Kairo growled, and his hand swished through the air, snatching the rodent. "No, you won't!" he hissed, bringing his companion closer.

"But! But!" The small fluff ball thrashed from his grip. "That veggie looks so good!" Arubi's ears flopped, and his limbs folded, creating the ultimate ball of cuteness.

"No!" Kairo slumped Arubi on his head before he succumbed to the rabbit's puppy eyes trick. "You know we don't have money for this now."

"Can't we get one?" the rabbit murmured, wiping a stray tear. "Just one small radish?"

Kairo had scratched his companion behind his ears. "Don't worry, we'll return after we finished our job."

Kairo couldn't blame Arubi, for even his stomach rumbled, and the fried chicken's aroma would haunt him for the rest of the day. They strolled one food stall after another, envying the people with money until Kairo almost hit a big sign titled 'End of the line.' He lifted an eyebrow and puckered his lips, scanning it.

"Yeah, sure," he mumbled. No stupid sign could stop him. He looked in front of himself. A long line of people twisted out like strudel before him. "But what is on the other side? Do you think we reached the center?" Kairo looked up.

"Let me check!" Arubi jumped from one head to another, annoying dozens of people.

They turned back one by one, growling and mumbling their complaints.

"Hey, keep your pet on a leash!" shouted a Hippochonder woman in a tight tank top.

"No skipping the line!" another person shouted.

The boy only gave them my eye gesture. "Your problem that you can't deploy the scout."

Both of them snorted, and grumpy murmurs spread among the waiting customers, but nobody dared to teach the naughty boy a lesson. Everybody would love to move forward.

Kairo folded his arms and tapped his fingers, waiting. After a minute, his partner returned the same way, only irritating the people he missed before.

"So?" Kairo lifted his eyebrow and gestured Arubi with his hand to talk when the rabbit stood on the sign. "Are we there yet?"

"T-Tea!" Arubi gulped for air. "It's that tea!"

Kairo almost tapped on his forehead, when the rusty gears in his brain moved. "Do you mean tea like in Serpin's Tea?"

The rabbit nodded, and Kairo's jaw almost dislocated itself.

This snake-like race of Serpins made the most delicious, hot drinks. Their sensitive tongues picked up the smallest change in the taste or temperature, allowing them to choose the best tea leaves and seasoning to mix their beverages. Every Serpin's tea shop guaranteed to have a continuous line.

They gulped their saliva, but they had to continue. As they walked around the line, Arubi stood up, watching a Serpin waitress placing the order with her tail. Despite the lack of limbs, she put everything down without spilling a single drop of tea.

A few streets later, they entered the residential area where most people lived or offered inns. Arubi's sensitive ears picked a clamor, and he pulled Kairo's hair. "Hey, something is happening in that direction."

"Let's check it out!" He dashed into a sidewalk, jumping over heaps of well-hidden trash bins.

Soon they found out a group of people shouting and whistling. The boy's elbows helped him push through the crowd. Kairo stopped at the edge of a ring with a big smile, but that soon faded away.

In front of him stood two tall posts connected with a rope, and a cat rope-dancer jumped into the air, doing a somersault. The dancer's translucent overshirt with a sparkling design fluttered behind her, revealing her legs in purpure harem trousers. The crowd gasped. Some even covered their mouths to catch the silent shouts that escaped through the gaps between teeth.

So it's just comedians, huh? It wasn't a battle ring where he would grab quick pocket money as he hoped.

The feline woman with lavender-blue fur opened her small umbrella and landed with bare feet on the rope with no problems. Toward the audience, she sent a little kiss, and the crowd whistled and clapped.

Kairo crossed his arms, a smirk plastered across his face. Well, well, a Feline girl. Guess there's a circus in the city. Figures they would have somebody from Feline Tribe. Her crystal, yellow eyes landed on him, and she winked. The boy jerked his head, his eyebrows shooting up. A light tint of red colored his cheeks.

This girl belonged to Konketsu, a mix between a human and Atrop. She shared with them the overall body shape, facial features along with short whiskers, and her hands had paw pads but were human-shaped. It might be accurate to call her a three-quarter-breed as the cat's bloodline was strong in her.

"Wanna check this out?" the boy asked.

"Why not? Maybe you can learn something about elegance." Arubi smirked as Kairo snorted.

The cat girl's long earrings tinkled with each step. A white, translucent silk veil with the sparkling design connected a golden collar to similar bracelets on her wrists.

She let her purpure umbrella fall on the ground, and without warning, she jumped into the air, spinning. She spread her arms at the peak of her trajectory, slowing her body. The silk around her arms expanded, mimicking the shape of wings, and her lavender fur sparkled under the sunshine.

"Whoa!"

"Amazing!"

"Bravo!"

"Marry me!"

People shouted and whistled, clapping like thousands of moths flew around them. Kairo rubbed under his nose. That girl knows how to use her features to make the audience go wild. No wonder so many coins lay on the ground.

When the rope-dancer landed on the other side, Kairo picked the only bigger coin he had in his bag and flipped it toward the cat girl. While hungry, he understood circus folks worked hard to earn their income.

Using her white-tipped tail as if it was another arm, she grabbed the coin with ease. This small trick earned her another round of whistles and shouts.

She moved her attention to Kairo and smirked. Kissing the coin, she pushed it behind a thick purple cloth around her white, fluffy chest, blowing a kiss at the end. Heat flushed into Kairo's cheeks for the second time. She's such a tease!

Arubi patted him, and the boy growled. The cons of having a long-time partner were the inability to hide embarrassing moments from them.

The three-quarters-cat girl walked away, blowing kisses around herself. Once the place cleared, a tall man with pointy ears pierced by many earrings entered the ring. His light long hair brushed into a ponytail glittered beneath the sun, creating a small light show, but Kairo's eyes were on his hands; four in fact.

Who's this guy? He rubbed his chin. He wasn't sure if he'd heard about this race, but he wasn't alone. His rabbit buddy would have a hard time finding somebody without a dropped jaw.

The man held a cintera—a musical instrument that mixed a harp and a guitar. With his lower pair of hands, he adjusted his vest full of embroidering flowers of every color and simple brownish pants before he sat cross-legged.

Nearby, a strange-looking Centaur with white hair walked in complete silence; okay, the ankle bells were chiming. His serene face was like on the ban-list of all Centaurs since they were short-tempered and prone to drunk-fights. The sun made his whole body sparkle.

Centaurs were in all shades of brown or gray, but never white. His eyes narrowed as he scanned the dancer from hooves to tips of horse ears. At the edge of his consciousness, he registered his partner chewed the scraped carrot he used in the last scuffle with bandits. Some creatures were just that lucky their weapons doubled for snacks.

Kairo's frown turned into a side-way smug smile when he spotted a small curved horn on the man's forehead, partly hidden in his hair.

"Unitaur," he whispered, and Arubi stopped nibbling the stems. Kairo fished his small pocket encyclopedia. There might be something about sub-species of Centaurs. Here,—Kairo caught his chin—Unitaurs are small subspecies of Centaurs. According to legends they are offspring of Moon Mule and Snow Donkey.

The last time he checked, neither mules nor donkeys walked with such elegance; even the small sketch showed proud half-horse. He returned the book. Some stories were just plain weird.

The Unitaur, wearing transparent silk adorned with red camellias, moved in harmony with the quiet music that unfolded around them. The dancer's veil fluttered as his hands and feet circled. The musician's fingers danced across the strings with elegance and preciousness, he could keep his eyes closed.

Both travelers checked the sand under his hooves, but he didn't kick up any grains. That's how light his steps were. If the previous show made people hold their breath, this one soothed their souls.

Arubi pulled Kairo's hair. It was time to go. Kairo placed a coin in the sand to not break their concentration and pushed through the crowd to continue their journey.

"So... where is it?" The boy stood on his toes, trying to see over the streams of people. It proved to be fruitless since almost everybody was taller than him, except for Dwarfs who could stroll between his legs. Asking them where their caps were would cause a sharp kick in the shin. What idiot would wear something so soft when they lived twenty thousand leagues under the hard rock? They never left their homes without safety helmets with attached shades strapped under their chins.

Kairo let them be, not replying to their mumbling, as they pushed him aside. They had a temper equal to their height, and the morning moroseness stayed with them till bedtime. Arubi pulled Kairo's hair, gesturing him to go left.

The young man stopped at the next corner, letting a wagon with big wheels pulled by sagots cross. Those animals were as big as a pony with strong hind legs and heavy hooves. Their heads resembled capybara with long ears glued to it, and their personality and essential intelligence were of a guinea-pig. One of them squealed, proving their guinea pig's lineage.

Arubi's nose wrinkled, and his head moved up and down as his mouth twitched until he sneezed from the lifted dust and cleaned his muzzle. Kairo hissed. He liked his hair messy but not this way messy.

On their way, they passed family stores filled with freshly made antiquities, week-old pastry, holed socks perfect for anybody with long toenails, and a minimalist fashion store. Kairo lifted his eyebrow as wearing only swimming slippers in the desert was stupid, but people still bought it. Another crowd of people in front of him caught his attention, so he pushed through the masses without thinking.

Not again! Why can't people gather only in front of big buildings? A quick snort escaped his nose as he crossed his arms until Arubi pulled his hair. "I know," the boy growled as he rolled his eyes, "I should have paid attention and not made a snap judgment."

The rabbit patted him, and an angry vein popped behind Kairo's eyes. If his partner had ever obtained a certificate, it'd be in pawsome teasing. Kairo redirected his attention in front of himself.

The people observed the Dark Elf, who seemed to finish his performance given he had received applause. Well, saying this fella wasn't interesting would be an understatement. He presented an embodiment of a perfect figure, and this race wasn't hungry for blood or spreading darkness. They preferred good wine, tight spandex, and sappy romance books for long evenings.

Their most noticeable trait was the two-toned hair that a few races possessed. The upper part of their golden locks turned pitch black around the waist. Nobody understood why it behaved that way, but it was no wonder many of them worked as models for fashion magazines.

Whatever. The boy shrugged his shoulders and released a snort through his nose.

Kairo wanted to leave when the dark-skinned elf turned around, and their eyes met. It was like something clicked between them. The boy's red eyes stared into the golden ones as if they had known each other for years. At that moment, Kairo thought this guy would tease him if they were blood brothers. The elf must have felt his emotion since he grinned widely. Kairo stuck out his tongue.

Arubi rolled his head. "Kids."

The boy tried to leave, but a furred, lynx-sized ball jumped at the elf's shoulder, showing its mane and backward curved horns. Arubi perked his ears; this animal was a hunter, and rabbits were on its daily menu. Kairo didn't notice his partner's bristled fur or chattering incisors since the boy opened his portable encyclopedia.

Ah, here it's. Kairo stopped. Raon, huh?

He eyed the bluish creature that jumped into the air, showing the strength in its thin, hind legs. The front ones were much thicker, meant to deliver destructive blows. When the raon landed, it stayed on its front legs, walking in a circle. This animal inhabited deep forests and could create a strong bond with its owner, turning into a loyal guardian.

"Hey," whispered the rabbit as he pulled Kairo's hair, "let's go."

"I know," the boy mumbled and flipped another coin into the air.

A small green bird with three long tail feathers with yellow zebra-styled tips caught it and landed on elf's stretched hand. The Dark Elf nodded at the boy, thanking him for the money. Kairo turned away, not wanting to drag himself into the performance. They were late by now, but in a sense, it didn't matter.

They crossed a few streets before they stood in front of the office Hell opened in the world of the living. The only place where you could spend hours of endless waiting and lose your sanity at the same time and no resistance could help you; the post office.

The goal of their journey.

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