Vanessa lay prone on the ground, looking up at the soaked trees glistening with freshly released Bomm juice. Sounds of drips and drops filled the area as she pulled herself up from the ground. She shook off the juice as best she could, but it still left her wet. Meanwhile, the other two Arijogs sat up. Rigar didn’t seem worse for wear. Rolla reached up and twisted her strands of brown hair, wringing out the excess Bomm juice. She sniffed and licked her dark-brown scaled forearm.

Rigar licked his lips. “This tastes great and it came from just one of those?” He pulled out his cellphone and pointed its camera to the fruits in the tree.

“Bomm Fruit.” The app said. “The Bomm Fruit is known for its sweet, smooth flavor and the vast amount of juice it stores, at least one hundred times its volume. As a result, it becomes pressurized and volatile. When it reaches overripe, its outer walls will expand and explode, spreading its seeds out over five square miles. Danger: Explosive hazard. Handle with care. Rarity: Low. 10 points.”

“It’s only worth a tiny ten points?” asked Rolla.

“Maybe if you hold a piece, you can get an achievement or something.”

Rolla picked up a top piece of fruit and took a selfie with it, pursing her lips as if she was going to give it a kiss.

“Arijog,” said the App. “A creature which uses various types of energies to power itself and its fire breathing attacks. Scanning type…ground. Ground-type arijog have an affinity to using the ground and physicality to defend itself. It is also adept at digging. Rarity: Common. 5 points.”

Rolla growled. “We’re worth less than the fruit?”

Vanessa wiped her forehead. “Do me a favor, lads. Go back to the city from where you came, and take yer stupid app with you.”

Rigar frowned. “What do you know about hunting, anyway?”

Vanessa sneered in close and snorted smoke at the larger Arijog. “I know that if I fucked with your brains, I’d only get a couple of peas out of them.”

Vanessa had had enough of those two and they’d probably get lost in the forest by night time. She turned around, squatted, and made a tremendous jump in the air. Once high enough, she spotted a path of trembling bushes and leaves as her two prey advanced. Further ahead, the forest terrain turned flat and grassy with a yellow line at the end followed by parkland. The parkland represented a green zone, which meant no hunting or killing prey. If they get that far, that would be it. She would have to go eat-in urban-style.

Fortunately for her, with the anti-gravity field in her watch, she could still approach without shaking the ground, but she’d lost the element of surprise thanks to those tourist hunters. She landed with a subtle thump and saw her prey’s silhouettes close by, then sprinted with the speed and grace of a Puman. Vanessa took a couple whiffs of the air and picked up their scent. They were close, about thirty feet ahead.

The grass-type arijog Athan peered behind him.

“One of them caught up with us,” he shouted.

The Arhtom was about a length behind him. Running using her legs instead of flying, she was able to keep up with the Arijog, but as she tried to reply, she could only get out pants. She tripped and stumbled. Her wings spread out and helped her regain her balance just in time. With the payload the two had, they were running with portable tidal waves in their bags.

Vanessa smirked and took a breath, then spat a couple of fire bursts at the Arijog. They both hit the bag, leaving some burnt spots. All Vanessa had to do now was to keep her distance and keep chipping away at their bags. Then, when their Bomms were exposed, fire a hotter shot, get out of the way and watch all the explosive waterworks capture her breakfast with more than a long glass of Bomm juice to be had.

“Fian. How many do you have left?” Athan asked his companion.

“Two. Why?” asked Fian.

“I’m the bigger meal she wants. Let’s split up. You know what to do after that.”

She frowned. “But then you’ll be—“

“It is what it is, go.”

Fian nodded, and they both veered off. He went left, she went right.

Vanessa grinned. She very much preferred this smart pair than the other two. It takes some guts to decide to sacrifice like that without a thought. She swerved and pursued Athan.

“Always knew you hunter-types liked bigger helpings,” said Athan.

“You’re right,” admitted Vanessa. “By the way, yer sacrifice to get yer partner in the clear won’t be in vain. I won’t go after her when I’m done with you, promise.”

“Thanks, but I’ve got no plans to sacrifice myself today,” said Athan.

Vanessa’s mouth smoked, and she blew a bunch of tiny blasts of fire at his backpack. The flames didn’t stick, but it left it with more burnt spots.

Athan turned around and started shifting to the side and jumped more, trying to make it difficult for Vanessa to aim.

She kept her eyes on his movements and took a breath; this time she held it, waiting for the right moment to fire. She spat out two fruit sized blasts and slowed. Athan ducked and swerved, dodging them as they struck the ground. Vanessa brought back up the speed and got within firing range again. She spat a trio of smaller shots at his legs, then a larger shot towards his bag. She slowed as the smaller blasts hit, causing him to stumble. The larger blast, about the size of a melon, reached within a couple feet. At the last moment, Athan rotated and took the blast in his shoulder. He roared in pain as it left a trail of smoke along with a burnt mark.

“Come on lad, you’re still a ways from the parkland,” said Vanessa. “You’ll be cooked by the time you get there. Whatever plan you have, it’s not working.”

“That’s because it hasn’t started yet,” Athan replied and snapped his tail back. It caught Vanessa by surprise and struck her shin, making her stumble. Athan used his tail to reach inside his bag and pulled out a Bomm fruit, firmly gripped. Athan wound up, spun his body and heaved it at Vanessa. It was like a large grenade flying right at her. Vanessa pressed her foot claws down, stopping and dove to the side, holding up her arms over her head. Two seconds later, a bang shook the trees as juice flew everywhere and splashed on her.

She cussed under her breath, having lost track and stopped. She looked around and sniffed for his scent. The notes of the grass-type were still there, but were masked with the overwhelming sweet scent of Bomm juice from all over the trees.

Vanessa picked back up the pace and followed his scent, making a couple of leaps. When she caught up, he already had one fruit in hand and another in his tail. She took a short breath and fired, aiming for the fruit in his tail. Athan’s tail swerved, and the shot missed. Athan set his counterattack in motion using the momentum to lob the fruit in his hand over his head. Vanessa stopped and ran to the side quickly before another bang and a wave of juice splashed over her.

She got back up and charged up the path. The fruits were supposed to be bait, not weapons. Worse, they were from her own tree. She couldn’t recall prey ever using them against her like this. Athan’s scent was now faint as the juice oozed over her body and left a concentrated sweet smell that Bienes would find irresistible. She was glad no such Queens had set up shop on Arijog.

Just as she got in visual range again, he lobbed a fruit up in the air. This time, she tilted her head and fired a blast towards the airborne fruit. She just got a piece of it but enough to knock it back towards him and it exploded mid-air. Vanessa took cover behind a tree in time while the grass-type covered his arms as the juice engulfed him.

Once the coast was clear, she approached his crouched form and walked by patches of burning leaves that got snuffed out by the drops of juice. She stopped by a small pile which smoked and stomped on it, putting it out for good with a loud thump. Three more steps and she loomed over him.

“It’s over,” said Vanessa. Her right hand opened up and revealed sharp claws while her gaze fell to his neck; breaking it should make the kill quick and painless. She took one last sniff of the air but this time, picked up a different note followed by hissing sounds. She raised her head in surprise and swung herself around as something splattered on the right side of neck. The green, slimy liquid bubbled and sizzled, eating away at her fine golden scales.

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Vanessa roared, stumbling back, teeth clenched as embers spewed from her mouth and landed on the ground, catching fire. She quickly stomped it out. The top of her right shoulder pulsated and grew red.

Fian, the Arhtom who Vanessa thought had run off to save herself, came back to defend her companion. But worse, she held a fruit in each of her upper hands.

She looked behind her; Athan was back on his feet and holding a fruit.

Vanessa was right in between the both of them with no fruits of her own. Fuck, they had her trapped.

“Sorry I took so long. I wasn’t sure if she picked up my scent earlier,” said Fian.

Athan turned towards Vanessa. “We’re heading back,” he said. “Leave us alone or we’ll tag you with these.”

Vanessa stood still. Even if they just threw them randomly, the amount of liquid discharged from that many fruits would overwhelm her and let them escape for the second time today. She couldn’t let them win after all she went through.

She jumped straight up into the air to clear her head and give her a few more seconds of thinking time. Then it was time to act on impulse. She took a deep breath and the boiling, molten breath heated. No choice now, she’d have to roast these two here and now. But something cut through her anger and frustration as she gained a bird’s eye view of the beautiful forest.

Three bomm fruits her rose to her eye level with sizzling sounds. The green acid boiled and ate through the fruits’ outer shells. They made an ominous rumbling.

“Fuck me up a Bomm river.”

***

With their black-haired Arijog predator out of commission, Athan breathed a sigh of relief and gave a victorious smile to his companion Fian. It took almost all of the Bomm fruits to defeat her, but they got the job done. As they walked away, Athan took one last glance behind him, just to make sure it wasn’t a fluke. But there she was, her body lay prone within a split tree’s trunk. The victory against a predator like a carnivorous Arijog was great, yet something about this victory gave him a bittersweet taste in his mouth.

“We need to get a move on before she wakes up,” said Fian.

When the black-haired Arijog fell, she careened into the tree and split it in half. Her head was positioned to the side at an awkward angle. Athan watched her chest for a bit longer and didn’t see it rise or fall that much. Was she even breathing? He turned around and jogged back towards her.

“Hey, what are yer doing?” asked Fian.

“Just making sure she’s okay,” replied Athan.

“She was going to kill us for a meal, right? She’s playing you for a fool.”

Athan kept quiet as he approached, knees trembled as part of him wondered what he was thinking. When he got within arm’s reach, she still didn’t move. A mixed sound of wheezing and gurgling came from the golden-brown scaled woman as she tried to breathe. Worse, there was very little of the usual heat that billowed from a non-grass type. Though she was shorter than him, she certainly looked more fit.

There were flashes of light that came from behind him, he turned to see his companion with her camera out taking shots of her.

“I got some more shots of her if yer interested in staring at her later,” said Fian. “Can we go now?”

The Female Arijog’s breathing labored and her face looked paler by the moment. Athan clenched his teeth and his stomach squeezed tighter. He reached under the woman’s arms and pulled her out from the tree wreckage, letting her head lean against his stomach. She felt much lighter than expected, but he spotted one of the tech watches used by some Arijogs to lighten their weight. Nonetheless, he dragged her away, leaving a trail and set her head and body down.

“Get me some rocks or large pieces of wood. Something to prop her on her side.”

Fian frowned. “Seriously?”

“Fian, please. It doesn’t feel right to just let her suffocate after all of that.”

“Five minutes ago she was ready to roast us.”

“She could have done that a long time ago.” Athan spotted a couple of chunks of wood and went for them. “In fact, just maybe, she let us live as long as she did for some reason.”

Fian laughed. “You daft or something? That’s her fault if she didn’t kill us in time. I’d care a wee bit more if I had my green card, but no. And we still got those other two ground-types looking for us too, remember?”

Athan grimaced. He’d completely forgotten about them and there might be others who were aroused to their presence from all the flying Bomm juices. His pace quickened and set down the wood pieces at an angle. He propped the black-haired Arijog on her side. As his hand reached lower on her back, he felt some sort of slit or flap that ran across her back. They vibrated and gurgled as well with air puffing in and out of them. In fact, her back had rows of those slits up past her shoulders to the middle of her neck. He positioned her body at a downward angle on the wood. As he moved her arms forward, he spotted more subtleties. Her hands were interconnected between her claws in a webbed shape. Her scales through her forearms were a golden-brown that transitioned into a finer, human-skin like texture across strong arms and shoulders. Then his eyes landed on her upper torso, full chest, and her peaceful face.

Athan shook his head, she was obviously dressed to distract. He positioned her arms and head forward and stood up. A moment later, she coughed and spat out some Bomm juice before her breathing cleared up and some color returned to her face.

“I think she’ll be fine now.”

Fian took another shot.

“Now can we get out of here?” Fian turned and ran.

Athan nodded and took one last look at the black haired Arijog before running away.

Once Athan caught up, Fian had her phone out, looking at a map.

“The GPS says we’re still about a thousand feet to the green zone parkland due north-west,” she said. “It’s not that far, just have to get beyond the forest, then when we get into the clearing, we should be able to spot it. We might have made it there already if someone wasn’t fixated on trying to save a predator.”

“Sorry, Fian. The way it all went down, it seemed too easy against someone like her.”

Fian shot Athan a confused look. “Like how it was easy for her burn yer arse before I stepped in to save it?”

The two stopped and hid behind trees as a tremor passed by them. Athan took in another whiff of air, but all he could smell was the sweet scent of Bomm juice. Athan stuck his head out and looked around before giving Fian the signal to continue. They began running again towards the clearing.

The two Arijog siblings, Rigar and Rolla landed in front of them, knocking Athan and Fian off their feet as they blocked their path out of the forest.

“Found you!” they both roared.

Fian shot a cold glare at Athan, which exuded more than just a normal “I told you so.” He responded with an apologetic shrug.

“I knew you two were still here; we heard all the action from afar and thought that other Arijog got you. But instead, we get some free pickings,” said Rigar. “You owe me that Bronze Burger Award, sis.”

Rolla growled and stomped her foot. “Do you know how long it took me to get that award in-game?”

“It’s okay, I’ll let you pick who to claim points on first.”

“Fine. Let’s just cook them now, barbeque-style.”

Athan stood in front of Fian. “It’s my fault, I’ll protect you.”

“Yah, thanks, maybe a wee late for chivalry,” said Fian.

As they stepped back, the two Arijog’s mouths smoked and waves of heat emanated. They both took a deep breath…

***

Vanessa groaned, opened her yellow eyes, and sat up. She coughed, spitting up more Bomm juice before massaging her neck, then cracked it back in place. She burped out a flame and steam escaped her mouth. A few more coughs and her throat fully cleared up. She favored her shoulder with red spots all over and remnants of disintegrated scale.

She looked around the area to see where she was. One good jump into the air or a look at the GPS would give her that info soon enough. She looked up at a tree that had split down the middle with an indentation of her body at the bottom with a long trench leading up to where she was. Looking behind her, large pieces of wood were there that had propped her up.

She sniffed across her arm; the Bomm juice scent was dominant. Another note was there, however, a very subtle note of a familiar grass-type Arijog.

She sighed and snorted a puff of smoke at her humiliating defeat, but couldn’t imagine what might have happened if he hadn’t moved her. Or more importantly for that matter, spared her. The stream that led to the puddle of Bomm Juice sitting adjacent to her gave her some clues as to why her throat felt rough and sticky. If he and the Arhtom had decided to end her, they’d had several ways to do it, though drowning was the last way she could have imagined it. Acid alone couldn’t have pulled it off in spite of the red spot on her skin.

Something smelled off. Not near her, not on her, but around her. She sniffed again. Her head rose as she took in notes of burnt wood and flesh. She pulled herself up from the ground and saw an orange glow with smoke up ahead. She sprinted towards it.

“Fucking tourist hunters,” she growled.

As she ran towards the glow, shadows of other forest dwellers were fleeing with their belongings in tow as she entered an area ablaze with fire. One of them, a Deerfalk, led his family away. They each had on a backpack. The father Deerfalk spotted Vanessa and ran towards her.

“You. This was your doing, wasn’t it?” he said.

“It wasn’t me,” snapped Vanessa. “We got some tourist hunters in the forest throwing fire like it was some giant marshmallows fu—“ she glanced down at two of the children who ran up to join their father. “I mean fire. Marshmallow campfire.”

Others approached Vanessa; a few of them had brown, green. and black soot on their fur and clothes.

“Where do we go?” asked a Bunnin.

“Keep going southwest to the beach,” said Vanessa. “You’ll all be safe there and the fire protectors can see you from the sky. Make sure someone calls the guards.”

Cries for help rang out and everyone’s attention shifted up and in towards a burning treehouse held up by four trees.

“Fuck.” Vanessa spat and ran towards it. She jumped onto it and climbed, slamming her claws into the bark one hand to the next. Her stomach growled, reminding her that she still had her needs to take care of.

Once she reached the top, she burst in, spotting a couple of Raves on the floor. They crowed, trying to keep themselves down and away from the flames and smoke. At the sight of Vanessa’s form, they shifted back, almost into the wall of flames.

“It’s okay. I’m not gonna eat you. I’m gonna save you,” she said.

The two looked at each other, then at the creeping flames which nipped their behinds. They scampered forward to Vanessa, and took her by the arms. Vanessa held them tight to her body, crouched, and leaped through the treehouse as it collapsed. She landed in front of the father Deerfalk and the Bunnin.

“Can you help them get to safety?” she asked.

Father Deerfalk and the Bunnin nodded.

“Dad, what does fuck mean?” asked Daughter Deerfalk.

“It means trouble if you keep saying that word,” said Father Deerfalk, frowning.

Another Rave swooped down from above in front of the others, feathers disheveled and smoking. He collapsed to his knees.

“Arijogs lighting the place. Not a care, not a care. Five of them, over a couple of prey.”

“Where are they now?” asked Vanessa.

“Farther there, farther there. Do they not know about forest fires?”

“Not if they didn’t hear it from that app,” said Vanessa. She wished that app would tell them to go fuck off the cliff or something.

“I’ll take care of them,” growled Vanessa.

“You?”

Vanessa sneered and nodded. “I owe those prey something for helping me, and those tourists need their pea-sized brains reprogrammed the hard way.”