After a few minutes running, the group of outlaws finally arrived at the first obstacle, located a few hundred meters from the starting line.
Arun was struggling to keep up with the two athletes who had become his allies. Whethet it was Kast or Miraj, both pets were able to run much faster than him, and they had to stop several times to wait for the vet.
And not only did they go faster, but their stamina was also much greater than that of the human, who had run out of breath before the first obstacle.
"You were more impressive this morning, Arun !" Kast joked about the veterinarian's weakness now that he was far bigger than him.
"It's normal for him to have a hard time keeping up with the fact that humans are not the most sporty animals. On the contrary, because they have everything at their disposal, they hardly work up their bodies, and the little exercise they're doing is not enough to keep them at the animal's level." Miraj explained things with a stern voice. She was right, where animals needed to walk, run, climb or fly, humans had cars, buses, or planes.
The only humans who could compete with the animals once tied were those who played sports on a daily basis, such as athletes. And Arun was far from being one, since he was even in the majority of those who did not do the thirty minutes of sports activity recommended in a day.
"I... I'm sorry, I can't do better..." apologized the panting young man who was still trying to catch his breath. He blamed himself for not being able to go faster because he disabled his comrades at the same time.
"Don't worry, we're going to qualify. The physical is important, but what's even more important is the will." Kast put a finger on Arun's forehead to accompany his words. "Athletes with weak minds never went far, no matter how wrought and trained their bodies were."
"Well, it's not his will that will allow him to do that." Miraj sighed as he heard the words of his teammate, who continued to repeat the same idiocies. Returning to the first obstacle of the Suricate Race, she invited Arun to approach and see for himself.
A huge hole lay in the middle of the track, blocking their progress. It was necessary to jump a distance of almost twenty meters before arriving on the other side. At the bottom of the hole, the vet could see the remains of a possible platform that must have been in the middle before, to help get through the void.
"Obviously, those who have been there before us didn't hesitate to sabotage the course. We'll have to jump all The distance at once if we want to pass." Obviously the woman did not seem at all afraid of the huge gap separating her from the other side. Was she really so sure of herself?
"Wait, I could never follow you... The long jump world record for a human is just over eight meters, and there's more than the double here..."
"You'll jump with me, don't worry !" Arun felt himself lifted from the ground as if he weighed no heavier than a feather bag by the red squirrel that grabbed him under his arm. He really had the ability to jump in one shot twenty meters away while carrying someone ? Wasn't he a monster rather than a squirrel ?
"I'm going first, so I could help you land on the other side." Miraj took a few steps back to gain momentum, and went off like an arrow forward. She was even faster than when she was running normally... At the edge of the hole, the Cape ground squirrel put all her weight on her feet and projected herself forward, jumping through a single jump the hole that scared the vet. She landed on the other side rolling in the sand, the obstacle crossed successfully.
"It's... unbelievable..." Arun could not hold his voice at such a performance. It beat any human athlete, and had just exploded the world record.
"Come on, let's go, my vet !" Kast stepped back too, and Arun clung to the squirrel's body with all his strength. He did not really trust but... Did he have another choice to pass this hole?
The squirrel also rushed to the hole and jumped in full force. They passed over the first ten meters easily, then the next five appeared more threatening. They were not going to succeed.
"Kast, I thought you were sure of yourself !" Arun said panicking after seeing the other side of the hole become more and more unreachable.
"I thought you were less heavy !" The squirrel justified, who did not expect such a result either.
However Arun felt himself thrown up again, and his body just came to the edge of the precipice. But not that of Kast. The squirrel had thrown him forward to allow him to survive, by sacrificing himself ?
"Kast !" Arun rushed to the edge and leaned over the void. The man was still alive, hung with all his strength on the wall a few meters lower.
"It's all right. Luckily there was a catch here, otherwise I would have fallen to the bottom..." Miraj approached the edge too, also alarmed by the situation. She had managed to catch the human launched by her teammate but thought she was going to lose him too.
"Wait, I'll get you back !" Leaning without hesitation into the void, she grabbed the squirrel's hand to help him back up. Arun, meanwhile, just rested his hands on Miraj's ankles to allow her to step into the hole without falling into it.
And fortunately in a few minutes, they managed to get back up the brave red squirrel that almost had died there this time.
"Well, if I had been told that I would have nearly died twice in the same day..."
"I'm really sorry, if I was a little more trained..."
"No, it's not your fault Arun. Take it as a thanks for saving me too." Kast gave the human a comforting smile.
"And then you couldn't have known that you would find yourself in such a situation either. You just need to keep the courage to go all the way !" Added the squirrel, continuing to encourage the vet.
"Well, I don't want to bother you, but we're still far from being here." Miraj reminded the two men again. If each time they took so much time to discuss, they would never arrive.
"Come on, let's go !" Kast started enthusiastically, resuming his race without further delay. Arun started following as fast as he could. He still had not seen Shuu, and he hoped that he was well and did not get fooled by a violent meerkat. He must have been far ahead, given the speed at which he was running too.