Rigel
A circle of blue starlight shines onto a patch of the ground, only a short distance from my curled hand. Something hard pokes into the underside of my body. Wherever we are, it is not on Hydra or the Firefly.
Am I in a cave? How did I get here? How did–
Oh, my stars. Ava straddles my backside. Her delicate fingers comb through my feathers, smoothing and rearranging them. I shudder. She is grooming me.
Since I was a boy, no one has properly tended to my wings.
"Pretty," she whispers.
Pretty. It is one of the words I have been studying in her language—words I hope to one day say to her, so I'm a bit surprised she thinks my wings are pretty.
Ava moves forward. She grips my feathers by their base, locking her fingers around them, and tugs. A tingling sensation races into my wings and shoots through my spine.
I brought Ava home with me with the intent to protect her. I have grown to care for her even though I am not good at expressing it.
Her caring for me, though? This I had not imagined and that is why her gentle touches undo me. My mind buzzes, clamoring for more.
While the light nearby slowly stretches along the ground, she keeps grooming me. The patch of blue starlight is now over my hand and my arm, spreading heat.
Ava stands, walking away from me toward the light.
Already, I miss her; the weight of her body on mine; her body warmth; and most of all, her tender touches.
I force myself to lie still on the hard rock. When I think enough time has elapsed, so she won't suspect I was awake, I go find her outside.
The moment I approach her, her eyes rake over me. "Rigel?"
"Ava?"
She lets out a little sob and reaches for me. I embrace her. I don't like to see her cry.
I gaze around us. Strange. I remember leaping from the high-up cliff with Ava and the general terrain of this area, like cliffs and a valley, but all the other details I notice now— the gurgling of the river, the tall purple grasses rustling in the wind, and the beautiful interlacing rock formations— it is as if I am seeing them for the first time.
Wasn't there something else we were supposed to do?
"Ready?" I ask.
Ava wipes away a few stray tears. She runs back to the cave, returning with her backpack and the safety saddle. She wraps herself in the padding and stands before me, flailing her arms, barely able to move most of her body in the safety harness.
I laugh and cinch the straps.
She furrows her brow, looking indignant.
She is so adorable. I rub my nose against hers. She topples forward, and I catch her. Her eyes are on me, and she licks her lips.
Why is she looking at me like she might lick me or—
She leans forward, pressing her lips against mine.
Her lips are warm and soft. I rub my nose with her again, and we laugh. When I move away, she flops forward, I catch her, and...
Our lips find their way to each other, locked in a long, deep kiss.
How did her tongue get into my mouth? Her tongue probes my mouth, and I like the sensation.
Had a flock of yellow flying animals not flown nearby, we might have been there all day.
She waves her arms at them, an edge of desperation in her voice. "Glow Ball!"
Another memory resurfaces. She brought the small rahoni on our flight, carrying it in her bag. Where is it now?
"Rahoni... Glow Ball?"
"Yes, Glow Ball! Let's go find him. He is all alone. We need to save him," she says, hopping up and down in her harness again.
Once more she topples into my arms. Those lips look so tempting, but when I approach her for another delightful kiss, she points upward and babbles.
I don't have a translator, but it is easy to understand what she wants. Fly. Pursue them.
I look up at the flock of rahoni-looking creatures and I am confused. I have a memory, but it is fuzzy. My memory is a mess of unrelated things: rahonis, the ground, and... a scream?
What does this memory mean? I do not know but pursuing these animals does not feel right.
My internal debating about what to do is making Ava impatient.
"Please," says Ava.
I want to make her happy, so I attach Ava and the safety harness to the front of my body and arrange the straps over my wings so we can use our coordinated steering system.
I run, beat my wings, and I take off. She pulls the straps, steering me toward the flock.
The way these animals move and change colors together is fascinating. From a distance, they look like one large, shimmering beast.
Even Archae Bennuidae with a complex language needs to work intensely hard to fly in a semi-coordinated manner. How then do these animals use communication or sensory systems to do this so easily?
She's yanking hard on the guide straps and shouting at me like I am some sort of work animal.
As I get close, something seems different about these animals. Are they supposed to be red? Why do I have a memory of that?
Even though Ava whips the straps, I keep a respectful distance from the flock. There is a strange sound coming from them, a sound between a hum and a crackling.
Flying through the middle of the flock and in the opposite direction is a single animal. I gasp. The bright blur is not just going in the opposite direction, but it is hurtling straight at us.
Ava stretches her arms out like she wants to welcome it.
Only when it is nearly upon us do I hear the familiar peeps coming from the little rahoni—it is Glow Ball—which slams into her open arms.
Glow Ball is small—I could hold the entire animal's body in my hands. He barrels into us with such force that I fall back, briefly dipping in the air.
"Glow Ball, Glow Ball, Glow Ball," Ava says.
The rahoni makes several high-pitched chirps and nuzzles against her that if I didn't know better, I would think Glow Ball is saying Ava's name. Seeing them so content makes me happy.
I hug Ava tighter, not that she can feel it with all the cushioning. Just for a moment, I can't help feeling like...
We are a family, reunited.
Ava is so enamored with the rahoni that she no longer steers me, which is good because I want to keep a distance from the flock, so I dip below them and set a new course for the Firefly. We soar but stay closer to the ground. It's beautiful out here; these tall cliffs on either side of us remind me of my boyhood home.
Something shiny glints and catches my eye, midway through the cliff walls.
What could be in the middle of a cliff?
Ava points and then seizes the guide straps, steering us toward the glimmering. During our flight to this new location, Glow Ball flies ahead of us.
"Glow Ball, come back!"
I don't understand Ava's words, but I can figure out that somehow, the little animal got loose. Based on the way Ava reaches toward Glow Ball with one hand while frantically yanking at the guide straps, I also know what she now wants —to catch the little rahoni and hold it in her arms, keeping it safe.
The moment we land, she strips herself from the safety harness and runs off in pursuit of the little rahoni.
"Ava, wait—"