Tanimaki Gets Snatched by a Steller’s Sea Eagle (Part 2)

At last, Tanimaki gave up. He closed his eyes and surrendered himself to Mayutan’s hands.

“Do whatever you want, meow... I don’t care anymore, meow...”

Drenched in equal parts melancholy and soap suds, Tanimaki quietly let himself be washed.

With the soap Mayutan always carried with him, Tanimaki’s fur became so clean and fluffy that he was almost unrecognizable.

They decided to let his wet fur dry naturally in the sun. The warm spring weather felt wonderful, and Tanimaki flopped down on the ground.

But then, in the brief instant Mayutan looked away—

“Meeeow! Help me, meow!”

A huge black shadow came hurtling down from the sky.

Thick, hooked talons seized Tanimaki, and before anyone could react, he was carried high into the air.

“A Steller’s sea eagle!”

At Mayutan’s shout, Debiru jolted awake from his nap.

“Ah! Tanimakiii!”

Debiru’s desperate cry vanished into the open sky.

The Steller’s sea eagle caught an updraft and soared away with effortless grace.

Tanimaki dangled helplessly beneath it, growing more and more distant along with the eagle’s shadow.

Soon, he was no bigger than a tiny speck in the sky—

“Th-This is bad! We have to go save him!”

Debiru was beginning to panic.

“All right. Let’s go after them right now!”

Mayutan remained calm and immediately laid out their next move.

“But how? Where’s its nest?”

Debiru looked at Mayutan desperately, as though begging him for an answer.

“I put a GPS tracker on Tanimaki’s collar in case he ever got lost. We’ll follow the signal.”