"Hey, I am Skies Above your head. Who are you, fellow faux?"

"...huh? Skies above your head? Is that some sort of greeting?"

"No, that's my name. How is it? I picked it myself."

That's how the gray colored faux kat with white tiger-like stripes and folded fins along his arms proudly introduced himself. I didn't know how to react.

"It's... very vivid. I'm Gosh."

"Gosh what?"

"Just Gosh."

For a moment, Skies above your head just stared at me silently with blank silver eyes. "That's lame."

A vein bulged under my soft titanium shell. That fact that he sounds so honest makes it even more insulting.

"Anyway, welcome to town. Where you from, Gosh? First time I'm seeing you around here. Are you a stray?" Skies above your head took me by a tentacle and started pulling me to the town.

I followed along. "I was born in the forest, in some bird's nest. Seemed like they took my egg as one of their own."

"Sounds tough. I was born in Adventurer City, in some stupid human's attic. Guy like abusing kats, so I scratched his face with these titanium claws and ran away. The alley life didn't suit me, so I left that place. Met the pack soon after."

"Your life sounds tougher..." I commented. I was also curious about this adventurer city, but we had already entered town and I was distracted by the sights.

"This town resembles a ko-o village I saw before."

"What's ko-o? We stole it from some monkeys."

"...Are you serious?" You stole an entire town? That makes my stealing of houses plank by plank look trivial in comparison.

"Hey, Skies. Who's the new guy?" A big fat faux kat lying upside-down on top of a wooden bench, with his round drum-like belly facing up, called out to the walking us, lazily wagging a tentacle, with something that looks like a fish tail hanging out of his mouth.

"Hey Tubby. This is Gosh."

"Gosh what?"

"Just Gosh."

"...That's lame."

"Right? Hahaha!"

Dammit!

I look to Skies above your head. "Does this Tubby have a long name too?"

He nods. "Yeah, he's Dip In A Pool Of Tubby, the biggest eater of us all."

My jaw drops. What a weird, nausea inducing name. It's even a total of six words. No wonder they shorten it when calling each other. I think I'll do that too.

Tubby pats himself on his stomach, causing it to jiggle, and says in a reliable voice. "If you need to find food, just look for me. I know all the best farming spots around here BURP~!"

With his mouth opening wide and a sound coming out, his food was also ejected. A fish covered in slobber fell onto the ground and started flopping at my feet, still alive.

I take a step away.

"Come on. I'll introduce you to the others." Skies waved. "Our pack has thirty-six. Not all of them are here. Some are far. Some are near. Great guys they are. I'm sure you'll love them!"

I was skeptical about that, but still followed.

Thus, we went all around town.

...

Clang Clang Clang Clang

After arriving at a house that looks like it has once been burned and is stocked with all kinds of stuff, like rocks, tools, and pottery, Skies pointed inside, to the faux kat with a beard and wearing sunglasses, sitting on a pedestal, slamming a piece of hot metal atop a boulder with a chunk of ore.

"That's Creator Of All Things, our pack's... the guy who makes stuff." Skies explained.

"That's our pack's kraftsman for you." Creator Of All Things said, as he pounded the hot metal again. Clang

"Creator makes all the things that our pack uses. Pots, pans, jars, and stuff. Anything else, we swipe from other creatures."

I nod my head. Observing Creator's craftsmanship, I can tell that although it looks primitive, it is effective, as the hot metal is changing shape with every one of Creator's strike. Interesting are the ends of his tentacles, split into two in the shape of pincers, better for holding things I assume.

"Hey new guy, don't go losing everything I make like the others do, you got that?"

I look to Skies. "You lose his stuff a lot?"

"Hehe~" Skies puts on an expression of an innocent kitty.

After I gave my promise to Creator not to easily lose his creations, we watched as he worked. After every several strikes, he would spit fire onto the metal, heating it up again, before striking it again.

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Eventually, he dipped it into a pot of water.

"Here, a welcome gift." He said, as he threw the newly made... thing onto the ground in front of me.

"Thank you." I said, as I picked up the still warm... thing to observed it. It's clearly a weapon, of just the right weight and density for me. Judging by the rugged and curved yet sharp S shape blade on one end, giving a look of total brutality, scarier than any weapon I've ever used before, and the long handle on the other end... "It's a great ax."

Creator stares down at me from his pedestal for a silent moment. "It's a sword."

"..." Seriously?

...

Pow Pow

Pow Pow

Next, we arrive at an open space where a tan color faux kat is standing on his two hind tentacles and punching a thick log inserted into the ground, his two front arms wearing something like punching gloves, a serious look in his dark eyes.

"That's Knock You To Heaven. Look at his body. It's weird, right? Hehehe. He evolved into something strange, with his bones going under and his meat going on top. What kind of creature is like that?"

Lots, I think. "But yeah, that's a lot of muscles for a faux kat."

"Skies, I hear you." The burly Knock You To Heaven stopped punching and turned to look at the snickering Skies. He said in a commanding tone. "Put on the gloves. Let's spar."

"Meow! Not again!" On the spot, before I could react, Skies spread his tentacles, opened his fins, and flapped, kicking up dust to my face and jumping into the sky.

Something went past me, a blur because of its speed.

Knock You To Heaven jumped high and grabbed Skies, pulling him down in one swift move.

SLAM!

Skies fell to the ground and screamed. "Noooooo~!"

He clawed at the ground but was dragged up, made to stand and fight, giving me the chance to watch a boxing match between a pair of evolved faux kats... a very one-sided boxing match.

9 minutes later, Skies was lying on the ground again, twitching from pain.

"Hey Newbie, who are you?" Knock You To Heaven asked, as he took off his gloves.

I tense up, saluting on reflex. "Sir, I am the faux kat called Gosh, Sir!"

Heaven tilts his head, looking at me in confusion. "...Who is Sir? My name is Knock You To Heaven. Call me Heaven."

"Yes, Heaven!"

Pointing to himself, Heaven put on a reliable pose. "If you ever want to learn fighting, come to me. I'm the best fighter in all of kat land."

"..." I subtly glance at the fallen Skies, hesitant to accept Heaven's offer.

...

My nose twitches. I catch a whiff of something. "Mm... That smells good."

Skies, who is weakened and leaning on my shoulder for support as we walked toward the direction he indicated, revives at the smell. "That's food! Licks is cooking! Let's go!"

Ignoring his under the shell bruises, Skies leapt off my support and excitedly ran on all fours into the distance, as if he weren't injured in the first place.

I quickly followed.

Soon, we arrive at a big pot- No, a steaming cauldron, with an 8-legged faux kat standing on a high stool mixing the stuff inside with a rod using two tentacles while using another 2-4 to reached out and pick up ingredients from other containers, before throwing the ingredients into the pot.

Panting with desire, Skies stops right next to the boiling cauldron, at just the right distance to avoid getting burned by the fire beneath. With a sly expression and an experienced hand, or tentacle, he stretches it up and over, into whatever's boiling inside, something I can't see due to the height of the cauldron walls.

Whack!

With an equally experienced reaction, the cook strikes Skies' tentacle away with the cooking rod before he could grab anything.

Then, he scolds. "Skies, you widdle brat! I told you to stop stealing food before it's done cooking!"

Skies massaged his now hot tentacle. "But Licks, I'm hungry and hurt."

"Huh? Who beat you up?"

"Heaven."

"Another spar?" The cook, Licks, went back stirring the cauldron. "It's the road to adulthood. For everyone your generation, you have to be beaten up by Heaven before you grow big and strong. For me, it was a different fellow faux though."

It was at that moment that I arrived, caught up to hear a greater half of that sentence. I can't help but wonder, am I part of Skies' generation?

Skies, having noticed me, patted me on the shoulder. "Licks, look, we have another new bro."

The cook glance over the cauldron and saw me, who was looking at his 8 long and dexterous arms curiously.

Licks paid special attention to the thickness of the tentacles and the various scars all over the young faux kat's body.

"Another youngling, you look so thin and beat up... Here, have a snack." He stretched a tentacle into a container and pulled out something wrapped in leaves.

"Thank you." I gratefully receive the small package.

"Me! Me too!" Skies clamored, jumping up and down.

The cook clicked his tongue. He reached out, grabbed another, and tossed it to Skies, who promptly caught it with a "Yay~!".

Then, he looked back to me. "My name is Most Delicious Licks. Dinner is held when the sun sets. Don't be late. I feed all the leftovers to Tubby."

"Got it." I nod. What a nice uncle.

The two of us, me and Skies, sat down somewhere to enjoy our snacks.

Skies threw the whole thing, leaves and all into his mouth and started crushing it inside.

I copied him and did the same. As I crush and shred it with my drill tongue, trace amounts of juices flow out, stimulating my appetite.

"What is this? It's delicious." I commented, while still eating. It even tastes a little bit familiar. Could this be... the taste of home?

"Meat bun." Skies answered, still eating his as well.

"What kind of meat?"

"Monkey meat."

"...eh?"

...

BOOOM~!

Suddenly, a part of town exploded in the distance. Debris jumped and smoke rose.

"Meow! What was that?!" I exclaimed, startled.

"Oh, that? Don't worry about it." Skies shrugged. "It's no big deal. Either Explosions Are My Life is practicing his shooting, Light The World On Fire is setting things on fire, or Struck By Lightning Bolt somehow caused an accident."

"There are so many causes of explosions among you guys?" I ask, flabbergasted.

"Yeah. Fun, right? Let's go over to take a look."

Thus, we ran over, and soon found a ruined house, with one smoking faux kat inside.

When the smoke cleared enough for us to see the culprit, it turns out to be a white blue faux kat, covered in blackened dust, with occasional sparks of electricity coming off of him, and smoke rising out of his open mouth.

"It's Bolt. How are you dude?" Skies cheerfully called out.

Bolt, whose full name should be the aforementioned Struck By Lightning Bolt, looks his hazy light-blue eyes over. He spoke with smoke still coming out of his mouth. "My impact endurance and heat tolerance skills just went up by 1 level each."

"Congratulations!" Skies earnestly said.

"Thanks!" Similarly, Bolt sincerely accepted the congrats.

"...Are you okay?" I asked. I also wanted to ask if he was okay in the head, mentally speaking, but that would be rude.

"Yeah. Who are you?" Bolt asked, turning curious.

"Gosh."

"Gosh what?"

"...Gosh nothing."

"Nice to meet ya, Gosh Nothing."

"..." I didn't know what to say. At least he didn't call my name lame.

"So what happened this time?" Skies asked.

"Dunno. I walked into a house. There was a lot of dust. And then BOOM!"

"Wow. It's a miracle!" Skies exclaimed, sounding seriously impressed.

"Yeah, a miracle!" Bolt cheered, shaking the soot off his body.

Staring at the electric sparks coming off his body every few seconds, I could picture the chemical reaction. "Ain't that a dust explosion?"

"What's that?" Skies and Bolt both turn to me with question marks on their faces.

I explain what happens when dust meets sparks or fire.

"Why does that happen...?" Their faux kat eyes stare as they turned even more confused.

I went on to explain the concept of combustion, the reaction that occurs when enough heat affects compounds with oxygen atoms.

"What are oxygen atoms...?" They asked, their expressions blank.

"..." In the end, before they could ask what protons, neutrons, and electrons are, I gave up and concluded it simply. "It's a miracle!"

"A miracle!" "A miracle!" Skies and Bolt cheered, the happiness of simplicity returning to their confused young faces.

Meanwhile, I was lamenting inside, at the apparent lack of intelligence that my species has in this world.

...