*Reginald*

[From Before Time Existed?]-

"Where are you going, Regi?" my twin brother asked he followed me. In his arms was a dolphin-shaped plush toy.

"I'm going to go adventure out!" I said, grinning. I pointed to the islands floating in the vast dark sea we called home.

"Isn't that dangerous? Mommy said that there are creatures which eat little kids like us," he said, hiding his head behind his toy.

I scoffed. "That's why I'm doing it!" I jumped up and allowed my momentum to take me to the neighboring island.

My brother gulped and ran away, only to turn around at full speed. "I can do this!"

"Yahi!" I yelled as my brother Yahir zoomed past me.

He hugged his plush and created a sphere of water around him but he wasn't slowing down. "Help, Regi! I can't stop!"

"Hold on!" I yelled. Holding my hands out, I threw vines at his direction, but missed. "Yahi!"

Yahir gritted his teeth and increased the volume of water around him as he was about to crash into the opposite side of the island we had jumped to. The water splashed violently in multiple directions.

"Brother!" I yelled, running toward him.

"That was fun!" Yahir said, giggling.

I leaped forward and hugged him. "Don't scare me like that again!"

Yahir patted my back. "I'm fine, Regi. Don't cry."

I let go of him and turned away. "I-I'm not crying!"

He pouted. "Liar."

"I'm not!" I said, looking at him.

He gave me a thin smile and wiped away my tears. "Must be water that splashed you then."

"That's right!" I said, wiping my face with the sleeve of my black robe.

My brother jumped up and glanced around. "Where to now?"

I put my hands on my hips and glanced back at our home. It was a tiny city made up of mostly black metallic buildings.

"Think we should go back."

"Huh? Thought you wanted to venture out."

I rubbed the back of my neck. "Yeah, but I don't want to be yelled at either."

My brother walked over to me. "Are you scared that I might get hurt?"

I averted my gaze. "Yeah."

He reached a hand out and ruffled my hair. "Aww, thanks for worrying about me, bro. But I think I'll be fine."

"What are you two doing out here?" a voice called out. It was Aster.

My brother waved. "Hey, Ast! We were about to go out and play."

"You two should return to the city. It's dangerous for kids like you."

I narrowed my eyes at her. "Uh, you're one too."

She crossed her arms. "Yeah, but I have means of returning home." Aster vanished from view and reappeared behind us. She pushed us forward. "No go!"

"Okay, but can't you warp us back?" Yahir asked.

She smirked. "That's the easy way out."

"Why can't you just come with us?" I asked, leering at her.

"I can't always babysit you two," she said.

My brother and me blushed. "We aren't babies!" we yelled in unison.

Aster laughed. "Yeah, but you are awfully childish. Now, go you pair of troublemakers."

Yahir sighed. He stared back at me and chuckled. "Let's go and get some runic grass."

I crossed my arms and stared back at the city. "Fine!"

Aster stuck her head out between us and smiled. "Great!"

"Want to get some too?" Yahir asked.

Aster leered at him. "I don't eat grass."

"But it's tasty."

"It is?"

Both of us nodded.

"Hmm, maybe I should try it next time."

Yahir and I grinned. "It's a date!"

Aster let go of us and stepped back. "A d-date? How can I date both of you?"

"Hmm, well we got a mom and two dads," Yahir said.

"Yeah, but I rather have one."

I poked Yahir with my elbow and smiled. "Sorry, kid."

Yahir frowned. "You shouldn't declare victory just yet."

"Regi, Yahi!" a voice called out. The two of us turned and saw a red-haired little kid waving at us. Standing next to him was a white-haired boy with snake-like eyes.

"Ratmi, don't jump!" Yahir yelled, running over. "I'll go to you!"

Ratmir smiled widely. "O-kay!"

Collin grabbed Ratmi's shoulder and pulled him back, giving Yahir space to land.

"I did it without going over my target this time!" Yahi said, turning around.

Aster clapped. "Good job, Yahi!"

I scoffed. "I can do better than that."

I ran a bit and jumped. This time, I started to lose altitude earlier. How did I misjudge my jump? I never missed!

"He's not going to make it!" Collin yelled.

"Brother!" Ratmir yelled in horror.

Yahi formed a water bubble, trapping me inside of it. "Got you!" He raised the bubble and brought me over to the other side.

"Regi!" Ratmir cried, running over to hug me.

I patted his little head. "There, there, Ratmi. I'm fine. Not that I wouldn't have been. I was going to pull myself up with my vines."

"Why didn't you do that then?" Aster asked, warping next to us. Her eyes were stern, but there was a bit of fear in them. She was as worried as the kids.

I looked down. "I was shocked that my jump wasn't enough." At least when Yahir missed his target, he went over it.

"Seems that both of us need to work at it," Yahir said, holding a hand out to me. He gave me a gentle smile.

I laughed as I took his hand. "Seems like it."

"Can Collin and me practice with you two?" Ratmir asked, giving us a determined look.

I patted his head. "Sure you can, short stuff!"

He pouted. "I'm short for now, but I'll be tall one day, you'll see!"

Yahir and I smiled. "We look forward to it, Little Rat," we said in unison.

Ratmir beamed. Little Rat ran ahead and pointed forward. "Let's go..." He turned to look back at us. "Uh, where are we going now?"

Collin sighed as he walked toward him. "Ratmir, don't declare that when you don't know where to go."

Ratmir's cheeks reddened.

"I'll take the lead, Little Rat," I said, walking over to him. "After all, I am the leader here."

Aster smirked at me. "Oh, really? And who said that?"

I pointed at myself with my thumb. "I did."

"What if I declare myself the leader?" Ratmir asked, figetting.

"You'll get us lost, that's for sure," Collin mumbled.

"W-who asked you anyway?"

Collin gave him a smug smile. "No one, I decided to so on my own. Isn't that how things work here, self proclaimed leaders."

Aster giggled. "Seems like it."

Yahir ran ahead of us. "Let's go get us our runic grass!"

"Eww, gross! I hate grass! I want something juicy!" Ratmir yelled, running after him.

"Seems that Yahir has taken over," Aster said, nudging me on the shoulder with her elbow.

I smiled. "It's fine. Think him taking over as the leader from time to time will do him some good."

She gasped. "Are you really Regi?"

I leered at her. "Why are you shocked?"

I scratched her head and gave me a shy smile. "Well, you're always trying to be the big guy on campus. It feels odd to hear you say that you're fine with sharing the limelight."

"Even I'm not not domineering!" 

Aster giggled. "I think it's just because it's Yahir."

"Huh?"

"You're worried about him being too much of a follower, no?"

I looked down. "Yeah. I like having him follow me around, but I don't want him to be a follower all of his life. I'm afraid that someone will use him one day if he remains like that."

"I don't think he would. Yahir has a good sense of judgment. Better than even me."

I nodded. She had a point there. One time, a guy tried to rip me off, but Yahir stopped me from giving him the money. He glared at the guy and called him a fraud. The guy got so mad at him that he smacked him over the head. In turn, I beat the guy up and threw him into the black void to wander for who knew how long.

Yahir thought it was harsh, but anyone who messed with Ratmir and him were to be taken care of without mercy. The same applied to those who dared to hurt my parents. Not that anyone did that. Well, other than my dads who would often get into scuffles. But those were usually the friendly kind.

"Hey, is something wrong?" Yahir asked, running back over to us.

I smiled. "No worries. Aster and I were just confessing to one another."

Aster elbowed me in the stomach. "Don't lie, Regi!"

"Aster! You didn't have to hit him that hard!" Yahir said, running over to me. He placed a hand over my stomach and covered it in a healing light which lit up the darkness around us.

I let out a painful laugh. "If you want to know what we were talking about, it was you."

He let go of my stomach. "Me?"

I nodded. "Yeah. About how you'll make a great leader one day."

Yahir blushed. "R-really?"

I grabbed his shoulder and squeezed it. "Yup. But not as great as me!"

He frowned. "Says you."

Aster sighed and walked on ahead. "I better go watch over Ratmir and his friend. They might get lost while you two are busy fighting."

My brother and me exchanged glances and turned to see our kid brother and Collin shallowed into the crowd in the distance.

"Ratmir, don't wander off!" we yelled, rushing into the crowd.

**Solar Note: Happy Chinese New Year everyone! This special is in celebration of the Chinese New Year. Who better to represent the sign of the ox than the Pillar of the sign itself and his twin brother? Hopefully, this Year of the Ox will be better than the Year of the Rat.**