From dawn till dusk I hunted, honing my skills, becoming more adapt at learning the art of survival. I remember mother once telling us about how her mother always preached on survival. How life was not always kind to each part of the world. That our lineage came from one of kings but also one of paupers. From starvation to royalty and back to poverty again. Sometimes I could forgive my mother and father for stepping down, for giving up Asteraia, for setting our course in life on such a rocky path that led straight into the jowls of the beast. The beast being the Darkbringer.

Then other days, days like today, when I woke up feeling as if I would come apart at the seams, full of anger and disappointment. Days when I hunted not out of hunger but out of need for distraction. The hare that I was currently tearing into tasted like ash in my mouth. I didn’t enjoy the hot meat or the filling of my belly. Didn’t really need it because I ate plenty for I was a capable hunter.

I had grown tall, wide, brawny and handsome. Yet I didn’t bother chatting with females or even males for that matter. I just traversed less-than-walked paths. Meandered dried creek beds. Searched for something to keep my mind occupied. I never found it.

The sound of dead grass crunching makes my red-tipped ears flick to my left and my bloodied maw releases the rabbit. One large paw still rests on the corpse where I was holding it, tearing into it. I lift my head, emerald eyes burning as my scruff rises at a potential threat. It is big, whatever it is. I can see a shadow through the trees. Only when he cuts through a patch of sunlight do I start in surprise, eyes widening. ”Prometheus?” I ask in disbelief. He has grown too, just as enormous as me. He reminds me of his mother for she was large, a brute with a no-nonsense attitude that had me curious as a child. I think I understand her better now.