Fuego was bored. And hot. Very hot. Too hot.

"Hot hot hot hot hot!" he whined to himself as he trotted through the sands of Sector Five, keeping up the pace only because it kept his feet off the ground as much as possible. "Too much hot, Fuego no like!"

Fuego's dislike of his surroundings was highly ironic, seeing how he was a Fire Ruban, and thus a native of Sector Five's desert terrain. The heat shouldn't have bothered him, but it did, and made the poor fellow feel quite miserable. The sand scorched his feet, the Sun of Wrath beat heavily upon his back, and the glare made his eyes water. In truth, it was the perfect home for any Fire but Fuego, who'd always found the cool grasslands of Sector One much more to his liking. Then again, he was insane, as all Fires are, and it was only a mental issue that made Fuego hate the Fifth Sector so much. The sand didn't really hurt his feet, because his footpads insulated them, and the sun wasn't really that hot since his body was built to cope with the heat, and the hair hanging over his eyes shielded them from the glare. But nevertheless, he was miserable.

Fuego wasn't so insane, however, that he'd return to Sector Five just to torture himself. He'd actually come back in hopes of finding a friend of his. He'd been Tracing her for weeks, and making rather slow progress. He wasn't bad at his magic as much as he was forgetful, with a tendency to "turn off" the spell after focusing on it for too long, and then wander off course until his distracted mind realized he needed to trigger the spell again.

"Where Ika goooooo?" he whimpered, padding to a halt. He squinted at the yellow sands around him, and the rocky brown cliffs in the distance. "Fuego need Ika help! Fuego need find Ika!"

His spell snapped back on again and Fuego blinked, swinging his head off to his left, towards the southwestern cliffs. "Ika?" he chirped, and started trotting again.

The sun didn't move an inch in the time it took him to reach the cliffs, though that was to be expected--the Sun of Wrath never set after all, drenching Sector Five in eternal light from its place in the middle of the sky. That perpetual light glittered off a spot of white basking on an outcropping, and Fuego eagerly bounded forward on his oversized feet. Sure enough, as he drew closer, the white spot grew into the winged, shining form of the very Ruban Fuego was looking for.

"Ikaaaaa! Ika Ika IkaIkaIkaIkaIka!" he called gleefully.

The other Ruban slowly raised her head, pinpoints of light dancing off her diamond scales as she turned her head towards him. Ika blinked and flared her wings in surprise as the Fire flung himself at the rock she was perched on and tried to clamber up to her, but then laughed as she recognized him. "Fuego!" she exclaimed, grinning. "Where'd you come from?"

Fuego grunted as he slid back down the rock, landing on his rump. He immediately hopped back to his feet, though, and stretched his head up towards the scaly Diamond Ruban with an open-mouthed grin. "Ika! Fuego find Ika! Fuego look for-EVER!" Ika smiled and jumped down off the rock, and Fuego blinked in surprise as she stood tall, her head coming up to his shoulders. "When Ika get big?" he asked.

Ika giggled, butting his chest with her muzzle. "I'm growing up, silly!"

The Fire blinked disappointedly. "Why not Ika grow down? Fuego liked Ika when Ika tiny..."

She shook her head, giggling again. "You silly Fire. How've you been?"

"Hot," Fuego replied, tilting his head and wrinkling his nose. "Sector Five is icky-bad! Too much hot!" The Fire's tail-tuft found its way into his hands, and he idly combed his claws through the fur. "Sector One nicer..."

"So why'd you come back?" Ika asked, sitting down and curling her tail around her paws with a grin. "Just to see me?"

Fuego blinked again, then nodded vigorously. "Yes! Yesyes! Fuego want see Ika!" he beamed. Then he suddenly pouted, twisting his tassel between his hands. "Fuego need Ika help. Ika help Fuego? Pleeeeeeeaaaaaase, Ika help?"

The Diamond canted her head. "Well sure! Of course I'll help you if I can. What's wrong?"

"Fuego booooooooored! Fuego got nothing do to!" he whined, chewing on the end of his tail. Around his mouthful of fur, he added: "Fuego hope Ika have ideas?"

Ika blinked in surprise, then giggled. Fuego was so cute for a Fire! So many of them just got plain old psychotic or paranoid or weird with their inbred insanity, but Fuego--acting like a pup when he was actually fully grown--was just plain cute! "Don't you like exploring anymore?"

"Fuego got nomorewhere to go!" he sniffed, dropping his dampened tail-tuft.

Again, Ika blinked. "Nowhere at all? How can you have nowhere to go? There're five Sectors out there for you to go exploring in!"

The Fire ducked his head, looking ashamed. "Fuego finished'em."

Her jaw dropped in amazement. "You've explored everywhere?"

"Uh-huh," Fuego confessed, putting a claw in his mouth and biting the tip. "See good places, see bad places, meet lotsa peoples, but now Fuego gots nomorewheres to go, and Fuego's bored! Fuego not know what Fuego should do!"

Looking up into the Fire's soulful grey eyes, Ika finally giggled again and smiled at him fondly. He'd been her friend ever since she was little, and each time she got to see him again, the Fire endeared himself a little more to her. "So you're all out of places to explore... don't you want to settle down, pick your favorite place that you found and just live there?"

Fuego shook his head slowly. "Fuego tried that... got bored again." His gaze drifted skywards. "Water was nice, Fuego met nice Rubans to swim with, but Fuego still get bored." His eyes came down again, his expression mournful. "Ika help Fuego?"

"Well, I don't really know what else there is you could do, if you've really gone everywhere there is to go... you've really seen everything? Even the... the Crystal Castle in Sector Two?"

"Was cold. But pretty."

"The freshwater sea in Sector Three?"

"Good for swimming! Met pretty seashell-Ruban with skin like Ika's!"

"The swamps?"

"Stinky!"

"The Burned Tower in Four, and the chasm?"

"More cold, and Fuego think Fuego almost fall in deep-dark-thing! Ika no can help? No ideas?"

The poor Fire looked so sad, Ika bit her lip and racked her brain for an idea. Just when Fuego seemed ready to burst into disappointed tears, she came up with something, and grinned broadly. "I know!"

Fuego perked up immediately, wagging his tail enthusiastically. "Ika what? Ika what? Tell Fuego!"

"If you're all out of places to explore on Rubara, you can go to a different world!"

He cocked his head and made a face. "Fuego do what?"

"Go to a different world! A whole new place to explore!"

"Morewheres to go?"

"Lots morewheres!" Ika giggled.

"Morewheres!" Fuego exclaimed happily. "Fuego wants morewheres! Different world where? How Fuego get?" he asked, bouncing on his toes.

"Well, you'll have to go see King Reitag, and get his permission, and he'll show you how," she explained.

Fuego's eyes went wide, and Ika almost thought she saw his fur pale. "Fuego see King? Fuego not do! See King?" he squeaked, and ducked his head again. "Fuego is only little Fuego... why King talk to Fuego?"

"Reitag's nice, silly. He loves meeting people! If you're so shy, I'll go with you!"

He perked one ear a little. "Ika know King?"

The young Diamond beamed happily. "I'm the Breed Leader of the scaly Diamonds, silly," she laughed. "Of course I do."