Gurk had fully regained his composure. He pushed through the seemingly endless leaves and branches in an aimless march. He tugged on the collar of his jacket as he let out a long sigh. Incessant buzzing droned around, making him dart his eyes to see where the noise was coming from. Something flew onto his chest, making him swatch at the exposed scales with his hand.

The crocodile lifted his hand and stared at his palm. A squashed winged bug was stuck to the fabric of his glove. His face squinted in disgust when he saw that its size almost encompassed his entire palm. It had the same dark black color as the rest of the Essencima, along with purple innards that were now strewn across his palm and fingers.

Its wings were sharp and angular. A long, pointed stinger came out of the insects round abdomen, piercing through glove but not deep enough to go through his hand. With some fierce shaking, the deceased insect flung off his hand and onto the ground below. "Gross... Stinger..." he muttered to himself.

The buzzing became louder. Gurk quickly turned around to be greeted by a swirling black cloud. He took in a deep breath as his bright yellow eyes remained focused on the incoming swarm. The insects darted around the maze of leaves before encompassing the crocodile completely.

"Glacier!"

A blue mist spewed from Gurk's jaws. Like a flamethrower, he spat the chilling gas in a steady stream, focusing on the cloud of bugs. As the frost hit the flying insects, the buzzing became quieter and replaced with the sound of ice cracking.

In mere seconds, the entire swarm had been reduced to a pile of ice cubes scattered across the jungle floor, sparkling against the sunlight that crept in through the top of the dome and the gaps in the leaves above. Gurk continued to walk forward, crunching the frozen remains of the insects in the soft soil.

"A swarm of Stingers is no match for Gurk!" Itzel called out. For a moment she grinned, leaning forward in her seated prison as she watched her friend continue to wade through leaves. “If that’s the worse this place has to offer, Gurk has a good chance of getting out just fine!”

"Impressive," Evelyn said, bobbing her head. "Even Mag finds dealing with Stingers to be quite frustrating. He always gripes about bringing anti-Stinger along despite my insistence. Says it takes up unnecessary space that could be used for more ammunition. But it looks like that Special Technique of his is perfect for taking out flying swarms of small yet vicious Essencima. However, I still think he’s going to be in over his head once he comes across Lars. According to the Hunt summary, looks like he chose to start out in the Fallen Canopy.”

“Why is that?” Janus asked.

“It’s his preferred environment. He tends to pick this section of the Eco-Dome because it’s what he’s most familiar with. Managed to score a few kills in it.”

"Where's that Lars guy then?" Itzel called out abruptly. "I want to see what Gurk is going up against!"

"I have been looking for him through the feeds, but it seems he's too well hidden. We've already gone through all the cameras in this section of the Eco-Dome. Most likely means Lars doesn't want to be seen. No surprise there, though. That’s the core of his strategy.”

"Coward," Itzel replied. "Too scared to take Gurk head-on, but he prefers an up-close fight?"

"He's like an animal chasing prey. Patient. Silent. Likes to use the element of surprise. The fact that he has wolf DNA in his Neo-Sapia genetics also gives him a huge advantage."

"He's a fellow Neo-Sapia?" Itzel said. "And he's in there, joining them in the Hunt?"

"Mag's not a fan of having one of them join in either, but there's no denying that Lars has the skills and experience to hunt with the best! He says he helps keep the event challenging."

"I don't understand how someone could turn on their own kind like that," Janus added.

"Lars claims to be closer to regular people than other Neo-Sapia. He speaks... relatively eloquently. Although I would argue that he is still a bit lacking in the manners department."

"I hope Gurk ices him for good," Itzel replied bluntly.

"Mag probably feels the same way."

On the screen, Gurk was still in the center. His aimless wandering continued, only slower. His head moved from side to side looking at every part of his surrounding environment. With the buzzing of the swarm gone, the softer sounds of nature became audible. An abrupt rustling among some dangling vines caught both Gurk and the viewers' attention.

"That must be him!" Janus said, pointing to the swaying of the tangled vines to the side of the projection. "Hiding out in the middle of that thicket."

"Oh, I doubt that. Like I said, Lars is experienced. He wouldn't just give away his location like that. He always strikes first. Your friend wouldn’t even have time to react."

"Be careful Gurk!" Itzel called out with a tremble in her voice.

The crocodile inched forward, lowering his body while raising his fists in front of his upper body, ready to defend. As he got closer to the vines, he stretched out one hand. He pushed one of the dangling plants to the side. Underneath the shade of the tree, a loud chirp rang out. Gurk's entire body jumped about from the sudden sound, but he quickly returned to his fighting posture.

The chirping continued, sounding more like crying the longer it continued. It was high pitched and loud, only increasing in volume with each passing second. Backed up against the trunk of the tree was the duckling Neo-Sapia. Her back was pressed against the wood, her arms covering her face as Gurk leaned over her.

"Shush!" Gurk commanded, putting a finger over his jaws. He turned around behind him to see if there was anything or anyone there. With the coast clear, he turned back around to the still sobbing child.

"You... good?" he whispered. The duckling continued to squawk as she continued to press herself into the corner.

"She's going to get them both killed!" Itzel pressed her fingers into the end of arm of her seat as she leaned forward as much as her restraints would allow. "Come on Gurk! You have to make her quiet!"

"If I didn't know that your friend was a vegetarian, I would have suggested he just eat her!" Evelyn giggled. "Put the poor creature out of her misery and get a hearty meal!"

"Unlike you, Gurk isn't a monster," Itzel shot back. "There's no way he'd leave someone defenseless alone in Essencima infested territory, let alone devour them!"

"Tsk, tsk. What a shame. He will be putting himself at a huge disadvantage by helping that juvenile Neo-Sapia, especially if Lars is around. He won't go easy on him just because he's protecting a child."

"All the more reason to call off the whole thing," Janus said. "You keep going on about making for an entertaining experience. Do you think your viewers will enjoy watching your husband and his friends try to gun down someone too distracted with protecting a child to put a proper fight?"

"They just want bloodshed, darling!" Evelyn looked at Janus while wearing a big grin and gave him a gentle wave with her hand. "Only Mag will be upset about having the challenge reduced a bit. But between you and me, I must say that I am somewhat relieved. That means there's less of a chance that my family is going to get hurt!"

"After watching how your family could barely deal with a single Jagmaw... while using guns... I don't see them faring any better against Gurk."

"Time will tell, darling," Evelyn said smugly. "Time will tell."

On the projection, Gurk still lingered over the young Neo-Sapia. He leaned forward with both hands over the still screaming child. He gently put his both hands around the child's waist before bulling her in close. She shivered as Gurk hugged her, but her wails were reduced to a soft whimper.

"Calm down," he whispered. The duck buried her head into his chest, still shivering but with a steady heartrate. "I'll... protect..." Gurk whispered. The crocodile brushed back the feathers on top of the duckling's head as she sobbed, letting the chilled tears run down his chest and onto the bandages that wrapped around his waist.

Gurk looked behind him, still hugging the duckling. "Itzel!" he cried. "Janus?" He turned around, child still cradled in his arms, and desperately looked around the dense environment. “Anyone?” He sighed, shaking his head in frustration.

He looked down at the duckling. Her shivering slowed and her sobbing had been reduced to a soft whimper.

"Just us," he whispered. He obscured the child with his other arm, shielding her with his massive, scaled limb. “I’ll protect.”