After Kai encountered a cat with black fur and blue eyes beside a trash bin in an alley between buildings at night,
with a blank face, he turned toward the cat and said:
"Eh? A cat…"
"A cat… How the hell can it talk? Am I hallucinating?"
"What's this, meow? Don't tell me cats in your world can't talk, meow."
Kai was shocked and said softly:
"Y-you… you can really talk?"
He thought to himself: Damn, I must need to see a psychiatrist.
Kai turned his head back and kept walking casually as if nothing happened.
"Meow, meow, wait, you! You, you, you—yes, you! Meow!"
Kai turned around, replying loudly yet softly, with furrowed brows and eyes showing he was trying to understand what he just heard.
"What? You're annoying! Normally cats don't talk, you know. And if anyone sees me talking to a cat, they'll think I'm crazy."
Ruby looked confused and said:
"So cats in your world can't talk? Meow?"
Kai, still walking, turned back toward the cat, looking drained and puzzled, and replied:
"Listen, cat, normally cats are not supposed to talk, understand?"
"I understand, meow. Then… can I come to your house with you, meow?"
"Sigh… fine, whatever."
Ruby followed behind Kai, thinking to herself:
"What's with this guy… he looks so gloomy, so dark."
Kai walked past several closed stores in the mall, through rows of buildings empty at night, and returned to his place near the mountain outside the city. He opened the door and said:
"This is my room. Make yourself at home."
"Wow, looks like there's nothing here at all, meow."
Ruby went quiet for a while, then said:
"You're not even surprised, meow?"
"No… maybe I just watch too many cartoons and play too many games. But honestly, I feel glad something like this happened. It makes me realize the universe is vast, and maybe things we thought impossible in games or anime… might not be so strange after all. Those things could've come from legends humans once experienced and put into games or stories."
Ruby listened silently, then replied seriously:
"I am a human from the planet Bewda. There, humans can transform into animals. I can transform into a human too, but only half-human, half-animal, meow. And I can also transform into a cat."
Kai closed the door, standing in front of it, and with a calm face said:
"So everything really exists… I want to see it. I want to know. I want to understand what lies beyond human sight. I want to know the truth of everything. I want to see it."
Ruby lifted her head, listening calmly, then replied:
"Then come with us, meow."
"Yes… I'll go with you."
Ruby, still in her cat form, crouched and said:
"But what about your family, meow? Will you just leave them?"
Kai spoke slowly, his face sorrowful:
"My father already passed away. My mother remarried. I'm grown up now and can take care of myself. My mom lives a good life, she's happy… I'm on my own."
"I see, meow. Then follow me. Our ship isn't far from here. I'll take you away from this world. But I'll say this first: we travel because we have a purpose, meow."
She walked out of Kai's room, leading him to a certain place.
"A purpose? What is it? Tell me. And… 'us'? That means there's more than one of you, right?"
Ruby, still walking in her black cat form with blue eyes, replied:
"Yes, of course. Without direction, we'd be lost in space. And the universe you humans know is not the same as the one we know. The continents of space are vast. I don't know all of them myself. But… each continent is ruled by Rulers. Those beings… they hold powers beyond description, meow. We're almost there, meow."
The two headed toward the mountain near Kai's place, about three kilometers away.
"Your place is actually close to where our ship crashed, but no one noticed because it landed in the middle of a grassland surrounded by forest."
Kai looked puzzled, thinking deeply in his mind, as he followed Ruby.