Tessa's POV:

I groaned and flopped onto the grass beside Abby.

She cracked an eye open to regard me sleepily. "Since when do you join the sunbathing group instead of trying to convince us to join a game?"

"It was a long day of training. Because of the guards, Aeria had to pretend to teach me everything step by step."

"Ready to join the wild flock yet?"

"Nope, but if I ever learn how to breathe fire, those ktari are first on my hit list."

She coughed a laugh. "It will be a few more months before we'll be able to manage that."

Rolling my eyes, I spread out my wings to catch the sun's warmth.

It didn't take me long to grow bored. Most of the flock's fledglings were on the far side of the park. Since it would take them over an hour to fly here, they were just enjoying themselves where they were. Abby was sleeping, so I decided to observe more Kymari. I quietly took to the air, leaving our sunbathing parents to keep watch.

My attempt to consider other Kymari as potential handlers quickly left me frustrated. Most were either just passing through for a walk or quietly enjoying the park on one of the many benches. Nothing that would help me determine their personality.

I flicked my tail in agitation, whacking a branch behind me. A flower came loose and floated down in a rather swirly spiral as it passed right in front of a Kymari's nose. He looked up and examined me in faint surprise.

Well, now that I had his attention, what was I supposed to do?

Suddenly somewhat shy, I tilted my head as I gazed down at him. My harness would immediately mark me as one of the bonded dragonets, so there was no way he could mistake me for a member of the wild flock. He remained sitting on the bench and watched me in silent curiosity.

I reached out to pull a leaf off a branch before dropping it down. The leaf took an even more erratic trip down than the flower had, not even ending up close to the bench. The Kymari blinked slowly, but didn't say anything.

I scratched a chunk of bark off the branch before dropping it. It landed near his feet, and he glanced at it before looking back up at me. Snagging another leaf, I let it fall. He didn't even bother watching where it went.

I tilted my head as I looked at him. Most Kymari would murmur or talk quietly to me if they noticed me watching them, but he still hadn't uttered a single word.

A few more leaves sailed towards the grass with no effect. Deciding to try a different route, I trilled at him with a questioning tone. He tilted his head slightly, but nothing more.

I was beginning to think that it was harder to get a Kymari to speak without asking a question than it was to balance a pineapple on top of a cantaloupe.

After dropping another leaf, two flowers, a twig, some bark, and a caterpillar on or near him with no reaction, I gave up with a gusty sigh. This guy clearly wasn't taking the hint. It never took this much effort to get Soranto or any of the guards to talk to me, even though they had no clue that I could understand them.

I glided away from the Kymari as I continued to search for more responsive people.

The other seven individuals I found behaved more predictably. I wasn't quite brave enough to go near them without Taureen or Aeria present, but if I dropped leaves or flowers to catch their attention, they spoke softly to me.

I occasionally whistled or trilled as they talked, trying to prompt them to keep going. Most of them tended to continue speaking if I 'talked' back. Their one-sided conversations were a bit odd, mostly revolving about how pretty I was or wondering where Taureen or Aeria were.

Even though they spoke to me, it didn't give me much perspective on how they usually acted. Almost anyone who saw me acted calmly and spoke in quiet reassuring tones, as if they didn't want to startle or scare me.

It was much more interesting to spy on a group if they were unaware of my presence, so I went in search of more energetic and less meditative people.

I landed on a branch to watch four teenagers kicking a ball around a field. As far as I could tell, there were two teams of two who were trying to kick the ball so it hit a rock in the middle of the grassy area. Whoever kicked it got the point. They were having a blast, and it looked so fun that I wanted to play.

Half unfolding my wings, I wondered how I could join. The ball was often being kicked pretty hard, and it was close to twice my size.

It wasn't more than a few minutes before the ball ricocheted off the rock with enough force to roll halfway between the teenagers and me. It was too tempting to pass up. I launched off the branch as I flew as fast as I could. The winning team cheered and did a high-five, too distracted to notice me right away.

I landed on the grass and bunted the ball with my head. It was surprisingly light and rolled fairly easily. The material felt like leather, and it must have been filled with air or something very light. I hopped after it, pushing it with my head again.

"Look. It's a fire lizard."

"I think it's trying to steal your ball, Ricaro."

"It has a harness, so it must be that young one. What was her name again?"

"Tesell? Tessa? Something like that."

It took a few tries, but I discovered that if I kept my head or chest close to the ball, I could keep running while controlling where it went. Mostly. Sometimes my wings had to help steer it. This was going to take some practice.

"She's probably pretty tame. Let's see if she'll play with us. Doesn't your wrist comm have a video lens?"

"Oh, yeah, let me turn it on. Go slowly, though, you don't want to scare her."

My head lifted above the ball as two of the Kymari tentatively approached me. I angled my path as I aimed between them, trying to get the ball to the rock before they tried to take the ball.

They were more concerned about how I was going to react to their presence than they were about the fact that I was getting really close to the rock. With a jump and hard bunt from my chest, the ball hit the rock and rolled away. I whistled and bounced around a few times.

I paused as my eyes flickered between the young man and the ball. He edged closer to it before gently kicking it towards his friends. I darted forward, tackling the ball before trying to push it away as fast as I could. It was much easier to roll this ball than a cantaloupe.

He lightly jogged beside me, keeping up easily, but letting me steal the ball. His friend followed more slowly behind, still testing the waters. The other two were watching from the sidelines with grins.

Hesitantly, the closest one nudged his foot under the ball, sending it upwards and towards his friend. He stole it! With an indignant squawk, I threw myself into the air to go after it. I landed in the grass ahead of him, stalking forward.

He was clearly being careful with his feet and how hard he was tapping the ball as he deftly evaded me. I bounded after him in the grass, easily catching up to his jog that was barely faster than a quick walk. I kept between him and the rock, not letting him get to the large stone to score a goal.

Pouncing forward, I managed to run into the ball hard enough to get it away from his feet. With a whistling laugh, I jumped over the ball, and turned so I could start pushing it towards the rock. He stepped into my path and stopped.

It was easy enough for me to jump slightly to the side and detour around him, although I had to use the front edge of my wing to corral the ball when it wanted to escape. He could have easily stopped me, but didn't, letting me score another point.

This time, his friend came forward and kicked the ball in a different direction, using more force so it went further. All three of us went after it again.

It had never occurred to me that we could have so much fun with a ball. They were humoring me, but as they got more comfortable with my presence, they had no qualms about stealing the ball.

"Tessa, it's time to go home," Mom called.

I slid to a stop as I turned my head and perked my ears in the direction I knew they were in, pretending I had heard a physical call. Turning back, I whistled a thank-you to the teenagers before taking to the air and flying towards the trees. The two I had been playing with actually looked kind of sad to see me go.

I was also disappointed to see the game end, but I hadn't had that much fun in a long time. I would have to check that field in the future in case they came back during one of my visits.

"Tessa," Taureen's call echoed through the forest.

I beat my wings faster as I gave a high-pitched whistle to let them know I was coming. I was the last one to arrive in the clearing where everyone was waiting for me. The fast flight after the ball game had me breathing hard as I landed on Aeria's shoulder.

With everyone now accounted for, we went home. The guards went their separate ways when we reached the house. Tkael likely wasn't going to come over until after supper. I hoped that Soranto would show up.

Taureen and Aeria made their evening meal. They put our bowls down and also sat down to eat. My family always finished our meal before the Kymari did, even if we savored our food.

A glint of light from above reminded me of my shiny gem. Once I finished eating, I flew up to the wall perch. I laid down and rolled it back and forth in front of me, letting the ever-changing pattern of light mesmerize me.

"Huh. This is interesting," Taureen said. "I just got tagged on one of the school's sports channels. 'Fire lizard beats local Ply-Ball team youths.'"

It took Taureen's words a moment to sink into my half-trance. My head swung around to see that the plates had been cleared away and Taureen was looking at something on his laptop, angling the screen so Aeria could also see it.

I practically went into a freefall in my haste to get down to where I could see the screen. My landing on his shoulder pad was harder than usual, but I barely noticed it since my attention was focused on the laptop.

The video showed two teenagers flanking a scarlet dragonet, who was very energetically trying to keep the ball away from them. One of the teenagers managed to steal the ball, only for the dragonet to swiftly reclaim it.

"I forgot that one of them was planning to video that..."

"It looks like you were having fun. Just be careful with your wings. They are quite fragile. I would recommend to avoid using the outer half of your wing if at all possible."

"I was kind of watching that. Mom told me that having a broken wing isn't any fun."

Aeria chuckled. "You won eleven to four. Not bad for what I'm assuming was your first game."

Dirk craned his neck as he also watched the screen. "Okay, that looks like a lot of fun. Let me know the next time you go to play."

"That was the first time I saw them there, although I've never been to that clearing before. I have no idea how often they might go there."

"We'll have to check. I bet if we find them there even once more, they will come back at that time more often just in case we show up."

"Dirk's correct," Taureen commented. "Judging by the comments here, they are already planning to go back there tomorrow. It also looks like there is a spirited discussion about changing their team crest to a red fire lizard."

I snorted. "Seriously? I think they need their heads checked. I still clearly recall the time that I almost got attacked by an eagle."

"And you are a member of the only species that willingly tracks and attacks sicora," Aeria countered in an amused voice. "Although, I will admit that I have never seen a fire lizard join a sports game."

"Most of us can't tolerate strangers," Mom idly observed. "I might manage such a game with you or Taureen, but anyone else would get hissed at if they got close."

"True," Aeria acknowledged, "which leaves Tessa and Dirk in a unique position of being able to join if they wish."

I settled down on Taureen's shoulder, still gazing at the screen as I made mental notes on how to improve next time. Dirk was also watching the screen intently, trying to understand exactly what was going on.

Taureen put the laptop away when Tkael showed up. To my great disappointment, Soranto didn't come over.