Tessa's POV:
I peeked out from under the bush before sneaking through some very long grass. Pulling handfuls of the numerous flexible blades over me, I created a small grassy cave that should hide my red scales. It wasn't the best, but it would have to work.
My mind kept going back to the conversation I had just overheard. Dragonets were much more important than what Mom and Dad had let on. We protected entire planets! Or, rather, we could if we had a handler.
We didn't even have to be the ones to attack the sicora and crawlers – Mom and Dad had reassured us that a handler wouldn't let us close to such creatures. It was why each of them had at least two guards with them if they were patrolling.
If I understood correctly, we had to go through training first. I didn't know what training was, and the Blood Memories weren't helping since the word applied to many things. Once this game was over, Serena would probably tell me. It didn't take much to get her talking.
Too excited to sit still, I left my hiding place and jumped in the air to join the game even though I knew it wouldn't take them long to spot me. I would just have to try my best to not get tagged.
I was faster than Dirk, but that didn't stop the others from tagging me. I was doing better though, especially with the tips Serena had given me. It was fun to play with so many dragonets at once.
When my wings grew tired, I joined Dirk on a big rock in the sun. It didn't take the adults long to join us for some sunbathing. Serena chose to lay down beside me, politely not blocking the sun.
"Hey, Serena?"
"Yeah?"
"Do you do the same thing Mom does? Clearing ships and stuff?"
"Yes, all dragonets with handlers do."
"How do you do it? Did someone teach you?"
She yawned sleepily. "I thought your mother would have told you about this. Our handler walks around with us, and we hiss or growl if we smell a sicora, crawler, or ktari. Once we find it, the fighters with us do the rest."
"Is there something like training?"
"Not really. Your instincts will do most of it for you, just like in the test the other day. Most of our training is a joke since we can understand them – the majority of the Kymari don't know that, though. The training is mostly about simple things, like leaving whatever you are doing to land on their shoulder or wrist when they call you."
Well, that sounded much easier than I had feared.
"How does a dragonet choose a handler?"
She was quiet for so long that I thought she had fallen asleep. She replied quietly, "It depends on the person and the situation. For me, I had been badly injured. Alec was with Taureen when they found me. Neither of them knew the truth back then. By the time I healed, I didn't want to return to the park – I wanted to hunt sicora instead. Not that Alec would have let me go at that time, since he didn't know I wasn't an animal."
"What about others?"
"Many of them found someone they liked and began following them. It often took them months before they made up their mind and worked up enough courage to leave the park."
That also seemed simple enough, but it meant that I would have to leave Mom and Dad.
"What about the friends and family they left behind?" I asked quietly.
"Your mom may not have visited the main park since you hatched, but before that, we all used to go there every day. We still get to see and visit our friends and family. That is a thought for the future though. You have barely fledged, and you are still young. No Kymari would even consider taking you from your Mom before you two were ready. You have months to think about your options."
My muscles relaxed both from the heat of the sun and with relief. I was just over a month old, so there was lots of time to think.
I had pretty much made up my mind, though. One day, I was going to become a planet protector.
I just had to figure out this training thing and then pick a handler. That was going to be a big decision, but it sounded like I was going to be meeting lots of Kymari. Choosing the right one was important. No one had said it out loud, but every bit of information I heard highlighted how significant the choice was.
I yawned before letting the sun's heat lull me to sleep. Alec, Serena, and Tom were scheduled to start their shift around lunchtime, so it wouldn't be long before we left. They might as well get the chance to relax before leaving.
* * *
I stretched out before happily bounding towards Aeria to let her put my harness on, eager to go for our afternoon outing. I grinned when Aeria had to adjust the straps to get my harness on this time. They had felt a bit snug when we left Alec's earlier. My big lunch probably hadn't helped either.
Taureen and Aeria were both wearing some sort of light armor and their heavier shoulder pads again. These were the same ones they wore whenever we left the house. I flew up to Aeria shoulder and let her put the leash on.
Turning back, I saw that Dirk was lazing underneath the heat lamp. I whistled impatiently at him.
"Hurry up, lazybones! You're never going to see a crawler if you don't leave the house!"
He grumbled, but got up and walked towards where Taureen was waiting. Dirk was hoping to see a crawler in real life since he hadn't seen the one in the testing room. A sicora, on the other hand, was something he didn't want to see again.
I didn't really want to see one either, but I was kind of hoping to go back to that room now that I knew it was just a test. Things had moved too quickly, and I had been too scared to really stop and think. I wanted to try it again now that I knew what was happening.
Taureen and Aeria went out the front door, and just like the last two days, their guards were waiting for them. Tran and Vick walked beside Taureen, while Rhay and Sadria kept close to Aeria.
We hadn't gone on a real patrol yet, but we were getting to go to small parks where our leashes were taken off. I was excited and couldn't wait to see where we were going to go today.
As we approached the sidewalk, a shuttle settled nearby. When half of the guards went inside, I realized that we were going in as well. My ear tufts perked up – I had never been in a shuttle before!
The inside of the shuttle was much more boring than I had expected. Pale grey walls, ten seats, and some windows. Taureen entered a code on a screen, and the shuttle lifted off the ground to head to our destination. Wherever it might be.
The handful of windows let us see outside as we rose slightly and skimmed above the road. This shuttle didn't fly above the buildings like many of them did. The city went past for some time before the shuttle began slowing down. The numerous trees beside the sidewalk were likely the edge of another park, but this one looked bigger than the previous places we had visited.
Once the shuttle settled on the ground, the door opened and let us out. Mom was lying down lazily on Taureen's shoulder, as if she didn't have a care in the world. Dad also laid down, but was watching everything alertly. I tried to copy their pose, although there was no way I was going to be able to master Mom's indifferent posture.
My leash was unclipped, but I didn't move as the Kymari kept walking through the trees and down a section of stairs. The road and buildings were soon lost behind the trees. All I could see was greenery. I couldn't even see the sky.
We entered a small clearing, and Taureen examined the area before saying, "This should be good enough."
He held his hands up to his shoulders, allowing both Mom and Dirk to climb on. When Aeria brought her hand close, I clambered on, knowing what was coming.
"Go on," both Taureen and Aeria told us as they lifted their hands.
With a joyful trill, I threw myself skyward to weave among the branches. I was a much better flyer now. Not nearly as good as Mom or Dad, but much better than I had been. It took a lot of flying to tire me now.
The group began walking down the path as we flew overhead or explored nearby. Dirk and I remained close by, always within sight of the Kymari.
"Is this the park with the other dragonets?" Dirk asked.
"No," Mom replied, "they are in a different park."
I was disappointed, but also somewhat relieved. As much as I wanted to meet more dragonets, it was also scary to meet strangers.
Spotting a narrow twig of the perfect width, I carefully landed on a nearby branch and, with a bit of difficulty, snapped the twig off. Grabbing it in my hands, I swooped down and landed on Sadria's shoulder before quickly stuffing one end of the twig in a joint in her armor.
Rhay watched in amusement. "It's about time she picked on you first."
I took off with a laughing whistle as Sadria pulled the twig out. It wasn't the first object I had wedged between the overlapping sections of her armor, and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
It had taken me a day or so to get brave enough to approach the guards after first meeting them, but they seemed amused by my small mischiefs and let me torment them without a single complaint. Now, everyone got a turn, although Taureen and Aeria had no qualms about catching me and gently throwing me into the sky.
"If she's comfortable enough with my presence to land on me," Sadria replied, "then I'll welcome it. Although if she tries to stick another caterpillar down the back of my neck, I will be blocking her attempts."
I flew higher into the trees, wondering how hard it would be to fly with a leaf that was bigger than one of my wings. Well, there was only one way to find out.
How I was going to try to stick it into Rhay's armor without tearing or crumpling the leaf would be another problem. He was a patient guy, though, and wouldn't care if I sat on his shoulder as I tried to see which way worked best.
I grabbed the leaf and let my weight hang on it. The stem didn't let go, so I used my claws to cut through it. Just as the leaf started to fall, my eyes travelled upward to see something diving towards me. It didn't have scales. It was also much, much bigger than me.
With a scream, I released the leaf and flew straight down as fast as I could towards the Kymari, knowing that they could stop the eagle. They were already turning towards me at the sound of my cry while drawing their weapons.
Two screeching battle cries split the air behind me; the voices belonged to Mom and Dad. My wing muscles strained from the speed as I quickly banked around the Kymari, landing hard on the ground beside Taureen's feet with an impact that made my joints ache and almost sent me tumbling forward.
My eyes immediately went back to the eagle, which was already trying to flee. Mom was breathing plumes of flame at it, singeing its feathers as she dashed after it in a rage. Dad blasted up from below, a silver streak whose claws grabbed and shredded the bird's wing feathers. He ignored Mom's fire and was unharmed by it whenever some flowed over his scales.
Feathers drifted down as the terrified eagle struggled to fly with less and less plumage. It flew into the thick canopy, trying to evade my wrathful parents. I hated to break it to the eagle, but my parents would be able to whiz around the branches far better than its larger bulk could.
As they disappeared from my sight, Aeria knelt down and picked me up, cradling my shaking body in her arms. "Easy. You're safe now."
My heart was still beating far too fast. I glanced around as I looked for Dirk, spotting him on top of Taureen's shoulder pad. He had flattened himself against the leather, trusting Taureen and the others to keep the danger away even though he was so exposed. His head slowly lifted as the now-distant screeches of the eagle, Mom, and Dad continued to fade.
"I guess we now know why no large eagles nest in the main park," Tran commented.
"I didn't even see that one coming," Vick said unhappily, "and I was keeping an eye out for them."
Tran replied, "It had to dive from quite a height to hit that kind of speed with those wide wings. The leaves are blocking our view of the sky as well. We may have to borrow some scanners for the future."
"Smart girl," Aeria whispered to me. "I'm glad you saw it in time."
I didn't move and just let her hold me as my heartbeat slowed down. The group kept walking, although they were more watchful now.
After a few minutes, Mom and Dad returned, gracefully flitting through the branches above. They dove down, banking around the Kymari as they checked on Dirk and me.
Taureen's eyes followed Mom. "Is there anything left of that eagle?"
Mom landed on his shoulder with something in her hands. Taureen reached up and gently eased it out from under her sharp claws. He held up the eagle's talon as he inspected it. Bits of blood and ash clung to the base.
"I'll take that as a no," Tran muttered.
The group kept walking, and I eventually recovered enough to join Mom and Dad in the air again. This time, I kept a close eye on the sky above me.
We didn't see any more eagles, although Mom did chase a furry red creature called a fox away from us. Tran and Vick idly began making bets on how many more things she was going to flame before our walk was over.
"Tessa, Dirk, come."
I quickly dropped off the tree branch and swooped down to land on Taureen's shoulder. Mom said it was called recall training, although Dad said that it was coming when we were called. Either way, I got a piece of fruit as a reward. The one time I hadn't immediately come over, Taureen had given both pieces of fruit to Dirk.
Once I finished the fruit, Taureen nodded. "Go on."
I flew off again, skimming the ground as I looked for small, round pebbles. They were much harder for the guards to pull out of their armor if I stuck them in the grooves behind their shoulders. Tran had helped Vick remove the last one I had wedged in since he couldn't get a grip on it and hadn't wanted to remove his vest.
As we climbed the stairs to leave the park, Soranto and Tkael found us. I was surprised to see them. They rarely joined us on our walks since they normally worked at this time of the day.
"How did the walk go so far?" Tkael asked.
"An eagle tried going after Tessa," Taureen replied, "but let's just say that Tasha and Keegan were less than impressed."
Soranto winced. "In that case, I am going to assume that the eagle didn't survive the lesson."
"You would be correct."
"You've probably been out here most of the afternoon," Tkael observed. "I assume you are heading back?"
"Yes, we're taking them home to let them relax." Taureen paused to look at everyone. "Do our plans to visit the main park tomorrow still work?"
The six Kymari nodded.
"Bring your fireproof armor and energy shields. I'm not sure how the wild ones are going to react when they see us near two fledglings. Tasha and Keegan don't consider us a threat, but they might."
"Oh, lovely," Soranto muttered.
Tran just chuckled, not at all bothered by the thought of getting flamed by a dragonet.