Ivy was quiet for a long moment while I tried to absorb the news that there were a hundred other survivors like myself.  After a moment I realized she was watching me patiently, and I felt a bit of embarrassment and gratitude that she had given me a moment to recover.  I tried to think of something else to say to continue the conversation again.

I eyed the two Kymari talking on the couch and remembered the few times Ivy had spoken about the male Kymari.  Trenil, I think she had called him.  “How did you come to be with a Kymari?  Do the rest of the flock live with them?”

The feeling of a laugh came from Ivy, though I didn’t think it was directed at me.  “Oh, no; most of us are terrified of the Kymari.  Because of what happened at the lab, it’s really hard for us to feel safe around them.  Almost all of us live out in a park in one of their cities, the same way you did.  I was rescued after a fox attacked me while I was sunbathing, a little over nine months ago; I drove it off but it broke my wing before I could scare it away.  They took care of me while I healed, and after that I decided to live with them.  Counting myself there are five of us who live with the Kymari, and all of us have pretty much the same story.  We got injured, a Kymari rescued us, and we decided to stay with them.”  She paused and tilted her head a little.  “Well, except for Tom.  He wasn’t injured himself, but he stayed with Serena when she was injured.”

“...oh.”  I tried not to sound like I had regretted asking the question, but… I had no idea who Tom or Serena was, and I hadn’t expected quite as long of an answer to that question.  I stared blankly at the glass wall of the cage and tried to think of something else to say.

“Do you know how you survived in the lab?”  Ivy’s question rescued me from having to think up anything else.  “All the eggs we checked on had gotten cold when we went back.  The power had gone out, and there wasn’t anything keeping them alive.”  She didn’t sound suspicious, just curious.

“I think I saw those.”  I remembered back to the broken egg I had seen eight years ago, and the cold body inside, and the rumbling in my chest stopped.  “I got ‘lucky’, I think.  The Votak attacked before the scientists could move me to where the other eggs were being held.  That… room… was wired to a backup generator.  Solar power kept the heat lamp and a few other things in that room running.”  I tried not to shiver as I thought back to what I had seen in that building.

Ivy gave me a soft nudge with her head.  “Nobody else likes talking about what happened in that place either.  I’m sorry.  If it helps, at least you didn’t have to go through what they would have done to you after you hatched.”

I did shiver at that.

“What about your life before?”  Ivy spoke suddenly, as if trying to change the subject.  “I was a college student before I was kidnapped, studying for an economics degree.  What was your life like?”

I found it getting easier to talk to the green dragonet, both in using the mindspeech and in just opening up to her.  It felt nice to finally have somebody to talk to again.  “Mine was pretty average, I guess.  I lived on my own.  I actually worked at that lab, if you can believe it.”

“Wait - you did?”  Ivy’s ear tufts went up in sudden alarm.

“Yeah.  I was an electrician there.  A friend of mine from college got me the job, and one day I stumbled into an area I wasn’t supposed to go into.  I saw him with a dragonet, and… then they turned me into one.”

Ivy was silent.  I looked over at her and found her staring at me.  “What?  What is it?”

She fidgeted and pulled a little away from me.  “You… worked for them?  You helped those people?”

I shook my head a little.  “No!  Not like that; I had no idea what they were doing.  It was a big building; I had no idea what they were doing on most of the floors.  I certainly didn’t think they were kidnapping people and turning them into…”  I stopped, suddenly uncertain.  ‘Animals’ wasn’t the right word, but… what was?  “Or torturing them, or any of that.  I wouldn’t have helped that.”

The other dragonet nodded slowly.  “I understand…  I… I was working part time for a restaurant, to help pay for my college.  I was helping cater for that building when one of the dragonets escaped and got into the cafeteria.  That was when they kidnapped me, and everyone else who was in the room and hadn’t been ‘authorized’.  We had seen too much.”  She went quiet for a moment.  “Nobody else from that group survived.”

I tried to think back to when I had worked at that building.  It hadn’t been unusual for food to be brought in from nearby restaurants, and for a cook or waitress to set up the food in our kitchen and keep it warm and fresh throughout the day.  If Ivy had been one of the people who had done that, then… it was entirely possible I had met her on one of my lunch breaks.  Seen her, chatted with her, thanked her for bringing us the food.  I tried to think if any of them had been named Ivy… but it had been so long ago, and there had been several restaurants that brought food.  If I had met her, I couldn’t remember her now.

Though if that had happened before I had started working there…

I had a bad feeling about why there had been a job opening for an electrician in the first place.

“The other dragonets were unhappy enough to know that I had been helping feed the scientists that did those things to us, even just on the occasional random weekend.  And after those monsters began experimenting on me, I hated that I had helped them even in that small way, too, even though it was just a job, and I had no idea what was going on, or what I was helping.”  Ivy spoke slowly, and there was a sense of heavy guilt to her words.  “So… I understand what you did.  But… others won't.”

I closed my eyes.  Yeah…  I don’t think I would be very happy if I met a dragonet that had been involved in what had been done to me.  No matter how minor a role they had in it.  Others who had lived through the lab might not be so understanding.

"Do you want me to keep that a secret?  I won't lie to anyone, but if you don't want them to know, I'll just say that you don't want to share your past.  There are a few of us that say that."  She didn't say anything, but I caught the implication - she thought those dragonets could have been involved in helping the scientists too, maybe even much more than I had, and were keeping quiet about it to protect themselves.

Which… made sense.  The person I had heard on the recording so long ago had been willing to put his own son through this.  And they had put me through it, just because I had seen a little too much.  It was entirely possible others involved with them had been through the same thing that I had, either to keep them quiet, or to punish failures, or even just as a warning to other people involved.

If they had survived, then some of the dragonets in the flock may actually have been some of the very same people that had helped kidnap me.  That had kidnapped and tortured the rest of them.

I shivered again at that thought, but didn't really want to go down that road.  It didn’t matter though - I had survived for eight years on my own.  If what I had done was too big of a problem, I would be fine continuing along on my own.  "No.  It's okay.  It happened…  I can't change that.  I think they'll understand, but even if they don't, I don't want to put you in that position of hiding things from anybody.  You can tell them."

I opened my eyes to look at her.  "But I would never have worked there if I had known what was really going on in it.  I hope they'll understand that."

I knew that much with complete certainty - I had spent a lot of nights thinking about it over the last eight years.  If my 'friend' had told me what he was doing to innocent people in that building, I would have punched him in the face when he suggested the job.

Ivy nodded and relaxed next to me, leaning back and closing the gap she had put between us.  I got the strange feeling I had passed some sort of test, and that her opinion of me had risen a little.  "Okay.  I'll let you know what they say.  I have a couple things I need to tell you, though."

"Oh?"  I glanced at her curiously.  Her voice felt happier, so I suspected they were good things.  Or at least, that they dealt with a happier subject.

"Uh-huh!  Just a few things so you're on the same page with the rest of us.  We're still a bit nervous around the Kymari, especially those of us living out in the wild, so there's just a few 'dos and don'ts' we've agreed on about them."

"First, don't let them know we’re intelligent.  If you check through the Blood Memories they'll tell you the Kymari don't get along that well with other sentient creatures, and… there's only a hundred of us.  If they decide to wipe us out, we wouldn't even know they had started before we were extinct."  The last sentence came from Ivy's mindspeech, but I had the distinct impression she was quoting someone and didn't quite believe it herself.

"Blood Memories?  What's that?"

"Bunch of stuff you just sort of know, like how to understand the Kymari, or where cities and stuff used to be.  Have you not noticed anything like that?"

"Oh!  Yeah, I have that.  I guess that's a good name for it; I hadn’t really known what to call it before now."

“If you think up another name for it we’re open to suggestions, but I think we’re all used to it by now, so it’d have to be a really good one.”  I felt a hint of humor in Ivy’s voice.  “But either way, it warns us that the Kymari can be dangerous, and we don’t want to risk getting on their bad side.”

I thought back to the brilliant beam of light I had seen burning down from the sky when the Kymari had fought the Votak, and I felt a sense of helplessness at the memory.  I couldn't blame the others for being cautious.

"So just do your best to act like an animal.  Most of us pretend to act like a cat, if that helps you any.  They can understand our mindspeech if you concentrate on one of them, so don't do that, but they won't hear anything otherwise.  We have a bit of a rule to wait until we've been a bond companion for three months before we say anything to our handler, just so we can make sure there won’t be any problems and that they'll keep it a secret.  So don’t talk to any Kymari who doesn’t already know we’re smart until you reach that point."

I was absolutely certain I had no interest in talking to the Kymari sitting on the couch and chatting with Trenil.  And I certainly didn’t plan on staying for three months, much less becoming a bond companion.  Once my wing was healed I was going back to the forest, where I could forget everything about this whole experience.  "No problem."

"Second, if they do find out you're smart, do not let them know you were human.  We haven't told anyone about that secret, even the few Kymari that do know we're smart.  Just be vague - the Kymari already seem to think you used to be a human's pet, so if they figure out you’re smart, just let them keep thinking that.  Be vague about people you used to know and what life was like when you lived with humans, and let them keep drawing their own conclusions."

Ivy paused for a second, but I didn’t really have anything to say about that one.  "Okay."

"Third, don't ever attack their children.  The Kymari don't play around with that, and if we hurt their children they won't be as happy about us being around."

I stared back at her blankly.  "You don't have to tell me that."

"Hmm?"  Ivy tilted her head, then flinched beside me.  "Oh… is that what happened to…?"

"...yes."  I kept my answer short.  I didn't want to think too much about that.

"Oh.  I didn’t know.  The details we've gotten were sketchy about the dog; we mostly just heard that you kept staying around where she died, and that you kept bringing her food."

"There was a child playing with a ball.  Susie heard it and wanted to play.  When Susie got close, she shot her."  I glanced towards the Kymari in the center of the room.  I remembered not to growl at the last second - that would come a bit too close to breaking rule number one.

“Oh.”  Ivy was quiet for a long moment after that.  I could tell she was trying to work up to say something else… and watching Trenil talk to the other Kymari, I had a nasty feeling I knew what it was going to be.

"Lastly…"  Ivy paused, and took a deep breath.  "Nate, you're going to have to forgive her."

"No."  I didn't even waste time looking back at Ivy.

"If you don't, it could end up killing you.  Being on your own didn’t work out too well for you - Minna can help you with that.  She’ll take care of you, if you'll let her."  Ivy’s voice was gentle.  Patient, as if she was trying to explain something to a child.  But there was also a subtle hurt in her tone that I didn’t quite understand, or care to try and figure out.  Something pleading in her voice.

I snorted.  “Take care of me?  Seriously?  You yourself just said that the food here was awful.  She couldn’t even figure out that she should have put the heat lamp on top of the cage; it’s just sitting back there heating up the air above the cage, instead of anything I can actually get to.  For goodness’ sake, even the plant in the corner is half dead!”

“She’s very young for a Kymari, but Trenil will help teach her.  She wants to help you; she’s trying.”

I felt outrage building inside me.  “She drugged me!  Turned me into a rag doll to play with, then passed me around for her friend to play with too!”

Ivy snorted beside me.  “Welcome to the club.  All of us ‘tame’ dragonets went through that at some point as part of getting treatment.  It’s so much a ‘rite of passage’ at this point that Tom is plotting how to get Keegan dosed with some of it too, just so he doesn’t end up left out.  I had to deal with being carried around for three days straight when I was first on that stuff, all so it would help me ‘be less hostile’ while the Kymari treated me.  The worst part is that it actually works; it takes away a lot of your suspicion and anger at them when you go through one of them handling you while you’re on that stuff."

I paused at that news and suddenly felt very cold.  I glanced back towards the Kymari sitting on the couch… and realized for the first time that I no longer got the nasty taste in my mouth when I saw her.  I no longer had the instinctive reaction to try and spit fire in her face.

She has already begun messing with me.

I felt anger creeping into my mindspeech at the realization, and dimly heard an angry hissing sound coming from somewhere.  "She killed the only friend I had for eight years."

Ivy was quiet for a moment before she continued softly.  Nervously.  “She didn’t know.”

“So?!  Is that supposed to change what she did?”

The green dragonet looked away and hesitated… then her mental voice returned softer still, sadder.  "The same way you didn't know, when you worked for the people that had kidnapped me.  The people who were torturing my friends."

Her quiet tone just made me angrier.  "That's different!  You don’t know what you’re talking about!"  The hissing sound grew louder.

“Ivy, to fist!”

The sudden sound from the center of the room startled me.  Ivy rose to her feet and leapt out of the cage.  She unfurled her wings and rebounded off the end table as part of the same hop, then glided across the room to land lightly on Trenil's raised fist.  The whole thing had all just been one smooth motion for her, one that had obviously been practiced again and again until it could be done with the effortless grace I had just seen.  She sat up and looked back at me with soft, hurt eyes.

“Maybe.  You’re probably right.  But… it’s still something to think about.  She already cares a lot about you, Nate.  That’s not as common as you might think.”

“What was that about?”  The other Kymari was looking back and forth between me and Trenil.

Trenil reached up and began slowly petting the green dragonet, rubbing his hand softly over her scales.  I stared at the two of them through the glass wall of the cage for a few seconds, trying to get my breathing back under control.

I gradually realized that I was the source of the hissing noise.  I must have started growling at some point in our conversation.  Trenil must have been worried, so he had called Ivy back to protect her from me.

I stopped hissing and glumly put my head back down on my hands.  My cage was already starting to feel empty again.

Lonely.

“I don’t know.  The other fire lizards all get along with Ivy, and he seemed to be getting along well with her at first.  It may have just been too much company for him for one day.  If he has been out on his own for all these years, he may need some time to work back up to being around other fire lizards.”

The other Kymari looked at me… and I saw sympathy in her eyes.  Compassion.  “Oh.  Poor thing.”

Ivy glanced at the female Kymari from her perch on Trenil’s fist, then looked pointedly back at me.  She blinked deliberately, silently reminding me of her last words.

“Maybe we should give him some quiet to calm down in.  Would you mind showing me where the dog was buried?  I must admit that I’m a little curious to see it, and it will give us a chance to finish going over everything without disturbing him.”

“Of course.  I’ll grab a few things and pull the cover over him; give me just a second and I’ll meet you outside.”  The other Kymari got up and disappeared down the hallway leading to the bedroom.

Trenil walked towards the door, and I saw him reach for a collection of straps that were hanging on a hook by the door.  Ivy sat up on his fist and stretched out her wings, and in one smooth motion he looped the straps around her and clipped together a buckle that rested against her back.  He lifted his fist a little higher and the green dragonet hopped up to his shoulder, glancing back at me.

“It was very nice to meet you, Nate.  If you ever need anything, anything at all, just let me know - you can talk to me no matter where I’m at with the mindspeech, unless I’m asleep.”

I sighed a little and closed my eyes, feeling bad about growling at her.  “It was nice to meet you too, Ivy.  I’m sorry I snapped at you.”  The first real person I had met and had a conversation with in eight years… and that was how I treated her.

“It’s okay.  I understand.  Trenil and I will check back in on you soon.”

I exhaled a little in relief, glad that I hadn’t ruined things entirely.  “Thank you.”

“Any time.  Just… please try to think about what I said?”

I grumbled… but eventually sighed again, blowing more air over the scales on my hands.  “I’ll try.”

Ivy’s tone sounded much happier.  “Thank you.  Take care - I hope you feel better soon.”

The door gave a soft ‘ding’ as it opened, then another as it closed - probably behind Trenil.  It was quiet for a moment… then I heard footsteps coming back from the hallway.  They got closer to me, and I hissed just on general principle without even opening my eyes - I knew it was her - and I heard the rustling of cloth.

I peeked open an eye and saw that the cage was dark.  The cloth cover had been pulled over it.

I hissed for a few more seconds until I heard the ‘ding’ of the door again.  I got up and walked towards the blanket, then sprawled out over the soft fabric.  I stared back at the gently buzzing heat lamp for several long minutes, thinking over everything… until I finally drifted back into an uneasy sleep.