Anger, Fear, Agression

Anger.

Robel was dead. Andre neither ate nor drank. He sat opposite the little bubbling stream near his clan's den. Staring perpetually at the clear, pure waters, his thoughts constantly coming back to the cliff. A myriad of emotions stirred like a tempest in his soul: guilt, pain, sadness. His body was wracked by feverish fits brought on by his demented mental state. He desperately clung to what little sanity he had left. Thoughts careened through the cranial pathways of his brain: Robel, water, falling. His breathing was coarse and deep. His eyes were bloodshot. His limbs twitched involuntarily. He had no control over his body. Thoughts invaded his torn mind once more: anger, bitterness, seething rage. His huge bulk began to shudder as he went into a series of convulsions. Suddenly he could stand it no longer. A huge roar erupted from his throat; a roar of sadness, guilt, and rage. He dashed out of his den and dashed recklessly into the jungle as his surprised family members looked on. No sane thought would come to him. In his fit of rage he smashed into trees and ferociously attacked bushes. Everywhere he turned a new foe loomed over him. He crashed through the undergrowth until his body was battered and bloody. Robel was dead.

Anger.

The great hunt began. Yug ran his hand along the smooth metal of his weapon. His eyes burned brightly like coals. His soul longed for the kill. His heart beat in the anticipation of the hunt. His boots softly picked out bare spots on the ground; never crushing a leaf, never crushing a twig. He moved as a phantom, from tree to tree, bush to bush. Never a sound he made as he stalked his prey. Unaware, they would sit until he was upon them and it was too late. The silent hunter neared the home of his prey. Just beyond the thicket in front of him was his goal. Suddenly he bolted through the fern and came upon a small clearing. The muzzle of his gun flashed as he brought it up, level with his shoulder. His finger wrapped around the gleaming metal trigger. His eye aimed straight down the length of the barrel as his target came into view. He faltered. This was no ordinary hunt. He saw four tigers. A large male, an average sized female, and two small cubs. The male was dead. His carcass lay decaying on the grass. The female was severely wounded. Blood poured from a gash in her side. Her hoarse breathing could be clearly heard now. She struggled to stand, and the hunter soon realized one of her front legs had been seriously mangled. A pitiful attempt at a growl sounded from deep inside the tiger's throat. Her frightened cubs took shelter behind their mother. Clearing his mind, the hunter again brought his gun up to aim at the tigers. Again the tiger let out a weak growl and attempted to pounce upon the hunter. As she jumped she let out a yelp and came crashing down on her injured side. The hunter watched in disbelief as she righted herself again. He could tell she was in immense pain, and was obviously near death. She steadied herself again for another leap, just as the hunter heard a rustling in the bushes behind him. Another hunter emerged. He grinned at the sight of the injured mother. He took a step forward and readied his gun. The mother took one more desperate leap at this new adversary. The other hunter, taken completely by surprise, tripped over a tree root and hurried to get up again. The first hunter stared in utter dismay as his fellow hunter took aim and shot. The mother did not even make a single sound as she fell dead to the ground. Her two cubs shot off into the darkness of the jungle. Suddenly Yug could stand it no longer, so he dropped his gun and ran off into the night. Fury flowed through him. How could his fellow hunter kill such an animal? The world had simply told him: kill tigers. They were evil. There were constant reports of tigers slaughtering hundreds of people, but no one he had ever known had seen a tiger outside the jungle. All his life he had hunted tigers. They had always been single tigers, or perhaps a couple. He had never stumbled across cubs before, and he certainly had never seen the kind of raw determination the mother of the cubs had shown. Only now did he realize the atrocities he and the others had committed. They were attempting the complete and total genocide of an animal that had done them little harm. He had occasionally wondered why such a majestic animal must be slaughtered without reason, but his uncle's answers had always been that it was the way of the world to do so. Reality at the deeds of his entire life set in, and he felt rage. He was angry at society, angry with himself, and angry with the cold-hearted hunter who had killed the mother tiger. Yug had to find the tiger's cubs. He had to protect them from the world. The great hunt had begun.