Lost Change

Chapter 87

I settled down into the grass as the last bits of the Morning Song faded. Minna seemed to be in much better spirits this morning, and she had a soft smile on her face as she watched me glide to the ground. I chirped happily at the sight of her smile, and jumped back into the air to fly the short distance to her shoulder.

She reached up to pet me, and we watched the sun continue to creep up above the horizon.

After a few minutes we heard the door open behind us. Minna glanced back, but I kept looking at the sky. I knew who it was - there was only one other person in the house, after all - and I had decided to try and make an effort to be nice to him. Or at the very least, to not make things worse for Minna.

"You're up early." There was a bit of surprise in the Kymari's voice.

Minna rose to her feet and nodded. "I told you I would be. I get up before the sunrise now. Why are you wearing that?" She turned back towards the house, bringing her father into my field of vision. I made a point not to glare at him for Minna's sake, but I still wasn't very happy with him, even with the typical euphoria left behind from the Morning Song. He was wearing a full set of the Kymari armor, though I noticed it lacked the same sheen that Minna's had. That meant it probably wouldn't protect him from my fire.

Not that I had any ideas about testing that out. Honest.

"I told you I would come with you on your patrols." He reached to one arm and began adjusting the armor plate covering it.

"If you really want to and can convince the other guards to let you come, I won't try and stop you, but I don't have any patrols today. This is a training day for me."

The older Kymari stopped his adjustment and looked confused by that news. "You're hunting sicora and he isn't even fully trained?"

Minna shook her head. "Not for him; he's more than trained enough for the job. It's for me. Combat training." She shrugged and moved past him to open the door. "You're welcome to wear it and come with me, but you'll look out of place at the gym."

Her father sighed and followed us back into the house. "I'll go change. When do you leave?"

"Not for a little bit. We still have to eat breakfast; you've got time. I'll have it ready in a minute."

"Thank you."

Minna's father walked back towards his room while we went to the kitchen. Minna put out a bowl of fruit for me to eat while she put together a few servings of something resembling pancakes. I ate quickly, then flew back to the living room to rest. I didn't really want to sit through an awkward meal between the two Kymari... and it was always nice to relax under a heat lamp after eating.

It was about an hour later when I heard Minna call for me. "Okay Nate, let's go." I lifted my head and yawned, then hopped off the simple shelf to glide towards the front door.

Minna's father had changed into the more casual outfits I normally saw Kymari wearing, and he watched from beside Minna as I landed on her shoulder and waited patiently for her to clip the harness over me. I stared back at him for a half second, then dismissed him and looked away. Minna clipped one of the longer leashes to my harness - I had long since realized the short ones were for patrols, when Minna needed to be able to keep me close, while most other times the leash was more for appearance than anything - and we left the house.

The familiar walk to the gym was awkward. Most days I took the chance to stretch my wings a bit, since I had come to learn I wouldn't have much chance to do that while Minna was exercising, but I didn't really feel that comfortable leaving her shoulder this time. I had the constant feeling that Minna's father was watching us both and judging everything we did, and it was hard to relax with him doing that. And I knew it had to be even worse for Minna. So I sat on her shoulder and gave her whatever support my presence could give.