Post by Grisha on Oct 4, 2020 8:46:20 GMT -8
PL: 5,728
Grisha bared his teeth as he saw a pair of jaws rushing for his head. The Pteranodon clamped down about it, while the sand eagle snagged one of his legs and attempted to pull it from its socket. The Pteranodon clawed at the sand eagle’s face, trying to greedily fight off the competing predator.
“Kami-sama!” Barkley exclaimed before he bailed out of the hover car and made a desperate dash for the murder. Oh Kami. Were they going to rip him apart? Was he going to be too late?
Within the Pterandon mother’s mouth, Grisha had lowered his chin to his chest, constricting his neck muscles as tightly as possible to resist the knife-like teeth that tried to sink into it. His face was sweating from perspiration and the saliva that dripped from the miasma that was the dinosaur’s mouth. He could feel the sand eagle trying to rip off his leg and his tail whipped sharply across the creature’s face, causing the bird to stagger.
Save these birds…he’d rather eat them. It frustrated him greatly that his prey was preying on him, trying to eat him alive! Grisha knew that if he hadn’t been trying to help out Barkley and the Turtle School that he would have eaten them first or at least brought their meat back to his village to be cooked. His arms were pinned, head captured, and his legs were busy kicking at the sand eagle, trying to keep it from snagging them again. The sand eagle stomped its talons down on his legs, causing Grisha to growl. Then the bird’s beak started pecking his thighs, piercing them like a spear, but they weren’t strong enough to break through his tough muscle and flesh. Still, the persistent stabbing was painful. The sand eagle tore strips of his pants like flesh.
Grisha could hear his heart pulsing loudly in his ears. Oxygen was growing thin within the Pteranodon’s mouth and that was when Grisha realized what the predator had been really trying to do. She was trying to suffocate him. It was a common technique used among all predators to make their prey submit quicker. For a moment, it made the Saiyan panic, and he had to calm himself down. He had been in a situation like this before—not exactly this situation, but similar dire straits. It was how he trained on the mountain back at home. He always tried to scale it as high as he could go until the oxygen was so thin that he couldn’t continue. He then meditated in the severe climate, enduring the cold, ice, blizzards, and low oxygen. Calm down Grisha, his conscience told him.
The Saiyan closed his eyes and exhaled a long breath. He envisioned himself back on the mountain, steeling himself against the frigid bombardment. He no longer felt the sand eagle hammering at his legs. He no longer felt the heat of the Pteranodon’s breath and the jaws squeezing at his throat. He heard only the whispers of the mountain gale. He wasn’t going to die here. He wasn’t going to be some predator’s meal. They were his prey, and he was going to break free!
Grisha’s eyes snapped open and his hands clenched tightly into fists. The Pteranodon’s foot lifted off the ground as Grisha’s body swelled with strength. His muscles expanded and became as smooth as glass. The sand eagle ceased pecking at Grisha’s legs as a crack appeared in its beak. Barkley slowed as he neared the birds and observed the sand eagle, recoiling in alarm. The Pteranodon appeared to be gnawing lightly on Grisha’s head, a few tears appearing in her eyes as she persisted.
“It’s like chewing iron!” the pterosaur growled. She retracted her teeth from around Grisha’s head. Grisha threw up his arms, sending the Pteranodon’s foot upward, causing the monster to stagger backwards. Grisha then sat upwards and calmly rose to his feet. Not even the hot sand bothered his soles using his new technique. Grisha bent his knees, sinking into a stance as he held one clawed hand in the Pteranodon’s direction. His other hand was beneath it and pulled back at his side.
Barkley found himself squinting at Grisha’s form. The sun was refracting off his body like a polished car. He could have been crafted from metal. He raised his paw to shade his eyes before they grew in shock to see that Grisha was not only having a wardrobe malfunction, but his clothes had practically burst from his body unable to contain his increased dress size. Barkley’s paw then turned to cover his eyes as he sighed long and hard. He wasn’t giving him another Turtle School outfit, and he definitely wasn’t allowing him to return to the mountain house nude.
The sand eagle screamed angrily at Grisha and flapped its wings. Grisha turned his head to give the bird a glare, and the eagle started backing away acknowledging who the greater predator was. Barkley was surprised to see the sand eagle turn tail and fly off. He walked over to stand alongside Grisha and observed the nervous mother. He rested a paw on Grisha’s shoulder and the Saiyan glanced at him before standing down. He rose out of his stance and rested his hands upon his hips as Barkley attempted to reason with the mother:
“I won’t let him hurt you, and we’re not here to hurt your eggs. You can’t live on the mountain. Someone already lives there and you can’t kick them from their home. We’re going to find you and your young a safe place where you can nest in peace; but we’re only going to do this if you agree to cooperate. Do you agree?”
The Pteranodon mother frowned, but after staring at Grisha and the fierce look he was giving her, she decided to yield, “I agree…”
Barkley smiled. “Great! Just follow us and we’ll find you and your eggs a new home.”
Barkley and Grisha turned and started heading back to the hover car. The inu looked up at the Saiyan who was raising his arms and inspecting his body. “Where did you learn that technique?”
“Mountain,” Grisha answered. “Never seen.”
“Maybe because you were in a dire situation. You can train for a very long time, but only when your life is on the line will you see your true strength.”
It bothered Grisha that he probably would have never discovered this technique if his life weren’t ever in danger. He thought he pushed himself to the limits on the mountain, but his life hadn’t felt as endanger as it had in that moment at the mercy of the Pteranodon and sand eagle. He couldn’t just keep training in simulated environments. He had to experience actual hardship and suffering. If he didn’t, he would never grow stronger.
“What do you call that technique?” Barkley asked.
“Huh?” Grisha looked at the dog curiously.
“Your techniques have to have a name. You look like you are made of steel shining like that.”
Grisha once again raised his arms and tilted his forearm toward his face to see his reflection. “Mountain…steel…Mountain Steel!”
A sweat drop descended down the side of the inu’s head. That sounded so corny. “How about Steel Mountain?”
Grisha grinned excitedly at Barkley. “Yes!”
Barkley then stepped in front of Grisha, averted his eyes, and held his paw up at him. “Stop! You better go find some clothes or something. You’re not getting in that car butt-naked, and I’m not going to let you ruin another gi.”
Grisha blushed and turned to look around the desert. He saw scraps of his clothes and some feathers from the sand eagle. After a bit of survivalist ingenuity, Grisha made himself a loin cloth with cotton scrap and eagle feathers. As he rode with Barkley through the desert sector, his muscles started to deflate. He lost his metallic sheen as steam visibly left his shrinking body in wisps.
“Are you all right?” Barkley asked.
Grisha had a hardened look on his face until he could no longer suppress it. His head tipped back against the seat and his soul left his mouth in a white kite.
“AH! Get a hold of yourself!” Barkley panicked.
“So hot…” Grisha rasped on a parched throat. He had only been able to resist the heat for so long using his new technique. Barkley tossed another water into his lap.
“Drink that before you die of dehydration!”
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