Tessa's POV:

My nostrils flared as a growl left my throat as soon as we entered the fourth level of the cargo ship. I sat up and looked around alertly. Part of me despised that smell and was furious it dared to even come near my planet, although a tiny part of me was relieved that I had finally found my first live crawler.

All I had to do now was locate its exact position. The captain glanced back at me as he walked beside Sipar. Behind us, Drae was a silent shadow with a phaser in his hand.

When we reached the first junction, Soranto stopped. I leapt off his shoulder to check each of the doors before hovering in front of one.

"Tessa, shoulder."

I flew back to his shoulder, and we went the way I had indicated. At each junction, I guided them to the strongest smell. The further we went, the worse the smell became. I took a deep breath to make sure that there was only one on this level.

Within ten minutes, my chest constantly vibrated from my continuous faint growl. We had to be getting close. I couldn't believe how much worse the live ones smelled compared to the old hides. Even the dead crawler we had encountered during our first training session had lacked the sharp musk that the live creatures possessed.

No wonder the bonded dragonets had no desire to return to the park when they could hunt down these things and keep them from getting loose on the planet. A hive had appeared once on this planet, and I planned on doing all I could to prevent another one.

My nose led us to a small, dusty storage area with shelves and boxes. Soranto clipped my leash onto me now that we had likely found the source.

"There is no other exit," Sipar said. "Wait out here while I do a quick check."

Leaving the door open, Sipar began investigating each shelf and cautiously checking behind boxes while the rest of us stood outside the door and watched. Using his spear, he shifted boxes on the bottom shelf.

Movement on the top shelf had me hissing and flaring my wings. The instant he heard my hiss, Sipar jumped back towards the door. A glowing ball of blue energy whizzed past us – courtesy of Drae – and struck the emerging crawler.

The boxes above kept shifting as the crawler tried to escape. It was injured, but not dead. Even though I couldn't actually see the creature, my hiss was fierce enough to make Sipar and Soranto glance at me.

Sipar raised his phaser and waited for it to show itself again. The shifting boxes stopped moving in one corner, and the stillness grated on my nerves. Sipar extended his spear and poked the boxes overhead again.

The crawler began crawling up the wall with surprising speed. It wasn't fast enough to avoid the two phaser blasts, though. The charred remains that dropped back onto the shelf didn't have much in common with the pest I had just seen.

My growl trailed off now that it was dead. After a few moments, I shook myself off and sat down, gazing up at the shelf.

"It's dead. Are you okay with having your crew cleaning up that mess?" Sipar asked the captain.

The cat-like creature nodded, its fur still unusually flat in stress. "Yes. I will send someone."

"Then let's continue checking the other levels in case more are hidden."

It took several hours before the ship was declared to be cleared and safe to unload its cargo in the cities. It had been the last ship of the day, and I rearranged my wings uneasily when I realized what our next destination would be.

The sun was shining, so anyone who opened their eyes would know that we would be going to the main park at this time of the day. However, I doubted that very many were aware that Abby hadn't mindlinked me once over the last two days. My attempts to bridge the brewing plot of vengeance had been met with silence.

Dirk refused to answer my questions, although his replies had a tinge of anticipation underneath. Glen claimed that he was bound to silence on the threat of getting the same treatment that was coming my way. Such a claim did not reassure me. That green dragonet could be tenacious – and she had been planning her revenge for nearly three entire days.

I was going to have to approach this situation very carefully. Hopefully, my preparations would be sufficient to thwart the worst of her wrath. Just to be on the safe side, I would let her dunk me in the creek a few times so she felt like she actually did something.

When we reached the park, I carefully scanned the trees, although it would be nearly impossible to spot a green dragonet waiting in ambush. Especially if she had cajoled her brother and mine into helping her. She also had other sisters and brothers who might have gotten a whiff of the leaves when she unblocked the tunnel joining her room to the main family tunnel system.

"Go on." Soranto offered his hand in case I wanted to be tossed into the air. With a deep breath, I climbed onto his hand. The thrill of the ride skyward was shadowed by what might be waiting for me.

I flew towards the trees to keep things looking normal for the Kymari, but once I entered the forest, I darted upwards and soared above the trees.

"Where are you?" I asked Abby. "I brought you a present."

My attempt to deliver my peace-offering was met with more silence, which I had fully expected.

I elaborated, "It's a piece of shia fruit and two slightly squished sunburst berries."

With immense reluctance, she replied, "Shia fruit?"

The fruit was unobtainable to the wild dragonets, but all of them had heard about it. It was a temptation of the ultimate level – and almost painful for me to share.

"Yes. Only a small piece, but it was all I could smuggle out without Soranto noticing."

"Fine," she relented unwillingly. "I'll tell Dirk and Glen that they can abandon the trap. Meet me where the apple tree fell across the creek."

No tint of a lie colored her voice. Exhaling in relief, I altered my flight to hand over my treasures.

The green dragonet was waiting impatiently for me on the fallen tree. I glided down and landed some distance from her, wary that she might change her mind now that I was in sight.

Reaching between my harness and stomach scales, I pulled out a big folded leaf and opened it. The peach and blue colored piece of fruit wasn't exactly at its prime, but it hadn't fared as badly as I had feared. The sunburst berries had been very squished to fit into my harness and looked pretty sad.

I set the leaf down and backed up. Abby's nostrils flared and her eyes dilated slightly as she picked up the scents. Coming over to the treats, she wolfed down the sticky berries first, then turned to the slab of shia fruit.

She gave it a careful lick before grabbing it in both hands and nibbling on it, trying to make it last even though she probably just wanted to cram it into her mouth as fast as possible.

When she finished, she licked her hands and the leaf clean of any juices. She nosed the leaf off the tree trunk, checking for any missed pieces or drops of juice.

"Do you have any more?" she asked, sounding hopeful.

"My harness isn't that loose, and it's a small miracle that Soranto didn't notice. Although, with my luck, he likely did and just didn't comment on it."

"I asked Dirk to bring me a piece once. He said Taureen may hand out sunburst berries, but not shia fruit."

"It's something they only give to dragonets who know they want to stay with the Kymari. Dirk and I didn't get to taste it until just last month. Even when you go with Taureen and Aeria, you won't get it regularly until you choose a handler and go with them, but that's a long process."

"I've never tasted anything that good."

"That's why I brought it. Am I forgiven?"

"Mostly. Today, you are going to let me score all of the Ply-Ball goals, and you still owe me another piece of shia fruit."

"I can easily agree to the Ply-Ball, but sneaking a piece of fruit inside my harness isn't exactly the easiest task. I had a lucky break this morning when Soranto looked over his shoulder while talking with Adeline."

"I'll give you a month to manage it. It almost kills me to know that you get to eat that every day, and I don't even get a sliver."

"Not every day. Maybe every three or four days. It's a rare treat. Sunburst berries are much easier for me to charm out of Soranto."

"You forget that my room still smells of those horrendous leaves. You have one month to bring me a piece of shia fruit."

I sighed. "Fine, but it won't be very big."

"The size of my palm, at least."

"Deal." A piece that small might be more manageable since I could cram it in my mouth and drop it into my water dish when I pretended to get a drink. Later on, I could fish it out and wrap it in a leaf. I just wouldn't tell Abby how I snuck it past Soranto.

"Let's go play Ply-Ball! Dirk told me they just arrived!"

I quickly followed in the wake of her wings, being very polite and not passing her even though I usually loved to beat her to any destination and rub it in.