Drake chose that moment to arrive.
'shit'
Thankfully the whole thing ignored him, the unicorn was all about Naya. The dog didn't care.
Drake's bladder couldn't handle it 'taking note'
"Naya, Quick." He whispered, stomping in an alarmingly feminine way.
She nodded and rolled off its back, 'spelunking' as quickly as she could. Drake moved under her to catch her. It was a great idea right up until Naya's bloody sneakers and knees crashed into him.
The dog looked up and let out a roar, its lips receded, the flesh pulling out of sight, leaving little gums; spilling a wave of spittle and drool that pattered and splattered on the grass.
A lion would've run screaming.
The extent to which he didn't want to be there couldn't begauged.
It went from dog-like to full bulldog. The whole creature grew. One stomp could liquify.
"The water!" Drake yelled getting up and pulling her.
She pulled away and overtook him with ease. The river wasn't far.
Drake turned to see where the horse was. It shook its heads, getting their bearings. Either that or it was giving them a head start. Finally the whole horse ran, each step ripping up their lead. The earth trembled forcing them to run like the world was at an angle.
The waters were deep and rapid. With discipline they'd reach the beach in less than a minute. He remembered the old American Godzilla movie, that monster swam… but… horses couldn't.
They'd be gone, escape in the crowds.
A thought nagged.
What people Drake? What crowd?
He dove just in time to avoid fangs promising to tear him to pieces.
SPLASH!
What he'd done had not been a dive. It had been running at the air until he was suddenly in the water. But he was in, his face bursting out the water. The creature paused, just staring with a malice and an intelligence that made him shudder.
It had seen the movie too.
Drake and Naya treaded water, panting like dogs. Was the river really the closest exit? Had the river ever been so incredibly deep?
"Thanks." Naya panted.
Her chest rose and dropped, helped by the rhythmic sway of her arms and legs. She wasn't dancing so much as swaying to some impossible flow that had her chest up. Steam poured out from quivering lips, she shivered, like jelly on an earthquake, she was beautiful.
The moment didn't last, his memory of bloody sneakers killed it.
"For what? I didn't do much." He grunted, just looking at her.
It'd been foolish to barge in without a plan. Jin would've been disappointed.
"It's the thought that counts."
She reached up, pulling him in for a hug.
"Well, it's nothing Naya. More importantly, your foot." Drake suggested hugging back.
Hugging clearly wasn't Naya's thing. The experience was like hugging a skeleton with extra skeleton. It was hard to tell if she was skinny or buff under her clothes. It was still awesome as awkward and looney as it was. But his chest had gone from sore to the world's most sensitive radar tower, detecting boob 1 and boob 2, filling his mind with so much information that it came out as a scream.
The bulldog roared, passing, without a splash, rightthrough the water.
It grabbed Naya's bleeding leg, she screamed, he screamed, it flung her slamming her on its back.
He swam but the unicorn head stooped, its chin in the water. Barred fangs blocked his path. Cooked meat, salt and rot closing his nose, a dinosaurs growl assaulting his ears that'd been numbing in the cold, its hot breath not cancelling out the chill. He was blocked, stuck in the water.
It was cheating!
The unicorn turned all the way to her and growled. The bulldog rammed and butted its, wider and larger snout into it.
The unicorn neighed, begrudgingly.
The beast shrunk. On its back, a fine mist glowed.