Over the coming months, the beast continued to grow in size. Now, he was around the size of an adult male human.
One day, he learned to create fire, after stalking a group of men creating one, and promptly eating them afterwards. It took him many tries to use a stick into the ground, to create fire. Even so, he did not mind the cold; the discomfort was another new sensation, invigorating him. Each experience filled him with life. He sought more and more. He sat around the campfire that he had created now, watching as the copper flames danced across the nightsky, illuminating the shadows and the peaceful forest that surrounded him. He ran his hands across the grass. The simple brush of his stygen clawed hands against the grass was nothing short of spectacular. This world was truly beautiful. His life was beautiful, irrespective of the cruel treatment he had endured from others. He had discovered the essence of true beauty himself. He knew that if he were to survive - he would experience true beauty. That the only need in life was to sustain himself. That, was all he desired. All he wanted. It was all he wanted ever since he had exited that cave, and saw how spectacular this world was.
One day, while exploring the forest, he stumbled upon a paved path. A man traversed it, riding a creature that was smaller than himself but larger than the man who tamed it. Intrigued, he pondered how such a beast could be subdued.
The man noticed him, displaying none of the fear characteristic of those he had slain earlier. Clad in strange, shiny garments and bearing a pack made of the skins of various beasts, he dismounted, drawing a blade moments after sighting the beast.
In response, the beast unsheathed his claws and dashed towards the man, using his ability to try and kill him. He imagined how the man would taste, the overpowering stench of his guts, or the crunch of his bones. The man spoke in an alien tongue. All of the men he had thus encountered spoke in that same tongue. It was strange to the beast. But he quickly thought that nothing was strange. After all he was new to everything. He pondered this, as he prepared to quickly take down the human, looking forward to a succulent meal.
In the next instant, the beast felt a sharp pain strike the side of his head. The man was far faster than any beast and he was far more forceful in his strength.
And he felt dizzy. And he collapsed, his still youthful body unable to withstand the blow. He had never been hit before and such an experience - for the first time in his life, was horrific. He panicked, but his body subsequently did not respond. And he fell unconscious, his last visage of the man standing over him, his body darkening the view of the sun. The beautiful, warm, bright sun. He felt as if his mother was gazing down at him once again, disgusted with him. He could not shake that image.
And as he fell unconscious that was what he thought of. His mother.