With Vok'Rul's explicit permission, more and more aliens started to come in. Mostly, they lingered near the outskirts of the perimeter, content to watch from a slightly closer distance. It was mostly children that got up close and personal with the humans.

Nohkka was one of those children.

She ran to the middle of the field where Viktor and Vok'Rul were hanging around as fast as her legs could carry her - which wasn't that quick. She launched herself on Vok'Rul, who let out a loud groan as she landed right on his stomach.

"Hi, Kohgrash!" she yelled with excitement, climbing over Vok'Rul to wrap Viktor up in her arms. Thankfully, she didn't squeeze him half to death this time.

"Hi, Nohkka."

She turned to peer at Vok'Rul for a moment, before saying matter-of-factly, "Uncle, Mama said that you are a no good, horn-less idiot."

Vok'Rul spluttered for a second before he said, "Nohkka, we don't repeat what your mother says, okay? She doesn't say nice things, sometimes."

Nohkka nodded seriously. "She also said that when the next Competition comes, she's gonna par-tic-i-pate," she slowly said every syllable, slowing her pace for just a second before she started up again, "just to beat you up. I'll beat you up, too! Then I'll be Vokkra!" she declared, getting to her feet and jumping up and down.

Vok'Rul smiled fondly at her, "I am sure you will win, little one."

"What's this competition?" Viktor asked. Vok'Rul had mentioned it before, but he was unable to get any straight answers out of the alien.

"Competition?" Pedro asked. He was lying on the grass nearby, arm flung over his face to shade his eyes from the small sun.

"Is there a monetary prize?" Ezekiel wondered. He was also lying in the grass. His head was propped up on his hand, and he was watching Viktor and Vok'Rul's interaction with Nohkka with interest. "Perhaps a one-way trip back to Earth?"

Vok'Rul wilted, just a little bit. Viktor rolled his eyes. "I told you why we can't go back, yet. There's -"

"Yeah, yeah," Ezekiel groaned dramatically. "Politics and shit." His tone got serious for a moment, quieter, "I miss the blue sky."

"Yeah," Viktor reluctantly agreed. "But it's not so bad here."

Someone snorted. "I can't believe you of all people are saying that, kid," Pedro laughed.

"Shut up," he told the man before looking at Vok'Rul with a tilt of his head. "Competition?"

"Yes," Vok'Rul said, thinking for a moment. Nohkka sat on the ground beside him, content with pulling the grass out of the ground and covering his tail with it. "The Competition happens every ten years at the Pit. Contenders will fight one another for the title of Vokkra. There are no rules whatsoever when you are in the Pit. You are to use what you have been given at the start of your life; claws, teeth, tail... though, now weapons have been tossed into the mix. Death happens frequently. Only the strongest will win, and the strongest of those will go on to win the title of Vokkra."

Viktor blinked at him before his face scrunched up in thought. "So..." he started slowly. "How long have you been Vokkra?"

"I have won the Competition four times consecutively."

"Forty years?" Viktor put together, more than a little shocked. "Wait, how old are you?"

Vok'Rul blinked, tilting his head to mirror Viktor's. "It is not polite to ask a Vokkrus about their age, my little Kohgrash." Viktor rolled his eyes, staring earnestly at Vok'Rul until the alien relented. "Fine. I am only 435, if you must know - Kohgrash, you look like you are about to fall over. Are you alright?"

"Four hundred... four hundred years?" Viktor asked after he managed to find his voice again.

"And thirty-five. Kohgrash, it is a reputable age, believe me. The previous Vokkra was 600, so I believe I am doing quite well for myself, thank you."

"Wait, is your alien dude four hundred years old?" Ezekiel asked, shamelessly listening to their conversation. "That's crazy!"

"That is quite a long time," Nikolas confirmed.

Vok'Rul's confusion only seemed to grow. "Well, how old do your species live? Vokkrus live up to, and usually over, one thousand years old."

Viktor's mouth dropped open. "What the hell, man! You can't just drop a casual bombshell on me like that!"

"Bombshell?"

After explaining to Vok'Rul that humans only lived, on average, about eighty years (much to the alien's shock and dismay), Nohkka started to get restless. She disappeared for a few minutes before returning with one of the hovering RC cars, shoving it in Viktor's face. She pleaded with him to play with her, and Viktor relented. He did want to run around.

The car rushed off in a flurry of high-pitched whirring and heat. It took a little while for Viktor to start sprinting after it, but when he did, Nohkka was all cheers and squeals. She made it whip around trees and bushes, forcing him to weave through the obstacles. She tended to avoid the other humans, who were just milling about and speaking with one another. But some of them were watching Viktor chase after the car with interest.

"That alien kid can drive," someone whistled as Viktor jumped over a tree root. "I bet I could catch it."

"No way. I bet I could catch it. Probably faster than you, too," someone replied.

"You're on."

Nohkka wove the car through Vok'Rul's legs, who had stood up in order to watch the race. Viktor, unconcerned with how the alien felt at that moment, barreled through his legs to catch the car, which was a little difficult considering the alien had a great big tail in the way. Unfortunately, this mad dash through his legs had the unforeseen side effect of toppling the alien over, who landed on the ground with a loud thump and a curse.

"Kohgrash, Nohkka," he said sternly, plucking the controller out of her claws. They were both wearing matching sheepish grins. "Do not drive this around others. Understood?"

"You came out of nowhere," Viktor defended himself. "Didn't even see you."

"Yeah, who would?" Pedro agreed sarcastically. Viktor pretended not to notice his tone.

"Thank you!" he grinned.

While Nohkka was banned from driving the RC cars, it didn't stop other children from getting their hands on the other sets littered near the enclosure entrance. Even Carrot, who had returned to the enclosure - thankfully leaving his Flyhk outside - with multiple prizes in his arms, got a hold of one of the controllers. Some humans opted out of chasing the cars, deciding that it was beneath them. This drew scoffs and scorn from the others, who argued that they were already treated like animals, why not live a little and chase after some plastic, floating car? It had swayed some of them, but most were content to just watch.

Chasing the cars had quickly evolved into the weirdest game of tag Viktor had ever participated in.

After escaping Vok'Rul's attempts at scolding him, he quickly managed to rope the others into chasing the cars with him, convincing them that it really was fun once you got into it. They were skeptical, but it wasn't like they had anything better to do other than lay in the sun, soaking up the star's meager rays, or listen to Dave's monologue. The man had convinced himself that Earth had blown up on their departure and was telling anyone who would listen that they were the planet's lone survivors, hence his name for the group being 'Earth's Survivors.'

It was a load of bullshit; the Vokkrus had no reason to blow up the planet, and Viktor had told him so. But Dave wasn't one to listen.

When Viktor finally managed to get the others to join him, they started betting amongst each other on who would get it the fastest. Viktor was pretty sure he'd be the one to catch it first; he had experience and he was much quicker on his feet than the others. But the others argued that since he was so scrawny, he'd run out of breath faster and be slower overall.

They were so... stupid. Viktor had really missed them.

Ultimately, though, Viktor had to prove them wrong. And he did. He won almost every game before they teamed up and started tripping him before he could catch the car. Declaring them cheaters had them defending themselves with the 'all's fair in love and war' shit. Truthfully, Viktor just thought they were all sore losers.

Then, their game had just dissolved into him getting revenge. He forgot all about the car. Tackling them to the ground had made him feel much better. It helped that he could climb trees, and they could not. It made for some daring escapes. Plus, when he was up in the branches, he could get them from above, too.

"You're such a little cheater, kid," Pedro said, trying and failing to shimmy up the tree. "Come down here and face me like a man!"

"All's fair in love and war," he snarked back, lounging on the thickest tree branch he could find. He yelped as a ball whistled past his ear. "Hey!"

The game of tag slowly got larger as more people abandoned the car chases and decided to tackle and push one another instead. That wasn't really surprising. Most people tended to copy what others were doing if only to fit in and do something together after having been separated from other humans for so long. The game of tag was fun, especially when no one really knew who was 'it.' Randomly sprinting toward a group of people to watch them scatter frantically was really enjoyable.

What was surprising, however, was when some of the alien kids decided to join in, too. Despite the language barrier, most of the kids - and teenagers - understood the rules of the game after watching the humans run around for a few minutes. Nohkka decided to try her hand at rushing in and tagging Viktor, despite her not being it. Still, Viktor dutifully turned around and started chasing her. She was slow, and Viktor had to pace himself behind her to let her get a headstart. But she was enjoying herself, shrieking with laughter every time he managed to tag her.

The entire field was chaos; aliens of various sizes ran around chasing and being chased by humans. It was incredible and exhilarating. Viktor never wanted it to end.

But eventually, the stitch in his side became too unbearable to cope with, and he had to collapse in a boneless puddle next to Vok'Rul, who had decided that the fence would be a safer location for him. The others were already there, sprawled out aimlessly. What Vok'Rul had said earlier was true; his species had much less stamina than the humans. Many kids were already slowing.

Viktor wondered how they thermoregulated. He was a sweaty mess. His regular blue sweater was getting pretty hot.

"Nice of you to join us," Pedro said, having already caught his breath because he was a loser who had tapped out nearly twenty minutes ago.

"Uh-huh," Viktor responded in a wheeze, lightly slapping away Vok'Rul's hand when it tried to pat his stomach. He felt like his lungs were going to collapse.

"Kohgrash, why are you all wet?" Vok'Rul asked him, perplexed. His hand brushed against his sweaty hair. Viktor huffed a laugh. "And you smell."

"You're so fuckin' weird," he mumbled.

"Comet, Eclipse!" Carrot called, now on the other side of the fence. "Come here! Time to go home."

Viktor looked up at the sky with a frown. The sun was definitely much lower than he had expected it to be. He quickly got to his feet, launching himself at Aiko and Ezekiel, making them both collapse back to the ground. He squeezed them as hard as he could. Aiko patted him on his shoulder reassuringly while Ezekiel tried to squeeze him to death in return.

"It'll be alright, kid," Ezekiel said in an uncharacteristic show of seriousness. "We've already met each other again after the pet store, and we thought we'd never see each other again! I'm sure we'll see more of each other."

Viktor nodded in the other man's chest but held on for just a little longer, anyway. Waving goodbye was bittersweet.

Nohkka, now that she had exhausted all options of playing with the humans, had demanded to go back out of the human enclosure and play more games before they had to leave for the day. Vok'Rul had relented, weak in the face of his favorite niece's demands. Viktor had said goodbye to Pedro and Nikolas somewhat tearfully, which they had teased him relentlessly for. He was just glad he had seen them all together again.

Vok'Rul carried him out of the enclosure when it became clear that Viktor was too tired to keep up with the alien's pace. Despite his grumbling and complaining that Viktor was dirty and smelled bad, Vok'Rul seemed reluctant to put him down. It wasn't like Viktor minded; he enjoyed the free ride.

He got to watch all of the aliens' fair games. They were just as rigged as Earth's. Most of them had something to do with strength or something similar. While most of Earth's fair games were mainly about aiming or throwing, these games were only slightly different.

There was one game where the aliens had to throw a ball as hard as they could against a shimmering board that spanned the entire stall. There was no way someone could miss. Whenever the ball connected, lights went off, accompanied by a small, miniature burst of fireworks, which had scared the shit out of Viktor the first time it had happened. The harder it hit, the bigger the burst of fireworks and the bigger the prize. From watching other aliens play the game, it seemed like there were three levels of color. Green was the weakest throw, usually seen by children. Blue was the next level up, which he saw most aliens get. Purple was after that.

Viktor pleaded with Vok'Rul to try it out. After he had gotten used to the loud bang of fireworks, he wanted to see how big they could get. If Vok'Rul was the Vokkra, surely that meant he was pretty strong and able to make the biggest round of fireworks?

"Or are you a chicken?" he said when the alien hesitated.

"What is a chicken?" Viktor rolled his eyes.

"Means you're a coward if you don't do this! Throw the ball!!"

The alien running the stall seemed pretty pleased to have the Vokkra play its game. It handed Vok'Rul a ball, which he looked at skeptically for a moment before placing Viktor on the ground. He backed up a few paces, made sure the coast was clear, and threw the ball.

It was interesting to see how these aliens threw things. He had seen Vok'Rul toss blankets and pillows onto the couch, but he had never seen the alien really throw anything. His body coiled up like a snake's; his tail wound close to his body, and his legs bent so low to the ground they almost disappeared. And when he threw the ball, his body lurched forward. It reminded Viktor of baseball pitchers. As soon as the ball left his claws, it quickly slammed into the shimmering wall with a loud BANG!

The largest burst of fireworks Viktor's ever seen exploded out of the stall, rattling the wood and everything within it. Viktor swore it shook the ground he was standing on. The shimmering lights on the wall flickered dangerously for a second before turning a triumphant black. The aliens who had stopped to watch Vok'Rul play cheered loudly. Viktor joined them, even if the sound reminded him of the arena.

"What else can we expect from our Vokkra, everyone?" the carny yelled, which prompted another round of cheering. Vok'Rul looked embarrassed.

"I hope I did not break anything," he told the alien, crouching down to pick up Viktor and holding him tightly. The alien peered at its stall, shrugging.

"Doesn't look like it, Your Majesty. What prize would you like?"

After dithering about the prizes for way too long, Nohkka decided that she really wanted this one, Uncle Rul, pretty please? and they got a monstrously large stuffed animal. It was of a weird-looking cow. It had five, comically large eyes and horns poking out of its head. Vok'Rul told him that it was a Chorsl, as if that cleared things up. When Vok'Rul handed it to Nohkka, it nearly dwarfed her.

They ran into Rukka, Kac, and Thruul on their way to the next game. Surprised greetings and explanations were exchanged. Rukka was still annoyed with Vok'Rul about charging into the human enclosure unprepared, which prompted an annoyed huff from both Viktor and the alien. Her ire softened when she listened to Nohkka describing how much fun she had while there. It certainly helped that she was currently fawning over the prize Vok'Rul had given her.

Thruul commented on Viktor's appearance, which was less than neat by this point. He was covered with smeared dirt all over his face and clothing. His hair stuck up in odd places from being tackled to the ground one too many times. Vok'Rul's hand covered his mouth before he could make some snide remark about Thruul's appearance, which probably was for the best.

Viktor would've regretted it immediately, too, especially since Thruul pulled out one of the starfruits from his pocket and handed it to Viktor, citing that he looked tired and needed to get his energy back up.

"You're alright for an alien, Thruul," he told him solemnly, biting into the fruit with relish.

"What did he say?" Thruul asked excitedly, reaching out tentatively to pet Viktor's hair. He allowed it. Vok'Rul relayed his answer. Thruul looked pretty pleased.

Nohkka dragged them to the next closest stall, determined to get as many prizes as she possibly could. This one seemed to be a sort of writing game. There were three stools lined up next to the booth, each having its own pile of papers in front of them. Oddly enough, there were some sticks of colors lying next to each pile. Viktor wouldn't call them crayons, simply because they didn't look to be made of wax, but he wasn't too sure what else to call them.

The inside of the booth was littered with misshapen, shiny badges that had some frilly fabric hanging off the bottom of them. They were sharp and jagged. If Viktor squinted, he could see the resemblance between them and the participation medals often given out on Earth. Between the medals were pieces of paper tacked up on the walls. Drawings. Viktor was looking at drawings.

Alien drawings!

Some were just splashes of color and scribbled lines, but there were others that had defined shapes and objects that Viktor could recognize. There was one where a group of aliens - a family, he reckoned - were having a picnic. Another looked like a space battle between the Vokkrus and some weird, yellow blobs. With the knowledge that other alien life existed somewhere in this galaxy burning in the back of his skull, he decided that they were fighting yellow sponges, just to give him some peace of mind.

The stall itself was pretty cluttered. Where drawings weren't covering the walls, buckets of dye were stacked in piles in front of them. They dripped occasionally, but they never seemed to mix or dilute any of the other colors they dropped into. There were various spills covering the wood of the stall, fresh and stale. He wondered how long this alien had been running the stall. Some of the stains looked years old.

Nohkka pointed up at the booth, which was empty save for the alien running the stall (a kind-looking pale alien), and demanded, "I wanna draw! And get a medal!"

"Well," the alien running the stall said kindly, "You came to the right place, little Vokkra." Viktor felt Vok'Rul quietly mutter his displeasure. If what he knew about the Competition was correct - and it likely was, considering the brutal nature of the aliens he had encountered - Vok'Rul likely didn't want Nohkka participating. He didn't blame him.

"Yay! Can Kohgrash draw, too?" Nohkka asked her parents as they picked her up and dropped her on a stool. Viktor got a little nervous just watching her. The stool didn't look very stable, after all. And it was a long drop.

The alien running the stall, who Viktor decided to name Rainbow since she had various colors staining the tips of her claws, hesitated, glancing at Vok'Rul, then down at him. Viktor eyed her just as warily.

"Little one," the alien began carefully, likely having waded through many incoming tantrums during her time here, "Mammals can't draw."

"Jeez. I'm no Picasso, but I can do alright for myself," Viktor huffed. He heard Vok'Rul repeat the name in confusion.

"Kohgrash can too!" Nohkka pouted. "Kohgrash, come draw with me." She obstinately patted the stool next to her. Before Vok'Rul could tighten his grip to prevent him from going, Viktor used the alien as a springboard, pushing off him using his feet. He landed awkwardly on the ground but used his forward-falling momentum to clamber up the stool pretty quickly. He sat neatly on it before anyone could stop him.

He grinned when he heard Vok'Rul sigh and start to apologize to the stall owner. Nohkka patted him appreciatively on his head before placing a stick of color in his hand. It felt like a mix between chalk and wax. Nohkka 'showed' him how to draw, slowly moving his hand with hers against the paper.

"Thanks, Nohkka," he said, flipping the piece of paper over to get a blank slate.

"Should someone else want to use the stall, I'll need to request Kohgrash's removal," Rainbow said apologetically, bowing low. "But for now, he can use the pastel-sticks. If he breaks them, I have plenty to spare. He won't be the first one to snap them in half."

"He'll be careful, won't you Kohgrash?" Vok'Rul said apologetically, embarrassed. Viktor simply smiled up at him.

No one else came up during the time Nohkka and he drew and colored, much to his relief. He wouldn't have enjoyed being torn away from his masterpiece.

He hadn't been lying when he said he wasn't Picasso. Frankly, most of his attempts at art were either mandated by school projects or a small, stick figure doodle on the margins of his homework. But, after over a year of doing nothing but fighting to survive and then adjusting to not doing that, having something new to do was invigorating. He suddenly found himself struck with the inspiration and motivation to draw and color.

Sure, it was a little childish, but he had also just gotten done playing tag with a group of adults, most of whom had to be over at least 25. He didn't think he's seen someone his age since he got here. Which was a little worrying, if he let himself linger on that fact. But he didn't. He had more important things to focus on. Like coloring this drawing.

He decided he'd draw the Earth. The blue planet spanned his entire paper. Outlining the countries with green proved nostalgic, and he remembered with a sullen, angry thought that his planet was millions of light-years away.

The pastel-sticks felt odd in his hands, gritty and slippery at the same time, but they got the job done. When he was finished with his drawing - admittedly, it wasn't the perfect sphere, and he had only used two colors - he set them back down on the stall, brushing his hands off of the odd texture.

A heavy gaze settled on the back of his neck, and he tensed, glancing up sharply. Rainbow was peering at his drawing with undisguised wonder.

"How did you teach him that?" she asked Vok'Rul with shock. "I'm not sure what it is, but it's very neat and well-drawn."

Vok'Rul leaned over him to look, humming curiously. Viktor started to feel a little self-conscious.

"Wow, Kohgrash! It looks like marbles!" Nohkka praised before shoving her own piece of paper under his nose. "Here's my drawing."

A mess of colors greeted him. It took him a little while to figure it out, but his eyes may or may not have gotten a little misty when he did. She had drawn herself, Rukka, Kac, and Vok'Rul standing on a little brown hill in front of a yellow sky. Right beside Vok'Rul was a blue and gray blob of color, which turned out to be him. The aliens had no faces, and neither did he, but Viktor could tell that the drawing was supposed to be happy.

"I like it," he said, giving her a thumbs-up. She awkwardly mirrored him, struggling to get her thumb upright and fingers curled like his. He grinned at her attempt.

A color-stained hand reached for his paper, and a thrill of panic shooting up his spine had him slamming his fist down on it before Rainbow could touch it, startling both himself and the aliens around him. He jerked in surprise as he felt Vok'Rul's familiar claws drag through his hair a fraction of a second later. "It's alright, Kohgrash, she just wants to take a look at your drawing."

He ground his teeth together in irritation. Reluctantly, he pulled his hand away, frowning heavily. She held it up carefully, warily watching him for any sign of aggression and humming in interest as she took a look at it. "You have quite the spectacular mammal in your care, O Vokkra. The others I've met haven't shown much interest in my stall. Or any other stall, really. Would he like a medal, do you think?"

"I want my damn drawing back," he grumbled.

"I wanna medal!" Nohkka exclaimed, waving her drawing around. "This drawing's for my mommas." Rukka and Kac dutifully took the piece of paper, expressions fond.

"It is a very good piece of work, Nohkka," Rukka said, nodding her head. Nohkka beamed. Rainbow handed the drawing back to Vok'Rul, who then passed it to Viktor. She grabbed two of the medals off of the wall, draping one dutifully over Nohkka's head and handing the other to Vok'Rul. Rainbow bowed as they took their leave, thanking them for visiting.

Viktor had his paper gripped tightly in his hands, half-afraid he'd lose it somewhere. He folded it up neatly, shoving it into his pockets.

"Kohgrash," Vok'Rul called, crouching beside him. He held out the medal in one hand. "Do you want to put this on?"

Viktor looked at it suspiciously. Even the thought of having something dangling around his neck, even as loose and light as the medal, had him feeling like cold iron was crushing his windpipe. He rubbed at his throat.

"It won't hurt you," Vok'Rul cajoled after Viktor took too long to come up with an answer.

"I know that," he snapped, less heatedly than he'd like. His tone was more afraid than anything.

"Why won't Kohgrash wear his medal?" Nohkka asked, pouting. "We can match!"

She bounced toward him, snatching the medal out of Vok'Rul's unsuspecting hands. Viktor's world erupted into a lot of things, then. He heard Rukka say something loudly, heard Kac inhale sharply, saw Vok'Rul jerk forward out of the corner of his eye to stop Nohkka, and saw Thruul shift from one leg to the other, but mostly he just saw Nohkka.

Her hands were outstretched toward him, holding up the medal triumphantly. The metal flickered in the dying sunlight, and instead of the golden bronze color, Viktor saw the cool silver of the shock collar instead. His body reacted, crouching low to duck away from the incoming blow. Unfortunately, his lowered height gave Nohkka the advantage to fling the medal over his head, despite Vok'Rul's attempts to stop her.

Viktor stiffened at the unfamiliar weight around his neck. It was lightweight, almost feather-light, but Viktor felt as though it was choking him. His hands trembled when they touched his neck. His fingernails dug into his skin. He tried to take it off but his hands weren't cooperating.

"Off, off, off," he begged. Stabbing pain shot through his throat, and his body twitched against the phantom threat of electricity. His voice went high, panicked, "Please, take it off!"

The medal pressed against the hollow of his throat harshly, constricting his airway. For a split second, he thought he was going to suffocate. Panic made his already harsh breathing that much more impossible to shove through his windpipe. But the weight vanished a second later, and he was free.

"Kohgrash, shush, it's okay, little one. It's okay, it's okay," Vok'Rul's litany grounded him. "Just breathe." The alien's claws were wrapped around his biceps, holding him just tight enough to hold him up. It was loose enough that Viktor knew he could break out of it if he needed to.

Viktor took his advice. When it felt like he wasn't going to swallow his tongue, he managed a small, fragile, "Did I hurt anyone?"

"Yourself," Vok'Rul said in a soft, displeased tone. Viktor grimaced, frowning. He straightened up, self-consciously rubbing his throat. It was sore from where his fingers had dug into his flesh, but he wasn't bleeding.

"I didn't mean to freak out," he mumbled. He glanced up, chancing a look at Nohkka and the others. She was in Kac's arms, looking upset. Thruul, who he didn't look at for very long, looked concerned, something he had never seen on the ringmaster's face. Rukka's face was shuttered, closed off. "Sorry."

"Hush," Vok'Rul demanded, holding out his arms. Viktor slowly stepped into them and soon enough, he was in the air, securely held.

"Hey!" someone shouted, storming up to Vok'Rul. Viktor looked down to see a very angry man. He thought he recognized him from the bean bag toss game. He waved his arms at Vok'Rul, who hastily took a few steps back. "Let the kid go! You okay, kid? Is he hurting you?" The man put his fists up.

"It's alright," Viktor quickly reassured him. "Seriously - I'm okay, really."

The man looked skeptical for a second, but he dropped his fists. How he expected to fight Vok'Rul was beyond Viktor, but he appreciated the thought. "Okay," the man replied slowly. "But if you ever need help, just yell!"

A pair of aliens scrambled into view, apologizing for their pet, who was named Marble, apparently. Viktor waved goodbye as the pair dragged the man off, embarrassed for their human's behavior.

Nohkka apologized to Viktor after that, gently petting his head when Vok'Rul brought him over to her. Viktor, despite knowing that she couldn't understand him, reassured her the best he could that he was alright. Kac tried and failed to explain to her why he didn't like things around his neck, but she had a hard time wrapping her mind around the idea of someone needlessly hurting Viktor. Still, she was regretful. And bummed that they couldn't have matching medals.

Viktor suggested that Vok'Rul wear his instead, and he gladly did. It was a little too small for him. Frankly, even looking at him with it around his neck made Viktor feel nervous, just imagining it on his instead. But he beamed when Nohkka declared that all three of them were matching medal buddies, even if Viktor was without one.

Vok'Rul held him the entire time they went to the other booths. He declined to participate in any of them, even at Viktor's half-hearted insistence. He didn't really want the alien to set him down, either. He felt pretty safe in his arms. Plus, like always, the view was really good up here. He didn't need to dodge and weave through the slowly dissipating crowd. As the day grew longer and longer, though, many stalls started to close up.

They didn't manage to catch every stall that caught their eyes, but they got through a decent amount. By the time they would get to the car, Thruul would look less like an alien and more like a pack mule. Rukka and Kac carried a few things, including a sleepy Nohkka, but the cook had insisted on carrying most of the things.

"If I cannot win these games," he had joked after failing to pop some leathery-looking balloon that Rukka managed to pop in one try, "then I can carry the prizes, instead. That way, everyone will think I actually won."

"That is silly," Vok'Rul said in a sickeningly fond voice. Kac and Rukka exchanged an exasperated look that was missed by the pair. A bomb could drop, and they wouldn't notice; too busy staring into each other's eyes. Gross. "No one will believe you."

One of the last games they stopped at was something geared toward humans, interestingly enough. Viktor would have thought that most, if not all, of the stalls were for the aliens. The humans had gotten a pretty large section of the park all for themselves, after all.

The alien manning the stall was large, bulky, and a deep purple. He spoke lowly, voice thrumming with gravel, "Hullo there, O Vokkra. Would your mammal care for a game?"

Viktor, who was feeling much better now, nodded enthusiastically, curious to see what sort of games the alien had thought up. Vok'Rul looked at him appraisingly, scrutinizing him, before turning his attention back to the alien. "Yes," he said slowly, "I think he would enjoy it. How do they play?"

"Turret!" the alien called, crouching behind the stall to poke at something. A muttered curse and grumbling could be heard, and Viktor wasn't surprised when a disheveled, sleepy human popped out from around the stall. She yawned loudly, stretching. Viktor suppressed his own yawn, tears managing to squeeze into the corners of his eyes with the effort.

"It's past my bedtime," she said loudly, shaking her fist at the purple alien. She turned to her customers, peering up at Viktor with a sleepy glare. "Oh, hey. I saw you on TV, once. How're ya doin'?"

Viktor shrugged. "I'm alright. You?"

The woman shrugged in return, seeming to wake up some more as she spoke. She stretched once more before hopping lightly in place. "You're here to play this game, aren't'cha? Made it myself, y'know. 'Course, I didn't buy none of the materials or nothin'. But I came up with the general idea. Well..." she trailed off, looking up at the stall with a grin. "I did take some inspiration."

The game was simple when she explained it. Putting her explanation into practice was a little more challenging.

This particular stall was slightly lower than the other ones, probably to accommodate the humans' shorter height. Regardless of this, Viktor was miffed that he still needed to stand on one of the stools in order to peer over the wooden stall. How annoying.

Inside the stall, taking up most of the space, was a large tub of water. This wasn't particularly interesting. Viktor had seen many fairs with tubs of water, whether that being fishing up magnetic little fishes or flipping over floating ducks. But, the thing that made this one stand out was not plastic fish or ducks.

It was the bobbing bits of fruit floating around.

The woman, who introduced herself as Carrie, explained that in order to win the game, Viktor needed to scoop up the floating fruits in a basket she gave him. The catch was that he needed to hold the basket in his mouth the entire time.

"Is this sanitary?" Viktor had asked. Carrie had shrugged.

"I wipe 'em down. You're covered in dirt, though. Should you be talkin'?"

She had a fair point.

To make things even harder, Carrie told him that he needed to spin in a circle for thirty seconds before trying to bob for the fruit. Viktor, with all the confidence of a teenage boy, rolled his eyes and told her that she'd be out of fruit pretty soon. She had just smirked at him before placing her hands on his shoulders. She simply responded by saying she wouldn't let him drown.

As soon as she stopped spinning him, he fell face-first into the tub.

"Ha!" Carrie laughed, helping him up. "Ahh, that never gets old."

"I bet," he muttered, wiping the wet hair out of his face. He heard Vok'Rul and Thruul laughing behind him. After the initial reassurances by Carrie's alien that Viktor was fine, they found much joy in watching Viktor stumble around. "Lemme try again. When my eyes stop spinning."

His second try went better; he actually managed to scoop up a piece of fruit for a second before he listed to one side in an attempt to counteract the weight. His problem was that he went a little too hard. The fruit toppled out of the basket and back into the water with a smug plop. Carrie chortled. He groaned in light-hearted frustration. His third, fourth, and fifth tries went much of the same way. Slowly, though, he got better at regaining his equilibrium quickly enough to move.

By his sixth try, one of the fruits - some shiny, spherical berry that was green as grass - got into his basket and stayed in the basket. He jumped to his feet, shouting in victory. The blood rushed to his head, and he stumbled backward a few steps, falling on his rear. The basket was still in his mouth. The tomato fruit fell into his lap.

"Nice job," Carrie praised, giving him a high-five, which he missed. "You were the quickest one." Viktor preened.

The fruit tasted like cherries. Viktor liked it.

The sky was darkening, and much to Viktor and Nohkka's disappointment, they had to leave the festival for the day. Nohkka sulked the entire way back to the car, a grumpy expression on her face. It was pretty cute considering she was fighting sleep the entire way. Today had been Viktor's favorite by far. Getting to meet with all of his friends had been a balm to his heart that he hadn't known he needed. It had been nice to simply enjoy their presence without the looming threat of being thrown into the arena hanging over them like a dark cloud.

After shoving what they could of the prizes into the trunk - which Viktor hadn't even known existed; once the trunk was shut, the seam disappeared into the body of the car and only reappeared when someone went to open it - they all got in the car. Almost immediately, Nohkka fell asleep in Kac's arms, worn out from the excitement of the day. Viktor had to admit that he was close to following.

Vok'Rul's tail curled around him tightly, offering him a comfortable, warm pillow. That, coupled with the soothing rumbling of the car, had him quickly struggling against sleep's call.

Thruul and Vok'Rul were conversing quietly above him. He listened to their conversation in hopes to prevent himself from going to sleep.

"Did he enjoy the mammal section?" Thruul whispered. There was some shuffling that had Viktor lifting his head to look. The alien gave him an apologetic look, bending forward to pat him lightly on his head. Viktor made a grumpy noise, dropping his head back into Vok'Rul's tail.

"He reunited with the other humans from the Ring of Wonders. They all seemed rather happy to see one another again," Vok'Rul whispered back. His tail tightened around Viktor.

"I can't imagine what they went through while there."

There was silence for a moment before Vok'Rul sighed slightly.

"Kohgrash does not confide to me about such things. He has night terrors almost every night, though he has not woken up in a blind panic in some time." Thruul made a noise of sympathetic pity. "He is young by his species' standards, I believe. It is unfortunate that he has gone through what he has, even if we do not know the details."

"I can hear you," Viktor finally said, annoyed they were talking about him when he was right there. He didn't want to linger on his past while on this planet. He added petulantly, "And I'm not young. I'm almost fully grown."

Vok'Rul made a noncommittal noise, leaning forward to brush his claws against the side of Viktor's face. Viktor rolled his eyes, waving his hand away. He told them he was going to turn off the translator and sleep. The moment he turned the whirring device in his ear off, some of the tension in the back of his head dissipated. He gave a little sigh of relief. It didn't much longer for him to fall asleep after that, cocooned in warmth.