Normally Viliant would not accept food or drink from humans so readily, but he had been goaded to take part. The last time that he had done so, the citrus ice had tasted delicious. After working alongside these men all day, most of whom praised his rare element and trusted him to defend the ship, Viliant felt confident that they would not poison him at least. The dragonet stuffed his nose into the mug so that his closed eyelids pressed up to the rim. He drank until he could not reach the shallow layer at the bottom.

"Bleh." Viliant let his tongue loll between his fangs once he had finished. "It's sour." Some pulque dripped off his chin. "Does this taste better to humans?"

Pako shrugged. "You'll get used to it. Wait till you feel it."

"Feel what?"

As a response, Pako and the other humans nearby only grinned. Viliant narrowed his eyes, more concerned by what he had just consumed. Based on the jolly nature of all the crewmates, they must like the resulting aftereffects of the pulque.

Fia stayed curled beneath the brazier. Its warm underside heated her wings, which were tucked around her body like a blanket.

Captain Ulatu knelt to peer at Fia. "Do you plan to stay out here, little dragonette? I'm seeing that Tacuma gets to bed." He gestured to his young daughter who kicked her heel along the boards.

Without lifting her head, Tacuma glanced sidelong at Fia. The girl's hooded lids made her expression look unhappy.

The dragonette gulped. Fia had definitely gotten on Tacuma's bad side, but it seemed as though she had not told the captain yet. "I'm okay. Viliant will take care of me," Fia said, but wanting to sound more mature and useful herself, she added, "And I want to watch the fire."

Captain Ulatu nodded his bushy chin. "G'night, Fia." His stern voice softened once he had gotten up and turned back to his daughter. "Come on, Tacuma. There's no reason for you to stay out here." The captain took Tacuma's hand and walked off with her.

The girl turned back to stare at Fia beneath the brazier. A hint of jealousy gleamed in her dark brown eyes. Tacuma followed her father into the cabin.

Fia's attention swiveled back to the men's dancing feet. A low growl sounded below the tramp of their boots. "Viliant?" Alarmed by his sudden growl, Fia watched the black dragonet who had curled up and flattened himself along the planks.

The humans gave him space at once. "Sorry," Pako said. "Did someone step on your tail—?"

A snarl broke in Viliant's throat. "What did you… do to me?" After a few broken words in Malakow, Viliant reverted to the vocal language of Syene. Fia recognized the sound of the syllables, but she did not understand their meaning.

What's wrong? Fia demanded from Viliant. She descended to panic when she could not reach him over telepathy. Even though he was only a few paces ahead of her, he felt distant as though he were out of range. Fia squirmed from her spot beneath the brazier and darted directly in front of Viliant. She replaced his view of Pako with her pink scales and blue eyes.

Now that she had his attention focused on her, Fia was able to successfully renew their telepathy. What's wrong, Viliant? Thanks to their telepathy, she already had a partial answer to her question.

Viliant's mind felt deranged and disordered like some ailment had overtaken him. He thrashed his head side to side. Poison. Stupid. Revenge. Humans. Hate. Myself. Too many ideas cascaded through his mind all at once for Fia to understand the present state of his mind.

Slow down, Viliant! One thing at a time.

Hanging his head lower, Viliant muttered some words aloud to help him concentrate. "Poison. I thought they wouldn't poison me. I thought—" Viliant gritted his fangs together and growled louder. "I need to get revenge while I still can."

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What?

Viliant wasted no more time in this useless talk. Although most of the sailors had given a wide berth around Viliant, Pako had crouched in front of him out of concern. This put the human's face at the same level as Viliant's snapping jaws and flashing claws.

"No! Stop!" Fia tackled him mid-lunge. They tumbled together, and Viliant's sluggish movements somehow let her come out on top. Fia stepped one clawed foot over Viliant's head to keep him down, intending to stall him only long enough so that she could get answers. Her livid eyes focused on Pako, with her slitted pupils dilated so that they were almost round. "Did you poison my friend?"

"Absolutely not," Pako exclaimed. The man had fallen back and scrambled to his feet out of frightened surprise. "That's just the pulque. We didn't give him that much, but maybe he drank it too fast."

Before Fia could ask another question, Viliant used his greater strength to throw her off him. The long spines along the crown of his head stabbed the bottom of her foot. "Ow!" Fia yowled.

Viliant flinched and turned back to his best friend. "You're not hurt…. I didn't just hurt you." His eyes narrowed at the human onlookers in his line of sight, accusing them of doing this to Fia instead.

Along the bottom of her forefoot, a red prick broke the pattern of her scales. Fia lifted her paw to observe the big drop of blood before she tested her weight on it. "Ow," she yelped again. The unfortunate location of the deep scratch would have her limp until it had healed.

"Hey, Viliant, you need to turn in for the night," Pako said sternly.

Viliant's glare flashed back to him.

Fia hurriedly loped in front of Viliant once more. Facing Pako, she asked, "Viliant confused the feeling of the pulque for poison. How do we make him feel better?"

"He just needs to sleep it off," Pako barked. "Maybe some food and water if your rations can spare it."

"Thanks." Fia spun herself next to Viliant's side. She leaned her weight on him before he could volunteer to support her. Let's go, Viliant. Take me away from the humans.

Fine. He let out one last growl and shot them all a glare before he skulked off. Viliant took Fia to their quarters below deck. While the rest of the sailors would sleep in a row of bunks, Fia and Viliant had the cozy space behind the ladder to themselves. The location at the center of the ship was safest for Fia and optimal for Viliant to monitor for the ghost pirarucu during the night.

Amidst the crates of food, Fia rustled through the rations that the dragonets had supplied for themselves. She wanted to get Viliant a snack so that he would feel better.

Objecting to her needless fuss, Viliant tossed his head. Lie down, Fia.

This will help clear your head, Fia insisted as she stuffed some briny meat against his nose.

Viliant wrinkled his nostrils. Since she stood on her three sound legs, Fia held the food in her injured paw. This made the smell of her blood more poignant to him. Viliant snapped down the meat, intending to let her to rest sooner. Viliant lowered himself next to Fia and nuzzled her claws into a lax, open position. I'm sorry for hurting you—never meant to poke you. He licked the wound which he had given her.

Shocked, Fia watched him nurse her foot. She had been prepared to do this on her own. After all, Fia had always tended to her own injuries unless the locality was such that her neck could not reach. "Oh." Her tail curled from the pleasant surprise. Thanks, Viliant. I know you didn't mean to. The pulque still had a strong hold over his fuzzy mind. Now that she had seen the effects of alcohol, Fia was grateful that the sailors had considered her too young to partake.

We need to stay away from the humans, Viliant restated, quickly clarifying: I need to. You did good today.

Thanks, Fia thought, but her mind drifted to how she had not been kind enough to Tacuma. I think you did a good job too, at least until you drank that stuff. Maybe we should not try any new foods, just for now.

Sounds good to me. Viliant nodded his head, brushing his scaly cheek along Fia's foreleg. Once he had finished licking her wound, he flopped onto his side with a wing draped in a limp invitation.

Fia resisted the urge to squeal out of excitement. She squirmed underneath Viliant's wing to get cozy. Maybe she should also feel grateful that the sailors had given him pulque. Although his aggression around the humans had been scary, Fia appreciated how he had lost his bristly edge around her. Viliant conked out before he could shoo her from under his wing, making up for the small way that he had hurt her earlier.