Tessa's POV:

I woke slowly and felt oddly lethargic. I tried to lift my head, but immediately bumped it on something. Light from the heat lamp flooded down as Mom folded her wing back.

I blinked at the sudden brightness, seeing Mom, Dad, and Dirk curled up around me. It reminded me of what happened last night.

Mom nuzzled me. "How are you feeling?"

"Strange," I replied quietly, sharing a glimpse of the heavy feeling in my chest and lack of desire to get up.

She nudged my shoulder with her nose. "I've felt that before. The best remedy I ever found was the Morning Song. It doesn't make it disappear, but it helps."

I didn't understand this feeling, and I didn't like it. Getting to my feet, I stretched, only now noticing the faint call of the Morning Song. It was close to starting.

The others had waited for me. I was touched that they were willing to forego the Song for me. I didn't want to hold them up or miss it myself, so I quickly headed towards the access flap.

We barely made it to the driftwood before the Song began. At first it was hard to focus on the Song, but it wasn't long before I lost myself in the intricate dance and melody.

Mom had been right. The heavy feeling disappeared as the joy and hope overwhelmed it. It would come back, but nothing close to what it had been since it had been vanquished once.

I flitted through the air, pushing my muscles to their limits with my dance. My throat helped shape clear notes that rose and fell as they matched the sun's cues.

The Morning Song seemed too short, and I was sad when it ended. It had helped, though. I felt much more normal now. I landed on the driftwood and watched the sun for a few more moments.

Eventually, I flew over to Aeria and Taureen for some breakfast and to have my scales oiled.

When Aeria began massaging the oil in, she gently inquired, "Do you want to talk about it?"

I was about to decline but hesitated. "Why did he leave? He was always happy when I came to him..."

She was silent for a moment. "I think it took him more by surprise than anything else. He is thrilled that you like him, although I'm not sure why the possibility of becoming a handler never occurred to him."

I lifted my head, asking hopefully, "He didn't say no, though. Just that he had to think about it, right?"

"Yes, so there is still hope. It's something he will have to discuss with Adeline and Maria. If he does accept, he is also going to have to do a lot of retraining. His current position doesn't require the same skills that Taureen and I have."

It was hard to focus on the conversation as Aeria massaged the oil into my shoulders.

Taureen muttered, "I'm not even sure if he owns any kind of armor... He borrowed that fireproof set from the main barracks the three times he wore it."

"I had to take some classes when Keegan accepted me," Aeria said, "but Soranto will have to forget a lot of his current training and learn different reactions in order to become a handler."

"It could take him several days to think things through," Taureen cautioned me. "We gave him quite the shock. It's been decades since I've seen someone that surprised, and Kymari tend to take time to get over something like that if there isn't immediate danger to focus our minds."

I nodded in relief. A few days wouldn't be too bad. Even if he refused to interact with us when he came back – much like Tkael did – at least I would be able to see him and have closure. I was hoping that he would return as his friendly self, though.

I changed the topic. "Do we get to go to the training room today? Is it set up yet?"

Aeria nodded. "It's ready, and if Dirk doesn't mind going with Taureen today, Keegan and I are scheduled to go."

"Pleaseee..." I begged Dirk.

"Only if you sleep in the back room with the heat lamp tonight. I couldn't stand the silence, but I also don't want to be kicked in the ribs a dozen times while I sleep, either."

"Done!" Last night, I had wanted comfort more than a good sleep, but since Soranto was just thinking, I was all for having that heat lamp to myself.

Closing my eyes, I relaxed as Aeria gently spread my wings and put more oil on her fingers.

       I gazed eagerly at the airlock door as we approached it. It slid open, and I blinked in shock. Instead of a room with stacked up crates, I was now facing a grey metal hallway.

"This is a new twist," Dad said, sitting up to examine the strange area we were entering. "This is exactly like a smaller corridor on a cargo spaceship."

It was? My ear tufts perked up as I looked around, although there really wasn't anything to look at. Grey walls, grey ceiling, and a darker grey floor.

I took a deep breath, but nothing stood out. This was quite different from all of our previous trips here.

"Do you know what kind of test this is?" I asked Dad.

"No, they didn't tell me, and I didn't think to ask. I guess we will find out. We can pretend we are checking a spaceship."

Awesome! I could pretend I was on a ship!

Pausing, I tilted my head. "Uh, what are we supposed to do on a spaceship?"

The long corridor was clearly empty...

"Wait until we see or smell something."

Sometimes his instructions left a lot to be desired. I would just have to wait and see what we found. At least Dad was here in case I missed something.

We paused beside a side door as Rhay opened it. The small room had small crates stacked along the wall with restraining ties. I sniffed, but didn't smell anything out of the ordinary.

When neither I nor Dad reacted, we continued down the corridor. We checked several side rooms and other corridors without locating anything. I was beginning to think that this was just a test run to get me accustomed to what the inside of a spaceship was like.

I sniffed the air again. "Did you smell that?"

Dad's nostrils flared. "Smell what?"

"That somewhat sour undertone." I shared the faint trace across the mindlink, although my nose could no longer pick it up.

Immediately, Dad spread his wings and swooped down to glide right above the floor while his head moved side to side, as if searching for a scent. Not wanting to miss anything, I quickly followed behind.

He banked sharply and landed on the floor. I landed as well, noticing that I could smell the faint scent down here. Just like Mom had when tracking me, he followed the trail along the ground.

Sadria moved so that she could walk well ahead of us. Aeria chose the spot beside us, while Rhay took up the rear. Dad scratched at a gap under a door and backed up a few steps. Rhay opened it and went in ahead of us with his weapons at the ready.

The small room held about twenty crates. Dad walked in a few circles with his nose near the ground. I kept close behind, watching him while also warily looking around since whatever we were tracking was very likely in here with us.

The scent trail was... muddy. There didn't seem to be just one path.

He stopped and looked towards the crates with narrowed eyes before speaking in the dragonet language, "Ktari."

Or that was what I thought he said. It sounded more like a sneeze and an insulting chirp mixed together. With a snort, he turned and flew back to Aeria. I looked at the crates before following him in confusion. We hadn't found anything yet, so why were we returning?

"Let's see if we can find where they hid that ktari so Tessa gets a good look at it."

Now that I heard the name in the Kymari language, the Blood Memories gave an image of a tiny, fast, six-legged lizard. I had seen geckos in the park, so I wasn't sure why they wanted us to track this particular one.

I tilted my head as I watched Rhay and Sadria check between the crates. My wings flared with a hiss as a brown streak darted across the floor with speed that shouldn't have been possible for something that size. Rhay lashed out with his spear, knocking it to the side where it began to spin on the spot.

"They stuck wheels on the base?" Sadria asked in mild disbelief. "I guess it is more realistic since they were using a hide..."

Rhay pinned it lightly beneath his boot before reaching down and touching its stomach. When he took a step back, it was no longer moving.

Dad glared at it before repeating, "Ktari."

I looked between him and the strange alien lizard a few times before also tentatively trying the word. "Ktari?"

Mine was more of a question, but the sound was the same. I snorted and rearranged my wings, deciding that I didn't like the smell of the creature. The sour musk was unpleasant and, for some reason, made me want to cough.

Aeria remarked, "I think we will have to try a few more rooms. This reaction isn't nearly as instinctive as the crawlers or sicora."

"Not too surprising," Rhay replied. "Most of the other wild-caught ones had to accompany a more experienced fire lizard before they began pointing them out."

We roamed the corridors and peeked inside numerous rooms. I followed Dad as we tracked two more ktari. The smell of them bothered me more than Dad. He had an easier time ignoring the ktari's scent. Or, perhaps, my nose was just more sensitive.

Aeria reached up and clipped the leash onto Dad. She left my leash off. I sat up straighter, knowing that it was time for me to practice on my own.

The faintest hint of the sour smell made me flare my nostrils as I glided from Aeria's shoulder. I zeroed in on the trail, although I had to land to track it properly. These things didn't seem to leave much scent behind.

As I sniffed the bottom of a door, movement under it made me hiss and jerk back. I scrambled backwards as I lashed out with extended claws – sending the ktari prop flying. I darted back up to Aeria's shoulder and quickly turned around to stare at it.

It was a little after the fact, but I still sneezed the word, "Ktari."

"Good job," Aeria told me before glancing at Sadria. "Let's try a few more rooms. I want to see if I can just get her to warn us about the ktari without tracking them."

She nodded as we left the room to explore more of the corridors.