HOME CAVE, UNKNOWN MOUNTAIN

The young man frantically searched the cave and found nothing, this familiar smell that he encountered was his very first sensation. He did not know where it came from, but this smell brought him a sense of comfort and relaxation. His meticulous observation of creatures and the Queen Forest Adder's memories equipped him with a deep understanding of the nature of beasts. This particular knowledge allowed him to understand the relationship between beast kind, especially between a mother and its young. A look of frustration appeared in his eyes along with a slight throbbing pain in his chest, feeling distraught he did not know what to do. Darkness covered the entire forest along with silence, tempting the young man into a night of deep sleep.

***

FOREST BELOW THE MOUNTAIN, THE NEXT DAY

Golden rays of the shining sun fell upon the forest waking those who were not yet awake, ushering in a new day of life. Resounding roars echoed throughout the lush forest indicating the intense battle for survival had begun, whether sky, land or ocean the glorious hunt began. Amongst the budding trees and forests, a silhouette hid quietly amongst the bushes near the battle between the two savage beasts.

One of those creatures had a body of pure silver, two sharp jagged horns on its head and large flaring nostrils. The Silverblood Bull was confident in its immense strength, and its furious charge would deal a great deal of destruction to any foe. The other creature that stood against the bull was jet black, had six hairy legs, a twitching pair of pincers and a sharp barbed tail. Dark liquid eerily dripped out of the tip of the barbed tail signifying the sharp-edged tail was not the only weapon the Shade Scorpion possessed.

The two creatures made threatening noises and utilized aggressive body language to intimidate each other. The Silverblood Bull would snort its nostrils and stomp its hoof angrily while the scorpion returned piercing hissing noises and clicked its pincers and mandibles in anticipation. The young man quietly hid in the bushes observing the two creatures with great detail and patiently awaiting their battle. When his golden feline eyes rested on their fleshy bodies, his expression in a frenzy as he imagined feasting on them.

*Stomp*

While he had been daydreaming, the Silverblood bull charged straight into the Shade Scorpion; the bull's horns piercing towards the scorpion. The Shade Scorpion desperately used its meaty pincers to block the attack and stabbed its barbed tail forward to counter but was still sent flying by the sheer force. The barbed tail similarly struck the bull's forehead with a destructive penetrating power which forced it backwards in recoil. The barbed tail did not pierce the bull's forehead which, in actuality, was its hardest and toughest spot and instead only made it slightly dizzy. The brutal first exchange between the two savage creatures appeared to be an equal exchange but a small crack on the Shade Scorpions pincer's proved otherwise.

The two creatures viciously clashed against each other one more time in the same manner and the earth beneath them blasted apart in different directions showcasing their power. The scattering dust of the conflict settled, revealing the confrontation had come to a deadlock. The Shade Scorpion's stinger pierced itself in the bull's neck, and the Silverblood bull's horns became lodged into the face of the Shade Scorpion. The bull's face distorted in pain and tensed the muscles in its neck in response to stop the stinger's penetrating motion, the scorpion's pincers similarly held on tightly to the horns.

The battle to survive consumed the focus of the two creatures, and they did not notice the shadow hidden beside them in the bushes. Now that the conflict had reached its most critical point, the young man hidden in the bushes opened his eyes and revealed a terrifying hunger deep in his eyes. Instantly, the shadow flew out of the bushes and landed agilely onto the bull's back astonishing both beasts. The young man then grabbed hold of the scorpion's stinger and with all his strength pulled it, which made the horns of the bull pierce the scorpion's brain instantly killing it. The scorpion's stinger which eventually overpowered the bull's neck muscles finally pierced the bull's neck in response to the scorpion's final death throes.

The Silverblood bull's large body collapsed to the floor almost as if kneeling, having lost a lot of blood and being poisoned it became incredibly weak. The Silverblood bull's neck tissue was incredibly thick and muscular, and even though the stinger penetrated deep; it still did not die due to the muscle mass in its neck. The Silverblood bull used these thick muscles to eject the stinger from its neck and warily stared at the young man. The bull's eyes showed a staunch resistance despite its paralyzed state, flaring its nostrils angrily at the young man.

The red-haired young man was just about to attack the bull when he noticed a few silhouettes, hidden in the bushes were two smaller Silverblood Bulls, a heifer and a calf. The young man paused, a strange feeling in his heart he could not explain, the paralyzed Silverblood bull stared at the young man, then lowered its head as if pleading. A reluctance to kill the paralyzed victim was born inside of his heart as he gazed at the two offspring and the bull's lowered head. The young man approached the paralyzed bull, or more precisely the Shade Scorpion and grabbed its body and begun to drag it behind him. Then as if he remembered something, paused and with a swift movement of his hand, he separated the scorpion's body from its stinger and took the stinger with him leaving the body there. The Silverblood bull stared at the disappearing silhouette, a very humanlike expression on its face; the two offspring climbed out of the bushes and happily wobbled over to their parent.

The fight between the Silverblood bull and the Shade Scorpion took place at the base of the mountain, so the young man did not take long to return home. He returned to his cave and began feasting on the stinger that was very fleshy and stringy much to the youth's pleasure. There was also a strange taste in the tail that he identified as poison, but he didn't seem affected by it in the slightest and continued to take ravenous bites. After entering a cocooned state with the Forest Adder Queen, poison levels were something he could gauge although not very accurately. He could instinctively tell if they were either dangerous or not dangerous, his instinct on poison was very general and not too detailed. As he ate the fleshy stinger, he noted it was much better than a Horned Squirrel; half of the tail had already made him almost satisfied. His expression appeared sleepy after eating the tail, feeling lazy his eyelids began drooping; he then fell asleep quietly.

***

INSIDE OF THE CAVE, ACORN TREE MOUNTAIN

The sleeping youth felt a familiar warmth on his body, along with it came a nostalgic taste of liquid in his mouth. The warm fur caressed his body which gave him a feeling of security that relaxed his mind and put him at ease. He enjoyed these sensations on instinct before he became incredibly alarmed and his eyes flashed wide open in confusion. When he saw the figure that nestled his body, his expression became one of shock and awe. The Flaming Lioness body from head to tail was at least 7 meters long, and its gigantic paw held him down so that he could not move an inch. The lioness seemed to be asleep as her breath was very relaxed, her body moving up and down quietly.

Even though the young man knew he looked different from the lioness, there was an unexplainable connection between them that made him identify her as his mother. His memories from the Queen Forest Adder and his observation of beasts further cemented this thought as he knew that guarding offspring was what a guardian did.

The Flaming Lioness detected movement under her paw, and her large golden eyes opened and stared at the youth. Her grand mouth opened to reveal her large tongue that licked all over the youth's face and body intimately. He did not know what to do and could only let himself be 'unwillingly' groomed, after a few minutes; the lioness stopped licking him and looked at him properly. The lioness stared at the youth's body and noticed the golden symbols on his body had become much more detailed; eliciting an expression of excitement. The lioness got up and gently bit down on the young man's neck, carrying him outside as she exited the cave.

It was already very late at night, yet it did not seem to bother the two as they moved down the mountain inaudibly. The moonlight being their only company, the lioness didn't seem worried about predators at all and seemed to be casually strolling. The young man noticed wherever the lioness passed the area would become deadly silent, not a single creature would make noise. It was the first time he had ever experienced this, but he knew that the reason for this was the lioness' strength. None of the beasts wanted to pick a fight with this lioness, the surrounding lifeforms all scattered as soon as they detected her presence. Not long after they left the forest, what appeared was a tall-grass prairie as far as the eye could see.

The young man noticed many other Flaming Lions/Lionesses the deeper into the prairie they got, some of them had cubs and were being carried by their mothers in the same manner. There was a strange pause in their gazes when their eyes fell on the young man until they noticed the golden symbols on his body. Afterwards, they lost interest and went about their own business. The young man noticed not all of these lions had golden symbols much like him and his mother. Even though there were other lions with golden symbols, theirs were not as detailed as his or his mother's symbols. There also seemed to be a degree of respect when the other lions saw his mother, albeit with a slight bit of fear.

***

ONE YEAR AGO, UNKNOWN MOUNTAIN

The Flaming Lioness stood outside the cave of Queen Forest Adder and could not enter since the crack in the wall was very small. This place was the last spot it detected the smell of its cub, aside from the cub there was another smell coming from the crack. The other scent was more prevalent and concentrated, which indicated that this was another beast's lair. The lioness instantly became furious and released an earthshaking roar that vibrated the entire mountain, the beasts in the surrounding environment scattered in immense fear. The lioness paced back and forth outside of the cave, not smelling any blood that belonged to her cub she did not know what to make of this situation.

Time passed by, every day the lioness would visit the crack in hopes of either seeing her cub or at least her cub's predator. The peace of the mountain was disturbed in this manner for the next year. Every time the Flaming Lioness appeared, the forest would get relatively calm with none daring to get in her way. The Flaming Lioness noticed that the smell of the other creature which came from the crack seemed to be fading, indicating it had not returned in quite a while. Based on the scent of the beast, the lioness knew its cub would be in great danger had they encountered each other...yet, both scents were fading. The Flaming Lioness was confused but continued to visit, the only reason a beast would not return to its lair meant it died.