[Freezair]

"Now ain't there a sight for sore eyes!"

Krii leaned over the edge of Skycutter's wing, thin fingers grasping her shoulder. "Home sweet home! Ah, pull down, Sky!"

At his words, my eyes drifted away from the ground and toward the horizon. Indeed. Home. How long had it been? Weeks? Months? Years?

Well. Perhaps not that long. But long enough.

I didn't know if I even knew this place anymore.

I saw the backs of the Tuskow and Gyrophant as the bowed their heads to browse. Their tails flicked at the flies. Careless as usual.

One of dad's Terratops ambled lazily along, baskets of fruit loaded on her back. My Shimin--the one I'd sent home from the war--followed after her. I guess they got along, then.

"JIM!" Krii snapped.

My head shook with surprise. "Who what huh wha?"

"You wanna land here or what?" Sky asked me.

"Uh... Yeah," I said. "Bring us down, Sky."

"You OK?" she asked. She turned her head back, and the corner of her eye gave me a worried look.

"Sure thing," I said hollowly.

She turned her head back in a strange manner. Her wings curled in a way suggesting a shrug. Pulling back in the air, she began to spiral us down.

[351]

[Freezair]

She was down there.

Unfortunately.

Her hair seemed grayer than I remembered it. Perhaps she'd been dying it, and I hadn't known. She was pulling along a pair of creatures I didn't recognize--new livestock, I supposed. Of course, I looked back to the small creature snoozing peacefully, strapped into one of Sky's saddlebags--I had a few surprises for her as well, I supposed.

"Hey, over by the orchard, Sky."

"What?" Sky said. "But you know how hard it is to land th--!"

"Please, Sky," I snipped.

She got a bit huffy with me. Krii gave me a wondering look.

My mother looked up as Sky's shadow passed over her. She fought with the reins of a Hollowheart and an enormous Battleheart. I grinned at first, thinking of my friend Glory--but again. My eyes walked off once more. Old Abernathy and a tiny, plant-like creature I didn't recognize started shuffling toward the trees, wondering what was up with me.

"How strange," I thought I heard Abernathy say.

[352, 17, 1]

[Freezair]

"Incoming!" squealed Sky as she skimmed low over the trees.

She beat her wings in an attempt to keep us stable. We bumbled over the treetops and came to an awkward, ignoble landing just outside of the orchard.

Krii coughed in the rising puffs of dust and picked at his hair. A few leaves had gone flying up, and they'd gotten themselves stuck in his hair. "Nice," he muttered. "Thanks for the rough landing, Jim."

"Hey! Don't look at me! I--"

"You were the one who suggested we land here," Sky said accusingly. I slid off her back in cowed silence.

A reddish pair of leaves that didn't resemble those on any of the nearby trees or bushes rustled over a nearby root. A small, tree-like creature with large eyes and a tiny, wagging root of a tail cocked its stem at me.

"Gweee?" it said, mystified.

"Miss Jimmy?" Abernathy followed it over the root. His tongue shot pensively out of his mouth, like a lizard's.

"Hey, Abernathy," I said.

In the background, I heard the Hollowheart and the Battleheart roar, fighting against the ropes my mother held. "Calm down!" I heard her rough voice snap at them. "Just--calm down! Goodness! JULIUS!"

[353, 18, 2]

[Freezair]

"Coming, love!" I heard my father shout from the other side of the trees.

I pressed myself up against a nearby trunk. Sky moved in protectively, her wings flaring.

The head--or, whatever passed for its head, anyway--of the little plant creature turned toward the sound. It made another high trilling noise.

"Sweet fancy Moses," my father rumbled. I crept along the trees, keeping one hand on a trunk at all times, and trying to stay my feet to the roots. Krii skittered up behind, licking his leathery lips.

"What on earth has Bubs and Tor all riled up?" My father gave a stern tug on the rope holding the Hollowheart. It shrilled and bent its head. My mother wrestled with the leash on the Battleheart and managed to bind it.

"Someone--ummph! Passed overhead," my mother grunted. The Battleheart, straining against its bindings, flashed briefly into the form of a tall, skinny man with a spade-like chin and kinky hair before snapping back.

"Ha! Sorry, Bubsy, but you know we wouldn't make it that easy for you," my mother chuckled.

"Grrrhm," "Bubsy" snarled.

"Could it have been Imogene?" my father said. I heard his throat tightening.

"Ooooh. He just went on your blacklist," Krii chuckled to himself.  

Abernathy looked up. He skittered backwards over the root he was perched on.

"Wait--" I said softly.

[354, 19, 3]

[Freezair]

"Well, Fluffy came back by himself a few days ago," mother shrugged. "He did say she was following behind. I didn't look up. I was busy dealing with... Up! No you don't!"

My mother tugged the line and pinned Bubs again. The Hollowheart gave him a sympathetic look.

"Don't give me that look," she looked at him.

"I do hope she's alright," my father said. "I hope she didn't get held up with something bad."

In truth, I'd purposefully fallen behind. I felt a little guilty now.

I saw the tip of Abernathy's nose point up from the high grass.

"Sonya..."

"Yes, Abernathy?"

"Miss Jimmy just landed over by the orchard."

I felt Krii and Sky wince beside me.

"Julius!" I heard my mother's voice brighten. "She's here! Oh, Julius!"

She and my father both looked off toward the orchard. I saw the plant creature jump cheerfully. I tried to gather the shadows around myself and recessed into the trees.

[355, 20, 4]

[Freezair]

"Jimmy! Jimmy, darling!"

"Jimbo," my father said. I always thought his tone of voice was funny when he said that.

I pulled myself back.

"Jim..." Krii said.

"Jimmy," Sky said, equally sympathetic.

The leaves on the head of the little plant creature wilted. It gave me a worried look. I think it felt my worry, in a weird way. It made a sad, shrill sound and bent at the trunk.

My parents were sprinting toward me. "Jimmy!" they were crying. "Jimmy! Jimmy!"

The Hollowheart and Battleheart looked like they were going to try to make a break for it. But Abernathy sprung toward one of them and threw his weight down on the rope. The Battleheart flashed and spun, and soon the reedy man with the pointed chin was back. He snarled at Abernathy. He nodded toward the other rope, and the man grumpily took it.

I slunk back into the trees. I knew they'd spot me soon enough, but the longer I could put this off, the better.

[356, 21, 5]

[Freezair]

No more putting it off.

My parents burst through the trees and swarmed around me, becoming a tangle of arms and chests and two or three unwanted, dusty kisses. An ungainly group hug sucked me up. Somewhere along the line, my parents broke off from me and attacked Krii as well, nuzzling the fur of their almost-son. He snapped.

"HeyheyHEY! Put me down! I'm still sore, dangnabbit!"

"Oh! Sorry, love," my mother said. She loosened her grip on him, and he slid out of her arms and skittered to the ground.  

"And Skycutter," my father said. "How have you been, girl?"

"Better. Probably better still if we hadn't just been through a blamed war!"

He rubbed between her horns. "Ah, good to hear it, girl! Good to hear it."

The surreality of the scene would have struck me as funny if I hadn't been feeling so queasy. I can understand Sky! Most people can't! She can insult people and they'd never know!"

The little tree creature nuzzled up to my mother's leg. She bent down to pet it absentmindedly. Off in the background, I watched Abernathy boss the now human-shape Battleheart and the Hollowheart he held around. That, too, probably would have been funny.

"Jimmy," my mother said to me expectantly.

I sighed. "What?"

[357, 22, 6]

[Freezair]

"You're home," my mother said.

"Yeah?" I snapped.

Perhaps it was rude of me. I didn't feel like politeness.

"Errm," she said. She stepped back.

"Oh, it's wonderful to see you home again, Jimbo," my father said.

I swallowed.

"Can't be that nice," I said. "If you, you know--sent me away and all."

Krii and Sky both gave me slightly shocked looks. Krii's was less so. Even the little tree seeme a bit surprised with me. My parents stepped back.

"Wh-wh-what?" my mother stammered.

"Well, I can't think of any other reason you'd just send me off to war!"

My father's eyes glanced over my mother. I saw her swallow. "B-b-but--Imogene--"

"DON'T CALL ME THAT!" I pushed away through then. Their eyes crossed after me as I stormed out into the field.

I passed Abernathy, Bubs, and the Hollowheart I didn't know the name of yet. Even the wrestling Hollowheart gave me strange looks--enough to distract him, and enough for Abernathy to get the Battleheart to pounce.

[358, 23, 7]

[Freezair]

"Imogene! Wait!"

My mother's voice followed me. Closing my eyes, blinking away the dust, I picked up my feet and ran. Far away, low and thin, I heard Sky say, "Wuh-oh!" I cut through the grass, running towards the high rows of corn, looking to get lost.

"Sweetheart! Please tell me what's wrong!" my mother called. I gasped--sobbed, maybe--a bit louder than usual, trying to send her a clear signal.

"Post Traumatic Stress of some kind?" my father muttered distantly.

"Oh, Imogene... We shouldn't have let her go, Julius--"

"She's always been headstrong, Sonya--after all, if she wanted to go--"

She wanted--! Those...! How dare they? How? Dare? They? How dare they, when my mother--my own mother! Put my name and the names of Sky and Krii on that--that paper death wish-- And I! The things I'd been through and seen! They chose to put me through that!

"You always did want to stop her," my mother scoffed. "But you were the one who--"

"All I'm suggesting is, do you think you could have misread--"

"She's our daughter, Julius! Who knows her better outside of herself?"

I ran into the corn. I found a tall stalk to sit beside and began to cry.

A shadow lined with blue fell over my head. Gentle puffs of wind touseled my hair.

Crushing a few odd stalks, Sky landed beside me, her wide eyes worried. Her face was stony and unmoving, but the tilt of her head perfectly captured her worry. Krii climbed down off her back, slightly more obvious in his concern.

"Jimmy..." His voice was unusually dull-edged.

"I can't do this," I sniffed. "Oh God. I can't do this. We--we have to leave. Now." I stood up and started to force myself up on Sky's back. "Come on! We have to get out of here! Now, Sky! Get moving!"

I fell over the over side of her, scraping my chin in the dust.  

I felt the cool crest of Sky's beak against my shoulder. She nudged me between my shoulder blades.

"I think you need to talk to them, Jimmy," she said. "Sit down with them. A heart-to-heart. I think there's been a very large gap in communication here."

Hefting myself out of the ground, I wiped my nose on my sleeve. "I'll say," I snarled.

"Jimmy, honestly now. Please."

I looked at her.

"Jimmy, if you don't make some attempt to make sense of this situation, you're just as much of a villain here as they are," she said. "Something clearly happened here. Someone has to try and make sense of it."

I stared at her.

She stared back. "They're your parents, Jim."

I sighed. I stuck my nose outside corn's shore.

My parents had gotten distracted with Bubs and Whatshisname again. They, Abernathy, and my mom's tree-creature were all fighting to keep them down--Bubs had somehow managed to turn back.

I felt Krii climbing up my back. "C'mon, Jim," he said measuredly.

I sighed and strode out.

[359, 24, 8]

[Freezair]

My parents held tense, hesitant poses. They watched me in silence as I walked out into the field. A pair of simian legs clutched my shoulder, and its attached pair of feet beat into my back. Sky hopped after me in her fashion.

"...Jimmy?" my mother said.

I sighed. "What."

"Jimmh--Jimmy, sweetheart." My mother shuffled up through the grass at me. She put her hand on my shoulder, on top of Krii's. He gave her an odd look. "What's wrong? What on earth has gotten into you?"

I took a deep breath, arming myself. My tongue curled at the ready, preparing to spit. Then I felt Sky's hot eyes on my back, and took another breath to quench it.

"It--I--why did you sign me up for the war?" I asked.

Silence. Even Bubs and the Hollowheart, still trapped up in my parent's hands, seemed to understand the need for silence. Abernathy's tongue snaked out of his snout, and the tree-creature shot him a questing look.

[360, 25, 9]

[Freezair]

My father was the first to break it. "I told you, hon..."

"Now hold on, Julius! She hasn't made any accusations just yet--"

"Look at her eyes, Sonya. Are those the eyes of someone who--"

"I'm right here, you know," I said.

"And the tone of her voice--"

My mother put up a hand to silence him. She looked at me pleadingly. "But... Jimmy, dearest--didn't you want to go?"

I tried to be civil. I really did. But sarcasm is a beast with a mind of its own. "Yeah. Because I totally had a death wish that could only be satisfied by marching out into the middle of battle, with a bunch of miserable mud-caked goons, and potentially DYING!"

Yes, it was repetitive. Yes, it was ineloquent. No, I didn't care. I wasn't about the words for once. I was about the emotion. I wanted to say more, but bit my tongue.

My parents enchanged those little worried glances.

"Sheesh," I heard an unfamiliar voice say. Watching his jaw, I realized that it was Bubs, the Battleheart.

"Poor kid. Even I feel sorry for her," his Hollowheart companion replied.

The leafy critter bowed its head, as if to agree with me.

[10]

[Freezair]

"...Imogene..."

My mother's voice was small. Probably didn't want to be heard.

I felt Krii's fingers tighten around my shoulder. My shoulder tensed in response. I heard, and if she thought she was going to curry favor that was, she was SORELY mistaken.

"Sweetheart..." My father approached me. Krii's tail twitched. I'd come to recognize that as his "readying-a-fireball" twitch. My eyes passed over his head. Angry as we were, he wouldn't try flaming dad. Would he?

"Dear," and my father knelt in front of me. "Your mother and I... Well, you always say how you're looking for adventures, and you do go looking for them..."

"Adventure, not war!"

"Now, I know that, love, but--"

"You can adventure in a perfectly calm, controlled way without killing yourself," Sky added uselessly. My father looked at her oddly.

"Is she OK?" he asked.

"Fine," I said. "Go on."

"Oh, come off it!" my mother said. "You always say how nothing happens here! You never stick around! You're always off gallivanting--surely you must want to..."

"And to top it off, Mom, you know how I feel about unnecessary violence--"

"How do you feel about unecessary violence? You certainly never said anything to me--"

"How could you possibly think I would want to go to war?!"

"You practically said it yourself every time you stopped here! 'I want to do something exciting'--"

"I would say that 'exciting'--" Krii tried to cut in.

"Do you even listen to me?"

"I'm your mother! How can you accuse me of not listening to you--"

"How can you claim to be 'listening' to me WHEN YOU SENT ME OFF TO ^&$!ING WAR?!"

"I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHAT YOU'RE SO UPSET ABOUT--"

"We could've died, that's what!" Sky added, flaring her wings. I guess she'd gotten so used to talking to me she'd forgotten that not everyone could hear her.

"DO YOU EVEN &^#!ING KNOW WHAT I'M LIKE?!"

My chest heaved. My mother and I stared furiously at one another.

In the background, Abernathy, the tree, Bubs, and Hollowheart-man exchanged very worried looks.

[361, 26, 11]

[Freezair]

"DEARS!" My father stepped between us, arms out at his sides. If he were a critter, I bet you anything he'd be making a force field. I snapped my lips shut, but beside me, I felt Krii's lip curl. His whole body felt tight and angry.

A cool, stony wing stretched behind my back. "Thanks, Sky," I said to her.

"No problem," she said.

"Alright. Jimmy, honey... Please. We can work this out. We're not going to get anywhere if you two keep yelling at each other. We're all adults here, so let's sit down and talk this out proper. It's clear there's been a lot of miscommunication here, and..."

"I think just calling it 'miscommunication' is a pretty big understatement,"Abernathy said reedily. He turned to the tree and shook his head.

"Your opinions were not solicited here," Dad said to him. "You keep an eye on those two--"

"Hey, I'm not going anywhere," Bubs said. "This is gettin' good. I want to see the show!"

The Hollowheart hissed his concurrance.

"And you. Don't treat our family issues like some kind of big show, eh? I can make your life miserable if I need to."

The Battleheart said something extremely rude in reply. Dad rolled his eyes.

"Now. I'm going to step out of the way. Jimmy? Sonya? Can I count on the two of you not to kill each other?"

We both looked around Dad's head for the distinct purpose of giving each other stony looks.

"Right. Now, on the count of three, we go. Right? One, two, three!"

[362, 27, 12]

[Freezair]

Dad dropped his arms and stepped out of our way. Mom and I both ground our teeth and stared wordlessly at each other. My father's eyes flicked between the two of us. My fingers scraped slowly against each other as I thought; I heard my mother draw deep breaths. Krii's fingers tightened around my shoulder, and he shifted his weight. Sky waited impatiently.

"...Dear," mother said.

"What."

She knelt. "Sweetheart. Love. I understand that you are upset. I'm sorry for what I've done. I just thoght that, given your penchant for trying to find... uh, exciting things to do, you would enjoy... that kind of thing." She gulped.

"I don't know where you ever got that opinion," I groused. My eyes looked sideways, watching Bubs and the Hollowheart all gape. Abernathy took a few cautious, ambling steps closer. The tree "gwee'd" and pressed itself into his side. He turned to it sadly. "I mean, again, violence..."

"You know, sweetheart, if you were around more often and talked to us, you know..."

"If YOU attempted to engage me in conversation--"

"Ah bup bup!" Dad stuck his hand between us. "Bad route. Let's just say we've both been ignorant and run with that. OK?"

We both set our chins in the fashion we do when we don't get our ways.

"Well, you have to admit, dear, it hasn't been easy--"

"She's her own person, you know," my dad said. "Yes, Jimmy dear, it would be nice--"

"Then call me! from time to time!"

"She has a point too," Dad said. "We'll do that.

"...See?" he said. "We can do this."

Mom and I both stared.

[363, 28, 13]

[Freezair]

Dad stepped between us again. He tried to put on a cheerful, understanding face. "Look. I think that both of us--all of us--haven't been doing a very good job of trying to understand each other here. Jimmy, you haven't been reaching out to us like you could have--you haven't been doing much discussion with us, you haven't spoken much to us, you haven't called--but Sonya, Sonya, you and I aren't innocent either." He glared at my mother. She looked about ready to jump in and rip me apart.

"We've made a lot of assumptions, and we haven't exactly presented the most welcoming front. You haven't reached out, but we haven't been helping you with that. I've tried, but clearly not enough. I think we all need a little forgiveness here."

I'm no softy. I wasn't so swiftly swayed. His rhetoric left a bit to be desired.

But I did stop and think.

It is true that, for someone who carries a cell phone, I don't do much in the way of calling. Sometimes I wonder why I keep paying for the blamed thing.

I felt Krii's bristles brush against me as he turned toward my face. I must have been rather quiet. "Jim?"

"Just thinking," I said.

"Y'know, Jim, it's not your fault you don't get reception everywhere," Sky said.

"I know, but--I mean, why do I even HAVE a cell phone?"

My mother and father exchanged looks. "Did you...?" my mother began. Then she cut herself off with, "...Never mind."

"Well, I suppose," Krii said.

"Oh, come on!" my mother said suddenly! "We reach out to you all the time! Why, just three weeks ago, I... No, wait, it was longer ago than that. ...But still! The last package we sent you was... uh..."

"In December," my father said. "It was for Fluffy."

"Mmm," my mother said. "...Yes."

In the background, I heard the Hollowheart finally speak up. He turned to Bubs. "Dude, are you CRYING?"

"Shut up, man," the Battleheart said. He sniffled. Gwee (as I was beginning to think of the tree) patted him on the leg with a series of sounds that sounded like "There, there." Abernathy shook his head.

[364, 29, 14]