UNKNOWN LOCATION, UNKNOWN FOREST

Sitting on the edge of a cliff on top of a mountain, a young boy gazed at the world below him. The boy seemed to be about 6 years old, his skin was tinted red with golden patterns that were shaped like claw marks. His deep golden eyes moved around in curiosity as he stared at the wondrous sights he had never seen before.

Trees of many different colours that were taller than the mountain he sat on, their leaves could wrap around his entire body several times. He saw many creatures down below of different shapes and sizes accompanied by the unique noises that they made. The more he watched, the more fearful he felt as he noticed that most of the creatures were bigger than he was. Even though the young boy was scared, he was also very excited. Although his fingers trembled as he looked at all the numerous things that were much larger than him, his lips formed an innocent smile filled with excitement.

Time passed by but the young boy sat still and continued to stare at the creatures down below, the more he watched them, the more he learned. One of the things he noticed was that creatures that looked the same would be together, creatures that looked differently would fight and eat each other. The boy looked at his body, and then looked at the other creatures and he knew he was different from them. He did not notice any creature that looked even slightly similar to his appearance, and the boy instinctively knew that these creatures would attack him if they had the chance.

He continued to watch at the creatures, unknowingly to him, the blue numbers and shapes appeared deep in his pupils once more. He noticed repeating patterns, the bigger creature was more likely to win against the smaller creature. He also realized numerous smaller creatures could defeat a much larger one. He then once more looked at himself and realized that he was, in fact, very small compared to a majority of the creatures.

Unknowingly, he began to pay special attention to the smaller creatures, he began looking for a smaller creature that did not move in a group. Eventually, the young boy found what he was looking for; a small creature that moved on its own. He only happened to see this creature by chance, as it moved very quickly and stealthily through the bushes.The creature in question was a small feline looking creature, its fur was black, red eyes and it was even smaller than himself. The young boy wanted to know how exactly would this small creature win against larger ones without help. He paid careful attention to this Shadow Cat, its every action reflecting in his pupils.

The first thing he noticed was the way the Shadow Cat moved, it was much different than the way other creatures moved. It would go in spots where its body would be hard to see and hide from larger creatures. Even when the Shadow Cat moved no other creatures would notice, it would gently rest its paws on the ground in careful spots with no twigs branches or anything that would make noise. Its back feet would always land on the spot where its front paws were in a strange rhythmic motion. The Shadow Cat passed by creatures and they would not notice a single thing. Sometimes the Shadow Cat had no choice but to remain in a spot for a long time because another bigger creature was nearby and it wouldn't risk being discovered.

Finally the moment the young boy was waiting for had arrived, the young boy knew this because the Shadow Cat eyes had changed. The young boy instinctively recognized this difference, it was a special kind of look that the creatures had when they were about to eat another creature. It was a look of both alertness and excitement, and the other factor was the Shadow Cat's tongue that kept licking his lips.

The young boy followed the eyes of the Shadow Cat and he saw what it was looking at, an egg in a nest on top of a tree. However, there was also a bird that was a bit bigger than the Shadow Cat guarding this egg. The bird's body was sky blue, a stripe of deep blue on it's back with blue dots on its wings and a white underbelly. The tip of the bird's beak was like a needle that got thicker closer to the face of the bird. Now and again the bird would flap its wings and air that seemed thick like a water stream would disperse from the bird's wings.

The Shadow Cat quietly made its way to the base of the huge tree that was occupied by the Skyfisher bird. The Skyfisher bird seemed not to notice the Shadow Cat at all and continued to scan the surroundings. Now and again the Skyfisher bird would scan the base of the tree with its enhanced vision for any predators, while the Shadow Cat would slowly climb and hide beneath leaves and branches from the Skyfisher bird's sight. Sometimes the Shadow Cat would hide in a position for a long period seemingly for no reason at all, the young boy continued to stare at the Shadow Cat's actions closely. The closer the Shadow Cat got to the Skyfisher nest, the slower it moved. Eventually, the Shadow Cat reached under the nest but did not go any further. The Shadow Cat found a comfortable position and lodged itself between a few branches using the leaves as cover.

If the young boy had not seen the entire thing, he would not have been able to spot the Shadow Cat. The boy's eyes shined as he gazed at the Shadow Cat, the movements of the Shadow Cat were very stealthy, intelligent and patient. Perhaps a regular young child might not understand the brilliance of this cat's movements, but this young boy's mental capacity and cognitive functions were much different from a regular child. Factoring in the DNA from the Flaming Lion cub, it could be said that the boy was predisposed to instinctively understand the movements of a feline hunter. The AI-enhanced nanobots also played a huge role in enhancing his cognitive functions

The thing which awed the young boy the most was the Shadow Cat's patience, it would not move without first being sure that it would not expose itself. Every footstep was done without a hurry and every movement was planned, even if it was being bitten by an insect it would not move.

Suddenly, the Shadow Cat which was hidden among the branches beneath the Skyfisher nest made its move! This was the first time the young boy had seen the Shadow Cat move so quickly, In a single movement, the Shadow Cat reached inside the nest and held the egg in its mouth!

*Screech*

The Skyfisher bird did not react slowly and let out a loud screech as it flapped its wings and charged at the Shadow Cat. The Shadow Cat did not flinch and instead dived out of the nest onto a lower branch, it jumped from branch to branch at an incredible speed with the Skyfisher bird trailing behind it. The Skyfisher bird would screech at the Shadow Cat and a burst of air would flow from its beak to assault the Shadow Cat who would narrowly avoid it each time. Eventually, the Shadow Cat got to the ground and disappeared amidst the forest leaving the angry screeching Skyfisher bird circling the huge tree.

The young boy that had seen all of this was in a state of excitement and he did not know the reason, he stood up and his both fists were clenched tightly. Soon after he calmed down and looked up to the sky as he tried to remember everything he had just seen. Strangely enough, he was able to remember everything from the first moment he laid eyes on the Shadow Cat. Slowly he visualized the entire thing from start to finish, over and over again, he paid very close attention to the Shadow Cat capturing all of its movements.

*Rumble*

A rumbling sound that came from his abdomen broke his concentration, he placed his hand on his stomach and his face seemed a bit uncomfortable. This was the first conscious experience of hunger the young boy had felt, he knew that it was hunger because he had seen many creatures eat one another. He had also realized when he saw the egg in the Shadow Cat's mouth, he felt a strange urge to bite the egg. Whether it was hunger or instinct, the boy knew he had to eat another creature.

However, the young boy did not understand the importance of hunger yet and only knew at some point he had to eat. Although he did not understand the importance behind it, the uncomfortable feeling in his abdomen only seemed to get worst and his hunger grew. He walked to the other side of the cliff and found a pathway that led down the mountain, the entire mountain was covered in green plants and some trees of many different colours but it did not hold his interest at all as his eyes were searching for something.

His eyes scanned the mountain as he moved down, finally, he noticed a very small creature feeding on a large round nut next to a large tree. The creature's body was pure brown, two fat round hind legs, a tiny horn on its head and a bushy tail. It's buck teeth quickly and constantly nibbled on the nut at a quick pace, and its eyes darted from left to right as it paid close attention to its surroundings. This was the first time the young boy had seen another creature that was just as alert as the Shadow Cat, even the Skyfisher bird was not this alert.

The young boy noticed that the nut the Horned Squirrel was feeding on was littered across the ground where the squirrel stood. There were many of these nuts and they were larger than the Horned Squirrel's body, so it could not carry it. A bit of saliva filled the young boy's mouth as he watched the horned squirrel nibble on the acorn, he unknowingly took a step forward which landed on a small twig alerting the Horned Squirrel. Almost instantly the Horned Squirrel spotted him and it took a huge bite out of the acorn, dropped it, and dived into a hole at the base of the tree.

The young boy ran forward and tried to shove his hand in the hole but it did not reach far and he felt nothing. He then walked back to the acorns and picked up one and took a large bite, slowly chewing and swallowed the rest. The uncomfortable feeling in his stomach eased up but did not dissipate and so he continued eating more acorns. While eating, his eyes unconsciously focused on the twig he had stepped on and his face made a strange expression. The young boy understood that the noise made by the snapped twig alerted the Horned Squirrel, he suddenly thought of the Shadow Cat and he knew that it was a mistake the Shadow Cat would never make.

After eating the acorns, his stomach was filled but there was a slight lingering feel of dissatisfaction the boy could not explain. He could not help but remember the fat hind legs of the Horned Squirrel and wondered what it would taste like. The young boy noticed it was getting darker, he never saw darkness before and it made him feel a bit of fear so he decided to return to his cave. He turned around and walked back up the mountain heading to the direction of the cave, he gave one last look at the base of the tree; and noticed two tiny eyes staring back at him.