Sky puma

Sana let out a cute squeal as she stepped outside the salon. "The wind blowing upon my smooth cranium was a sensation I had not prepared for." 

"That's what you get for shaving your head, bald," Rosa huffed as she gently slapped Sana's head. 

"Pinky! My head's all sensitive!" 

"Get used to it... Thanks for actually doing something so stupid for me..."

Sana smiled and hugged Rosa tightly. "What kind of mother would I be if I didn't shave all of my hair off for my daughter's future?" 

...

Everyone's jaws dropped as Sana and Rosa met up with the other members of the delegation at the airport. 

"You've reacquired hair while your mother has now lost all of hers? Is this a hair transfer spell known only to humans?" DaVinci asked. 

"No, this is just a wig. A wig made from the hair of a certain mother who thought the best way to get a wig for me was to sacrifice her own hair for it," Rosa groaned. 

"You'd wear the hair of another atop your head as a trophy? The humans here truly are frightening," Mizata trembled. 

Thorwall and Jenna both remained silent, turning their attention towards the plane on the tarmac. 

"It's good this town has an airport, but what do we do about fuel? I've never cared much about the status of fossil fuels, but if the reserves we have are all we've got left, we could have a major energy crisis on our hands. And need I add that we may have to leave the plane behind if we don't have enough fuel to get back," Thorwall grumbled. 

"The mayor is well aware of this, though living here, you should know that she made many strong pushes for less reliance on fossil fuels. That decision will prove to pay off in spades, though sadly I'll concede your concerns about fuel for the plane are still a problem we'll need to contend with," a formally dressed woman with a neatly cut purplish-black bob sighed. 

This was Nagako Wako, a 31-year old city councilwoman. In her youth, she had frequently studied abroad giving her exposure to many different cultures and people. Had the town not been warped to another world, the chances of her becoming an ambassador were relatively high, making her the ideal candidate to lead the delegation to Buvaria. 

"This is why we'll be bringing an extra car with us along with a military jeep. Should we find ourselves unable to fly back, there is the option that we could at least drive back," Jenna noted as she watched two Tesla sedans and a military jeep get loaded into the plane. 

"A shame you can't load one of those trains. That would both appease the dwarven leadership, and provide us with a possible means of transport back to town," DaVinci stated. 

"Do dwarves have railways?" Rosa asked. 

"Naturally, but they mainly carry mine carts, nothing as big as those trains. But give a dwarf a train to play around with and the forges will have 500 of them built by the stroke of nightfall." 

Once things were set up with the plane, everyone was allowed to board. Since flights had been completely grounded following Ohana's arrival in this world, it meant the decently busy airport had mostly been deserted with all tickets being refunded and future flights cancelled. On the plus side, it meant everyone could sit in first class without issue. 

"What's our estimated arrival time?" Sana asked as she sat down in her seat. 

"No clue. We're practically flying in blind, so best we can do is hope the col remembers how to fly in case I can't take control of this thing," Muki's voice crackled on the loudspeaker. 

"Hold on, are YOU actually flying this!?" Rosa cried. 

"No, I'm lounging on my beanbag in my room. But you can bet your ass I'm monitoring this shit with all my focus. We get an aerial view of things, we learn a lot about this world instantly." 

"And why am I being delegated as pilot?" Thorwall asked. 

"Because you've flown into unknown territory before with no maps to help you out before, right?" 

"That was years ago, and we did have some know-how of the land beforehand, but I see the point. I only ask that you serve as an adequate mission control center." 

"In my best interests to do so." 

A few minutes later, the plane took off, naturally surprising DaVinci and Mizata. The former was rather intrigued by the experience despite his earthly affinity with the latter being terrified beyond measure despite her affinity for wind magic. 

Once the plane began cruising at 10,000 meters, Mizata finally eased up. "This is so high, but it feels calm." 

"Everyone's free to move around, but if we encounter turbulence, I'll flip on the seat belt sign and kindly request you all return to your seats," Thorwall's voice crackled on the intercom. 

"What is "turbulence"?" Mizata trembled. 

Sana quickly gave an explanation, which calmed Mizata down rather quickly. However, she still looked anxious as she gazed out the window. 

"Worried about the sky pumas?" DaVinci asked. 

"I am, but even at this height, I doubt the normal ones that frequent the area would be able to reach us. The great sky puma would be a different story..." 

"'Sky puma'? What on earth is that?" Nagako scoffed. 

Before Mizata could explain, she suddenly went pale as she stared out at the window. "There... on the ground... It's there." 

The others quickly flocked to the window and gazed out. It was difficult to see, but far below on the ground was a puma, appearing to stroll with it's head turned up towards the plane. 

"THAT'S what you're worried about? That thing's way on the ground," Muki's voice snarled over the intercom. 

"How can you-" 

"I had this plane outfitted so I could see things from all angles. It'll help with mission control shit, so you're welcome."

"But can this shield us from a sky puma? They're viscous creatures that can rip out an entire side of your rib cage with a single bite." 

"And you think that thing can reach us? Even if it sprouts wings, it won't be able to stay up here for long. Plus you have magic, right? So control the wind outside from inside and blast him away."  

"Hold on! Sky pumas don't have wings!" 

"Huh? Then why are you so spooked of them?" 

The answer came quickly as the sky puma on the ground suddenly began charging, still looking directly up at the plane as it ran. Then to everyone's horror, it leaped up at breakneck speed and landed atop the plane's wing. It then began charging along the top of the plane until reaching the first class cabin area. There, it swung down and clawed one of the windows, deeply scratching it, but at the cost of losing it's footing and falling. 

However, it fell rather slowly and landed on the ground unharmed. Worse, it began charging once more and preparing to go for another attack. 

"Are you fucking kidding me!? WHAT THE FUCK IS THAT THING!?" Muki cried as the sky puma leapt up once more, this time sinking it's jaws into the side of the plane. 

The good news was that the plane was too tough for the sky puma to chomp a chunk out of it. The bad news was that it refused to let go, and began digging all four of it's claws into the plane as well. 

"Um, you magic users gonna kill that freak cat!?" Muki cried. 

DaVinci nodded and ran over to the area where the sky puma was latched on. "Sky pumas are a challenge to pull off once they've latched on to something. That being said, the hides of the common variety aren't to thick, nor are their skulls," he muttered as he summoned a sharp rock outside the plane just above the sky puma's neck. 

He then waved his hand down, thrusting the sharp rock into the sky puma's neck, causing it to roar in pain and loosen it's grip all at once and begin to fall. Slowly, the sky puma began to stop moving, presumably dying as blood continued to spew out of it's neck. It then hit the ground hard, with a pool of blood beginning to ooze out of it, indicating it's true demise. 

Everyone else breathed a sigh of relief. 

"First railgun wombats with wings, now pumas that can leap 10,000 meters into the air. Why do I have to be the one to always experience these horrors firsthand?" Rosa trembled.