It was an early night when Niji, Kang, Pongo, and Mili had arrived at the northern gate of Thunder Valley, ready to welcome the soon-arriving owls and moles. The first to come of the two were the moles, a group of only three, and the leader of their delegation was also the tribe leader. He was an old, wrinkled man with completely white eyes, and messy, graying, long hair draped down over his skinny body as he leaned on a walking stick, holding its shaft with his long, bony fingers. Behind him stood two other males looking a bit thin and with simirly white eyes, but at least their hair was a healthier shade of brown. All of them wore coarse, rough, fur-like clothing, but their feet were left free as they constantly dug into the soil, even when standing still, scraping at it with their toes. It seemed that this subconscious motion calmed their nerves, as they were visibly on edge just by being up on the surface.

  "Welcome to Thunder Valley. My name is Niji, and I am the elected mayor. These are our other council members: Kang, the leader of the gorils; Pongo, the leader of the orangutans; and Mili, the leader of the fairies."

  "Greetings, I am Garganel, leader of my tribe; these two are my bodyguards, Rext and Nays," the oldest of the three replied, his voice weak and shaky, "Thank you for receiving us."

  "Please, I am happy you chose to meet with us!" Niji smiled as Kang's ears twitched, but if it had been a surprise attack, it would already be too te to react.

  With absolute silence, two owls floated down from the air, taking a human form in mid-air before nding graciously. While the moles' height was around 150 and 160 centimeters, the owls' height only reached up to 120, both groups being dwarfed by Kang and the rest. Yet, even then, the owls' aura was proud and fearless, with a hint of regal feeling mixing into it. Now, in their human forms, their feathers, which were grayish for one and brownish for the other, also served as their clothes, covering them where things had to be covered. Clearly, both of them were female, with short hair that matched their feathers' colors, while their eyes carried a piercing look, almost glowing in a yellow light, blinking so rarely it seemed they never did.

  "I am Uhure," the one with the brownish feathers covering her petite body spoke up in the end.

  "I am Ohore," the second commented calmly, turning her head 180 degrees backward to look at the moles, saying little before turning back towards Niji.

  "Welcome, let me introduce myself!" He smiled in response, repeating the same introduction from before, asking them to come in.

  As the tour began, Niji first took them around Thunder Valley, showing off their achievements in building a city that truly resembled modernity, unlike how most tribes lived. The roads were made from cobblestone, the houses from polished, painted wood. The important buildings that served the community were even made of brick, with roofs covered in orange tiles. Even though the popution had hardly reached over 400 demons, it was clear that they were already preparing a city that could accommodate at least ten times as many souls and easily expand outwards if they had to, building up a second circle and a new wall if necessary.

  When a human arrived here and took a walk in this new city, he may have felt a bit weird, as some houses were designed to be oversized to fit the giant, three and four-meter-tall apes, while others were so small they couldn't be comfortable for even a human child. Which was no wonder, as they were specially made for the fairies. This mismatch in sizes gave the city a fairytale-like appearance, but to the demons, it was completely normal and not weird at all.

  After the tour, Niji led the groups to the city hall. It was a rge brick-and-stone building. The front door was also made in a way so it could fit Kang through easily, who was the rgest of everyone present. Yet on the door itself, there were multiple other handles, allowing it to be opened in sections if a smaller individual arrived, just like Mili. Going up to the second floor, they sat at an oval table where the council would usually meet, and Niji served them a gss of wine before taking the head position.

  "I hope you enjoyed the little tour. As you can see, we have ample room to expand, and if you wish to join us, we would be eager to discuss the details with you. There are still many empty houses, and if you have a tribesman who wants to open a store or workpce, we can give you the perfect pce. Our members liked the idea, and we already have a few workshops and stores serving the city, completely run by demons." He expined happily.

  "About that." Uhure spoke, "My tribe is not used to taking human forms for long. We like to keep our original appearance. Just like you apes."

  "Weeeelll," Pongo said with a smile. "We are the clooooosest to humans. We can't even taaaake that foooorm you knooooow~" She giggled, lighting her pipe up.

  "What she tried to say is, we have no problem with that." Niji looked at her before smiling at Uhure, nodding his head.

  "Good, we will need trees," the owl nodded back.

  "We don't like to live on the ground where vermin scurry around constantly," Ohore added, which prompted Garganel to tremble.

  "Are you referring to us?" The mole's leader asked, his voice shaky and dry.

  "Yes," both girls answered at the same time. "You are a tier above rats, but that does not say much."

  "You!" Rext fred up, but Garganel raised his hand to not cause trouble.

  "Don't fall for their provocation," Nays whispered while he stood back behind his leader's chair, calming down Rext.

  "Please." Niji sighed, sensing the frustration between the two groups, "We are a cooperative community here. This kind of attitude won't do if you really wish to integrate into our city!"

  "No fights inside," Kang spoke up, and his deep voice filled the room at once. "We are one, together strong. If not, go home and be alone. Nobody asks you again." He looked at the five newcomers; his animalistic aura was kept in check, yet still, a gnce was enough to shake them.

  "What are the rules? What do we need to give up to be part of this city?" Garganel asked, and his question drew both owls' attention towards Niji again.

  "There are rules, yes. But I don't know about… giving up." Niji shook his head, answering. "This city is governed by all of us. Every tribe can keep its structure and hierarchy; nobody would go against that. The only difference is that you can't force your views upon the other tribes. If someone from your flock acts against others, we are here to collectively punish him or her. It doesn't matter which tribe you are from. If you act against one of us, you will be punished by OUR ws!" he expined slowly to make sure they were listening. "We are especially serious about infighting. It can lead to one or the other tribe being expelled. We won't take those who can't adapt," he looked at the owls as he spoke, "We welcome others, but only if they are willing to adapt to our ways. If not, we are better off if we stay as neighbors only."

  "We agree," Garganel said immediately as Niji held a small break in his speech.

  "The city's future is decided by the council leading it." Niji continued after a short pause, "Every council member is the leader of the tribes living here. I say I am the mayor, but it is just a title in a name. Every decision we make, we do as a collective."

  "We saw a lot of humans here," Uhure added in a questioning tone.

  "Of course." Niji smiled while answering. "We have a healthy working retionship with them and exchange many goods with their Empire! The buildings you see here were built with their help. Also, the one who made this possible is a human."

  "..." the owls furrowed their brows without saying anything, but it seemed they really disliked the notion of Niji's words.

  "If you hate humans, that is one thing, we won't condemn you for that…" He continued as he looked into their eyes without any fear. "But then it's best if we say goodbye now because we won't be able to work together in the future."

  "Humans can't be trusted," Ohore added.

  "Yes, some." Niji nodded. "Just like some demons."

  "She can be. We trust her." Kang crossed his arms, clearly insulted on Ren's behalf. "She save us. Other humans can do bad, but she good. You don't like? Fuck off." He scoffed, speaking some words he had learned from Ren, even using her way of speech.

  "We have no problem with any of this." Garganel said hurriedly, "We are willing to join and follow your rules. Our pce is always at the mercy of stronger tribes... We just want a safe pce to live in!"

  "No problem. We will protect you if you join and contribute to the city." Niji smiled at him warmly.

  "What… contribution?" The mole's leader then asked back, a bit fearfully.

  "Nothing major, don't worry." Niji began expining even more, "We are pnning to build downwards. Underground. First, we want a sewer system and underground shelters. We are still only in the pnning phase. Your tribe would be welcome to help build it alongside your preferred homes!"

  "Of course! We are experts in that!" Garganel agreed happily and immediately, already rexed.

  "How biiiiig is yoooooour tribe?" Pongo asked.

  "We only have 33 members." He answered honestly, looking at the smoking orangutan.

  "I see. That is not too much. We expected more, ahaha!" Niji ughed, smacking his lips, "Sure, you can move in anytime you want. What about you?" he turned towards the owls.

  "Only a dozen."

  "Just… twelve?" Mili gawked, yelping a little and hiding close to Kang when the owls looked at her, their eyes still unblinking.

  "We are a solitary kind." Ohore expined calmly, "Our tribe already counts as overpoputed."

  "We are seen as an odd group." Uhure nodded. "We are willing to try. I can't say more yet."

  "I understand." Niji answered, not questioning it, "Well, we are fine with trying. We do not have that many demons here anyway. Hopefully, we can get along, and you will stay."

  "Um…" Mili raised her hand, sitting on a stack of books on her chair, to reach the table's height. "Do… Do you eat… butterflies?" she asked with a pale face that turned her greenish skin to almost white, looking at the owls but still forcing her biggest fear out of herself.

  Uhure and Ohore, upon hearing her speak, just looked at each other, tilting their heads to the side before answering simultaneously.

  "No, we don't. We hunt bigger prey."

  Their response made Mili rex, letting out a breath of relief, almost snting down from the books under the table, making Pongo chuckle a little.

  "I think we can work together. Please rest for now, and you can explore the city more tomorrow before returning to your tribe." Niji stood up, making small talk before leading them to their resting pce.

  When everything was said and done, the guests were escorted away, and he was ready to go home. Pongo came to visit, surprising him.

  "What is it?" Niji asked, startled by the unexpected visitor.

  "We haaaaad a premonition yesterdaaaaaay." She said calmly, extinguishing her pipe.

  "Oh?" He turned serious immediately. "What was it about?"

  “The moleeeeees are mooooooles.”

  "What?"

  "They areeeee here as moooooooles."

  "I don't- wait…." He blinked his eyes rapidly as Pongo just smiled.

  “Now youuuuuu get iiiiiit.”

  "Matu?" He crossed his arms before his chest, his eyes fshing dangerously.

  "Yeeeeees. We saw his figuuuuuure in our visiooooooon. They killed Kaaaaang in a surprise attaaaaaack."

  "Fuck…" He cursed, almost biting his tongue.

  "Don't woooooorry. We know nooooooow, it won't happeeeeeen."

  "Mmm… no, it won't." He moaned, hurrying to get a paper and pen, "We won't let them. After they return to gather the rest, we will hold a meeting. I'll send messengers out! Ren's two underlings are out in the forest scouting... They are going to be a great help."

  "Gooooooooood."

  "Thanks, Pongo."

  "Nooooo." She shook her head. "This is a muuuuuust. We liiiiiike this. We are paaaaaart of thiiiis. We proteeeeeeect this." She patted his shoulder before leaving.

  After being left alone, Niji took a deep, calming breath before looking out the window toward the full moons, sealing the letter he was going to send to Ren.

  "Finally, we are on track… And I won't let some idiot ruin it... Let us see who comes up top, you little pipsqueak… Your pn will fail, and you won't even know why!" He smiled faintly and with confidence in his eyes, ready to protect Thunder Valley... at all costs.