Alexander drew a small circle with an 'x' inside to indicate a point of interest he had recently found. He took a step back and admired his work: a poorly drawn map of his cave's surroundings. He determined the cardinal directions by checking where the sun rose and set, assuming it worked the same way it did back on his world.

His food sources, which consisted of insects and some berries, were marked with F's; his water sources, with W's; the huge tree he found to the northeast was a drawing of a tree bigger than the rest; and finally, his cave, home base, was a diamond shape at the middle.

Points of interest were things that caught his eye that required further investigation. In the most recent case, it was another instance of an 'x' carved on a tree. So far he had stumbled upon four of those. He guessed it was the work of some kind of creature, probably indicating it was their territory. Perhaps it was the superbear he killed.

He continued to stare at the map, his eyes slowly making their way to the edges… the unexplored zones. At this pace, it would take him years to complete his map and that fact bothered him in a way he couldn't explain. He caught himself trying to bite his nails because of the sudden sting on his lip. His nails were incredibly sturdy and he often pierced skin without so much as nipping the ends.

"I want to go," he said lowly, but shook his head, "No, not yet. I'm underestimating how easily I can get lost." It had happened a few times already. Thankfully, after wandering about for a few minutes he always found the way back. He didn't want to risk it… risk what exactly? "Risk losing this? I'm failing to convince myself. What's the worse that can happen?" An unexpected meeting with a- "Yeah, yeah, finding one of those stupid bears. This is getting repetitive. I already killed one of those. My point is that I'll never make any progress without some risk involved."

Some risk? It was his own life that he was risking. Those stakes were too high. Also, progress towards what exactly? What was his goal?

"I just…" he said while staring at the stalagmites hanging from the ceiling, "I don't want to keep going on like this."

He loathed eating insects and corpses like some kind of beast. He loathed hiding in fear of every single creature that may or may not be a threat to him. He loathed feeling safe and at home in this pitiful cave that, being realistic, provided close to zero amount of protection apart from a psychological point of view. He loathed not being able to sleep, because he didn't know what waited for him when he opened his eyes. He loathed having to remind himself that he was human.

He felt as if molten lava was flowing through his veins, from his torso to his extremities. He barely raised an eyebrow to indicate that he acknowledged the pain. It was a common occurrence now. He flexed his fingers.

Above all, he loathed that stupid girl. It was all her fault. She was the one responsible for taking him to this miserable world. Wasn't he supposed to be some kind of heir? He wasn't sure if he even remembered the excuses she gave as to why she did the things she did.

Taking everything into account, he reached one conclusion.

"Fuck this, I'll do whatever the hell I want."

He shut off the annoying voice at the back of his mind yelling at him that it was a bad idea. Of course, it was a bad idea. He didn't gain jackshit for risking his life.

"That's what we do best, though, isn't it? I'm human. I'll do what I want, even if it ends up killing me."

He left the cave without giving a single glance to the wall next to the entrance with twenty-two drawn lines, each growing more crooked as they went on.

The sky was filled with gray clouds, but he still managed to find the brightest point. That's where the sun was. He had around two hours before night fell. A shiver ran through his back- no, that's enough, "I can't wait until tomorrow. I'll get back before the sun sets."

Now, what direction to choose? To the northeast stood the bigass tree and the place where he had woken up, exactly how far he didn't remember. He didn't want to go that way. To the south was the spot where he had last seen that giant, white wolf. No thanks. East or west. Three of the four X markings were scattered to the east. So, west it was.

He began his journey in the same direction as the sun, towards the west, though hopefully not his sunset. Could it be…? No way. His life was far from setting.

After a longer walk than anticipated in which he had found absolutely nothing worth mentioning, he realized something.

God existed. Definitely. And he had a dark sense of humor.

Or he hated him.

Because standing in front of him was a huge superbear. Bigger than the one he had killed, if it was even possible, with the same empty eyes that stalked him in his dreams. The fur on its head, its arms and its legs was jet black, and it had numerous scars lining its body. That's when the stench hit him, accompanied by a wave of nausea and dizziness. It was worse than he remembered.

His whole body trembled and his knees nearly buckled from the pressure crushing down on his shoulders, yet he smiled. He glared at it. Within his grimace, there was another emotion mixed in; excitement.

The inside of his arms was flaring up, he felt like they were turning inside-out. He allowed the feeling to run wild, he didn't care if his veins burned in the process.

'Hey you ugly piece of shit,' he thought as he watched for any signs of movement, 'What a coincidence, huh?'

The creature remained unmoving on all fours, simply staring back. Yeah, this thing was incredibly dumb. There was no intelligence behind its pupilless eyes. It was probably determining if what was standing in front of it was easy food. At that moment, the bear opened its snout and showed rows of sharpened, yellow teeth and drool overflowed and dripped to the ground. It had made its mind.

The grotesque creature pushed itself off the ground with its front paws and stood on its hind legs, towering over the area like a colossal statue. Its shadow enveloped him. He gulped and stopped himself when he noticed he was about to take a step back. Absolute unit.

He waited for the thing to attack, but it remained frozen in place. They were both waiting for the other to move. That would've surprised him if it weren't for the life or death situation. Perhaps, if he had considered the weird circumstances, the outcome would've been different. Alas, hindsight was always biased.

His feet twitched to the left and the beast attacked, reducing a tree to splinters. Although he had leaped to the right beforehand, the force behind the strike pushed him back. He raised his arms to cover his face as the flying debris pierced his forearms.

'That's it. Somehow, this thing can predict where I'm going to move. That means I can feint and confuse it somewhat. However,' he skidded to a stop, his feet now covered in mud. He grabbed a piece of wood sticking out of his shoulder and yanked it out. He hissed. 'Its attacks are way too fast. I can't see them coming. In fact, it probably managed to alter the direction of its blow when it noticed that I jumped in the other direction. If I get directly hit by that, it's all over.'

The creature didn't continue to attack. Rather, it turned to his position and growled without moving from its position.

'Why doesn't it…? It's not pursuing the attack? Does that mean that I can-' Escape? No, he couldn't. It would rip him apart the second he gave his back to it. There was only one way out. To kill it. That was his only option. 'Right, I only need one chance. If I hit it right on its stupid head it'll be over. I can do this… I can win. I just need to find an opening.'

He gave the smallest indication that he was going to step forward when the ground in front of him exploded. He staggered and coughed, unable to close the distance between them yet again. Lowering his injured arms, he glared at the superbear. Although it hurt like hell, as long as his stomach was full he could heal in a matter of hours. In order to win he had to suppress his instinct of self-preservation.

He jumped into the fray again.

The flurry of strikes whizzed and slashed through the woods and rocks like they were made of paper. Sharp, black claws whistled as they cut the air. Yet, he continued to narrowly avoid them. He didn't falter nor hesitate a single second, always darting around the place. It was a dance of death, where if he stumbled he would be sliced in half. Not a single step back. He pushed forwards, little by little, closing the distance between the creature and him, searching for that precious opportunity that would end the battle.

He was beginning to see the trajectories of its attacks before it launched them, giving him plenty more time to move closer. The thing was still way faster than him, no doubt about it, and even if he felt he was getting faster he was nowhere close to its speed. But its movements were becoming predictable. It was a matter of time.

For the first time, the creature dragged its feet backward. Alexander's eyes widened. This was it. He saw his victory condition.

Before he could reach it, however, movement from the edge of his vision caught his attention. Since the creature moved, he could see something behind it. The wheels in his mind turned and suddenly, it all made sense. His body reacted on instinct when the creature decided to attack him and he leaped back.

When he noticed what he had done, it was too late. That had been his chance to finish this, he had seen it. And yet, he lost his momentum and the distance he had closed. Back to square one.

Why? What had taken him by surprise? A simple revelation. Hiding behind the creature were two tiny versions of itself. Two cubs. That meant that this thing that was trying to kill him was probably their mother. Frustration bubbled up inside of him, overflowing and leaking out through his enraged expression. Goddamn it. He was so close. Would it be possible to replicate it up to the point where he had retreated? No way. Although his multiple shallow injuries were healing at an amazing pace, it was already taking a toll on him. He felt sore and heavy. It wouldn't be long until his moves turned sluggish. He punched the ground and a loud crack followed. There was a crater with his fist embedded in the center. He stood up.

It wasn't over. There was something else he could do, something else he could use to his advantage. No matter what, he would win.

He launched himself straight towards the creature. Time seemed to slow down to a crawl as he focused solely on it. As soon as it made the decision to attack, he needed to be a step ahead or it would be his end. Simple as that. If the thing acted the way he thought it would, then it may give him the opening he desired. What bothered him was, what if it didn't? What if it reacted in a completely different way? That's why he couldn't afford to blink and miss any hints as to what it was intending to do. Even so, there was a foul taste in the back of his mouth.

The bear tensed almost imperceptibly, but he noticed. It was about to attack. Good. Wait a bit longer. Perfect place and perfect time. He abruptly changed directions and darted to the side before running towards the spot where the cubs were hidden, staying out of reach of mother bear's claws.