It did not take long before Fia's focus was interrupted. The girl crept out from behind the cabin and approached the pink dragonette. The human stood so that her shadow blocked the sunlight on Fia's cheek. "Hi!" the girl peeped.

Fia cracked one eye open.

The kid had her lips stretched in a human's weird smile. Although the dragonette did not know much about human dress, the girl looked less like the woman in the capital and more like a miniature sailor. When Fia did not reply, the girl asked in an innocent tone, "What're you up to?"

"Meditating."

"What for?" The girl rocked on her heels with her hands folded behind her back.

"I'm practicing magic." Fia opened her eyes all the way and glanced around for Viliant. The black dragonet was nowhere in sight, allowing her to relax some tension in her angled wings. The dragonette did not want her friend to catch her consorting with a human. Fia contemplated retreating to the other side of the ship, but no matter where she went, she had a feeling that this girl would follow her. Fia planned to find out what the human wanted first, then she would get away as soon as possible.

"My papa told me you took second place in the youth tournament!" The girl's eyes lit up in the same way that Ori had looked at Fia. "That's amazing!"

"Thank you." Fia could not resist her tail flicking into a smile. She stood up and stretched to hide the reaction of her tail.

"Your name's Fia, right? I'm Tacuma." The girl peeled her lips apart to reveal her teeth.

Fia stared at her mouth, reminding herself that humans did not flash their teeth as a sign of aggression. "Nice to meet you."

"Yeah! Nice to meet you too." Tacuma fiddled with her braid, and her eyes diverted away from Fia. "Your scales are really pretty. They're the same color as my bow." Tacuma held out the ribbon tied at the end of her hair, some white and gray feathers stitched to the fabric. The rest of the pink silk twisted throughout her braid which added color to her glossy, brown hair.

"Thanks." Fia ruffled her wings. "You picked a good color."

Tacuma's hands dropped away from her braid, and her downcast eyes stared at the wooden planks. "My mama picked it out for me…." Tacuma strained her voice as though she choked back tears. Her clear eyes flung back up to regard Fia. "That's why pink is my favorite color! I bet we have a lot more in common, too. Let's be friends—"

Fia walked past Tacuma and headed for the ship's far side. Unless Tacuma was a better mage who could help Fia meditate, she was uninterested in making human friends. "I have to keep practicing magic."

"Can I watch?" Tacuma asked, skipping behind Fia's tail.

Worried that the clumsy human might step on it, Fia curled her tail up to her heels. The dragonette stopped and spun, scraping her dew claws against the deck. "No. There's nothing to watch. I'm just meditating."

Tacuma huffed and tossed her braid over her shoulder. "Well, let me know when you're done being boring. I'd love to see your magic sometime!" The girl tromped the other way.

Fia's breath quickened alongside her breath. Was I too rude? she wondered. Her mind reached out to Viliant, hoping to appease her guilt.

What did you do? Viliant asked as soon as their minds reconnected.

There's a human girl around our age on the ship, Fia reported. She tried making friends with me.

No, you did not—! Viliant's bad mood rumbled like a growl.

I told her I'm too busy with magic to play.

Oh. Viliant made no attempt to conceal his shock over telepathy. After Fia had made fast friends with Ori, he had assumed that she would still do so with humans indiscriminately. Good job, Fia. Don't let the humans distract you. We have to stay focused on the mission. Even though Viliant could not see her nod, he could sense her assent over telepathy.

Stolen from its original source, this story is not meant to be on Amazon; report any sightings.

Fia settled down to resume sunbathing and meditating, at least until Tacuma pestered her again in the afternoon.

"I brought my favorite toy!" Tacuma sat down next to Fia uninvited. Her fingers unfurled to reveal a knobby, hollowed ball. "It's a singing, spinning top." When she twisted it and twirled it against the ground, the air whistled through the hole in the center. "See? Do you hear that?" A resonant pitch hummed through the air, quickly punctuated by Tacuma's yelp.

Fia coughed an ember over the top, setting it alight.

"Ah!" Tacuma leaped to her feet. The girl bounced from left foot to right foot around the flaming, spinning top. "Why'd you do that?"

"I thought you wanted to see my magic," Fia said, jumping to her own feet. The dragonette watched her flame spin round and round. Normally to get such an effect, Fia had to actively bend fire. The dragonette enjoyed watching it dance effortlessly.

"Not like this! Please, put it out."

Fia put her paw over the top, stopping it and snuffing out the flame. When her foot lifted away from the top, a piece of its burnt side crumbled away.

Tacuma propped herself on her knees to examine her top closely. "Oh," she sighed out of disappointment. "It's busted." Her attempts to spin it around only resulted in a feeble, lopsided roll. The top could no longer produce a pleasant sound aside from a hollow plunk when it fell over. Tacuma got up and shoved it in her pocket. "My papa made that for me. I guess we'll have to make another one."

"Go do that." Fia suppressed her urge to apologize profusely. She closed her eyes once more, finding it easier to ignore Tacuma that way. Just be like Viliant, she told herself. I want her to leave me alone, so I can focus on my magic.

Tacuma's footsteps padded away. The girl did not reappear until nighttime when everybody on the ship gathered together.

***

The work throughout the day had not dampened the spirits of the crewmembers. If anything, the humid rainforest had carried the atmosphere to a fever pitch. Fia timidly peered at the congregation in the deck's center from the edge of the cabin. Her frantic eyes searched for Viliant amidst the human legs. You said you're here. I can't find you! she cried to him.

A human… has put its arm… around my neck. Even Viliant's thoughts came through stilted, so aggravated that he could not think straight. If he does not move right now, I'm going to bite his throat out.

No! Don't do that! I'm coming. Fia stepped out into the open and approached the rowdy humans. She needed to rescue Viliant who had not managed to excuse himself from his coworkers' jamboree.

"Fia!" a sailor called from the crowd. A hand stuck up to wave her over. Soon, Pako emerged to shepherd her toward the rest of the humans. "We've been waiting for our guest of honor!" The way his words slurred together, Fia had a harder time following his speech.

"You've been waiting for me? How come?" Fia flipped her gaze either which way. "Where's Viliant?"

"I thought we'd have to light the brazier ourselves." Pako laughed and steered Fia to the heart of the gathering. The dragonette gaped at the rotund, metal stand stuffed to the brim with cold, dry wood. The sticky night had stripped away common sense.

"No!" Fia shouted, her slitted pupils constricted to lines. "A big fire on a wood boat is a bad idea." The dragonette did not want to burn her ticket home.

"It's fine, so long as it stays in here." Pako rang the metal strip of his barrel mug against the brazier. "Besides, what sparks do we have to worry about when we've got a fire dragon on board?" Louder, he shouted with an arm swung out, "And what does the night have us fear when we've got a shadow dragon right here?"

Some hoots and hollers came from a small subset of the men, especially noisy around their subject of admiration. The black dragonet swayed back and forth by a drunken sailor's arm around his shoulders. Viliant glared at the man sidelong, then glanced at Fia for help.

Her head tilted quizzically. Couldn't you use your shadow magic to slip away, anytime? The fact that Viliant was still here meant that he chose to tolerate the humans' treatment toward him. Do you actually… like this—? Fia did not get to finish her thought before Viliant snapped their telepathy.

The black dragonet melded with the darkness, slipping through the man's arm. His ephemeral form plowed through the sailors' legs, leaving them with a chill up their spines. Viliant's physical form stood on the outer side of the ring. I'll get the captain. He'll break up the party. There's no way this conduct can go on.

Okay. Fia backed up and looked for a way to make her exit with Viliant, but she found herself surrounded by men. Her tail curled between her legs as she felt trapped, unable to use her magic to escape as easily as Viliant had.

"Come on, Fia," Pako chided. "Don't be shy."

All the sailors on board cheered on the pink dragonette, expecting her to light their brazier so the party could truly begin. Tacuma sat atop the large beer keg, swinging her legs to and fro. Fia took a deep breath and figured that they would let her go once the fire had started.