three!"

I sat, looking at the sky. I looked back at Aizawa.

"It's not always like this kid. This is a special occasion; a meteor shower. This one only happens every twenty years."

"I love it."

"Happy birthday Kiddo," I was caught off guard. "I know it's probably not your birthday, but it's high time we celebrated it." He fished his hand into a pocket, "Here." He places a bag of premium jerky in my hands. He opened his bag of sunflower seeds. We started munching down together.

I haven't been this happy in a while. The car ride here was worth it.

Slowly the stars stopped flying across the sky, leaving the original ones shining stronger.

"Can we stay out here forever?"

"No, but we are coming back."

Night passed. Aizawa had retired to the tent, but he let me stay out on the rock. I had shifted a while ago. The cold night air didn't affect me in this form.

I looked up at the sky. Aizawa pointed out some connotations earlier. It's something I want to learn about. I took a breath in, and for the first time in a long while, I howled at the moonless night. I chuckled when everything went silent. Only for one brave grasshopper to start talking and its brothers following.

~~~

"Izuku, no killing. Not this time." Aizawa whispered.

We had found the herd of dear. This time downwind.

I didn't care what he was saying. That, that was dear. I wanted to eat it.

"No. I'm not strong enough to drag it back." He said, clearly a lie.

I licked my lips.

"No!"

My tail swished back and forth. I was in a crouch completely camouflaged. The old man, on the other hand, stuck out like a sore thumb with those black clothes. I growled at him.

I am hungry.

He grabbed me. "Fine. This type of dear is invasive anyways. Do you know what you are doing?"

I nodded.

"Okay..."

I sunk low to the ground. Slowly coming up on the herd. There was a straggler that had separated herself from the body. She was slower and moving awkwardly. The deer had been hurt beforehand.

I felt bad. But the weak are the ones who die. It was within reach. I slowly grew to the size of a normal-sized wolf. I lunged, latching onto the neck. It was a quick takedown. I honestly don't think she would have lived much longer.

I was full of guilt. A deer is different than a rabbit. More regal. I steeled myself like I used to in the cage. It's okay. It's part of life. Plus, my guilt wasn't that bad, considering the dear was gonna be delicious.

I dragged the dear back to Aizawa, who looked a little perturbed. "You killed that easily."

I shifted, wiping the blood off of my mouth. At any other moment, it would have been very concerning. Right now though, It was in my blood. It is was I was born to do. Hunt. It was so natural it barely felt wrong.

"She was already dying."

"How did you figure that out?"

"I just knew."

Aizawa dragged the dear, skinning it.

"How do you know how to do that?"

"I just know."

"Har. Har."

He tried to stop me from eating the raw meat, but I got to it first. He made that look of disgust but didn't try to get it back.

We had already packed up our belongings, ready to head back down. We stopped the dear of everything we could. It wasn't the biggest deer. We left the body, knowing that the scavengers of the night would use the rest.

"Thanks. I've always wanted to hunt for real. I am like, not humans."

"You good at it."

A light rain started to drip down. It made the way back down slippery, but neither of us faltered. Though, I was mad that it was raining. All of the smells of the forest dimmed. All the animals in their homes. All but one, as I jumped in and out of the mud puddles, making sure to get as much mud on Zawa.

He was grumbling until his pant legs had none of their original colors.

Mud for LIFE.

We walked almost twice as long as we did yesterday. It was our third day up here. We needed to be back by tomorrow.

I caught the same odd smell. Aizawa noticed I started acting differently.

"Animal or H-"

I braked.

"Animal."

I nodded, then shifted. "I don't know. There is more than one..." I turned my head to the noise.

There in the rain stood a beautiful brown bear. Aizawa swore. He swore again when two cubs walk into view.

I was awestruck. The bears had a grace I'd never seen. I shifted back, wanting them to know I was one of them. I wasn't human.

The momma bear, scoffed, coming closer. I got pulled back by Aizawa. He quickly grabbed one of the bags full of meat from the dear and emptied it on a rock. We backed away. The bear nodded. We walked away.

"That was close."

"That was awesome!"

The rain, still, slightly dripping.

We had been hiking for about 5 hours now. We stopped and ate lunch and then continued. At hour seven, I fell over and refused to keep going.

"I can't. My legs won't work."

"A break it is."

We rested, but I just wanted to play in the water. After about a half hour, we started up again. We had gone down a different way, but now we had run into the path we took up. There wasn't much longer on the trail. We explored a lot more on the way up. Well, I had explored a lot more on the way up. Maybe that's why it seemed like we were flying back. It was too fast.

I smelled them before I saw them. There was another camp not far. Zawa noticed but kept going.

I felt a little panicked. "What? Let's go a different way. They might be villains."

"I don't think-"

"I smell the evil on them. Definitely villains. We better make our own way down."

"Izuku. They are probably just going to say have a good day."

"Villanelles. That's what that would be. Talk to hikers who don't want to talk." My dread replaced itself with confusion. I knew the smell. "Villains!"

It was too late. We rounded the bend to see the Uraraka family just about to head back down the mountain.

"Aizawa, Izuku! Nice to see you again. What a surprise!" Mister Uraraka patter forward. A huge smile on his face. "I'm guessing you guys came to see the shooting stars?"

Thankfully I had Aizawa to hide behind.

"Yeah, I assume that is why you came up?"

Then, like before, Ochaco popped out of thin air. "Izuku!" Covered in mud, she ran up took my hand, and pulled me down the mountain. "Let's go back to the cars together!"

"Honey, lets that poor boy go."

"Listen to your mother."

Ochaco, distracted pulling me through a pill of mud, didn't hear them.

I mouthed at Aizawa, 'SAVE ME' I hoped he saw the urgency in my eyes.

He huffed out one of his evil smiles. "It's okay. Would you mind if we walked down with you guys?"

"Not at all!" The bubbly family said in response.

My eyes must have shown the betrayal in them, as he just laughed. Though I was distracted when Uraraka fell face-first into a pile of mud.

I couldn't help but laugh. She tried to get up, but I accidentally pushed her back down. Turning, she grabbed my shirt and body slammed into the mud with her.

This was war!

Aizawa, who saw the look in my eye, sighed. I threw a ball of mud at Uraraka, only for it to miss by a mile, and slap Zawa in the shirt, sliding down to plop on his foot. The Uraraka family looked horrified until Ochaco did the same to her mom while aiming at me.