P.S. I should clarify that Deviants in this story will not be as common as they are in the games. In a more realistic setting, such exceptional evolution should be extremely rare, perhaps even unique. The Grimclaw Tigrex appearing here should therefore be understood as an exceptionally powerful individual. Otherwise, having it fight a Guanzorumu would be too much of a stretch, and the Guild would never have assigned it such a high danger rating.
---------------------
Armor, weapons, a saddle, saddlebags... Hibiki had left behind every piece of equipment a Palamute might normally carry.
Aside from the leg wraps that protected his paws and kept them from sinking into the sand, he was, for all practical purposes, "stark naked."
It was all to shed as much weight as possible.
The same went for Sajji, lying flat on Hibiki's back. His Felyne armor had been stripped away as well. Against the fangs and claws of the Grimclaw Tigrex, a direct hit would end the same way with or without armor. Better to shed it from the start and gain speed and agility.
He had brought the Felyne Hammer he used as a multipurpose tool, however, along with his Item Pouch. Inside the pouch was the key to pulling off their diversion plan.
The Grimclaw Tigrex's position had long since been pinpointed. The observation hot air balloon that had been monitoring it for days now drifted nearly a thousand meters directly overhead.
Sajji pulled a small mirror from his Item Pouch and reflected the sunlight, flashing a signal up at the observation hot air balloon.
He was asking about the target's status.
The crew from the Royal Paleontology Scriveners quickly flashed back an answer with a mirror of their own.
"The target... is asleep?" Sajji's face lit up with delight as he read the signal.
No matter how powerful the creature, its alertness always dropped while it slept. That would let them approach more safely and put some distance between themselves and the monster before it woke and gave chase.
"Don't rush, meow. Don't rush, meow," Sajji muttered to himself, reminding Hibiki beside him as well.
As a desert-born Felyne, he knew exactly how to disappear without a trace amid these endless sandstorms.
Reading the wind direction with his whiskers, the cat and dog pressed themselves low and crept soundlessly between the dunes. It took some time, but they eventually circled around to a downwind position and continued closing in on their target.
Just as the report from the observation hot air balloon had indicated, the infamous Tigrex lay curled tightly in a sandy hollow, its wings folded around its body as it slept.
Supremely confident in its own strength, it had not even bothered to find a safe place to nest. As far as it was concerned, virtually nothing in this vast desert could threaten it.
Even Hibiki, who normally feared nothing in the world except Clawdia, stood with his legs trembling.
Their last harrowing encounter seemed to have left him with a fear he could not shake. If Altaïr had not tried every carrot and stick in the book, Hibiki would never have agreed to take part in this diversion operation.
At last, they reached the Tigrex's head.
At this range, the wind direction no longer mattered. The Grimclaw Tigrex could wake at any second, roused by a stray scent or the faint crunch of paw pads shifting over sand.
Sajji signaled Hibiki with a look to get ready, then drew his Felyne Hammer. He measured out several swings over the Grimclaw Tigrex's snot-bubbling snout before settling on the angle that felt best.
With a loud battle cry, he brought the hammer crashing down with brutal force.
"Meow!"
Scarlet draconic pupils snapped wide open.
To the Grimclaw Tigrex, the hammer blow felt like a flick to the nose. It did no damage and barely even hurt, but it was more than enough to jolt the beast from its pleasant dream.
The instant its eyes opened, it found a Felyne right in front of its face, slapping his rear at the beast. Sajji then leaped onto a Palamute and fled without a backward glance.
Ordinarily, it could not be bothered to attack a creature as small as a Felyne. There was scarcely enough meat on something so tiny to get stuck between its teeth.
But such brazen, over-the-top provocation was enough to enrage the notoriously ill-tempered beast.
With a thunderous roar, it uncoiled, surged upright, and pounded after the cat-and-dog duo, who were already nearly a hundred meters away.
High above, a member of the Royal Paleontology Scriveners watched the scene unfold through binoculars from the observation hot air balloon.
Sajji's small frame lay plastered against the Palamute's back, more a tiny ornament than a rider.
Having already escaped the monster once, Hibiki hardly needed Sajji's directions. He darted nimbly among the dunes, using his superior agility in tight turns to offset his smaller frame and lower straight-line speed.
At first, the diversion plan went remarkably smoothly.
Even when the Grimclaw Tigrex closed the gap with lunges and diving charges, the traps and gadgets Sajji had laid in advance, combined with Hibiki's desperate efforts, always let them stretch the distance back out bit by bit.
The terrifying beast never managed to catch them.
"We're already past the halfway point, meow!" Sajji shouted into Hibiki's ear. "Only ten kilometers to the target site, meow!
Give it one last push, meow!"
"Woof! Woof!" A full-speed sprint across several dozen kilometers would certainly tire a well-trained Palamute, but not enough to impair his performance.
And because this was a "naked run," he still had plenty of stamina left.
More importantly, he remembered the ten feasts Altaïr had promised him!
That thought alone filled his entire body with fresh strength! So what if you're a slightly tougher-than-average Tigrex? Just watch me run circles around you!
At that moment, however, whether it was frustrated by the chase or had sensed danger drawing near, the ferocious behemoth slowed without warning. Abandoning the pursuit, it turned to leave.
Just as Boss predicted, meow. Good thing we prepared for this, meow. Can't let you walk away, meow!
Sajji thought to himself, then pulled a Paintball he had prepared in advance from his Item Pouch. He tugged on the scruff of Hibiki's neck, making the Palamute, who had yet to catch on and was still sprinting headlong, wheel around to pursue their target.
The cat-and-dog duo dashed past the Grimclaw Tigrex as it slowly headed back. The Paintball struck it squarely on the tip of the nose, spattering it with pungent dye until almost its entire head was an absurd shade of bright pink.
This completely unexpected "counterattack" stunned the Grimclaw Tigrex for a moment.
It had never imagined that creatures fleeing desperately from its pursuit would dare turn around and "relieve themselves" on its head.
The acrid stench temporarily overwhelmed even its unnaturally keen sense of smell and sent it into an uncontrollable fit of snorting.
Its brief shock gave way to boundless, terrifying fury.
A magma-like crimson glow spread through its blood vessels, creeping up the Grimclaw Tigrex's head and neck and into its distinctive azure wing talons.
With its sense of smell smothered, it could no longer detect the aura that had made even it wary. Rage at being repeatedly taunted by such weaklings incinerated what little reason it had left.
It would tear these two furry things to shreds!
"ROAR!!!"
"Run! Run, meow!" The fur at the tip of Sajji's tail stood completely on end as he watched the Grimclaw Tigrex barrel toward them like a runaway steam locomotive, steam hissing from its mouth.
Hibiki ran for his life, his tongue lolling out.
In its enraged state, the Grimclaw Tigrex's pursuit speed increased noticeably. Perhaps the rush of blood had warmed its muscles, because even its turns became more agile than before.
The final ten kilometers of the luring route were one brush with death after another. The Grimclaw Tigrex caught up with the cat and dog several times, only for them to pull away again and again through Hibiki's desperate sprints and Sajji's covering maneuvers.
As they rounded another dune, the rocky mountain area that marked their destination finally came into view.
"We're here, meow! It's right ahead, meow!" Sajji, covered in dust and dirt, yowled loudly.
A wave of relief at reaching the destination weakened Hibiki's legs, and he lost speed. Hot on their heels, the Grimclaw Tigrex lunged. Snap! Its jaws closed on the tip of Hibiki's tail.
Just as the Grimclaw Tigrex was about to jerk its head and toss the struggling, panicked Hibiki into the air, Sajji hurled the Flash Pod clutched in his paw.
They had already used Flash Pods more than once along the way to escape the chase.
Repeated exposure had greatly reduced the bright light's disorienting effect. It could no longer daze the Grimclaw Tigrex, only disrupt its vision and blind it temporarily.
But that was enough. As the intense light burst forth, the Grimclaw Tigrex instinctively loosened its bloody jaws. Hibiki seized the chance to tear free, tuck his tail, and bolt far away.
Blinded by the flash and its own rage, the Grimclaw Tigrex shook its head violently and unleashed a string of frenzied, furious roars at the sky.
"ROOOAAAR!!!"
At the roar, a huge swarm of Egyurasu burst from their hiding places. Like bats flushed from their roost, they erupted from caves, crevices, and shadowed recesses in the rocky mountain and swarmed the Grimclaw Tigrex.
Pillars of scorching flame from their breath attacks rained down on it. The fire seared its hide and sent it into another fit of maddened roars, but it could do no real damage.
The Grimclaw Tigrex's terrifying claws, capable of disemboweling a Large Flying Wyvern, lashed wildly. In mere moments, three or four of the swarming Egyurasu had been reduced to bloody, mangled corpses on the ground.
At this rate, the entire swarm of Egyurasu would be torn to shreds within seconds.
"ROAR!!!"
Another furious roar, powerful enough to shake the earth and rattle the mind, rang out.
A dark silhouette, not especially large beside the Grimclaw Tigrex, launched itself high into the air.
Silhouetted against the blazing sun above, it dived, its dark golden talons aimed straight for the Grimclaw Tigrex's throat as if seeking to kill with a single blow.
By then, the Grimclaw Tigrex's vision had begun to recover from the effects of the flash.
Confronted with a fierce assault from the air, this apex predator, supreme even among its peers, showed no fear. It raised its savage azure claws and met the attack head-on.
(Translated by yourtl.app)