It was dark in the box, very dark. All he could see was nothing but the murky blackness that enveloped his small body in a chilling, suffocating blanket. He did not know where he was or how long he had been put in this box, and that scared him. He was very scared.

The images in his head couldn't stop playing over and over again, and he couldn't have stopped them even if he wanted to. And he desperately wanted to.

He remembered how he had been in the grasslands, playing with Daddy. Daddy was talking to another lion when the cub started to dance and play with a butterfly. He remembered the butterfly. He liked butterflies.

But then there was a knot, and attached to the knot was a rope. Being the young, curious cub he was he found the knot to be quite entertaining and trailed after it as it dragged through the dirt, tempting him more and more to follow. And when it stopped, he pounced on top of it like Daddy had shown him and playfully batted the bundled tie.

Long, eerie shadows casted over him, so he looked up to see tall, funny-looking creatures towering over him like giants. They spoke in a language he could not understand and smelt foreign. They were very frightening.

One reached down and grabbed him by the scruff of his neck painfully, holding him high in he air. The creatures crowded him and he whimpered as they gawked at him with their small, white eyes.

Then they suddenly threw him into a wooden box, he believed they called it a "crate", and slammed the top closed with loud banging noises. Head swiveling side to side, he didn't know what was happening. Why was he in this "crate" and where were these creatures taking him? He came to the conclusion that the creatures were bad, very bad.

He peeked through a small hole that let him see outside and called out the only name that came to mind. Daddy.

The floor gave a jarring jolt and he was suddenly moving. He was moving away from the grasslands! He was moving away from Daddy!

Where was Daddy? He needed Daddy!

He swerved violently, causing the lion cub to fall on his tail, but immediately went back onto his feet. The outside changed into a green foliage and moist, brown dirt paths.

Mama had told him that this place was called the jungle, and to never go there for it was dangerous. The kit did not know the meaning of the word "dangerous", but he did know that it was not good.

He screamed out for his father, crying for help. He did not know what else to do.

A blur of brown and black flashed past the hole's left and something large and heavy fell on top of the crate, shaking it violently. By the familiar scent and size, it was a lion. But the cub knew that it was more than just any lion. It was Daddy!

Daddy looked through the hole and the cub said his name again. He heard him talk in Daddy's voice and he had Daddy's green eyes.

It was Daddy! He was here to save him!

But then there was a click and Daddy stopped. The cub watched as a loud BANG went off and the male lion suddenly went rolling, his body flailing as it hit the hard dirt.

He called out his father's name, screeching the word until his throat was raw but he knew that his dad was not getting up. Daddy never went down like that, not unless he was hurt really bad.

The cub pressed his back against the splintered wall and squeaked out a throaty, strangled sound, tears welling in his wide eyes.

After some time, the ride got smoother and it became silent. The cub kept his gaze on the hole, waiting for someone to come for him or anyone to come for him. But no one did.

So like the scared, young kit he was, he crawled to a corner and curled himself into a ball. Although his eyes were full of impatient tears that were on the brink of trickling down his round cheeks, he refused let them.

His father once told him to never cry, for crying showed weakness and cowardice. But the cub was not fully aware of this, and all he knew was that Daddy never cried so he wouldn't either.

Time flew by. The cub did not know how long he had been stuck inside the crate. He was very hungry and thirsty, and was weak from the lack of these necessities.

The ride did not just consist of the bumpy road that he had first taken on this journey. Later on, he was hauled into one of the creature's arms and was put into a large cave-like room. Awhile later, his empty stomach twisted as the ground beneath him swerved. It was a sickening feeling and he did not like it. Then he was taken out of the small room full of more boxes how many more days later and put back onto the jumpy, nauseating trip he had experienced before.

At this point, the lion kit was very tired and very weak. His insides were as hollow as log and his eyes were heavy, but sleep would not come.

He had never slept without his mother. Mama would always kiss him goodnight before patting his head in that comforting, loving way she always did it.

Oh, how he missed Mama! He wanted his mother more than anything in the entire world. But he did not have the will to call out for her. He had already done so many times before and still she did not show up. It broke his tiny heart every time.

Finally, they stopped. The ride had stopped and the cub lifted his head to the hole again to see what was going on. In a few short minutes, something picked up the crate and began to walk into what the cub could best describe as a sort of den. It was like a big square with an entrance that resembled a slab of wood with a metal knob.

They entered and took a series of turns. Left, right, right, left, another right.

The inside was like nothing the young kit had ever witnessed before in his short life. Wired walls popped out from every side, containing other animals such as himself. He couldn't name them for he had never seen them before, but noticed that they all rose to their feet shakily and snarled at the creatures that held the cub. He wondered why they showed their anger like that. Daddy told him that most did so when one was challenged or angry.

They must be very angry then, the cub thought to himself.

Another slab of wood was opened and they entered a small, dim room. A single square hole filtered with a pale blue glow barred with thick grey bars, the only source of light. The crate was set down and the creature above cracked open the top and snagged out the cub.

The said cub had no strength left in his fragile body to fight the superior creature that so easily carried him. He was completely powerless.

He set the kit down onto a flat, cold surface and the group of strange creatures left, closing the door with a grating creak.

The cub stood still even when the presence of the creatures was long gone. And although he was alone, he felt that there was something else in the room. He could feel it.

A low growl emitted suddenly and the cub stiffened. He searched for the source of the noise until he was met by a pair of glowing red and yellow eyes. The fur on the back of his neck stood on end as it crept towards him, stalking the cub like his father had tried to teach his son to no avail. He stood, frozen to the spot, and watched in complete and utter angst for what lied ahead of him.

What emerged from the shadows was something he did not expect in the least. Actually, it was a someone. A young kit appeared. It resembled him greatly, except that it was orange with long black stripes lining its body. Its head was round and angular, dotted in mystical colored markings. Its tail did not puff out in a tuff of brown hair like his, but instead receded to a near white. He could tell that it had to be older than him, but not by much.

It was the first to speak.

"Are you afraid?" It asked. From the feminine voice, it sounded to be a girl.

Out of instinct, the cub shook his head no, but the critter bared her sharp teeth menacingly.

"Well you should be. I am Tigress, Tigress the monster." She nearly bellowed. The cub almost quivered at her bout, but couldn't help but see that she had said it in a sad way, like she didn't want to be a monster.

And in his mind, he knew she wasn't. Monsters were scary and mean. And although she had not been nice to him, he knew that she was not a monster like she said she was.

The striped being crept to the side of the room to lay down with her back to him.

Unfortunately, the cub, dear readers, was not one to say no to his curiosity. It was both a con and a pro that he was so naturally interested in the unknown, and he yielded it merrily.

And so he went after the girl in an attempt to make her acquaintance. She furrowed her brows when she found him peering over her hunched shoulder.

"Go away!" She barked out and moved to another place in the room, but the lion kit followed like a moth to a flame relentlessly.

He would not give up, and it did not become evident until a long half hour of her trying to rid herself of the new animal. So finally, she turned to him and stared at his all too wide eyes in a frustrated manner.

"What do you want?" She asked. He did not answer, only sat down with his tail wrapped around his legs and paws set in front of him. He looked back at her intently, and this startled the mysterious cub greatly.

She had never met anyone like him. As far as she could tell, there was no getting rid of this one and for a short moment, she realized she didn't want to scare him away like she had with the others. The way he had openly traced her steps, despite her heated fit, had made her come to terms that he was indeed not afraid of her.

And she liked it. She liked to see that she was not scary in someone else's eyes, and that led her to see him in a whole new light.

She gave a soft sigh. "I'm guessing they took you too, huh?" With a curt nod of his head, he confirmed that it was so. "Yeah, me too." She said.

She began to think and just like that, she decided to maybe get to know him. If she couldn't get rid of him before, she wouldn't be able to later. She was going to spend a bit of time with him, from the looks of it, so she might as well learn a few things about him now.

"Well, I think we're going to start living together. That's what the people want." The kit cocked his head to the side, his brows quirked in confusion.

"Oh, yeah. You're new. You don't know what this is." She said, reading his thoughts. "That's okay. I'll tell you later." The lion cub gave a small smile and the other felt something warm blossom in her chest, something she had not felt in a long time.

For as long as she could remember being there, she had felt very angry and lonely. When the other little ones had met her, they had not hidden their fear of the young feline. So she became upset and started to chase them away.

So to see that this one had shown no intentions of running away because of her appearance made her believe that possibly he would be willing to stay. Maybe even become her friend.

"What's you name?" She asked in a much lighter tone. The lion's eyes lit up, the azure orbs sparkling in the dimness. In a quiet voice, he said his very first words to the tiger cub.

"Alakay. I am Alakay." The orange cat returned his smile with her own and repeated her own name, more kindly than last time.

"I'm Tigress."