His life had never been easy. He had always been on his own. No family, and with no family came the responsibility of having to learn the world on his own. Though there was one thing he had that many were not fortunate to have. That was freedom and freedom to do as he pleased, when he wished it, and there were no restrictions placed upon him. Many would consider this life a gift. Though he was unsure if it was or not.
His life of freedom, started the second he was born.
He walked the land alone since he could remember. Actually the second he opened his eyes he looked around. Part of him thought there may be a parent there or two. Though to his surprise there was no one. No one was there, but the wind and himself. He was all alone, no family, just him.
The day he was born he searched for someone, but it was days before he actually found someone. Up until that point he had found himself hungry and starving. Being a growing cub he needed food, the only problem was he had no idea how to hunt. His first attempt ended in failure. He tried to run straight at a deer and pounce on them like he imagined might work. The only thing is the second he did the deer saw him and ran back right the way they came. The deer escaped, but he was left with a growling stomach and no dinner for the second night in a run. For the fourth night his attempt was better, but still it was a failure. He grabbed on leg of an animal, though with his small paws he was only able to hang on for a minute or two. His cub strength was not near as strong as was needed to grab dinner.
So instead of searching for food, he went in search of others. He had not eaten for what seemed like days, he had been fortunate to find some water to quench his thirst. Water could only go so far though he realized as his stomach grew louder and louder with each passing day. The days seemed long and endless as he ate nothing each day. He was growing thinner, and he knew it wasn’t healthy but what was he to do. Thankfully he found someone or multiple some ones.
Though the second he did, the thing he found was something he couldn’t handle. Though thing he found was a family. One filled with two cubs, a mother, and a father. He watched them from afar not wanting to disturb them despite his rumbling stomach. They seemed so happy, as the cubs played with one another pouncing on each other and the parents stood nearest to them. The parents would smile as they watched their cubs as they nudged one another, and so he laid there watching for what seemed like hours. He could have watched that scene forever. It was so different from his life. Though soon the fantasy was over as the parents told their children to them it was time to leave. He could hear the child growling over the thought, they wanted to stay longer. The second the cubs received one more word from their parents though, they quickly listened. They questioned nothing and followed their orders slowly waling behind their parents off into the horizon. He had no idea where they were going, but he knew they would go as a family.
The pain he felt from watching them was greater than any hunger he could ever have. It was like a sharp stone had been tossed at him. Nothing could hurt him more and it was that day he learned he was actually quite lucky. Without parents he had no rules and without rules he had freedom. He had freedom to go where ever he wanted whenever he wanted. No one could stop him or tell him where to go or what to do. He was his own boss and he had the freedom to do as he pleases. No one and nothing could stop him, nothing but himself that is.
So after that day he never looked back and thought of his family or having one. He realized that it would do no good, he had no family and he had to just face that fact. The only way he could ever move past that was if he himself learned how to live with just him. Then if he could learn to be happy on his own he would have no need for family. So he hunted for a stream for a day more and once he found one he fished out some food to eat. The food he gathered and ate was just enough to get him by. Then he began his personal training. He first trained his agility, by racing over hills and empty plains day in and day out. He hoped by doing this he would strengthen his legs muscles. If he could make those stronger he could easily gather more food, than he would if they were weak. After that he began pouncing off rocks and sneaking in the grass. These would help with his stealthiest attacks, and those were something he needed being on his own in the wild. It took a few weeks before his legs were strong enough though after they were he was able to feed more than his old weak self was. He could take down dinner faster than ever. His first attempt though was a little harder he had to jump off a rock and tackle a creature down. It was hard but after a few moments of struggle he got it down. So different than when he let it escape as a young cub.
With his new found strength he decided to become a wander with that his strength and new found freedom could be put to good use. So it was then and there he started on his journey off into the rougelands. Just his paws trudging in the grass as he walked over the horizon. Strong and prepared for whatever life may throw at him.
Word Count:1,036
