I think I dozed off a few times as the night went on, and at some point I saw the hazy distortion of the Kymari's invisibility field approach a distant tree with a direct line of sight to me, but otherwise the night was uneventful. I heard other animals out in the distance, but they seemed too nervous of the Kymari's scent to get close.

The morning eventually approached. I looked towards the eastern horizon and waited for the first glow of the sun to emerge... and when it called, I rose into the air above my friend's grave and danced the Morning Song. The missing feeling from the day before was still in the dance, but it was lessened. Knowing I was dancing over my friend again helped.

When the dance ended I hovered in the air, flapping my wings only enough to stay in the air. I savored the next few moments of the day, taking in the scents and savoring the sounds of the other forest inhabitants beginning their day... then with a trilling sound of farewell, I flew from the grave to join the life out in the forest.

I abandoned my burrow. The Kymari all knew where it was - I had launched directly into a Morning Song right above it, without taking any of my normal precautions to hide, so it was probably bugged now to watch for my comings and goings. That burrow had also been built with a larger creature in mind, and now that the tunnels would no longer need to be wide enough for...

I found a secluded spot near a grove of maple trees. Their large roots took some work to dig beneath but formed a comfortingly strong ceiling, not to mention the pleasant scent they gave off, and by late afternoon I had a new burrow carved out. I made a few trips between my old burrow and my new, making sure no Kymari were spying - though I couldn't rule out the possibility of cameras or other recording devices too small to see - until I had moved over my watch, the leash, and a few handfuls of berries I had stashed for a rainy day.

I caught my breath and relaxed on the branches as the day wore on... then when the sun fell into evening, I flew to the river. I caught another fish, prepared it, and added it to the first one still at Susie's grave. I pulled a pinecone from a nearby tree and rolled it around on the ground, bumping it with my head and chasing after it. I was aware of the shimmering haze of an observing Kymari in the distance as I played, and I tried to ignore it and focus on the game... but without somebody to flick the pinecone to, it just wasn't the same.

Night fell. I rolled the cone towards the grave and left it near the two fish. I gave another farewell warble, then flew off to my new home to sleep.

I set the watch to wake me early the next morning, and blearily woke to the sound of its simple beeps. It was still hard to get used to sleeping without the gentle rise and fall of Susie's chest to lay on, and the night had been a restless one with lots of turning and awkward twisting.

I stretched inside the tunnels, finding I had more than enough room to move in even inside the smaller passages, and realizing that I had probably made the den larger than it really needed to be.

I hadn't ever dug tunnels with just myself in mind before, so there was a chance something large might be able to follow me down into my home. Without... without help, that could be a problem.

I looked back towards the main hollow and tried to think about how I could fill in the tunnels, but nothing easily came to mind, short of bringing back in some of the dirt I had worked so hard to get rid of. That would be hard to do without... on my own.

I shook my head and walked towards the entrance. The dawn would be arriving soon, and I didn't want to dance it right over my new home.

There was only one place I could think of ever dancing it again.

I sniffed the air and took a quick peek around, but I didn't see any sign of the Kymari. I stretched out my wings and leapt into the air, angling towards Susie's grave and starting the short flight there.

The scent of Kymari reached my nose as I drew closer. I slowed my wingbeats and flew higher, gliding silently through the tree canopies and hoping it was still too dark for any of them to spot my silver hide. I landed on a branch a safe distance away and peered down through the leaves.

Five Kymari were standing in a group a short way from the disturbed dirt. They were all looking up into the trees, but the one facing my direction didn't seem to have noticed me. I narrowed my eyes at them. I wasn't sure I liked how close they were to me. I didn't mind them watching my dance - part of the meaning wrapped up in the Morning Song was in sharing it - but I was still very nervous about them. It was so easy to get absorbed in the sunlight and lose track of everything happening around me while I danced. It would be hard to keep track of the Kymari during those moments, and I would be vulnerable if they tried anything. One or two Kymari off in the distance might be one thing, but five of them... They were large. They had weapons. If they felt like it they could kill me in a heartbeat, without even really noticing the effort it took. One of them had tried to shoot me.

One of them had shot Susie.

I glanced towards the disturbed dirt still clear of grass... and I hissed as my eyes narrowed. The pinecone I had played with last night was still there, but the fish I had left for Susie were both gone.

I felt sudden rage mix with my grief. Some part of me tried to suggest the Kymari probably didn't need to steal fish like that, but it was drowned out by the emotions overwhelming me. The fish were gone. The Kymari were there. That was evidence enough in my upset state.

I dropped from the tree and glided to the ground with a snarled growl. I landed on the ground and glared up at the closest Kymari, clawing at the ground as I hissed out a demand. "Give them back!"

All of the Kymari looked at me as I landed, but none of them seemed to understand my sputtering hisses. I hadn't really expected them to - they had never shown any signs of ever understanding me the way I understood them, and they did speak an alien language, even if I could somehow understand it... but simply yelling at them made me feel better. The idea that they had stolen the gift I had left for Susie - the very ones who had hurt her in the first place, the ones who had... I hissed at them again and scratched at the dirt as I stepped closer, feeling my tail swish through the air behind me in fury.

"I told you it would come here!" One of the Kymari seemed almost excited by my appearance, and actually took a step towards me.

The Kymari beside him reached out and pulled him back before I could react. "Quiet! Look at it; it is upset. Back away, give it space."

The five of them slowly backed away from me, retreating through the trees. Their path took them further away from both me and Susie's grave. I started to follow after them, wanting to know what they had done with the fish, wanting to get them back for my friend... but a sudden soft glow at the horizon stole my attention.

I paused to look up at the sun, feeling the subtle tingle of the Morning Song's call spreading through me. I glanced back at the group of Kymari, my emotions in turmoil... but the rising sun was already soothing them. The anger faded from me as the sky began to glow.

...they could stay.

I looked away from them and walked the remaining distance to Susie's grave, where I sat up, wrapped my tail around me, and looked to the glowing horizon.

I felt the eyes of the Kymari on me, but I ignored them, focusing on other feelings instead. I waited... then I felt the familiar instant when night gave way to morning. The sun spoke across the sky with the first rays it cast over the horizon, and I rose into the air to greet them.

I flowed through the air with those rays, weaving spirals through the air and loops around the branches of the trees. The light landed on my silvery scales as it landed on the green leaves all around me, and like them my wings filtered and reflected the sunlight. The sun rose to feed the plants all around me, to bring energy and life to the cold world, to bring energy and life to me... and I sang gratitude back to it, giving voice to the thankful world.

The precious first moments of morning ended, and I slowed to a hover, flapping my wings just enough to keep in the air. The Morning Song had energized me again, had brought me into the new day and made me a part of it... but it still wasn't quite the same as it had been.

I glanced down and found that my dance had ended back where it began, above the simple mound of dirt. I sank slowly downwards until my feet felt the soft dirt beneath them, and I lowered my head. "I miss you." The soft, sad warble left my throat as I closed my eyes, remembering once more the thrill of dancing while Susie ran beneath me.

One of the Kymari let out a soft 'oh...', and I blinked as I looked up, suddenly remembering they were there. They were all watching me, two of them holding up those flat devices I assumed to be cameras. I stared back at them without blinking for a long moment as I thought, still feeling the exuberance of the Morning Song.

You can keep the fish.

I turned away from them and launched into the air, flapping my wings to rise into the trees.

I'll just bring Susie more.