The Guardian gods

Chapter 8: Finding

Knowing that I can't just barge in, I found a cave where I made my new home. Not wanting to seem like the odd one, I occasionally go out and hunt. Whenever the curious child bears of the neighbors come over, I share my hunt and play with them.

This went on for a month according to earth time, I now am someone the bears know and they invite me for hunting. Hunting with them helped me observe their social dynamics and problem-solving abilities. I noticed their cooperative hunting strategies and their clever methods of foraging for food. Although not possessing advanced cognitive capabilities, the bears exhibit a level of intelligence that allows them to thrive in their environment.

Two of the bears I hunt with show their abilities during hunting, one has an affinity for cladding itself on fire with fear and the other one makes stones pikes pop out of the ground surprising the prey.

Like now we are fighting a Tyrannosaurus, I summoned wooden tendrils from the ground to ensnare the dinosaur's legs, while the flame bear leaped forward, slashing at the creature with its scorching claws, causing it to roar in pain."

Stumbling from the blow, I released the wooden tendrils that were holding one of its legs, catching it off guard. Unable to balance itself it fell to the side only to be impaled by the stone pike that was already waiting for it.

After sharing the spoils among ourselves, I went back to the cave deciding that I had seen enough and that it was time to leave. Why the bears have shown some intelligence, they weren't able to communicate with me on a spiritual level when I made a connection.

They understood the basics but nothing complex trying anything with them becomes something not consensual.

Freezing the meat I got from the dinosaur, preserving it for the young ones who might come looking for me after I left. Taking one last glance at the cave that had served as my home, I transformed back into a bird and set off in search of my next creature to observe.

It didn't take much time to find the tigers, since this world was still kinda in a prehistoric age. The tigers weren't the normal ones, instead they were larger and fierce sabertooth tigers.

Just like the bears, the tigers don't live in groups but are solitary creatures that only group up when they share their kill or want to mate. But because of the threats that are in the wild of this world, the saber tooth tigers group up to take care of each other.

Transforming into a tiger, I didn't approach the group directly. Instead, I found my own territory nearby and marked it with my scent, leaving a clear indication that a new tiger had arrived in the vicinity. To make my presence known, I let out a powerful roar that echoed through the surrounding area, catching the attention of the tiger group and signaling that they had a new neighbor.

There was a difference between a tiger and a bear, while I was a bear there was the sense of laziness and relaxed demeanor only being active until it was time to hunt, but being a tiger was different. I felt a constant sense of agility and alertness, my senses were heightened and was always on look out for potential prey or threat in my surroundings.

When I made my first hunt in the form of a tiger, there was a sense of awkwardness and ugliness to it. Unlike the elegant and seamless movements of the other tigers I had observed, my own hunting attempts felt clumsy and uncoordinated.

Being a bear I could stand on two feet even though there was a bit of difficulty to it and hunting was more straightforward, I tried repeating the same way of hunting with a tiger and it wasn't beautiful.My attempts at hunting seemed clumsy and lacked the finesse I had anticipated.

Tigers hunt by stalking their prey, displaying stealthy and strategic hunting techniques. They navigate their territory and adapt to changing circumstances around them. When it comes to hunting their claws aren't their best weapon but the sharp teeth.

Not that the claws are useless but when hunting a prey, the claws aren't used to make the final blow, instead a quick powerful bite to the neck and throat. The claws are mostly used for takedowns and climbing.

Being a tiger was fun and hunting as the pack showed the creatures intelligence when it comes to battle. I learnt a lot from them which is patience and a quick way to grasp and deal a decisive blow when the prey guard is let down.

I am now stalking a dinosaur with two other tigers, the prey was quite vigilant so most of the time it was spent with us crouching behind bushes. I was starting to get impatient but the two other tigers were still composed and were laser focused on the prey.

A flaw soon appeared on the prey when it became engrossed on its own hunt and fixated on the meal in front of it, The tiger who lead the hunt made emitted a slight growl meaning: "Stay here and wait"

The instruction to "Stay and wait" meant for me to remain concealed and ready to deliver the last blow or issue a warning when a threat approaches, The lead tiger moved out with a gust of wind element surrounding it making it go faster, the second tiger wasn't as fast but it emitted a radiant glow on its claws that made it sharper. nove(l)bi(n.)com

When the lead tiger approached the dinosaur, it let out a powerful roar catching the prey's attention, the dinosaur reacted fast with a sweep of its tails but with the speed of the tiger, it jumped over it and at the same time in mid-air clawed at the dinosaur's thick hide but the attack wasn't much effective.

The lead tiger landed and swiftly started running circles around the dinosaur causing confusion. Seeing an opportunity the second lion came in and went for the dinosaur's stomach causing a much deeper wound than the first tiger.

Watching the intense fight in front of me, I wondered if maybe the two tigers knew that the dinosaur they were fighting was one of the mutated ones and it also had abilities.

I was proven right when a roar different from the normal ones came from the dinosaur, the difference being that the roar has the fluctuations of mana in it and its effect was proven when the two tigers fell to the ground and put their paws on their ears to try and block out the sound.

The mana-infused roar came fast and stopped but by this time the two tigers were out of the fight, they couldn't even stand up right. The now exhausted dinosaur went in to make the final kill but thich tendrils of wood came out from the ground surrounding the two tigers and protecting them.

The dinosaur was bewildered by what was happening in front of it when a flower grew from the ground close to its snout and releasing a puff of green smoke, the dinosaurs immediately fell down and started snoring.

Retracting the woods protecting the two tigers, I blew out two puffs of energy with healing attributes for the tigers. Transforming into a bird once again, I took to the sky leaving behind the two dumbfounded tigers.

My observation showed that the intelligence of the bears was a lot better than the tigers, the latter couldn't handle more complex communication but was capable of simple communication while the tigers simply don't communicate much until it's time to hunt.

Anytime I make a connection, the only response is that I talk too much, especially when they are full. They just sleep or mate with each other. I was tempted to choose the creatures even though they aren't smart enough but the overall quality is just amazing.

My next destination is the mountain where my domain is located. Before I started my journey through the woods of the eastern part, a group of gorillas was seen residing and made their home in the mountain.

They weren't of particular interest at the time but now they are on my list of creatures to observe with intelligence. With my speed it didn't take long to get back to the mountain, I circled around it searching for where the gorillas made their habitat.

I soon found them in their little group living near a lush oasis with a waterfall and a cave next to it, the area they were located in was full of all types of fruits, berries and coconut.The soothing sound of rushing water filled the air, further observation showed that the gorillas weren't the only ones that made their home here. The area was filled with a diversity of primate-like creatures, squeaking and agilely leaping from tree to tree.

I flew down to an area near the creatures, transformed into a gorilla to merge with them, slowly walking to the group. As I took my first stride, I sensed a presence observing me. My senses already picked up on what it was, I disregarded its presence and continued my approach.