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"That no-good scheming stealing scum!" he snarled under his breath as he walked. Mother was a member of his pride and not anyone else's! He was too resentful to really pay attention to where he was going, so before long, Caden found himself once again at the park.

Despite the good weather, it was mostly empty. Nobody to reprimand him as he climbed defiantly up the plastic slide, digging his claws into the soft material and leaving harsh white furrows.

Caden was almost all the way up the slide when the sound of other people drifted by. He flattened his ears in annoyance, but was quickly distracted when an enticing aroma floated by. It smelled vaguely human, and vaguely bovine, and for some reason, it reminded him of food.

He sprung sideways off the slide and hid behind it, easily sighting his prey. A calf with red hair was hanging from the monkey bars. Caddie, being both a lion and a ten year old boy, could not always be classified as intelligent. Instead of pausing to wonder why on earth there was a cow on the playground in the first place, and remembering that cows could not climb or hang on things because they had no hands, he stalked stealthily through the woodchips towards his target, making sure to keep upwind and out of sight as much as possible.

Now was his chance! When he was as close as he was going to get, Caden bounded out from the cover of the playground equipment, his sudden speed sending the woodchips flying. He barreled towards the calf, leaping into the air with his claws extended, in true lion fashion.

At the very last second, Caden's eyes widened in confusion when his prey suddenly morphed itself into a person. Although it was too late to change his course, not that he could while airborne, he at least managed to retract his claws... and missed entirely anyway. He'd forgotten to compensate for the swinging motion.

Caden's left hand hit the ground first, sending him vaulting over it and crashing down hard on his shoulder. He barely managed to get his feet under him in time to prevent himself from sliding backwards with the momentum of his pounce. Really gotta work on the landings. he thought to himself.

"Who are you?!" he yelled as he stood up again, slightly embarrassed and still angry. And then as an afterthought. "Hi."

"I'm Caden." he said, puffing up his chest a bit and pointing his thumb at his shoulder. "I was hunting. I thought you were a cow."

Uh huh. Okay, that was pretty weird thing to say. He shrugged mentally. At least it was true. Caden swiveled an ear in the direction of a second voice, his head following a moment after. A girl this time. Was she laughing at him? His expression soured.

"What's so funny?!" he shouted across the playground at her with an irritated flick of his tail.

"Because I'm a lion." He was about to continue about how lions were big fierce predators that killed and ate things like cows, but the girl's painfully blunt response cut him short. Since he was incapable of handling two conversations at once, Caden looked from one to the other, unsure of how to responde.

Electing to ignore his original target in favor of a female, he snatched the hand away from his face, holding it firmly but being careful not to dig his claws in. "No, not really." he answered, squeezing just a little to show off his strength. "I'm at the park with you." he leered, looking at her face carefully.

"Ow!" he growled, jerking his leg away from her. That really hurt! He was about to throw the rule about not fighting with girls out the window and retaliate with claws out, but a new voice stopped him. Ever on the lookout for a chance at sympathy, Caddie rubbed at the sore spot on his shin. He shook his head to make his hair look fluffy and pretended to sniffle a little. "She kicked me." he whined, trying to sound helpless.