The Race

Original Story
Origin: Chinese

General Story
The Jade Emperor has once again planned a race for the zodiac animals, and whoever crosses the finish line first, is presented with a prize. No one knows what the prize is, but it's programmed within them to participate in this grand competition. So despite not knowing what it is they're fighting for, they all have something they're willing to do anything for, and hope that their wish will be granted if they get first place. These hopes are what keeps many of the characters going, and thus drive the direction of the story. Little do they know though that the Jade Emperor does not wish for them to race each other, but the end of time itself.

The Dragon
In the original story. the dragon sacrifices first place to help a village on fire. In RSS, Rani takes a pitstop to infiltrate the enemy and take them down. Though, it seems as though she has truly joined the enemy at first, and it isn't until the third novel that her intentions are made clear. hmmm or it's much closer to the original where she helps the villager and rabbit. Either way, while on her detour, the Jade emperor makes her a visit telling her she knows who she truly is. No, not the nian, the soft puty behind it.

The Cat
The cat is back for revenge, and refuses to let the rat trick her again. She is determined to get first place, and is willing to use any means to get there. In fact, despite her young age, she is the leader of the enemy team. If she can kill Jae along the way, that would be cool too. The cat is first introduced, when Rani saves the young girl, by the age of 9. Later on, she joins Rani and Jae's group (along with her older sister, who is her caretaker,) going undercover to later betray them. It's a game of Cat and mouse.

The River
In RSS, the river signifies the starting line for the race. This works as a major plot twist because in the first novel, the characters believe that they're near the end of the race after runnning for a month. However, once they end miles away from the river, not only does Rani betray them, but has abandoned her former comrades in the line of danger, confused and lost. She has tricked them into thinking they were near the end, but in reality, they weren't even at the beginning. Now the second book will focus on making it to the river before they run out of time.