Eli was not happy to be separated from his mother, but his father's stern gaze made him quiet down. He could only quietly whimper.
Beast men were expected to be strong in this beast world. They had to learn how to survive at an early age. Oliver decided to teach Eli a survival lesson.
Oliver's parents had died when he was a young child not much older than Eli. He had to learn how to survive in this world alone until he was adopted by the village doctor.
Oliver took Eli to the jungle outside of the city. Barry noticed this and decided to follow along.
He knew how much Amber loved her son and would be distraught if anything happened to him. Barry decided to earn extra favor for protecting her son.
At first, he just observed the surroundings. Eli stopped whimpering when he noticed they were headed into the jungle. His father had taught him how to swing on vines before and how to pick fruits.
Eli was excited to learn something new today! Little did he know that his father was about to teach him how to survive!
They kept walking until they came across a wild wolf pack. Eli started to get scared and clung to his father. Oliver heartlessly tossed the baby monkey away from him.
Barry was surprised! Oliver was always so gentle around Amber. He would never expect Oliver to toss their child away and attract the wolf pack's attention.
Barry was ready to help the baby monkey, but Oliver made eye contact with him and silently told him not to interfere with his lesson.
As the father of the cub and as a mate of Amber, Oliver had more rights than Barry. Barry was still just a beast guardian. He struggled with his instincts to protect the baby monkey and waited to see what Eli would do.
The wolf pack howled and started to chase the baby monkey. Eli let out a scream and started to climb up the vines in the trees.
Oliver was proud of his son for thinking about climbing away since wolves cannot climb.
Oliver went away to find something that can also climb to test his son again.
Barry noticed the baby monkey was scared alone in the tree. Since Oliver left, he roared and chased the wolves away.
Barry was a 2 striped Bear beast man and was close to breaking through to the third stripe. The wolves were no match for him. They ran away to find weaker prey.
Barry called out to Eli, "You can come down now. They are gone." Eli hesitated and looked around for his father.
He thought his father had abandoned him. He was still confused about why his father took him away from his mother and threw him to the wolves.
Did his father get jealous of the love and attention that his mother showed him? Was his father trying to get rid of him so Oliver could have more of Amber's time?
Eli thought about Barry. Can he trust this beast guardian? If his father didn't want him, why would this beast guardian care for him?
Barry tried to coax the young monkey, "If you come down I can teach you a trick to kill your enemies. You won't have to be scared the next time."
Eli got excited to learn this new trick! He climbed down towards Barry. Barry held up his arms to catch the baby monkey.
Barry thought about it, "You are small but good at climbing. If a bigger beast tries to kill you you have to use your ability to kill them first."
Barry broke off a branch and sharpened the end. He showed Eli, "You can make your weapons and then throw them down from above. The sharp side will pierce the animal and it will either die or run away."
Eli jumped out of Barry's arms in excitement and went to test out this new trick. He broke off the biggest branch he could and struggled to sharpen the end.
Finally, he was able to get a sharp point and went to test it out. He climbed up the tree and aimed the makeshift spear toward a snake in the grass.
The spear missed and the snake hissed before starting to climb the tree. Eli panicked and started to scream again.
Barry called out, "Quick, make more sharp sticks!" Barry wasn't too worried because it was a small snake.
Barry could kill the snake if he needed to. He sharpened another stick to be ready just in case.
Eli broke off a bunch of branches and sharpened them as quickly as he could! He started to throw them at the snake. A few missed, but then his aim improved.
Barry had to dodge a few of the missed throws as the sharpened sticks fell toward him.
Oliver came back to witness this while carrying a snake in his hands. Looks like Barry was teaching Eli a new trick.
He waited to see how Eli would pass this test. Eli finally was able to kill the snake before it could reach him. He speared the snake and it slowly died.
He was unsure what to do with it. He looked towards Barry and tilted his head as if asking, "What now?"
Barry looked at the snake. It was small but would make a good little snack. He might be able to use the skin for something too. If only he had a bigger one.
Just then Oliver released the snake he had brought. It was slightly bigger than the first. It also started to slither its way toward Eli.
Eli panicked at first but then started to throw the sharp sticks toward it.
This time he had a better aim and could make his weapons faster. He was able to kill this slightly bigger snake as well.
He felt proud of his kills and wanted to show off to his mother. He was also thankful to Barry. He started to climb down.
Barry called to him, "Bring the snakes with you, we can cook them and make something out of the skins for your mother."
Eli was happy to make something for his mother out of his first kills. He went up to the dead snakes and tried to remove the sticks. They were stuck. He was struggling when Oliver appeared and helped him to remove the stick.
Eli was wary at first, he didn't know if he could trust his father. His father had abandoned him, but then he returned.
Oliver noticed Eli's wariness and chuckled. "I was testing your survival skills. You passed! Good job."
Eli felt relieved to hear his father's explanation. His father didn't abandon him, he was only testing him.
Luckily Barry taught him that trick to kill the snakes. He followed his father as Oliver carried the dead snakes down the tree.
Barry looked relieved as well. He was a little nervous watching the baby monkey fight the snakes, but now he felt proud.
Eli leaped into Barry's arms. He warmed up to this beast guardian after Barry taught him that survival trick.
Oliver just chuckled to himself and went to skin the snakes. Barry carried Eli so he could watch and learn.
After they skinned the snakes, Barry showed Eli how to make a fire and roast the meat.
Eli proudly ate his first kill.
He gave some to Barry and Oliver and felt proud to watch them eat it as well.
Eli still preferred the taste of his mother's milk, but there was a sense of accomplishment in eating the food he killed by himself!
He also felt good watching his father and beast guardian eat his food. He wanted to contribute to his family.
He thought about bringing some back to his mother, but there wasn't much meat. Soon it was all eaten. He looked a little disappointed before he remembered the skins.
Oliver brought over 2 red and black snake skins.
Eli jumped up and down in excitement thinking about making something for his mother. Oliver smirked at Eli's excitement.
Barry laughed and asked, "What should we do with those?" Oliver answered, "They are small, so there is not much to do, but I can sew them together and make a top for Amber."
Eli nodded his head and clapped his hands in agreement. He did his happy monkey screeches. Oliver chuckled and patted his head.
Eli calmed down a little and leaned his head into his father's warm hand. Barry was touched by the scene of the father's love.
He wanted a cub of his own, but he would have to work hard to convince Amber to mate with him first. Nick would be the next to father a child with Amber.
Barry could only wait and keep trying to gain Amber's attention. For now, he was happy to help Amber's child.
They sewed the top and headed back to the Cheetah castle to give it to Amber.