"Good morning, Nate. Are you ready?"

"I don't know." I stared glumly out the window and tried once again to answer the question... then realized how miserable I must have sounded to Ivy. "I mean, I'm not sure. My wings are strong enough that I can fly around the room a few times, but it wears me out. I couldn't finish the Morning Song today." That had been beyond frustrating - I had leapt into the air with joy at the sunrise, and had physically collapsed halfway through it. I had wailed helplessly on the floor until Minna picked me up and put me on the windowsill, then finished my singing.

"I know." There was a pause and a feeling of sympathy from Ivy - she hadn't been fooled by my quick change of topic, and had known what I was really uncertain about. She didn't press it, though. "You still need a few more days before you'll be completely back to normal, but the flock will keep you safe. Amanda has cleaned out my old den and gotten it usable again, so you'll have a place to stay. A few other dragonets have said they'll help you settle in too. Show you where everything's at, introduce you to people, that kind of stuff."

"Thanks."

A feeling that reminded me of Ivy nudging my side with her head came through the mindspeech - a wordless 'you're welcome'. I went back to staring out the window.

The soft chime eventually signaled somebody at the door. Minna rose from the couch with a "Come in," and Arlia walked in.

"Are you ready?" Arlia glanced at Minna, then over at me.

"I... no." Minna walked towards the door and pulled my harness off the hook there. "But he is. And waiting longer will only make it worse."

Arlia nodded slowly... then leaned over to give Minna a hug. They stood like that for a long moment before Minna pulled away. "Thank you. I'm going to miss him."

"I know. I'll miss him too, I think; I've gotten used to seeing him in the corner on movie nights." Arlia smiled over at me. "And there's always the chance the others won't accept him; he might still end up back here with you."

Minna just shook her head. "Even if they do, it'll just mean doing this again in a few days at the park here."

Arlia nodded slowly. "...yeah. I guess that's true."

The room was silent for a moment, then Minna turned towards me and held out the harness. "Okay, fire lizard. Trenil's waiting for us."

I hopped over to the end table and posed for her, and she looped the harness over me with the now-familiar click. She scooped me up and brought me to her shoulder, and I heard a second click as she snapped the end of the leash to the harness.

We left the apartment.

I had no idea if I wanted it to be for the last time or not.

I flew a few times on the walk, but my wings still tired quickly, and for the most part I just sat on Minna's shoulder. We came to an open area that reminded me of a helicopter landing pad, and after a few minutes of waiting a shuttle landed for us.

Minna and Arlia both seemed surprised at the sight of the pilot, and both of them glared at her in stony silence the entire trip. The pilot just wore a smug expression that only changed when she looked at me and frowned.

The shuttle flight lasted for about two hours before we finally landed. The pilot gave us a much-too-cheerful, "Have a great day!" as we disembarked.

Minna slammed the shuttle door behind her and mumbled something vulgar sounding that the Blood Memories had no translation for.

Trenil coughed lightly and caught our attention. I caught the start of an embarrassed flush on Minna's neck, but I ignored her when I noticed Ivy. I leapt into the air and flew towards them, eager to properly greet the other dragonet in the air.

Ivy fidgeted on Trenil's shoulder until he mumbled "Go on," then she joined me in the air. We spiraled around each other in a greeting... then my wings ached too much to continue. I banked away and glided back to land heavily on Minna's shoulder.

It felt good to finally greet another dragonet with more than just warbles and chirps. Getting to express my excitement at the sight of someone else by moving brought a kind of fulfillment I hadn't realized was missing.

She circled around us for a little longer, then landed back on Trenil's shoulder. Trenil held up something that looked vaguely like a hot glue gun and walked closer. "Can you hold him still for me?"

"This is just going to tickle for a minute. Trenil wants to put a tracker on you; it's usually just for the dragonets that stay with a handler, but they're worried about you. If you get hurt he'll be able to tell, or if you travel too far from the park. It's just in case you need help."

In case I leave to go back where I had been, you mean.

I held back from nodding while Minna and Arlia were there. I might have been upset at the idea under normal circumstances, but I was still distracted and confused at the idea of leaving Minna. I let her pick me up off her shoulder and stayed still while Trenil pressed the end of the device against my shoulder.

There was a hissing sound and a faint discomfort, like I had caught a splinter under a scale, and then Trenil pulled the device away. He checked something on a device at his wrist and nodded. "There. He's all set."

Minna relaxed her hands around me and put me back on her shoulder. The three Kymari started walking in silence away from the shuttle.

A strange buzzing began to fill my awareness as we moved through the city. It was like I was hearing fragments of far off conversation between dozens of different individuals.

"-think it'll rain later?" "-magnolia starting to bloom-" "-stop playing in the mud, your mom will-" "-pretty but stay away, they've attracted wasps-" "-but it's fun!-" "-cloud in the sky; go swim in the stream if you-"

My head started to hurt just from trying to keep track of the different voices and topics. There were even more voices out there, too, though they were too faint to really understand. I wasn't sure I wanted to - it was bad enough listening to the few voices I could understand.

Ivy seemed to notice my discomfort. "Oh! Sorry; we're close enough to hear common mindspeech. Kind of imagine you're walled off somewhere, and that everybody else is outside the walls, and it'll stop."

I sighed to myself. This thing kept getting more and more complicated.

I pictured myself in my burrow, and then pictured all the tunnels covered up with the leaves and rocks I usually scattered over the entrances to hide from nosy neighbors. It took a second with the background noises distracting me, then the buzz of voices vanished.

It was quiet for a moment... then Ivy chirped from Trenil's shoulder. "Imagine me inside the walls too; you're keeping me out."

Oh.

I tweaked the mental layout of my den and added a quick room for Ivy. "Like this?"

"Perfect. Sorry; I forget you aren't used to the mindspeech still."

"What was that?" Minna eyed Ivy curiously after her chirps.

"We're getting near the park; she recognizes it and is probably just happy to get to see the other fire lizards again. It's been a few days since we last had a chance to visit." Trenil answered nonchalantly without even glancing back, as if Ivy did that all the time.

"Ah." Minna nodded slowly.

We turned two more corners... then we were there. The wide path went between two buildings, but beyond that there was just a clearing... then the thick trees of a forest. The park the main flock of dragonets lived in.

What was about to be my new home.

Minna lifted me carefully off her shoulder and held me for a long moment. I heard Trenil say "Go on," and saw Ivy fly off towards the trees. There was a click sound, and the constricting straps of the harness fell off from around me.

My Kymari pet over my neck once. I couldn't help myself - I tilted my head and nudged against her hand.

She lowered the hand I rested on, then lifted it quickly, throwing me in the air. I stretched out my wings and flapped them. Once... twice...

I flew off into the park.