The cave, as if preordained, fell silent as he white rabbit-like creature froze, its front paw extended into the small pool before it.

It had been using its small, razor-sharp claws to catch tiny, silver-scaled, fish when movement at the peripheral of its vision caught its attention, startling the beast and potentially giving away its position as it fumbled its lunge.

A small, black lizard-like creature had crawled from the area that reeked of death and danger yet, from its lack of presence and movements it was clear, even to the semi-unintelligent beast, that not only was the lizard newly hatched, but relatively weak.

Instinct battled against the beast's limited intelligence as it contemplated its next actions, something it would rarely have time to do in the outside world.

While its standard disposition was that of a herbivore, the rabbit needed to get stronger. Winter was eternal in this area creating a lack of sustainable, high energy plant fodder. Due to this, the most efficient way to gain strength was to fight, kill and consume other creatures.

Memories of days past, mainly in regards to its warren, home to over fifty of its kind, float to the surface of the rabbit's mind, aiding its resolve to stay and defend its new territory.

The warren had been completely wiped out, their young dug up from their dens and mercilessly killed by phantom foxes once again emphasising the nature of the world.

The embers of revenge were re-ignited by the memories. The newly discovered cave system, with its life, filled micro-ecosystem and lack of predators was a treasure trove for a creature such as itself.

Not only was the rabbits new found source of food and power in jeopardy, but the lizard was also a considerable threat to its life.

While awkward, stiff and slow, its movements instinctively reminded the white-furred creature, of an apex predator.

Its claws, teeth and scales were unmistakably those of a carnivore's. The smooth scales, that almost seemed to absorb light and draw darkness to the creature camouflaged it so well in the dimly illuminated cave that if the lizard hadn't walked across the white, dust-like remains, the rabbit-like creature wasn't sure it would have noticed it.

Naturally, with these thoughts in mind, the creature knew that they could not live in harmony. Nor could they ignore each other. Eventually, one of them would grow and consume the other, and it knew deep down, that it would be on the losing side.

Not only was the lizard a carnivore, meaning it would gain more energy, both natural and spiritual, for each being it consumed, its bodies inherent advantages would enable it to grow by leaps in the cave.

Not only that, but the rabbit could already sense the world's energy flowing towards the creature, displaying that its core was much purer than its own and thus, had far greater potential.

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It was only a rabbit after all, so this didn't dishearten it too much, but at the same time, it knew that this would probably be the only chance to prevail against the creature.

This was it. Fight or flight.

The rabbit-like creature slowly retracted its paw from the cold water, allowing the spikes that were flat against its body, running along its spine and elbow joints, covered by its thick, white fur, to raise and extend gradually.

If this had been before its warren had been destroyed, then it would have most likely fled, its kind not known for its courage unless cornered but now, the rage and bitterness that forced it up the mountain in search of strength quashed its instincts to retreat.

The lizard was still weak, and its flesh would undoubtedly give the rabbit a considerable boon in natural energy, maybe even enough to evolve into one of the many horned variants its kind was famous for. It might also be lucky enough to inherit one of its abilities or physical traits.

The hint of madness danced in the rabbit's sky-blue eyes as it started to creep forward, towards the rock that the lizard had hidden behind and was only now beginning to peek around its edges as it surveyed its surroundings.

Glowing moss, in varying shades of blue and green, hung on the walls and ceiling, barely illuminating the cave as small, bat-like creatures flew around disinterested in what was happening beneath them.

Behind the large boulder, at least in comparison to the dragon's size, the dragonling was struggling to filter its senses.

The moment it heard the strange noise, its instincts had taken over, and it had quickly found cover, however, moments later a pressure settled upon it. One that it had never felt before but instantly understood.

Killing intent washed over the dragon and it instantly knew it was in danger. It had become the hunted.

The moment it felt this new sensation, the dragon's senses had exploded. Sight, sound, touch, smell, vision and, something that it couldn't quite describe. He could see, without seeing, at least in a sphere around it, extending a couple of meters. It wasn't like its eyesight though. Instead, it was like a stream of grey, flowing around objects as they approached him, the void that was created the illusion of vision.

The influx of information available had almost paralysed the dragonling at the start, its mind being unexpectedly bombarded but with each calming breath it took, it regained control.

The dragonling's lips curled into a snarl as a creature it had never encountered before, not surprising since it had only hatched an hour or so earlier, stalked into his new sense's range.

Adrenaline coursed through the creature's body as energy flowed from a diamond-like core deep in its chest, circling the dragon's body and energising its muscles and mind.

The dragon's mind raced as it tried to come up with a plan, using its new sense to keep a figurative eye on its assailant. The creature was still a fair distance away, and while it felt a burning desire to fight, it knew it wasn't ready.

It still did not fully understand its body, and if something happened like when its senses expanded and he froze, the dragon would be an easy target.

Just as the dragon was contemplating retreating into the tunnel, it had emerged from, and even though its new sense told it the creature was still a fair distance, its other five senses screamed at him to move.

With reflexes that could only be attributed to instinct, the dragon leapt forward as a deafening boom echoed behind him.

The rock it had been hiding behind had been obliterated, small shards shattering on the cave's walls or clattering across the ground and as he turned, the dragon's neck twisting much faster than its body, and came face to face with its foe.

The rabbit shook its head, dispersing the energy it had coated its body in for its sneak attack, and locked eyes with the lizard. Both were appraising their adversary.

Both didn't like what they saw.