| Being happy does not always involve riches. You could have nothing and still be happy. -Rules of Life, pg. 69 Part 40 She nodded. � His wings?� She nodded quickly. � What about them? Where they came from?� She nodded. � Hatchlings have no wings at birth,� I lectured. � Not enough room in the egg. They do have wing buds, however. The empress� milk encourages the growth of the buds. I�ve been expecting Zidane to grow wings for quite some time now. I�m just surprised it took this long for them to come in. Is there anything else?� She nodded and mimed an injured arm, then pointed at Zidane. � Will it hurt him?� She nodded. � It shouldn�t. His balance will be slightly off for a while, but he�ll make it.� She seemed relieved. � Will you get some rest now?� I asked gently. � After everything that�s happened, I�m tired.� She pointed at me. � . . .?� � What am I going to do?� She nodded. � I�m going to dry Zidane�s wings before they freeze off, make sure everyone else is okay, and then get some sleep, which I have been deprived of recently.� She pointed at Zidane. � . . .?� � You want to help?� She nodded. � Will you go to bed if I let you?� She hastily agreed. � Okay. Find something to dry with.� She disappeared for a while. I rolled Zidane onto his stomach and made sure his wings were extended fully. Garnet returned and I instructed, � You dry that wing. Be sure to brush in the direction the feathers point. If you happen to displace some, just poke at them. They should fix themselves.� She did exactly as I told her and within ten minutes his wings were dry. � All right. They�re dry. Now get some rest.� With a discreet yawn, she walked past me and up the stairs. I left the guest room and searched around the castle, finding the others, thankfully, in one place. Tiovex was the first to see me and he nudged my head all over. [Oh Kitiane, you had us worried!] [Is everyone okay?] [Everyone is just fine. You get some rest,] he ordered sternly. I slunk tiredly out of the room. [Where have I heard that before?] Returning to the guest room, I laid on the left side of Zidane�s bed and fell asleep. I was half-conscious all night--which didn�t help me sleep--and in the morning, to add to my weariness and pain, Zidane stepped on me as he got up. [Ow!] � Kiti! I�m sorry!� He knelt down and pet my side. � Are you okay?� � Yeah.� � Are you sure?� � Yeah.� � You don�t sound okay.� � I�m all right, Ziaden. Nothing that a few days of sleep can�t cure.� His wings fell from his back and dropped limply to the floor. Thoroughly spooked, Zidane tumbled backwards and crabwalked into the wall to get away from them. � Ouch!� I got to my feet slowly, pains that hadn�t been there before now asserting themselves fully, and stepped forward slightly. � Calm yourself, Zidane.� He gave me a wild look. � Are you crazy?!� I went over, grabbed one wing, and gave it a hard jerk. � Ah~! That hurt!� � Have I gotten my point across yet?� Wincing, he rubbed at his shoulder. � Yeah.� Then he blinked and pulled one wing around in front of himself to stare at it closely. � You mean . . .� He pointed at the wing while looking at me. � You mean this is . . . this is mine?� � Quite.� � . . . Wow.� He looked up at me almost shyly. � So . . . So are you going to teach me to fly?� � I promised, didn�t I?� � Yeah, but I figured that with everything going on, you�d be a little busy.� � I never seem to have a shortage of time and I certainly don�t now.� My entire body began to itch suddenly and I started to fidget. � Kiti . . . are you okay?� � How many times do you plan to ask me that today?� � Uh . . . Until you start acting normally, I guess.� I flexed my body repeatedly, then carefully freed it from the confining skin by phasing out of it. Zidane�s jaw dropped open. � How�d you do that?!� He got up, bent forward slightly to inspect the body-skin I was now standing beside. � Will I be able to do that too? That�s too cool.� � I�m afraid not.� He reached out to feel it, and as his fingers touched the soft skin a flash of yellow caused both of us to recoil. When the light died, the skin was gone. � Uh . . . Huh? . . . Hey, where did it go?� I shook my head. � I don�t know.� He stood up straight . . . and toppled over. � Ack!� Sitting up and rubbing his behind, he grumbled, � What�s the big idea?� � Your wings, Zidane. You�re going to have to learn to balance with them before you can fly.� � Oh.� He stood again, staggering for a good five minutes before his center of balance changed. Then he headed out of the room only to be stopped by Blank. I walked past them and as I left the room I heard Blank ask, � She looks a lot flashier. Did you give her a bath?� I traced Garnet�s thought patterns up to the telescope. � He�s awake.� She jumped and whirled. � . . .?!� Sighing, she shook a finger at me in a scolding gesture. � . . .!� <--Part 39 Part 41--> |