The day of the dance arrived. Kyle decided not to go, which surprised no one but upset everyone. He was still too upset to face anyone.

"It's just a dumb party," he told them. He had never been fond of these get-togethers. He would rather spend time with friends in a more intimate environment.

Much of the school was dead silent. The student body had crammed itself in the ballroom, which was hidden somewhere underground. He was curious to find the room, but not on a day where everyone would be there. He had wanted to spend time learning to fly with the Gargoyles, but all of them were also attending the dance. Instead, he spent much of the night in his room.

Fledermaus paced the room. He did not share Kyle's capacity to sit in one place for a period of time. He kept poking his nose out the window, letting in the cold air. He scratched at the door and pawed at the floor, whining all the while.

"I'm bored, too," Kyle assured the little beast. "There's nothing to do. And I don't -"

There was a knock on the door.

He had a feeling he knew who was on the other side.

He rose from his desk and approached the door. He peered through the peephole and, sure enough, spotted Akora and her companions standing in the hallway. He sighed to himself and then opened the door. "What do you want?"

She took a breath. "I was told I should give you an 'apology'," she said, "so I got you this." She retrieved a rock from her pocket and put it in Kyle's hand. "So here."

Kyle looked at the rock. There was nothing special about it. "An apology? For what?" He had heard about this tactic and wanted to try it for himself.

She shrugged. "The others said your, what were they, 'feelings' were hurt, by my actions." She stood straight and puffed out her chest with authority. "Personally, I don't understand it, but it was something they said you humans do."

He brushed a patch of dirt off the rock with his thumb. "So you don't think you did anything wrong?"

She shook her head. "No, not really." Then, her eyebrows raised and her eyes widened, as though struck with a revelation. "But, if you feel I did something wrong, then please, accept my 'apology'."

He examined the rock a bit more. If he was being honest, he did not think Akora did anything wrong. What had she done? She told him the truth. The truth had hurt him. She was not trying to be malicious. While it was difficult to admit, she did not do anything to hurt him, and he was just holding onto anger. It was time to work on letting go.

Kyle set the rock on his desk. "I accept your apology."

Akora's face lit up. "Excellent! We can go back to being allies!" She invited herself into his room in typical Akora fashion, Runt and Sasha at her heels. "So, what will be getting up to tonight?"

He shut his door and set himself back down at his desk. "Well, I don't know about you, but I've been drawing."

She paused, as if waiting. She gave him a look as though she was expecting him to say more. Then, she said, "Drawing...?"

He nodded. "Yes. Drawing."

She loomed over his shoulder and stared at the papers on his desk. She observed as he created lines using the stick he held in his hand. She reached over his shoulder and put her finger to the sheet. "This technique is called 'drawing'?"

He hunched over his desk and covered the page. "Yes, and I don't like it when people look over my shoulder like that."

She set himself on the edge of his bed. "Oh, alright." Runt, Sasha, and Fledermaus all also crowded on Kyle's bed. "Well, is this a two person activity?"

He handed her a blank sheet of paper and a pencil. "Not usually, but you can try if you want."

She snatched the paper and set to work.

Kyle returned to his own drawings. He was trying to draw Fledermaus, but it was difficult. He had a lot of tiny details, what with all those scales of his. Kyle had only the rough outline down, all the circles and tubes he would turn into the image of a dragon. He was hoping it would be one of his best pieces. Hoping, but not hopeful.

After a few minutes, Akora passed back the paper and pencil. She had drawn a big, rough, bumpy circle in the middle of the page.

"It is my first draw, and I would like to give it to you."

He tucked it off to the side. "Thank you, Akora. It's very nice."

She then pulled on the back of his chair, lifting him off the ground. "Can we go do something now?"

He kept himself from letting out a startled scream. "You really want to hang out."

"Well, of course," she said. "I-". But then she went quiet. She set herself back down on the edge of the bed and shut her mouth so hard her lips disappeared.

Kyle waited for her to continue. "You...?"

She grumbled a little. It seemed she did not want to speak.

"You can tell me," he said. "Whatever you did, it can't be too bad."

"It's not something I did," she said with a defensive tone in her voice. "I just missed spending time with you is all."

He felt the corners of his mouth perk up. He had to turn away and resume drawing to keep from smiling. It was not a pleased smile, more a smile of surprise and bemusement if anything. Maybe a bit of disgust.

"C'mon," she begged, "let's go out."

"Did you have plans?" he asked.

She threw herself on the floor. "No, not really. I want to do something, though."

He bit the metal ring at the end of his pencil. "Everyone is the same, just from different parts of the universe I suppose."

"Is that what you call the glimmering sea above?" She sat up. "Anyway, I was thinking we could revisit the catacombs. Or, maybe explore the woods a bit. Or, or," she rose to her feet in excitement, "if you were feeling brave we could scale down the cliffs at the edge of the Academy."

"Isn't there water under those cliffs?" He turned to face her. "I thought you couldn't swim."

"I can't," she admitted, "but I'm not one to let such silly fears hold me back."

"The fear of drowning?" He rose from his desk and tucked his chair in. "Well, if you don't mind the idea of going under, I guess we can try that out."

"Yes!" She tore the door open with such force she nearly tore it from its hinges. Runt and Sasha barrelled out of the room before her. "Let's go!"

Kyle and Fledermaus followed behind. "I'm not so sure we're allowed to go out that far, so try and keep it down," he said with a grin. A feeling of courage filled him. He knew it was misguided, but it could be fun to pursue it for a change.

Akora trembled with excitement. "Yes, that's what I like to hear," she said in a hoarse whisper. Her excitement and restrained spilled over to Runt, who grew tense immediately. Sasha tried to follow suit.

Fledermaus took his usual position on Kyle's shoulders. He buried himself under Kyle's hood for extra protection, as though he would be the one to get in trouble should the group get caught. Kyle stroked the beast's nose for comfort. "So, do you know how to get to the cliffs?"

She smiled her big, jagged smile. "That's part of the fun."

The two slipped from Kyle's floor down the tower and out into the woods. Akora tried to convince him, for a moment, to pass through the catacombs, but he insisted they would be at less risk of getting caught if they went through the woods. They walked in silence until they reached the wall surrounding the school. Vince's Ivory Heart patrolled the path just on the other side of the wall and gave the two a fright. They continued along the outside of the wall until they reached the cliff. There was no clear way down, so they walked back towards the mainland in search of rocks. They quickly found a small path, but it would require a bit of effort to scale down.

Uncertainty started taking root in the pit of Kyle's stomach. This no longer seemed like a good idea. It never really seemed like a good idea in the first place. "Maybe we should turn back."

Akora leapt down from the solid ground to the first rock, though she easily could have taken a step. At least, it looked as if she could have. Runt and Sasha ran ahead, their longer bodies and greater agility making the decent look easy. "You've come this far."

He took the first step down. His leg shook as he reached a few inches, then a full foot down to the rock. It was a bit further than he had thought. "There. That's far enough for now."

She jumped to the next rock, which was about three feet away and a few inches lower than the first rock. "C'mon. You seemed so determined."

He leaned a bit closer to keep himself from raising his voice. "Yeah, but then I saw how far apart these rocks are, and how far down the shore is."

"So?" She continued down. The next rock was a bit further. "Things get scary when you progress."

With another shaky step, he moved to the next rock. "True, but this isn't independent living or applying to college. This is something that could get us killed!"

Akora looked down at the rocks before them. "You only think that because you're afraid. Bumped and bruised? Yeah. But killed? Man, we'd really have to screw up!"

His palms started to sweat. He tried rubbing them off on his hoodie. "I-I'm not afraid, I'm just being reasonable. Er, rational. Whatever."

She stretched her legs before making the next jump. There was a ledge big enough for both feet to be planted firmly, but she still had to hug the rock. Sasha and Runt were already ahead.

He followed her further, but paused before the jump. "How do you plan on getting back up?"

"I'll figure it out," she said as she hauled herself on top of the rock. "That's just the way you gotta do it."

He swallowed the lump in his throat. And then he jumped to the next rock. His feet hit the edge of the stone, but failed to grip it. He flailed his arms in the air before making a desperate lunge forward. He was too slow, and slipped between the two wrocks, catching himself by the tips of his fingers. His heart pounded so hard he could feel the racing pulse in his fingertips.

"Nevermind," Akora said. "You may actually be killed." She lay across the rock and reached down for him. "Come on up."

"Imokayhere!" he squealed. Already his grip was slipping. He dug his fingers into the rock the best he could, then tried to find the rest of it with his feet. "Gimmeaminute." His shoes were a little too old. The bottoms had been smoothed down, and had difficulty gripping the rock. He found another, smaller rock, just under one of his feet, and pushed himself up. He slid his arms forward, taking the weight off his fingers. He could feel the warmth of his blood as it poured back into his poor digits. He continued to push his feet against the rock until he could lay his upper body on the ledge. "I think I'm doing it."

Akora got back on her feet. "Impressive, I think. You didn't even need my help."

Finally Kyle got to his feet and hugged the rock just as Akora had before him. "Fear is a good source of energy," he said. His voice was still a few pitches higher than normal.

She smiled. "And look how far you've come already."

He took a deep breath. "Yeah. I probably should've stopped myself. But apparently I didn't."

"You just wanted to come down here," she teased. "Knew I could get you to come." She jumped down the next three rocks, catching up with Runt and Sasha. They were almost halfway down.

Kyle continued onward, slower and more cautious than the others. He was feeling a bit bolder, but could not bring himself to rush. He took each rock one step, one small leap at a time. They were a bit smaller and closer together going down, which made the descent less terrifying. After a short while, they reached the pebble shore.

"That wasn't so hard, now was it?" Akora asked.

Kyle turned to look back up the path of rocks. "I guess it wasn't. I'm not feeling as scared anymore."

"Not now that you've reached the bottom." She pointed out towards the black water before them. "There's something out there."

His body tensed. "What is it?"

"Not sure," she said, "but it's big. Look."

He peered out over the horizon. There was hardly any moon in the sky, and what little there was found itself hidden behind clouds. Only a few white lights danced on the water's surface. "I don't see it."

She came closer. "Watch my finger." She pointed out into the middle of the water. "You see that little cluster of light? It's disappearing a lot more than the other lights. Something's disturbing the water's surface."

He tried to look where she was pointing. It was difficult to see. He tried looking for the lights in question. Then, he saw them. A small cluster of lights disappeared and reappeared twice as fast as the lights surrounding. And, in the center of the cluster, he saw a glossy sheen not quite like the water surrounding it.

"Oh, I see it."

"Good," she said. "It's good to learn how to look for a threat before you need the skill."

He squinted and tried to make out more details, but it was too dark. "Hopefully that isn't a threat."

Akora picked up a pebble and chucked it into the water. "Probably not. We have a few water students. The school tries very hard not to put us in danger."

Kyle nodded. "We've almost been killed about three times now?"

She picked up another pebble. "I only said they tried." She chucked it into the water.

Kyle looked down at the pebbles by his feet. A few of pebbles had a thin layer of water coating them, making them glisten in the faint moonlight. He picked up a smooth flat pebble and tossed it forward. It skipped twice against the water's surface before plunging into the depths.

"Ugh, how did you do that?"

He picked up another flat pebble. "Well, it's equal parts the right rock, and a good toss." He passed her the pebble. "Look, this is what you want. It's smooth, almost flat, and has these nice round edges."

"So the least effective weapon?"

He nodded. "The leasteffective for a weapon." Then he went through the motions of skipping the stone, very slowly so she could see. "And then you're gonna want to toss like this. It's mostly in the wrist, but you need your whole arm to get that momentum going."

She nodded. "Momentum..."

He elaborated, "To put simply, you give it its speed and movement."

"Oh!"

"Yeah. Sorry, sometimes I forget you're not from Earth." He shrugged. "I guess I'm not, either."

Akora nodded. She mimicked Kyle's movement and released the stone. It skipped only once before it sank.

But still, she grinned ear to ear. "Did you see that!"

He, too, smiled quite a bit. "I saw! Good job!"

She picked up another flat pebble. She gave it a toss, and again, one skip. Then another. No skip. And another. No skip. Another, one skip. She threw almost the entire shore into the water in a matter of minutes. Sasha backed away. She was running out of dry ground. Kyle had to intervene before she threw away all their footing.

"You can calm down, now," he said. "I know it's exciting to learn a fun new skill but you'll have us both submerged if you don't stop."

"That's a good idea!" she said. And then, without warning, she waded into the water, Runt close on her heels.

Kyle felt as though a bolt of lightning passed through him. "I didn't say that!"

"I've been thinking," she said, "I got you to go against your fear and climb down here. Now it's time for me to do the same."

"You already did that!" he said. "Coming down here, in spite of the water, was your contribution to this lesson! Now get back to shore before you drown!"

"But what if I wanted to learn, Kyle?" she asked, venturing in until she was waist deep. "What if I wanted to learn how to swim, and I just needed someone to help?"

He took a deep breath. It was like trying to reason with a crazy person. "You could've just said that."

She turned back to him. "Really? You wouldn't have thought that was ridiculous?"

"No," he said. "Well, maybe if you wanted to come here. But I'm sure there's somewhere else we can go, on campus or on an approved planet or something." He took a breath. He could not believe he had to say this. "Plus, we've established there's something in the water."

She nodded. "True." She sighed and said, "Okay." She waded back to shore. She was shivering, though he knew she had felt colder. Runt followed behind, and gave himself a violent shake to get rid of the water. He soaked both Akora and Sasha, but spared Kyle.

Maybe he was finally starting to warm up to him.

"We should probably get going," he said. "It's getting late and I'm tuckered out."

"You're no fun," she said, her teeth chattering a bit. "But I guess you're right."

Kyle turned and started back for the rocks, but something caught his eye. He knelt down and picked up a small pink seashell. It was perfectly intact. He remembered the frigid waters of Winter, and how Akora did not know how to swim. He picked up the shell and turned to her.

"Have you ever seen one of these before?"

Her brow furrowed, but her eyes remained wide. "What kind of rock is this?"

"It's not a rock," he said. "It's a seashell."

"A seashell?"

He nodded. He knew how to explain it. "It's like a shield for some underwater creatures."

She took the shell from him. "Well that's interesting." She held it between her finger and thumb, with a gentleness he had never seen from her. "It's... beautiful?"

"It is," he said, "but are you asking or telling me?"

She turned her gaze to meet his. "Am I using that word right?" she asked. "It's not a word I use back home, but I've heard people here us it."

He felt a slight tug in his chest. "Well, you're using it right."

She looked back at the shell, then motioned to return it to him. "And for another word I don't use much, thank you for sharing this with me."

He kept his hands at his side. "It's okay," he said. "You can keep it."

She was a bit taken aback. "What's it for?"

He shrugged. "Decoration, mostly. My mom -"

"No," she interrupted, "you didn't hurt me. Why the apology?"

He opened his mouth to explain, but then remembered the rock on his desk. She was doing her best.

"Think of it as a friendship gift," he said. "To say thanks for being..." Nice was not the word. "...for being a good companion."

Her face lit up. "Well, I welcome you."

She was doing her best.

The two climbed back up the rocks. Kyle noticed Akora was stiff and restrained in her movements. There came points where he worried she would fall between the rocks, but only he came close. When they reached the top of the cliff, she was red.

"You look cold," he said.

"No!" she insisted.

He pulled his hoodie off. He felt Fledermaus dig his claws into the collar of his t-shirt. "Here, just put this on anyway. It'll make me feel better."

She took the sweatshirt and examined it. It was not garb consistent with what was worn in her home. Still, she pulled it on and took a liking to it. "This is comfortable. But, that was a mistake."

He felt the cold settle on his arms. The hair all over his body stood on end. "Why do you say that?"

She then picked up a fistfull of snow and packed it into a perfect ball.

He ran.