Aya walked in the direction of the coast with Jeeg and Flora, her body wrapped tightly in the cloth Mrs. Du Bois had given her. Flora was still full of adrenaline and her thin body jittered a little as Aya expressed her gratitude to her. "Flora, in all these years I've known you. I could never imagine you doing something so daring."

Flora's words buzzed with excitement too. "I've never been pushed into a situation like that, but between choosing between certain death and my best friend, I chose my best friend. I'd never let that rake mess with you."

Aya rubbed her hands together with a slapping motion. "Thanks for helping me take out the trash. You're the best friend I could ever ask for."

Flora grinned so hard it almost looked like a cringe to Aya. She was silent so Aya went on, "Let's get me some clothes and head to the meeting. I need to hear what the town's plan is so I know how to help them."

They went along the sandy path to Jeeg and Aya's shining cabin; but as they reached the tiny front porch, they saw Old Wing sitting in front of it. Jeeg walked over to Old Wing with a smile. Aya felt surprise when he walked up and pet the old wolfhound without as much as a nip at his hand. "Why if it isn't Old Wing."

"You know him?" Aya's voice raised.

Jeeg gave a caring old laugh as he reflected on times past. "Why I cared for him after he had a dire fight. I had to amputate his wing because it had grown diseased and sickly. This was a long while ago."

Aya was happy that one of her friends already had repartee with Old Wing but Flora was quite the opposite. The adrenaline buzz Flora was feeling wore off and with an "eek" she jumped behind Aya. "Best friends in wolfhound form are one thing. But I'll let you and Jeeg handle the real ones."

"No need to fear," Aya said, turning to her best friend. "He is a friend, but first, I need to speak with my associate."

Aya looked down at her tattoo to see the visage of Eterna growling and foaming at the mouth. "He is no friend of mine," said Eterna. "No, he is a swine in candragon form and I'd literally take our rivals the thunderboars over him."

Aya's eyes grew compassionate for the scorn of her spirit guide, having been scorned herself, but she took one look at Old Wing. He looked miserable in broad daylight. Any hint of his cocky demeanor had long since seeped from his expression and he looked like half a male. Aya felt compassion for both of them and decided it would be best to play the peacemaker. "Eterna?"

"Yes child?"

"Would you believe that when I spoke to him in wolfhound form, he told me he wanted to apologize to you?"

Eterna turned her head to look at him before snarling. "Tell him that I'd tear his apology limb from limb."

Aya's ears twitched and she held Eterna closer to her. "That's not all he said. He told me that he'd rather be known as the mate of the great Eterna rather than the leader of the pack."

For the first time, Eterna's eye shone and the tone of her voice changed, "Surely you're putting me on."

"No. He learned his lesson when he lost all of his respect as an alpha male. He spent the time after your fight as a one winged outcast that hid in the shadows."

Eterna's wolfish desires for blood, seemed to retract in favor of a womanly reflection of empathy. Her fight with a Noctursa had left her crippled in a similar manner. The next time she opened her mouth, her tone had altered to exclude gruffness. "Does he really wish to apologize to me?"

Aya walked over to One Wing who was still being doted on by Jeeg. Eterna began to flinch in fear, "No I don't want him to see me like this. I uh..."

Aya held out her arm in front of Old Wing to show his cringing ex-lover with a panicked look on her face. Of course, only Aya could see her feelings of bashfulness and embarrassment. To Old Wing, she was just a stationary tattoo inked into Aya's skin. When he saw Eterna on her skin, however, his head sank down. He lowered it in a bow and let out a soft and gentle whine. Eterna stopped panicking and settled down herself listening to his soft puppyish whine. "He says to me: I didn't know what you meant to me until I felt your claws tear at my flesh. You may as well have torn out my heart. I'm deeply sorry."

Eterna's face retracted in shock, but slowly, her eye returned to her former lover. "Tell him, I'm sorry too. I didn't want the rest of his life to be like that for him. I hated him but not that much."

Aya relayed her message to Old Wing's ragged ears before Eterna spoke again, "And tell him, even if I exist in a different plane now, that I accept his apology."

"She accepts your apology, Old Wing." Aya said, as the sorry animal continued to bow.

His face eased gently; and Jeeg, no stranger to a tormented romantic relationship spoke himself. "Old Wing. I know your forest has grown to become a dangerous place. Would you mind rooming with an old codger, his young friend, and your young pup?"

Old Wing looked up with a start, recognizing that his young pup Gardenia was in the house. He looked to Eterna again. Eterna whispered to Aya.

"She says 'Please, look after her,'" Aya repeated to Old Wing. "'She's the future of the forest.'"

Old Wing raised his body. He realized he now had a purpose once again, and he could continue on. Aya felt overjoyed to have reunited Eterna's family, but she knew she couldn't take time to celebrate. She looked to Jeeg who had risen with the old Wolfhound. "What did I miss at the meeting?"

"Nothing much Aya. It was mostly Du Bois telling us that even though he values opinions, it's he who will make the final decision."

Aya rolled her eyes. "Sounds like standard Du Bois."

The Du Bois family laid claim to what they deemed an uncivilized planetoid hundreds of years ago, and everyone treated each chosen male successor of the first Colonel Du Bois with the same respect they gave him. Aya did not like how very few ever went against what he said; but in the case of what Jeeg said next about Du Bois' plan, she felt that she would have to.

"Oh," said Jeeg raising his finger, "He had raised a preposition that we should hunt the animals now that fruit doesn't grow anymore."

Aya scowled and shook her head. Her young face wrinkled like Jeeg's comment had aged her twenty years. "Come on, we need to get going before he makes any more cockamamie decisions that doom this planet further."

Jeeg and Flora, both dressed in draping clothes ran with Aya, picking up their tailing fabric as they ran. Jeeg hollered to Aya as she ran with target-like precision towards the beer barn. "I was going to tell him exactly what happened on Tarabos, but Flora came in telling us about you and Old Wing."

Aya turned her head to Jeeg and nodded as they dashed through the center of town. "Don't worry Jeeg, I know you weren't being lazy this time. Let's hurry though."

Reaching the beer barn, Aya dashed up the steps to the second story. Her bare feet running along the cracked, old and unrefined spirit wood. It bent with each determined step; and when she cracked the door wide open, it practically swung off its hinges. Everyone from young to old stared at Aya, curious why she was entering the building in such a dramatic fashion. Aya knew that each of them had a differing opinion on her, ranging from seeing her as an utter nuisance to a charming oddity, but she hoped they'd all listen. That included Du Bois. They all had looks of concern on their faces as if to say "we have food now but for how much longer." Aya could feel their desperation as she stood there before speaking loud and clear. "Du Bois," she cried, "I have been to the Nature's Gate and I have something to relay to you."

Du Bois, standing at the center of the people, raised his ginger eyebrow. "Earian spawn, when I said you could join us"—he leveled his hand to aim right for her head—"I didn't mean for you to burst in like you do with everything else. This is a grave matter and I will not have your biased tree hugging ways interfere with the future of my village."

Aya's face reddened with the first word of his sentence. She could shrug off when everyone else said it. After all, they were ignorant about how much it hurt her; but for Du Bois, he knew it boiled her blood. It was a word he used to signal her as the outsider whose ways would be alien no matter how much she struggled to benefit the village. If there wasn't a sea of people blocking them from each other, Aya would have gone right at him, but instead her voice raged and a sharp vein burst from her neck. "Du Bois, it's you who's interfering with the future of everyone. Your way of doing things is almost as backwards as the way you treat us Aquans."

Jeeg and Flora quickly squeezed in from the door past Aya despite her feet being firmly planted on the ground. Jeeg raised his robed hand and placed it on Aya's shoulder. She brushed it aside while keeping her tunnel vision directly at Du Bois, but Jeeg spoke anyway. "Aya, you have to respect Mr. Du Bois. He is the leader of these people and they have chosen him to guide them."

This got Aya's attention and she gave another burst of emotion toward Jeeg. "But he doesn't understand anything and he doesn't want to."

"Aya, remember what I told you about presuming for everyone," Jeeg said, urgently trying to not get Aya ejected from this meeting. "Sit and listen to everyone's viewpoint, then speak your own."

Mr. Du Bois smile stretched from under his mustache. "Jeeg, your earian race yields smart elders," he said, ushering for them to sit down. "I hope one day, your spawn will grow to be as sensitive as you about dire matters."

Jeeg humbly bowed. His humility or in Aya's opinion, butt kissing, allowed them a place in the meeting. "Besides," Du Bois said, "I always like to hear from everyone after I'm done talking. Maybe if such an impetuous child can hold her tongue, I will listen to what she has to say."

Aya glared at him; but then looked to Jeeg, and realized the wisdom in his words. She'd have her chance at Mr. Du Bois but she'd have to wait it out. She glanced down at Eterna and the elder wolfhound's face silently read the same thing. They pushed their way through the crowd. Aya saw someone sitting behind Du Bois in a bar chair. It was Taylor. He was tied very tightly to the chair with both his arms and his legs banded in the same knots used to keep Noctursas out of a sack of fruits. Even with arms bound so tight and his blood seemingly drained from his arms, he still maintained a relaxed expression. It was almost brave how he could behave like a complete scoundrel in front of the whole town, destroying their very way of sanctity and still retaining that same calm, self-satisfied look on his face. Compared to the angry, red, hateful face of Mr. Du Bois, his was hardly preferable.

Aya stood still, tapped her foot and generally looked displeased to see those two still in such close proximity. Du Bois paced back and forth with an angry grimace on his face. "As I was saying before I was rudely interrupted. Up until fifteen years ago, we had always hunted animals. Not for sport as these earians will lead you to believe, but out of necessity."

There was muttering in the crowd from some of the older adults who had been around for this. Aya could hear them reminiscing about when they hunted, and how it was so much easier than when they had to wait for Aquans to soothe the beasts. Aya had to bite her tongue because she could not stand how much these humans wanted to take the easy way out. But only out of respect for Jeeg, she remained silent.

Du Bois cordially extended his right hand to Jeeg. "When you convinced my father, rest his soul to partake in your rituals, our planetoid was peaceful. Now fruit is truly hard to obtain and mad beasts are roaming the planetoid."

Du Bois held his heart and with a breath outward, "I think it's time we returned to the ways before you came. What do you say Jeeg?"

Jeeg's brow wrinkled further than it was. It often shifted when he was deep in thought, and this discussion put him more on the spot than he'd ever like to be. Aya knew he cared about the planetoid but this did nothing to help her frustration. She couldn't talk but he could. "Even in a situation as grave as this one, I do not think it's a good idea to just kill off the beasts of this planet."

"Why do you say that?" asked Du Bois.

Jeeg's brow wrinkled further and if it were a shirt it would never be able to be pressed with a hot iron. He gritted his remaining teeth. "Du Bois, I never told you the conditions of our planet when we came here that fateful day."

"Well do speak of them now," the town's colonel ordered.

Jeeg's eyes cast back to a date, a date he hoped would be fully eroded from his memory with his old age. "One day, about sixteen years ago, a leviathan attacked my village. It loomed near, bringing ice and snow killing much of our tropical produce. When it reared its head, I could see it bore elder markings."

Aya barely remembered this day herself. She was a small child who was ordered by her parents to stay inside her cot until the danger had passed. This was the first time she heard about the beast's elder markings, something her good friend Eterna bore as well. The power of ice and snow was something Eterna yielded when she attacked Aya so Aya made a mental note of the similarities between her and the leviathan. All the while Taylor gazed at her from behind Du Bois with the same partially relaxed, partially teasing eyes and smile. She responded with the look a savage beast gives another that has threatened its well being. A look that says "Don't come near me or your future will be measured in nano-seconds."

"It killed many members of our village," Jeeg croaked with sudden sorrow. "It took many important people from me...from us. So, as the village elder, I...killed it."

Everyone looked at Jeeg as he choked out those words. They were puzzled that such a docile old man was capable of taking down a mighty dragon, a dragon that belonged only to the myths and legends that Jeeg spoke of when he relayed stories to the village children. Jeeg, still overcome by emotion and trauma from the event gazed at the ground as he leaned on his staff. "I should have soothed it like we did the beasts here. I was fully capable of it, but I let my rage overpower my better judgement."

"I'm sorry to hear that," Du Bois said, even he showed sympathy in his eyes. "What was the result?"

"It deeply disturbed the planet's core," said Jeeg, attempting to regain his wits. "The planet had lost one of its guardians; and one day, as you all know, our planet imploded."

Everyone gasped and looked at Jeeg with abject horror. Aya began to feel like she didn't need to convince anyone at all. She was disappointed since she desperately wanted to lash Du Bois with her own words, but quickly realized that she was being petty like he was. Du Bois seemed moved by Jeeg, and all that remained was the matter of getting everyone off the planet like Nature's Gate had asked.

Taylor continued to taunt her with his facial expression; but when she met his gaze this time, she realized she had a plan. People began to hound Du Bois over his hasty decision to hunt again and even his tall and imposing presence didn't faze a group of terrified and angry people. Aya quickly whispered to Jeeg, and he raised his hand, much to Du Bois' relief.

"Quiet everyone! Hey! Jeeg is going to speak again!" Du Bois shouted at the top of his lungs. "If you want to know how the devil we're going to get out of this life-or-death situation you better listen to him."

Slowly the crowd quieted. Jeeg stepped forward. "Well, it's not me who has an idea, it's Aya."

He stepped to the side and let Aya walk forward. Everyone began to quietly rabble again. It wasn't that they didn't trust Aya, but they believed that the best plan of action could only come from an Aquan far beyond her years. "Jeeg, you're really going to let this earian spawn hold the floor?" asked Du Bois accosting Jeeg. "She better have a damn good plan."

Flora dashed to the center with Aya and Du Bois and yelled out loud in her now-shrill voice. "Please everyone, give her a chance. I have full faith in Aya. She wants the best for us and our planetoid."

Aya exchanged glances with her friend, both had a smile on their face as they looked into each other's eyes. "Thanks Flor," Aya said with her eyes beaming as bright as her smile.

Taylor's loud, piggish voice mocked them, "Why don't you two get a room. Nothing you say will help these people."

"Funny you say that," Aya shouted back. "Because we're going to need your help to save the planetoid."

Everyone's voices raised in shock. How was this knavish man going to help them? It was he who had put them in this predicament even if they didn't know that. All they knew was he was a trouble maker who tried to use his newfound status to have an innocent person killed. Aya crossed her arms. "Mr. Spaceman came here on his spaceship didn't he?"

"Of course," Taylor muttered, "That's not exactly rocket science."

"Well," Aya said, still feeling triumphant while ignoring him. "Can't one of us use the spaceship to fly to another planetoid and get help? Maybe we can convince Taylor's planet to lend us some spaceships to evacuate everyone from this planetoid. Just so you know, I spoke with Nature's Gate and we agreed an evacuation of the whole planetoid was the best plan."

Aya could see with how everyone talked amicably among themselves that they were really considering her plan. It only took a highly skeptical Gully to burst her bubble. "Does anyone actually know how to pilot his spaceship? Or any spaceship for that matter?"

There was a resounding hail of no's in response before they fell silent. All of a sudden, someone in the back hollered, "Why don't you do it Aya?"

"You're our protector, Aya! You should help us!" Allons hollered.

One mother cried, "Think of our children, Aya. This has to work."

"I don't want to leave my home," an old man shouted. "I've lived here all my life. It's the only home I've known."

People began to agree and disagree left and right, and Aya trembled in response. She didn't fear man, nor beast, nor bird, but the one thing that unnerved her more than anything was flight. She looked around nervously, beginning to feel overwhelmed by some cheering her and demanding she be their hero. She gazed down at Eterna who seemed to understand immediately that she needed some guidance. "You rode me just fine child, and you were in a violent storm. I know you could pilot this rake's ship if you went purely by instinct."

Aya nodded her head nervously before finding her arm grabbed by Flora. " Don't worry, love"—She raised Aya's hand—"I'm going to pilot this ship for Aya."

"You're doing what?!" Aya turned purely out of curiosity to see Mr. and Mrs. Du Bois' with both of their mouth's hung open.

Buck cheered and raised his arms excitedly. "Yeah you go big sister!"

Aya could see Flora smile broadly, feeling more energized by Buck's response than her parents. Buck never looked up to Flora, thinking she was incredibly prissy and girly. Little boys were often repulsed by feminine girls and usually the only ones they could stand to be around were tomboys like Aya. This was the first time Buck ever cheered Flora for anything.

Flora spoke boldly to her parents. "I'm going to do this. I feel useless on this planetoid and change what y'all think of me. I want to go to other worlds. I want to help this one too like Aya always has."

Mr. Du Bois was clearly flustered, but he wanted to remain firm over the control of his daughter. "What if I say I won't let you, Flora?" he said to her.

Flora placed her hands on her hips and walked right up to her father. There was a clear height difference, but Flora made sure to make her words defiant and imposing. "Then I'll never forgive you. You view me as nothing but a delicate porcelain doll; but because of Aya, I've grown. I stood up to a full-grown wolfhound. I'm not about to submit to you," she said, her body shaking. "And I...I've always wanted to leave this place. I know I can be so much more beyond this planetoid."

Aya wanted to applaud her friend. She had known about Flora's ambitions for years but this was the first time she voiced them in front of her father; and not only him, in front of the entire village no less. "All in favor of letting us try to fly that ship?"

There was a resounding cry of affirmation from half the room. Aya, Buck and the rest of the Du Bois children joined in as the parents just stood in silence. Some of the older folks still protested about leaving the planetoid, their old conservative ways firmly rooting them to this planet's soil. Du Bois raised his non-bandaged hand. "Silence!"

Everyone looked at Du Bois with eager eyes waiting for his response. "I will decide tonight. This is clearly an emergency and we need help as soon as possible. Flora, Aya and Jeeg, I want you to at least inspect the scoundrel's ship. Everyone else can retire. Meeting adjourned."

Aya's heart pounded heavily, but not as heavily as Flora's. "That was so scary!" Flora said, red and shaking.

Aya patted her friend's head. "And you faced that fear with such bravery and elegance."

Flora buried her blush against Aya's shoulder.

As everyone exited the beer barn, the two walked alongside each other in silence. They both were mentally preparing for an adventure. Though Du Bois hadn't consented to anything yet, they had a feeling that he was clearly left with no other choice. Both women had their motivations: Aya wished to be a guardian of this planetoid and Flora dreamed of being self-sufficient. Both hoped this was a brand-new road that lead to their goals, but this road was long and uncertain. They each took respite in each other's company, however. It gave them confidence and a good friend to fall back on.