A New Beginning

Chapter 26

I now had two dragonets that I wouldn't mind strangling. She could have warned me earlier.

Abby snickered as she walked over, her and Dirk having been included in my conversation.

"You might as well spread your wings so Dirk and I can work on them," she said as she grabbed a big handful of sand.

With a resigned sigh, I opened my wings for them. Dirk and Abby had big grins on their faces as they waded into the water to try and help me clean my scales. I used sand to scour my arms and neck of the tenacious mud.

After far too long, I shook myself off as my scales chimed slightly, although I could still feel tiny bits of grit rubbing between most of them. The harness was fairly clean, but the underside undoubtedly needed to be washed before I wore it again.

"That should be good enough for now," I said with a tired sigh. "I can probably get Aeria to clean and oil my scales later. Let's go torment the Kymari. I think we need something better than ugly flowers this time."

Abby considered it, far less fearful after so many times. "That sounds like a good idea. They always seem to have some sort of good fruit with them. As much as I am tempted to tie some grass around their ankles, that could land us in hot water with our parents since we shouldn't be able to tie knots."

"Well," I said considerately, "since they always give us fruit, why don't we take them some instead?"

"I like that idea!" Dirk piped up enthusiastically. "We can pick the sourest ones we can find and see if they eat them!"

Abby sprang into the air with a snicker. Dirk and I quickly followed her. She probably knew where the most unpleasant fruits were and normally avoided them.

"Nothing unripe," I warned her, "or they won't even attempt to try them."

She grinned over her shoulder at me. "We can all pick different types, too. There are a lot of sour kinds in season right now."

That was even better. Even if one of the Kymari realized what we were giving them, the others might remain unaware of what was in store for them. I really hoped that they didn't recognize whatever we brought them.

My Blood Memories told me that it was highly unlikely, particularly among the handlers and their close friends.

       "Ready?" I asked the five fledglings who were brave enough to consider approaching the Kymari.

They all nodded or murmured a quiet yes. I took to the air, taking care to fly slowly since the two most recent additions to our group had only recently fledged. Surprisingly, their parents didn't mind them approaching the Kymari as long as someone with a harness accompanied them.

We came up from behind the Kymari since it wasn't any fun if they saw us coming. Dirk whistled a greeting so we didn't startle them, but that didn't give them much warning before they had six young dragonets landing on or near them.

Soranto and Tkael were present this afternoon, so we had eight Kymari to pick on. Well, there were dozens of other Kymari enjoying the park, but even I wasn't keen on approaching them.

"What are they up to this time?" Rhay murmured.

"I'm not too sure. I've never seen this before," Taureen replied quietly.

Dirk tended to gravitate towards Tran, and this time was no different. Tran examined the blue dragonet on his shoulder, not too sure why he was holding a small green berry in his jaws.

I crooned a feeding call at Soranto from where I sat on his shoulder. Somewhat to my surprise, he recognized the call and tentatively took the small yellow fruit from me.

"I guess I'm supposed to eat this..." he said. "I think someone has been helping feed younger chicks and is picking up some new tricks."

Tran sighed slightly. "They must need more practice. I can't imagine them feeding a nestling something this sour."

Without a pause, he popped the green berry in his mouth. I had to give him credit, he didn't even make a face, although I suspected that he had swallowed the berry whole.

"Thank you, Dirk." Tran's voice sounded completely sincere, as if Dirk hadn't just brought him the worst thing he had likely tasted in years.

Soranto moved his hand to his mouth before chewing. I narrowed my eyes – something didn't seem right. Leaning forward, I sniffed his face before snorting and jumping down to his lap to check his hands. I sent him an accusing glare, causing a couple of the other Kymari to chuckle as I caught Soranto's attempt to pretend to eat what I had brought him.

"All right, all right. You caught me. But, please, in the future, bring me only things that you would actually eat."

Under my scrutiny, he put it in his mouth. He didn't manage to eat his as gracefully as the others were, but it was large enough that he had to chew it. He shuddered slightly at the taste.

"Oh my. No wonder the parents declined your help." Soranto shook his head, still trying to get over the taste of my 'present'. "Perhaps this might give you a few hints for the future."

He pulled a small container out of a pouch on his belt and opened it to reveal a selection of tasty fruits that didn't grow in the park. He picked out a piece of cantaloupe and offered it to me as he passed the container to Tkael.

The container made two rounds before it was empty. With our prank over, we began romping around in the grass near their feet. We didn't have to keep an eye on our surroundings when we were near the Kymari, which was a rare thing for the others.

Dirk, Abby, and another dragonet got distracted as they tried to stick a clover flower into Tran's boot. The strange clasps and lack of clear gaps fascinated them as they tried to find a way past the armor's defenses.

The other dragonets were more at ease on the ground than perching on the Kymari, which was fine with me. I was just happy that they didn't mind going near my green friends.

Abby gave up with a yawn and flopped down in the grass as she scanned the meadow out of habit. She asked Dirk, "You two arrived later than usual. What did you do today?"

Dirk replied, "I went with Dad and Aeria, and we went inside a building that fixes the shuttles. It was loud in there. Then we sat inside the veterinary waiting room and watched lots of strange animals come and go. Two of the vets came over to say hello, but that was it."

In the shade underneath the bench, I rolled onto my back as I scratched a few spots under my harness straps where bits of mud apparently lingered. I was never rolling in the mud again, even if a sunburst berry was involved.

"Tessa? What did you and Tasha do today?" Abby asked, rolling over to look at me.

With a faint sigh, I rolled back onto my stomach, hoping that the long damp grass would ease the itching better than my pitiful attempts. "Well, at first, we walked through a building with lots of pipes. Then we went through the training center as Mom showed me how to guide Kymari to crawlers and sicora."

She sat up, suddenly alert. "Did they use real ones?"

"Just a hide for the sicora, although it was in the shape of a real one. The crawler was already dead. In both cases, we were able to track the scent and show the Kymari the way." I shared several glimpses from the training room, along with the scents.

All of the fledglings, including Dirk, stared at me as I went over all of the tricks and what I had learned.

"Whoa... that is intense," Abby murmured.

"Is there something underneath the bench?" Sadria asked, shifting her weight as she checked the open area behind them again.

Uh oh. I had forgotten about our observers. Thinking quickly, I lunged forward and tackled Dirk. He squalled as the force of my jump sent us both rolling in the grass. The other quickly caught on and it became the biggest dragonet wrestling match that the Kymari had probably ever seen.