There was no notion of time inside this place. No concept on love or hate. All of those things seeming far off foreign thoughts. Things that did not occur in this place. Thought here in this place consisted only of Where am I? Who am I? Do I exist in more than this one place. He could feel that he was there, that he was physically there. At least that's what I thought. I could feel my body, the muscles involuntarily twitch in my back, his legs kicking out in exploration. He could feel his body with every brush of his paws against themselves. Though he was trapped in this small confined space, he found himself thinking, could it be bigger? How big could his world possibly be?

Was he stuck? Forced to stay in this place? He had been here a painfully long time. He was cramped. More cramped than he should have been. He had been gestating inside his chrysalis for far longer than he should have been trapped inside his womb. It was warm in his world, though dark even when his eyes were open. He failed to see much more than a strange opaque wall that didn't allow much more than seeing shifting shadows pass by. None ever staying for to long before disappearing again.Though there was one constant in this strange world. A word a single word no matter what he thought about or pondered, it came to him on whispers not his own. Aristotle. It sounded like a name. Was it his name?

He shifted in his strange world. It had grown to tight to move, when had that happened? When had it become so suffocatingly cramped inside his opaque world. His chest began to heave as the sensation of a new emotion washed over him, sinking its fangs deep in his every muscle. He began to thrash all four legs scrabbling at the thick smooth surface of his chrysalis. His pads slid down the slick walls he thrashed about. Suddenly he felt a claw on his left paw catch on the slick surface, with one powerful yank down in his peaking panic he ripped open the chrysalis. A strange coolness he had never felt washed over him he fell forward onto the ground. Though it wasn't a particularly hard landing as he fell onto a thick pad of moss. He inhaled sharply before he was sent into a coughing fit.

He opened his eyes brilliant blue orbs set in a soft cappuccino colored face, they fought to focus in the dim light of the hidden tunnel off on its own. A thick latte colored mane fell about his head and shoulders as he fought to sit up. He heaved a mouth full of liquid from inside the chrysalis onto the moss. He could feel his chest heaving in and out quickly as a raspy cough shook him.

Had he been in that strange liquid floating world for to long? He was weak barely able to stand or move under his own power. Finally he was able to pull himself into a shaky sitting position. I could feel the panic in my body ease as my sight began to clear with each blink. Giving one last tiny cough before his breathing eased to a normal pace. Now calm he felt the strange cool wet nature of the moss under his paws. With great effort the young lion pushed his hindquarters off the ground onto all four unsteady legs. Shakily he turned to see what portal had dumped him here after nearly squeezing him to death.

There behind him, lay resting on a bed of moss near a dimly lit wall in the cave was a large chunk of a semi-precious stone. The stone itself was only about four feet tall by three feet tall. It was barely large enough to fit him curled into a tight ball.It was no wonder the poor thing had felt suffocated. The young lion shook himself after looking at what he felt had almost been his tomb. With a weary sigh the young man shook himself dry. The long thick mane of the young man fell in waves around his head and chest. Looking away from his almost tomb he looked at the light filtering in. It had been the only to fill the room. And not far from the hidden cave entrance the light died fading into darkness.

With a tilt of his head he slowly began making his way through the small cave. It was small to him as his pointed ears brushed the ceiling of the tunnel. As he exited the tunnel and came into the light he was forced to squint and look away as his eyes adjusted. He found himself in a beautiful almost jungle like atmosphere. Compared to the once soft moss covered floor of the room he had hatched in, the ground had become hard packed rough dirt that made winding trails through the area.