“C’mon, hurry up!” Javqua said excitedly, as Thomas brushed his teeth with increased fervour.
“Whay ohn minuht!” He said, his words muffled from the unexpectedly foamy toothpaste. Thomas could only guess it was because krakovaks had a lot of teeth.
He finally finished brushing, rinsing his mouth and hurrying out the bathroom.
“I’m ready, I’m ready!” Thomas called, and he walked downstairs to see Javqua and her father waiting for him by the door.
He joined them, and they all walked out of the house and down the sidewalk.
“I explained a bit during breakfast, but I’ll elaborate further now. Kravenka has lots of wildlife reserves, where you can hunt prey. They’re used for social and recreational purposes, but also just to catch food.” Mr. O’dea explained, to a deep in thought Thomas.
“Do you get...guns there, or something?” He asked hesitantly, and Mr. O’dea chuckled.
“You can, but most prefer to hunt the old-fashioned way - with claws and muscles.” The krakovak flexed his scaly arms, a big grin on his face.
As Thomas thought, a sudden realization hit him. If they can take on their fauna in hand-to-hand combat, shouldn't I be able to as well? Thomas laughed internally as he prepared himself for a little test.
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Once they had arrived, Thomas took some time to look around and enjoy the scenery. Wherever he looked, there were massive trees and grassy fields of exotic plants and animals. It had a surprising amount of similarities to New Britannia, but just not quite.
Javqua had handed him a locator beacon that he had put in his pocket; he wasn't expecting to get lost, but it was always good to have contingencies.
The first thing he wanted to do was to see if he could properly hunt the weird-looking mammals Javqua had shown him pictures of - Fran’tara.
They had agreed to let him hunt alone for a little while just so he could see how he’d do.
Thomas moved silently through the trees, his childhood in the outer population areas of New Britannia coming in handy. He ran through the trees quietly, using the lower gravity to his advantage until he saw a small herd of Fran’tara. They looked like New Britannian deer, only much lankier, with smaller ears and a longer tail.
Deciding to take a stealthy approach, Thomas began crawling towards the herd, his small size hiding him easily in the tall plants.
Now no more than ten feet away, his hand came across a fist-sized rock, and he got an idea.
Gripping it tightly, he exploded upwards and threw the rock as hard as he could at the nearest Fran’tara. The animal swayed gently for a few seconds before collapsing, a large dent in its skull. The rest of the herd wisely ran off, and Thomas ran over towards the creature.
It didn’t move, and he managed to pick it up, hoisting it over his shoulder.
“I got one!” He yelled cheerfully as he ran towards a gawking Javqua, her father also stunned.
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--Around a minute earlier...--
Mr. O’dea watched as Thomas crawled along the ground, slowly inching his way towards the pack of Fran’tara. If he was going to be honest, the scene looked downright comical - such a small and unassuming creature hunting down such large prey.
It wasn't common for a Krakovak, even a distinguished one, to hunt such a beast. It was a well-known fact that they could easily outrun even some of the fastest of his species.
It was then that the small mammal leapt to his feet - not even running towards the herd! Gavorin thought Thomas was stupid; why would you spend all that time being stealthy only to reveal yourself for no reason?
His annoyed huff of disapproval turned into a choking splutter as he watched a small stone leave Thomas’s clawless hand, launched at a blinding speed. Before he could even comprehend it, a loud crack echoed through the forest and the Fran’terra was on the ground, a sizable dent in its head.
What was that! He thought, only to be shocked once again as a being arguably half the size of the Fran’tara casually picked it up and threw it over its shoulder.
The only thing left going through his mind was wondering what the little hellworlder would do next.
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“Did you see that? That was awesome!” Thomas exclaimed, stopping in front of Javqua.
“Javi?” He teased and Javqua snapped out of her stupor.
“H-How’d you do that?” She stammered, and he shrugged.
“I’m not gonna lie, I got pretty lucky there. So, are we continuing, or do I take this back?” Thomas asked.
“Dad?” Javqua turned to Mr. O’dea, who had composed himself. “That’s...enough. I believe.” He said curtly.
“Alright! Let’s head back!” Thomas said excitedly, energized.
The three of them began heading back, getting lots of stares as they did so. Since other alien species never visited krakovaks, his appearance itself was already rare.
But now combined with the fact that he was carrying an animal corpse twice his size over his shoulder…
Out of the corner of his eye, he could see people taking photos of him, but he didn’t really mind.
As Thomas walked into the city, the attention on him grew - and a small crowd began to form around him.
Did you catch that yourself? How are you carrying that? Is that real? Thomas could only nod in response to the questions, tired from holding the Fran’tara.
Javqua and Mr. O’dea were also getting asked questions.
Is he adopted? What species are they? They're a human! I think…
By the time they had reached Javqua’s neighbourhood, there was a sizable amount of onlookers - taking photos, recording, when, suddenly, the Fran’tara began thrashing violently in Thomas’s grasp, and he realized that he hadn’t checked if it was actually dead.
Wriggling out of his grasp, the creature crashed onto the bioroad, letting out demented shrieks of agony as it flailed around.
Feeling sorry for the animal, Thomas decided to put it out of its misery - rushing over and pummeling its head wound after a brief moment of hesitation.
Gripping the Fran’tara’s neck with one hand, he both mercilessly and mercifully beat it, with sickening thwacks and crunches.
While he was strong, he didn’t seem to be strong enough - and so, he began to strangle it.
Wrapping his fingers around the Fran’tara’s thin, furry neck, he squeezed, begging that the creature would die quickly.
Of course, it didn’t. The animal seemed to realize its imminent death and struggled harder, kicking out and hitting him several times with its hard hooves.
To avoid its blows, Thomas scrambled behind it, putting it in a headlock and squeezing as hard as he could.
The animal rolled and thrashed around, but Thomas held on, and his grip tightened.
There was a loud, resounding crack, and then the Fran’tara went limp.
Thomas slowly stood up, gingerly feeling the bruises he had gotten from the kicks.
“Well, that was certainly something Javqua.” He chuckled boisterously, at the absurdity of what had just happened.
But Javqua wasn’t looking at him anymore - she was looking at something behind him, and Thomas turned to see what.
He was staring directly into the camera of a news crew.
Not really knowing what to do, he smiled and waved, blood dripping down his hand.