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The night of First Moonstorm is here, and we are all staying up to watch it. Larrah had told me that this one starts the New Year, and is usually the best. Arru also stated that the event can sometimes change one's life, if watched in the right company.

I have also learned that on these nights that the der'ocks do not fly until after it's over, as the storm provides too much light. Despite the fact that they are the only big creatures that hunt at night, we are all fairly quiet. Only the sounds of the numerous small creatures and bugs fill the air.

Standing in the small clearing, I find myself enjoying a cool night breeze, when Fey pulls gently on my arm. I stoop down to her. "What's up?"

"I'm scared," she whispers into my ear. "Will you sit with me?"

Smiling, I answer, "Sure."

Taking my hand she leads me over to a chair between hers and Tayla's. She waits for me to sit and then pulls her chair as close to mine as she can before sitting in it. She stays there maybe a minute, before climbing up in my lap. She lies back on my left shoulder as she looks at the moons, still waiting for the storm to start.

After another minute, she's asleep, curled up in a ball, on my lap. Sada brings over some water, and seeing Fey, she retrieves a blanket from the tent and helps me wrap her in it. She then sits in Fey's chair and looks up at the sky.

I watch Fey's face for a little while. Seeing her eyes moving under her eyelids lets me know that she has indeed fallen asleep.

Turning my attention back to the moons, I realize that the smaller moon, Terr, has moved in front of larger Nai and is approaching alignment. I recline my chair back just a little and wait.

After a few more minutes, the show starts. I try to gently wake Fey, with no luck.

The flashes of light start off subtly, but quickly intensify, in both brightness and in number. Not being able to see the lightning directly, the larger moon reflects the light in localized areas, making it appear that the light is rippling across it like water. I soon realize that the lightning is in fact rippling across the surface of Nai. Aime had told me that if the storm was strong enough, it would start jumping around the heavy metal deposits on the surface, but I had not seen that happen yet.

This is a particularly strong storm, and it's still getting stronger. As Nai brightens, Terr seems to darken, being without any direct illumination. Around me I hear several soft "oohs" and "ahs" whispered.

Kotu even manages an "oh, wow."

Suddenly, as the moons hit their closest, Nai brightens noticeably, and Terr seems to disappear into blackness. For almost a minute, they appeared to be one large rippling silver ring almost as bright as the sun.

Sadly, as the moons start to part, the storm quickly subsides, having used up much of its energy. There are still a few dim flashes, but as the moons spread farther apart, they don't last.

"Did I miss it?" a sleepy voice asks from my lap.

With my eyes still adjusting to the sudden return of darkness, I don't get to see her expression. "Yes, hun, you did. I had Aime record it for you. She sent it to your tablet so you can watch it when you're not so tired."

She brings her nose up under my chin, nuzzling me a little, a gesture that I promptly return. "Thank you," she says.

I help her climb down off my lap, and she takes Sada's hand as she looks at me.

I smile. "I'll be along soon." She nods and walks Fey to the tent. I look for Kotu and see him still watching the moons. I glance up at them, but the storm has passed completely. "Kotu."

"Huh?" He looks around, realizing where he is.

"Collect the remaining chairs and go to bed."

He sighs, but gets up and starts folding up the three remaining chairs. As he heads to the tent, I realize that I'm not alone. Tayla is still sitting beside me.

"Um, Kyle, can I . . . uhm, talk to you?" she nervously asks.

I turn to look at her. "Sure."

She tries to look at me, but keeps looking back down at her hands, unable to hide her growing nervousness. "You remember that I didn't commit to being your guide, right?"

"Yes, I remember that you seemed . . . distracted."

Her ears slant back, like they did that night. "I was."

"You want to talk about it?"

She thinks for a moment and then sighs heavily. "I know how my grandmother knew all those stories," she confesses, giving me an odd look. "She was an oracle. She didn't like the attention it brought so she really didn't tell anyone. My mother never got the gift she had, so it was assumed that I would not have it either. But I have . . . dreams . . . dreams that come true."

"You mean premonitions?" I ask, allowing my interest to show.

"Yes." Her ears perk, and she sounds relieved that I know what she's talking about. "They only happen on the nights of Moonstorm."

Seeing her hesitation, I gently prod, "Why are you telling me this?"

Her ears sag again. "Because I'm embarrassed."

"Of what?" I gently ask.

She fidgets with her hands in her lap, then explains, "Three months ago, I had a premonition. In it, my village was visited by a stranger. He took with him two females, one as a colleague, and one . . . became his mate."

Not missing the similarities, I ask, "You think that I am that stranger?"

She looks softly at me. "I know that you are that stranger. I think part of me realized then that he was you, when you took off the mask."

I sit up, realizing what she is inferring. "You want to be my mate?" I calmly ask.

"I have seen it. I accept it. That is the way of an oracle."

"What if you don't want it?"

"It doesn't matter. This is something I want. Don't you?"

I lean forward. "You're asking if I want you?" I smile. "I do. I'm not sure how long I've felt this way, but I do."

"What about Sada? Why isn't she your mate?" she asks, suddenly worried.

I sigh, realizing her dilemma. "That's not so much a choice than a barrier." I take my shirt off and point out the bite mark. "Sada has a defense mechanism that won't allow her to mate."

Tayla leans in close, touching the scars, as I continue, "We tried to, but she went feral and defended herself. I lost a lot of blood. We decided that we wouldn't try again." I hang my head for a moment, then ask, "I thought you knew about Megai and me."

She sighs. "I didn't fully understand, but now that I do, our time in Arindell makes more sense."

"Now that you do, how does that change things?"

"Would Sada be okay with me being your mate?" she asks, worry returning to her eyes.

Glancing up at Sada, who now stands behind Tayla, smiling, I say, "She didn't have a problem with Megai. I'm pretty sure she wouldn't mind. In fact, I'm sure she'd be thrilled." Then to emphasize my comment, Sada bends down and gives Tayla a hug from behind, being sure to nuzzle her, cheek to cheek, purring.

Tayla's eyes widen in momentary surprise, and then, realizing what's happening, she returns the nuzzle. "How long have you been behind me?"

"Since the beginning," I offer. "You should have seen her face when you told me you wanted me as a mate." I chuckle.

Suddenly from above, we hear a loud cry, reminding us that it's past time to move indoors. Sada and Tayla quickly retreat into the tent, and I grab the chairs and follow.

'Bedtime,' Sada signs.

"Yes, I do believe it is," and I give her a kiss on her nose, then turning to Tayla, I ask, "So where does this leave us?"

She puts her hands to my face and pulls me to her. "Right about here," she whispers and puts her muzzle to my mouth, imitating the kiss I usually give Sada.

Taking the hint, I wrap my arms around her and return the kiss. To my surprise she starts to purr softly and wraps her arms around me. We hold that for a moment and then she breaks the kiss to slide her cheek along mine.

"Marking me as yours?" I softly chuckle.

"Hmm, yeah," she purrs, putting her nose under my chin.

An unusually loud yawn from Fey interrupts us. "We should get some sleep," I whisper softly.

"Good night then," she whispers.

"Good night," I reply, giving her another kiss on the muzzle. I watch her give me a tentative look, then glancing at my room, frowns, and slinks softly over to her own bed and lies down.

Feeling a little confused, I follow Sada to my own bed and crawl in. Sada gets comfortable on my left arm, as usual, and starts to purr as I rub her back. I lay there for a while, quieting the thoughts racing through my mind, before finally closing my eyes.

Slowly I begin to realize that I'm being watched. Looking at the door, I see Tayla standing in the dark, watching me.

"Tayla?" I gently ask.

She slowly steps over and sits on the bed next to me. As I look at her face, I see confusion in her eyes. I reach up and touch her cheek, and she nuzzles my hand.

I gently pull her to me. Realizing my intent, she nervously asks, "What do I do?"

"Just get comfortable."

She rolls toward me, putting her head on my chest, like she did the night she fell asleep in my arms. I feel her sigh heavily and tremble. "I'm scared," she whispers softly. "I've never felt so strongly about someone like I do about you."

"Why is that something to be afraid of?"

"I don't want to lose you, like Larrah lost . . . hers."

I start scratching her back, starting at her shoulder blades. "There's no way I would let that happen, and Aime would make sure of it."

As I reach the base of her tail, her back arches slightly, and she starts to purr. "That feels good," she moans, and her body starts to relax. I start rubbing Sada's back the same way, getting a similar reaction. I lay there for a while, gently scratching both the girls' backs until the purring fades. Feeling more at ease than I have since I woke from cryo, I drift off to sleep.

I awake to the sensation of something moving across my chest. Looking down, I see that Tayla is lazily tracing along my ribs and muscles with a finger. Her head is still on my chest, just below my chin.

"I'm glad I'm not very ticklish," I whisper.

"Why don't you have fur?" she asks curiously.

"Because humans don't grow fur."

"What will you do when you find more humans?"

"I'll let them know what really happened at the facility, and Aime can relay the data she has."

"And after?"

"I don't know. Haven't given it much thought. Go back to Arindell maybe, see if Megai still wants me," I confess, wondering what she is leading up to. "Part of me would like to see Earth again, but I doubt it would look anything like I remember."

She stops tracing and lays her hand flat, feeling my heartbeat. "Tell me what you remember, of Earth."

Thinking for a moment, I say, "One moon, no rings. Most of the trees have green leaves. There are a lot more flowers, all sorts of colors and shapes. The creatures are a lot smaller. And there are a lot of birds. Most of them are colorful too."

"What's a bird?"

"Well, a bird is a small flying animal. Most are smaller than the dragons and could be held in one hand. Their bodies are covered with feathers, not fur or scales."

"Are they harmful?"

"No, most are actually pretty colorful. The whistling or chirping sounds they make can be relaxing."

"Can I go with you, if you go there?"

"I wouldn't go if you didn't come with me."

She cuddles in closer and we lie in silence for a while, listening to each other breath. She finally breaks the silence by asking, "Do you want to have children?"

So that's what she was building to. "Well, already having been a father, I can't help but say yes. I would like to have a little one . . . or two. As for how soon, I don't know, but I'd want to make sure we're ready first."

"We," she mumbles. "I'd like that."

I quickly realize that she has drifted back to sleep, apparently more than happy with my answer. I give her a kiss between her ears and let myself fall back to sleep.

As the sun starts to rise, I wake early. After slipping out from under Tayla and Sada, I get dressed for the day. After quietly setting up for breakfast, I sit back and relax while waiting for the others to wake up.

Railu is the first to awaken, and gives me an odd look as she exits the tent. "You're not usually up this early," she states, then seeing everything set up for breakfast, asks, "What's going on?"

"You'll see, soon enough."

She gives me a skeptical look as she sits down in a chair and gets comfortable.

Arru and Larrah both come out at the same time, both looking freshly groomed and ready for the day. Larrah nods to me, smiling as if she knows something the others do not.

Sada comes out and, upon seeing us, asks, 'Do you want me to wake the others?'

'Send the children out.'

She gives me an odd look but nods and heads back into the tent. A few minutes later Fey comes out looking bright and chipper as she walks over and sits down next to me. When Kotu comes out, he looks like he just woke up. His fur plastered to one side of his face.

Sada pokes her head out of the tent. 'Now Tayla?' she asks.

'Yes, then you get out here before she does.' Sada smiles and disappears again, only to come out a few seconds later at a near run.

I stand up and position myself about ten steps from the tent's door.

Tayla opens the tent door but doesn't step out right away, looking around, suspecting something. Seeing the cautious look on her face, I call to her, "Pendekar Tayla of Pridewyn, I'm challenging your reserve."

She steps out of the tent, then realizing what was said, walks up to me and kneels on one knee and bows her head.

I look down at her, realizing again how much I don't like this custom. "I stand above you as your superior. I'm looking for a mate. Do you accept this contract, or do you stand and challenge?"

She stays kneeling, ears drooped, thinking about her answer. "I challenge," she finally states, rising to her feet.

I nod to her. "What is your choice of combat."

She again thinks for a moment. "Unarmored, open hand."

I nod to her again. "I accept your challenge. Aime, armor off, no help, understood."

"Acknowledged, no armor, no augments." All my armor falls off of me as Aime releases it. I also remove my shirt, revealing my skin, to prove that I'm not wearing any armor.

We take a few steps away from the tent and chairs. Then Larrah steps up to us, assuming the role of ringmaster and bows. So we turn to her and bow, then turn to each other and bow.

We take our fighting stances, and Larrah signals for us to begin. Tayla and I stand for a moment, before she takes a few experimental swings at me. I easily block those, being careful to keep my hands open at all times.

As she steps back from her attack, I step forward and deliver a few attacks of my own, which she too, easily blocks.

After a moment we begin trading attacks and blocks. I find it somewhat refreshing that she's not holding back, so I return the favor of not holding back either, giving in to the fight and letting her have some of my better attacks. She blocks some and dodges others.

After a few feigns, she lets loose a rapid barrage that I find myself having to both dodge and block. We slowly return to the trading attacks and blocks. This time she tries to include occasional swats from her tail.

After a few minutes of this trade-off, I find myself wanting to bring the fight to an end. I feign a spin kick and use the momentum to get behind her as she blocks. I wrap my arms around her, holding my hands flat away from her, with her tail, and a leg trapped between my legs. She struggles for a moment, pushing her head against mine, and trying to twist and push out with her arms with no luck.

Larrah steps over looking at the hold, making sure my hands are not closed.

Suddenly, Tayla stops struggling for a moment, catching her breath. "Do you yield?" I ask.

"No," she teases, starting to struggle again.

Feeling her hands closed around my wrist, I say, "You just did."

She stops struggling, realizing that she just forfeited the challenge. She relaxes in my arms, but instead of being disappointed, she starts purring and rubs her head against mine. "I am your mate."

I relax and wrap her in a hug. "And I am yours."

Having forgotten about our audience, I am surprised by their spontaneous applause. As I stand there holding Tayla, smiling, she turns around and wraps her arms around me, so I happily pick her up and spin around, planting a kiss firmly on her muzzle.

"Can we eat yet?" a plaintive Kotu asks, interrupting our celebration.

"Party crasher," Tayla calls as I laugh.