Kivb-ee slumped over on her school pillow. Her attention, well part of her attention, was on the tablet propped up in front of her. The other half of her mental focus was taken by fiddling with a puzzle box Rrorro had given her.
Sigh.
She really hoped to hear from Alden soon, but communication this far from Artona 1, let alone Alden’s home planet of Earth, was difficult. Knight Alis-ar’th was amazing, but she could only work so fast. It would still be quite a while before the new system was set up here on Moon Thegund. At least the knight had gotten notification that Alden was alive.
Just as she was about to flip to the next slide on the tablet and solve a new sequence for her ongoing lessons, Kraa eased his way through the doorway and screeched in Griveckry
Kivb-ee rolled her eyes up, a habit she picked up from Alden and sighed again. “It's boring,” she said.
Kivb-ee humpfed. She had been serious when she vowed to Alden that she would become Primary. Kraa had overheard them chatting one time and continued to tease her.
“Has at Alis-ar’th received any messages from the orbiting ship?”
Kivb-ee’s shoulders dropped further. She missed Alden so much. Sure, there were the others to make her meals and order her around and tell her loving lies like adults usually do for children, but it wasn't the same. They just…weren't Alden. And none of them called her 'Kibby'.
Kraa quietly observed Kivb-ee’s frowning countenance for a moment longer then tried once more to distract her by asking
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“Almost,” Kivb-ee sighed a third time.
Kraa and the rest of the crew knew that only time would heal the youngling’s trauma and provide opportunity to reunite with her human ryeh-b’t friend. But perhaps there was something that could help cheer Kiv-bee up. The griveck cubs always had favored toys to play with and in the last remaining pocket of Ryeh-b’t Alden’s tattered coat had been a very battered blue ryeh-b’t stuffie. If he recalled correctly one of the other wizards accompanying Alis-ar’th had a particular skill for restoring items to their previous state…Perhaps….Well, it was worth a try.
Kraa prowled down the hallway in hunt of the ragged ryeh-b’t. Having been modified to adapt to the artonanan preferred atmosphere, he had no trouble applying the superior sense of smell grivecks possessed to locate the toy in a pile of refuse that someone recalled chucking the stuffed figurine into. Kivb-ee must have handled it at some point since he caught a faint whiff of her upon it.
Alis-ar’th was amenable to Kraa’s suggestion when he presented it to the Knight and in short order a fluffy ryeh-b’t was gently cradled between Kraa’s claws. It wasn’t just restored but had an upgrade that the Quarternary proposed. The figurine now sported a miniature set of wizard robes that mimicked some costume Alis-ar’th described Ryeh-b’t Alden wearing at a party. Kraa wasn’t sure about this addition. He thought that patching together the remaining scraps of the red lab coat would have been more appropriate. Kivb-ee had never seen her Alden at a party, after all. However, Alis-ar’th felt that the lab coat would bring back traumatic memories for the youngling, so a Wizard Ryeh-b’t it was.
This time when Kraa leaned against the doorframe and lightly screeched for Kivb-ee’s attention, he was shadowed by Rrorro and few others who were hopeful that this token would bring the girl out of her dejection.
Kivb-ee’s attention snapped up at Kraa’s shrill call. Kraa pulled his paw from behind his back and presented the Restored Ryeh-b’t. Her eyes went wide and she half exclaimed, “Where did you get…?! How?....that was…”
Slowly the girl stood and reached for the toy. Her lip quivered as she gently lifted it out of Kraa’s paw and with an almost reverence pressed it to her cheek. Eyes now closed and seeping tears, Kivb-ee incoherently tried to mumble her thanks, but Kraa and the observers could plainly see gratitude painted by her response.
Later when Kraa reported to Alis-ar’th that Kiv-bee had named her ryeh-b’t ‘Alden’, the Knight smiled to herself, recalling a message about a live ryeh-b’t pet acquired by her nephew. “Yes, I think ‘Alden’ is indeed a fine name for a ryeh-b’t.”