"Ika! Ika Ika Ika IkaIkaIkaIka! Lookie! Lookie! Fuego gots KEY!"

"Yes Fuego, I see, I'm happy for you!"

"Key, Ika! KEY! Keykeykeykey! Fuego go morewheres! Morewheres for Fuego!"

"Silly Fuego."

"Is your friend always this spunky, Ika?"

Ika giggled, smiling up at the titanic King of all Rubans as she and Fuego walked beside him. They both had to trot to keep up, even though the forty-five-foot-tall hybrid walked as slow as he could for them. "Yeah, pretty much."

"Keykeykeykey!" Fuego continued to chirrup, maintaining the litany he'd begun ever since the three of them had left the castle where King Reitag dwelled in Sector One.

Fuego and Ika had struck out in search of the King the same day the Fire had found her in the desert. It was a trip that had taken them weeks, albeit not so many weeks as it had taken Fuego to find Ika in the first place, since the Diamond Leader actually knew where she was going. It had been a long journey, but a pleasant one, for Ika hadn't spent so much time with the Fire in a long time. Fuego had also been in a very chipper mood, since he now had something and "morewheres" to look forward to.

Things had been even more pleasant once they'd crossed the Diamond Bridge, leaving the heat and sands of Sector Five behind in favor of the more temperate climate of Sector One. Upon reaching Reitag's castle, it had been easy for Ika to procure an audience with the King of the Rubans. King Reitag was an incredibly friendly and very laid-back soul, much more willing to mingle with his people than hole up in his throne room all day.

Fuego had been stricken with stage fright, at first, but had quickly warmed up to his usual bubbly self, after realizing the gigantic king really was so friendly and easy to get along with. Reitag had been more than happy to provide Fuego with one of the enchanted keys that he gave to any Ruban who came and asked permission to go off-world. The king had magicked one up right on the spot, and the key--which actually looked like a very simple, golden key--now hung on a chain around Fuego's neck.

Reitag had explained, after catching the Fire's attention as best he could, that the key was not what would allow Fuego to leave Rubara, but what would allow him to come back after he was done exploring whatever new world he went to. Any Ruban could leave Rubara, but none could come back without one of the King's enchanted key artifacts. In general, only exiles and Rubans on the run decided to leave Rubara, so it was easy to see why keys were given to those who would actually be welcome to return to the Sectored world of the Rubans.

Now the mighty King of Rubara personally led them westward, towards that strange sixth Sector called simply the Teleport Sector. Like the other five Sectors, the Teleport Sector was a chunk of land magically suspended within its own atmosphere in space, but it was far, far smaller than the others, did not possess a unique climate or its own Sun or Moon, and was not at all inhabited. The three Rubans had to cross another Diamond Bridge to reach it, and Reitag had them halt at the edge of the crystalline structure.

The only thing that existed in the Teleport Sector was the Teleport Pad, a round slab of stone-like material some two hundred feet in diameter, and the Sector was not much larger than the Pad itself. From the edge of the bridge where they stood, Fuego and Ika could see the very edge of the land, a jagged wall of rock dropping straight down into the nothingness all around and below them. Ika stared at it in fascination, but Fuego paid it little heed, having crossed the Diamond Bridges of Rubara many times in his travels and gotten quite used to seeing the edges of the worlds.

"Now Fuego, remember," the King rumbled, pinning the Fire in place by putting a single toe on Fuego's tail. Fuego had to look straight up to see his face, and did so with wide, admiring eyes. "Remember, take very good care of your key, and don't ever lose it. You won't be able to come back if you do, and we'll have no way of getting you back from here."

Fuego nodded eagerly, clutching the key to his chest. "Fuego remember! Fuego love Fuego's key! Fuego be good to key!"

Reitag chuckled warmly. "And you remember what to do with it when you're ready to come back?"

"Concentrate!" the Fire chirruped. "Fuego think of something Fuego see in Rubara, and key brings Fuego back!"

"That's right," Reitag nodded. "And wherever you end up, remember not to worry if you can't understand the language at first. Just listen to it for a while, and the magic that goes with you when you teleport will make it so you understand it, and you'll speak it, too, without even having to think about it."

"Gotcha," Fuego grinned, nodding so fast it was a marvel he didn't throw his neck out.

"And don't forget about using your Runian form, either. Lots of worlds out there are inhabited by humans, different from the humans that live with us on Rubara, but still human, and sometimes it might be better for you to look like them rather than like a Ruban. The chance of you meeting someone who knows what a Ruban is is very slim, after all."

"Fuego remember Runian shape, okiedokie."

"And that's... really all you need to know," the king chuckled, taking his toe off Fuego's tail. "So just go out and have fun, but be careful, too."

"Fuego always careful!" the Fire promised, then bounded forwards and threw his arms as far around Reitag's wrist as he could manage. "Thankee thankee, Reitag!"

Reitag smiled. "You're very welcome, Fuego. It's been a while since someone's come and needed me to make a key for them--I liked being able to do it again."

Wagging his tail, Fuego let go and turned towards Ika and pounced at her, wrapping his arms around her scaly neck. "Fuego gots morewheres, Ika!" he exclaimed gleefully. "Fuego go see morewheres now!"

"And I hope you have a really good time!" Ika smiled, nuzzling his cheek and making him giggle. "But you really be careful, okay? You need to come back and tell me all about the morewheres you see!"

"Fuego promise," he answered somberly, then beamed and gave the Diamond a slurpy cheek-lick before releasing her and turning away.

With his head held jauntily and his tail wagging, Fuego trotted out to the middle of the Teleport Pad, looking around excitedly. Since he'd never been off-world before, he had no way of telling the Pad where to take him, and so he would be teleported totally at random, dropped off on one of a thousand possible worlds the pseudo-sentient Pad had become aware of.

At the center of the Pad, Fuego turned around and looked back towards his friends. He couldn't make out Ika's face, but Reitag's smile was still clear enough. He looked at the two for a moment, then looked around again, and then frowned.

"Hey, how come Fuego still-"

The world twisted.