ORIGIN

Tunnel J was turning out to be his best friend. Usui, the lone traveller, wasn't too sure what drew him back to this area repeatedly. It may have been the very distinct memory of being chased by raptors and saved by a furry bear and his bird friend, or perhaps, the shock of the incident gone wrong that had left the boy very scarred for his actions almost injured another. A third reason might be due to his affinity for the earth, gemstones and metal. Tunnel J was chock full of treasure and the boy found himself rather fond of taking stock of the knick knack the room had to offer.

This was quite a while after his leg was healed so the boy was confident that he could escape should trouble come his way. Plodding along, thick limbs and gangly paws propelling his chubby body forward, Usui cast his eyes on the walls and squinted at the carvings. They revealed nothing new to him, for edges had been scratched off by claws, or rocks, or - he didn't know what. Nonetheless, he found his favourite drawing which was too, his first revelation - one symbol with three squiggly lines representing water, and a fish beside it. The boy decided, he wanted to emulate this. And so he lifted a claw and attempted to replicate the symbol on a forsaken piece of debris just beside him.

Alas, the boy was doomed to failure. Unable to perfectly follow the crooked lines that were equi-distant from one another, the boy let slip the single claw which he had been utilising and succeeded in drawing what turned out more like a whirlwind or the inner thoughts of an insane gembound which was unable to make up its mind in a circular thought process. He scowled at himself, disappointed with how much he was lacking in this area. Drawing and reading were not enough. Usui was determined to master the art of the curious squiggly lines. He wanted to become a master in this area!

The lion cub flicked his tail absent-mindedly as he thought about how he could overcome this difficulty of carving line, after line. Just then, it dawned upon him. The boy could use three claws simultaneously and move his entire paw in a wave-like motion to achieve the frequency which he wanted! Why hadn't he thought of that earlier! He purred to himself, low vibrations of pleasure extending from the pits of his stomach to his chest. Usui looked at the debris he had used, and rubbed his paws hastily over it to cover it in dust. Reusing things was only prudent. Left with a clean slate once more, the boy tried his luck again.

Slowly, the cub aligned just the tip of his sharp nails onto the slate, then dragged his paw up, then down, then up again in the wave-like motion he had so envisioned. It worked like a gem. This time, three squiggly lines came out, each one almost equi-distant from each other. The cub glanced from wall to tablet, squinting to make sure that he had gotten all the tiny details right. Being a new writer, Usui realized that he hadn't mastered the fluidity of strokes, and it suddenly occurred to him that he might have had better luck had he used a prop, such as a twig, and not went to file his nails down which in the long run was detrimental to his predatory abilities. Not to mention, it would hurt his nerve should he severe that claw.

Immediately the boy searched around the pile of debris near himself and found a relatively uneven, jagged rock. Bending down, the boy gripped the small rock between his teeth, then attempted to draw on the tablet. Urgh! The entire rock threatened to either break his teeth or escape from his very jaws the moment he put some pressure on it. This wasn't going to work! Perhaps he would find a twig somewhere and try it out, but not in this tunnel because there were no plants. Having finished rationalizing to himself, Usui then moved away from the wall and decided that he could use some magic practice. Concentrating his power, he attempted to sense if anyone else was in the room first.

He felt the magic fizz from within him and channelled into his black jade gem which had began to let off a ghastly black glow. He probed with his mind, searching meticulously for signs of life. Instead of sensing any large gembounds (none were present at this very moment, which also meant no raptors), he sensed two small lifeforms. The boy felt his stomach rumbled involuntarily, and he flexed his claws subconsciously. The predator was hungry and needed to eat some food. Alas, what he had sensed belonged to some "lesser gembounds" as he called them. They were extremely under-developed intellectually and often times, aesthetically as well, and they formed the main bulk of the ravenous lion's diet.

Getting into a hunter's crouch, the feline slunk away from his wall and headed for the wall further ahead, but a little to the right past a bend. He believed that there were two mice there. One was larger, while the other tended to flicker in and out of his mental vision, signalling to him that it was extremely young, most likely a newborn. He soon spotted two small patches of fur. The larger one was a dull mouse grey while the younger one seemed pinkish. The boy crouched lower on his haunches and fixed his pale green eyes on them. They were emotionless and stone cold now. Readying his haunches, he let out a snarl and pounced!

As he leapt from his "hiding" spot, the boy felt a surge of power and adrenaline rush through him. He honed in onto the two creatures and slammed down the larger one. It gave a surprised shriek before it was crushed by his paw. Keeping his grip on the fat mouse, the lion turned with great agility and darted his muzzle forward to snap at the other. It died with a crunch in his mouth, and warm blood filled his senses. The thick taste held a tang of muskiness due to this dusty area but Usui did not care. The predator in him emerged. Casting aside all diplomacy and graces, he lifted the dead, fat rat between his toes and spun it around three times, admiring his kill, before opening his mouth wide and depositing the dirty thing into his mouth. The boy crunched down again and let the warm metallic tang warm his body.

Feeling satisfied, Usui raised a paw and wiped his mouth, the licked his chops and paw upon which blood had transferred over. Then, he gave a sigh and plodded back to the wall to learn the second symbol which intrigued him i.e. the fish. He was full and happy, and was certain that he could do this! Once again, he lifted his paw to the tablet, this time placing only one claw upon it, and attempted to imitate the oval and triangle that symbolized the sea critter.

It was amazing this time. Not only was Usui able to draw the curvy lines perfectly, the cub was even able to add fins, scales and little air bubbles to it! The boy was amazed at his creation which looked realistic to him. Then again, that wasn't a symbol! It had turned into a drawing following the scrutiny of this over-ambitious scholar. He chuffed to himself and shook his head at his own silliness! The boy put the image with the fish aside, his accomplishment being one he could not bear to erase right now - and squiggled the proper, plain fish-symbol on another slab beside him. It remained there perfectly. The cub was pleased with himself. He could draw "water" and "fish". Feeling a burst of confidence, Usui inspected the wall again, hoping to find another image he could draw. This time, he saw two opposite symbols. Sun and Moon.

Usui noted that the sun was represented by a circle with straight lines coming out from each side. The moon, meanwhile, was more accurately an image of moonphase. The boy did not understand what they were though. He never saw the sky in Orion. Therefore, he glossed over it, not sure what the symbols meant, but he committed the images to memory. The following symbols were rather faded so he did not give them second thought. Growing bored of the wall, the boy decided to practice his magic. He concentrated on trying to attract metal pieces towards him!

The black gem on the boy's ear started to glow. He felt victory in his very paws. With exceptional ease, the lion was able to locate all the mineral ores and metal in the room, including the small, useless parts. He couldn't help but break out into a smile at his rare success! Immediately the boy tried to sift out the metals by controlling and directing the vibrating connection his body currently felt with these metals. However, the stillness following the spell was fleeting. His magnetic spell was so succesful that the pieces of metal honed in on him and jammed themselves all over his body protectively to the point where the weight caused the boy to trip and snub his nose on the ground.

Groaning, Usui immediately let go of the spell, and metal ores as well as several useless pieces of mineral earth clattered to the floor. He wandered briefly if the noise would attract anyone but it seemed highly unlikely since he had previously sensed that no other person was in the room with him. The lion nosed through the metal and saw that there was a headpiece which he quite liked. It was bent and rusty, but had a nice crooked "T" shape that might shield his forehead in the future. Immediately, he put that loot aside, intending to forge it and make it shiny once he had those skills. The remaining metal weren't of interest to him now, but the pile brought to him an idea! What if...he could make rocks shatter, even though they were covered by other elements e.g. metal? Usui could use this opportunity to enhance his skills! Without hesitation, the boy attempted to cast dislodge to shatter the rocks in his path, which lay around the metal ores he had attracted as well.

The boy clenched his paws subtly, feeling the earth beneath it. He felt that it responded to him as a sturdy, ancient, yet mould able element. Letting out a steady hiss from between his sharp canines, Usui exhaled and simultaneously willed the rocks in his path to simply shatter or best, dissipate (although he knew it was currently beyond his abilities to perform such a feat). At his command, the rocks broke into multiple pieces, and pieces of metal came clanging down on the floor as a sign of it. Usui was pleased with his progress. He had been a newborn not too long ago but had learnt so much. He felt wiser and mature than his peers right now. Having this many successes in a row meant that the boy could hold his head high, and carry his own weight like the loner that he was. (Read: signs of his disdain and condescending attitude are starting to seep into his character).

He shuffled the metal ores back to where they belonged, not feeling so kindly as to just give others a free lunch by gathering everything inward. He wasn't ready to show the world what he was truly capable of. Fang had been an exception - her gift was a result of his sudden surge of generosity. The Sensei firmly believed that everyone had to earn their keep no matter what and now, he was earning his through hardwork and skill improvements.

The magic had taken its toll on him though. Furthermore, his belly was full. Usui plodded to a corner and curled up beside one of the rock edges, then closed his eyes and slept. He would wake and resume his practice the next day.

He woke up a couple of hours later shaking his head groggily and pushing his little body upwards with his paws. The boy's stomach had started to rumble again. This lion was a voracious eater and the two tiny mice was simply insufficient to satiate his taste for a variety of food and that included lizards. The boy opened his pale green eyes and blinked towards the darker corners of the walls. He had hoped a couple creeped in while he was asleep. They made such cute, fun hunts since they darted around and proved just a bit more challenge for Usui. This time, he wanted to preserve his magical reserve and energy, thus he decided to do things the old fashioned way. Keeping low to the ground, the cub decided to sweep the entire room slowly so as to fill his belly without startling any potential prey.

He moved slowly and quietly. Each paw was lifted and placed down with deliberate flexibility so that he could bend and shift like a silent, deadly predator. Slowly, he moved past the wall where he had killed the two mice i.e. moved to the left. He sniffed at the air, hoping that he could catch the scent of his desired prey.

The smell of fresh lizard wafted into the boy's nostrils. He flared his nose and took in the sweet scent of potential meat as greed washed over the predator. He needed more meat, more tasty things to fill his mouth even as he nurtured his brains. The problem with lizards as that they tended to slither over walls, and Usui could not fly. Neither was pouncing against the walls a fantastic idea, for it might goad the things to simply scurry to higher ground. No, he would have to work his magic on them from a safe distance. The boy moved closer to the scent and stopped a short way from the prey. Ensuring that his actions were as discrete as possible, he craned his neck upwards to gaze at the wall, face placed close to it in a parallel fashion. He spotted a plump, fat body perched complacently on one of the corners.

Usui took a couple of steps back and thought hard about how to attract this lizard. He could not spear the lizard out of the wall but...if he cast a sudden shock, he could cause it to have a fright and fall right into his clutches! Usui immediately crouched low and attempted to use pebblequake in the path of the lizard. If he was successful, he would have yet another delicious meal soon.