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It is a cold winter night. As you trudge through the heavy snow, the only thing on your mind is regret; why did you venture out away from the safety of your pride and the warmth of your den? Whatever your reasons, you've lost your way and can't stop your teeth from chattering. The only thing you can do is keep moving.
As you travel along miserably, you start to notice a dancing orange glow in the distance. You immediately perk up. Fire! Warmth! You begin to bound desperately through the snow toward the light, too cold to worry about the dangers that might be lurking near the fire.
As you get closer, you realize that the light is coming from inside a small cave, the perfect size for a den. You stop a short distance from the cave opening, your ears pricked forward. You can hear the sounds of cubs giggling as they play inside, and you know that there must be a lioness guarding them, or even worse a king - but you can feel the tease of toasty warmth on your fur, and your survival instinct causes you to carefully approach the den.
You approach from the side and peek carefully into the cave. You see four cubs, no older than 6 months, chasing each other near the back of the den and giggling. Much closer to you lies a lioness, grooming a newborn cub who is cradled in her front paws. Your eyes widen with wonder as you realize that the fire is coming from the lioness herself; her tail and back paws are ablaze with dancing flames.
As you stare in amazement, you notice from the corner of your eye two of the cubs have broken away from the chase. They giggle quietly as they rummage through a pile of odds and ends, standard junk that broodmothers collect as toys to entertain the cubs. They drag out a thick piece of tree bark and examine it, eyes meeting and nodding to each other with large grins. One of the cubs picks up the bark carefully in his mouth and carries it to a puddle that has formed under a dripping stalactite. He dips the bark into the puddle and when he raises his head, you see that he has collected some water. You watch the cub with amusement, realizing what he is planning. The cub stealthily approaches the lioness from the back, and with one quick motion he splashes the water from the bark onto the burning end of the lioness's tail. You watch as she rolls her eyes, but notice that there is a bemused smile on her maw as she turns to face the naughty cub. The color in her intense golden eyes seems to dance like firelight for a split second before the tip of her tail ignites once more. The two cubs erupt into joyful laughter before running to join their friends.
The lioness turns with a warm smile to resume grooming the newborn cub, but as she turns her head back your way she notices your eyes reflecting the firelight through the darkness. She immediately stands, raising her hackles with a deep, threatening growl. At the same time, her front paws erupt into flames. Oh shit. You turn and haul ass into the darkness. You can't wait to get back and tell your pridemates what you saw - but will they believe you?
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