Street Vegans

Chapter 9

"Alright, all we have to get now are the noodles," West stated, looking down at his phone.

"Good, I'm starving. That shaman only let us share a bowl of stew and I'm a growing boy," Chad whined.

Just then, a russell from the bushes was heard and the boys froze, the only movement being Chad's shaking legs.

"Please tell me it's not that weird racoon thing again," he whispered.

West smacked Chad as he tried to cling to the blonde. "Shut up!" He whispered harshly.

Out of the bush walked a hybrid, but not the one they were expecting. This time, they saw something resembling a tiger, a fox, and a bear that was no taller than a toddler.

"Golly, I sure am tired," the tiger/bear/fox amalgam mumbled as he walked by. "Insomnia does wonders for my work though."

Chad and West both let out a sigh, relieved that the menace they had faced earlier was nowhere to be seen. Chad stepped away from his bro and took a step towards the hybrid.

"Hey dude! Tiger, fox, whatever, thing! Can you help a couple of bros out?" Chad shouts.

The hybrid turned to the pair, a wide, slightly open mouthed smile growing on his face and showing off the beginnings of razor sharp teeth. His ear twitched and he approached the boys slowly.

"Well howdy there traitors," he greets in sickening glee with a thick southern twang. "Fancy seeing you 'round these parts. I see you've still got your toes there fellas, mind if I take a little nibble?"

The hybrid gnashed his teeth at the boys and they both jumped back. They watched with eyes wide as saucers as the creature pulled a whip seemingly from thin air. With a crack of the whip, the tiger/fox/bear hybrid advanced once again and the two bros knew there was no way of avoiding the fight.

Preparing for the inevitable, West pulled out his knife, his eyes trained on the toddler sized abomination. Chad on the other hand cursed himself for never carrying a weapon. West reached into his other pocket and pulled out ninja stars seemingly made from monster energy drink cans and passed them to Chad. Projectiles seemed like the best option anyway.

Minutes later, the boys stood raggedly breathing in front of the hybrid who had for some reason stopped his assault. Chad and West both winced at the feeling of the lacerations now covering their body as the creature pulled a homemade ninja star out of his arm.

"Are my eyes deceiving me or are those what I think they are?" The hybrid drops his weapon with a yawn and steps closer to West. 

As he violates the boy's personal space, West takes a step back, trying to reestablish his bubble. With little success, West gives up and lets the animal stopp just short of stepping on the boy's feet, pulling him down so his snout was nearly touching the boy's nose. West holds in a breath as he looks away uncomfortably, both boys anxiously awaiting the animal's next move.

"Are those bags under your eyes? The sign of a fellow insomniac?"

West gave a curt nod. "Uh huh, now can you get out of my face please?"

"My stars, yours are deep, you must be tired. I'm plumb tuckered out myself," the creature mused, ignoring West's request.

West rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess. You kinda get used to it though."

West looked over at Chad for help but he just continued to glower at the creature that was now completely ignoring him.

"You know I'm here too, right?" Chad grumbled loudly.

"Well, I was on my way home to try and catch some Z's, but I s'pose I could stick around a little longer, maybe help y'all along your journey. Us insomniacs gotta stay together after all," the hybrid rambled, once again ignoring anything anyone said. "The name's Dallas by the way," he finally greeted, tipping an imaginary cowboy hat.