They sleep too much.
They talk too much.
They feel too much.
And that boy, the one called Ji Ao, was sprawled on a soft couch, snoring quietly like a lost pup of his own kind. Ribhia watched from the dark corner of the room, wearing that ridiculous outfit he called pajamas, as if it were some kind of protection or armor.
"Weak... useless..." she thought, not bothering to put on shoes. If she had to walk in their world, she would do it with her feet on the ground. Feeling the cold, the dust, the dirt—that was what kept her alive. She took a deep breath and approached him. She needed him awake, not because she liked him, but because he was necessary. That was all.
She got close enough to smell the warmth of his sleep.
He moved. He was waking up.
But instead of being grateful for being pulled from his own torpor, the boy pushed his hand forward and touched her. In a place he absolutely shouldn't have. A boldness without limits.
"Hey, I came to wake you. Why did you touch me like that?" she said, dry, hard, like river stone.
He fumbled with words, red as if about to explode.
Pathetic.
"I... I didn't mean to... it was reflex... sorry!"
"It doesn't matter."
Of course it didn't matter. Guilt doesn't change facts.
"Let's go."
He protested. Of course he protested. They always do.
"Now? Where to?"
She had already lost patience.
She grabbed his hand. He was lighter than she expected—seemed big, but inside was all wind.
He dragged himself, dragging...
"I don't have slippers!"
"Neither do you!"
"I'm a man!"
Ribhia stopped. Turned her face slowly. Like a she-wolf hearing the howl of a pup trying to be a wolf.
"You're a noisy child."
"I'm seventeen!"
"And I have silences that last longer than that."
He was a thorn stuck in her paw, but she would endure—for now.
"I don't even know your proper name!"
She paused. The wind blew against her face. And out of nowhere, the word came.
It came from her mouth. Not from thought.
"Ribhia."
He repeated it, all wrong:
"Rubia?"
"Ribhia."
As if he were worthy of saying it.
"Alright… Ruby..."
Ribhia clenched her teeth.
He diminished. He always diminishes everything.
Turned her name into something small.
But she let it pass. He would understand one day.
They reached the cave. The forest they had passed earlier was restless. Leaves whispered in ancient tongues. The small fragments of Chi'ia stone, rooted deep in the cave, pulsed like a heart about to bleed.
It opened.
The portal of dancing lights, right in the middle of the small cave, which now seemed much larger.
Living nature, not spell. Not magic. It was ancient truth.
"The temporal rift is finally opening!" she shouted, almost unintentionally. Her blood roared.
Without waiting, she pulled Ji Ao violently.
He screamed like a frightened bird.
"Let me go! Let me go! Leeeet me go!"
"No," she murmured, as if saying "breathe."
They vanished.
Light.
Crossing.
End of night… dawn… day… everything disappears.
And on the other side…
A place where the world doesn't apologize.
Where the weak die.
And where maybe, just maybe…
Ribhia stops dragging Ji Ao.
So he can learn to walk on his own.
Part 2
The Other Side of the Portal
Ji Ao was stunned.
His wide eyes could not contain his amazement. As soon as they passed through the rift of light that swallowed the cave, they emerged in another world.
It was like a forest, but not just any forest.
Everything there pulsed, vibrated, with raw life, with savagery.
Incredible creatures paraded before them with offensive naturalness. There were wolf-men with thick fur and eyes of fire, pig-men who grunted and spat on the ground as if it were their territory, and… Ji Ao almost lost his balance when he saw—bunny-girls.
"Wow!" escaped from his mouth.
They were enchanting, most of them white as snow seen only in dreams. They had fluffy ears, short, long, moving with the wind, and delicate faces as if sculpted by careful hands. Some had hands and feet like tiny paws—small, soft, almost unreal. Others retained some cute, bunny-like appearance. But others…
He sighed. They had the lovely faces of girls, with rabbit ears on top of their heads. And the final detail: each had a small, fluffy little tail… soft… and probably forbidden to be touched.
Ji Ao pinched himself.
"Ouch!"
He was awake.
He was really there.
But he forgot—forgot he was next to someone unlike the others.
The young woman, still masked and wrapped in that unusual outfit, turned her gaze toward him. But it was not a gentle gaze. It was a gaze that cuts.
"What now? Fainting from so much ignorance? Hurting? Or is it just a lack of brains?"
Ji Ao tried to respond. He tried to gather words.
But his mouth betrayed his brain:
"It's just… these bunnies… they are… beautiful…"
Ribhia—who until then had tolerated his awe like one tolerates a noisy insect—stopped. She crossed her arms. Her tone came loaded with pure venom:
"Don't tell me you're one of those… basic men who drool just because they saw a leg or a furry ear?"
Ji Ao choked on his words.
"It's not that! It's just that… I've never seen… they are so different! And cute! And… not all have furry legs and…"
"Watch your enthusiasm, idiot."
Her voice was now icy.
"This is not your pathetic little world. Here, people like you disappear and no one misses them. Here, a bunny-girl can rip out your heart and still jump rope with your guts."
Ji Ao turned pale.
She looked at him like one looks at a larva trying to fly.
"Stay alert. And keep your hands in your pockets. Or you might lose them. Literally."
Part 3
From Ribhia's Point of View
"He looked like a child loose in a glass brothel.
Eyes popping out, words stammered, body stumbling over his own feet… it was ridiculous.
If he were not useful — even minimally — I would have let him fall into the rift.
The bunny-girls… of course. Always them.
White flesh, big eyes, the pose of maidens… and these almost human?.. So… Argh! Cute and beautiful… as if that were protection.
And the ones that kept a human look in their lovely faces? They were the worst. Argh! And that boy?
Enchanted, drooling, almost tripping over himself.
Pathetic.
But this world… this world is mine.
And these little bunnies (she said, pretending to be remorseful)… are my people… or what is left of them… And even if I get irritated by their beautiful, delicate forms… They all must be protected.
And he will still learn that the hardest way possible."
Part 4
A Beautiful and Dangerous World
Ji Ao followed the masked woman deeper into the forest with cautious steps and his gaze spinning in every direction. This was not just a forest.
It was a living city. Creatures of every shape and size walked among the trees, wearing simple clothes but carrying the posture of those who know exactly where they are and where they are going.
A bipedal boar carried a basket of fruit. A humanized pig, ears twitching to shoo an insect, read a scroll leaning against a thick root.
Fox-children, their large fluffy tails trailing, played hide-and-seek among the bushes. Ji Ao felt inside a strange dream — or perhaps, an enchanting nightmare.
He walked awkwardly, tripping over roots and his own feet while following the masked woman along hidden trails of that living forest. His eyes were wide, almost hypnotized by every detail: tree trunks spiraling, leaves changing color with the light, and the creatures… oh, the creatures!
A few vixen-girls, noticeably older than the orange-furred youngsters he had seen earlier, danced among the branches, long bushy tails swaying to a music only they seemed to hear.
A group of doe-maidens, with large shy eyes, hid behind the trees whenever Ji Ao looked in their direction.
But his gaze was always pulled back to the bunny-girls — there were many, of all sizes, colors and features. Except one: completely white. This one, unlike the others, kept her distance and watched him in silence.
Ji Ao sighed, enchanted.
"Is this… is this paradise?" he murmured.
"It's the beginning of your end if you keep that dazed face," replied the woman at his side without even looking at him. Her voice was loaded with boredom and arrogance.
"Ah… sorry," he stammered. "It's just… these bunny-girls… they're so cute."
She stopped in the middle of the path.
"Are you a complete idiot?" she asked dryly.
Ji Ao widened his eyes.
"I… what?"
"You got lost at the first pair of furry ears you saw. Look, boy, here you're just another sack of fragile and useless bones. And if you keep acting like that, they will tear your head off like a ripe fruit."
He swallowed hard. Around them, some creatures paused to watch. A group of humanized pigs — porkius — snorted, mocking quietly.
Then a huge wolf-man approached from the right with heavy steps. He was almost twice Ji Ao's size, with long claws and fur black as night.