In a faraway land behind three towering mountains and two wavering rivers, a young man strolled on a dirt path. Calling him a man might be exaggerating. Actually, he was half a pipsqueak. After all, he was barely fourteen at that time.

His steps were full of energy as if nothing in the world mattered to him. The falling edge of his wide straw hat, sando-gasa, shielded his eyes, blocking his vision. The gentle wind fluttered with his cape, but not even the strongest gust could steal it as a big, red umbrella, a wagasa, held it in place.

The boy jerked his body from almost tripping over a stone. However, he refused to lift his straw hat. He adjusted his dirty, short kimono, its end crumpled and torn in places. Its true-color had faded into tones of gray years ago.

His brownish pants, a hakama, weren't any better—decorated by many patches of red, green, and blue. His straw sandals, waraji, were the only decent part of his attire, keeping his feet protected from the cobbled paths.

A squirrel watched him from the tree, twitching its ears to catch even the faintest glimpse of danger. It jumped into the green crown, rustling the leaves as three bandits blocked the young lad's path.

"If you value your life, hand over your belongings!" shouted the messiest one. Stains from saliva, dirt, and undefined substances splattered across his whole clothes. However, that was nothing compared to birds making a toilet spot on his head.

The boy lifted his hat with a thumb, revealing half-lidded, red eyes that studied the robbers.

Their gaunt figures wore dirtier clothes than the boy had. Their hands held rusty katanas that could hardly cut cheese, much less bones. There was no doubt about it; he'd met traditional, street vermin. The boy sighed.

"All you beef?" asked the thief with missing teeth.

The boy didn't understand what he said, but given the thief's knitted leftovers of eyebrows, it wasn't about steaks. His rusty cogwheels moved, spinning half of the turn per minute.

Did he ask me if I'm deaf?

"Maybe he needs some motivation," the middle one, who seemed to have the biggest vocabulary of all of them, said. He poked the boy between the ribs. When the desired reaction didn't come, he pushed the hat off with a swing of his weapon.

The boy's eyes blinked, and his nose wrinkled. A silent hiss escaped his lips as the hat hung by its strap. The sun's rays fell on his messy white hair, making it sparkle, and in the middle sat a bun.

"Are you scared now, poor thing?" The middle bandit grinned, showing a glimpse of his yellow teeth.

The white bun twitched, bristling into a bigger ball. The bandits' eyes darted on it. Was that bun possessed? Their mouths dropped open as a long ear bolted upward. It twinged, and another ear followed. The bun enlarged, and a smaller ball protruded from under it. The bandits tilted their heads as their eyes widened, and a silent 'huh' escaped their lips.

Small red eyes squinted, but the sunshine forced them to close. A fluffy paw appeared from under its frame and moved across the animal's face. The small creature yawned, stretching its body. The long incisors made sure to remind everybody a cute appearance could be deceiving. The pink muzzle wrinkled upon the horrid odor from the men.

"A bunny?" they chorused.

"Ninja!" The rabbit's eyes shot open as the animal shrieked the last syllable, and it was gone in a flash.

A sharp wind arose, dancing around the bandits. The cut grass swirled, mixing with dust, forcing the man to step back.

The boy smirked, a mischievous spark danced inside his eyes. Here we go again. The Carrot Slash.

The rabbit backflipped and landed on its hind legs. It held a long pipe, kiseru, in its right paw, and a carrot with its skin scraped off in the other.

At that moment, the bandit's torn clothes burst into shreds except for their underwear. The gentle breeze nipped their bodies, causing them to hug themselves.

The middle robber growled, and with slight hesitation, raised his sword. The rabbit jumped, burrowing its hind leg in the bandit's face, sending him flying. His companions didn't repeat the same mistake and retreated, grabbing their fallen fellow.

The small rodent looked at his companion, lifting one eyebrow. The boy waved his head sideways as he measured the sandglass he carried. "Ts-ts, five seconds. You are turning into a roll."

"I was sleepy, and they weren't worth the effort," protested the rabbit. He took out a small bag from his fur and put it over his back, returning the scraped carrot inside.

"Whatever you say, bunny." The boy grinned.

The rabbit bristled, stomping his left hind leg. "I'm not a little, fluffy bunny! I'm a rabbit!"

"Hai, hai," the boy agreed with a wide smirk. He loved to tease his animal friend. Usually, his partner was calm and level-headed, but this word could turn him into a fighting machine in a millisecond. "Whatever you say, Mr. Arubi." The boy cupped his hands and bowed deeply.

The rabbit jumped on his head. "Let's head to the city, or we won't get there before lunch, Kairo," he mumbled, taking a puff off his long pipe kiseru.

Kairo resumed his stroll, stepping over the remnants of the bandits' attire. They passed through the forest, plucking the berries growing from the bushes. Both their mouths turned purple, but they didn't care.

The ever-present breeze followed them all the way, bringing scents of all kinds of flowers, both stinking and aromatic alike. The forest whispered the tales that only trees could remember and understand. When Kairo swallowed the last fruit, a small, scaly creature flew above their heads.

"Was that a petite dragon?" he asked, licking his lips.

"Quite possible," Arubi replied. "They are in 'the top five pets'." The rabbit rolled his head since his eyes were too small to convey the motion. "The city must be close."

"Perfect. Time to meet that guy!" Kairo rubbed the purple juice into his overused handkerchief and dashed forward, his steps kicking up clouds of dust from the road.

"Great," his rabbit partner mumbled.

"Why so broody?" The boy looked up through his fringe.

"You know how it ended up last time, do you?" Arubi knocked on Kairo's head.

The boy rolled his eyes. "Don't be so pessimistic."

"I'm a realist."

"Hai, hai."

The young lad quickened his strides. They couldn't postpone their quest any longer. Time was against them, as the gong for lunchtime roared from inside of them.

After five rainy nights, three escapes from angry debt collectors, four dine-and-dash schemes, and stealing tiny pouches from bandits they had beaten on their way, they had Waslan City at the edge of Sahagobi Desert in front of them.

Its borders overflowed with many cities and smaller settlements, and each offered one uniqueness after another. This city belonged to the 'Top Ten Biggest Cities'. The houses were mostly made of white stone with tiled roofs. However, it wasn't hard to find districts with completely different architecture and stench.

The Red District was famous for its red lampions, roofs, and fields of the spiciest pepper. Another called China Street offered shops selling china kitchenware made for the most special occasions. For some reason, most of their customers came from Boots Country.

Kairo leaned his head back, staring at the big emblem above the enormous gate decorated with four animals: a kitten, a worm, a sparrow, and a skunk. Arubi pulled Kairo's hair to change his trajectory as the boy almost collided with a Camtaur—

¯\_(^_^)_/¯

"A Camtaur?" a girl with cat ears poking through her long hair interrupted the flow of the story.

The boy sitting beside her nudged the girl. "Shh!"

The old man giggled while putting his pipe on the small table. "They are hot-headed creatures with a body of camel and torso of a human with great pride in their bottoms. The better shape, the bigger chance they have to find a date." His hands made a rough shape of a heart in the air.

"Ehh... that sounds weird," voiced another child with slit pupils.

"It may," the old man agreed, "but touch them, and their long tail will slap you. And that's the best scenario."

"What's the worst one?" the tallest kid shouted from behind the group.

"You'll get to know their farts first-nose!" The old man laughed at his small joke while every child plugged their noses and mouths; those with cat ears flopped them.

The man waited for the kids to compose themselves before he continued his bedtime story.

¯\_(^_^)_/¯

Kairo moved his attention to his front, minimizing the chance of getting into trouble with any other Atrop race. The gate led to a market district, but first, they had to cross a street full of workshops.

Kairo held his breath next to the leather workshops; the stench of lime milk suffocated him. No one knew why Sharigos had started a tanning business here, and much less why at the border of a desert. But despite all odds, they prospered well.

However, merchants and door-to-door salesmen with aroma lamps and nose-plugs made a killing in the adjacent areas as the wind was mostly in their favor.

"Did we have to go through this part?" The rabbit sneezed.

"Unless you wanted to waste three hours going around." The boy spat out, sucking the fresh dose of air. "Or you prefer working a night shift."

"Fine." Arubi plopped down. "Just walk faster next time."

"Hai, hai."

They now needed to cross the marketplace to get closer to the city center where their final destination lay. Kairo's eyebrow twitched, for he hated walking through marts, especially if they called themselves MartHell™. No law could protect anybody from a splurge of wallets, trampled shoes, or loss of common sense.

A large, marble gate with the slogan "Buy now! Not later!" on a rusty, iron plate marked the entrance to the market. On both sides, stood a sloth guard. One would think security should employ faster creatures. However, it worked as people loved to take expensive photos next to them or betting who can make them laugh in less than half of an hour.

If the previous area assaulted his nose, this one did its best in turning him deaf.

"Buy fresh, rotten apples!"

"The fresh fish make sad eyes on you! Don't overlook them!"

"Get the latest winter coats!"

"Get ancient pans! Hot from the factory!"

Kairo covered his ears. His partner wasn't any better as he rolled his ears since his paws were too small to block them.

Groups of people dashed from one stand to another, grabbing the best deals. Arubi navigated him through the never-ending story of supply and demand by pulling Kairo's hair.

"Ouch!" the boy hissed. "Not so strong! I'm not cooking, you know?"

Arubi snickered. "Hey, at least I'm not pulling your leg."

Kairo widened his steps and checked his legs if they weren't tangled in threads. After three paces, Arubi pulled him back into the middle of the street, away from a sale on empty sandglasses.

The small, wooden buildings covered by sale banners, hanging lanterns under clay roofs with curved corners, or advertisements for paid samples of general fruit bordered the main street.

At the corners, food and snacks sellers had their stalls. Anybody could afford the noodle soup without noodles. Rice Cakes with gravel promised an exclusively rocky taste. And Candy Bubbles burst before you could taste them.

Arubi scratched behind his rolled ear. How people could buy something so useless was beyond him. Kairo increased his pace with his hands folded inside of his kimono over his chest. The word 'Sale' or 'Limited Offer' always awoke an unhealthy itching in his fingers.

Kairo headed forward until he got closer to the border. His nostrils widened, as he inhaled a delicious aroma, licking the escaping saliva. Arubi spread his ears, and his muzzle twitched as his sensitive nose gobbled the smells. His small body followed his nose, leaning forward.

This place turned into heaven or hell, depending on the state of one's stomach. The Rest-Stops District was the second most crowded place in Waslan City.

The various restaurants, snack bars, cafes, or portable stalls offered meals from the entire world. Anybody could pick anything, and many dishes were to die for; some literally. Kairo stopped in front of a Grill Bar, letting his eyes dig into the freshly roasted Otnak Chickens.

Without warning, Kairo's head turned a rabbit weight lighter.

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