“There’s no point in training if you can’t use the real thing.”
Even though she had just swallowed two hydropods, Cassie’s mouth was dust dry. They were arguing about her. They were arguing about her and her choices and what she wanted to do. She just wanted to feel safe. She just wanted some control. She just wanted to decide for herself.
“My choice.” She interrupted the unwanted argument. “I want to learn. I’ll feel safer.”
“If your purpose is to feel safe, it will be months before you can effectively use a pulsar gun.” S’samph’s frill had lifted high along his neck. “You can continue learning. I think it is prudent, but it won’t make you safer for some time.”
“Cassie, why do you need to use a pulsar gun if someone is with you to protect you all the time?” The weight of Örim’s hand landed on her shoulder.
“Because I need to be able to protect myself!”
It was too much.
The gray and red haze was closing in on her. Cassie started to run. She didn’t know exactly where she was going, but she couldn’t go home. Örim would find her there. She couldn’t go back to the clinic to deal with perfect, kind Eleri’s pity. The overturned boats from flooding season were long gone.
She found herself back in town. The workday had ended, so most everyone was congregated in the center of Laurus. No one paid much attention to her as she ran. They were used to seeing her around town. Things in the Aviary had been so straightforward. She knew who she was. She knew her role. Now she knew nothing. And everyone thought they knew better than her about what she needed.
Cassie stumbled into the cooler alleyway between the general store and the Eon. She was about to sit on the ground to gather herself when she noticed a figure huddling behind a collection of boxes. A small pair of wings stuck out, and Cassie crouched beside them to get a better look at the kyrot pup.
“Are you ok?” she asked. The pup glanced up at her.
“Mama?” he asked.
Cassie shook her head, realizing it was a human gesture after the fact. “Not mama. Can I help find her?”
“Up.” The pup reached for her. Cassie lifted him into her arms. She remembered when Rhea was this small. Her first fledgling.
We’ll find her.Cassie signed the words, unable to access her device with the pup in her arms. The pup clung to her, his exhales warm against her chest. She emerged from the alleyway with the rasp of his wing claws scraping at the back of her neck.
Laurus was big for someone like her, but surely someone would know where to find the pup’s mother. Cassie glanced around, suspecting her own minders were already searching for her. She scanned for any pair of wings. Kyrot were clan-oriented, and they all knew each other. If she located one, she had no doubt they could tell her who the pup belonged to. There. Pyo was one of the few kyrot she could recognize on sight.
“Well, would you look at that?” His enormous wings lifted in greeting. “Your mother is near frantic looking for you, young Irio. Let’s take you to her.” Pyo reached out his arms for the pup, who only started to whimper and clutch tighter to Cassie.
“Mama mama mama mama!” Irio wailed and unfurled his wings in distress. A high keening sound cut through the crowd forming as a female kyrot came hurrying toward Cassie and Irio.
“You found him! Where did you find him?”
Upon sensing his mother’s approach, the pup finally detached from Cassie, allowing her to pass him over. “Hiding,” she said, as she gestured back toward the alleyway.
“He likes you. He doesn’t like anyone really, not at this age.” The female kyrot examined her with a critical eye. “You’re human Cassie, right?”
Cassie nodded. “Yes. I’m Cassie.”
“I’m Glia. The pups seem to like you. Do you like minding pups?”
She nodded again. Minding the younglings had always been one of her small joys, a privilege at the Aviary. “I do.”
“Some of us are looking for someone to mind our pups a few times a week in the mornings. Think about it. We’ll give you credits, obviously.” Glia reached out to tap her wrist against Cassie’s. “That’s my contact information. Let me know what you decide. Thank you for finding him!”
Cassie stood, stunned, as Glia carried a chirping Irio away. The little pup turned back to her with a shy glance.
The crowd around her had dispersed, but one figure remained. She knew he would come to find her. His presence still filled her stomach with confusing bursts of warmth. Örim stood with his hands behind his back, where she suspected he was rubbing at his wrist nodes.
He held out a hand for her as she approached, and she took it.
“I was worried when you ran off.”
Cassie didn’t want to talk about it. Instead, she shifted the topic. “Glia wants me to watch her pup.”
