Ayla and Baby by CROW-DIE
Baby was the cave lion that Ayla raised when she was alone in her Valley. Ayla called him "Baby" (a Clan word for infant), even though he grew to be the largest cave lion that anyone had seen.
History[]
The Valley of Horses[]
While Ayla was hunting reindeer, a cave lion cub was trampled. The cub's mother abandoned it, and once again, Ayla took pity on an orphaned animal. She used her travois to drag the cub back to her cave, where she healed it. Whinney, Ayla's horse, and Baby were unlikely companions. They played with each other, and Whinney helped to mind the lion.
As Baby matured, he began to learn how to hunt with Ayla. At first, he was still too young to make his own kills, but he was good at helping Ayla flush or drive animals. He made his first kill at a younger age than wild lions, whose prides would not allow them to spoil hunts. Ayla occasionally rode Baby, although she never tried to control the lion.
Baby began to spend more time alone as he grew. By the following winter, Baby had found a lioness. He stopped living with Ayla, although he sometimes returned to visit.
The following year, when Baby was two years old, Jondalar and Thonolan killed a deer that was stolen by Baby's mate. She dragged the carcass to a cliff in Ayla's valley. Thonolan was reckless with grief after the death of his mate, Jetamio, and decided to take the deer back from the lioness once she left the cliff. However, Baby caught the brothers unawares. He killed Thonolan and mauled Jondalar. Fortunately, Ayla just happened to be riding by and was able to stop the attack and rescue Jondalar.
Jondalar did not quite believe that Ayla could control a lion; he dreamed that a beautiful Doni had come for him. However, he was later convinced of Ayla's story when Ayla prevented Baby from attacking Jondalar.
The Mammoth Hunters[]
Ayla with Baby, by Giledhel-Narya.
During the Mamutoi Summer Meeting, Baby was threatening a girl whom he had mistaken for Ayla. Ayla stunned everyone by halting the encounter, exchanging affection with the lion, and then leaping onto the lion's back for a final ride. She never saw Baby again.
Mamut, Ayla's adoptive Mamutoi father, had a vision of Baby before he was trampled in The Mammoth Hunters and so did Creb in The Clan of the Cave Bear. The vision showed a lion cub, Baby's sister, pawing an older lion, but reindeer ran through the pride and the lion that was Baby was trampled.