As promised, Gretel had returned the next day, acting as her usual carefree self. While Gadalik was still worried about what could have upset her the previous evening, he wasn't sure it was worth bringing up if doing so would dampen her mood.

“C’mon,” the white-and-purple wyvern beckoned him on their way from his den in the forest to their rock on the northern outskirts. “Y'know, for someone who beat me in a race, you sure move slo-o-ow!”

Gadalik laughed between pants as he galloped at an increasing distance behind her. “No–you've just gotten faster.”

Unlike during their first race, the young wind dragoness was currently dodging the trees on foot; her wings folded up against the backs of the forelimbs they stemmed from–as they did when she landed so as not to be in the way–but for sharper movements, they momentarily spread to catch the winds she summoned. If it weren't for the earth-seer hybrid’s perception ability, Gadalik never would have noticed those quick and subtle actions, which impressed him all the more.

Of course Gretel preferred flying; as soon as she escaped the maze of forest, she took to the air and dropped on top of the boulder they had met at last season. “I win!” she announced triumphantly.

“You really deserved to,” he congratulated her after the seconds it took for him to catch up. “It's crazy how you can adapt to the land and the skies. Is it natural for you to run like that?”

She seemed confused by the question. “Uhh… What? Running is natural for anyone with legs.”

The green dragon shook his head as he climbed up beside her. “Not ‘running;’ running like that: with your wings.” His specification didn't seem to help. She really did all of that without even thinking?!

“Running with my wings, huh… Do you mean flying? Of course flight is natural to me. If a wind-type couldn't fly, they'd die!”

“That isn't what I–” he stopped himself as her last sentence registered. “Wait. How would being on land kill them?”

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“Being on land won't, but land-dwelling dragons will. Wind types are able to fly away from other dragons that either don't have wings, or whose wings can't carry them as far. That's how I survived this long, after all.”

He remembered her recounting the times others had attacked her for trespassing on her travels and realized she was right; they had all ended with her escaping by flight. Then his earlier conversation with Guinevere regarding why she wouldn't let him meet her friend suddenly came to mind, and so too did a possible explanation of why Gretel had gotten upset before. “Gretel… Do you have any enemies?”

She tilted her head thoughtfully. “I don't think so? All of the ones who went after me also attacked everyone who neared them, so it's not personal.”

“But what if one of them followed you here?” He recalled how she had glanced toward the sky out of his den before she had left.

“How could they? Again, none of them could fly like me. And there's no way they'd know I would end up on this land, either, even if they did fly to follow–they couldn't keep up, and even I didn't know where I was going,” she laughed reassuringly.

“I see…” Gadalik debated with himself on asking her bluntly about it, since the pieces he had to work with didn't fit together in the puzzle that solving would explain her behavior.

“You worry too much,” Gretel concluded after a beat of silence. “I'm fine. We're fine. Nothing's gonna happen.”

“Then why did you look so worried when you left yesterday?” The words came out on their own, seizing the opportunity to before the topic changed.

“Huh? I don't remember being worried…” The striped wyvern seemed genuinely perplexed.

“Maybe ‘worried’ is the wrong word. You looked… upset.”

“I get what you meant… But my answer is still the same: I don't remember getting upset or anything. Last I recall, I was telling you about the time I was almost toasted by the sneeze of a sleeping fire dragon.” She couldn't help laughing to herself at the memory.

There was no trace of deceit, but he felt himself frown from the realization that she had only gotten upset to begin with after she couldn't explain why she kept endangering herself by going near strangers. She doesn't know why she goes near them… And now she doesn't even remember getting upset about not knowing why?

Gretel’s hot pink eyes studied his for a moment before she glanced over her shoulder to make sure his expression wasn’t aimed at something else. “W-What? Why are you looking at me like that?”

“Are you okay?” Gadalik asked, truly concerned about her.

“Uhh, yeah? Again, I'm fine. But you're starting to make me think you're not. If you have something to vent about, I'll listen,” she offered.

That's what I should be telling you! he wanted say, but instead sighed dismissively. “I'm okay.”