So... As I was prepping this story for publishing, I discovered I had two chapter 55's in my master doc. This chapter slipped through the cracks for 5 years, but has now been rediscovered! Enjoy!

And yes, A New Beginning is now available on Amazon! (2 versions - the longer Wattpad one called Passing The Torch, and a shorter revision with just Tessa's POV called Tessa's Story).

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Tessa's POV:

I trilled a greeting as I landed on the sand beside Mom. As per usual, she was lounging along the creek bank in the park.

"I found a dead ktari! It was very similar to our lessons, although I didn't know what it was until I pulled it out."

"Then you found more than I did today."

"Did you know that Soranto has a heater in his shoulder pad?"

She gave me an odd look. "A heater?"

"Yeah! He controls it with his wrist comm. It made it much more relaxing to watch him work. He had blueberries, too."

"A heated shoulder pad... I may have to ask Taureen about investing in one of those, although I suspect it is something Soranto built."

"Tessa! You're here early!" Abby called out in excitement. "I hear you got to go on a real spaceship! What was it like?"

"A lot like our training," I told the green dragonet as she landed beside us.

"Can you show me some images?"

"Sure." I let both Mom and Abby see the long hallways, bridge, control panels, and hidden rooms. The dried out ktari was also added since I really didn't have much to show. Soranto had spent several hours in the one room, and it only took a few seconds to show it.

"Is that a ktari?" Abby asked.

"Yes, although I wasn't even sure what it was until I got it out from under the panelling."

"That is cool... When is Dirk going to show up?"

"Why don't you ask him?"

"Because he gets tired of me asking half a dozen times in an hour."

I turned my gaze to Mom, hoping she would know the answer. If Dirk was tired of Abby asking, then he wouldn't want me annoying him as well. Since Dad was with Dirk, Mom probably had a rough idea.

"They are just leaving the barracks and starting to walk towards the park, so it will take them some time to get here," she replied.

"Let's go visit the Kymari," Abby told me. "I'm going to find it easier one of these days."

"You've been doing really well. You even visited Tran, Taureen, and Aeria several times at the park when we weren't with you."

"Taureen and Aeria had sunburst berries..." she sheepishly admitted.

"It still counts."

We flew side by side through the trees and arrived in the meadow where the four Kymari were visiting. Tran and Vick always remained with Taureen until we left the park, and Soranto's guards hadn't joined us today.

I landed on Soranto's shoulder while Abby chose Taureen. As I laid down, Soranto reached up to scratch me behind the ears.

Reaching into his belt pouch, Taureen pulled out a sunburst berry and a small vial. Abby spotted the berry and promptly jumped down onto his lap to claim it. While she was chewing, he put some oil on his finger and slowly rubbed it between her shoulder blades.

She flinched at the first touch, but focused on the berry as a means of distraction. Then she paused and looked back.

"What... is that?" she asked me.

"It's oil. It relieves itching and gets rid of dry skin."

She tilted her head, peering at Taureen's finger. "It... it feels good."

"I told you about the cleaning and oiling. Several times."

"I thought you were exaggerating."

Grinning down at her, I asked, "Do you still think it's an exaggeration?"

"No."

As Taureen's finger reached the base of her wing, she gingerly unfolded it to let him continue. An occasional tremble flowed through her muscles, reminding me that this was the first time a Kymari had actually touched her. I suspected that Mom had told Taureen about Abby trying to get over her fears.

Taureen almost finished oiling her other wing before Abby reached her limits and glided away to land on the grass in front of the Kymari. With a mischievous trill, I glided down and landed near her. Grabbing a mouthful of grass in my mouth, I ripped it free and flung it at her before bounding away.

With a shrill whistle, she tore after me. I darted towards the Kymari's feet, using them as something to hide behind. Weaving between their feet, I kept away from the green dragonet who was giving them more space than I was.

A flash of blue dove out of the sky, forcing me to hide under the bench.

"Hey! Two against one isn't fair!" I protested.

"I'm not sure why Abby was chasing you," Dirk admitted, "but I'm sure you deserved it."

Abby took advantage of me being cornered and pounced on me. Rolling upside down, I kicked out with my hind legs, trying to break up the wrestling match. Something grabbed my ankle and pulled me out from under the bench.

I slapped Dirk with my tail, forcing him to relinquish his hold on my leg. It was too late, though. He joined the game, pinning my shoulders and right wing on the grass with his weight. Abby sat on my other wing as she playfully chewed on my neck and arm.

"What did you do this time?" Dad asked.

"I don't know! Help me!"

With a surge of amusement across the mindlink, he kept flying towards the trees where Mom was probably waiting.

"Traitor!" I called out. "I'm your favorite daughter!"

"You're my only daughter, so that award was handed out by default. I'm sure you'll manage just fine without my help this time."

"Hey! That's not fair!"

"Then consider it this way: Dirk is my favorite son as well. It would be terrible to deprive him of having some fun when you aren't being harmed."

"Argh!"

Wiggling as best I could, I finally managed to snag Dirk's ear tuft between my teeth and tugged on it.

"Hey! That's attached!" he protested.

"And so is my wing, you brute! Get off already!" I pulled his ear tuft to the side.

Wincing, Dirk followed his ear tuft. "Ow, ow, ow..."

With a quick twist of my body, I freed myself from both of them and let go of Dirk's ear tuft as I jumped into the air. I sped off towards the trees where they would have an even harder time catching me.

By now, the Ply-Ball players should have arrived. A flash of silver ahead of me was also going in the same direction I was.

"Going to join the game?" I asked Glen.

He glanced back over his shoulder, surprised to see me catching up. "Yes. I thought you were with Abby?"

"She's probably cuddling with Dirk by now..."

"Ugh. Again? At least she isn't filling my ears about 'Dirk this' or 'Dirk that'. I'm beginning to think that he is all she thinks about, other than the Kymari."

I snickered and flipped upside down before righting myself.

"Laugh it up," he said, "but one day, Dirk will start quoting poetry about her eye color to you, and then you shall know my pain."

"Poetry involves deep thought, and that isn't like Dirk. He may nap under a heat lamp and daydream, but that's about it."

"If he ever starts, don't come to me for sympathy."

"I'll just raise my mind shields for a while. No sense listening to something I might not be able to forget."

We reached the edge of the trees and saw the Ply-Ball players already trying to claim the ball from two other fledglings who had been joining us lately.

"Last one to the ball is a rotten egg!" I proclaimed as I picked up speed.

Swooping in from the side, I knocked the ball away from the Kymari who had just stolen it from the purple dragonet. My flight was too quick to stop, so I kept going, letting Glen come in behind and land beside the rolling ball.

"Hey, Tessa," Rasha greeted me as I flew past him. "Nice to see you."

I trilled a welcome at him, although my attention was already on the ball that Glen was pushing as fast as he could. Diving down, I swerved to the side and landed ahead of him, cutting off an approaching Kymari.

Digging my claws into the short grass, I reversed my direction to block the Kymari's attempt to sneak behind me. On the other side, the purple and green fledglings were stopping two other Kymari. More players ranged farther around us, many positioning themselves ahead so we would have to detour around them.

When we tried to sneak between two of them, one stole the ball. The purple dragonet somehow managed to slap it away with his tail, allowing me to claim it. The Kymari were closing in, and space was at a premium, although I knew they would never step on us.

The ball flew sideways as someone nudged it with their toe, causing the other three dragonets to chase after it. We crowded around the ball as a purple dragonet managed to push it the last little distance to the rock.

With a triumphant whistle, the purple scored our first point. We bounced around in a victory dance before giving the Kymari plenty of room to kick the ball across the meadow. If we were anywhere close to where the ball might go, they wouldn't kick it in case we tried to intercept it.

The four of us took to the air to beat the Kymari to the ball. It was going to be a lot harder to get the next point now that we had scored once.