Doodle Champion Island Journeys!

15.

Lucky ran. The grounds were so wide that she felt like she could run forever. The heat emitting from the ground didn't bother her at all, nor that the almost suffocating atmosphere did. Having a small body had many advantages, one of which was being able to survive on low nutrious conditions.

"Saru!" the pheasant cawed as he passed a specifically large peach which they used as a practice ball in a straight shot to the monkey - whose name was Saru. He caught the ball by his tail and skillfully flipped it into his arm. He ran in a zigzag past the makeshift obstacles of rocks, then threw the ball up without looking:

"Inuzuka! Your turn!"

Before the ball touched the ground, the dog - Inuzuka - dashed by and scooped it. He ran for a while before dropping and kicking it at another direction:

"Captain!"

Momotaro, of course, effortlessly caught it. Out of the team, he ran the fastest and trickiest, no one could guess his next choice of move.

"Lucky!" Momotaro shouted her name, signaling before passing the ball to her. It was tossed high, Lucky sped up a little before taking a leap, her legs pushed against the ground and her tail waved in motion sync, hopping like a spring, she wrapped her arms around the ball, quickly embracing it then took a loop to land backward on two. She raised it above her head:

"Got it!"

She landed on the other side of the field. In the twilight they practiced one last time, with Lucky, Inuzuka, and the pheasant - Dori, being super uncomfortable. Inuzuka, like Lucky, had keen eyes in the dark, but at the state of half-light, it was hard for his eyes to adjust. Dori, on the other hand, was as good as blind by dusk, though he claimed to have received a special vision aid for nights like this.

"Good work, everyone!" Momotaro clasped his hands together, "But that's barely the warm-up. We all know it requires much more to defeat the Onis. Lucky, since you're new, there are a few things to know before the match. Basically, we have to NOT let any Onis grab the ball. The Red Onis are known to be strong, their footsteps can enrage earthquakes, but they're slow, so you just need to keep balanced at a steady speed. The Blue Onis are more difficult to handle since they're swift with those long limbs...you need to outrun them."

"In case of emergency, we also have a special booster to escape, though it barely lasts a minute," Inuzuka took on the explanation, "Captain Momotaro is specifically capable of shooing the Onis away, so when they come dangerously close, just pass the ball to him."

"Isn't it a bit... inconvenient? I doubt they would let him off guard that easily, being the team captain and all, that way he can never reach the ball before they do no matter how high we throw it," Lucky pointed out, "I actually have a way to fix that, but only when Momotaro allows me to do it," She looked at the mentioned boy.

"Go on."

"I can make a... link? Connection? Haven't come up with a name yet, but it links energy, powers, that sort of things between creatures as long as they are in my sight. For example, if you activate your skill, I can share it to whoever holding the ball."

"And that way, we can work better than running to a dead end! I'm glad we didn't start without you," Momotaro patted her shoulder, "But can you keep that up for the whole match tho? I don't want you to exhaust yourself too much."

"That's exactly its downside, I barely had a chance to practice further. It also depends on the amount of energy you put into your skill, the stronger it emits, the better, but not so detailed in body technique because transferring that into non-focus effect is extremely difficult," Lucky replied, then added, "Don't worry. I'm not that easily drained."