~~~
Hemera had a different name once, Apollo. She didn't like that name, it was a stupid name. She was supposed to be the leader of her pack, in a pack where only males could be lead. She hated that, because nobody understood. And they wouldn't listen, because of course precious Apollo, the prized son her parents had dreamed of, would be happy and ready to be lead.
She didn't want to lead, she didn't want to be called Apollo, she didn't want to live in this place, where if she told the truth, told anyone who she really was, she would be nothing. Worse than nothing. A rankless wolf. No power, no voice, no food, and no life.
So she left, as soon as she was 1 years old, she left. She wandered, a long time, hoping for SOMETHING. Something better, something good, something safe. And she found it. She was stumbling past a gnarled old tree, thirsty and sniffling, when she spotted a bear.
The bear held out a paw, stopping her in her tracks. "You're lost." The bear rumbled, pushing a small leather flask towards her. "For your cough."
"What? Who are you?" She looked at the flash dubiously, it smelled strongly like leaves and slightly exotic.
"My name is Herbert. I am an herbalist, and that is a cure for your cough. You are sniffling, you keep coughing, and you are shivering like it's winter. Drink it." The bear grinned, his breath smelled like plants she'd never smelled before.
"I…" She considered the flask, before heading towards it and lapping some of it up. She instantly felt better, her throat was less sore, her nose wasn't stuffed up, and her head didn't hurt anymore. "Thank you."
Herbert didn't acknowledge her gratitude, just pulling the leather flask away from her and back into his stores. "What is your name?"
"Um…I haven't chosen one yet. I was called Apollo, but i want a better name, not one chosen for me, not…a male one." She looked at her paws, hoping that he ignored her phrasing or understood and was okay with it.
"Hemera. It's a name like your old one, the same meaning, but new, like the dawn its named after." Herbert considered her, then smiled. "Take this too." He pushed a leaf towards her, it was large, edges tilted up at the top to hold the liquid inside. The liquid was two different colors, separated by no barrier but on completely different sides inside the leaf.
"What is it…?" She asked, pondering the name he had suggested, and the liquid he had given her.
"If you wish to be different, to be Hemera and not Apollo, drink this. If you really truly want to be Hemera, a wolfess, and not Apollo, drink it." Herbert spoke softly, as if well versed in the subject of which he was speaking.
If he's telling the truth…, she thought, hoped, and prayed. And then she drank it.
She fell asleep, into a deep sleep, a sleep with dreams. She was exactly who she wanted to be, Hemera, a huntress in a pack who cared for her, friends with hunters in her hunting party. She wasn't Apollo, she wasn't the heir to a pack that favored males over females, she wasn't made of her past anymore.
She woke up, slowly, hoping against hope and fact that she was what she wanted to be. And she was. She was truly Hemera, she was exactly who she was. She didn't need to pretend.
She thanked Herbert, he had watched her, smiling as she slept. He congratulated her, calling her Hemera, it made her wag her tail with happiness. An excitement, a joy that she couldn't quite understand.
She kept walking, drinking from a pond, eating a small grouse, she was alive again. She found a pack of wolves living in the woods, The Moonlight River Pack, and they welcomed her. They cared for her, fed her food even if she didn't catch anyone. She was part of a pack, a hunting party, a family. She belonged.
~~~
This was inspired by the conspiracy theories in forums that Herbert the herbalist bear is trans, which is now canon. Also the fact that I found this chased, and sexchanged her.
Hunter 
Hunter