Tessa’s POV:

  I flew silently up behind the Kymari, who were still sitting on the benches and visiting. Abby was right behind me, carrying a flower of her own.

  “We can both fit on Sadria’s shoulder.”

  “I guess… Which one is Sadria?”

  I sent her the mental image, and just before we reached them, I trilled a greeting whistle so I didn’t startle them. They were fighters, after all. They glanced over as I landed on Sadria’s shoulder and promptly began stuffing the flower stem into a gap near the front of her neck. Abby touched down very nervously on the edge of her armor before tentatively tucking her flower into a joint along Sadria’s shoulder blade.

  “Well, this is unusual,” Sadria commented calmly, not looking directly at us.

  It took me only moments to have the flower securely in place where it pointed toward Sadria’s face.

  “Tessa, treat,” Taureen quietly said.

  My ear tufts perked up when I saw that he was holding two sunburst berries. I immediately flew over to land on his wrist guard.

  “Abby! He has sunburst berries! Come get one!”

  I gleefully began nibbling on mine, trying to make it last. The green fledgling was shaking as she landed beside me to get the last berry. Her eyes were wide and her ear tufts were back as they quivered. I realized that she was much more scared of my friends than I was of the forest.

  “Come on,” I told her. “Let’s go find a quiet place to eat these.”

  Her relief flooded the mindlink like a strong wave. I took flight, and just for fun, did a barrel roll. Abby quickly passed me, darting into the concealing trees. We landed in a tree to enjoy the delicious berries.

  “Where did he get them?” Abby asked, licking her claws clean of every speck of juice. “Dad helped me find one of these berries in a planter once.”

  I shrugged. “I’m not sure, but I usually get one every day.”

  Her longing and jealousy came through the mindlink.

  “Mom and Dad plan to come back another day, so we can always visit the Kymari again.”

  “Maybe. Let’s go find Glen and Dirk.”

  We went to locate the duo, who were still in the clearing with the adults

  “Hey, Glen,” Abby began excitedly. “I just had a sunburst berry!”

  His head whipped around to stare at us incredulously. “Where did you find one?”

  “Tasha’s handler had two, one for me and one for Tessa.” Her excitement was underlaid by the nervousness she had felt.

  Mia, the green dragonet who had been curious about my harness, sat up with her ears pinned back. “What? You went near the Kymari? They could have kidnapped you and put you in a cage!”

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  A rude snort came from Mom as she lifted her head. “That is a lie, Mia, and you know it. Unless she was seriously injured, they wouldn’t even consider taking her from the park. Quit trying to scare them.”

  “You have always favored the Kymari,” Mia retorted.

  “And you have always favored the park. It’s personal preference. Let them make their own choices.”

  Mia turned her gaze to me. “Do you plan to stay with the Kymari or enjoy freedom in the park?”

  I wasn’t entirely sure why it seemed like they were arguing, so I thought about how to reply before doing so. “I want to help the Kymari keep sicora and crawlers off this planet. Although I don’t know what dragonets in the park do.”

  The green dragonet winced slightly and turned her head away without replying. Mom smirked although a number of dragonets looked uncomfortable. I looked around in confusion, still not understanding the conversation.

  Drake shook out his wings. “Each dragonet should get to make the choice for themselves. While I greatly envy my friends who get to see sicora and crawlers killed on a weekly basis, I’m far too chicken to get that close to a Kymari.”

  An image of a fat, feathery bird appeared in my mind, thoroughly confusing me until the Blood Memories also provided the implication that being called a chicken meant he was scared. How were the Kymari scarier than the eagles and other dangers that lurked in the park? Such a thing puzzled me. The dragonets returned to sunbathing as if the conversation was apparently settled.

  I looked at Abby in confusion. “What do you want to do now?”

  “Well, we can go swimming again, sunbathe, explore the nearby area, or find some more fruit trees.”

  “I don’t feel like sunbathing right now. What kind of fruit trees are close by?”

  “Not much, but there are some about a ten-minute flight away.”

  “Isn’t it dangerous to go that far? What about eagles or other creatures?” I wanted to see new types of fruit, but my close call with the eagle was at the forefront of my mind.

  “There aren’t many eagles around here, and most are scared of us. As long as we don’t go near the ground, we won’t have to worry about foxes or snakes.”

  This place was sounding more and more dangerous all the time. I really wanted to go, but I also wanted to survive this visit.

  I glanced over. “Hey, Dad, can you come with us to find these fruit trees?”

  “Sure,” he replied, getting to his feet. “Dirk, Glen, do you two want to come as well?”

  “Yes!” Glen replied.

  “Okay,” Dirk said, somewhat reluctantly.

  The five of us flew through the forest as I gawked at the sheer number of trees. A game of hide-and-seek could last forever out here!

  As we flew over another pathway, several Kymari walking along it noticed us and commented on our harnesses. Two wondered where Taureen and Aeria were. I knew Taureen often posted pictures of us on his laptop for others to see, but I hadn’t realized that random Kymari walking through the park would recognize us. Abby and Glen glanced back at them nervously.

  Speaking only to Dad, I asked, “Why are the dragonets scared of the Kymari, but not of eagles and foxes?”

  “It’s what they know. The unknown is scary. Would you go near a fox?”

  “No!”

  “For them, going near a Kymari would seem just as dangerous. They know the forest, and they know how to avoid foxes, but they don’t know the Kymari or the city.”

  I considered that. It seemed strange, even if I didn’t quite understand how they could be scared of Kymari when none had hurt them. My nostrils flared at the smell of fruit, some of it quite overripe. Soon, we reached an orange tree, and Dirk promptly began wrestling an orange onto a sturdier part of the branch.

  “There are several types of fruit trees around here,” Dad said. “I’ll check the area to make sure it’s safe, but feel free to explore. Just don’t go near the ground.”

  Immediately, I asked Abby, “Want to come with me?”

  “Sure! Let’s check the tree over there first.”

  I followed her while Dad began circling the area. Most of the trees weren’t types that produced fruit. Some had flowers, quite a few had unripe fruit, and with some hunting, we found a few with ripe fruit.

  We sampled almost every kind of fruit we could find. A couple were good, many were decent, and two were horribly bitter. Once we had eaten our fill, we flew back to the others to sunbathe along the creek.