Kai was so lost. He had been tracking through the woods for days, unable to find his way to his destination or even back home. There had been a constant light snow flurry erasing his tracks, so he couldn't even follow those back the way he had come.

No, the simple fact of the matter was, he was screwed. He had made camp, both nights, but now his supplies were also running low. He had planned for a delay, packing five days' worth of food and the means to boil some snow to get clean water, but it just wasn't enough, and he was nowhere near getting out again.

At the same time, he was determined not to die here. He'd do something, anything to survive. He knew some tricks, how to catch food, small animals, using pine branches to make actually surprisingly tasty tea, but it wouldn't do him much good if he didn't have shelter.

Reluctantly, Kai found himself a small clearing near a large rock, where the snow hadn't drifted so much because it was sheltered from the wind. His first priority was getting a fire going, so with that, he dropped his stuff and started to trek back a little bit to find some dry tinder.

But when he got back to his gear, there was quite a surprise waiting for him. A brown wolf was sitting next to his backpack, seemingly waiting for him. It did make him incredibly cautious, though. Sure, the wolf wasn't huge, he had seen them much bigger, but it was still a wolf, with sharp claws and long canines.

"Hello there," Kai said, trying to keep his voice neutral. No need to antagonize the animal. It simply cocked its head and twitched its ear, which was actually kind of adorable. It gave him the distinct impression that this wolf was more curious than actually hostile, and he was perfectly fine with that. "Where did you come from?"

Stupid question, really, it obviously lived here. But the wolf still got up and pointed in a very specific direction, back into the woods.

"Well, if you don't mind, I need to get my fire going." The wolf cocked its head again as it sat back down, clearly not intent on going anywhere.

Kai decided the best thing to do if the animal wasn't hostile anyway, was to just keep working, although he did make sure never to turn his back on it. He quickly had a fire going, which was nice to warm his hands and feet with, as those had gotten really cold from tracking through the snow all day. Yes, he did have pretty nice boots that were nice and warm, but they could only help him so far.

And yet, the wolf still wasn't going anywhere, but what was happening was that Kai was slowly getting hungry. He ate his last chunk of bread, before standing up again. "Well buddy, I'm sorry, but I don't have anything to eat for you. I'm actually going out myself to catch some. You're free to cook it here, but I'm not planning on sharing if I only get a squirrel or something."

It didn't take him very long to set up a few snares, which was probably the best way to go for now. That way it would cost him the least energy while gaining the most. Hopefully.

But what he definitely wasn't prepared for was that by the time he got back to his camp, instead of a wolf, there was a naked girl sitting next to his fire, clearly having kept it going. "What the hell?!" he cried out in surprise.

"Ah, you're back," she said. "That was quick."

"Back?" Kai was utterly gobsmacked by this, but then he started noticing a few things. This girl... Her hair was the exact same color as the wolf's fur, she had the same few lighter streaks running through it, the same brown eyes... "Wait... you're..."

"I'm the wolf," she finished for him. "Werewolf, technically. My name is Jinora, and you're lucky I found you."

Not that meeting a real werewolf should give him any cause for a sense of normality, but he couldn't help himself. The way she was so casually sitting there, not even the least bit bothered about her own nudity despite both Kai's presence and the cold, he couldn't help but notice... she was actually really pretty. Her soft features, large brown eyes, perfect skin, the slight swell of her bosom and hips, the patch of brown curls between her legs...

Kai realized he was staring and slapped himself back into reality, literally. "What do you mean 'I'm lucky'?"

"Because you, my friend, are lost."

Even though it probably wasn't smart, his masculinity took over for a second, and he immediately defended himself. "Am not."

Jinora actually laughed at this. "I've been tracking you, you've circled back on your own footsteps three times over the past two days."

"Haven't you ever heard the saying 'not all those who wander are lost'?"

"Poetic as that might be, you are."

Kai sighed. "Okay, I'm lost," he reluctantly admitted. "Could you show me the way out of here?"

"I could, but you wouldn't make it another day and we can't make the edge of the forest before that. There's a blizzard coming, and you don't want to be caught out here when it hits."

"How can you be so sure about that?"

"My Gran Gran, she's never wrong about those things. So here's my offer: you can stay with me and my family until it's over."

Kai had his doubts. "And they're also..."

"Werewolves? Yes," Jinora nodded. "But don't worry, we don't eat humans. They aren't very tasty." His jaw dropped open and she smiled. "Kidding, we've never killed a human. We only hunt what we need and we use everything. But I do want to get a move on, as it'll be dark soon and we should be back before then."

After mulling it over for just another moment, he decided she was probably telling the truth. And even if she wasn't well, he was lost anyway. "Okay. Let me just get my things. I'm Kai, by the way," he said, suddenly realizing that he hadn't introduced himself yet.

"Nice meeting you." She watched him as he put everything back into his knapsack, when something hit him. "Aren't you cold?"

"A little, but I'm going to shift back soon anyway, and thanks to your fire, it's warm enough."

"Right. And you don't, like... wear clothes?" he asked while blushing.

Jinora looked down, seemingly becoming aware of her nudity all of a sudden, even though she still didn't seem too bothered about it. "Oh, right, I forgot about you humans and your proclivities about clothes. I do have them back at home, and I wear them against the cold. So don't worry, my family won't be completely nude. It's just that they don't fit when I'm a wolf and I don't want to tear them. Plus, they're not necessary when I have fur."

Soon enough, Kai was done packing, after which Jinora stood up. "Great, let's go." With a shudder, she shifted herself back into a wolf, shaking herself briefly out before nudging her head, gesturing him to follow her.

She set off on a gentle trot, with Kai right behind her. Of course, as a wolf, she couldn't talk, so it was mostly silent. Unlike him though, Jinora seemed to know precisely where she was going, even though every tree looked exactly the same to Kai.

But after about half an hour, she suddenly stopped, and started sniffing the air. For a moment, he was worried that she would take off at full speed, but luckily, she didn't. She did increase her pace a little bit though, as Kai had to step a little faster, and he soon learned why, because now he could also smell food being cooked.

They came to a clearing in the trees, where Kai saw a small house, though it could more readily be described as a hut. Jinora happily trotted over there, and didn't shift back into her human form until she was right at the front door, so that she didn't have to walk very far over the snow. "Come, I'll introduce you."

He quickly shook as much snow as he could off of his clothes, and stepped inside the very cozy little house. For one, it was warm inside, which was already a big plus, and it also smelled of food being cooked. On top of that, it was full of people, who Jinora happily ran down for Kai.

"That's my father Tenzin, my mother Pema, my Gran Gran Katara, my sister Ikki, my brother Meelo, and..." she took an inquisitive look around, before settling on the little wolf puppy that was running laps around the fire place. "And the excited one is Rohan, my youngest brother. He doesn't shift very often, he likes being a wolf too much."

The way the little pup was excitedly running around and jumped up against Kai's leg was ample proof of that. "Nice to meet you all."

"Everyone, this is Kai," Jinora continued. "You were right dad, he was completely lost."

Tenzin actually gave him a small smile. "Well, not to worry, it happens to more travelers."

"Yes, but it's still very generous of you to let me stay here," Kai said, trying to be humble. "I don't want to be any trouble, so I'll be gone again when the blizzard Jinora talked about is over."

"Oh, nonsense," Pema said, helping him out of his knapsack and coat. "I always love having company. How about a cup of tea?"

Now that was not something Kai would decline. "That sounds lovely. Please."

He looked around, seeing that Jinora was in the back, putting on furs by way of clothes, which everyone else was thankfully wearing too. Well, except for Rohan, but he was still in his wolf form.

"So tell me, Kai, where are you from?" Tenzin asked. "I'm guessing you're not a local."

He chuckled. "No, I'm not. I'm from the south, I've come here to seek out my family. They live in a small village on the northern shore."

"Well, then you are getting close. You're already past the last mountain range if you're coming from the south, so in the morning, Jinora will escort you to the river, then you can follow that to the shore."

The family didn't have much, but everything they had, they shared with Kai. It had been a long time since he had been so warmly received by anyone, and it made him feel welcome. Pema's deer stew, caught by Tenzin just that morning, was excellent, and they were actually having a great time with each other. Meelo and Ikki were wildly curious about how life looked down south, and they barely believed him when he said that they didn't get winters with snow. Sadly though, he was rudely interrupted when the blizzard hit.

Now the quite sorry state of the shack really showed, because it rattled quite badly, and there was a bit of a draft. The snow wasn't coming in, so that was good, but before long, they were all closely huddled together around the fire. Kai felt slightly hesitant about joining them, but that hesitation was ended when Jinora pulled him down on the floor, right next to her, never letting go of his arm. The extra warmth, because it turned out she was quite warm, was very welcome.

By now, it was so dark that he couldn't see much beyond the range of the fire, and they decided they might as well get some sleep. So by now, not really anymore to Kai's surprise, because Jinora had warned him about that, everyone started to undress and shift to their wolf forms, until he was surrounded by seven wolves, which did make him just a little bit nervous. He knew they wouldn't hurt him, but still.

Kai decided to just lay on his spot again, on the floor, between Jinora and Ikki, using his coat and woolen blanket to sleep under. It was warm enough, and even though the floor was hard, sleeping with this family was much, much better than sleeping in the snow.

Waking up the following morning, Kai was the first. Thankfully, the blizzard had ceased so he could walk to the outhouse, through half a foot of snow, but oh well, and do his business.

Now finally with time and enough light, Kai decided it was the best time to continue his journal. He hadn't had much time for it over the past few days, but now would do fine. After all, there was plenty to write about.

"What are you doing?" Jinora asked. She had woken up as well, dressed herself, and come to watch him.

"Oh, not much. I'm keeping a journal to document my travels. Sometimes I read them back, see what I've already been through."

"How many places have you been?"

Kai thumbed through his dairy for a bit. "Quite a few. Like I've been to Taku, a big city. I don't think you'd like it very much, it's made entirely out of stone."

"That sounds awful. No trees at all?"

"Barely, but it's how some humans like to live."

She gave him a thoughtful look. "Do you?"

"No, it's not for me. Here," he said, reaching one of his favorite memories. "This was where I ended up in a shack much like this one, only right on the beach. But it was a warm beach, with a sea as blue as the sky on a bright sunny day, and crisp golden sand, where market vendors sell fresh fish every day. That's where I would want to live."

Jinora looked a little disheartened. "That sounds nice. I wish I could go there some day."

"You can't?"

"Well, not for very long. I'm a wolf, Kai, we don't do very well in heat. More importantly, you can't tame a wild heart. If I lived in a village, or Spirits forbid, a city like you said, I'd go howling mad within a week. I love to hunt, to be free like this, even to run in the snow. But I would like to see it."

Kai smiled. "Tell you what, if I don't find anything, I'll come back your way, and we'll go. I'll take you to the golden shore and the sky-blue sea."

The brightness of her smile would warm him up for days.

After that, it turned out everyone else had woken up as well, and that they'd been too caught up in their conversation to notice. Pema prepared some food (there was bread, as there was a small human village about two days' travel from here) and before long, they were ready to go.

He said his goodbyes and expressed his gratitude, but with that, it really was just him and Jinora to show him the way. She was in her wolf form, as she could more easily traverse the distance that way, and she just really preferred it, whereas Kai was not really in a position to argue. It might have been slightly more fun to have someone to talk to while walking, but for now, this was fine.

But they couldn't quite make it to the river in one day, which Jinora had kind of suspected would be the case. The snow that had fallen the night before slowed them down, so ultimately they had to make camp somewhere. Kai, by now having experience in this stuff, had a fire going in no time at all while Jinora dressed and also went out for a bit more firewood. He had a very basic tent that wouldn't do him much good against the cold, but it was better than nothing, so they set it up and soon, they found themselves around the campfire once again, waiting for some of the food they packed to cook.

"You know, I don't think I really thanked you for saving me," Kai said to break the silence.

"No need. You thanked us so much for letting you stay the night, I think it's fine."

It made him smile. "You are very generous people, Jinora. I don't want to take that for granted, because trust me, there were places where people would have happily let me freeze to death."

She sighed. "Well, then I'm glad I don't live in those places. What we showed you was nothing but decency, as far as I'm concerned."

"I'm still grateful."

Jinora smiled. "You're very welcome. Now what do you say we turn in early for the night? If we leave early tomorrow, you might make it to the village and I can still be on my way back."

"That sounds like a good plan to me."

Kai spread out his blanket and got into the tent next to Jinora, now shifted into her wolf form, but then she rolled over and looked him in the eyes, lifting two paws to suggest he come a little closer, which he did. Cuddling up with a wolf was a little strange, but also comforting. She was soft, warm, and it gave him a strange sense of safety, that if something were to come by that wished them harm, she had the claws and teeth to rip its throat out.

This was not so bad.

They did indeed wake up early the next morning, broke up their camp, and continued their journey, and it wasn't even noon by the time they made it to the riverbank. Kai could just make out a village in the distance, so unfortunately, he knew their time together was at an end.

And it appeared that Jinora felt the same way. She spied quickly around to make sure there was no one else around and shifted back into her human form so they could at least see somewhat eye to eye. "This is as far as I go," she said with just a hint of melancholy in her voice.

"Yes, I suppose," he affirmed. "Thank you for taking me this far. Spirits know how long it would have taken me if I had to find my way through that forest alone."

"Long," Jinora playfully chuckled. "I hope you find your family," she said on a more sincere tone. "But if you don't, our door will be open for you."

"And I appreciate that."

It fell quiet, and Jinora pulled him just a little bit down to press a kiss on his cheek, making him blush a bit. "Good luck, Kai." With that, she shifted back into her wolf form, whereupon they each went their separate ways. They did look back at the exact same time, after which he waved one last time.

One thing was for certain though: he would not be forgetting about this werewolf girl any time soon.

Well, that's it, please let me know what you thought. I wrote this in a day, and wanted to get this plot bunny out of the way so that I can continue work on a different project I'm doing that actually takes a lot more work than that. I didn't want to get stuck on this, but at the same time, I do like the idea of a Kainora werewolf AU, which isn't very common. It's much more common with Korrasami, and I really like those too, but this is just something I wanted to try. Special thanks to Kainorian for proofreading it.