Chapter Nine
Back to America
It was 11:00 the next morning, and (after a slightly tearful and very drawn-out goodbye to the dragons) Starre, Nina, and John/Stevan arrived at the airport. Nina and John were doing an wonderful job of acting out the struggle between mother and rebellious teenager. John would wander off to look at some poster, and Nina would yell furiously at him and drag him back to Starre. This all amused Starre very much, and she would giggle whenever Nina dragged John along by his ear shouting, "Stevan, what am I going to do with you? Hmm?"
Finally, the trio reached the ticket booth. John stood a few feet away, chomping on his gum and becoming very interested in his fingernails.
"Hello," Nina said clearly to the lady behind the glass. "I need to buy a one-way ticket for my son from Saxvistan to New York. There's a flight at 12:00, right?"
The lady looked through some papers. "Yes, I believe there is," she said, typing away on her computer. "I have some tickets available still. Passport?"
Starre took a deep breath. Nina called 'Stevan' sharply over, and told him to get that ratty hair out of his face for once and let that kind lady check his passport. The lady placed a ticket slip on the desk, and accepted the passport from Starre. The lady looked from the passport, to John, back to the passport, raised her eyebrows, and began to leaf through the pages.
"He was...a foreign exchange student," Nina said quickly. "We're picking him up today."
"Why is there no stamp from America, then?" the lady asked as John hurriedly brushed his hair over his face.
"U-uh ahm," Nina said shakily. "H-he renewed it here. It expired during his s-stay."
The lady was looking up at the three skeptically, when her eyes widened. She grasped the back of her chair, apparently riveted on something beyond Starre's shoulder. She turned very pale, said, "I'll be...right with you," and shoved through a door in the back of the booth.
Starre slowly turned around, and nearly burst out laughing. Ionkori was standing right behind her, his eyes wide, his teeth bared. Kivo and Gana were right behind him, looking just as fierce.
Quick, Gana said in whispered telepathy. Grab the ticket!
Starre, realizing just what the dragons were doing, snatched the ticket and put it in her pocket. She didn't have to worry about anyone seeing her, because people were flooding for the exits. The alarms began to go off, and, in the confusion, the ceiling sprinklers turned on of their own accord.
Kivo winked. Good luck, you three. Now make like the humans and scurry for the exits. No offense, Nina, the dragon said hurriedly, though Nina didn't seem hurt at all.
With that, the dragons each bounded off in a different direction, snapping at people and growling as they passed. Starre, Nina, and John rushed for an exit with the rest of the people in the airport. Someone shouted something about animal control, but no one was a match for three grown dragons, in Starre's opinion.
Soon, the three were out in sunlight. People were clumped up on the other side of the street, staring to catch a glimpse of these said dragons. Io came bounding out of the doors just then, roaring and making Starre giggle a little bit. People screamed and parted as Io thundered through. He was soon joined by Kivo and Gana, and the three made a show of stamping around and drooling on things. With that, the trio of dragons thundered away into the noonday sun.
Nina sighed. "I'll miss those awful rouges," she whispered, shaking her head.
John, who was still taking his role as 15-year-old quite seriously, had wandered off to stare at some pamphlets on rock bands. Nina and Starre stormed off to scold him, grinning inside. This wasn't going so bad after all, really.
**--**--**
About 15 minutes later, there were police and animal control workers everywhere, looking for some sign of these creatures. People were moaning everywhere, saying they'd been mauled and bitten, but, in reality, the dragons hadn't harmed anyone. The airline, however, was trying to get things back on schedule, and the Saxvistan-New York flight was only delayed about half an hour.
Soon, Starre, Nina, and John found themselves seated on a plane. John was nervous and edgy, knowing that he really shouldn't be here at all. Starre knew that the whole operation was incredibly risky, but it was a risk that all three of them had to take now. So they were reduced to biting their nails, twiddling their thumbs, and waiting anxiously for the flight to take off.
Soon, they were in the air. John began to breathe again, and they all took to gazing out the window and enjoying the scenery below. Soon, they were flying over the ocean, something John had never seen before, and he gazed, fascinated, at whales and dolphins leaping about. He saw cruise ships, another new thing to him, since he had lived far inland and had only heard of them.
"I'll have to ride one of those things someday," John whispered, "since I'll be in America now!"
Starre nodded. "Me and Nina and...the real Stevan have been wanting to go on one for ages. We'll all go together."
For a while they all rode in silence. Starre closed her eyes, and thought back to something she hadn't thought about in a while, considering the hectic confusion that had so recently been her life. The Bishel Dragon.
Now that she had seen dragons, she was ready to believe that the Bishel really did exist. And...so did the Bishen Realm, she hoped, and Indy. She gazed back out the window. She wondered if she'd ever hear about the Bishel again. Nina had sent in her application a few days ago. She swallowed hard, and hoped with all her might that she would be accepted.
After a few more hours of flying, dusk began to settle on the ocean. John was again fascinated by the way the setting sun turned the water beautiful shades of red, orange, and even purple. Even Nina said that it was one of the most fabulous sunsets she'd seen in a very long time.
Then Nina and John proceeded to fall asleep, and Starre was left awake. Soon, she, too, lapsed into the silence of sleep, as she flew over the ocean, headed for home.
**--**--**
Starre stepped off of the airplane again, and found herself, once again, on American soil. She pulled off her sweatshirt (much to John's shock and horror), beating her wings in the morning wind. Then, she turned to her father.
"Welcome to America!" she laughed, her black hair rippling in the breeze. "It's the land where you don't have to hide your wings. Go on, let them out!"
John, though still qutie hesitant, seemed to relax when he saw another Kin walk up to the police to ask a question. Though they were still a bit shabby, John's wings seemed much healthier as he pulled off his own bulky black shirt. His black face makeup had long since dissapeared, and his hair was no longer perfectly gelled to cover his face. The two purple appendages slowly stretched themselves, and John grinned. Both father and daughter used their tails to give a high-five, and the three walked toward the exit of the airport.
They somehow managed to get out with no problems, but they hadn't been worried in the first place. They were sure that officials in America would be much more understanding about a rescued Kin than officials in Saxvistan. Soon, they were in a cab and driving down to Starre and Nina's home.
The cab parked, and Starre got out. Nina and John were going to confirm John as a citizen of America. Starre squealed with excitement and joy, waved good-bye, and scurried into her house.
Stevan thundered into the front room, throwing his arms around her. She laughed, squirming out of his bear hug.
"I really missed you girls," Stevan said, grinning. "How was it?"
"Oh, interesting," Starre said lazily, tossing her coat onto a random chair. At Steve's questioning look, she added, "You'll see. Nina's coming soon."
"Oh!" Steve said, rushing into the living room and reappearing moments later with a large package in his arms. "You got this. It was labled 'important and fragile.' It arrived this morning, thank goodness you're here. I don't know what it is, but it's heavy."
Starre gasped. The initials 'BR' were printed on the side of the wooden box. She pulled off the lid, and found that the insides were full of cushioning and padding. On the top, there was a note. Starre grabbed it, and read it aloud.
Greetings, Starre! I am quite pleased to say that we at the Bishen Realm have deemed your application noteworthy and have decided to award you the ability to care for one of our available eggs. All we know about her right now is that she is female, and that her parents are those Bishel known as Faiamitsukai and Striking Echo. Her identification number is: mc72f. This information will be important should you ever choose to find a mate for her.
As promised, you have received your guide to proper Machesri Bishel care. It is enclosed in this box. For now, simply read that and keep the egg at a warm temperature and try not to break it. Best of luck!
Signed,
Indyana Gratis
Owner and Head-Coordinator
of the Bishen Realm
Starre completed her reading with another squeal of delight. She looked up eagerly at Stevan, who looked confused.
"What are Bishel?" he asked, "and why are you getting one?"
"Long story," Starre said, beginning to dig through the bedding. "Here, the manual. Read and discover."
She tossed the incredibly thick manual to her brother, and watched his eyes widen in shock as he saw the elegant red dragon on the front. She continued to dig through the material in the box, when her fingers touched something smooth.
She could feel the life running from the very tips of her fingers to both ends of her body. There was a creature inside of the crate, she could feel it. Very gently and carefully, she wrapped her hands around the thing she had found, and pulled it out.
It was an egg. It was a deep, rich blue color with slightly raised, lighter blue patches on it. It glimmered in the light of the sun shining through the window, and Starre could have sworn that she felt something move and squirm inside of it.
Steve was now pouring over the introduction text about Machesri Bishel (which Starre read when she first filled out the application). Every once and a while, he would mutter something out like, 'far out,' or, 'no kidding, these things exist?'
WHere could she keep the egg warm? Starre turned her attention from Steve to this new prediciment. She wasn't sure what temperature she should use, but she knew that she shouldn't use something over 100 degrees Farenheit, that was for sure. So, she thought until she had an idea that would work, at least temporarily. She went in, and got Nina's water bottles.
Nina's water bottles were rubber, rectangular bottles that could be filled with hot water and placed on the body at achy points. She filled four with hot water, and placed one on each side of the beautiful egg. She then duct-taped them together, and laid the egg back in the wooden box, on top of the stuffing. She put a bit more of the material around the water bottles, so that the egg wouldn't fall over. It was a perfect arrangement.
Steve was now flicking through basic Wyrm care. "This will be fun," Steve was saying. "It says here that you get to play games like fetch or soccer with them to improve their coordination skills. You play soccer after school all the time already!" Starre agreed - she loved soccer more than any other sport she'd ever heard of.
"Do I have to bathe it?" she asked, taking the handbook from him and flipping through it. "Yes, I just wash it in the tub as a wyrm. It says that I might have to start hosing it off if it's a particularly large adult." She glanced out her back window, and was greeted with the sight of a massive New York suburb backyard. That wouldn't be too hard.
Starre then curled up in a chair overlooking the little egg, and began to pick her way through the manual.