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 every little 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 months before we’re old enough to manage that.”

  Rolling my eyes, I spread out my wings to catch the sun’s warmth. It didn’t take long for boredom to set in. Most of the flock’s fledglings remained on the far side of the park since it would take them over an hour to fly here.. Abby was sleeping, so I decided to go Kymari watching.

  My attempt to consider other Kymari as potential handlers quickly left me frustrated. Most were either just walking by or quietly enjoying the park on one of the many benches. Nothing that helped me determine their personality.

  I flicked my tail in agitation, whacking a branch behind me. A flower drifted down in a rather swirly spiral as it passed right in front of a Kymari’s nose. He looked up. 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. With my harness, there was no way he could mistake me for a member of the wild flock. He continued sitting on the bench while watching me.

  I pulled a leaf off a branch and dropped it. The leaf took an even more erratic trip down than the flower had, not even coming close to the bench. The Kymari blinked but didn’t say anything. Next, I scratched a chunk of bark free and it landed near his feet. He glanced at it before his gaze returned to me. Snagging another leaf, I let it fall. He didn’t even bother watching where it went.

  I tilted my head. Most Kymari quietly talked to me if they noticed me watching them, but he still hadn’t uttered a single word. A few more leaves sailed toward 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 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, and they didn’t know I could understand them.

  I glided away from the silent Kymari to search for more responsive people. The next seven Kymari 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.

  Often, a simple whistle or trill prompted them to keep speaking. Their one-sided conversations were a bit odd, mostly revolving about how pretty I was or wondering where Taureen or Aeria were. All of them acted calmly and spoke in quiet, reassuring tones, as if they didn’t want to startle or scare me. It didn’t give me much perspective on their personality or usual behavior. I’d have to try spying on someone who was unaware of my presence.

  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 trying to kick the ball against a rock in the middle of the grassy area. Whoever kicked it last got the point. They were having a blast, and it looked so fun that I wanted to play.

  My wings half unfurled and vibrated as I wondered how I could join in. They were kicking the ball fairly hard, and it was almost twice my size. The ball ricocheted off the rock with enough force to roll halfway over to 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 easily. I hopped after it, pushing it with my head again.

  “Look. It’s a fire lizard.”

  One grinned. “I think it’s trying to steal your ball, Ricaro.”

  “It has a harness. It must be one of the youngsters. What was the female’s name again?”

  He tilted his head. “Tesell? Tessa? Something like that.”

  This content has been misappropriated from Royal Road; report any instances of this story if found elsewhere.

  It took a few tries, but I discovered that if I kept my head or chest close to the ball, I could trot 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?”

  “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 as they tested the waters.

  They were more concerned about how I’d react to their presence as opposed to how close I was getting to the rock. With a jump and hard bunt from my chest, the ball tapped 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 toward 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, easily keeping up, but letting me steal the ball. His friend followed, letting him take the lead. The other two watched from the sidelines with grins.

  Hesitantly, the closest one nudged his foot under the ball, bunting it up and over to his friend. He stole it! With an indignant squawk, I threw myself into the air and landed ahead of him, stalking forward.

  He was clearly being careful with his feet and how hard he tapped the ball as he deftly evaded me. I bounded through the short grass in pursuit. His jog was barely faster than a quick walk, and I kept between him and the rock, not letting him score a goal.

  Pouncing forward, I tackled the ball hard enough to get it away from his feet. With a whistling laugh, I jumped over it and spun around so I could push it toward the rock. He stepped into my path and stopped.

  It was easy enough for me to skip to the side and detour around him, although I had to use the front edge of my wing to corral the ball when it tried 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 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 their direction, pretending I had heard a physical call. Turning back, I whistled a thank-you to the teenagers before taking to the air and flying into the trees.

  They looked 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’d have to check the field in the future in case they played there regularly.

  “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, and the fast flight after the ball game left me panting as I landed on Aeria’s shoulder.

  With everyone accounted for, we went home. The guards went their separate ways, and Tkael left as well, saying he’d come over after dinner. I hoped Soranto would show up

  As per usual, Taureen and Aeria set out fruit for us and made their own dinner. After stuffing myself with juicy fruit, I flew up a wall perch above the couch and lounged on the large piece of driftwood, staring absently out the window.

  “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 Taureen was looking at something on his laptop, angling the screen so Aeria could also see. I practically went into a freefall in my haste to get down and see the screen. My feet hit his shoulder pads with audible thuds, although I barely noticed it as I 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 managed to steal it, 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 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 to see the screen. “Okay, that looks like a lot of fun. I want to join next time.”

  “I’m not sure how often they go there. I’ve never been to that area before,” I told him.

  “We’ll have to check. I bet if we find them there once or twice, they’ll show up more often, just in case we return.”

  “Dirk’s correct,” Taureen commented. “They’re planning to go back tomorrow. It also looks like there’s a spirited discussion about changing their team crest to a red fire lizard”

  I snorted. “Seriously? I think they need their heads checked. I almost got eaten by an eagle.”

  “And you are a member of the only species that willingly tracks and attacks sicora,” Aeria countered in an amused voice. “This is the first time they’ve seen a fire lizard join a sports game, so they’re excited.”

  “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.”

  “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 also watched the screen intently, trying to figure out the rules and which strategies worked best.

  Taureen put the laptop away when Tkael showed up. To my great disappointment, Soranto didn’t come over, leaving a heaviness in my heart.