Aqua dug his claws into the ground to propel himself forwards.

He was closing the distance quickly.

Lunar took a sharp turn left towards a bustling shopping street.

The small lynx wove in and out through the crowd with ease.

Almost colliding with a passerby, Aqua scrambled to a halt. "Hey, watch it!" they snapped.

"Sorry!" he continued to push hastily through the crowd. "Sorry! Excuse me!"

He frantically peered over the heads of others to not lose sight of Lunar.

Past an unbelievably tall wall, a black and golden flag caught Lunar's eyes.

"Final call!!" A Fire Kind announced from a grounded hot air balloon. Lunar pelted towards it.

Aqua cursed under his breath as he watched the balloon ascend away. Looks like he'll have to take the stairs.

Now there's two survey-response offices in this sector. The hot balloon service is closest to the South one.

With one last huff Aqua dragged himself up the stairs.

“Hey…” he greeted, out of breath.

“Hello! What can I help you with today?” The receptionist greeted.

“Um, you didn't happen to see a small dark blue lynx with green stripes come by here recently?”

“No, I have not. Sorry.”

“Ah, that's alright. Thank you!” He bowed and hastily left for the door.

(Damn it! She went to the other one!!)

…..

Lunar peeked from behind her bush to make sure he was gone.

With careful urgency, she opened the door.

“Hello! Your friend was looking for you,” the receptionist greeted.

“Yes, I saw him! He'll be back soon.”

She handed the receptionist the team information sheet. “Would it be possible for me to join this team?”

“Of course. May I have your full name?”

“Lunar Akadera.”

The receptionist typed the name into the computer. After a few heartbeats the answer Lunar expected was said. "I'm sorry, it doesn't look like you're in our system?"

"I was born off-grid," she replied.

"Ah, that explains the last name," the receptionist giggled. "Is there a person who can confirm your identity? Preferably someone who is already registered."

"Tropical Green," Lunar said, as she had rehearsed prior.

A few more keys were clacked in through the keyboard. "And what is your relation with Ms. Green?"

"...And tell them that I'm a close friend," Tropi explained to Lunar.

The lynx nodded obediently. "You sure know a lot about onboarding, Tropi!"

"Yeah, I've helped form several survey and response teams over the years. I'm frequently called by the recruitment department to do work with them, and I enjoy it too! Probably because my biggest pet peeve is when people run away from new opportunities hahaha!"

She closed her eyes and smiled. "But anyways, we're getting a bit distracted. You're going to do great, Lunar. I'll be super grateful for your efforts, no matter the outcome."

When Tropi opened them again her expression became pensive. "Because at the end of the day, it's up to the person to decide their own destiny."

"Alright! I just need both of your paw prints and then you're good to go," the receptionist set down a tray of ink on the desk and a cloth.

Lunar heard the sound of the door opening behind her. She turned to see Aqua drag his paws slowly to the receptionist desk. "Aqua, have you ever felt like-"

As he approached his state became clearer. What Lunar thought was sweat from running was actually tears from his puffy eyes. They were dripping from weariness, conflict, fear, excitement.

"I'm so sorry-" she began, only just realising what her stunt did to her friend.

"Lunar, it's okay. I don't need a salespitch or apology," he laughed exhaustedly and dipped his paw into the ink.

"I just needed a push."