Fifteen more sunrises. Halfway through this nightmare.

I tilted my head back and tugged at the strap of the harness with my teeth. That had been annoying during the Morning Song... but aside from that, I hated to admit that I had gotten used to it. Every now and then one of the straps would brush against the casts on my wing and cause me a little pain, but aside from that, it was little more than an irritant.

I had given up my act after a few hours, and had walked around so the two Kymari would get the idea I was finally used to it. I had expected my Kymari to take the thing off at least by dinner... but before leaving, Trenil had suggested simply leaving it on me all night just to make sure I got nice and used to it.

From the way Ivy smirked at me when he said that, I was certain it had really been her idea.

So I had gotten to eat dinner in the blasted thing, then sleep in it, and had just finished singing in it. It was driving me crazy. It had a 'processed' smell of harsh chemicals and heavy machinery that clashed with my own scent and the rest of the scents in the room.

I had crawled out of my den halfway through the night and climbed up into the pot with the dying plant in the hopes that its scent would mask that of the harness, but it had only dulled it slightly. The dirt wasn't very comfortable to sleep on, either.

Stupid Kymari. Stupid harness, stupid distracting dragonets, stupid, stupid, stupid.

The Kymari turned off the recording device and wandered back into her room - probably to change out of her nightwear and into something better suited for the day.

Stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid, stupid...

I hopped from the windowsill to the end table, then crawled down to the floor. I followed the Kymari into the hallway, though as expected all the doors except the one to the bathroom were still just as firmly shut as they had always been since my 'adventures' in them. I doubted they would have anything that would help get me out of the harness, anyways.

I fell over onto my side and stared up at the bedroom door. It eventually opened, showing that the Kymari had changed outfits like I had expected, and I wailed up at her. "Haaaallllllpppppp..."

She just blinked once and looked down at me... then she giggled at me.

I sighed. Stupid, stupid, stupid.

The Kymari stepped over me and walked back into the living room. I got back to my feet and walked after her, then tried the same thing again on the living room floor.

"Well. You're nothing if not persistent." She watched me for a minute with a grin, then lifted a container of fruit into my field of vision. "It's not that bad. Come get breakfast, then we can go for a walk." She shook the container and the fruit bounced around in it.

My ear tufts perked. Well. Finally getting to go outside might be fun.

She reached for a leash on the table with her other hand.

...but it probably wasn't going to be.

I chewed on the yellow leash for what must have been the millionth time, then snorted around it. The blasted thing was almost as resistant to my teeth as the harness was. The Kymari was walking just a bit too slow, and every so often I would get too far ahead and reach the end of the leash. The sudden tug backwards would be the only clue I had traveled too far ahead.

I sprawled on the warm sidewalk and waited for the Kymari to catch up.

The Kymari was probably walking slowly on purpose. The random jerks were infuriating... but I had to admit that my leg needed the short breaks. It still wasn't quite up to the task of walking for hours on end. The deliberately slow pace probably served to keep me from overexerting myself, in addition to its more obvious purpose of getting me used to moving at a pace she dictated.

And, even though I very much did not want to, I also had to admit that Ivy had been right. So far the Kymari had let me wander wherever I wanted to go. She was little more than a passenger traveling along with me.

Well. An annoying passenger that kept tugging on me every few minutes.

I rested for a little bit longer until she caught up, then got back to my feet and started walking again. I had no idea where I was at this point, or where I was going, but it was nice to be outside. There were a lot of new scents that I had never experienced out in the forest or inside my Kymari's apartment, and I had wandered around in different directions tracing random ones down.

Most had turned out to be fairly unremarkable. The cleaning machines I had spotted from the window, the scent of whatever the Kymari used as pavement heating up as the day wore on, the subtle scent of other Kymari. I came across something that smelled like burned air, and got excited at the idea I might be able to figure out how the Kymari were carrying power between their buildings - there were no obvious power lines, which suggested they were all buried, but I hadn't found any signs of that, either - but it turned out to be nothing more than one of the shuttles I had occasionally seen zipping around, this time idling outside a building.

My Kymari seemed to get disgusted when we came across that, though she didn't seem to be mad at me. She muttered something about skimping on post-flight maintenance checks before I lost interest and moved on.

A few of the scents were interesting though. I traced a sweeter smell to a bush that had been planted outside one of the buildings we came across, and rolled around in the dirt and brushed against the leaves in an attempt to smother the scent of the harness, but it didn't do much to dull the smell. All I really managed to accomplish was to knock down a few of the berries growing on the bush. They weren't anything to brag about - they certainly weren't sunburst berries - but they made for a nice snack.

Another scent turned out to be an alien bird thing being guided around by another Kymari. It seemed far too interested in me, and reminded me a bit too much of an eagle, so I hissed up at it until the other Kymari took it off in another direction. The other Kymari shot an obviously disapproving glance at my Kymari as he passed around a corner, and I made a mental note to stay well away from that particular scent if I ever came across it out in the wild.

I also had to admit the Kymari were good at building cities. The buildings were all pleasant to look at, with curves and pleasant materials that gleamed in the sunlight.

I paused as the wind shifted and sat up to try and make sense of the new scents. Hey, is that... It is...

"Getting tired? We can go back home now if you want?" The Kymari caught up with me with just a few steps and lifted up the carrier that dangled in her other hand. I hadn't been looking forward to getting stuffed back in that thing in the first place - though my leg was feeling a little sore again, and would appreciate not having to walk all the way back - but I definitely didn't want to now, not with this newest scent.

I chirped and took off towards the scent, and turned back to bite at the leash for the millionth and first time when I reached the limit.

I was certain I was drooling when we finally turned the last corner. An open-air market stretched out before us, taking up the space of one of the city blocks. Music drifted from the far end of the marketplace where a Kymari strummed on something vaguely resembling a guitar. Stalls that came up to about waist-height on a Kymari dotted the area, and I could catch sight of various goods on them - bits of clothing, jewelry, pieces of technology with unclear functions... and best of all, food.

The Kymari looked a little worried when she saw where we were, and she took up a lot of the slack on the leash. She took a long look at the various attendants, and for a moment I was worried she would pull me away and take me home.

I had a feeling Trenil had told her to let me go wherever I wanted to on any outings, or at least the first few while I got used to them - Ivy had emphasized that several times, so I had a feeling it was another tactic to convince me to accept the Kymari - but I could see her weighing the risk of the trouble I could get into here against the risk of upsetting me. The market wasn't that busy, though, and there weren't many people around. Most of the stalls didn't even have attendants at them.

I moved to the limit of the leash and bit at it again, tugging on her.

She bit her lip and glanced around one more time... then followed closely after me.

I passed by four stalls before I reached the source of the scent. I hissed in excitement and jumped up the side of the stall to start climbing up it...

...but my Kymari saw what I was after before I could get to it. "Ack! No!"

She ran forward and grabbed me, pinning me against the short wall and keeping me from climbing any higher. I hissed in anger and bent my neck back to bite at her. My teeth sank deep into the thin flesh between her thumb and finger.

She ignored it and tugged at me to get me off the wall. I hissed louder and dug my claws deeper into the strange material.

"Trouble?"

The hand covering me stiffened. "I'm very sorry; he's a wild animal that I'm taking care of." The hand tugged at me again, and I hissed louder around her hand. "He just really likes those."

"Oh?" The distant voice sounded amused. "I was wondering why they weren't selling so well. I'd noticed they were being imported more over the last year or two; I thought it had become some colony fad among you Kymari that I could cash in on. But it's the fire lizards that like these?"

"Yes. I'm using them as a training guide, as a reward for him." The hand tugged again. Nooooo, let me goooo... It's right there, I can get ittttt... I whined around the hand in my teeth. I wasn't sure how much longer I could resist the tugging - my injured leg had already started slipping.

My Kymari sighed again. "I'm sorry; he really likes them."

"Well. Let him have one." I heard shuffling out of sight above me, then saw a flash of blue in the air above me. I warbled around the Kymari's hand and curled my tail up.

"I... don't know... I'm not so sure I should reward him; he hasn't really done anything. And this behavior..."

Nnnooooo give me itttttt!

The other person chuckled. "Seems like exactly the type of thing you want to encourage in him. These are supposed to be trackers, aren't they? Inspect cargo ships, track down pests? It looked like he walked right past all the other stalls to track this down."

Yes! Yes, do what the nice, smart, very intelligent stranger says!

"I didn't bring any money with me..."

Aaaaaaaaaaahhhhhhhhhh! I dug in tighter against the side paneling.

"Don't worry about it. Like I said, they weren't selling that well anyways." The other voice paused, and I had the impression the speaker had put on a charming smile. "And as much as I'd like to be able to advertise that the claw marks in my stall are from the famed Kymallata, I'd much rather not have claw marks in my stall."

The hand around me stiffened again.

"Yes, I've heard the story about the silver fire lizard that lives here. It'd be hard not to; he's been quite the conversation topic. Half of the shoppers think you should be sent back to your home to live with your parents for another decade or two, and the other half think you should be given an award. Assuming you are the Minna I've heard about?"

A second hand tightened around me and they both yanked at me. I yelped out a surprised warble as I was pulled away from the wall. Part of it splintered in my grip and came away with my claws.

"Well. There goes my deposit."

My Kymari pulled me close to her and held me in both hands, along with the other end of the leash. I finally got a look at the other speaker - he wasn't a Kymari like I had originally thought, but some other kind of alien. He wore the same style of clothes that the Kymari wore, but instead of the green skin I had actually started to become used to he was covered in a light brown fur that was almost tan. I couldn't tell if he had a tail from my angle, but for whatever reason he reminded me vaguely of a cat.

I was much more interested in the shia fruit held in his outstretched hand. And the dozen other shia fruits sitting out on the corner of his stall. I released my grip on the Kymari's hand and stretched my neck out towards the delicious fruit, then whined in frustration when I came up short.

"I will come by tomorrow and pay for the damage. I think I should be going now though; I'm sorry again."

The alien sighed, but nodded. "Thank you. But please, at least take one for him. Really; I insist."

Yes! He insists; it'd be rude to not take the yummy fruit and give it to me! And after you let his stall get ruined, too! TAKE THE FOOD FROM THE NICE MAN! I squirmed in her hands and tried to get closer, but she held me in too firm a grip.

She hesitated another moment - during which I continued to scream internally and stretch towards the fruit - but finally she relented. "I guess he did do good on the leash before this; that's a bit of a milestone." She shifted me into one hand and reached out to take the delicious fruit in the other, then bent down to pick up the carrier that she had set down when she grabbed me. "Thank you."

Yes!

My Kymari carried me to the far side of the market and finally set me down on the ground. I jumped upwards towards the fruit, but she kept it out of my reach until she sat down on a bench. I hopped up after her... and she finally passed over the shia fruit.

I ripped out a piece of the delectable fruit and trilled happily as the flavor filled my mouth.

The fruit was gone far too quickly, and I sighed wistfully before I set about licking the juice from my hands. That was gone even quicker. I could still smell the other shia fruits from the vendor's stall, though.

I hopped down from the bench and ran back towards the smell... but the leash yanked me back once I reached its limit. I sat up and chewed on the thing for the millionth and second time today, then glared up at my Kymari.

"No, that's enough for today." She smiled back at me and shook her head. "You're lucky you even got one."

I flattened my ear tufts and gnawed on the leash again just because, but it didn't change her mind. I hissed in frustration and wandered back over to the bench, then hopped back up on it. As much as I wanted more shia fruit - and I really, really wanted more - I also wanted to relax and digest the treat for a few minutes.

"Getting tired?" The Kymari glanced down at me as I sprawled out next to her. "We can go home now if you're ready." She lifted the carrier towards me and opened the side of it.

I hissed at her.

"Or we could just rest here a bit. That's good too." She sat the carrier back down beside her, then leaned back against the bench.

I watched as various Kymari walked through the market. None of them came close to us, and a few shot my Kymari unpleasant looks, but it was a little nice to just watch them. It would have been even nicer if I wasn't stuck in a harness and tethered to the Kymari that had shot Susie... but then, I probably wouldn't have been able to get this close at all otherwise.

The shia fruit had put me in far too good a mood to let those thoughts sour the moment, though.

The Kymari playing the instrument gradually wandered closer to our side of the market. I could tell he was interested in us - or at least, interested in me. He pretended to be focused on the song he was playing, but I caught him glancing towards us during simpler parts of his strumming.

Hmm. I wonder...

I hopped up on the back of the bench and openly watched the musician. It took a few minutes of listening with perked ears, but I eventually figured out the rhythm. I weaved my head through the air and started to sing along, accompanying the musician with my chirps and whistles.

The musician seemed surprised at my voice and hit a few sour notes before he recovered. He slowed down the rhythm and walked closer to us. I squawked at him for the sour note but continued singing along. He came to a stop a few steps away and picked up the rhythm again.

The Kymari playing the instrument... wasn't really that good, honestly, but the music was catchy. I had gotten fresh air, exercise, and a shia fruit. I was in a great mood. And singing was fun.

I closed my eyes and lost myself in the music. It wasn't anywhere near the Morning Song, but it was still fun.

The instrument's music gradually drew to what felt like a reluctant close. I hummed for a few seconds after the last note ended and waited for the musician to start another song... but nothing happened.

I squawked in disappointment and opened my eyes to see what the problem was.

A small crowd had gathered around us. I suddenly felt very nervous - there were far more Kymari around me than I was used to. At least a dozen of them - the entire marketplace must have wandered over to watch us. I glanced back and saw that other than the alien who had given me the shia fruit, all of the customers and attendants had abandoned their stalls. And even that alien was staring intently at me.

There were too many of them... They were all standing right there, and they were all watching me. It was too much...

I felt panic begin to grip my chest and glanced towards my Kymari for reassurance, but she looked just as nervous as I felt. She was holding on tight to the leash and the handle of the carrier, and she had an air as if she had just been caught taking cookies out of a cookie jar and now expected a punishment to be coming any second.

I dropped down to the seat of the bench and moved towards her, then hissed at the crowd.

It took me a second to realize I had done that just as much to protect her as to get her protection.

It took me another second after that one to realize that both of those motivations bothered me.

I hissed louder and looked back over the crowd. They didn't seem angry - many of them had smiles, and I spotted a few recording devices held out - but even still they were much, much too close for my comfort.

"Could you back up a little, please? You're scaring him." My Kymari spoke softly to the crowd as she carefully moved her hand to rest it against my back.

I barely managed to keep from biting her when she touched me. But I did manage it, and after a second I realized her touch had helped to calm me down. A little.

"Of course, sorry." One of the Kymari towards the back motioned to the others and they began to step away. I stopped hissing once they were far enough away but kept a wary glance on them. They were still watching me, and still had those devices pointed at me.

The strumming of strings distracted me, and I glanced back to see the green hand of the musician passing over the strings. "Is that your fire lizard?"

My Kymari glanced back at the musician and nodded politely. "I'm taking care of him for the moment; he was hurt a few weeks back."

"Does he know any other songs?" The hand strummed over the strings again.

"I didn't realize he even knew that one." Her hand stroked over me again. I started to tense, but she pulled it away right before the urge to bend back and bite her became too strong to ignore. "I think he learned it as you were playing."

"Do you think he would be up for another? I think he's made a few fans." A few more strumming notes filled the air. "It might calm him down some too; he seemed to be enjoying himself before."

"I don't know..." My Kymari glanced back at the other Kymari still watching us, then bit her lip. "Maybe just for a little bit? I'm supposed to be getting him used to the harness and the leash."

The strumming started into another song. "Well. He's still wearing both, isn't he?"

"I suppose that he is." She smiled back at the musician.

Oh, get a room. The song played on and I focused back on it. It felt a bit like the pull of the dawn - the feel of being guided through a song and a dance, the desire to reply to the music with sounds of my own - but it didn't have the instinctive pull that the rising sun had. I had to focus intently for several moments before it finally clicked.

I trilled out with the instrument and joined the musician in his song.

I sang with the musician for several hours. The crowd grew larger as more people came by to listen to us. More recording devices showed up, and I noticed some in the crowd actually purchased devices to use from the stalls nearby. Apparently I was good for business.

I had to drop out of the duet at the start of each new song until I learned it, but after about the sixth song the musician began repeating songs I had already learned. He cycled through them after that and I sang almost continuously through the same songs in alternating order, but the watching crowd never seemed to get bored with us.

My Kymari was tense for a while and seemed to be expecting the crowd to start yelling at her... but she eventually relaxed.

I think hearing me sing made her happy.

It was late in the afternoon when she finally called a stop to the performance. "I'm sorry, but I need to get him back home for dinner."

A collective 'aw' of disappointment came from the crowd. The musician put his hand over the strings and nodded. "I could go for a break myself too. It was nice playing for you; I hope we get the chance to perform together again soon, Mister...?" The musician glanced from me to my Kymari.

"Oh... he... doesn't really have a name; he's probably going to be released back into the wild in a few weeks."

"A shame." The musician frowned. The rest of the crowd seemed disappointed, too, which seemed to confuse my Kymari a little. "Well, if you feel like bringing him by before then, it would be my pleasure to play with him again. I think the vendors would appreciate him coming by, too." He grinned slyly back towards the stalls - most of which were now significantly more bare than when we had arrived.

"I will keep that in mind." She smiled at the musician, then at the crowd at large. "Could I get a little room? He's still not that used to being around us or on being on the leash; I'd like to see if he'll let me walk him home."

There were mumbled agreements from the crowd and they stepped further away from us. They moved back into the marketplace, but I could tell they were all watching us.

"Come on. Let's head home; I'm sure you're hungry by now, and I can get you some pineapple." My Kymari got to her feet and picked up the carrier, then took a few steps away from the bench. She didn't open the carrier though, and instead put out some slack on the leash. I guess she thought I had rested enough to be up for walking back on my sore leg, and wouldn't need her to carry me back.

I glanced back towards the watching crowd. I was hungry, and the smell of shia fruits was still wafting over from that stall... but there were a lot of Kymari between me and them. It felt much safer to just follow my Kymari home and have some pineapple instead.

Though shia fruit was almost tempting enough to try dashing through that group for.

I looked away from the very large, very fast, very strong green-skinned aliens and hopped down from the bench. I scurried in front of the Kymari... ... ...and paused as I realized I had no idea at all of how to get back to the apartment.

I was going to have to follow her back.

Oh, that little... was that the plan all along? Let me wander around wherever I wanted, so that I had to let her lead on the way back?

I chewed on the leash for the millionth and third time that day, then glared up at her. Fine. Lead the way.