Finally Home

"And here we are!" Quinn exclaimed opening the door to their home. Maia slowly followed everyone in. She looked around taking everything in. "I'll get the snacks ready. Any games we'll want to play?"

"I think Maia's still a little shellshocked," Zion said watching her look around keeping to the edge of the room.

"You're probably right," Quinn said with a slight light-hearted laugh. "I'll just get the snacks to start." They turned and walked into the kitchen. Bolt followed close behind.

Maia blinked watching them walk to the kitchen. She tilted her head and slinked from the living room to follow. She stopped in the doorway and silently watched Quinn and Bolt. Quinn was laughing and scratching the back of their head as Bolt was pointing at something Maia couldn't see. "They really do get along well together, don't they?" Maxwell asked from behind Maia. She jumped letting out a scream. Quinn dropped the bowl that they were holding as Bolt let out a startled yelp. They both turned to face the doorway. "I'm so sorry! I didn't mean to scare you."

Maia leaned against the wall trying to slow her breathing. "I-its o-ok," she stammered patting her chest. She closed her eyes and took a couple of deep breaths. Then she opened them again and pushed herself off the wall. "I'm ok now." Bolt walked up to her and she patted the Sikeri's head with a small smile.

"You haven't really been off the mountain much, have you?" Quinn asked after cleaning up the mess that they had made.

Maia shook her head. "No," she replied. "And no one really goes up that mountain much either. Its why I found that cave and decided to live there."

"Everything ok?" Zion called from the living room.

"Yeah!" Maxwell called back. "I accidentally spooked Maia." She turned back to the small group. "Why don't you come back with me and then Quinn can join us after they get the snacks together." Maia nodded slowly and the two of them walked back to the living room.

"Are you ok?" Zion asked Maia as the two of them found a seat.

Maia nodded in response. "So why were you guys on the mountain?" she asked tilting her head.

"Quinn was taking their Sikeri exam," Zion replied.

Maia blinked at them. "Sikeri exam? What's that?" she asked.

"Its the test Quinn had to take to be able to keep Bolt," Maxwell replied before Zion could.

Maia tilted her head the other way. "What's a Sikeri?" she asked.

"They're highly intelligent creatures that we can keep as companions," Zion answered. "But because of their intelligence, we have to take an exam to be able to keep them."

"Oh," Maia sighed. "I wish I could get one."

"You could!" Maxwell exclaimed.

"Yeah," Quinn chimed in from the doorway. They walked into the room carrying two large bowls. One was filled with chips and the other was filled with pretzels. "There are plenty of books out there on Sikeri. Zion was even kind enough to let me borrow some of theirs to study for the exam."

"Yeah," Zion confirmed. "If you want to glance through them while we're all here go right ahead."

Maia sat up straighter. "Really?" she asked. Zion nodded and passed the books over to her. Her eyes started to water as she grabbed the books. She smiled at Zion. "Thank you!"

"You're welcome," Zion responded as Quinn placed the bowls on the table in the middle of the room. Maia started flipping through the pages of the books while Zion, Maxwell, and Quinn started talking. Every once in awhile Maia would look up from the page she was on to nibble on a pretzel.

For the next few months, Maia would visit Quinn to ask them questions about Sikeri and what all they had to do for the exam. And while Maia didn't have a Sikeri of her own yet, she didn't let that stop her from learning all that she could for the exam. She wanted to be ready when she did find one. In that time, she learned about a facility that had Sikeri available for Katragoons that wanted to adopt one and would pair them together. She couldn't wait.

~*~

After studying for a few more months, Maia finally felt she was ready to get a Sikeri of her own. Or at least ready enough to take the exam. She had found out that she didn't need a Sikeri yet. It was just preferred. She worked up the courage to go down to the facility that had Sikeri for adoption. "H-hello?" she stammered to the Katragoon at the front counter. "I-I'm here f-for my Si-sikeri exam."

The katragoon looked up from her computer screen with a smile. "And you're name is?" she inquired.

"M-Maia," she studdered. She was so nervous she was almost shaking.

The Katrgoon turned back to her screen and typed a few words in. "Ah! Yes," she said after a few moments. Maia let out a sigh of relief. "You're right on time. If you go down this hall and take a right you'll find the waiting room for those waiting for their exam. You shouldn't have to wait all that long once you check in there."

"Oh. Ok," Maia said a little more confident in herself now that she knew she was in the right place and wasn't late. "Thank you." She turned and started walking down the hall.

"Good luck on your exam!" the kat from behind the desk called after her.

Maia made her way down the hall. She paused where when it came to a dead end. She blinked. "Oh. She said to go right, didn't she?" she asked herself. She looked down the hall both ways. Right. Left. And then when she looked to the right again she nodded and walked down the hall that way.

She walked up to a door that had a sign on it. "Sikeri Exams" She paused looking at the sign. Then she took in a deep breath to calm her nerves and walked into the room. "You're Maia, right?" the katragoon in the room asked as soon as she walked in. Maia nodded. "Right on time. That's a good sign." The katragoon smiled at her. "If you would follow me please." Maia nodded again and the two of them walked through another door and down a shorter hallway into a different room. This room was a lot larger than any room Maia had ever been in. "Now there are a few things I should tell you about Sikeri #344 before you begin."

Maia's eyes widened. "Wh-what kind of th-things?" she studdered nervous again.

"Nothing to be worried about," the katragoon replied in a soothing tone. "You aren't in any danger. It's just that this Sikeri had been paired with another Katragoon. But when they came to take their exams and adopt her the Sikeri that the Kat was with caused a ruckus and it changed Sikeri #344. She stopped playing with the other Sikeri."

"Oh," Maia said softly. "Poor girl."

"We just wanted to let you know in case you didn't pass your exam with her that it probably wasn't your fault," the katragoon said.

"Fail?!" Maia exclaimed. Her eyes were wide again.

"If you do fail because of the Sikeri we are willing to let you try again with another one," the katragoon quickly explained.

Maia took a deep calming breath. "Oh. Ok," she said. She took another deep breath. "Let's get this started then."

The Kat nodded and walked across the room to another door. She opened it letting in a pastel purple Sikeri. The Sikeri bounded around the room but then stopped halfway when she saw Maia. She shook her head and started backing away. "W-wait," Maia said reaching out to the Sikeri. "I-I won't hurt you." The Sikeri took a few more steps before turning. She started running for the door but when she saw that it was closed made for the closest corner that she could try to hide in.

Maia looked down at the ground. "Maybe this was a bad idea," she mumbled to herself. She looked at the Sikeri. Was the Sikeri crying? She slowly made her way over. The Sikeri was crying. She sat a few paces from the poor creature. She just watched for a couple of moments. She opened her mouth a couple of times. Finally, she said quietly, "I would at least like to be your friend." The Sikeri tried to burrow deeper into the corner. "Is there anything we could do together? Even if it's just for right now?"

The Sikeri stopped moving. After a few moments, she started chirping in different pitches. Was she trying to sing? Maia watched. Then she jumped up almost startling the Sikeri with the sudden movement. She was! Maia looked down at the ground. She couldn't sing though. So she started to hum trying to match the pitches. The Sikeri turned to face Maia as she continued her version of singing. Maia hummed along with her. After a few moments, Maia pointed to the door that she had entered through and the two of them made their way to it. They finished their song as they approached the Katragoon.

"Well done!" the katragoon exclaimed. "It looks like the two of you are getting along! I'm so happy for both of you. Let's finish up your paperwork and the two of you can be on your way."

"So I passed?" Maia asked.

"Yes!" the katragoon exclaimed clapping her hands.

Maia couldn't believe it. She passed. And she had a new companion. She couldn't wait to tell Quinn, Zion, and Maxwell.