ORIGIN

The white glow was the one which caught Usui’s attention the most. He noted that it was west of where he lay. Of course, the lesser gembound would not venture out of this tunnel it claimed home, but it wasn’t as unintelligent as to hover at the area where it had encountered the lion. It was quite a walk away, Usui needed something to carry his baggage in. For a moment, he regretted not bringing along his satchel, then realized that either way he would not want to have put in dead corpses into it. The cub had observed one tree to have large, waxy leaves. He stretched upwards, resting his paws onto the trunk, and bit off two large stems. The leaves fanned over him easily, providing shade from the rain drops for a while. When he had moved back, Usui placed the mice onto the double-layered leaves and wrapped them securely into a bundle. He then bit gently onto the stem and dragged his loots along. Given the muddy area, and how short he was (as a cub), the boy was able to pull off this feat. It was like this that he travelled to the other end of the area. He wondered whether Aquarian would have noted his presence by now.

Once he had reached a desirable spot, Usui deposited his carefully-wrapped loot and stalked the deer. It was grazing now, somehow oblivious to the rain (was it already getting used to it?). Usui was pretty sure that if the rain kept up, even the deer would be forced to evacuate. The boy crouched deep upon his haunches, then ran forward with the intention to pounce onto the fawn-sized deer’s back to pin it down and kill it. Alas, as the boy moved forward, he noticed a large rock in front of him. He'd have to jump over it to get to the deer which would have slowed his pace down considerably. He fretted for a bit then padded back to his starting line. He'd have to go in for the kill in a curve instead then. This time, Usui would be sure to plan his kill route well.

The rain beat down steadily onto his pelt mercilessly. Usui had to wonder where all this rain came from. Since there were in a cave, surely something was shifting the water from somewhere? The lion wondered if there was powerful state shifted meddling with the gembound affairs. Was it Aquarian? He’d have to explore the area soon – for now, Usui had to get the deer in front of him. Every prey caught was one step unlocked towards meeting the beast he had known as a newborn. It was odd thinking about the large creature he’d seen through his then naïve gaze. Since then so many things had happened, including twisted limbs and near deaths experiences. He wasn’t even two cycles old yet. No! He must not think of these things. Shaking his head, Usui once more balanced his weight upon his paws. This time, he positioned himself more towards the left so that he would not be obstructed by the rock. He curved his toes and with extended claws, launched himself forward just like he did previously with a hunter’s intent.

Fierce exhilaration ran through Usui as he leapt at the White. It started to run, but Usui had had a headstart and so easily nabbed the cave deer. He brought his weight upon the creature, and then took one paw and twisted it around so that he could clamp onto its neck. He lunged in to suffocate it and in the process aimed at severing its spine as well. With a shrill, the deer fell to him. The cub held onto the draining life force of the cave deer firmly and let the breath ebb away. Meanwhile, he took this as a rest. His sides were heaving from the exertion. Although he was going to be a full juvenile soon, he was, after all, a cub, and the fawn stood at a taller height than him although it was flimsy around the legs.

When all was done, Usui lugged his loot back to the pile which already contained three mice. He then dropped the deer’s carcass onto it. The howlite gleamed at him. Without hesitation, Usui ripped the tail of the deer, severing both the stone and the tail. He consumed the tail to reinvigorate himself, then put the curved, howlite fang aside. It would go into his loot later on. The tail was barely satisfactory but helped Usui not think about eating the meat which he had gathered. Now, he would need to catch the other deer. Before his energy ran out entirely, usui was keen on stalking out the other creature. For now, he lay in the shade, panting and resting a bit, while bending his head ever so often to lap from a pool of water that had gathered in a crevice of the rocks. The rain still continued on.

Usui got to his paws after a few minutes. The first three rats would turn stale if he did not quickly finish up his hunt. The boy padded out of his shelter, tail swinging behind him. The hunts had taken a toll on him. His stamina had fallen, he was tired and he was hungry forgoing all these food that could nourish his growing body. Knowledge was important to the boy though, and he would pay the price of a food sacrifice if he had to. His gem sense was still strong. Being the master of this magic, he could extend usage of it. The other deer was a very faded pink, and he wondered why. It was to the north-east of his location now. Immediately, he picked up his pace and settled for a loping pace.

The room was not too bg and the rain was a hindrance. Still, the boy set his sight on a smaller cave deer gembound this time with a pink eye. It looked very old and haggered. Not particularly healthy meat, the boy thought with a wrinkling nose, but it’d have to do. Usui crouched and bunched his muscles beneath him, and then sprang forward, this time aiming directly for the neck with his claws and teeth. Alas, he landed awkwardly onto the deer's back and suffered a nasty kick to his shoulder. The boy got hurled off as the deer started running forward. Not wishing to lose though, Usui forced himself to his feet, allowing his body to absorb the impact for a while. Then he launched himself forward again, ignoring the pain in his right shoulder.

Numbness on his shoulder slowly gave way to pain. Usui ran towards the deer without hesistation nonetheless, knowing that leaving his shoulder to stiffen would have been a worse outcome. Besides, it didn’t seem too bad. No muscles were torn. Lungs heaved in and out as the cub followed his prey. It was old, and the kick Usui had sustained took up much of its energy. The cave deer hobbled-limped along now, allowing the lion to catch up to it without too much of a hassle, and without the need to strain its shoulder. Not speaking, the hunter dashed up beside it and swerved sharply on his hindquarters as he reached the deer’s throat. Without hesitation, the boy stretched out both paws, latching onto the neck of his victim and attempting to sink in his teeth to suffocate it.

His paws slipped off the hairy, muddy neck of the creature, but Usui managed to cling on by some magic. His hind limbs found purchase on muddy ground. Pulling his weight towards the ground, the lion brought the thrashing, old cave deer to the ground with him. Then, he rolled it to the side, careful to keep the legs splayed out in the direction not towards himself, and bit down on its neck. By now, Usui was panting and heaving. After lugging this cave deer back to the pile, he would need a breather before continuing.

A couple of minutes later, Usui decided to track down the three mice. That would make his total loot 2 cave deer, and six mice. Aquarian would want variety though wouldn’t he? That’s where the family of four rabbits came in. The lion wondered if Aquarian wanted lizards. They didn’t seem attractive though. Whether he went further or not, the cub was determined to finish stalking down the last three mice. He gathered his muscles beneath him and surged forward to where he’d last sensed the three mice. Two were close by and above ground while a third was in the ground. He’d aim for the easier ones first before waking up the last from its nest.

The lion cub brushed past the vibrant flora and fauna surrounding him. By now, he was feeling rather cold and miserable beneath this never-ending rain. The ground was extremely muddy and soggy, making it increasing undesirable grounds for hunting. Given a few days, he wandered if the entire mud would even wash into Aquarian’s home. Surely the large fish wouldn’t want that for himself right? That caused the lion to rethink. Maybe Aquarian was against the sky raining down too! All the more reason to approach Aquarian for answers if possible. His gem sense was ebbing away but the last tendrils of it showed him the locations of the prey, before disappearing. One mouse glowed a faint orange. Orange to the right, the other was a Pink to the right-right. He would go to the right first.

The cub eyed his surroundings carefully and saw a couple of bushes and ferns covering one rather dark corner. Orange was there. With a growl, Usui wriggled his butt and growled at the ferns, hoping that the mouse would dart out of its cover and into broad daylight.

Almost immediately, the mouse chittered and ran out – only this time, it wasn’t just a mouse. It was a cave rat extending almost 2 feet long, minus the tail. Usui was shocked to see a rodent that big but picked himself together and gave chase to it. Its larger body made it a much easier target. The pup weaved through the obstacles as skilfully as he could, dodging the stray branches that threatened to whip his face if he ran into them. On and on the rat ran and so did Usui who started accelerating. Coming close to the rat’s flank, he pounced forward and attempted to bring his claws down upon the rat. He had a winner’s aim, and managed to trap the rat between his claws. Almost immediately, he leapt back, then striked the rat again, dancing out of the way of its sharp crooked teeth. Back and forth he went, each time avoiding injury while adding more slashes and injuries to his prey. Eventually, it couldn’t thrash around as much. Usui then bent his head low and snapped at the rat, severing its life quickly. Proud of his haul, he picked it up in his teeth and trotted back to his pile, head held high. It was such an eventful day so far despite his now-rumbling stomach.

The boy counted his loots again. 3 mice, 1 cave rat, 2 deer, and 1 howlite stone for his own keeping. That was a lot of food and Usui was extremely tempted to eat up the mice for himself if not for his pressing desire to meet Aquarian this very day. Thus, he wrapped everything as carefully as he could with the help of more leaves, then trotted back out into the rain to catch more prey. Hs shivered, feeling the cold seeping into his skin. Gem sense had worn out by then, but he had his predatory instincts. Sniffing the air, Usui honed onto the other above-ground rat. This one was hidden behind a rotten log, he could smell it. Usui was tempted to harness his magic but decided against it. He did not intend to roast the meat nor disturb the earth. So old fashioned way it was.

Shifting his haunches into a comfortable position, Usui crept round the rock and saw the mouse’s tail peeking out. He could do this. One, two, three! Usui shot forward, aiming to kill the mouse as he had done with the rest. Success! The rat went down with nary a squeak. The cub picked it up proudly and carried it back to his pile of loots.

Once back in his temporal cave sheltering, Usui wrapped the mice with the rest. He then attempted to cast gem sense to feel the location of the other creatures. It would have been a waste to rely on brute strength or magic for the last mouse when he could use the opportunity to harness his physical, brute strength and powress. It was a hunting lesson for the cub too and he took this “ordeal” with pride. Closing his eyes, the boy felt his gem glow a ghastly shade of black as he attempted to feel for the presence of lesser gembounds in the area.

Alas, he failed. The boy lashed his tail out in frustration but was rather much cold and tired to truly feel anything more than numbness and a determination to finish this goal before allowing himself adequate rest. So, he concentrated his magic again and attempted to project his thoughts outwards to feel for the lesser gembounds he sought to hunt down.