Grisha’s eyes were clenched tightly closed as sweat stung them. His body was slick with sweat and he felt the unbearable heat. He wasn’t going to make it. He could hear the self-defeating thoughts as he panted, sucking down whatever oxygen he could get. The Pteranodon mother was determined to catch him, and she would any minute if he slowed down even by a few miles.
There was the roar of an engine behind him. A hover car was rocketing behind him being driven by a shiba inu. “Don’t stop running Grisha!” Barkley shouted at the Saiyan’s back. For a big guy, Barkley had to admit that Grisha could run pretty fast. His height gave him a stride advantage, but he could tell he made a living doing it. The hover car pulled up next to Grisha.
“Put the eggs in the back!”
Grisha set one egg in the backseat, and then the second. He then grasped the egg at his stomach, yanking the excess tunic out from his pants. He dropped the egg into his hand and placed it in the back with the other two.
“Get in, quick!”
Grisha grasped the side of the car, causing it to tilt. Barkley’s eyes bulged as he struggled to control the wheel. The car swerved as Grisha vaulted his legs over the side to land in the passenger seat. His weight dropping into it caused the car to scrape the road before it struggled back into the air. Barkley angrily barked, “ARE YOU TRYING TO ESCAPE OR GET US INTO A WRECK?”
Grisha slumped back against the chair with his arms dangling over the back. He was too exhausted to even speak. Barkley tossed a bottled water into the Saiyan’s lap. “Here. Drink this before you pass out.”
The Saiyan grasped the bottle and unscrewed the top. Even such a menial task had felt difficult. Grisha started chugging down the cool water until the bottle imploded. With a relieved gasp, he said to Barkley, “Thanks."
“I didn’t expect you to get far. You never performed at your best in the heat.”
Grisha grinned proudly, but said nothing. He was relaxing and taking a break. The breeze wafting against his body was cooling him off, and he was starting to doze. The next time Grisha opened his eyes, it was to the shrill scream of a creature that hadn’t sounded like a Pteranodon. Grisha’s grey eyes squinted against the glare of the overhanging sun that made the golden sands around them glow. No longer were they in the rural suburb, but in the desert section of the island and overhead was a great eagle.
Barkley had been trying to watch the road, but even he looked up to see the sand eagle taking interest in them. “Damn those aggressive birds,” he growled. He glanced at Grisha to see that he was awake and watching the eagle.
“I bet you a wishbone that bird’s about to come down here, giving us two big problems,” he informed.
Grisha frowned and sat upwards. He grasped the side of his neck and rolled his head to loosen up his neck muscles. “Big bird, big chicken,” Grisha declared. He then turned around in his seat, resting a knee in it as he gazed up at the creature. First, they had the Pteranodon mother and now they had the eagle. Grisha ran his pink tongue across his lips and brought his hands together as he cracked his knuckles. Barkley happened to glance at the eyesore of a split in the back of Grisha’s trousers. His snout wrinkled and the corner of his maw arched with a disgust expression at the bare-ass he saw.
“Dude, how did that happen, and you don’t wear underwear?” Barkley said averting his eyes.
Grisha blushed and unfurled his tail from about his hips. He tucked his tail beneath his pants and allowed it to protrude through the gap to somewhat cover his behind. “Sometimes?” Grisha answered.
Barkley narrowed his eyes at the Saiyan. He was not expecting him to answer.
“Dog Face wear underwear?” Grisha asked.
If Barkley could blush…his fur instead bristled at the personal subject as he snapped, “I have fur!”
The Pteranodon screamed at the sand eagle as the two avian predators collided in battle. Talons locked and beaks clashed like swords. The Pteranodon was attempting to capture the sand eagle’s neck, while the sand eagle was attempting to pierce the dinosaur with its scissor-like beak. Barkley slowed the hover car down and swerved to a halt.
“This is bad. If the sand eagle kills the Pteranodon mother, then the eggs won’t survive.”
Grisha grinned at Barkley and jested, “Eat eggs.”
Barkley returned an unamused expression and the Saiyan sighed. At least he tried. It felt a little out of his character to save eggs, when he comes from a hunter-gather society. If he had returned to the village with those eggs, then they would have had a meal. He jumped out of the car onto the hot sand. Standing barefoot on the sand was like standing barefoot on ice for a normal person. Grisha’s tail puffed and shot straight up as his whole body tensed from the heat he felt.
“What happened to your shoes?” Barkley asked.
Grisha started running in place, while wincing from the heat. “Broke!”
“I swear, every time you do some sort of errand, your clothes get destroyed. Can you project ki?”
“What ki?” Grisha asked before he crouched. His palm rested on the sand as a ring of dust and granules rolled out and expanded around him. The Saiyan leapt into the air toward the fighting birds while Barkley scratched his fuzzy head.
How has he gotten stronger without knowing what ki is? the dog pondered.
The sand eagle’s sharp eyesight noticed Grisha’s approach and turned from the Pteranodon to face him. With a strong flap of its wings, it sent a gust into him, halting his ascent. Grisha crossed his arms before his face before the Pteranodon mother followed up, snagging him within the tight grip of her left talon.
“Oh great, they’re double-teaming him. I guess they both acknowledge him as the greater threat,” Barkley surmised as a nervous bead of sweat descended his brow.
While Grisha’s arms were bound, the sand eagle bit down on Grisha’s head and started to fly backwards. The Saiyan felt the pull on his neck muscles as the bird attempted to rip his head clean off. It was the Pteranodon mother who greedily bit down on the back of the sand eagle’s neck, clenching its throat between her jaws and causing the sand eagle to free Grisha’s head.
Grisha growled and started spreading his arms. His arms shook as he used his raw strength to spread the Pteranodon’s claws. Once the claws were open and he felt his weight drop, he grasped onto the Pteranodon’s rear toe claw and swung over to its tail. The Pteranodon mother’s yellow eyes glared back at Grisha as she felt him grasp her tail. She released the sand eagle’s neck to roar threateningly at him and the sand eagle flapped backwards before raising its talons to latch onto the Pteranodon’s neck. The mother screamed as her enraged attention returned to the bird. Grisha crawled up to her spine and rose to his feet to sprint up the length of her back. He passed her head crest to launch off her head at the sand eagle.
The sand eagle released the Pteranodon’s throat and tried to send another gust at Grisha, but the Saiyan had came too close. Both of his legs had tucked against his chest and he thrust them out to send his feet slamming into the bird’s face. The sand eagle’s head snapped backwards and Grisha used the rebound to backflip into the air. The Saiyan somersaulted over the Pteranodon mother’s head. The pterosaur gawked up at the whirling Saiyan in order to receive a solid kick dropping like a hammer between her eyes. The Pteranodon’s teeth came together in a pained grimace before she and the sand eagle went falling like aircrafts to the desert sands below. Grisha tumbled after them, smiling in satisfaction at his handiwork.
Barkley was raising his fists in a cheer. “Yeah! Now that’s what I’m talking about!”
The bird struck the ground, causing a yellow plume of sand to rise. Grisha landed after in a crouch, his hand posted to steady himself. The sand had created a screen that made it hard to see and smell where the predators were and what they were doing. He hadn’t struck them too hard. Just enough to stun them.
The pink tail of the Pteranodon then parted the screen. Grisha leaned backwards until his back was parallel to the sand. He felt the breeze of the tail passing over his body before the Pteranodon turned, stomping her taloned foot on top of the Saiyan and crushing him flat upon his back.
Continued here
WC: 1,496