The grassland held no breeze. The sun blared down on a single barren tree that grew talonlike toward the amber sky. Shrubs stabbed out from the ground in hazardous networks of spiky thorns, and it was onto one of these sharp shrubs that Kits landed. A dragonfly had moved her while she slept, a time when it was impossible for her to regulate her temperature, so when she fell onto the shrub it was a pointy and painful awakening.

She yelped and scrambled off the shrub, her temperature spiking with alarm. Frantically Kits circled around and took in her new surroundings, the haze of sleep making her thoughts run wild.

Ack! Where am I what’s stabbing me in the butt ow ow ow what the heck it hurts! Where was I before I fell asleep? Wait I remember I was in that place with the—it was Milli. She moved me, that brat-faced sadist, augh!

Before she could process any more than that, the shrubs beneath her caught fire. She squeaked and sent subzero temperatures at them, flailing to get her range of thermal influence far enough to stop the fire from spreading. It extinguished, but her magic had turned all the shrubs brittle and they cracked underfoot with angry snaps no matter how gingerly she tried to tiptoe over them.

“Sorry, sorry! I just woke up and you surprised me!” It struck her how ridiculous it was to be talking to pointy dead plants. She shut up and cleared her throat and hoped nobody had seen her. Once she reached a flatter patch of grassland she took a deep breath, gave herself a once-over, and made a point to match her body temperature to the ambient atmosphere on this world, which was pretty hot compared to a lot of places she’d been, all things considered. Not as hot as that volcano she got dropped into that one time. That remained the record. (To this day Kits wondered if the dragonflies had been trying to figure out just how immune to temperature she really was. They’d plopped her in the middle of the lava. Right in there. At least the volcano hadn’t erupted while she was swimming around trying to figure out where she was.)

Hands on her hips, tilting her head, Kits surveyed her surroundings one more time now that she’d calmed down enough to keep control of her magic. She was making a thoughtful humming noise when she realized what was missing.

Kaia was nowhere.

“Ack!” said Kits. “Crap! I lost my kindred!”

Disembodied little girl giggles mocked her.

“Shut up, Milli.”

“Do you wish I’d shut up?” asked the disembodied voice.

Kits didn’t say anything in response to that. Instead she stretched her thermal awareness as far as it would go in all directions, moving her arms and legs wide, even lifting her chin to make her aura of sensation expand. She could feel out temperatures farther away than she could influence them, so she was hoping to find Milli or the dragonflies even if they weren’t close enough to burn. The dragonflies could be invisible but they couldn’t get rid of their thermal signatures. The same was true for Milli, the real mastermind behind the insects.

Kits didn’t find Milli, but she did find another lifeform. It had a stocky figure but a long neck and its temperature indicated warm blood. Having no other clues as to where the dragonflies had put her, Kits crossed the distance to the lifeform, approaching in a way she hoped would appear friendly, or at least nonthreatening. Generally not a good idea to act threatening when you’ve found yourself somewhere unfamiliar. As she came closer, the lifeform raised its very long neck a little higher and peered at her. It was a tan, spotted color and it had these adorable ears and a long snout.

Kits gave it a little finger waggle wave.

Its neck seemed to lengthen as it leaned forward and changed the distribution of its weight. Spotted legs uncurled from its torso—oh, so it was sitting—and when it rose up to its full height it towered over Kits. It might’ve been the tallest creature she’d ever seen, proportion-wise.

Kits waved at it again with a smile. She kept her lips closed because in a lot of places showing one’s teeth could be considered a threat.

The tall lifeform appeared inquisitive but didn’t say anything.

“Hi,” said Kits even though she knew the language probably wouldn’t be understood on this world.

The tall lifeform—should think of a better noun to call it, hmm—widened its legs as it dipped its head down to Kits’ level. The posture appeared uncomfortable, so Kits stretched herself up as much as possible toward the lifeform’s head to make the distance shorter. It had long feathery eyelashes.

“Sorry about the shrubs,” said Kits. “And appearing out of nowhere. But the second thing wasn’t really my fault.”

All of this lifeform was long, including its tongue. It slurped the top of her head. Then it came even closer, its two front legs widening even more, and kissed at her hair.

Kits giggled and reached up, sliding her fingers across its cheek. She made sure to match its body temperature as she did.

“You can’t understand a word I’m saying, can you? Nope. Not even one. But you’re good at friendly nibbles!”