Mark Thompson, 35 years old, a wildlifedocumentary cinematographer.

He was on his way back to camp after finishing an early morningshoot.

It had been an ordinary day of filming, just like any other, and the rising sun waspainting the savannah grasslands golden.

That’s when it happened.

A small white shadowdarted into the middle of the dirt road.

Mark’s foot instinctively slammed on the brakes.

Thetires skidded across the dusty ground, sending up clouds of red dust in all directions.

The carbarely came to a stop.

Just 2 m in front of the bumper stood a small albino lion cub.

But what waseven more surprising was the cub’s behavior.

The cub didn’t run away.

Instead, it stared directlyat Mark and cried out desperately.

In those small eyes were both fear and urgency at the same time.

Mark got out of the car.

He waved his arms widely to shoe the cub away.

But the cub came evencloser instead.

It ran right up to Mark’s feet, stood up on its hind legs, and placed its smallfront paws on his knee.

And it cried even louder, even more desperately.

Mark realized in thatmoment, “Lion cubs never travel alone, especially one this young.

There must be a mother nearby.” Yet, this cub was alone in the middle of the road, asking a human for help.

Something serious musthave happened to the mother.

Mark looked at the cub and nodded.

It was a gesture meaning he wouldhelp.

The cub seemed to understand Mark’s eyes and immediately turned around and it started running.

After a few steps, it stopped and looked back.

It was a signal to follow.

Mark hurried to hiscar, grabbed his equipment bag, and followed the baby lion.

His long experience was tellinghim this wasn’t going to be a simple task.

The cub began running across the open savannah.

Markfollowed behind.

They pushed through waist high golden grasslands, passing between scatteredacacia trees.

The hot sun beat down on them, but they couldn’t stop.

About 30 minutes passed.

The cub’s movements began to change.

At first, it had run in a straight line with confidence, butgradually it was losing direction.

It passed the same rock twice, then three times.

It pressed itssmall nose to the ground and sniffed desperately, but eventually stopped in place and began to crysoftly.

The cub was lost, too.

Mark approached the cub and knelt down.

Then he carefully examined theground.

It was a moment when his long experience shown.

Faint but clear paw prints were visible.

They belonged to an adult lioness.

The tracks were heading north.

Mark began walking ahead.

The cub trusted his footsteps and followed.

Now the two had become true companions on a journey to find the mother.

After walking for about an hour, a river appeared ahead.

The water was swollenfrom the monsoon rains and rapids were swirling violently.

But there was an even bigger problem.

The shapes of several crocodiles were visible on the river’s surface.

To go around the river wouldtake at least a day or two.

Mark struggled with the decision.

The paw prince continued acrossthe river and he had a strong premonition that the mother lion was getting closer to death witheach passing moment.

There was no choice.

He had to cross this river somehow.

Mark rummaged throughhis backpack.

He had dried meat that he’d brought as emergency rations.

An idea suddenly came tohim.

He quickly soaked the dried meat in water, then began rubbing it on the t-shirt he brought.

The strong smell of meat seeped into the cloth.

Then he picked up a few fist-sized stones fromaround and wrapped them tightly in the t-shirt.

He needed a weight.

Mark threw it with all hisstrength toward the downstream.

A large splash erupted.

The crocodiles reacted immediately.

They cut through the current and swam downstream, following the smell of meat.

“Now” Mark quickly heldthe cub tightly to his chest.

He could feel the cub’s small heart beating rapidly.

He plunged intothe rapids.

Cold water rose to his waist, then to his chest.

The current was much stronger than he’dthought.

His legs wobbled.

If he lost his balance, they would both be swept away.

Mark gritted histeeth and moved forward one step at a time.

10 seconds, 11 seconds, 12 seconds.

It felt like aneternity.

Finally, he reached the opposite bank.

Mark collapsed onto the grass with the cub in hisarms, but only for a moment, he immediately got up and started walking again.

There was no time todelay.

About an hour after they resumed walking.

The cub’s gate was getting slower and slower.

Its small legs began to tremble.

Then, it finally collapsed with a thud.

Harsh breathing could beheard, and its small pink tongue was panting.

It was showing signs of dehydration and low bloodsugar.

This journey was too harsh for a young cub.

Mark checked his backpack.

There was still alittle water left, but food was the problem.

He’d used all the emergency rations to lure thecrocodiles.

Water alone wasn’t enough for the cub.

It needed nutrition.

Mark looked around.

Not faraway, a herd of impalas was grazing.

For a moment, one of them? No.

Mark shook his head.

In 10 yearsof filming wildlife, he had never harmed a single life.

One must not interfere with the naturalorder.

That was the principle he had maintained.

Right then, something caught Mark’s eye as helooked up at the sky.

A flock of vultures.

Dozens of them were circling in one spot.

In the wild,when vultures gather, it means only one thing.

There’s a dead animal.

Mark carefully lifted thecub.

Its small body hung limply.

He walked toward the vultures.

After walking for about 10 minutes, a massive buffalo carcass appeared.

Dozens of vultures were perched around the carcass, tearing at the flesh.

Mark took out a flare gun from his backpack.

He only had three shots left, but therewas no choice.

He pulled the trigger toward the sky.

A red flare exploded in the sky with anearsplitting sound.

The vultures spread their wings in unison and took flight.

Dozens of massiveblack shadows covered the sky.

The sight of a wild animal feeding was unfamiliar to Mark.

The cubwalked weakly toward the buffalo.

It sniffed cautiously, then slowly began to eat.

Mark keptwatch of the surroundings, protecting the cub, making sure the vultures didn’t return.

15 minutespassed.

The cub finished eating and returned to Mark.

There was life in its eyes again.

Strengthhad returned to its legs, too.

It could walk again now.

Mark stroked the cub’s head.”Good job.

Justa little further now.” Under the hot afternoon sun, the two continued following the tracks.

The momentthey crested a hill, Mark stopped.

Ahead was a group of about a dozen rhinoceroses.

The leadersniffed the air, catching the scent of a lion.

Rhinoceroses have poor eyesight, so they judgesituations by smell.

And right now, the rhinoceros was smelling a lion.

The leader exhaled forcefullythrough its nose and began stomping the ground with its foot.

It was a signal of danger.

Theother rhinoceroses also began stomping the ground in unison and lined up in a row.

They seemed to bepreparing to charge.

Mark knew how powerful these animals were.

A rhinoceros charging at 50km/h withover two tons of body weight could flip a vehicle.

Against that, a human was nothing more than asheet of paper.

Mark froze.

He couldn’t run away while carrying the cub.

The massive bodies beganapproaching, shaking the ground.

His heart pounded as if it would burst.

“Was this the end?” Right atthat moment, a small baby rhinoceros leaped in front of the charging group.

The leader stoppedabruptly.

The other rhinoceroses all halted in unison.

The baby rhinoceros blocked the path ofthe group and wouldn’t move.

As if saying not to harm the baby lion that was alone without its mother.

Mark didn’t miss that brief moment.

He held the cub tightly and sprinted toward a rockyarea to the side.

When Mark reached behind the rocks, he hid his body and carefully lookedback.

His hands were trembling and his heart was pounding in his ears.

The rhinoceros groupwas slowly moving in another direction.

And in the distance, the baby rhinoceros still stood inthat spot, looking toward where Mark had been.

One small life had protected another small life.

Mark felt something hot welling up from deep in his chest.

Mark finally arrived at the end of thetracks.

Near some thorn bushes, there was a deep pit in the ground.

It was a poacher’s trap.

Thecub ran to the edge of the pit and looked down, crying mournfully.

Mark also knelt at the edgeand looked down.

The pit was about twice the height of a person.

At the bottom lay an albinolioness.

She was barely moving.

Only her chest was barely rising and falling.

She was dying ofdehydration.

Mark took out his radio.

“Rescue team, this is Mark.

Emergency situation.

Albino lionesstrapped in poachers pit.

Severe dehydration.

Need veterinarian and rescue equipment.

sendingcoordinates.” “Copy that, Mark.

We’ll be there in 40.

Be there in 40 minutes.” A response camethrough the radio.

Mark took out a rope and tied it securely to a nearby acacia tree.

He checkedthe knot twice.

He grabbed the rope and descended into the pit.

Using his feet against the dirtwalls, he lowered himself slowly.

After a moment, he reached the bottom.

The motherline growledweakly.

Mark slowly approached and took out his water bottle.

He poured water little by littleinto the mother’s mouth.

The lion stuck out her tongue and lapped at the water.

That’s whenit happened.

Something moved in the corner.

It was a large scorpion.

Tan exoskeleton raisedstinger.

The scorpion was slowly crawling toward the mother.

A scorpion’s venom is lethal.

A singlesting can kill even a large animal within hours.

The scorpion had nearly reached the mother’sfront paw.

Its stinger trembled as it prepared to attack.

Mark quickly drew the hand axe from hiswaist.

Holding his breath, he moved two steps to the scorpion’s left.

Then he brought the axedown.

The ax blade struck the scorpion’s body precisely.

Its tail convulsed in the air for 3seconds, then stopped.

Mark struck down once more, completely separating the head from the body.

The motherline looked at Mark with relieved eyes.

Mark exhaled deeply.

It seemed like everythingwas over now.

Once the rescue team arrived, everything would be solved.

Both mother and cubcould be saved.

Mark smiled with relief for the first time.

Right at that moment, a scream camefrom above.

A sharp sound filled with terror.

Mark’s head snapped up.

At the edge of the pitwere six hyenas.

They had come following the smell of the dying mother.

The small albino cub stood infront of the hyenas with its fur standing on end.

It growled bravely, but its voice was thin andtrembling.

Mark grabbed the rope and climbed up frantically.

His arms felt like they would tear.

He kicked against the wall and pulled himself up with all his strength.

30 seconds later, hereached the edge.

He rolled his body onto the grass.

Six hyenas were slowly approaching from 15m away.

Mark’s expression twisted.

In his rush to climb up, he had left the hand axe in the pit.

AllMark had left was a gun with two flare rounds and a field shovel.

The hyenas gradually tightenedtheir encirclement.

Mark quickly fired a flare toward the hyenas.

The red flare flew toward thehyenas, but fell to the ground at their feet and exploded.

The hyenas backed away in surprise, but they soon approached again.

They had realized the flare only made light and had no real power.

Soon they gathered around the flare, sniffing and examining it.

They soon looked at each other andsnickered.

They had realized it was just light and sound.

The hyenas changed tactics.

The pack splitin two.

Mark suddenly remembered something he’d heard somewhere.

When the alpha hyena falls, theentire pack runs away.

Mark began searching for the alpha.

On the left was a large-bodied hyena, and on the right was a hyena with a large scar on its face.

One of them was the alpha.

Mark observedcarefully.

When the large-bodied hyena howled, the others moved in response to its sound.

Markwas convinced that one was the alpha, and he loaded his last flare.

He aimed at the largehyena’s face and pulled the trigger.

The flare flew with red flames and hit the hyena’s face.

Thehyena screamed and fell backward, and Mark didn’t miss that moment, grabbing the field shovel andsprinting toward the hyena at full speed.

He swung the field shovel hard at the fallen hyena’s face.

The hyena was knocked unconscious and couldn’t get up.

Mark looked around, but a strange atmospherehung in the air.

Even though the alpha had fallen, the hyenas were still holding their ground.

Theybecame even more aggressive.

The hyena with the deep scar on its face slowly stepped forward and it howled loudly toward the sky.

The other hyenas responded in unison, tightening theirencirclement again.

There had been a different alpha all along.

Now there was nothing Mark coulddo.

The pack leader walked toward Mark with a low growl.

Mark instinctively backed away, hiding thecub behind him.

The pack leader’s eyes glowed red and it charged.

Mark closed his eyes.

Therewas no way out.

Right at that moment, the lion cub ran forward in front of Mark.

With its smallbody, it charged at the pack leader, and it bared its teeth toward the hyena’s nose.

The cub’s teethclamped onto the hyena’s nose.

The hyena’s scream erupted.

The pack leader was caught off guard.

It shook its head frantically from side to side, but the cub wouldn’t let go.

With its four smalllegs, it wrapped around the hyena’s snout and hung on.

Small as it was, a predator is a predator.

The hyena became enraged.

It shook its neck up and down with all its might, then slammed the cubto the ground.

The small body hit the hard ground directly.

The dazzling white fur was instantlycovered in red dust.

Its small body trembled as if convulsing, and only small whimpering soundsleaked from its mouth.

Mark ran.

Without thinking, he ran to the cub and picked it up.

The cub’ssmall heart was beating rapidly.

The pack leader approached again.

The rest of the pack tightenedthe encirclement with it.

5 m, 4 m, 3 m.

Mark held the cub even tighter and he whispered quietly tothe cub.

“I’m sorry and thank you.” And he closed his eyes.

This was truly the end.

That’s when ithappened.

A siren sound cut across the savannah.

The ground began to vibrate and two jeepsappeared from beyond the hill, kicking up clouds of red dust as they raced frantically.

Powerful headlights shown directly on the pack of hyenas and horns blared continuously.

Thepack leader glared at the jeeps for a moment, then bared its teeth one last time toward Mark,and it howled briefly.

The pack turned in unison and disappeared into the darkness.

When the jeepstopped, Mark’s knees gave out and he collapsed on the spot.

still holding the cub to his chest,his entire body shook uncontrollably.

The rescue team arrived.

They pulled the mother from the pitwith rescue equipment, administered anesthesia, and connected an IV.

Veterinarians quicklyexamined the cub and mother and administered emergency treatment.

The diagnosis was that bothcould be safe.

However, the mother was in severe dehydration and malnutrition.

The rescue teamdecided to transport mother and cub together to the rehabilitation center.

Only then did Mark’stension finally release.

Two months passed.

Mark visited the rehabilitation center every week.

The cub would run to greet him whenever it saw him.

And the mother also remembered Mark.

Themother and cub’s health had fully recovered and before they knew it, the time had come to returnthem to the wild.

Mark felt regret, but the wild suited them better.

Mark accompanied them to theconservation area on release day.

Open grasslands, the very place where it all began.

Mark personallyopened the cage door.

The mother came out first and stretched her entire body under the sunlight.

It was freedom felt.

After a long time, the cub followed, bursting out and running excitedlyacross the golden grasslands.

The mother slowly approached Mark and pressed her forehead to hischest.

It was the greatest expression of respect and gratitude a lion could show.

Mark gentlystroked the mother’s mane.

The cub also ran over and stood up on its hind legs, looking up at Markjust like when they first met.

Mark knelt down and stroked the small head one last time.

Motherand cub walked across the golden grasslands.

They passed between acacia trees and headed towardthe hills.

The cub looked back several times, checking if Mark was still there.

And finally,the two disappeared beyond the hills, returning to the wild.

Mark stood in that spot for a longtime, watching where they had disappeared.

A corner of his heart felt moved, but he knew thiswas the best choice.

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