Ok I lied. There are a few cuts in this chapter, but only a few.

BAM!

Ashley's eyes shot open, startled by the sudden loud sound. She sat up quickly, barely making it to an upright position before grabbing her head and grimacing in pain. There was dried blood surrounding a sizeable bump on her head, and she assumed that was the cause of her terrible migraine. The pain was so great in brought tears to her eyes.

After a few minutes of quietly whimpering, the pain started to slowly subside. She opened her eyes to observe her surroundings, and though her eyes had already adjusted to the dark, it was still difficult to see. The only light coming was from a small slit in the wall and from the open viewing slot on the door, leaving the room nearly pitch black. Attempting to look through the small crack, all she saw were unfamiliar trees. She felt around the floor. In the dim light, she tried feeling around the floor, her hoof eventually coming to rest on something dry. Picking it up, she noticed it was flaky, that it crumbled in her hoof. Dried blood? Before she had a chance to investigate further, she jumped in fright as a bug skittered across her hoof. Itching where the bug's tiny limbs had tickled her, she turned her attention to the walls. They were slimy, and in some places had patches of moss growing. Slowly trying to stand up, she kept slipping on the slick stone floor, eventually giving up.

Closing her eyes, she tried listening to the things around her. The crack in the wall was whistling as the cold wind pushed its way through. There was water slowly dripping somewhere, giving the room an even more eerie feel. That was all she could hear, no matter how hard she tried. I wonder if there's someone here. Maybe they could help me. She thought about it. At best, someone could help her get out, and if not, things couldn't get that much worse.

She opened her mouth to whisper, but before she could say anything, she was interrupted by distant, muffled shouts. Running over to the door to try and hear better, she tried to stick her small head out the viewing port. She had barely gotten her nose out when she was hit with a blunt object, smashing her nose and sending her reeling back into the room, holding her nose in severe pain, tears welling up in her eyes. The headache that had partially gone was back, in greater severity this time. Eventually, she looked up to see the guard who had hit her. He let out a deep snarl, then left.

Instead, she continued to listen from where she had fallen. She couldn't make out much of what was being said, but from what she could hear, it sounded like a fight.

"Come here!"

"No, no … please!"

A door creaked open, and there was a short scuffle. The mammal who seemed to be losing kept pleading for his aggressors to stop. Ashley's eyes widened in horror, her heartbeat getting quicker and more strong with anticipation. There were a few thuds from punches, and then a blood curdling scream, filled with terror.

Then, there was silence. Everything returned to the way it had been just a few minutes before. The only sounds were coming from the wall and the water droplets. The fawn was unsure what to think about what she had just heard, but she had her suspicions. She sat in silence, imagining all the possible scenarios, none of which ending very pleasantly for her.

After a few moments of silent thought, she was again interrupted by the sound of mammals approaching. Nooo. Her mind was racing, advising her to flee even though she couldn't. She argued with herself about going over to the door. Though she tried to calm herself, No, no, just stay here and they'll ignore you, she knew that it wouldn't matter, especially since her potential attackers were definitely bigger and stronger that her. Making up her mind, she slowly made her way to the trapdoor. Peeking out, she saw four jaguars approaching. They paid her no attention, they were more focused on what they were carrying.

Pulling herself up as high as she could, Ashley could finally see the object, and her stomach dropped at the sight. It was a deer, throat slit, blood dripping all over the floor. His eyes were still open, blankly staring towards her, eventually making brief eye contact. She fell back from the door in surprise and shock, then quickly clambered as far from the sight as she could. Her back hit the wall, and she pulled her body into a ball, as tight as she could get it, shoulders heaving as she breathed heavily.

That's gonna be me…

I wonder what that feeling was. I was gonna prove myself, and I… I failed. Everything was so chaotic… no one prepared me for that. I wonder what everyone will think of me.

"ROMAN!"

The young jaguar jumped and looked up from the floor, ending his train of thought and focusing on what his dad was saying. He sighed. "What?"

Caesar stared back at his son at a loss of words. He threw his paws up in frustration. "Have you even been listening to me?"

"Do you want an honest answer?"

The older jaguar's muscles tensed up in anger, but he took a deep breath and tried to relax. "That was your first hunt, and traditionally, it's the hunt where you prove yourself. For generations, hunters have gone out and proved themselves by getting an actual prize, something they had to work for. It established their place in society."

"I'm sorry, did I come back with air? Because unless I'm mistaken, I did catch a deer, so what did I do wrong?"

Caesar scoffed. "Are you serious? You came back with a fawn, what the hell am I supposed to do with that?" He started to mock his son with sarcasm. "Oh, I know. We can feed it, help it grow up, it can be our friend!"

Roman replied back with more sarcasm. "I'm sorry if a fawn isn't that impressive to you, but at least I got something." He took on a more serious tone. "Besides, if anything, it's your fault I didn't get a more impressive deer." He smirked. "For the past fifteen years, you've been too cowardly to go out and conduct raids yourself, you had to have the deer do it for you."

In the blink of an eye, Caesar backhanded his son across the jaw. Roman took it without a word, instead choosing to simply glare back, content with his argument. There was silence as Caesar glared back for a few tense seconds, before growling in frustration, storming out of the room, and slamming the door behind him.

The young jaguar cringed at the sound and let out a long sigh. He supposed his dad was right. A fawn wasn't by any means impressive. But he could be more supportive. At least I tried…

A sense of anxiety overcame him. Dinner, uugh. Now he had to go out and face his whole tribe, who would all be curious about his first catch. Roman could just imagine the looks of disappointment on their faces.

He wished he could just not go and avoid everyone. But his dad was the leader of the raiders, so everyone would notice if he was gone. Taking a deep breath, he opened the door and walked out to the dinner hall.

The young fawn sat in the corner of the dark room, her eyes closed, trying to imagine being anywhere but here. She tried thinking about how she had been happy just a few hours before, but her efforts were in vain. There was nothing that could trick her brain into thinking of anything but her current predicament. Unpleasant thoughts kept popping into her mind, a constant reminder of her helplessness.

A foul stench slowly made its way into the room. She gagged. What is that? For a moment, she couldn't figure out what it was. Try as she might, she couldn't remember ever having experienced that smell before, and that's when it dawned on her. Oh no, no, it can't be.

Cooked meat. Although she had already witnessed the death of the deer, nothing had prepared her for this. It added even more fuel to her terror filled nightmare. Oh, how I wish this was just a nightmare.

Ashley wondered what happened to her parents, her friends, all the deer she knew. Hopefully they're okay. She couldn't bring herself to think otherwise. The only thing keeping her sane was her memory of them.

Roman walked into the dimly lit dining hall. The sun had already gone below the horizon, so the only light came from the candles or torches spread throughout the room. It was getting chilly, so someone had lit a fire in each corner. He walked over to his seat and quietly took his place at the dinner table. Remaining silent, he listened to the sounds of chatter and laughter around him. Looking down, he tried to avoid eye contact with anyone so he could be left in peace. Please, no one talk to me…

For a moment, it seemed no one noticed him. But eventually, against his unspoken wishes, a slightly older jaguar who had gone on the raid called out to him. "Hey, Roman."

The already disgruntled jaguar let out a long sigh in annoyance. Caden, you conceited little ass. Of all the jaguars in the area, it had to be Caden to speak to him. Roman could think of many words to describe him; arrogant, vain, egocentric, the list could go on for quite a while. Though there were many jaguars like him, Caden was the worst of them all. Roman knew Caden would tell everyone about the fawn he brought back, just to make himself look better. He took a deep breath and replied in a gruff voice. "What?"

Caden laughed sarcastically. "Ho, ho, look out! Someone's grumpy." He playfully punched Roman on the shoulder, causing him to snarl in defense. The older jaguar backed away, paws up in surrender. "Seriously though, I wanted to congratulate you on completing your first raid! It's a big moment for you."

Roman looked back at him incredulously. "It… it was your first raid too."

Caden smiled. "Oh, that's right. Congratulations to me!" He looked back at Roman, waiting for some praise. The now incredibly aggravated jaguar stared back, locking eyes. Neither jaguar moved for a few tense seconds, and eventually Caden half grinned uncomfortably and changed the subject. "Sooo, what did you get? Ooo, I bet it's something amazing!"

Roman chose not to answer, instead turning away and looking at the rest of the room. Jaguars were still filing in, but dinner was almost ready to begin. Everyone looks content. I bet they all got something impressive, or did something impressive. He looked over to where his dad was sitting. Caesar didn't look too mad, he must've gotten over the argument. Yeah, right, and I can fly. He wondered if Caden had finally left to go bother someone else. Please be gone, pleeease be gone… He turned, and to his dismay, he was greeted with the sight of Caden's godawful smirk.

He motioned for Roman to continue. "Well?"

Well, he's gonna find out one way or another. The young jaguar replied in a feeble voice. "A fawn…"

"'What?"

A little louder this time. "A fawn."

Caden was almost certain of what he had heard, but still he wanted a guarantee. One last time he asked with a cruel smile. "I'm sorry, you got what?"

Roman stood up abruptly, all of a sudden looking down at the older jaguar. He had forgotten about their height difference. Caden was two years older, but Roman was five or six inches taller and quite a bit stronger. And I've also got the upper hand in intelligence. He snarled down at him, hoping he'd be intimidated and wouldn't say anything. "A… Fawn…"

Caden's jaw dropped in mock surprise. He started to raise his voice, not yelling, but loud enough for jaguars in the immediate area to hear. "Wow! You got a fawn… gotta say, I'm impressed. I didn't know you were so brave, so strong. What a great contribution to the pack's plunders!" Nearby jaguars were starting to pay attention to Caden's outburst. They started whispering about it and that slowly got the attention of more and more jaguars. Eventually, the whole hall had gotten word of what had happened, and the fawn that Roman had brought back. His body temperature started to rise, both in embarrassment and anger.

Trying to minimize the fallout from Caden's ranting, Roman turned to leave. Unable to quit while he was ahead, Caden reached out and grabbed Roman's shoulder, pushing the younger jaguar over his anger limit. Roman turned and grabbed Caden's arm, twisted it, and yanked up, snapping it at the elbow. Everyone stopped, and the hall went almost dead silent, the only sound being Caden's pain filled howls.

As his adrenaline levels subsided, Roman eventually realized what he had done. Little prick deserved it. Though in his mind, he felt Caden had gotten what he had coming to him, he was sure no one else felt that way. Too bad. Not waiting around to see what would happen, he hurried out of the hall and into the moonlit forest.

Roman slowly made his way around the forest, enjoying the peace and tranquility that it brought. No judgemental spectators, no obnoxious asses, nothing. Just the trees and himself. Looking over to his right, he decided to climb a nearby hill to get a better view.

Making his way up the hill, he decided to just go straight up instead of going up on a trail. He started his way up, climbing of fallen trees and through dense grass. It wasn't a tall hill, so he hiked up fairly quickly and with ease.

Once he reached the summit, he looked back toward the camp. It was a rather large camp, one of the biggest in the valley. He didn't know exactly how many jaguars there were, but he knew it was somewhere around seven hundred or so. The feast appeared to have continued. Faint music reaching his ears confirmed his suspicions. I wonder how Caden's doing. Hopefully not well. Roman knew good and well he'd be receiving a lot of flak for his actions, so hopefully it was worth it.

He looked around to see the other camps within view. Thin streams of smoke gently drifted into the night sky from the many bonfires. Many of the nearby camps were predators camps. There was only one prey camp, but no one would touch it because there were elephants, a notoriously hard mammal to kill. Understandably, prey didn't want to be near their mortal enemies. As a result, there were mostly predator only communities and prey only communities. It had started off that way, and had remained the same ever since. The only big change was when different species began to turn on each other. No longer would prey come to another prey's aid when attacked, and no longer would predator join together and raid prey villages together. There was no trust, and without trust, society as it had been crumbled away, leaving the dystopia he lived in.

Now, many predators relied on threats to survive, threatening prey to do their dirty work or get attacked. It worked, but only for a little while. Eventually, the prey would grow strong and stop helping the predators, which led to an attack from the predators. But even predators weren't safe from attack. Some larger prey mammals would attack smaller predators, and predators would even attack each other. It was a very chaotic, very violent world.

Roman hadn't experienced much violence in his life, no neighboring community would attack them. The valley in which he lived in was fairly peaceful. Only larger predators and the elephants lived here, so their size was a deterrent to violence. The raid he had been involved in just a few hours before had been the first case of extreme violence he had ever experienced. As a cub, no one had told him the truth about how they got their food, and he had never cared to ask.

His thoughts made their way back to the day's fiasco. He remembered the fawn he had brought back. A stupid mistake, but he didn't feel that mad about it. Rather, he felt… guilty? That's weird. It was nature's way to eat other animals, though it used to be done in a different way, but that didn't change reality. It also didn't change the way he felt. He felt genuinely remorseful for his actions. Ripping a child away from her family, that was low. Well, that's just the way life is. But did it have to be?

Yeah, it has to be. It's been this way since the beginning of time, and it will continue on forever. Perfect or not, that's what works and no one will or can change that. That's what he thought, what he figured must be true, but there was no conviction behind his beliefs. The foundation on which they stood was crumbling. Everything he was taught growing up was being challenged, and he was scared. He didn't know if that was bad or good, and he wasn't even sure if he truly believed in what he thought he believed. Unsure of exactly what to think, he slowly came to the realization that he didn't want to play a part in all the violence. What that would mean for him, for his survival, he didn't know. However, even if he was disowned by his family and friends, it didn't matter to him.

But it would matter to everyone else, especially his dad. Uugh. Being the son of one of the most powerful jaguars in the village was stressful. It had it's perks, but nothing could relieve the stress and pressure he felt. Everything in his life had to be perfect, he had to meet everyone's expectations all the time, and all for a life he didn't want. Oh well, that's their problem and this is my life.

Looking back over at his home camp, he rested his eyes on the cell blocks. I wonder how that fawn is doing. Everytime he thought about it, he felt a little worse. But what can I do now. What's done is done. His subconscious started nagging him, telling him knew that wasn't totally true. He could go make her short stay a little more enjoyable. Because that's possible. Helping her escape, that was an option. A stupid option, I'd get killed. Although… He could help her escape and get back to her family. Right a wrong, ease his conscience a little. There would be a few complications. For one, he might have his former friends try hunting him down for the fawn. Though that was unlikely, seeing as how a fawn is small and not worth the trouble, as evidenced by his recent humiliation, but it was still a possibility. Second, he didn't know how to get back to her village, so that would be an issue, but that was nothing a map couldn't fix. Lastly, he didn't know how to approach the fawn, or if he got her to trust him, how to deal with the deer at her home.

Nevertheless, there was no time to waste. He didn't want to have to deal with the other jaguars at camp, so he'd have to move fast. As fast as he could without falling, he made his way down the hill and towards the cell blocks.

Ashley laid on the hard ground, while her head spun in a flurry of emotions. There was sadness, fear, anxiety, but the most dominate was boredom. The time crawled by, making her ordeal seem incredibly long. The suspense grew slowly, but it was put off by long hours of nothing. She had accepted her fate, and there was nothing she could do about it, so why worry about it?

The long silence was broken by someone talking to her through the crack in the wall. "Hello?" She was startled by the sudden conversation, and at first a little suspicious. "Hellooo?" Oh, what the hell.

"Uh… hello?"

"Uh, hi… how are you doing?" He sighed in embarrassment. What a great question.

The fawn was taken aback. That's a stupid question. "Well, I'm in a prison, so that's not good. I'm also surrounded by mammals who would like nothing more than to eat me, so there's that." She thought for a moment. "What are you doing here?"

Roman smiled slightly at his witty, unspoken response. I'm here to rescue you. "Well, uh, to put this plainly, I'm here to… rescue you?" He cringed at how cliché it sounded. Why did I say that?

Ashley was not reassured to hear him say that. "Okay… how do you plan to do that?"

The jaguar opened his mouth to respond, but found he had no words. In hindsight, a plan might have been a good idea. But, not wanting to waste time, he told her the truth. "To be honest, I just figured I'd get you out and we'd run."

She was concerned about the lack of planning, but she figured it was her only option, so she agreed. "Okay, if you're sure." Roman turned to get her out, but she called out one last time. "Do you know where the keys are?"

He replied without thinking. "Yes…" Oh no.

"How?"

"Uh, surveillance." He quickly left to avoid any further questions.

Reaching the door to the cells, he peeked in to see if there were any guards. Luckily, they were all at the feast, so, for the moment at least, there was nothing to worry about. Still, trying to be stealthy, he opened the door ever so slowly and slipped inside. Once in, he grabbed the keys off the wall and made his way over to the fawn's cell. Right before he was about to make himself visible, he stopped. What if she recognizes me? It was already going to be hard enough to convince her to come with him and actually stay with him, a jaguar, the species just that had attacked her village and taken her prisoner. It would be even harder, if that was even possible, to convince her to trust her actual attacker. Oh, please don't recognize me. He'd tell her, just after she was safe.

He put the key into the lock and turned it. It clicked as it unlocked and started to swing open, but Roman caught it, holding it closed for just a moment. Taking a deep breath, he prepared himself for her expected surprise and swung the door open. Unfortunately, he didn't realize she had been standing right in front of the door, so it slammed into her, throwing her back onto the ground.

She fell back and hit the ground hard, an audible oof coming out as a result of her getting her breath knocked out. The jaguar's eyes opened in shock, and he ran over to help her up. "Ah, man, I'm really sorry! I didn't realize you were standing there."

"Oh, it's oka-" Her eyes opened and her response was cut short as she realized there was a jaguar standing over her. She opened her mouth to scream, but Roman clamped his paw over her muzzle, limiting her cry for help to a muffled breath of air. Still desperate to escape his grasp, Ashley hit him in the eye with her hoof. Without released his hold, he reached up to touch his eye. He growled in pain, causing her to squirm even more.

Becoming aware he was losing his grip, he reached down from touching his eye and tried to hold her still. "Quiet!" He hissed. Realizing she was fighting an unwinnable fight, she stopped struggling and quieted down. "Thank you. Let's try this again." He took a deep breath. "Hi, I'm Roman, and yes, as strange as it seems, I'm here to help you escape. Don't ask me why, we don't have time, so let's go because time is of the essence. Lastly, since you know my name, I think it's fair that I know yours."

He looked into her eyes, waiting for her to calm down. She wasn't sure if she should trust him, but she didn't have a choice. It was trust him or die, and so she decided to trust him.

Seeing that her muscles were relaxing, Roman removed his paw from her muzzle. "I… I'm Ashley."

"Nice to meet you." For the second time. He stood up and then proceeded to help her up.

"Alright, just follow my lead." He turned to leave, but turned back for one last comment. "Also, I can't stop you from trying to run, but if you do, you'll most likely end up in another camp of preds. So, unless you're a fan of death, stay on my tail… but not literally."

He peeked out the door and was greeted by nothing. Motioning for the fawn to follow, he quietly made his way down the hall, arriving at the door that led outside. Taking a deep breath, he looked back and Ashley and nodded, then quietly opened the door and held it until she was also outside.

They started running away from the camp blindly, but stopped when Roman held up his paw. "Uh, actually I forgot a map, and I don't know where I'm going." He looked around and thought for a moment, spotting a cluster of tall bushes.

He pointed. "Go hide over behind those bushes and be quiet. And please don't run away."

Without a word, Ashley ran over and hid. Hoping she would trust him and not leave, Roman ran back into the camp to get a map from the storehouse.

Arriving at the storehouse, he found it dark. He opened the door, and slowly walked inside, listening for any signs of life. Content no one was in the building, he picked up the pace and ran up the stairs to grab a map. Easily finding one on the wall, he carefully tore it down and tucked it in his belt.

Running back downstairs, he thought he had successfully obtained the map undetected until he opened the door and was greeted by the storehouse guard. "What are you doing? You're not supposed to be here."

I don't have time for this. "Oh, you know, I was just-" Without warning, he slammed his fist in the guard's face, then hurriedly threw him into the wall, knocking him out. A smile broke out across his face. Alright, badass Roman. He dragged the guard inside, and closed the door. Looking around to see if anyone had seen the altercation. Content that there was no one around, he hurried back to where he had left Ashley.

Once he got back, he softly called out. "Ashley…" No response. Are you serious? A little louder. "Ashley…"

The fawn emerged from the brush. Roman sighed in relief. "Alright, let's go." Together, under the cover of darkness, with only the moon and stars lighting their way, they ran off into the wilderness.

Yeah! Can I hear a cliché? Cliché! ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ I do what I want.

Anyway, thank you very much for reading! I hope you liked it, I definitely did. And if you haven't and you'd like to, drop a follow/favorite or a comment, let me know how ya feel. I'm open to suggestions, plot or character, so if you wanna see something, let me know and I'll consider it.

I see a lot of authors reply to comments, and I think it helps connect the author to the audience, so I'll try it as well. I only have one so far, so this'll be short.

SomeGuyWhoWritesBetterThanYou - I'm sorry that you feel that way. However, let me explain. I made the introduction bold and italicized because I wanted to distinguish the narration from the story. I wanted it to feel like movies where there's a narration at the beginning as a book opens, and then you watch the the rest of the story. Sorry you didn't like it, but it's what I wanted to do, so oh well. :D

Thanks to Astorathgrim for help with editing and ideas.

With that, I'll leave you til next time. Tschüss!