Chapter Text
Dabi let out a low groan as he opened his eyes blearily. His brain felt foggy, slow, the sounds around him sounded muffled. His whole body ached and he could feel the wrongness in his bones. They hurt in a way they never had before. He blinked his eyes slowly as he regained consciousness, registering the feeling of rough concrete against his cheek. The fog in his brain gradually cleared as his eyes fully focused and his senses finally hit him like a train.
He flinched as his ears filled with the loud noises of the city, his eyes filling with the bright lights around him, the sun bearing down. His nose stung as it got overwhelmed with too many smells and he heard himself let out a low whine, his ears folding back against his head. His brain was too overwhelmed to focus on the strange action, too muddled to think.
A voice in the back of his mind told him that something was wrong, that this was way too intense for a usual sensory overload. He ignored the thought, too focused on how strange his entire body felt.
Dabi whimpered again as he curled up, burying his head into himself to try and block out the overwhelming feelings. He didn’t know how long he lay there in the alley, pressed into the cold concrete as his senses slowly settled. The sounds of people and cars still hurt his ears when he finally uncurled, the smells still slightly stung his sensitive nose, but it wasn’t as unbearable as it was when he had first awoken.
The sun was close to setting in the sky as he sat up, judging by that he had probably been in the alley for three or four hours. He wondered if he had a bad trip, but he couldn’t remember taking anything that would have caused it.
Oh fuck!
Dabi thought as he remembered the meeting that had been scheduled to start at 5. He had already missed it and he knew Shigaraki would be pissed. Usually he didn't care too much about showing up on time for meetings, but he knew this one was important; he hadn't even been planning on being late.
Now that he thought about it, how did he get here? He tried to stand up, pushing his hands off the ground to help himself back on his feet, only to let out a yelp of surprise as he stumbled and fell, his side slamming against the ground. He waited for the stars in his eyes to clear before he looked down at his hands, freezing when instead of his rough hands and scarred wrists, his eyes met… red paws? He flexed them, feeling the- his claws scrape against the ground.
“What?” he tried to say as he sat up again, only for the word to come out as a weird grunt. He tilted his head to look back and saw hind paws and a tail, His hind paws and tail, covered in bright white and red fur. Dabi didn't know how to feel when he realized his scars were gone.
What the fuck happened? he wondered to himself as he looked at the dirty alleyway surrounding him. What happened to his body and his scars? The only logical conclusion was he was hit with a quirk, but if that was the case why couldn't he remember anything? Had he been in a fight?
He needed to find out where he was. Taking a deep breath, he slowly got up, standing on all fours instead of trying to stand like a human again. It felt both natural and extremely wrong. He tried to ignore it and push onward; Dabi turned his head back to gaze at his new limbs. How did a tail even work? Slowly he waved his tail back and forth. It felt weird but surprisingly wasn't that hard to accomplish.
On shaky legs and uncertain paws, Dabi slowly made his way out of the alley, stumbling in his unfamiliar body. A few steps in and he was slowly getting used to it. He let his mouth open to taste the air as he padded toward the end of the alley. He paused at the opening, his eyes widening as he took in just how big everything around him was.
Flinching as a car drove by, he started off in the direction he thought the base might be. Weaving through people walking on the sidewalk, he tried to search for anything recognizable. He was starting to get more and more uncomfortable as people stared or called out to him. Luckily, most went back to whatever they were doing when he ignored them. He just had to make it home.
His footsteps stuttered at that thought. Since when had he started calling it home? Though, now that he thought about it, the league had slowly been getting closer. Almost like a family, albeit severely dysfunctional but still. Though he would never admit it, he felt the weight on his chest lighten at the thought of returning to the shitty run down bar they called home.
He snapped out of his thoughts when his stomach rumbled loudly, when was the last time he had eaten? Maybe yesterday? He had been eating a lot less recently and even though he knew it wouldn't help his already collapsing body, he couldn't find it in him to care. Maybe if he's lucky he’ll find some food.
Pausing in front of what looked like a sign Dabi looked up at the jumbled mess of unrecognizable symbols, tilting his head in confusion.
What the hell? He thought as he tried to decipher them, staring at the symbols so intensely he started getting a headache. Those couldn't be words, could they? Suddenly a sickly sweet voice snapped him out of his trance.
“Aww, you lost, puppy?” a woman's voice called out from his right.
Dabi startled, jolting away from the voice, he turned to see a lady walking toward him. He realized quickly that while he could understand what people around him were saying he could no longer read, meaning he had no way to know where he currently was.
Oh great. Dabi grumbled in his mind as he looked at the lady approaching him, he didn't have time for this.
“Listen lady, I don't got time for your bs, so you either back up or get roasted.” he tried to say, only for it to come out as a snarl as his lips curled over his gums, exposing his sharp teeth to her.
She stopped approaching him, looking a little wary.
Not what I was going for but that works too.
“Cmon puppy, I'm not gonna hurt you.” she said again, taking a small step forward and crouching a little.
Does she not get the hint ?.
“What part of fuck off do you not get!” he barked at her, watching in satisfaction as she flinched back at the noise. Finally she got out of her crouching position and started turning away.
“Fine, stupid mutt.” she muttered under her breath as she left.
Dabi let his face relax as he watched her walk away. He threw one last quick glance at the unreadable sign before turning to trot in the opposite way he saw the lady walk. The sun had almost completely set and the streets were starting to empty, he was surprised to note that he was able to see way better in the dark then he had been able to before.
Only then did he start to question what he actually was, although from the clues he had gathered he was pretty sure he knew, he had to make sure. Dabi sped up his pace, searching for a reflective surface to see himself with. Eventually he slowed down to a stop in front of a glass window and stared.
This cant be happening, i have to be having some sort of fucked up dream . His brain tried to reason as he stared into familiar blue eyes, his familiar blue eyes. He could feel his panic start to rize as he stared at himself and instead of black dyed hair and old burn scars he was met with red fur with a white pattern on it, it looked familiar.
His ears turned back when he heard the sound of approaching footsteps and voices, he ignored them.
He tilted his wolfish head at his reflection, and then it hit him. He had seen this dog before, he had seen that pattern before. The same pattern on the black and brown German Shepherd stray that used to wander the streets at night. But instead of brown, he was met with red, and instead of black, a brilliant white, that almost glowed in the dying light of the sun, shone back at him.
Dabi bared his teeth at the window and watched as his reflection copied him, revealing a row of long, sharp, yellowish teeth. His gaze snapped from the window when he heard laughter from behind him. Turning around his gaze met what looked like three young adults standing in the darkness of the night, though he could see them perfectly fine.
The way they were looking at him made the fur on his back rise. He could see the glint of bad intentions in their smiles.
“Well what do we got here?” The raspy voice of a man with brown hair rang through the still air, “Some fresh meat it looks like.”
The other two, now nicknamed Baldy and Tattoo in his brain cause honestly they looked ridiculous, took a step toward him.
“You’d sure sell for a pretty penny.” Tattoo grinned, lightly flexing his muscles and showing off the shitty tattoos that coated them.
Dabi’s brain suddenly went to the recent news and missing posters of peoples pets, apparently they had been going missing and some of them even started turning up dead and skinned recently. The police had yet to catch the animal killers, they had bigger things to worry about. Dabi hadn't cared too much when he first saw the posters, it didn't affect him much if a bunch of weirdos got off to killing pets. Now however, he had a different view on the matter.
They had walked a bit closer to him while he had been lost in thought and he felt his fur press against the window as he backed up.
“C'mere doggy, be a good boy and follow us, we aren't gonna hurt you.” Tattoo cooed with a falsely sweet voice. He could feel it in his gut that these were bad people, could sense almost instinctively, his brain screamed at him to make them go away.
Tattoo took another step toward him, whispering fake praise as he approached. Dabi finally unfroze, quickly baring his teeth at him and letting out the most menacing growl he could as he felt his ears press back against his skull. Considering he had never really growled before, he was quite proud of the result.
Tattoo froze, looking him up and down before turning his head back to face the others.
“You think this is a good idea? That's a pretty good sized dog, it could do some real damage.”
“Oh cmon, don't be a pussy.” Baldy teased, “look at that fur, it would look gorgeous as a jacket, or maybe a rug.”
His grin widened as he continued to speak, “German shepherd pelts already go for a lot here but a natural red and white? We’d be set for months if we got a hold of that.”
Brunette seemed to be convinced, Tattoo still looked a little unsure but soon enough his face was set with determination.
“Or maybe it’d do better as a fighting dog. He is a good size as you said.”
Dabi decided this was a good time to head out, he quickly turned and started walking along the wall of the store, quickening his pace to try and get away from them.
He quickly skidded to a stop when one of them ran and turned in front of him, blocking his path, he tried to dodge and turn around only to realize he was surrounded.
“You wanna get burned?” he growled at them, adrenaline spiking as he dared them to take a step closer. They didn't think they could take him on did they?
His eyes snapped to Brunette's hand as he pulled out a needle filled with some sort of liquid.
Fuck, of course they're prepared they’ve been getting away with this for awhile. Realizing it was now or never he quickly gathered the feeling of flames and warmth in his gut, preparing to unleash hellfire upon them.
Only when he released, instead of flames billowing out toward his attackers, a small puff of smoke left his mouth. He stood in disbelief as he realized what had just happened. Why didn't that work?
Suddenly there was a weight on his back and a hand grabbing his muzzle, holding it shut. He panicked and thrashed around as he tried to get the guy off him. The smell of the guy invaded his nose, a strong scent of cigarette smoke and something under it, a sort of rotten metallic. It was vile.
“Hold it still! I can't get the shot in when it's moving this much!” he heard Brunette exclaim in irritation.
“Oh, I’m sorry, did you wanna try holding it this time?” the guy on top of him said sarcastically. Dabi felt his grip loosen a bit and thinking quickly, threw his head back, smashing into the guy's face.
He let out a shout of pain and let go of Dabi in surprise. Dabi barely stopped to think as he wriggled out of Baldys grip, quickly whirling around and snapping toward the arm reaching for him.
Baldy cried out as Dabis' teeth met warm soft flesh, sinking into it and filling his mouth with the metallic taste of blood. He bit down as hard as he could and thrashed, shaking his head in a vicious manner, he could hear a ripping sound as his teeth sunk deeper hitting bone.
“Get it off me!” Baldy screamed in pain.
Dabi felt hands grab him, pulling at his fur and skin as they tried to get him to let go. The feeling of something sharp cut through his shoulder and moving on instinct alone he suddenly let go of Baldys’ arm and swung around. Gnashing his teeth at Tattoo, he felt them clip through skin, drawing more blood and making Tattoo let go of him with a shout.
Somewhere in all the struggling he had hit Brunette, causing the needle to drop to the pavement and shatter on the ground. In the back of his mind he felt the prick of glass shards sliding into his paws but he paid the feeling no mind, too high on adrenaline to care.
“Great going!!” Tattoo yelled at him.
“Not like you were any help!” he screeched back.
Dabi finally was able to escape the struggle, jumping away and flinging himself around to stand in a battle ready stance. He quickly let out a set of vicious barks when Brunette took a step toward him, effectively stopping him in his tracks.
He must've looked insane, Dabi realized in the back of his mind, his teeth bared and splattered in blood, ears flat and fur standing on end. The steady drip drip of blood hitting the pavement rang in Dabis ears.
His eyes widened as he saw the ripped skin of Baldy’s arm slowly regenerating as the blood slowed.
“Definitely a fighting dog,” he heard him mutter through gritted teeth.
And that's my cue to leave. He thought as he turned tail and fled.
He heard the pounding of footsteps behind him but they quickly faded.
Dabi’s paws hurt as they hit the hard concrete but he didnt slow down, he kept sprinting as fast as he could, reaching speeds he never could in his old form. He barely noticed the pain in his shoulder as adrenaline continued to spike through him, probably the only thing keeping him going as he sprinted through the streets.
A wooded area soon came into view and Dabi didn't think twice before running into the trees, he could feel himself speed up as his aching paws hit soft grass instead of hard concrete. His breaths were starting to shorten as unwanted memories started to return to him.
Memories of him fleeing his own home in fear of getting hurt, memories of running instead of fighting, memories of death and cowardice. He tried to shake them out but the more he tired the more they fought to stay. In the blur of things he didn't notice the tree root sticking up out of the ground until it was too late. His paw snagged on it and he was flung forward, slamming into the ground and rolling, his vision was a confused mess of green, brown, and dark blue.
Finally he came to stop on a patch of dirt and laid there. All his energy sapped and adrenaline faded. The pain in his shoulders and paws suddenly hit him as the ache of his body returned.
And in silence he lay there, consciousness fading as intrusive thoughts swirled his mind.
He felt his eyelids unwillingly slide shut.
____________________
Something touched him.
Where was he?
What happened?
His thoughts were a scattered mess as he slowly returned to consciousness. Something hit his nose, and then another. It was cold and wet, shocking him into a more awakened state as he slowly opened his eyes. Waiting for his vision to stop swimming he lay on the ground feeling tiny drops of water fall down on him, slowly becoming bigger and more noticable.
When he had finished fully awakening he realized what it was that had interrupted his rest.
Well isn't this just my luck. The rain started picking up pace, soon drenching him and everything around him. He had to guess it was still night based on how dark it was. Everything was in pain as he sat up, rain soaking his fur and making him feel heavy. His breath came out in wheezing pants and he felt a bolt of embarrassment shoot through him as he realized he was panting like a dog.
He winced as he slowly got to his feet, almost collapsing as he put pressure on his right paw, pain shooting from the shards of glass in his paw to the long cut that ran across his shoulder. Dabi took a deep breath and slowly let it out before limping forward. He didn’t know where he was going but he couldn’t stay here.
Some of the dried blood coating his muzzle washed off with the rain as he trudged through the muddy marsh the grass was becoming. He had been through worse than this, he could deal with a little bit of pain. The rain was starting to affect him, making him shiver in the coldness of the night as he tried to continue on. Exhaustion was seeping into his bones making every step harder and harder.
He needed to find shelter, at least to wait out the rest of the rain and regain his strength. Easier said than done. It felt like hours had passed when he finally stumbled out of the trees and into the backyard of a rundown house. If you could even call it that, it looked more like a large shed. He slowly approached it and tried to peer in through one of the windows. All the lights were off inside and it looked abandoned but he knew in this form he wouldn't be able to break in.
A loud sigh escaped him as he started sniffing around the borders of the house, he didn't know exactly what he was looking for, he was just so tired. Finally he made it to the other side and paused on the driveway, looking out into the area he had stumbled upon. It was just a long stretch of road leading away from the house, he knew tomorrow was going to be a long day.
Finally after inspecting the entire house he found what looked like a tunnel that led under. He paused debating his options, he knew he couldn't be picky it was either that or stay out in the rain. He felt his ears fold back on his head as he crouched trying to ignore the pain in his shoulder and paw as he climbed through the mud and under the house. It was damp and a bit muddy but at least it was dryer under there then it was outside. He curled up into a ball and as he started trying to fall back asleep he realized it was going to be a long night.