Moonlight shone over the forest grounds, and there was no sound except for the waterfall, flowing freely down the rocks. Two sabers, a male and female, crossed stealthily between the oak trees. The male had dark, ruthless eyes that were heavily lidded, his mate was thinner and more timid-looking.

"Oof-OW!"

The cry of the couple's she-cub was easily heard as she tripped over a stray root. The male growled.

"Adrian!" he hissed at the cub. "Need I remind you…again…that we are supposed to stalk prey quietly?"

"It wasn't my fault, Father." the clumsy cub objected. "I couldn't see, and-"

"Your foolish behavior might have cost us our dinner, and left us all to starve!" he yowled. "Perhaps this is the reason I never took you hunting with us before now!" He raised his paw to strike her.

"Johan…please…" the female whispered. "Not here." He lowered it, and said "All right, Lydia. But if she trips up again…"

"She won't." Lydia reassured.

He sighed. "Adrian, do nothing except what I say. Is that clear?" Still a little scared, the cub squeaked out "Y-yes, Father."

The family continued on for several more miles. The cub was limping, falling behind her mother.

"What is it, dear?" Lydia whispered, trying not to get her mate's attention.

"My leg hurts from the fall back there." Adrian groaned. "I don't know if it's bleeding or not."

"Pain is something we sabers have to bear in order to survive." she lectured. "Keep going. If we're lucky, we won't have to walk farther."

Her daughter nodded. "Yes, Mother." She obeyed, and kept walking, gritting her teeth as she did so.

"That's my girl." her mother said proudly, nuzzling Adrian as she walked past. She was careful not to stride ahead of her father, though.

"Stop." Johan commanded, holding out a paw. "An antelope's close by here. Now, Adrian, learning how to hunt takes observation, so you just sit and watch. And don't do anything stupid."

"Yes, Father." she repeated, gazing ahead at the buck having a midnight graze. She wanted to make her father proud, for a first.

Johan bent low into the bushes, creeping closer towards the unwary victim. Finally, he pounced when he was close enough. The two fought it out, but Johan eventually won.

"Aah!" Adrian yelled in fright, turning away as her father began to skin the poor creature.

"Your father said to watch; don't look away!" her mother reprimanded.

"But it's so bloody!" she argued.

"Every saber has to hunt to survive. One day, you'll hunt like your father is right now."

With tears in her eyes, Adrian turned her head forward. How could she make her father proud if this was what she had to do?

They wandered on for several more miles after stopping to eat. Adrian had refused to eat a single bite of the carcass, but at her father's menecing glare she took a small bite of the meat, feeling repulsed.

"Ah, there's another. Here's your chance, Adrian. Now do you remember the rules of hunting?" her father asked.

"Bend, stalk, pounce, chase (optional), maim." Adrian recited uncomfortably. She peered out by the lake, where her victim was.

"But Father...it's a child." she pointed out.

"Exactly. It'll be easy for you to hunt the weakest and most defensless before moving on to bigger prey." he growled. "Now go! And remember to aim for the neck!"

Adrian gulped, and bent low into the grass, crawling slowly towards the young beaver playing by the rocks in the waterfall. She was close to it, and ready to leap, when one of her claws caught in a twig. She tried to pull it free. "Ummph!" she grumbled, forgetting her efforts on being quiet. Her father was far away, anyhow, he couldn't see her. As long as she caught th beaver.

"Ooh, you got your foot stuck real bad, huh?"

Startled, Adrian backed away from the voice, which to her surprise, came from the very beaver she was hunting.

"No worries, I can get it out of there. Just hold still." The beaver began chewing away at the bark of the twig, until she had gotten Adrian's claw free.

"Thanks." she said, relieved. She moved forward, unaware her counterpart had been unable to see her before now.

"Aah! You're one of them! Those sabers!" It was the beaver girl backing away now. "Shoo! Shoo! You're not eating me!"

"No, wait! I'm not going to eat you!" Adrian reassured. This beaver was nice, she had helped her. Besides, she was only a kid.

"Like I'm gonna believe that." the beaver scoffed. "You sabers eat everyone here."

"Well, I don't know how to hunt, anyway. I mean, I do, but this is my first time. I mean, it isn't..." she stuttered. "Point is, I'm not going to eat you. You helped me out."

"Adrian!" yelled Johan from farther away. "Go! Attack! Now!"

"See? I knew you were lying!" The beaver scurried off as fast as her little legs could carry her.

"No! Please, don't go!" Adrian ran after her, cornering her behind one of the rocks. "Listen! My dad wants me to kill you, but I'm not going to! I won't kill anything!" She still could hardly believe the words were coming out of her mouth.

"Really?" The beaver raised an eyebrow. "Pinky-swear?" She held out her pinkie.

Adrian nodded. "Yeah." she whispered. "Pinky-swear." She locked pinkies with the girl before letting go. The beaver smiled.

"So, who are you?" she asked.

"Adrian." Adrian replied. "And you?"

"Hazel." The beaver answered. "My family lives south of here, by the river. I snuck out to get some swimming practice in."

"You swim?" Adrian asked. She didn't really know much about beavers.

"You don't?" Hazel countered.

"No sabers do. At least, none that I've heard of." Adrian shrugged.

"All right, it's my turn to ask now." Hazel smiled again; this seemed like a fun game to her. "Where do you live?"

"We move around. But most of the time we're with our pack." Adrian scratched a stone with her claw. "I don't like the Pack, though. All the grown-ups are so serious all the time. And all the other cubs pick on me, because I'm accident-prone. You're the first real friend I've ever had."

"I have a bunch of sisters. Seven, to tell you the truth. I'm the oldest." Hazel sighed. "They're nice, most of the time, but we have to hide a lot from predators, like huge birds and...well...sabers."

"Sorry." Adrian mumbled.

"Hey, it's not your fault. But I'd better get back, before my momma notices I'm gone." She walked off into the bushes. "Bye!"

Adrian waved, and turned around to go back, when a looming shadow fell over her. Her father's shadow.

"H-hi." she waved again, this time fearfully. "Listen, I know what you're thinking..."

"What have you done?!" he yelled, for the whole forest to hear. "Not only did you refuse to kill that beaver, you made friends with it?!"

"Her." Adrian stood her ground. "And she's nice."

"That doesn't matter. She's prey. For us! Don't you understand, you muddle-headed waste of a tiger?!" he demanded. Then, he peered off in the direction Hazel had gone. "If you're too stupid to do it, I'll get her myself." He started to charge forward.

"NO!" Adrian yelled. She did not know where she was getting her courage from, she only knew that she could not let her father kill Hazel. Jumping up, she bit down hard on his paw. With a roar of pain, her tired to shake her off, finally hitting her against a rock, where she fell unconscious.

Lydia raced to the scene. "Johan? What's happening? I heard a noise..." It was then she noticed her daughter's body lying in the grass.

"What have you done?!" she yelled, bending down over her. "Is she dead?" She prodded her gently with a paw.

"What does it matter? If word gets out of this, we'll be the laughingstock of the Pack!" he hissed at her.

"She's alive." Lydia confirmed, then turned back to her mate. "How could you do this? To your own daughter?"

"She is no offspring of mine." Johan said calmly. "Now come, we must leave here immediately."

"You don't mean you're going to leave her?" Lydia demanded, shocked.

"We have no choice, Lydia. Now come." He started to walk off. Lydia's eyes filled with tears. "But...my baby..."

"Your baby is dead." he snarled. "That's what we'll tell them. She died. Killed by another saber."

"Johan..."

"LYDIA! NOW!" He roared, and bounded off through the forest.

Lydia nudged her little girl goodbye, and slowly followed her husband, sobbing.

Adrian slowly opened her eyes. Every bone in her body felt like it had been crushed, and her head was spinning. As her vision started to clear, she saw that it was about twilight. She remembered her father had knocked her against the rock, but where was he now? She stood up shakily, and smelt the air. No trace of sabers.

"Father?" she asked, turning her head from side to side, half-hoping her would come back. This wood in daylight was scary and unfamiliar. "Mother? Mom? Mom! Dad! Hello? ANYONE!" She called and called, not an answer. That was it. They were gone.

She sat down on her haunches and beagn to sob. She had no idea how to fend for herself, she was only a child. Adrian was crying so loudly, she didn't even hear the rustling in the bushes, or the small, furry form of Hazel coming to comfort her.

"I heard your dad, right before I left, and came back to see what was going on. He knocked you against a rock and you didn't move." She laid a small paw on Adrian's shoulder. "Then, your dad said to your mom to leave you...I'm sorry."

Adrian wasn't surprised at her dad's behavior, but how could her mom so easily let her go? "What'll I do now?" she asked.

"Hey!" Hazel sprang up. "You could come live with us! Me and my mom and my sisters. We'll adopt you! We could teach you how to swim, get food for you, all that stuff. And they'll love you! That is, if you don't eat any of 'em."

"I pinky-promised, didn't I?" Adrian smiled at the idea. Hazel's family seemed kind, better than hers had been. She lifted herself off the ground, and said "I'm in, sis. Lead the way."

A/N: Review, please! This takes place in the past, and the next chapter jumps to after Ice Age 3