Amethyst and Frank step out of the Spaceship Dock building, onto the asphalted streets, into a large open-air parking lot with some hovercars parked.
Mostly following the ancient car designs, they are mostly sleek and aerodynamic, but there are also a few bigger ones around, which are quite cube-shaped.
They are all turned off, and thus their chassis' touches the ground. Large black spheres or entirely empty-looking spots are in the place where wheels would have been in Earth's vehicular designs. Depending on whether they used the same antigravity technology as hoverplates and other related hover technology or if they use the rudimentary mostly legacy thruster tech.
The latter movement solution was hidden and embedded inside the cars, as it is much more unsafe and unpredictable.
They walk to the left, into the nightly streets. Sphere-shaped streetlamps light the way of sparsely populated walkways and even calmer roads.
On closer inspection, the lights were actually floating, four small black balls at each corner of the cone-shaped lampshade. The lights slightly bob up and down, like on calm ocean waters.
It's a residential area, with no shop signs, industry, or other flashier spots around—just the calmly swaying lights and their magical atmosphere.
The two driveways are separated with symmetrical lines of trees, patches of grass, and well-cared flowerbeds, surrounded by a curb of softly chiseled stones.
Beneath the trees and from the middle of the flowers is a path; allowing people to walk among the flora. This path was not lit up with the floating orbs but with sparsely placed thematic lanterns at the end of their short poles.
Frank mentions how different trees were planted in different parts of the city; this street being home to proud silver birches.
Many of the bigger streets had this way of separating traffic, and those that didn’t, made up for it by having trees planted in their own smaller spots and scattering cup-like concrete flowerbeds around.
The surrounding buildings are modern-looking blocks of flats, made out of bricks, or concrete with wooden decorations and walls covering it up.
Some of them have vines and vine-like plants growing high along the walls, giving them this intriguing overrun look.
All of the buildings leave enough space between each other to have a real grass yard, with furniture, swings, and additional things for outdoor activities.
Once Frank has led them down a few streets’ twists and turns, the forest of Innocence comes into sight at the end of the street.
As they walk towards its end, their hotel opens up to the right, right at the edge of the forest itself.
Frank checks the time, the reception ends at 3 am, and they’re just ten minutes short of being late.
This large plot of land houses a rather peculiar hotel, its appearance would have been quite out of place anywhere else, other than Metropolis.
Though, even here, its location is the most important aspect, to make it fit in.
“Wow… this looks…” Amethyst says.
“I couldn’t find any other bookings from this side of Purity in such a short time, but I think it’ll be especially to your liking, don’t you think?”
Before them, is a tall building, like a block of flats, albeit made out of entirely wood instead, thus resembling a grand manor.
The many floors are clearly characterized by the round balconies, which have carefully shaped and smooth round pillars supporting a curved handrail.
A small quaint roof above each one, with a small set of furniture being protected from the elements by it.
Large branches of different sorts of trees have been attached to the hotel at various corners and spots, all appearing unique from each other.
One has bright yellow leaves, that glow faintly even in the night, like electric eels or fireflies.
Another has ghostly-pale, massive, blue leaves, which are also transparent, this one is near the ground, to the right of the entrance.
“Incredible…!” Amethyst eyes dart around, taking in all of the hotel.
“But how do the leaves remain on the branches? I don’t think this house isn’t alive like ours were.”
“I don’t know, perhaps they have planted them after all, instead of using cut branches?”
“How did you find a place like this? This is perfect!”
“It was the only one that still had rooms this side of town that’s still close to the Compassion’s border. Compassion itself has very few hotels, and that goes for Courage too, actually.
Most are on the Passion’s side, but when I found this hotel, I knew I had to book it.”
They approach the entrance, double glass doors, that are shaded by two trees that are bent together to create an arch.
Based on the few leaves that have dropped to the ground around them, these ones were most definitely real trees.
Amidst the green leaves, which have orange, red, and blue veins in them, is a wood-carved sign reading: “Sun-kissed Canopy – Nature, Serenity and Rest.”
Some sort of vines also grow along the tree’s surface, bearing strange fruit and flowers that even bloom at night, around them, moths flap and gather to the nightly bounty.
They step through the automatically opening glass doors, next to which is a sign that has a red X over the face of a blue-skinned creature.
The entrance hall is a large open space, with hanging grand chandeliers using bioluminescent lighting to light up the space.
Vines, flowers, trees, and bushes grow along the walls and have dedicated spaces to grow all around the room.
The lacquered wooden parquet floor looks positively ancient, but not diminishing in shine in the slightest.
“This is so... homely.”
“I feel like coming from you, that’s the best possible compliment.” Frank grins,” And I agree, it is very cozy.”
“Oh, welcome to our humble hotel, the Sun-Kissed Canopy!” A voice calls out from the right.
They see a Mun’aakas—a member of the sapient race of anthropomorphic bird people.
On her feathered hand, she elegantly holds a watering can, and she quickly finishes watering the bush that appears to be growing some sort of blue berries and lays the pail down.
“This way, you must be the Sinetts, correct?”
She points at the reception desk with a feathered arm, her red gorgeous wing extending near its full span from the gesture, its tips are colored black, with white dots along them, the coloration gradually growing redder, the closer the feathers proximity to her body.
Amethyst looks at Frank with a sly smile. “The Sinetts?”
“Yes, that’s us.” He answers to the receptionist and then whispers to Amethyst: “Reservations are always called by surname, what am I supposed to do?”
Amethyst chuckles. “Nothing. It’s fine.”
The receptionist has made it behind her decorated wooden counter and speaks to them as they are making their way through the grand hall:
“In case you’re wondering: 'How come it’s so dim inside?' when it’s supposed to be Sun-Kissed', that’s because we follow nature’s rhythm here, and this is our night lighting.”
The avian speaks courteously, her words like lyrics from a song, her voice the instruments.
“So, I hope you’re not too disappointed, you’ll get to experience plenty of light tomorrow.
The plants and our reflected sunroof will make sure the bright sunshine will be with you right at the break of dawn.
Of course, if you want to sleep in, that can be delayed, but it’s always at the same time in the general spaces.”
“That sounds lovely. I think we'd definitely like to sleep in, so delay ours to about… ten o clock maybe?” Frank looks at Amethyst who nods eagerly.
“Certainly, but let’s first get the checking in out of the way and then I can tweak your room’s parameters. Can I have your IDs?”
“Right.” Frank puts down both of their cards on the wooden counter.
“Thank you.” The receptionist’s red-tinted black orb-eyes look pleased, as she swipes up the cards.
In the place of a mouth, she had a black beak, like that of a seed-eating bird, and her expression never seemed to change either.
Perhaps this species lacked the facial muscles to express emotion, unlike so many other Sapient species.
Given, that she was only humanoid in general shape and size, it wasn't too surprising for it to be only possible to read her tone or mood from her voice, gestures, or eyes.
Red was definitely her dominant color, but below the beak was a patch of black, that made sleek stripes over her eyes too.
The rest of her face was covered in red-brown feathers, that left orange spots on her cheeks.
As Frank watches her work the physical keyboard with her five-fingered hands, she notices that her avian talons have been cut into short dull black stubs, probably for the better for this sort of job.
“This is your room key.” The Mun’aakas puts down another card on the counter along with Frank’s ID.
“And don’t worry, you will be sharing the room like you booked, it’s just that the both of you get your own keys.”
“That’s great.” Amethyst beams, “You’re always so thoughtful, Frank.”
Her smile seems a bit strange, unbecoming of her normal repertoire of expressions.
How am I supposed to interpret that, Amethyst!?
Frank clears his throat, “There were only double rooms left, and we could always use the extra space...”
The receptionist nods her head, twice in quick succession, with a glint in her eyes, and takes Amethyst's ID next.
The sleek tuft of feathers starting from her forehead and continuing way past her head, bob in waves, the fabulously long feathers start red, but become brown-gray at the top.
A similar color gradient spreads out from her thick-looking fathered neck to the rest of her slightly plump, or perhaps just puffy body.
She is completely covered in feathers, and the only piece of uniform she wears is a name tag, which is desperately trying not to drown in the short and fluffy feathers of her chest.
The nametag reads:
> “Hello! Tweet!
> My name is: Tilhit!”
As Frank is reaching out to collect his ID and the hotel keycard, suddenly, Tilhit’s hand swipes them both back before Frank can collect them.
She holds her feathered hand atop the cards on her side of the table, keeping them to herself.
“My apologies, but there seems to be a small problem with your check-in…”
“Huh?”
“Amethyst,” Tilhit suddenly addresses her via name, and Amethyst snaps to look at her, instead of gazing around at the fine surroundings.
“Can you confirm that your race is indeed a Tyrchid?”
“Y-yeah? That’s right. Why?”
“I see. So there is no mistake then. You see… the problem is that… we run a whitelist of sapient races that are allowed to stay in our hotel.
It largely follows the list of “Suitable Sapients for the United Galaxy” that ISSA updates every so often.”
“Oh, don’t tell me…” Frank plants a hand on his face and shakes his head.
“Tyrchids are not on this list, so I’m afraid, I cannot proceed with the check-in.”
“Come on, can’t you make an exception? Amethyst will be extra careful to not scratch any of the furniture or cut up the plants or trees.”
Amethyst gives Frank a look, but plays along: “Yeah, I’m sure it’ll be fine, your floor is already much better quality than in the house that Frank built himself, I’m not even leaving any marks on it!”
She says it with a hint of a smirk on her lips.
“So, as long as everything else is up to par too, it’ll be fine.”
You knew all along you were damaging my floor!?
Tilhit serenades a short burst of spontaneous birdsong. “I- w-well... I’ll have to ask the boss…” She presses a button on the keyboard.
“Please wait just a moment.” She sits on the chair that had been behind her all along and rolls with it to the side.
She reaches out somewhere on her side of the desk and takes out orange berries, which she quickly pops into her beak and then lifts her head up momentarily.
“Ahem, don’t mind me, the boss should be here shortly, as he lives on the ground floor.”
She directs their attention with her wing to the right, and immediately with this distraction, takes a handful more of the berries, downing them without hesitation.
Surely enough, just seconds after, a door opens at the far left side of the lobby, and a lizardman, a Komodan, steps through.
He is dressed in a striped suit of blue and black, a very formal attire, clad in it from head to toe, with sleeves for all six arms sprouting from his side.
His skin is covered in small scales, colored in desaturated greens and desert browns.
“Ah, greetings, esteemed guests. I am Ran’var, the owner of this establishment.”
“Hello!”
“Nice to meet you, I hope we didn’t wake you.”
“Ah, not at all. I am often quite nocturnal, so no harm done.”
Ran'var laughs courteously and adjusts his lime-green tie with two of her upper arms, buttons up his vest with the middle ones, while the bottom ones dust off the side of his trousers.
A three-split tongue comes out of his long lizard snout periodically, as he trots dignified to Tilhit, behind the counter.
“Now, what seems to be the problem”, he looks with his reptilian eyes at each of them once and then focuses on the monitor as Tilhit shows him something while she explains.
“Amethyst here is a Tyrchid, and that Sapient is not included in our list. They asked special permission to stay here regardless.”
“I see. It will take just a moment for me to reach a decision. If you’d like to sit down in the meantime, we have tables around the lobby.”
His left top hand gestures around, there are long log seatings available, soft, leafy-looking sofas, and tables with more typical chairs around them.
“Tilhit here can fetch you some refreshments and snacks, and stop snacking herself, while I sort out this problem.”
This comment makes Tilhit quickly drop the orange berries from her hand back to wherever she kept them.
“Sounds good.” Amethyst agrees.
“Right, why not.”
As they start walking away to the nearest log chair, they can hear bickering behind the counter.
“How many times have I told you about this!” A faint sound of something dropping onto the floor is heard. “How many have you had, are you drunk on the job?!”
“N-no, sir! It’s just… I need some to stay awake in the night shift especially, you know how it is...”
“Do I know? I didn’t give permission, did somebody tell you this was okay?”
“Y-yeah, the vice manager.”
“Guh, Kan’var! What am I to do with him…” Frustration and even a hint of desperation are audible in Ran'var's voice.
Amethyst and Frank arrive at the log chair and sit down, but Amethyst is too invested in the conversation to let it go.
She continues eavesdropping on them with her superior hearing but doesn't look at them.
“Alright, I’ll just have to talk with him… again, about the importance of a united front and a consistent stance on things…”
Ran’var says.
“Now, won’t you fetch the guests the beverages I promised and clean up these foul berries as you go.”
“Right, I’m on it!”
Amethyst hears something faintly hit the floor, over and over again, which doesn’t sound like steps.
“No, don’t eat them off the floor!” Ran’var seethes under his breath as loudly as he dared.
“I wouldn't if you hadn’t spilled them…” Tilhit claps back, but not loud enough for Ran’var to hear. Her steps lead away through a creaky door.
“So…”
Frank looks up at Amethyst.
“Did you enjoy hearing their private conversation?”
“H-huh? I-I…”
“The way your antennae moved, and you just stared at the wall glassy-eyed, it was pretty obvious.”
Frank’s ‘gotcha’ smile jabs Amethysts with guilt. “You know, that’s at least the second time you’ve done that…”
Frank shrugs.
“Just saying... You could get in trouble for that, at least try to be more inconspicuous as you eavesdrop, if you can’t help yourself.”
Amethyst just smiles back meekly.
They wait around for a short while, and soon Tilhit comes back with a wooden trolley that has a couple of plates of different snacks and three different vessels for refreshments.
She also wears a white frilly apron that covers her from the neck down. Must have been quite the feat to put it on alone with all those feathers.
“Sorry for the wait, I’m sure Ran’var will be soon done, and will come back with positive news.”
“If I may ask, what is he doing exactly?”
The Komodan behind the counter now wears a multi-lens monocle on his right eye, and peers at the computer screen closely, while slowly pressing buttons on only one of his six hands.
The narrative has been taken without authorization; if you see it on Amazon, report the incident.
After each key press, he seems to deliberate carefully on his next move.
“We just need to… sort out some of the technicalities of our system. Yes, don’t worry about it.”
Frank is about to question Tilhit's uncertain tone, but Amethyst drives the conversation ahead.
“It’s alright. I don’t mind the wait.”
“I thank you for your patience.” Tilhit bows slightly, then presents the trolley.
“Now, what would you like? I have some coffee in this thermos, freshly brewed tea in the pot, and some Limetrus-Blackberry Cas-juice in the jug.”
She also brought out three types of snacks:
Brown cookies that have a green topping on top, that makes them look like leaves.
Cupcakes that have flowers, trees, and leaves artistically decorated on them, with colorful wrappers.
The third final snacks are thin sticks that seem to have some salt or sugar on them, that look like twisting and branching twigs.
“Can I have a… small cake? And a few cookies, please?” Amethyst says.
“Certainly.” Tilhit starts assembling Amethyst’s snack plate.
“Perhaps I should have a small glass of the juice and a few of the, uh, sticks.”
“Oh my, apologies… I forgot to tell you about the snacks.”
“It’s fine, don’t sweat it,” Frank says.
“Well, the least I can do is to tell you their names, the cookies are what we call “Green-leaves”, and the cupcakes are “Sweet Vanilla Barkcakes. And the uh, sticks are just called Salted Twigs, actually.”
“But none of them are actually made with wood, right?”
“N-no, of course not! Only a few species could eat them if they were. Thus, we reserve those for our special menu.”
“Right, just checking.”
“Here is your plate, Amethyst.” Tilhit hands the plate to Amethyst, holding it in front of her.
But instead of taking it, Amethyst opens her mouth, the mandibles coming out. She brings her head down and ravages the plate’s treats into her mouth in seconds.
“G-gah!” Tilhit almost drops the plate.
“A-are you okay eating the Barkcake’s paper liner too?!”
Amethyst's cheeks are full as she chops the food into smaller pieces in her mouth, and then swallows.
“I think so. I had no problems last time. Sorry if I um… scared you, I thought you were offering.”
“R-right… it’s okay, I just didn’t expect that.”
“The treats were pretty good though. Thanks.”
Tilhit clears her throat. “I'm glad you enjoyed them. And... well, I suppose it’s fine if you’ve eaten paper before…”
She retreats her hand and puts down the plate, preparing Frank’s dish.
As Tilhit moves to serve Frank, he extends his hand to meet her halfway, to reassure her, that he is going to just take it from her normally.
Tilhit understands the gesture, and her eyes shine gleefully. “Here you are.” She hands Frank the glass of juice and a small plateful of twigs.
As soon as Frank receives them, Ran’var leaves the reception desk behind and makes his way to them.
“My friends, after thorough consideration, I have reached a decision, regarding your permission to stay in our humble hotel.”
Ran’var twists his thick beard hairs between two fingers, at least, it looked like such, as these sort of scaly barbs, akin to twigs or coral, grow out of his lavender green chin.
“I regret to inform you, that I may not permit you to spend the night, or any further significant amount of time in these premises.”
“R-really?” Amethyst blinks her eyes and Tilhit's beak hangs open.
“How come?” Frank stands up. “I’ve already paid for our rooms too, and-”
“Do not worry. We will refund you in full of course, this was, in part, our fault too that such a misunderstanding could take place.”
The end of Ran’var’s tail swishes up and down restlessly.
“Allow me to elaborate: due to the nature of our establishment, we have been given official permission from the city of Metropolis, to only serve customers who lack certain characteristics.
That is to say, those who cannot for example: breathe toxins, spread plant-infecting illnesses, or in your case, create fire.”
“Are you suggesting that Amethyst would intentionally cause a fire?”
“Not at all.
These rules are merely in place to protect the unique ecosystem that is our hotel, anything that could be harmful to it, no matter how in control their possessor claims to be of their powers, is not allowed to stay.
No exceptions.”
“Sorry, Amethyst and Frank…”
Tilhit apologizes with her head bowed, then she gestures around the lobby.
“As you can see, we even use minimal electricity, and have most things lit up by mechanisms that direct the sunlight, or rely on bioluminescent light, to truly drive down the chance of any fiery incidents.”
“So, I ask you to respect this decision.
We shall do a better job in our gweb page’s design, to make sure these important facts are made clear to even the most nearsighted of guests.”
Ranvar’s top hands adjust his shirt collar, as if his reptilian body was sweating, or uncomfortable.
“I truly am sorry, but our esteemed hotel survived through the Spire Disaster and has been run by my scale-line for generations, I simply cannot take such an obvious risk from an unregistered high-risk Sapient.
If you must, I am more than willing to take the bad review and publicity, than risk any degree of damage to the hotel.
As a business, we have the right to choose our customers, when there are pressing, real reasons to do so.”
“I’m sorry too, but please understand. This hotel is everything to him, don’t take it personally.”
Tilhit’s comment nets her a side-eyed look from Ran’var as he turns around to leave.
“Please, see our guests out after they have indulged in the complementary snacks, will you? And, good night to the both of you.”
“But where will we stay then?”
Amethyst asks, but Ran’var has checked out from this discussion, despite still being well within earshot, even if his ears are just two small holes in the sides of his head.
“Perhaps some hotels still offer reception even so late in the night? But you cannot stay here, according to the final words of my boss, my wings are tied.”
Tilhit shakes her head.
“Let’s get out of here, Amethyst,” Frank says and hands the untouched plate of twigs and full glass to Tilhit.
She looks upon the dishes for a moment but doesn’t say anything.
As they leave through the glass doors, they exchange their final farewells with Tilhit, who waves and locks up after them, by turning an antique-looking, massive key, in a keyhole next to the doors on the inside.
“Well… what now?” Amethyst asks, and they proceed to aimlessly walk forward, in the fresh cooling night air.
“We could look for another hotel, but it’s unlikely we’ll find any who’ll take us in so late… The only reason they waited for us was due to me letting them know in advance of our late arrival.”
“Will we have to sleep another night under the stars?” Amethyst smirks, and gestures to the forest of Innocence behind them.
“Perhaps we don't have to, we could... No, never mind.”
“What is it, Frank?”
“Ehh… it’s a bad idea. Don’t mind me, let’s figure something else out.”
“You can’t just say that and not tell me what the idea was!”
Frank sighs. “Well, perhaps we could spend the night at my parents…”
“Huh? Do you mean at your parent’s house?”
“Yeah, but also, at my parents, you know. They’d be in the house too, that’s kind of how it works.”
“What? I thought your parents were dead!”
“Dead!? No! They’re not dead… yet. They’re just very sick.”
“Oh… but the way you talked about them, so sad and nostalgic, you gave me the impression…”
“I didn't think I was... Did I really...?”
“Yeah, how they can’t cook with you anymore and you can’t fish with them and the like.”
“Well, they can’t, since they’re sick.”
“Ah… right.”
“Besides, we had a bit of a falling out… when I left them behind ten years ago.”
Frank stops and is silent for a moment.
“I’m not actually even sure if they live still. I haven’t contacted or received a message from them since I left… So it could be that the news of their passing just never reached my ears.”
“Frank, don’t say such awful things… But… I’d love to meet your parents, can we please spend the night there?”
“I’d rather not… meet them. Maybe we can just sneak in without waking them up with my key and just leave in the morning quickly before they awake?”
“Is that a realistic plan?”
“No…”
“Fine, I guess we can check the place out. But if my key doesn’t fit, I’d rather sleep outside on the street or forest than ring their doorbell.”
“They live, or at least last lived at a small apartment at Compassion, near the biggest hospital there.
So, let’s just take the bridge over Innocence and then go by hoverbus, unless the routes have changed in ten years, we should still get there with the 9345 -line.”
Amethyst looks at Frank questioningly.
“Okay, maybe I should double-check the route…”
They turn around and walk towards the Innocence, and find the closest walkway bridge that takes them over it.
“Why do we have to take the bridge? Can’t we just walk through the forest?”
“It’ll be faster to cross this way, and we shouldn’t walk in the forest at night.”
“Why is that?”
“Because we might wake up or disturb the animals there. It’s perfectly safe otherwise.”
They step onto the wooden bridge, reinforced with metallic strips, and meet the first people of the night who aren’t inside buildings or far away.
The bridges all around Metropolis were rather popular all day and especially at night. A romantic spot, a starlit escape to the hem of nature, observing the miracles of life at a convenient distance.
All sorts of Sapients pass them on the bridge, some that look like couples, or friends, lean to the bridge’s rails, hushing something under their breaths and pointing, or tightly holding hands.
Despite there being a fair bit of people, hushed words and footsteps are the only sound. Even to Amethyst, it isn't hard to notice, that speaking loudly would be frowned upon in this environment.
Some people passing by stare at them, especially at Amethyst, but don’t say anything or approach them. All of these strange looks, even if some of them were smiles, made Amethyst feel a little uneasy. This was something completely new to her, so many strangers, every few steps, another set passed them by, with their own unique look, walking style, and no doubt, thoughts.
Her small world at Midnight Iris, for the most part, had consisted of just the Tyrchids that she felt like she knew somewhat, and the film crew that were either friendly or left her completely alone.
But now, it was hard to fathom, how she was just another Galactic Sapient on this planet among the millions if not billions of strangers.
In this short walk, she could very well have met entities that each hailed from different faraway planets. It was a strange, and kind of scary thought.
No longer, was she in the safe surroundings of her forest. All that she had seen today, made her feel like it truly was a different world. A world, that felt new and alien to her.
A touch startles her, as Frank takes her right arm’s wrist into his hand and leads her to the rail, pointing at a tree.
He whispers: “Look, over there, can you see it?”
In the camouflaged depths of a spring-spruce, a brown-gray bird perches, asleep. Its large cylinder body, a body without a visible neck, made its species clear.
“It’s a bright-eyed whisker-owl. Ain’t it magnificent?”
The owl’s wide feathers extended further down from its branch, and a pair of exceptionally long feathers extended way beyond its head, right above its closed eyes.
To be honest, Amethyst isn’t really all that impressed, or that interested. This bird is rather ordinary in all aspects, at least, something in her mind told her that.
Rather, it is Frank’s enthusiasm and clear passion for the subject that swept her away.
The way he fervently, but quietly, explained what made this owl special, how it was the only one with these long feathers on its head, and how this sub-species compared to others of its kind.
It made his face shine, smiling in a way, she had rarely seen him exhibit. There is something pure and infectious about it.
As such, Amethyst is more than happy to listen along and gazes in part at the bird, but mostly at Frank, though he was way too enraptured in his world to realize this.
They are in no hurry anywhere. Sure, it’s late, but they aren’t all that tired due to space-jetlag.
Perhaps Frank wanted to show Amethyst these things that he enjoyed and were important to him, or perhaps, he was playing for time.
If they spent the whole night outside talking about birds, they’d never have to go to his parents.
“The other name this owl is called- Oh-!”
The owl wakes up and proves what the first part of its name came from, or perhaps, it had just been resting its eyes all this time.
Regardless, its yellow eyes seem to glow in the darkness, even if the light that emanates around, seemed very faint.
It takes flight, and a few others on the bridge take note as well. It swoops down, and Amethyst and Frank lean over to see as it dives and grabs something with its talons.
Then it harshly flies back up, almost scraping against the bridge’s railing, and flies over it, like showing off.
Within its sharp claws, is a squeaking creature; a feeble mouse-squirrel. Its brown fur is stained with red, it squirms in the tight grip but is unable to escape.
It has wide round eyes, and a pair of ears, bigger than its head. The long puffy tail swishes to and fro, as it is flown away to its demise with the owl.
“Wow…” Frank gasps in awe and gazes after the majestic bird along with other onlookers.
“Ah… b-but that creature was so cute...”
After the owl incident, Frank consoles Amethyst over the mouse-squirrel’s unjust, but natural fate.
They continue on across the bridge, and see more birds, though much smaller ones. Also spotting another mouse-squirrel that sleeps in a tree safely, making Amethyst happy.
They come to the middle part of the bridge, the river slowly flows underneath it.
On the other shore of the river, they see a small herd of zebradeers, sleeping with their bodies resting atop their legs. One individual is awake and watches them intently.
Amethyst stares back at the striped mammal, wondering what the gaze means. Behind those black orbs, could there be intelligence and sapience too?
If it couldn’t talk, how could she know whether that was the case or not? Where did instinct end, and sapience begin?
“Zebradeers are one of the more common animals living in the forests here. They are well adjusted to living in these narrow strips of land, some marked individuals have shown, how they endlessly roam through Innocence, going around the borders of the city and then entering back to Purity, to start their journey all over again, just in another direction.”
Frank draws the shape of their route in the air with his finger.
“And get this, when they reach the other end, they go the other way and return to Innocence once more.
They endlessly repeat this set path, and when their routes are plotted on a map, they make out a massive infinity symbol.”
“They always walk the same path…?”
“Yeah, though some herds walk the other way, or do the infinity symbol around Compassion and Passion, instead of Integrity and Courage, but all that live near the city, do the same symbol.
Due to that behavior, they are well-respected and protected animals of the city. They are thought to pay respects to the suspected founder of the city, the Red Goddess.
The zebradeers have even been decreed as the honorary animal of the whole planet.”
“Huh…?” Could something in their instincts make them do this symbol…? Or…?
“The reason for their route isn’t entirely understood, and once there were rumors of a legendary individual that had red stripes, instead of black, but it might have just been hearsay or a prank by somebody who painted one.
But it only strengthened its association with the Goddess.”
They continue on, seeing a tent that’s been set up in the forest, and Frank explains that you need special permission to camp in the forest from the Metropolis Nature Officials.
And that citizens could check an always up-to-date online map, and compare it with the surroundings, to make sure there were no violations of this happening.
As they pass, a few individuals have that very gwebpage open, and they compare the two to see if they match.
Amethyst and Frank reach the end of the bridge, without any further wondrous wildlife sightings, and go wait at a hoverbus stop.
The very large vehicle speeds quite silently through the night and stops before them.
They get on from the middle doors, as those are very large, and Amethyst can easily step aboard. Inside, Frank swipes their ID cards on the ticket reader to stamp their trip.
Frank explains to Amethyst, how public transportation was free to Citizens of Metropolis, working with the swipe of their ID.
You could ride it twice a day, one swipe, giving you an hour and a half to complete your trip, until it counted it as another trip when swiped again.
Once those were used up, it started charging you the fee as normal. This allowed people to commute to work within the city for free each working day, but free-time activities then cost them the usual charge.
However, since Amethyst’s ID card was just a temporary, half-citizenship, she only had one trip free each day.
Half-citizenship meant what it implied, that all benefits were halved. Benefits, that were numerous and significant.
Nearly everything at Metropolis worked with the ID cards working as the mediator.
But in turn for all these benefits, the citizens were given the responsibility and trust to then give back to the city as well, to not abuse this goodwill. And to take good care of their ID cards.
Frank and Amethyst get off the quite empty bus at their stop, and ahead of them, rises the block of flats, where Frank’s parents should be living at.