ORIGIN

The lion padded into Cetus, silent and unannounced. It had been some time since he’d been here on his own, for his recent adventures since Aquarian’s descent had led him to Baratheon, a strange fluffy dragon and Dragon, a little reptilian critter which he distrusted. Today, he traversed the tunnels alone with nothing but the fur covering his skin. The cub predicted that he’d have to navigate through challenging terrain and this came true in the form of extremely damp mud, thick fog and more than that, the latest phenomena – rain. In fact, the rain never seemed to end. It poured on and on at a steady rate which was extremely unnatural to the boy. It worried Usui, for he noticed how the mud and soil coating the ground was becoming saturated with water, leading to a diluted brown layer of water reaching up to the fur on his paws. Allowing the rain to sodden his fur, the boy continued to move to Aquarian’s residence.

Once he reached the edge of the marsh, Usui stopped at the edge and let out a huff before looking around for prey. He had remembered Aquarian’s commands, and wondered briefly if Dragon had found that pile of loot as offering to the giant fish. No matter, now was his turn. First, Usui cast his gem sense magic in an attempt to sense if lesser gembounds were in the vicinity, to be sacrificed as an offering. The boy was overwhelmed by the map that appeared in his head. For some reason, he could see every single prey with a stone in the vicinity. He counted off

- A family of four rabbits, 2 large and 2 small
- Two cave deer, apart from one another
- Six rats
- Seven lizards
- Quite a number of slimy fish in the water

Usui immediately set to work out his food trail. He would leave out the fish and lizards. He reasoned that Aquarian could catch the fish easily if he wished to, and the lizards were rather untasty, lesser substitutes for a good meal. Besides, they could easily escape through the grove and climb trees where Usui could not. That left the boy with six rats, four rabbits and two deer. The lion decided that he would dodge around and nab the six rats as stealthily as he could, then hone in on the deer and finally, the family of four rabbits.

Immediately, the hunter narrowed his senses onto the six rats. They were scattered as such: 2 to the north, three to the south east, and two to the west. Considering that he could make one round around the marsh, the boy decided to nab the two mice to the west. One of them glowed a faint grey-red, while the other glowed a faint grey-silver. He’d go for the silver first.

The first couple of steps which the lion took were casual ones. However, when he got a few body lengths away from the rat, he dropped into his crouch and moved forward, toes spread out and sploshing into the mud as carefully as possible. It was hard to tell his scent with the rain going around so the mouse was unlikely to notice him. Also, the constant shower pitter-pattered off the flora and fauna which masked the slight noise he made. Thankfully, the mud was wet and absorbed his footfalls too.

Usui could see the Silver ahead. It was hidden beneath a bracket of ferns resting against a tree trunk, perhaps its nest was waterlogged and so it had been chased out. The lion could almost taste the morsel in his mouth. With a deep rumble in his throat, he bunched up his muscles beneath him and pounced, launching his juvenile body towards the victim. By the time the critter heard his brash rustling in the ferns, it was game over. Sharp claws nailed the grey, wriggling thing down and the other paw came in for the kill. Raking it off the side, the injured rat had not much physical resources to resist anymore. Usui then bent down his head and crunched the head of the rat, relishing the red liquid which oozed into his throat and warmed him. However, he was careful not to drain the rat, for this was to be his offering to Aquarian. The boy trotted to a corner and hid the dead critter carefully under a couple of overhanging ferns, then proceeded to stalk out the next sacrifice.

The moment the life force of this rat disappeared, its shiny gem disappeared from his mental map. The lion was next drawn towards the flickering grey-red colour. The rain continued to fall onto his fluffy cub coat, making him rather soggy and miserable but he was on a quest and no weather condition such as this would make him give up on his goals. He seemed to slosh together with mud and water but perhaps it was for the better – masking his smell and providing damp footfalls that absorbed impacts which otherwise chased animals away. One more thing that Usui knew was, the animals would be hiding under shelter, which provided yet another clue for their whereabouts should his nose fail him. Armed with predator instinct, he moved stealthily towards his second sacrifice – at least, as stealthily as a drenched lion can.

This one was hidden in the crevice of a few rocks. The boy decided to do it the old fashioned way to lure it out. Padding closer, he rounded his body around the small collection of rocks and snarled at one of the gaps, hoping that it’d chase the hiding mice out. It worked! The rat darted out in a flash, its fur a darker grey than the previous victim. It squeaked indignantly and started to move towards a couple of bracken to the right but Usui was faster, and more intelligent. Instantly, he gave chase, keeping his green eyes trained onto the small furball, wanting to have a clear pathline before pouncing in for the kill.

The mouse darted in a straight path, only swerving left or right where it perceived shelter to be. Usui pounced left and right with it in a dance, tracing out its movements with acute sensitivity. Time was ticking. He only had that window period before his meal really got away. Also, it wasn’t very easy sloughing up the wet mud and flicking it all over his fur, not to mention his very soggy paws were being quite the hindrance to him. Without wasting more time, Usui leapt forward with paws outstretched, hoping to swat the critter to the ground and severely injure him before dealing the final death bite. Alas, the lion cub miscalculated his steps. As he sprang forward, the cub's hind foot caught onto a random fallen, sturdy branch. With a yelp, he collapsed onto the ground noisily, splattering mud, and water all over his fur, head and eyes. The hunt was not over, but his clumsiness had given the critter yet another headstart and he'd have to trace the mice's trail again. The mud was soft so Usui did not sustain any injuries or cuts, however, he was irritated with his inadequacies. Pushing himself to his paws, the cub sprinted forward, mud and droplets of rain flinging off his pelt with every step he took, the gem still in his mind flickering so he could trace out its path.

The grey-red light glimmered in his mind. Being a master of his magic, Usui was able to keep this mental map in his mind for much longer, and today was one of those critical success days which would aid him plenty. A surge of adrenaline rushed through the predator’s paws as he picked up his pace and traced the route of the mouse as he ran along, splattering mud and water in his wake. He was intent on the hunt now, and so let his movements be indiscreet. The boy noted then that this mouse was headed towards a third mouse, one which glimmered yellow. He had to kill this one before upsetting the Yellow! Usui was getting nearer and nearer to his target now, which was scurrying under an open sky but soon to crawl under the roots of some trees. It was either now, or never. The boy made swift mental calculation and pounced once again, hoping that one quick, calculated strike would be enough to fell the creature before finishing it off with his death-bite.

Alas he failed, and the faint grey-red dashed into the trees. The lion growled with frustration and lashed out with his tail as he landed onto mud and nothing else. It was just once mouse! Why had it been so hard for him to catch it? The mouse had saved itself that day, for now it had scurried into the shelter of the underground, a place where Usui could not reach…

Or he could. The boy’s eyes lit up as a new plan formed in his head. If he sent vibrations into the ground, he would be able to chase the rat out…right? Of course, this required great concentration. The cub would need to channel his power properly and only concentrate it in the path ahead so that he would not disturb his other potential prey. The new idea invigorated the cub. A new wave of energy washed over him and he felt refreshed. Rather than rely on his brute strength, magic was there to aid him too, as a gembound. And so, he crept towards the hiding hole of this mouse, and attempted to channel the vibration in a straight path towards it. A lesser gembound might have let its prey escape entirely, but the lion was intent on reaping his efforts and was not going to let anything escape today.

The cave deer sparkled white. This one was an interesting case, its gem being stronger than the rest. Usui kept his body low to the ground and sloshed through the rain and foliage and mud with great care. Although this catch was going to be much easier to spot, rifling it the wrong way was likely to result in the ruin of his subsequent plans. The boy was not fond of ripping away the gems of the small critters that he found, for it seemed near murderous to craft a gem out of all the small gems which he gathered from his kills. However, this deer seemed different. Its gem throbbed with a light stronger than the average lesser gembound and it seemed larger for some reason. Pushing his way past an old, rotten log now, the cub could see why. Huddling beneath several trees was one deer with a sharp, curved fang on its tail made of what he believed to be howlite – white with artistic streaks of grey and black curving through it. An exceptionally polished gem on a gembound. This, the blacksmith wanted.

The predator craned his neck forward and steadied his haunches. Paws lay flat on the ground, ready for take-off. The deer must have scented him for it whipped its head up and stared in his direction. Not giving the lesser gembound anymore time to ponder on the situation, Usui pushed himself forward with a snarl and gleaming teeth, ready to latch onto the deer’s back so as to pin it down.

Alas, the mud was sloshy and the cub tripped and tumbled dramatically on the spot, succeeding in getting no where. Head-first into the mud while belly thudded onto the ground painfully. That had caused quite the splash although the mud absorbed the impact, and the deer, which was already suspicious, started to flee in the opposite direction. The cub pulled himself out of the mud and attempted to wash the mud off his face in a puddle of muddy water. Slowly the bits clung off, but he was very very dirty by now. With a sigh, the boy decided that he should rest for now before continuing his hunt. He went back to his pile, wrapped the three bodies in a leaf and clenched it, then dragged his soaked, muddy body to a sort of cave (what was a pile of rocks), he tucked in his juvenile body in, deposited his kills safely by his side and went to sleep.

Usui woke up 2 hours later. The rain still poured with the same intensity as before. He furrowed his brows. The cub had to ask Aquarian what was going on, and whether it was his doing but surely…he’d need to catch the entire pile of offerings to even satiate a bit of his appetite. Even three mice seemed barely satisfying a meal to him. He got up with a yawn and stretched, pushing his front paws forward into the earth while pushing his hindquarters into the air with a dramatic fling of his lion tail. He then brought his head closed to his shoulders, shaking it to get rid of the stiffness. Dried mud clung to his fur, while the outer layer was still sodden. Bits of stray leaves also clung to him and mud was everywhere. This tunnel was definitely rather unpleasant to Usui but what choice did he have if he wanted to find Aquarian?

Now that he was awake, the cub decided to cast gem sense again. This would allow him to easily map out the critters in the area, which should not be different from what he’d sensed previously. His gem glowed as tendrils of his magic sneaked out. Alas, he sensed a weird buzzing in his head that overwhelmed him instead. With a shriek, Usui scrambled back into the corner of his cave and burrowed his head beneath his paws. The colours ricocheted through his brain and he felt an overwhelmingly oppressive feeling as though every single gem on Origin was going to swallow him up! With that overwhelming sensation, he passed out.

It must have been quite a few hours that he awoke. Still, the rain fell heavily. The boy groaned as he pushed himself to his paws. The magic had backfired awfully on him. At least the terrible, overwhelming sensation of gems was gone. Raising a paw to his head, the cub kneaded his forehead to shake off the memory, then set his paws back onto the earth. He would persist in his efforts till this quest of his was done. Usui closed his eyes, and concentrated harder than before, attempting to sense the lesser gembounds in his vicinity. Surely, his gem sense would work now. The map refused to appear at first, but slowly unfolded itself. This was what he sensed:

- A family of four rabbits
- Two deer
- Three mice
- Handful of lizards

The cub noted that the deer were still apart, but rather close to each other. He would attempt to take down those two first.