Chapter 134: When the World is Unfair and Dolphins are Cute
"Haji!" Gramps Alpy smashed the upgraded black pebble with a poised look. The golden mahseer had a struggling expression etched to his brow (Mrs. Mooncat: As if a fish got eyebrows haha XDXD).
Cheers resounded loudly amongst the freshwater marines as the famous old tortoise showed his prowess. Gramps Alpy was grinning from ear to ear while he moved the upgraded black pebble across the 'board' with ease. To Mata's dismay, the shrewd old tortoise ate up multiple white pebbles at one time, leaving him with peanuts. It looked like Gramps Alpy was having the time of his life!
Truthfully, Gramps Alpy had never felt so alive until this moment! He had decided to teach the new game to the others when he returned regardless of whether he succeeded or not. He knew this game will be a new sensation back at the clan grounds soon. How else can he keep flexing!!!
On the other side, Saras the pink dolphin, was meticulously moving her white pebble using her snout with difficulties as Kolo sighed deeply. "Do you need my help, Saras?"
"No. It's alright. Just give me some time, alright?" Both of them were chatting quietly in Bubble language. Both Saras and Kolo were the quiet type with a mild temperament. Nonetheless, the tension between them was building up steadily, since both of them knew the significance of winning this weird yet complicated 'competition'. Their paces were the same, and even their clumsy attempts at 'eating' each other's pebbles were at par with each other...
It will be a long, arduous fight...
...
By around 3 pm, two winners were finally determined. Obviously, the disparity between Gramps Alpy and Mata was so vast, for the old tortoise to win with ease was nothing out of the ordinary. Everyone had predicted it. Nonetheless, no one expected that the fight will be over in a mere one hour!
However, the fight between the beautiful pink dolphin and the brown introverted crocodile dragged for three whole hours! It was so intense until the end! Saras won with a very small margin as the checkers' board was nearly devoid of competing pebbles! Now, they've seen Kolo in a new light! It turned out that the extremely quiet crocodile was highly intelligent too! He had been too low profile all this while!
The socially awkward Kolo kept on blushing when intense stares were directed at him again and again. He didn't know what to do but to just perfunctory replied with a faint voice to the incessant questions by the others. Suddenly, Kolo found himself in the center of attention, although he failed to win the competition.
Saras and Gramps Alpy were already eyeing each other this time, the fire of competition burning in their hearts. They knew this was the final straw for them to win the Lord's favor. Chomper's tale about the benevolent goddess was still fresh in their minds. They knew this was the chance they've been waiting for!
"I'm going to win the favor of the Lord this time, Gramps. Cut me some slack and retire with honor."
"No can do, Saras dear. This chance may never come again. I'm sorry. Just be a good girl and respect the elder."
"Then, may the best creature wins." Saras smiled and nodded to the old tortoise in acknowledgment.
The momentum was building up rather beautifully as the two contestants stared daggers at each other. The crowd was divided into two; one was the supporters of the shrewd old tortoise, while the other group was the die-hard-fans of the graceful river dolphin.
"Alright!! That's it for today!" Hana's loud voice, accompanied by its translation from the white fox, made both Gramps Alpy and Saras nearly fell. They looked at each other and blinked their eyes in confusion. Even the rest of the freshwater marines groaned.
"But... But... Lord, er, Lord Shiro, the winner had not been determined yet. Who will be the one to carry the main Lord?" Gramps Alpy, the tortoise, queried cautiously while reverently lowered his head.
"No need to ask too much. The Lord has spoken. She already chose between the two of you." Shiro replied with a bored expression.
Immediately all eyes were transferred to Hana. Some were full of hope, while the others were shining brightly more than the rest, making Hana oh-so tormented dearly inside. She just loved looking at those googly anime eyes the most.
Hana walked down towards the two contestants as the sea of freshwater marine creatures parted to give her way. She walked step by step and was followed closely by Shiro on her right, and Kuro on her left. Particularly on her left, all the creatures gave the tyrannical lightning serpent a wide berth, too afraid that any small mistakes would costed them their lives. Kuro could only roll his eyes over since technically, they were right. However, since Hana was around, he won't easily lash out his temper to maintain his adorableness in his mistress' eyes.
Gramps Alpy's eyes glittered in anticipation. He knew he was the best in this round's competition. His eyes lighted up when he saw the Hana walking towards him. However, Hana walked passed him after she patted the giant tortoise's head with a smile. She went over towards Saras, held her breath, and immediately gave the pink river dolphin a hug!
"Oh my god, I just loved pink and dolphins! And you're the embodiment of both! How adorable!" As usual, the aunty had forgotten herself and squealed in delight as Saras tried her best to withstand the awkwardness of making direct contact with the highest Lord of the area.
Kuro and Shiro eyed each other with a suspicious look. It seemed that their Mistress had been partial towards the pink dolphin from the beginning!
Then what was the use of making all those nonsensical competitions?!
[Mom! Is it just me, or you've been eyeing the dolphin from the beginning?!] Shiro inquired helplessly within their shared telepathic connection.
[Which dolphin?] Ara asked from faraway. [When are you coming, Mistress? I've been waiting for such a long time... wuu... wuu...] Whiny sounds were heard after that. It didn't sound adorable at all. In fact, it pissed both brothers immensely.
[Shut up! We're discussing something important over here! Little fishes go and play at the corner!] Kuro barked unhappily.
[Sorry...] T___T
[Stop being so hard on Ara, guys. Ara deary, we're wrapping up already. On the way, on the way, haha.] Hana blushed, and her awkward laughter rang within their telepathic mental connection.
[What can Mommy do, the dolphin is just too adorable. Beh tahan. I really, really, wanted to hug her from the beginning. I had a pink dolphin plushie just like her once. But not that big. She was as big as a manatee I saw in the aquarium once upon a time ago.]
Kuro and Shiro, [!!!!!]
[Why did we do the competition then?!] Kuro almost faint from their mistress' antics. He had placed his dignity aside to assist with the competition; all for the sake of helping Mommy choose easier.
Hana cleared her throat and laughed sheepishly. [I just want to see you two performed Zumba.. that was all. It has been super adorable. And Mommy is always right huhu <3 The other creatures are a bonus! Really spectacular! Mommy enjoyed the performance tremendously!]
A droning questioning sounds interrupted them. It turned out, even Q-chan was trying to say something, but alas, she still wasn't good with the universal beast language.
[Are you okay, Q-chan? Why are you so happy?] Hana could only perceive the Primordial Queen Mother's mood and could understand what she felt.
[Home... near... together...]
Everyone within the telepathic 'chatroom' blinked their eyes in confusion.
[Okay, dear. Anticipating the good news! When I get back, let's meet up, alright?]
[You should've chosen the tortoise, Mom. It's more comfortable to ride on, the most quick-witted, hence will follow instructions easily.] Shiro added quietly. He had issues with how Hana choose her mount. Dolphins were not quite ideal for a comfortable ride.
[Additionally, it scored the best in all competitions. It deserved to be made into a mount. You should reconsider.]
[No way. That dolphin is too cute. Besides, they need to learn that the world is always unfair. We're not kids anymore.] Hana shrugged noncommittally.
Kuro and Shiro were speechless with Hana's attitude and could only shake their heads in dismay. A few days ago, the aunty already promised to listen to their counsel, alas, she had forgotten it altogether again! Whatever, since this was only a small matter, they could only helplessly let go.
...
A large convoy moved in the middle of the Crystal-veined stream's deepest parts, led by a tanned woman with long thick braided hair. She was riding a large pink dolphin. Her ragged, dusty blue jeans and faded partially thorned yellow shirt were gone, as they were replaced by a tight-fitting 'clothes' that looked like a black one-piece swimsuit from her neckline to her toes. She still wore the brown sweater over the new one-piece to cover her less than ideal body shape.
Obviously, this woman was Hana, who had just made a new set of clothes for herself, using Kuro's shedded skin. She used one of Kuro's many protruded scales as a needle and cut some of the shriveled skin into thin strips where she used as threads. The size of Kuro's sesame seed shaped scale in his real form was about three inches in length. What she needed to do was just to trim it a bit using her Clawknife drenched with Kuro's saliva. Her needlework was extremely sloppy, but since the material was very sturdy, after working on it for three nights, she got a fairly decent replacement for her faded yellow shirt and brown sweater.
Only that, she realized the material was suitable for swimsuit-like attire rather than regular clothes. She even tried making some undergarments using the material but ultimately gave up since it couldn't even absorb sweat! She really needed some cotton-based textile for those. Only after completing the needlework project did she start performing extreme workouts just for fun and to curb her boredom.
Closely followed a pace behind her was Shiro, upon the giant tortoise, the shivering Chomper by his side, followed by nine Elemental Fiends of the General-class and a single Worker-class orange-colored Elemental Fiend; all atop various freshwater creatures. The cute little Piko-piko was tied on top of the orange Elemental Fiend as it snored adorably. Originally, the Worker-class Elemental Fiend was reserved as Hana's mount; she didn't want to roast, electrocute or poison her own butt again and suffer in silence. Shiro had painstakingly select the 'brawniest'one amongst thousands of them once she told him.
The rest of the freshwater creatures without passengers followed at the back forming a long congregation. The freshwater creatures were careful not to submerge all twelve delegates in the stream as they maintain half of their bodies on-air and only skimmed the surface of the beautiful crystal-clear river.
Hana had started feeling sore at her inner thigh area after four-hours of continuous journeying. She wanted to ask for a break, but couldn't since she was the culprit who delayed the journey too much just for the sake of having fun. She was slightly guilty about it, but well, since the appointment didn't have an exact timing, it should've been alright.
[Mom?]
[Yes, sweetie?]
[What did you talk about with Q from before? I never knew you already could read the Queen Mother's intention like that. I'm ashamed of myself for not being able to understand her, although we're considered as brother and sister.] Shiro was feeling conflicted about not being able to comprehend Q-chan's telepathic message. Was his link to Mom, and the rest was that shallow? He couldn't help blaming himself for not linking well with everyone, including his own Mistress.
[Nah. I don't understand at all. Just pretend to understand to make her happy, haha.]
Shiro nearly fell into the river.
...
CREATORS' THOUGHTS 
mrandmrsmooncat
mrandmrsmooncat A trivia for you guys. Do you know that the zumba-arc had been brewing in Mrs Mooncat's mind since the first time Mrs Mooncat writes the story? It was 2 years ago. Haha. Finally <3
Apologies for the delay
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