"I may be young, but I pack a great claw and bite, If you know how strong I REALLY am! And someday… we’ll see about that!"

The tiger mumbled to himself as he send goodbye to his unexpected guest. A heated conversation had turned into a grudging matter. 

Things were about to happen, fast. 

Kaal, who was just coming out of age as a young adult, is strong and fit, like every young male tigers aspire to be. He’s mostly a happy tiger, and has that sense of playfulness about him. The red fiery fur with dark stripes on him are exotic, and the big sparkling yellow eyes are ever stunning.  

From that kind of description, he could’ve been a very charming tiger, or even a popular one. But there’s something about Kaal that keeps the others at bay… we’ll find out soon.

Most of the time he hunts for fishes & rodents– the easy preys, when the days there were plentiful of those and he could laze out and bask in the sun whenever he wanted to; but that probably dulled down his ability to hunt bigger preys. 

Unfortunately, the small preys were becoming scarce lately on this summer; in order to survive, Kaal was compelled to look for larger preys, yet he couldn’t even land a paw on the big grass-eaters like gazelles or antelopes for weeks. 

Kaal felt for the first time in months– incompetent, and that hurted the tiger’s pride. Maybe he’s out of shape, or perhaps out of luck. But who knows? 

Well, his luck was about to come on full-blast! And that would lead him into something big, very BIG. 

Usually, Kaal patrols around the boundaries of the dense jungle zone, looking for preys. But this time something brought him into the big meadow, one of the outskirts of the Great Growl Jungle. 

Instinct called. 

Kaal gazed across the field, it was a beautiful sunset, and the scenery was all yellowish and orangey. Kaal somehow knew that something’s coming and walked into bushes of tall grass for stealth; his large piercing tiger’s eyes were ever watchful, looking for every sudden movement across the vast meadow. 

Funny as it may seemed, but not for long, a huge numbers of young and big reindeers arrived. They spreaded out all across the big field, yet scattered like sands. 

"Well… this just might be my lucky day!" 

Kaal was really pumped up. His eyes are all brightened up like shiny marbles, and his predatory urge tingling. 

And so then, Kaal slowly approached to his nearest target: it’s just over the tall grasses in from of Kaal, with a few more nearby. He waited for the best opportuned moment, steadied his feet, sweeped up his tail… and made a BIG pounce. 

Swoops !
And the deer fell to the ground. 

The others nearby jumped and dashed away, but did not spooked out the whole school of them. 

"Wow… that was easy." 

Feeling confident, Kaal continued his hunting.
Next, the herd near the side of the lake! 

SWOOPS!
Down it went another deer. 

The entire herds were running around at all directions, like a swarm of fish spreading out across the ocean… what a fascinating sight!
One more time now! the few over that rock! 

SWOOOOPS! 

Kaal closed his eyes and stay put after that… The dynamic surround sounds of rumbling and tumbling echoed across the field, it was an awesome audio spectacle, then it faded into complete silence and stillness, and then returned to normal scenery of crickets buzzing and birds chirping, as if nothing had happened. 

There’s only Kaal left. He lied down on four next to his prey, laughing.

The tiger had never being able to catch one reindeer on the spot, but three was being handled down today, three! Can you imagine how excited it must be for Kaal, who was on the ‘loser’ side lately, had given such a great feat today? 

After a short rest, Kaal dragged his "prized possessions" all the way into the jungle. They’re pretty heavy, but nothing could dampen his spirit at this moment. Kaal just couldn’t stop his giggling. 

For every lion, tiger, bear, wolf and all sorts of predatory creatures– or ‘meat-eaters preferably, the ‘Great Growl Jungle’ is the place to be. It’s the only place where every meat-eaters can co-exist and live peacefully together. 

It’s all made possible because of Shaad, the long-reigning ruler of the jungle. A calm and solid figure, wise by ages and experiences, many looked for advices from him. He’s less like a king, and more like a father to all the inhabitants. 

In his kingdom, he put great dedication for the peace and welfare of the inhabitants. That’s one of the reasons why Shaad was highly respected by most animals, and even the non-meat-eaters. 

 His jungle law was what made the jungle so well-functional for all meat-eaters to live in. Here’s one of his ‘golden rules’: 

Rule number 1: Do not attack brothers & sisters. 

As all the meat-eaters were treated as kinship, and the jungle does not tolerate any psysical harmings or fights among meat-eaters. Failing to do so will face judgement, quarantine or even banishment from entering the jungle forever. 

Everybody knows that. 

There’s one thing about Kaal that irritated the inhabitants around: One of his quirks was his love to boast and brag. It includes showing his latest collection of the exotic birds he caught, making up exaggerated stories about his huntings, or saying things most inhabitants don’t even care about. Therefore, many were annoyed by him and even his presence. 

But thanks to the golden rule, Kaal was able to stay safe inside the jungle. Heaven forbids if there’s no such rule, then he wouldn’t able to last a night or two being the favourite ‚punching bag‛, by popular demand! 

Late dusk and nearly night-time, with steady effort and a constant smile on his face, Kaal came to the most traffic route in the Jungle, and put his trophies on the middle of the path. Soon, a few meat-eaters came by. 

"What is the meaning of this, Kaal? Is it one of your ‘schemes’ again?"
One asked. 
 

Playing it cool, Kaal sat on the bodies, with a BIG grin on his face. 

"It’s isn’t some fancy tricks, fellows! This is what I call: A skilled kill…" 

Then, like an enthusiastic sellsman, he pat on the bodies vigorously; his torso leaned backward like a model posting with a luxurious car, and turned to his audience with a BIG smirk on his feline face. 

"Come and take a GOOD look at what I’ve got!" 

"Bad move Kaal, not one of your tricks again!" 

"I’ve had enough of your hogwash nonsenses!" 

"Let’s go, guys! Give me a break!"

"Hey… Wait ! Don’t go ! Wait !"

The fellows turned and left on that same spot, didn’t even try to see carefully on the prizes Kaal proudly presented. It looked like they didn’t even care. The other inhabitants nearby were also avoiding Kaal, like a plague. 

"C’mon everybody! Stop by and take a CLOSER look at my catchings today!" 

Kaal tried to win the crowd with more forced passion and be more assertive. Still, some annoyed, some berated him, and some grasped like they possibly saw the real deal, but walked away like nothing’s happened. 

"Hey, I just got myself THREE reindeers here– in ONE catch!"

Again, no positive responses from the rest. 
 

… … … 

The neglected loner just sat on the bodies without a word from his muzzle. His eyes are in blank state. He couldn’t believe that no one ever believe in him, or ever care about him… 

Poor Kaal, if only they knew the truth, you’ll be such a popular figure in the jungle by now! But the truth is, most of them want nothing from him and his egotistic braggings anymore, let alone being hassled by his "make-believe" achievements. 

He took his prized possessions and carried back to his place, yet the picture was so much different from what happened 10 minutes ago: He wasn’t smiling now. 

He felt completely defeated. Like a sore loser. 

Watching from afar, a shadowy beast walked out and into the light. The moonlight shined gently upon his tall physique, showcasing his fainted-yellow fur, his massive lion head, along with his long-wavy mane. Part of the luminance toned out the structure of his protruding snout, his underlying wrinkles, and his calm but concerning eyes. 

Shaad had seen it all. The observant king had been eyeing on Kaal since he entered the jungle, and believed that he did the hunting after all.