Esper sighed and closed his book, setting it beside him on the couch. "You know, staring at me isn't going to get me to talk to you," he said.

Amaya groaned, "Come on, Esper, I'm bored! You came all the way over to my rooms, the least you could do is talk to me!"

Esper snorted, "Amaya, I came over here to stop you from trying to sneak out, again. You couldn't even manage to spend a decent amount of time outside before you got caught!"

The larger of the two huffed, "I don't exactly blend in, little brother."

The white doe laughed, "That's for sure."

"You know, if I had some help then maybe I'd last a bit longer," Amaya suggested.

The doe grinned, "Now you're making some sense! So, what's the plan, General?"

Amaya smirked, "Here's what we'll do. You go to leave, but just as you start to close the door, you pretend to trip and drop your book. Once the guards are distracted, you make me invisible and I sneak out into the hallway. Then we just walk away. You can make other people invisible, right?"

Esper nodded, "I can hold it for a little bit. You'll need to get away as fast as possible though."

Amaya grinned, "Perfect! Let's go!"

Esper chuckled, "This is either going to go perfectly or completely blow up in our faces."

The buck snorted, "Come one brother, have a little faith!"

Esper shook his head and stood up, walking back to the front door, Amaya following him. He pushed it open, looking at the two guards in the hallway. Two young looking bucks. Hopefully they couldn't detect illusions.

The doe reached out with his magic, cloaking his sister in a familiar distorted aura. Once he was sure she was covered, Esper stumbled, dropping the book of spells.

The guard closest to him reached down and picked it up. The doe smiled sheepishly as she offered it to him.

"Sorry about that," Esper said, rubbing his head embarrassedly.

The guard nodded, stepping back to resume her previous position.

Esper could feel Amaya rushing down the hallway, his magic luckily still covering her. He followed after her, desperately holding the illusion up.

Luckily, they quickly reached an exit. Esper pushed the door open, allowing Amaya to go first before stepping through himself. As soon as it clicked shut behind him Esper dropped the illusion, revealing Amaya to the outside sunlight.

"That was awesome!" she crowed, grinning widely, "Now what do you want to do? How about we go look around the city? Maybe if we go far enough we'll reach the interstellar district! It'd be so cool to meet a Draconian or a Lunarian!"

Esper nodded, "Alright. Aster and I stayed pretty close to the castle, so going further would be cool."

Amaya blinked. "When did you go out with him? And why for that matter?"

Esper snorted, "I don't know, maybe because I'm courting him? You know, normal people go on Outings when they're courting. Aster and I do that too. You know, because we're courting."

Amaya huffed, "Doesn't mean I like it."

"Well, I didn't ask you, did I?" Esper hissed, "Now, come on, I want to go see things before everyone realizes you snuck out."

"You snuck out too," Amaya said, starting down the walkway.

Esper shook his head and walked after her. "I'm not the one under house arrest, Amaya," he said, "I'm allowed to go out whenever I want."

"Oh sure, rub it in why don't you," Amaya muttered.

They turned off the bridge into the main flow of traffic.

Esper rolled his eyes, "It's your fault that you're in trouble in the first place. Now, enough of this, I want to see the city. Do you think I should go grab some money?"

Amaya shook her head, "Nah, we can come back to get stuff later. Just remember where the shop is."

Esper nodded. "So, how's it going with that doe you're interested in? Has she gotten sick of you yet?" he asked.

His sister growled, "Don't be a brat Esper!"

The doe laughed, "Aw, but I'm so good at it!"

The pair turned down a pathway that pointed to the interstellar district. They could see the ground level nearly ten floors below them, the main road even busier that the winding paths far above it.

Amaya seemed to be looking at everything, her head constantly whipping around to see the sights the city had to offer.

Esper grinned, "It's amazing, isn't it?"

"No doubt," Amaya agreed, "it's very different from home."

The doe nodded, "It's really incredible what a few people with tools can create when they set their minds to it."

Amaya nodded, "That's for sure. How many people do you think live here? I mean, we've passed at least a hundred people in the five minutes we've been out, how large is the city?"

Esper shrugged, "No clue. I know the planet's resident population is somewhere around four billion though."

Amaya shook her head, "That is far too many people. How do they all avoid getting claustrophobic constantly?"

"Beats me," Esper said, "the palace alone seems too cramped to me, never mind the actual city."

Up ahead, the siblings could just barely glimpse the large, climbing Draconian looking towers. The buildings had been constructed centuries ago during the first few years of peace between the two races. Now that they were away from the Citadel, the huge spires dominated the skyline, vague shapes flying in and out of balconies on the upper floors. One of the first acts of good will between the former enemies was for the Pooka to build the area for their new allies, keeping in mind the Draconians avian nature.

Esper shuddered unconsciously as he eyes the buildings.

As a species, the Pooka were generally wary of heights, betraying their nature as burrowing creatures.

A large underground network under the Draconians capital had been constructed for the Pooka in response to their gift, but as the planet was so hot and barren, few pooka outside ambassadors stayed there for any amount of time.

"Esper, why do you still have that book with you?" Amaya asked, gesturing to the volume he still had clenched in his paw.

He blinked, looking down at the book. "Well, I didn't exactly have a chance to put it down," he said.

Amaya snorted, "You better not lose it," she said.

Esper rolled his eyes, "I won't, I'm not that careless you know."

His sister shook her head. "Fine, but I'm not going to be responsible if you leave it somewhere in the city."

"You have no faith in me whatsoever do you?" Esper asked.

Amaya grinned, "Nope! Hey, look at that! We're already at the gates!"

The doe turned, surprised to see the extravagant gates that separated the two sides of the city.

The gates were extremely impressive to look at, but their purpose was merely for aesthetics. Draconians could fly over at any time if they wished, while Lunarians could simply walk through the large gaps between the golden bars.

Esper had always thought the gates were just a waste of time a resources. After all, what was the point of gates that couldn't stop anyone?

The twins continued their trek, staying on their walkway to avoid the longer line at the bottom of the gates.

On every level was a real gate, each guarded by four guards, two on each side of the doorway. Unlike the decorative barrier, these served a true purpose.

In each species capital, it was illegal for someone of another race to enter the heart of the city without permission, and these helped prevent criminals and thrill seekers alike. Though it was incredibly difficult for them to do it, both of the other races could achieve the shapeshifting that came naturally to the Pooka. The guards were all specially trained to read someone's magical signature to discover their true species and pick out the shifters.

Esper and Amaya exchanged an excited glance as they neared the checkpoint, eager to finally get out and meet other kinds of people.

A small line of pooka trickled through the open door, largely ignoring the posted guards. The Winters passed without incident, emerging on the other side of the barrier.

They come out into a large crowd going about their daily lives.

"So, where to know?" Amaya asked.

Esper shrugged, looking around at the crowd surrounding them. At the moment he could only see pooka, but every once in a while he caught a glace of scaly wings or pale skin.

"How about, since we know nothing about the city, we just wander around and hope we don't get lost?" Esper suggested.

Amaya snorted, "That's a great plan, Esper. I think you should come up with all of our ideas from now on."

Esper grinned, "It's about time you recognized my genius."

His sister rolled her eyes, "Come on, let's just follow the crowd and see where it takes us."

Esper nodded, "Alright."

The two meandered along, silently observing the area around them.

This part of the city was built in a slightly rougher manner, reflecting the people that had originally lived there.

They scoured the crowd, trying to find a member of another species. It only two minutes before the twins spotted their first Lunarians.

A Lunarian female- women, Esper thought they were called- was haggling with a Pookan street vendor over the produce in the stand. She had a young male- boy- with her, presumably her son.

"How are they not cold without fur?" Amaya wondered, "I mean, clothes don't exactly look warm to me."

Esper shrugged, "No clue. I would think the lack of fur would be handy in warmer climates though."

"I suppose," Amaya muttered. With that experience in mind, they resumed their wandering, eager to see a Draconian.

Draconians, Esper mused, were an interesting species.

The first sentient race to evolve, they were reptilian as opposed to the mammalian nature of the other two. They were bipedal, but like the Pooka, they could move down to all fours for greater speed. On top of that they had huge wings that had a nearly fifteen foot wing span. They were covered in hard scales and equipped with sharp talons, making them formidable predators.

Another difference between them and the other races was that the Draconians were carnivores while Lunarians and Pooka were herbivores. Well, technically the Lunarians were omnivores, but after they had come into the more technologically advanced and peaceful Pooka they had renounced eating meat, citing that it inspired violence and greed in their population.

Amaya nudged his shoulder. "Esper, look over there," she said, nodding toward the edge of the platform.

A red-brown Draconian was perched on the railing, his wings partially extended behind him.

At least Esper thought it was a him, there was very little difference between the males and females of their kind. The females were just slightly larger than the males, so it was hard to tell which sex they were at first glance.

The Draconian looked up suddenly, staring right and the twins. He bared his fangs in what appeared in amusement, his wings just slightly flaring up behind him.

Esper bristled instinctively, the sight of teeth intently setting off long repressed alarms.

The Draconian chuffed once before standing and jumping backwards, fully extending his leathery wings to catch his weight. He fell from sight for a moment before suddenly shooting up, his long tail streaming behind him. Amaya whistled in amazement at the sight.

"They're so lucky, they get to fly," she murmured enviously.

Esper raised a brow. "You can shift into something with wings anytime you wanted," he pointed out.

Amaya shook her head, "I know, but full species transformation is so uncomfortable and draining. Even if I did I would still have to learn how to fly and even then wouldn't be able to fly for that long. The freedom to fly is just so cool, just imagine what you could do if you could fly whenever you wanted!"

Esper chuckled, "That would be pretty cool. Still what would you do to be able to fly constantly? Enchant a staff or something?"

His sister growled in annoyance. "You just love crushing my dreams don't you?" she hissed.

Esper laughed, "Yep! Now come on Birdy, we should keep going."

"Don't call me that."

The siblings spent the next hour roaming the city, taking in the city and the people.

Eventually they made their way to a bridge between two elevated walkways. There were tables scattered around, full of people eating lunch and conversing. Esper and Amaya had gone to an isolated corner to avoid the bulk of the crowd.

"I just don't see the point of it," Amaya argued, "Why would you bother to make weapons when you have claws?"

Esper rolled his eyes, "Amaya, we have claws."

"I know, but not those huge talons, ours are retractable. I mean how do they use swords with four inch claws on the end of their fingers?"

"It's easier than it looks," a deep hissing voice said.

The siblings looked up as a semi familiar Draconian walked up to them.

"At least, I assume you are talking about us," he continued.

Amaya cringed, "No offense meant."

A rumbling sound, presumably laughter, came from the newcomer's chest. "None taken. My name is Damien, I'm the draconian you two were staring at earlier," the newly dubbed Damien said.

Esper flushed, "Sorry about that. My name's Esper Harlow, this is my sister Amaya." Amaya nodded in greeting.

Damien dipped his head, "It is a pleasure to meet you. Let me guess, you two are newly arrived in the city? Most likely from an all Pooka colony?"

"That's about right, though we've been in the city for nearly a month now. We just haven't have the opportunity to come to the International district yet," Amaya explained.

"That is understandable, meeting other races for the first time can be quite startling. If you haven't had the ability to travel, it is correct to presume you have been working in your Citadel?" the Draconian asked.

The twins exchanged a glace. "We're in the Citadel, but we're not working there," Esper said.

Damien blinked, "Really? I thought no none functional adults were allowed to stay in the Citadel… Wait, are you by chance the pair that is being tested for the position of the Winter Monarch?"

"Yes. But how did you know that? That information hasn't been released to the general public," Amaya said, standing a little straighter.

The same rumbling noise came from the chest of their companion. "I am not a member of the public. I am an ambassador between our people, here to help with the renewal of our peace treaty. I was informed of your situation to help prevent any incidents from taking place," Damien said.

The twins nodded in acceptance. Their companion looked up at the sky briefly before addressing them again.

"I will be needed back at the Citadel. I hope I will see you two again," Damien said.

Without waiting for a response Damien turned and walked to the nearest railing. Just like the last time they'd seen him, he jumped off the platform and flew off.

"Well, that was sudden," Amaya commented.

Esper nodded in agreement.

"We should probably be getting back too, someone will start missing us soon," he said.

"Yeah, let's go," Amaya said.