Lost Change

Chapter 21

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Author's note - Illustration

This picture of Nate was a gift by Pheonix for a cover image.  I love how it came out - thank you again, very much!

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I ambled through the forest and ate various fruits to silence the hunger in my stomach, then found a tree branch to sprawl out on for a nap as the day warmed up. I slept for several hours, waking only when the sun was high overhead. I yawned and soaked in a few more minutes of warmth, then slid from the branch into a glide towards the river.

I spent the rest of the afternoon swimming in the river. It had been a few days since I had taken care of myself, and even though the water was cold, it felt good to splash and play in it. Dust and dirt muddied the water in my wake, and I felt a little guilty at just how long I had neglected giving my scales proper attention. Now that I was finally taking the time to pay attention my body gleefully informed me of itchy spots, and I spent a lot of time rubbing against underwater rocks to massage and scratch at parts of my body that my claws just couldn't reach.

I deliberately caught an extra large fish to make up for the loss of the other two. I withdrew to the shore as the afternoon turned to evening, making sure to leave plenty of time to bask in the sunlight after spending so much time in the cool water. When I felt nice and warm again I cleaned the fish, then took off towards Susie's grave.

My nose alerted me to the scent of Kymari as I drew closer. It was a fresh scent, not left over from the morning group or from random groups passing throughout the day. I slowed and perched on an upper branch, balancing carefully with my wings so as to keep hold of the fish, and glanced down at the ground below.

Two Kymari stood in the clearing. One seemed vaguely familiar, though I couldn't place him. The green-skinned creatures were several times my size, and had features alien to most things I was familiar with, so I didn't really have any good way of telling one adult Kymari from another.

But the second Kymari was the child I had seen a few days ago. The day Susie...

The girl was looking up in the trees while the adult glanced at the ground around them. She held a yellow ball in her hands, but she wasn't bouncing it this time. Instead they both just seemed to be waiting for something.

I shifted nervously on the branch and glanced at the mound of dirt. The pinecone rested against it, still where I had left it. I had hoped to kick it around a bit...

...but there was no way I was going down to play while that child was there. Not with what I knew the adults would do to protect one if they were startled.

And if my firsthand experience hadn't been enough, the encyclopedia in my head provided me with one simple fact of knowledge: Kymari did not tolerate any threat whatsoever to one of their children.

I looked back at her. Why was she there? She wasn't even playing...

I watched her as the evening wore on. She looked at various trees, but didn't glance my way. Finally she sighed and looked up towards the adult.

"Are you sure he's coming?" I felt the tufts at the side of my head rise as I tried to make out the sound of her voice.

The adult shook his head. "No, Lyzel. It came here last night, but that does not mean it will come back again tonight." The adult glanced towards a spot on the ground near the grave and stared for a moment. "It may not ever come back."

The adult's voice finally allowed me to place him. It was the older adult, the one who had stopped the other Kymari from shooting me.

"I think it will. It's like in the stories about a Kymallata, when a bond animal lives longer than its handler." The child - Lyzel? - looked back up into the trees, searching in the dimming evening light. "He knows his friend is here, so he's going to come back to be with them again."