86 His Friends 19 (1/2)
Once her heart calmed down, Iris squirmed out of Kyro's hands and landed in the water again. As terrified as she was, she didn't want to gain a phobia of swimming. With a glare Kyro's way, she stood still for a moment, feeling the water lap against her nose.
Once she got accustomed to that, she slowly took a step deeper in and started swimming. Every movement of the collar sent a wave of terror through her muscles, and they almost froze, but she didn't drown. What luck.
There was a sound nearby, and Iris made a small circle in the water to see what was happening on the shore. Lucifer had stepped out and was shaking his thousands of water-laden strands. Droplets flew far and wide, even hitting Kyro and reaching Iris.
She screamed out in indignation, then swam to the shore as Kyro stood up. Once on the ground, she came close to Lucifer and started shaking her own fur. It wasn't as majestic a sight, but the cat still hissed in anger. They were about to enter another confrontation when a barking of a dog interrupted them.
Both of them instantly turned around and saw a golden burst of light as a large dog rounded the corner. Before its owner even came into view, it rushed toward the two of them while barking joyously.
'What's wrong with these people!' Iris couldn't help screaming out as she rushed back toward the water. 'Why can't they keep some pocket dogs instead of giants like mastiffs and golden retrievers!'
Her escape came to a half, though, when she heard the yelp of the dog. Uncertain, she slowed down and turned around to see the dog falling back with its tail between its legs. It was also whining softly.
'Huh? What just happened?'
Right then, the owner, who was a middle-aged man with a frown on his face, finally showed up, and his dog gained a resurgence of confidence. It circled around Lucifer, more interested in going for Iris, but the cat hissed and ran to her side. The moment the dog came close, Lucifer raised his paw and smacked the retriever on the nose.
Another yelp left the large dog's mouth, and it retreated to its master's side, whining to him about unfairness of life.
Iris in the meantime looked at Lucifer with worshiping eyes. This cat was larger than her, but it was nothing compared to that giant dog. Yet this size difference didn't get in the way of Lucifer winning both rounds of the duel and sending his opponent crying home. 'That's how a true superhero looks!'
As she marveled at his techniques, the cat watched the dog for a bit more with weary eyes, then seemed to decide it was no threat and turned to Iris. She fell back, thinking he was going to scold her, but Lucifer just bumped his head into hers in some sign language she wasn't well-versed in and stepped away.
Kyro walked onto the shore, and only now Iris noticed that he'd been absent during the whole confrontation. 'How useless! Lucifer is so much better than you!' she told him straight away.