The next morning John fed his tiger cub some water. It refused to eat anything which was worrying.

“Your velox tiger will only eat fresh meat,” said Lin.

“But it’s so young,” said John, patting the cub on its forehead. It mewed and scarpered around John, pouncing on his back. It was too cute!

“Velox tigers are like that,” Lin picked up the cub and stroked its head. “They don’t require much milk. Shall we hunt some animals for meat before the others wake? They’ll want to move out quickly.”

“All right.”

“I’ll keep the cub in my pet space for now.”

“How do you do that?” asked John as they walked out from camp. “Make animals appear and disappear?” He was always curious about new powers.

“It’s my pet space, a dimension within me. Every true blooded native of Artoo has this ability.”

“So you can’t teach it to me then?” John asked despondently. It would have been cool if he had an army of pets that could appear out of thin air.

“I would if I could, but sadly not.”

They crept through the forest and found the watering hole where they had found the rhino earlier. Its corpse was eaten clean by scavengers. They drank from the water and moved on. They soon encountered a small herd of about ten gazelle.

“We’re in luck,” said Lin.

“I’ll kill it with a wind blade.” John was not as familiar with wind as he was with fire and lightning but he could manage a wind blade. He sent a V shaped wind blade flying straight at a gazelle’s neck. It went down before the herd even realized danger was close. The other animals quickly ran away, leaving behind the kill. Lin and John cut it up and then went back to camp. John fed the tiger and Lin’s wolf some of the meat. They ate happily. Lin then cooked some of it for breakfast. The others awoke to the smell of roasted meat.

“Smells nice,” yawned Rose, “but I don’t eat.”

“Then how do you live?” John asked curiously. Was it photosynthesis? Even that required soil and minerals.

“I live off the nutrients in the air. I’m self sufficient, the pinnacle of evolution.”

Big Crow squawked, “Eh? If you’re the pinnacle of evolution then I’m at the summit of divinity.”

“It’s all right to be jealous,” Rose was smug.

“Who’d be jealous of a rose bush?” Big Crow began to deal wholeheartedly with his meat, ignoring the rest.

“I’ll train your velox tiger if you like,” Lin said to John. “Velox tigers are strange. They’re tiny when they’re born and don’t grow for three years. Then, all of a sudden, they become huge. You’ll have trouble if he isn’t trained.”

John nodded, “I don’t know what I’ll do with him once he’s as big as a house.” This had been troubling John for some time. He wouldn’t be able to fit on any space ship.

Lin laughed, “you don’t have to worry about that. After their second growth spurt they are able to change their size at will. Have you given it a name?”

“Sher Khan.” It was the tiger’s name from Jungle Book. He couldn’t think of any other that would fit.

It was soon time to leave. John wrapped some of the meat in leaves and placed them in bags they made out of Rose’s clothes. He didn’t need the clothes anyway. Red roses bloomed on his body, infusing the air around him with a pleasant fragrance. Hopefully, the smell wouldn’t attract any predators.

They trekked up the mountain and found a giant toad blocking their path. It had brown skin and big bulging yellow eyes. It brandished its long tongue like a whip. The tongue curled around John before he had a chance to react. He struggled and crashed into the toad’s body. He cut off the tongue and escaped with a phase into the aether. He put some distance between them, and destroyed the toad with lightning. It was a simple battle. The others hadn’t had to lift a finger.

“Why do they always pick on me?” asked John, wiping off goo from his skin and clothes. It seemed like every monster was gunning for him.

“You look like the weakest,” said Big Crow. “I’d swoop down and bully the smallest chump I could find if I was in their place. Don’t know why they don’t go for that Rose. He’s the real useless one.”

“Useless?” roared Rose. “I’ll have you know that it was me who killed the tiger.”

“Eh? You just torched an already dead tiger.”

“Enough fighting you two,” said Ara. “We have a lot of territory to cover today.”

John suddenly felt dizzy. He tried to shake it off but found he was falling to the ground. His sight had turned black and he could hear the others panicking. His breathing was ragged, and he was sweating profusely.

“It’s poison,” he heard Ara say. “Do we have an antidote in the health kit?”

“No,” Lin answered.

John opened his eyes. Everything was fuzzy, like he needed glasses. He saw a flying metal cylinder move in the sky and land on the ground next to him.

“It’s a patron,” said Ara. “Quickly, see what they sent.”

“Antidote, one vial and an injector.”

He felt a small prick in his arm. A few minutes later his vision returned to normal and felt strength again in his legs. The patrons had saved his life. Maybe they weren’t that bad after all.

“Thank you,” he got up and bowed his head to the mosquitoes. “Thank you,” he said to his fellow companions.

“Don’t know what we’d do without you,” said Big Crow. “Can you walk?”

“I think so,” John got to his feet and took a few experimental steps. “I should be okay.”

“Then let’s go,” said Ara. “Lin, you stay by John’s side in case he needs some help.”

They walked on. Ara easily took care of a leopard that was stalking them. They reached the base of the mountain and moved on through thick forest, Ara and Rose blazing a trail ahead. Evening came and they made camp for the night. John played with Sher Khan by the fire, tumbling about here and there. Towards the middle of the night, Lin who was keeping watch woke everyone up. His wolf was softly growling.

“What’s happening?” Ara asked, eyes heavy with sleep.

“Wolves,” said Lin. “I can tell what kind they are from the scent. They’re smaller than my Aka, but fast.”

Ara jumped to her feet, “everyone, stay by the fire. Rose, ready your flame thrower.”

“What if I set the forest alight?”

“Then we die. Just use it carefully. Without it we will very likely die as well.”

“Finally,” Rose laughed manically, sending a few wisps of fire into the air.

“Here they come,” said Big Crow, alighting on a branch not far away. “I’ll come swooping down and hit them with my momentum.”

“You’re just too scared to be in the center of action,” Rose laughed. “Not like this brave rose bush.”

The wolves came, leaping at them from different directions. John used blaster and glaive to deal with them as he tried to weave lightning. Rose let loose. Lin’s wolf was fighting with the alpha in the back, and Lin was busy swinging his sword at any wolf that dared come nearer. Big Crow swooped down from the tree and helped Lin’s pet attack the alpha wolf. Ara sprayed bullets with her rifle, not bothering to conserve ammunition. John finally managed to finish weaving lightning and chained it from one wolf to another. They fell down, stunned and were quickly killed.

Ara wiped the sweat off her brow, “These corpses will attract more beasts to us. Let’s shift our camp.”

As they walked on they suddenly heard someone singing. The voice was a rich tenor and singing a cheerful tune. John was familiar with that voice. “Karamen,” he yelled with joy.