It's been just a few days since our first patrol. We started with searching buildings for any unwanted pests and then got to move onto incoming cargo ships. Three crawlers and a sicora were killed so far with our help.

As I expected, Dan was the only one let off leash to better track the sicora or crawlers when we came to multiple path choices. He'd fly around the room of doorways to locate the strongest scent and then fly back to Tuskon's shoulder to point the way with his muzzle.

I got to rest on Tuskon's shoulder the entire time. Even though I wasn't fully participating in tracking the evil creatures, it filled me with great pride to see them dead.

Today we were off the schedule so I could get my bandage taken off at the veterinary clinic. It would have been easy enough to be removed by Tuskon or Marcy themselves but the vet wanted to make sure my scales had healed correctly.

The building we entered reeked of all types of animals. A few scents I recognized from chasing away predators at the park but other than the select few, the rest were just extra stinky smells.

A few of the animals that were already here were making a fair bit of noise. If I didn't have to rely on my hearing as much they probably wouldn't have been as annoying. With the amount of noise blocking my senses, however, I just wanted to shut it all out before it gave me a huge headache.

It was a miracle when we finally stepped into a back room, cancelling out all of the noise from earlier. I had stopped clicking now because I didn't want to see the room that would surely remind me of my time at the lab.

Tuskon set me on a cold hard surface and secured my leash so I couldn't jump off. I could smell the vet as he reached out to take my bandage off. I held in a growl as he carefully unwrapped it.

During the first weeks of my recovery, Marcy and Tuskon were able to take off the bandage to oil my dry skin. As my scales started coming in, they were instructed to keep the bandage on so the scales growing didn't accidently get scratched off. If it had just been one or two scales, there wouldn't have been any problem. Too bad it was my entire back.

The vet's voice was very deep when he spoke, "The scales themselves seem to be in perfect shape, but I've never seen this coloration in the firelizards before."

I turned to Dan, "What is he talking about?"

Dan was silent as he sent me an image of myself on the examination table. There really weren't a lot of words to describe what was seen. My back had healed very nicely but the coloration of my scales was the oddest thing I've ever seen. The outside edges of my new scales were my perfect green shade that matched the rest of my scales. However, the inner area of my new patch of scales was completely white.

No one's scales had ever grown back a different color when the scientists had a few plucked while in the lab. The only thing I could think of that even comes close to what I'm seeing would have to be when my friend's goldfish got in a fight with her new fish and lost a few scales. Her fish's scales had then grown back in a darker color.

But I'm not a fish... What the heck?

The vet continued speaking, "There might be some kind of growing chemical they have in their bodies that help produce the color for the new scales. If this theory is correct, her body ran short of this needed chemical and was left with a patch of uncolored scales. At this point, I don't think even removing the discolored ones would bring back the original color to them."

Tuskon's lighter voice broke through the tense atmosphere, "Well I don't plan on plucking any scales from her back. She hardly likes being touched as it is."

I let out a slight sneeze that had built up in my nose. I really didn't mind having a few different colored scales on my back. Even if I could see, they wouldn't be in my view. It's not like I judged anybody by what color they were anyway. Attitude speaks louder than looks.

The vet gave Tuskon a few pieces of information for "the care of firelizards" before we had to leave through the noisy front room. The walk back to his home was completely silent.

* * *

I turned my head in the direction of the crawler's scent. It was hiding somewhere in this room. I let out a few clicks before spitting a fire ball in the direction of the crawler's echo signature.

It made a noise in fear of my fire and tried to scamper away which resulted in it being found and impaled by two spears. If this room hadn't of been so dark, Dan or any of the other fighters would have been able to find it first. Without me, though, that crawler could have likely attacked someone before they could even realize it was there.

This was the fifth crawler on this ship. All the scents had mingled together making it harder on Dan to distinguish which ones were fresh or old. With my slightly better nose, it was easier for me to locate that last hiding one.

This was the second ship we had patrolled today, but since this one had taken so long, we were free for the rest of the evening. I was more than ready to get my scales oiled by Marcy and then take a nap under the heat lamp.

I had my eyes closed, feigning sleep, as Tuskon walked with the two of us on his shoulders. Being able to have so many dragonets patrolling ships had completely eliminated the possibility of another sicora hive appearing on earth. That's just how we liked it.

Tuskon opened the front door leading into his one story home. Despite it being kinda small, I still wasn't sure what was behind the four other doors beside the kitchen. We knew the door closest to the heat lamp in the corner was their bedroom, but we never were allowed in. The door beside it was a bathroom, and again, weren't let in it. That left two other doors between the bathroom and the kitchen. One of them had to be a room meant to hold all their weapons that they decided didn't get to be scattered around the house. We still didn't know what could be in the last room, though. We also couldn't tell which room was the mystery room and which one held the weapons either.

Tuskon entered into the kitchen and pulled out a bowl of fruit from his food storage thingy. I could smell the wonderful scent of strawberries hidden with the other fruits. My eyes came open to show him I was aware of what he had. Going hungry was no fun.

I hummed as Tuskon reached up and scratched behind my left ear tuff. My hum continued as he fed me an apple slice. When I had gotten so used to being treated as a pet, I wasn't sure. Though, pet wasn't exactly the right term for it. I didn't get to lay around, be lazy, and just exist. I had a purpose to fulfill and was actually enjoying it. With each passing day, I was getting closer and closer to my Kymari caretakers.

I still didn't like being touched out of nowhere, but Tuskon and Marcy had full range to pet me without being growled at now. Their friends weren't so lucky. They had successfully distracted Dan long enough to touch me once, but quickly pulled their hands away when I swiped my extended claws at them. There had been no petting attempts since then.

Marcy was sitting on one of the smaller couches, "Welcome back! You three are home a bit early, did everything go alright?"

Tuskon unclipped our leashes and we flew off when he gave us the cue, "The last ship we inspected had five crawlers hiding in it so we stopped early to give Dan and Aspen a break."

Marcy didn't hide the worry in her voice, "That's a lot more crawlers than usual."

Tuskon sat beside her on the couch, "It might be due to where the ship is coming in from. That specific planet still has a few sicora hives we have yet to locate and destroy. If the firelizards weren't so endangered, the Elders might have called to have them taken to such planets to help eliminate those foul creatures."

Marcy laughed, "You know such a thing would never happen any time soon. We don't even know if the firelizards can survive off world climates yet."

Dan sounded thoughtful as he spoke into our mindlink, "Actually, since we were made with alien technology, it could be possible for us to survive in different world atmospheres."

I turned to face him as we sat together under the heat lamp, "You think so?"

He confirmed what he said with a hum, "Yeah, think about it. We've been able to understand these aliens languages, and have an antibody in our saliva that attacks a creature we didn't even know existed until last year. If I had to bet my money on it, I'd say we can breath different types of air as well."

I flicked him with the tip of my tail and laughed, "Don't go making bets you don't have the money for."

Dan leaned into me as we laughed in the mindlink. The Kymari would never understand a gambling joke even if we were to explain it to them.

After a few moments we laid down to catch the warmth from the lamp, waiting for the two Kymari to call us over for our bath and oiling. As if on cue to disturb our sleep, the chiming doorbell rang. It was a lovely sound, but I preferred the sound of our Morning Song over it any day.

Tuskon called out and invited whoever was at the door to come inside. I surely wasn't going to get the chance to fall asleep now. I considered all of their friends as annoying. They seemed more like moochers than friends to me at any rate.

Marcy and Tuskon were both super nice to everyone around them. It's a trait Dan and I had picked out when scouting for a Kymari to stalk. One thing we didn't know about at the time, though, was just how wealthy each of their families were. They weren't the richest, but they had a good sum of money between the both of them. It's one of the reasons why they can afford such a nice house.

Their so called friends know this very well. It seems that they try to hang out with them whenever they find the chance and get them to pay for any fees they come across. This kind of behavior was sneaky and disgraceful. Only the lowest of Kymari would even attempt such an act.

It was a good thing that not all of their friends were like this. Phugesh was one of them and happened to be the one to walk through the door. Dan and I liked Phugesh. We nicknamed him Spikey Head because his thick hair just sticks straight up.

Phugesh was the quiet type. He didn't show a lot of emotions and I wasn't entirely sure why. He did notice a lot of small details that others didn't seem to catch, though.

Spikey Head walked up to the side table we were on and held out a sunburst berry for each of us. I accepted and in return, allowed him to pat my head. He was the only one, apart from our caretakers, whom I allowed to pet me. Since he respected my space, I respected his presence.

It would turn out Spikey Head came for a visit to deliver some news. I didn't realize he had a mate until this moment either. Marcy and Tuskon along with Dan and I were all invited to his newborn's celebration.

I. Was. Excited. There was nothing I loved more than other people's young children.