The Morning Song didn’t feel quite right, even though I danced and sang as I normally did. Something was missing, and I couldn’t quite pinpoint what it was. It left me feeling unbalanced and at a loss.

I headed off to bathe and get a bite to eat. My mood didn’t improve when no one joined me; they remained in areas with the better fruit trees, which were closer to the paths.

I curled up on a cliff ledge, feeling more out of sorts now than I had before. I had never been left unsettled by the Morning Song; it was as if a piece of the puzzle was missing. I had never felt like this before, and it confused me.

I spent the rest of the day by the creek. Alone. It hurt. I had never truly been alone before. I had never gone more than quarter of a day without seeing someone.

The entire day slowly passed by, and as the sun began approaching the horizon, I still hadn’t seen anyone. My appetite was almost non-existent, but I knew my stomach would wake me during the night if I didn’t eat before heading to sleep.

I spread my wings and weaved aimlessly between the branches, searching for trees with any ripe fruit. My nostrils flared as I sniffed the air. I would know that scent anywhere...

I quietly flew upwind while tracking the faint odor, eventually perching up in a tree as I found the one I was tracking. Others may be unable to identify individual Kymari on sight, but after so long in their world, I could even tell them apart by scent.

Taureen sat alone on a bench by the edge of a pond, watching the ripples on the water. He had no hawk glove or shoulder pads. His posture spoke of terrible grief.

I blinked slowly at his obvious anguish. He had put a ton of effort into trying to get me to establish a bond with him, and I wondered if he had realized before my disappearance that his efforts had also succeeded in causing him to form a close bond with me.

I slowly sat on the branch and took a hard look at the long view of the future. I could turn and fly away now, and he would never be the wiser. I could hide out here, free and in control of my own schedule.

Forever skulking around in fear of someone glimpsing me, while being ostracized by my friends.

Or...

Or I could go back and help hunt down sicora.

My grandfather had once told me that humans needed to have a purpose in life. Without that purpose, people slowed down and became a shell of their former self. He claimed that having a purpose in life was the reason that he was hale and healthy at the age of 97 when so many who retired went downhill swiftly.

There were pieces in both lives that I detested. I thought hard about them and sighed as I came to my conclusion. In the end, only one path could truly satisfy me. There was only one place where I could truly make a difference.

I may have been frustrated when Taureen insisted on hand-feeding me, but he had been the one to cut up each piece with care. He had been the one to spend countless hours simply watching and observing me. He had been the one to suppress any hint of anger or irritation, regardless of what stunt I pulled.

I turned my gaze back to Taureen; his visible grief and loss was that of someone who had lost a child. I think I know how you feel... I had just spent all day ignored and alone like a lost child that no one wanted.

I spread my wings and silently glided in to land on his shoulder, taking with my claws since he wasn’t wearing his shoulder pad. He turned his head in shock, and his expression turned to one of relief and joy. He reached up to gently pick me up off of his shoulder and cradled me to his chest tenderly.

I let him, gazing up in shock as I saw that he actually had tears starting to escape his eyes. I had never seen a Kymari cry before. He took a deep breath before murmuring, “I thought I lost you.”

His voice had a slightly broken quality to it; my disappearance had hit him much harder than I would have thought possible. I nuzzled his chin to lend comfort as I hummed an apology. My two days of freedom hadn’t affected the fact that I was completely at ease with him.

After a few moments, he loosened his grip and held his arm just in front of his chest. I stood on it while leaning against his chest for balance as he stood up. He stroked my neck and shoulders as he started walking down the path. Well, with the others in hiding, at least no one will see me being packed off.

Just as we were approaching the edge of the park, I noticed Alec talking with someone else farther along the path. He glanced over and did a double take when he saw me on Taureen’s arm. Both of them stared at us before Alec started to swiftly walk over. Alec looked stunned as he gazed at me in surprise.

“She’s alive. But how? I picked that tracker because it had never failed, and it showed her in the bottom of that pond.”

I blinked in surprise as I realized that they thought I had died. The tracker must have flowed into the deep pond that Taureen had been facing and sunk into the bottom, leading them to think that I had drowned.

I was startled when a low angry snarl echoed from Taureen’s chest. He was actually starting to shake in anger as he growled, “Look at her flank. Whoever broke through the garden door also cut her tracker bead out. When I get my hands on him, he’s going to pay.”

This was a side of Taureen that I had never seen; he was past the point of simply being mad. He was livid and furious. I had seen a Kymari like this only once before – and it had been that female when she had seen those coyotes about to attack her child. Taureen was just about as pissed off as she had been.

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Now that I think about it, that gate had been closed when we left in the morning, and Taureen hadn’t gone into the garden when we returned. Someone must have purposely broke the lock on the gate if it had been left ajar. Between the crime of breaking the gate and the imagined crime of cutting my skin, I had a feeling that there would be hell to pay if Taureen found him.

Alec and the other Kymari narrowed their eyes in anger. Alec glanced at my small cut, and it seemed to make him angrier. “Who would do such a thing? And why go through all that trouble when she could so easily return to you?”

Taureen was trying to calm himself down, without much success. “I’m not sure, nor am I aware of any who may have a grudge against me. I don’t think she was simply let go either, or I would have found her yesterday or with the wild ones this morning. I have a sneaking suspicion that whoever took her underestimated her curiosity and wasn’t aware of her ability to undo latches and open doors. I’m pretty sure she escaped.”

Alec shook his head as if disliking the thought of someone locking me up. “How did you find her?”

Taureen looked down at me with wonder. “I wasn’t even aware that she was around. She landed on my shoulder.”

Alec took a second look at me. “Let me call a shuttle. I’m not sure she will sit still for that long of a walk with no harness. You don’t have your shoulder pads either, and she is used to sitting on those.”

With a nod, Taureen replied, “Thanks.”

“Do you want to try using a loop of cord around her neck to secure her while waiting?”

Taureen shook his head. “No. I’m not sure what she went through, and I don’t want to spook her until I know how she will react.”

Alec nodded and radioed for a small shuttle. It wasn’t more than a minute or so before a small flying vehicle slowly dropped between the trees. Taureen put his hand on my shoulders, both as a reassurance and to keep me from making a break for it in case the odd vehicle spooked me.

He entered the shuttle with Alec. I glanced around the small shuttle once we were inside; this was the smallest one I had ever seen, having only four seats. It hovered so smoothly that I could barely tell we were moving. It dropped us off right outside the house door, and Taureen quickly went inside.

Alec followed us and firmly closed the door behind himself. He disappeared into the kitchen before returning with a whole shia fruit. Taureen was already sitting on the couch with me still on his arm. Taureen got me to step down onto his lap and took the fruit from Alec with a quiet thank you.

He pulled out a small knife and quickly peeled the fruit before offering a slice to me, which I greedily took. He kept cutting off slices and offering them to me. Alec sat in a chair and simply watched. By the time the fruit was gone, I was stuffed, and my stomach was noticeably round.

I yawned; a full stomach could really do me in. Taureen reached over and pulled out the cleaning kit. He began gently scrubbing my wings before wiping them clean and polishing them with the oil.

My head slowly dropped as he massaged the oil in. My chin rested on Taureen’s knee as I tried to stay awake.

“Alec, could you go to that second back room and grab the orange kit on the shelf? There are first aid things in it that were formulated specifically for fire lizards.”

I heard him get up and leave the room. He returned and placed it beside Taureen. Taureen kept massaging with one hand while doing something with the other. I opened up one eye to see him open up a jar of green salve. He dabbed his finger in it before lightly smearing it across the cut that Drake had made.

I shifted and muttered under my breath at the bit of pain. Taureen massaged the oil into my shoulders until I relaxed again. He rubbed the salve in lightly with his other hand, and it must have had a numbing agent in it since it didn’t hurt this time.

I was mostly asleep when I heard the doorbell chime. Alec got up to answer the door. Word of my return must have spread fast since Soranto, Tkael, Tran, and Vick all entered the house. They looked relieved when they spotted me.

Tkael immediately noticed my small cut and frowned as he asked, “What happened to her flank?”

Alec filled them in on the supposed details of my kidnapping, cut, and escape. All of them were angry and upset. Tkael and Tran were actually too worked up to sit down, pacing slightly in aggravation. I was completely confused by their reactions.

In the park, I had occasionally seen pets get into a scuffle. The owner of the mainly guilty animal had apologized, promised to rectify the training problem, and it was forgotten. Everyone here was going way overboard about the supposed kidnapping and the small cut. I must be missing something…

Tkael looked ready to spit nails. “I’ll help you kill him. What he did cannot be tolerated.”

Alec also looked ready to kill something. “No one harms a bond animal. Ever.”

I blinked as the pieces fell into place. I had heard that term years ago; a bond animal was similar to a service animal, but more highly regarded. Bond animals were uncommon and rarely, if ever, left their handler’s side. They always did something that greatly benefited all Kymari in the city or on a planet. Intentional harm to one was a death sentence.

I had not been aware that I was considered a bond animal, although it must have occurred when Taureen became my handler. I hadn’t heard any mention of him being a handler for a bond animal though, so I must have missed that discussion. Although I supposed that the ability to track dangerous creatures such as sicora or crawlers could fit into that category.

It also explained why Taureen had been so hurt by my disappearance. A handler of a bond animal committed themselves to the creature completely. The boundaries of ‘pet’ no longer applied.

He had looked like he had lost a child because that was what I was to him at this point.

Soranto sighed as he finally sat down. “As much as she dislikes me, I’m very glad that she is back safely. I cannot fathom why someone would take a bond animal though.”

Tkael growled, “A bond animal that was recently tamed? Particularly one that can detect, and will also attack, sicora? She is worth a fortune on the black market if she leaves the star systems controlled by the Kymari.”

Soranto reluctantly nodded as he accepted Tkael’s point. “That’s true. Most animals will accept a new handler rather easily during the first few years. Some ships will pay a substantial sum to have a sicora removed from a ship, if the crew even makes it to port alive.”

Tkael continued pacing along the far wall, showing no signs of settling down anytime soon. “There are only Kymari living on this planet though, and no Kymari would even contemplate such a thing. It makes me wonder if some other race didn’t sneak out of the port area.”

I glanced at the heat lamp, but it was turned off. Taureen’s skin was warm though, so I curled up on his lap as he absentmindedly petted me.

Alec turned to Taureen, inquiring, “Is that garden gate secured?”

Taureen nodded. “I had the lock replaced with a much better one; if it opens, or if anything breaches any part of the fence, it will send an alert to my wrist comm.”

Alec sighed in relief. “And the doors and windows?”

Taureen narrowed his eyes. “I still have yet to secure them past the basics.”

I yawned again as my eyes drifted shut. The discussion moved onto various locks and alarms that could be installed. One thing was certain though; if I hadn’t been able to open them before, I certainly wouldn’t be able to manage it once they were done with the upgrades.