Chapter 6

There were no monsters.

And no land.

'This ocean is large,' He thought, glancing at his wings, 'will I get tired?'

Dominic decided to do a survival check.

'Thirst? No. Hunger? No. Exhaustion? No.'

'Do I not get hungry anymore?'

If so, how did he get energy? Was Dominic like a plant and got it from the sun, or was he just starving without realizing it?

He must eat. At some point.

'Oh yeah, I never got that answer,' Dominic watched the passing waves as he flew by, 'I must see what I can eat with these mandibles,'

A wind brushed past him.

Dominic looked back. He didn't see those dark clouds even on the horizon. Perhaps he was a fast moth?

"Oh!"

He screeched in surprise.

On the horizon, a minuscule dot rose.

The more Dominic closed in, the bigger this dot got.

By the time he reached the shore, it was a whole landscape, stretching far out of view.

'Maybe I can rest,'

With a turn, Dominic descended upon the shoreline, landing on the sandy beach.

The air smelt of sea salt. A calm breeze pushed happily against him. The sand swallowed Dominic's feet in. That made him uneasy.

In fact, this whole place, with the noon sun in the sky, created a peaceful resting place.

If only Dominic was not so tense.

With his feet struggling in the sand, he looked around quickly, making sure there were no monsters.

'I should do something,' His heart pumped, 'right! There's a fricking Gojira after me,'

Dominic turned, moving through the sand at a slow pace.

He could see where the shoreline ended and tall, or small, trees stood, filling the land as it enlarged.

These trees watched Dominic as he tried to do what he was doing.

'Okay,' He stood there, his wings raised, 'how do I strengthen my powers?'

His blue eyes focused on a small dune of sand.

Dominic's antennae glowed yellow, surging with energy.

Two beams thundered down the sand.

CRACK!

The dune blew up.

Sand flew everywhere. Most landed back onto the beach, hiding amongst themselves.

'That's not going to kill a Gojira,' He thought, 'What about...'

Without hesitation, he hovered close to the ground, sand flying around his wings.

A forceful swing sent these grains far past the treeline.

'Back then, I felt something,' He looked at his wings, 'what was it?'

Dominic breathed in and out, waiting for a sign.

'Mmm,' His antennae came into view, 'perhaps...'

They glowed all the same.

However, they never fired.

As it happened, Dominic felt he could do so much more.

"Urgh..." He groaned, trying to control whatever he was doing, 'What...w-will happen...if I...'

The antennae dimmed, and Dominic lowered his head in pain.

'I don't know what I'm doing,' He sighed, focusing again, 'but I know I may gain something from this,'

Hours passed, and Dominic slaved away at this thing he was doing.

As the sun touched the horizon, its pallet of orange, yellow, and red filling the sky brought him out of the training.

'How did I do it for so long?'

As he breathed, Dominic knew he had to take a break.

So, his stare reached across the sea, absorbing the beautiful scenery.

'Hmm,' He thought, 'I've gotten nowhere,'

Dominic looked around. His heart sank.

'I did not let anyone down,' His body warmed up in relief, 'did I disappoint myself?'

Much like the settling sun, this whole day was effort and survival. A learning experience. Maybe he didn't find a new weapon, but he tried.

'I suppose one can't let another down if there are no expectations,' Dominic gazed at the sand, 'what do I expect of myself?'

Only the calm sea's current was his empty answer.

'That's right, I cannot take a break,' He frowned, 'shit, I miss my phone,'

What he really needed right now was a good packet of chips, some cool drink, and a kaiju movie to relax.

Here, there was nothing.

'Damn it,' Dominic looked at the sky with a disappointed frown with his mandibles, 'if I do not have a goal, then I should try and make one,'

A pile of energy filed into him.

'I'm not tired,' He watched the sun slip into the sea, 'I can still do this,'

The night was not something Dominic thought of.

As he focused, straining on the effort, the night around him made their noise.

Trees rustled, the sea swished and danced, and the sand trickled through spots on Dominic's body.

It was dark. He kept his guard up.

"Ah," He screeched, "Argh,"

His eyes darted around, the darkness seeming dreadful.

'I used to be so scared of the dark,' He thought, eyeing his antennae again, 'now, it's just an inconvenience,'

The night flew by.

Like the morning sun, a new day meant a new milestone to reach.

Never wavered, Dominic was at it.

His feet gripped the ground, attempting to fight the strain. The antennae on his head shimmered. Dominic's body shook.

Nothing.

Absolutely nothing.

But what did he expect? To learn the thing in a single day?

'Oh my word,' He sighed in frustration, slamming a wing down, 'What must I do?'

In a world unknown to Dominic, he was sometimes forgetful in certain circumstances.

'At least I'm not getting attacked...'

He grunted and his eyes darted around.

After a long check of his surroundings, Dominic relaxed.

'I must really stop thinking about that,'

Without much momentum, Dominic continued what he was doing.

Even if he knew that this would lead him to a more beneficial standpoint in this world, Dominic was really at a loss.

'My word,' He thought, 'am I really dumb? Yes, I am,'

Dominic stared at the ocean.

All the effort that was put in to make these constant waves really didn't show any improvement, but the hard work was there.

It looked like a typical ocean, with waves encroaching onto the beach and then retreating. This cycle would repeat.

There was even a spot in the ocean tainted with blood. Dominic admired that.

He looked again.

The red had begun to expand and take over the blue around it like a virus.

'It can't be anything else but blood,' Dominic thought, 'I need to check,'

Not to satiate his curiosity, but to give him closure on his fear of the unknown.

So, Dominic hovered in the air, his wings flapped with urgency.

When the red splotch was under him, he was high up in the air. Having a monster like Godzilla in this world really hammered in that he should never fly near the sea.

Upon looking closely at the pool of blood, he eyed a few body parts.

'Looks like parts to a fish,' Dominic looked around, 'the culprit's probably here,'

And it sure was.

He saw it, hundreds of meters away.

A large fin.

From up there, Dominic could see an outline of the creature just below the surface.

'I can't judge the length,' He thought, watching it cut through the water at a breakneck pace, 'I want to say Megalodon, but this could be something else entirely,'

The creature reached the outskirts of the pool quickly.

Dominic decided to move away, right back to the shore. He checked his surroundings. The landing was almost perfect on the sand.

From where Dominic was, he could still see the fin. It moved about the pool as if indulging in its hunger.

The fin stopped.

He watched as this creature thrashed about. A tail appeared, and so did the head.

It was a shark of some sort. A large one.

Almost immediately, the red water rose, as if a bubble tried to escape upon hitting the surface.

This bubble broke, and so did the shark.

Dominic, however, froze at what had the fish in its jaws.

The monster shook its maw, the shark wriggling helplessly within it.

As the massive creature crashed into the water again, Dominic had a chill.

'Those parts soaked in the blood,' He thought, his wings shaking, 'they...'

'...were parts of a shark?'

The water broke again. Something flew.

With a thud, the thing landed, painting the sand red.

Right next to Dominic.

He let out a cry.

The shark wasn't moving. A chunk from its middle section had been ripped open. Blood and guts spilled out.

'What is...'

The ocean came into view.

Whatever it was, came hurtling towards the shoreline, straight for Dominic.

At first, he looked on in fright, before taking to the air.

'What the hell...'

A long, scaly tail lashed through the air, almost like a whip. On a one-way course for the moth.

'...is THIS!?'