Tessa's POV:

I sat alertly on Taureen's wrist as I kept one eye on him and one eye on the audience. The dozen children listened avidly to his explanation of the various bond animal species, what they did, why they were treated differently, and how to recognize them by the marks on their harnesses or collars.

He was now coming to the fire lizards. "The fire lizards are a recent addition to the species deemed valuable enough to become bond animals. Does anyone know what the bonded fire lizards do?"

A boy piped up, "They can smell sicora and crawlers."

"Exactly. Every galactic cycle, thousands of cities have to be quarantined inside powerful shields and completely burned down due to sicora and crawler outbreaks. The fire lizards are able to check all of the ships and almost completely eliminate the risk of that happening on this planet."

A girl raised her hand, and when Taureen nodded at her, she asked, "Are fire lizards really only found on this planet?"

"Yes, they are a native species that has only been found in this city so far. As far as we can tell, there are fewer than two hundred of them left. They likely did not fare well when the Votaks invaded and colonized the planet. The Votaks wiped out over half of the animal species before we noticed that they had infiltrated this star system."

I tilted my head as I realized that it was the same white aliens that Mom and Dad had told us about. The Blood Memories knew almost nothing about them, though.

Taureen told the children about how the fire lizard handlers would walk through every incoming ship as well as patrolling around the city. He didn't go into details about what happened when they actually found one of the creatures.

"Are there any more questions before we give a small demonstration?"

He looked around, but none of the eager children raised their hands or spoke. He pulled something out of his pocket and passed it to the teacher.

"There is a piece of crawler skin inside. I will take Tasha and Tessa out of the room while you hide it. Just remove the airtight lid and put the vial somewhere. Knock on the door when you want us to come back inside."

Taureen went through the door and closed it behind him as we waited. I shifted my weight on Taureen's wrist, eager to go back inside. Finding the source of the smell was becoming more and more like a game all the time. One that I really loved.

It seemed to take forever before there was a knock at the door. Taureen opened the door and walked inside. Tran and Vick were still standing along the wall, right where they had been the entire time.

My ear tufts went back as I growled lowly. Mom also growled as she stood up and partially opened her wings in agitation.

If I hadn't known that it was just a piece of skin in the vial, I would have thought that there was one in the room. The scent was much stronger than it had been in the marketplace.

Taureen held his wrist up higher, bringing me closer to his face. "Tessa, go on. Find it."

I leapt into the air, eager to prove my skills.  Also, the sooner I found that vial, the sooner they would put the lid on and contain the smell that made me want to scratch something. A quick circle of the room easily pinpointed the teacher's desk. I hovered above it with some difficulty as I stared at it.

"Tessa, to fist."

I flew back to land on his wrist, turning around to keep the desk in my sight. He walked over and held me in front of each drawer. The second drawer made me hiss at it. He opened up the drawer and held up the small vial for the class to see before putting the lid back on.

He twisted a dial on the lid to firmly seal it before putting it into another container, which he put back in his pouch. I caught a glimpse of my shiny in the same pouch and hoped that the vial wouldn't make it smell bad.

After thanking the class and teacher for letting him visit, we left with Tran and Vick following us like shadows. I went back on his shoulder and laid down to relax and enjoy the sights. This stretch of the sidewalk was pretty empty except for the occasional shuttle on the road beside us. A small bird sang merrily in a tree above us.

"Hey, Mom. Can we join the wild flock for the Morning Song one day?"

"I don't see why not. The hardest part will be getting Dirk up."

"Don't worry. I can jump on him. If he wants to try and catch me, he'll have to get up."

I could feel her desire to roll her eyes at me. "I'm sure that won't be necessary. If there is one thing he willingly gets up for, it's the Morning Song. What prompted this sudden interest with singing with the flock?"

"I talked with a lot of the bonded dragonets, and it's about the only thing they miss from the park. What do you know about Soranto?"

Mom peered around Taureen's neck as she gave me a long look. "A bit. May I inquire why you are asking?"

I suddenly recalled that Mom didn't seem to like Soranto very much, and I lowered my ear tufts slightly as I replied, "Well... I've been thinking really hard the last two days about a handler. So far, Soranto is my favorite."

She didn't look particularly surprised.

I hastily reassured her. "I'm not going to decide right away. I'll take my time, but I was just hoping that you could tell me more about him..."

She rearranged her wings with a heavy sigh. "You always did like him, so I'm not overly surprised that he is at the top of your list. He works with electronics and equipment of some sort. You met his wife and daughter. He has a house and a decent-sized backyard. It's about a twenty-minute walk from our place."

My ear tufts perked up hopefully as I committed the details to memory.

She tilted her head considerately. "He isn't nearly as serious as most Kymari. He prefers red meat over poultry, although he does eat fish quite often. His reflexes are slower than Taureen's, although he doesn't care if he gets scratched."

"Uh, how do you know that?"

Her amusement rang clearly across the mindlink. "Because he always tried to pet me in the past. Thankfully, he gave up several years ago. In the early days, I didn't like anyone touching me. Believe it or not, I actually don't mind him. I just pretend to loathe his presence. It's our little game. But take your time in choosing. It's a big decision."

"I will." I sighed in relief, happy that she wasn't completely against my choice.

       The rest of the day went smoothly, although the rain clouds rolled in and cancelled our afternoon trip to the park.

At least I got to fly around the house. If I chose, I could brave the rain outside before sitting under the heat lamp to dry off and warm up. Abby and the others usually retreated to their burrows to avoid getting wet and cold, although they had to venture out for food if they didn't want to eat the dried stuff they had stored.

"Hey, Abby. What's up?"

"At the moment, dirt."

"I'm beginning to think that you guys are actually just chipmunks with the amount of time you spend underground."

"I am not a chipmunk. I have scales, not fur. What are you up to, besides annoying me?"

I sent a mental image of the heat lamp above me.

"Ugh... you just have to rub it in, don't you? What did you end up doing today?"

I told her about the marketplace, the glittering gem, and the crawler scent. I was in the middle of telling her about the classroom demonstration when Dirk grabbed my gem and raced off.

"Hey! That's mine! Bring it back!"

"Go get him!" Abby egged me on, eager for excitement, even if it was only through the mindlink.

I was happy to oblige and took off after him, bent on revenge and retrieving my treasure. Things got more complicated when Mom and Dad joined the 'game'.

By the time I finally got my hands on my gem, Tkael was knocking on the door. I flew up to a wall perch to cool down and catch my breath. My sparkling trinket was also safer up here with me than within the reach of my dear family at the moment.

It wasn't long before Soranto showed up as well. I examined him as he cheerfully took off his coat and hung it up to dry, not the least bit bothered by the rain.

As he sat in his usual chair, I swooped down to land on the centre table with my gem dangling below my jaws. Just to taunt him, I tossed my head lightly to show it off before flying up to another wall perch.

Mom commented, "Taureen, Tessa mentioned that she is considering Soranto as a potential handler. Can you mention the possibility? I somehow don't think it's crossed his mind considering how Keegan and I usually react to him."

My ear tufts perked up as I tilted my head. Soranto had a faint smirk as he examined the treasure that now rested beside my hand, probably thinking about ways to lure me closer since I was playing keep-away.

Without missing a beat, Taureen softly murmured, "She missed you. Yesterday, she kept glancing towards the door most of the evening, as if waiting for you."

Soranto's smirk dropped as his head whipped around to stare blankly at his friend. His startled gaze moved back to me before he closed his eyes in deep thought. Silence reigned for several long minutes, growing more and more uncomfortable.

The troubled expression on his face worried me. I abandoned the trinket on my perch and flew down to land on his knee. Stretching my head up, I trilled softly at him. His eyes finally opened as he smiled faintly at me, but it was a sad smile.

He moved his gaze to Taureen, and when he spoke, his quiet voice was pained. "It never occurred to me that she would grow attached. I was just happy that a fire lizard came to me willingly. I'm an equipment engineer, not part of the defense or fighter groups. It would be a huge adjustment – I already have a wife and child. I have never had to put anything ahead of them, but a bond animal requires true dedication. I don't think I'm ready for anything like this."

He gently picked me up as he got to his feet and placed me where he had been sitting. I looked up in worry, clearly able to sense his conflicted emotions and the edge of distress.

"I'm sorry to leave so suddenly, but I really need to think about this."

"I can understand," Taureen replied kindly. "Keep in touch."

"I will. Thanks." He swiftly walked down the hallway before slipping his coat on and going out the door.

This wasn't the outcome I had expected. I hadn't realized that his distress and sadness would cause me inner turmoil as well.

Mom crooned a 'come here' from where she rested under the heat lamp. My body moved automatically, even though my mind was stuck in the past. She held her wing up, and I curled up underneath it as I leaned against her. Her tail wrapped around me comfortingly as she draped her wing over me. I was almost half as big as her, so her wing wasn't able to completely cover me like it used to.

"Oh, my poor baby," Mom murmured sadly. "I didn't know he was going to react like that, or I would have asked Taureen to have a quiet word with him."

At least I wasn't the only one who had been caught off-guard – not that it helped any. I closed my eyes, wishing I could block out the look of pain on Soranto's face when he realized that our friendship could potentially affect his entire family.

At some point, I fell asleep with a heavy heart.