The scene is Doggerland, 176,000 years before present, on the banks of a rather larger river unknown to us today. It is high spring, and thousands of Atlantic Salmon are finally completing their 200 miles journey up river to spawn. The water is nearly freezing, having warmed little in its own 200 miles journey southwest from a massive glacial lake that is fed by rivers that we would know as the Rhine and Thames. This lake, in our own timeline, will one day become the North Sea, and the overspill that is this great river will one day carve the English Channel.
The annual event of the salmon run is an important one for animals in the area. As you might imagine, Earth 176,000 years ago was considerably colder than present. Much of Europe specifically, is in fact subarctic in climate. Animals here need as much insulation and energy as possible to survive in this harsh world, and the salmon run is a fine opportunity for a wide variety of animals gain vital nutrients and fat stores, as well as learn hunting skills. Therefore, as it does every year, it has brought a show of wildlife to the shores to participate in this grand spectacle, that would rival even the finest of National Geographic's nature documentaries. Bears, eagles, owls, seals have come to take their share, and all manner of scavengers have arrived on the scene. Even the occasional Homotherium can't help but get a little wet for a taste of spring's best.
About a mile from the shore of the river, a Mountain Hare is sleeping in his den. It is mid day, and as a nocturnal animal, he has no business being up at this time of day. It's too dangerous, as there are too many diurnal predators on the prowl. One such diurnal predator, a 9 month old, itinerant amber fox, has failed in an attempt to catch a ptarmigan some 300 metres away from the hare's den. He picks up the scent of the hare, and follows that scent to its den, where he finds our little hare sleeping peacefully. But there is a problem: this hare has dug his den in such away that the fox cannot easily fit his head inside to get at him. As he tries to reposition himself so as to get at the hare, with the terrified hare trapped in its own home, another predator takes notice of the scene. A loan male scimitar cat, in search of his own coalition to join, has taken notice. He is hungry, and without his own coalition with which to cooperatively hunt the large prey which his kind specializes in killing, he has to settle for smaller meals. The trouble is, he hasn't been able to catch anything bigger than a hare here and there for days.
It only takes a mere grunt for the fox to instantly pull its head out of the den, and notice the 400 lb cat with a look of hunger on his face. As quick as his head came out of the whole, the fox runs for his life, and subsequently, so does the hair. The Homotherium darts to its right... but that's not the way he had intended on going. His hunger has clouded his mind and his senses, and having meant to go for the fox, who has gone in the opposite direction, he has gone after the hare by accident. He chases the hair a good 400 metres until something infests his nose – the smell of dead salmon. The smell is so powerful and delicious that it stops him in his tracks. It's almost soothing. As he has stopped however, our little hare has gotten away, but not before taking this scimitar cat off of his historical course. Of course, the wind has confused him, as it has blown that scent a mile from its source in his direction, but until now, the scimitar cat had thought that he was actually too far from the river to be realistically concerning himself with the salmon run at the moment. Maybe after he had something else to eat, but not while his belly ached as it did. But that scrumptious smell seemed to have the power to sooth his stomach, and so he pressed on for the next few hours, determined to find the source, and take a bite of it. All the way, memories from last year's salmon run ran through his head. He had been alone for two years now, after the death of his brother due to injuries sustained challenging an older, and far more experienced alpha male for mating rights of his harem. He and his brother had always been able to cooperatively hunt to take down prey large enough to feed the two of them. Saiga, sheep, deer, even horses... those were the days, but no longer. The past two years, as he did not have his brother to cooperatively hunt to take down larger animals, the salmon run had been an important annual feast for him. If he couldn't catch a fish, then he would just scavenge someone else's kill. He was not quite the hunter that his brother was, but he had a very powerful roar, and that roar had even scared off a cave bear last year (who herself, was scavenging a brown bear's kill). Memories of last year bustled through his head as his feline mind tried to size up the possible challenge ahead. Although a cave bear had succumbed to him last year, such an event was a fluke, and that bear was surely a coward, and so the cat knew that attempting to scavenge the kills of larger animals wasn't a good plan. He planned to start out the same way he did every year: looking for the smaller animals. Owls and eagles who were stupid enough to eat their fish on the shore were no match for him, and were the most easily scared off.
But he was going to have to wait until he got there to actually formulate a plan. Once he did, he was a little disappointed, since there were few smaller animals at the section of the river that he arrived on. In fact, there was only one Golden Eagle perched in a pine tree on the river's shore. The only other thing nearby was a large brown bear and her cubs. After passing grimaces at the bear, the cat traveled up river to see if he might get lucky. An eagle, an owl, or even a loan wolf would be perfect... but his search was to no avail. As the day went on, he began to realize that if he wanted to eat, he may just have to get his paws wet, and catch his own fish – it's not like there weren't thousands of salmon swimming in the river as he searched for food to scavenge. Along the way, he saw seals and otters in the water, but he knew that as long as the two were in their element, that they were two quick for him, and so he didn't even bother.
Just as he is about to give up, and attempt on honest meal, something silvery catches his eye. Its color contrasts the black and brown colors of the river's shore, so it is easy to spot, but more importantly, it looks out of place. If it were a rock, one could expect it to be a similar color to the sediment, but as the cat got a little closer, he was able to make out distinctive dark spots all over the silvery surface of this object, and that's when it hit him – it wasn't a rock, it was a seal. Not just any seal is this, but it's a pregnant female Harbor Seal. She's become temporarily stranded from her group, as her pregnancy has left her in need of a little more rest than the rest seemed to interested in having. They left her there on the shore, but she doesn't really mind... there were no predators in the area when she left, and she should've been able to catch up with them very easily once she's gained some rest. This seal has gambled in allowing herself to be separated from her group, but the gamble seemed worth it as she is sure that she is closer to the water's edge than she actually is. As the cat has now spotted her, he has begun stalking. He is no longer moving carelessly, but instead, every step, and muscle moved is done with extreme caution – he is not going to wake her up and allow her the chance to scoot herself back into the water, where she'll surely get away.
God, just look at her... a clumsy, fat sack of meat that had no business on land! Oh how easy this could be if he could just keep quiet, and how worth the reward. As as soon as he could choke the life out of her with that gargantuan bite, she would fill his stomach for days! The very thought made him smack his lips.
Just four metres now... it was perfect. The seal snorted in her sleep and turned her head in the opposite direction. She was completely unaware. If he was ever going to have her, it was going to be now. So, finally close enough to make his move, the cat lunges at the seal at full speed, but just as he does, a sound coming from his left distracts him – like rocks being crushed under the feet of something large...
No, no, no, no, no, no! NO!
Just as our cat has started his pounce, a very large British Brown Bear has jumped out of the treeline, coming crashing down onto the river worn rocks below with enough noise to wake the seal, and coming nearly within reach of her seconds before the cat due to the longer reach of its legs. The cat continues at the seal, despite the fact that she's been woken, only to come crashing into a very surprised bear. The crash of these two great predators is a meeting of fate, as it knocks the bear off course, just as it is about to wrap its twelve in paws around her. As the bear regains its balance and turns to meet the scimitar cat with a powerful swipe of its massive claws, the seal utilizes the seconds that she has to escape, turning herself clumsily around and hopping into the river.
The seal is lost, and the world will never be the same because of it...