“When Life is not precious, you see the Truth of Nature.”

“When Life is not precious, you understand you are nothing but meat and bones, waiting to be consumed.”

“When Life is not precious, others will abuse you to Hell and back, just to profit off of your misery.”

“When Life is not precious, and you don't take it for granted, you learn to appreciate the good things in Life.”

“Because at that point, you know that anything good that happens to you is fleeting like a snowflake dropping from the sky.”

“There and pretty for a moment. However, give it some warmth, and it will turn back into Water to feed Nature in all its Beauty and Brutality.”

#3 Quote - Book of Life and Death - Chapter - Heroes and Villains

*

Central Continent - Southern Forest - Survival Tribe - Alexander

With careful steps, Alexander made his way through the greenery of the big forest.

With careful steps, he avoided the trees, big and small, as he followed the footsteps of those walking ahead of him.

With careful steps, he observed what they observed and pointed at and shared their knowledge.

Most of the stuff was useless to him, but it was not to his Mother.

No, his understanding of his Mother told him that she liked to play around with crushing and grinding stuff like berries, leaves, roots, and sometimes even insects.

What she made out of it, unfortunately, Alexander knew direly about. Most of the stuff that she came up with got force-fed to him. The worst part was that everything she made tasted horrible, yet not eating it called for more punishment than he would have liked.

Therefore, he listened to the growls of his current superiors.

Alexander listened and learned what each distinct growl meant, just like he had been taught and was still being taught.

It all started not long after he witnessed the first Tribal Gathering.

At that point, Alexander enjoyed the shallow freedom of roaming the clearing and looking, sniffing stuff when days and weeks passed furiously. Yet, every day that passed was one day closer to more painful stings coming his way when he refused to learn the growls of the Adults.

It started, as he now understood, with his Mother Tina pointing at something specific and growling at it.

At first, to Alexander, it was amusing when she growled at nothing in particular, but when the sting came, he yelped in protest.

He had done nothing wrong. Alexander was sure of that.

Yet, when his Mother pointed and growled at something, and he did not repeat it, more stings followed. As such, it continued like that for a few days before he got the gist of actually needing to repeat the growl while pointing at the specific thing.

Still, Alexander being who he was, with his stubborn nature of not wanting to follow orders, only learned with enough pain backing something. Whenever he took too long to do it, or whenever he growled incorrectly, pain followed.

After days and days passed, and he correctly growled at the things in the Den, his Mother brought him outside and the routine repeated.

Only after he could repeat enough of the growls did the next step begin.

The linking of the growls and their meanings.

“Son, Pay, Attention.” A dominating growl spoke and addressed Alexander.

“Yes, Father.” Alexander replied to Scar, the Father he was born to and the Chief of the Tribe.

Immediately, the memories took a step back, and all his attention focused on the here and the Hunt.

What were they hunting? Alexander had no idea. But that four Badg’Er were needed, told him it was big prey.

Step after step, Alexander followed them. Yet, it still took more of his steps to keep up with the Adults.

Right now, Alexander was a bit above half the Adult's maximum height. That told Alexander that he would soon become an adult. How soon? He had no idea, but it was coming.

This Hunt was the precursor for it.

On this Hunt, Alexander would learn about the Forest and its inhabitants firsthand. This way, the acquired knowledge he obtained before would translate into actual experience.

At the same time, the Hunt marked the first step into Adulthood.

With that being the case, Alexander followed the Adults as they traversed over mountainous terrain, along big tree roots, rocks, and streams of water.

As Alexander followed them, he realized whatever the destination was, the Path they used always pointed down. It continued like this until they finally came upon a small clearing with a big Cave entrance on the rocky surface of the shallow mountain they were on.

Once there, three Adults kneeled on the ground and sniffed here and there.

To Alexander, it was clear the Adults were searching for the scent of the prey.

Stuck with curiosity, Alexander approached his Father and Chief of the Tribe.

“Father, Prey, What?” Alexander asked his Father, Scar.

Scar’s attention shifted from the whole in the mountain and looked at this son for a moment before returning to watching the Cave entrance.

“Big Many Legs.” Alexander heard.

Immediately, a memory of his Mother came to him. And the black snacks that he had been practicing his skills on.

A moment later, a memory of the Tribal Gathering came and told him of the outcome of this Hunt.

Licking his lips in anticipation, Alexander spoke. “Me, Eat, White Flame?”

That said, Scar once again looked at his son.

“No.” The reply came with a clear demand, and Alexander picked up on it. “You, Stay, Away, Only, Watch, Learn.”

Disappointed instantly, Alexander stepped away from his Father and just looked around for a moment.

The other adults still sniffed the grounds for traces of the Big Many Legs.

Watching them for a moment, he considered what to do before he actually crouched down to sniff around. Alexander thought it was to memorize the smell of the Big Many Legs so, in the future, he would know what to look for.

Down on the ground, Alexander sniffed and sniffed.

The most prominent smells came from the four Adults near him, but underneath there were others.

The most common was the smell of musky earth that permeated everything in the Forest. It was a mix of slightly damp earth with lots of brown leaves and other stuff.

A case of literary theft: this tale is not rightfully on Amazon; if you see it, report the violation.

Being born in the Forest, Alexander knew about it from the beginning. It usually stayed somewhere in his mind, but now, in this moment, where he focused all his attention on smelling something else, he easily tossed it aside.

Done with that, Alexander finally identified the other smells.

Smells that made him remember the Small Many Legs. Once Alexander identified them, he began walking around on all four appendages with his nose barely above the ground.

Like that, Alexander sifted between the smells that were old and those that were newer.

However, Alexander did not notice that the moment he lost himself sniffing around, the other three Adults stopped doing it themselves. Although they did not stand up, their heads and eyes focused on Alexander as he searched for the prey.

Another thing that Alexander did not know was that today's Hunt was called Ritual of the First Hunt.

A Ritual established by their Tribal Spirit. A Ritual for the first of their cubs to reach the appropriate growth for exploring the Forest.

Watching Alexander, they knew they had succeeded in the first part of the Ritual. The Ritual of the First Hunt was simple. It was established to awaken the Instincts of the Badg’Er’s Primal Form that newborns had to Awaken, unlike those who Ascended into the Second Stage.

With that being the case, the Adults mostly stayed still, only occasionally pretending to be sniffing around when Alexander glanced their way.

After all, being expert Hunters, they no longer need to rely on pure smell.

That and Big Many Legs being big. So they left plenty of traces around for them to follow just visually.

Moments passed as Alexander sniffed and sniffed and sifted through the smells. Yet, unlike what the Adults imagined, Alexander had no need to awaken any kind of Primal Instinct.

He had it from the beginning. When his mind finished sifting through the smells, he immediately recognized where he had to go. Once he had it, his head tilted left and right. Immediately, Alexander noticed that the others were still sniffing around and searching for the trace.

Instantly, a feeling of superiority bloomed in his mind. Once that feeling lodged itself into his mind, Alexander snorted unconsciously ‘Hngh’, and stood up.

Then he turned toward his Father and Chief of the Tribe. “Father, Trace, Found.”

The moment he growled, Alexander saw his Father turn away from the entrance of the Cave to face him. Scar, the Chief, stared at him for a moment before glancing at the other Adults around.

It was brief, but Scar saw them nod.

“Good, Show.” Scar demanded from his son, yet the result was different from what he expected.

“Hngh, No!” Alexander snorted and proudly denied the given command.

“NO!” There was no denying the growl of authority emanating from one word, but Alexander stood his ground. He did not capitulate as his goal was simple.

“Want, Eat, White Flame.”

“No, You, Not, Adult.” Came the instant reply from Scar to his son.

“Me, Not, Show.” Alexander replied, but just like there was no denying the authority in Scar’s growl, there was no denying the smugness in Alexander’s.

As such, both stared at each other for a few moments.

One looked down, and one looked up.

However, neither capitulated.

Moments passed, the wind blew through the trees, and brown leaves fell on the ground.

They collected there and made the perfect breeding grounds for mushrooms, but mushrooms were on no one's mind at this moment.

“Show, Me… You, Not, Receive, Punishment.” Scar offered to Alexander as a substitute.

Hearing it, Alexander faltered slightly.

For a moment, he considered it. Then, his mind reminded him of the content and gratification he could perhaps enjoy if he swallowed enough of the White Flame. With desire guiding his actions, Alexander firmed up his resolve and growled his reply with conviction and demand.

“No, Want, White Flame.”

Scar, the Chief, observed his rebellious Son for a moment. For a moment, he thought of maybe acquiescing him. Yet, regardless of his reply or Alexander's desires, he knew his Son would not receive what he wanted.

Scar was sure of that for a reason. The Tribal Spirit had expressly forbidden him and his mate from being anything but firm to their Son. And to make sure of it, it had visited their Dreams multiple times and warned them to not treat their Son any other way.

It told them Alexander would be stubborn.

It told them Alexander would be rebellious from the beginning.

It told them anything but firmness in teaching him cooperation would result in disaster.

When the Tribal Spirit warned of something they listened. As the Tribal Spirit never lied to them, and so far, it had only brought prosperity with its teachings.

With that being the case, Scar nodded toward his Son, yet before Alexander could even celebrate his win, he heard sounds from behind him.

He tilted his head slightly to see the three Adults interrupt their fake sniffing to stand up. Two of them instantly came by his side.

Alexander immediately felt something ominous was coming for him.

And it did when two Adults grabbed him by the arms and lifted him in the air. Immediately his legs flailed, and his body twitched with desire for freedom, but it was useless.

What followed was Alexander watching the third Adult take something out of his tightly woven bag of thin vines.

From inside it, a familiar shape appeared.

“Yelp” Escaped Alexander's mouth before the third Adult brought the spider to his Father, who in turn, delicately took it.

Alexander's eyes opened wide when he stared at the spider in question. It pushed its backside with the stinger back and forth in anticipation of what it had to do.

Inch by inch, the spider neared his soft belly because there it would hurt the most, as the skin in that part of his body was thinner when compared to the rest of his body.

“Yelp, No!” Alexander cried out and trashed his body around to escape, but the two adults held him firmly. Sensing he could not, he gave up on it and prepared himself for the pain with his eyes closed.

He even held his breath for a few moments.

When none came for a few moments, Alexander opened his eyes. He stared directly at his Father. At the same time, he noticed his Fathers lips move upward slightly when he registered a sting on his soft belly.

The sting did not instantly cause pain, but with every moment that passed, it increased in strength.

Weirdly, no matter how many times he was stung, and no matter how many times he endured it, the pain always stayed the same.

The only thing that changed was his awareness of it.

“Yelp, yelp, yelp.” Echoed in the small clearing.

Moments passed, and the pain subsided largely, but it would remain for a while longer.

“Release, Him.” Alexander heard his Father's command, and a moment later, he got lowered down to the ground. Once his feet reached solid ground, Alexander wobbled for a moment before finding his balance and strength.

However, that was also the moment his Father spoke again.

“Shuman, Lead, Hunt.” Yet not being done, Scar the Chief of the Tribe spoke again with a command that spelled more pain if not followed.

“Son, Follow. Listen”

With the commands given, and a spider retrieved back into its bag, they began following the trail he had scented before denying his Fathers order and receiving his punishment.

“Son, Listen.” Alexander heard. “All, Adults, Can, Find, Big Manny Legs, And, Kill.”

“We, Not, Need, You, Show… We, Offer, You, Show… For, Reward.“

Hearing his Father, it all made sense. Yet, it did not at the same time.

“Purpose, Of, Hunt, Is, Teach, Cooperation. Follow, Command.” Scar, Father, and The Chief of the Tribe explained. “You, Fail, Receive, Punishment, No, Reward.”

Instantly, a sinking feeling and thought surfaced in Alexander's mind. “Reward?”

“White Flame!” Scare replied and confirmed Alexander’s imagination.

Feeling remorse for not doing it, Alexander hurriedly proposed. “Show, Now, Reward?”

“NO!”

The denial echoed far harder than it should have in Alexander's mind, and when the residual pain on his belly reminded him of his failure, it only exacerbated those feelings.

“Late.” Scar added with conviction. “Now, Wait, Adulthood, Ritual.”

*

Dream Realm - Goldy

Personal Journal of Grand Observer and Librarian of Dreams. Entry #113

Nearly had it, yet failed to gain it.

That was all that occupied Alexander's mind during the remainder of the Hunt.

Even when he observed the skillful cooperative Hunt or the skillful dismantling of the Big Many Legs that followed, he had an absent gaze telling me that fact.

His emotions of remorse and regret peaked when he observed the Adults gorge themselves on the White Flame.

Yet he had been denied again.

Still, Alexander would not be whoever he was before if he could not bounce from this predicament of emotions, of that I was sure.

The question, however, remained.

Would he correct his behavior and learn to cooperate with the Tribe and the Adults of the Tribe?

Or would The Memories of a Past Life overcome the Needs of the Current Life?

Whatever the outcome of Alexander’s eventual personal decision.

I hope Master won't blame me for not following his direct command.

However, even if he does, I will stick to my decision, as it was the best of all the available paths.