A New Beginning

Chapter 18

Tessa's POV:

I eyed up the small piece of ribbon that Soranto was idly fiddling with in his hands. He was talking with Taureen, and, hopefully, had forgotten that I was on the wall perch above him.

Quietly, I leaned over the edge as I watched his hands. If it was wrapped around his fingers, I wouldn't be able to grab it. I would have to time this just right.

He stretched it between his hands, and I dropped off the perch to dive down. Opening my wings at the last second, I changed my direction as I shot in front of him and stole the ribbon. I trilled happily as I clutched the ribbon in my hand and flew to a wall perch on the other side of the room.

I turned around to smirk at him – but he had a ribbon in his hands! I gaped at it in astonishment before checking to make sure that the red ribbon was still in my claws. It was. Where had the other ribbon come from? He didn't even seem bothered that I had taken the first ribbon.

I draped my ribbon over the perch before flying to the perch above Soranto again. How many ribbons could he possibly have?

As the evening went by, that became a very good question. I kept stealing the ribbons in his hands, but another one always appeared. The wall perch was gaining quite a collection of different colored ribbons. Soon, there would be so many that they would start falling off.

Eventually, Tkael and Soranto stood up to leave. Like he had every day over the last two weeks, Soranto held up a sunburst berry. I glided down to land on his wrist and gently take it. He petted my back until I finished my treat.

As I shook myself off, my scales made the tiniest noise as they rubbed against one another. I glided over to the heat lamp where Dirk was already asleep, as he usually was at this time of night.

Taureen walked with his friends to the door, still discussing some sort of plans they had for tomorrow.

With a big yawn, I curled up under the heat lamp with Mom, Dad, and Dirk.

       I watched in curiosity as Taureen put some sort of cloth straps on Mom and Dad. Aeria held up a smaller set and let me sniff them.

"These harnesses should fit you, although you'll probably outgrow them in a week. Let's try them on."

I stood still as she smoothly put it on with the ease of practice. It felt strange. I had never worn things before. Tentatively, I spread my wings and stretched my arms and legs as much as I could. The harness didn't pull or even really bother me.

"We're going to go for a walk," Taureen said. "Remember that most Kymari don't know you can talk. We have to keep the leashes on you two during the first few times, but there are trackers in your harness in case you get lost."

Dirk and I both nodded since we still couldn't mindspeak him. Dad was already on Aeria's shoulder, so I flew up to her other one.

"Good job," Aeria said, reaching up to clip a leash onto my harness. "There we go."

Taureen clipped a leash onto Dirk and put him on his shoulder. Neither Mom nor Dad had a leash. Taureen and Aeria began walking towards the front door.

I raised my head in impatient excitement, eager to see what lay beyond the door. I had looked out the windows before, but I knew it would be different to actually go outside. As we exited the door, I took a deep breath, although the air smelled almost the same as in the backyard.

The road, street cleaning machines, and hover shuttles were interesting. It wasn't possible to see them from the backyard, and I watched them curiously. Other Kymari were also walking on the sidewalk. Many of them smiled when they saw us, although Mom pinned her ears back when we walked past them.