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The original was posted on /r/hfy by /u/Aeogeus on 2025-07-02 06:44:04+00:00.

First Chapter/Previous Chapter

Gabriel found a bag full of food under a statue commemorating the war dead. The sculpture represented a Kisi, a word that had a similar meaning to Tommy, who fought in a war several hundred years ago. Gabriel quickly put the pieces and asked, “Now, where on Yursu did you get the money for this?”

***

Damifrec wanted to keep flying, but he knew that was panic, a brief flash of fear that clogged his mind. Excessive flying would draw attention, and he had already messed up once; he would not do so again.

He wondered where he had slipped up. Was it his silence? Perhaps he should have swallowed his anger and spoken to the clerks, feigned happiness, or said something, even token words of thanks.

It could have been that, or it might have been the human. Damifrec knew so little about them. He probably should have done a bit of research; probably should have let go for an instant to ask for internet access.

No. No, that was not right. He could not rely on anyone but himself. Anything given to him by anyone was poison fruit he could not trust.

Damifrec touched down at the edge of the park; there were a few people scattered here and there, enjoying the hanging garden as he had. He was annoyed his peaceful moment had been interrupted, but he needed to focus; he walked across the bridge that led to the denser parts of the city and looked across the gap.

A minute ticked by, then two, and Damifrec believed he had lost him, but that sense of relief was short-lived as Gabriel walked out of the trees and looked right at him.

How? Damifrec had taken a twisting route through the park; the landscape and plants had shielded him from view, so how was the alien following him? Was it his sense of smell? He knew some aliens had extremely potent senses.

Damifrec noticed a tram just a few metres away. He fluttered to the vehicle and boarded. He thanked the heavens for free public transport and looked out of the window as his ride pulled away from the park, leaving the human far behind.

Clicking with relief, he began to think about what to do next. The tram had a map of its route on one of the walls, so he studied it. The next stop was a few miles away. Even if the human ran, he would not reach Damifrec in time, but he could not stay on the line forever.

Five stops later, he departed the tram and went one level higher. He walked east, and as he approached a lift, the doors opened, and Gabriel stepped out. He turned to look at Damifrec, who could not believe his eyes.

In short order, he started walking towards the boy, casually as though this was not a chase. Damifrec turned and once again flew away, aiming for the next floor above. Damifrec turned to look behind and could see Gabriel was watching him, his arms folded.

Damifrec quickly concluded he had no time to waste, he needed to get out of the city and fast. He knew from the map he had seen earlier that there was a train station on the highest level; he needed to get there, purchase a ticket, and leave.

Gabriel was evidently a tracker of unparalleled skill, so it would not be out of the question that the human would find him there. If that were the case, Damifrec would need to improvise.

Once he was on the next level, he located the nearest lift going up and entered. There were a few people on it, but he was so paranoid about his pursuer that Damifrec could not even be bothered to get angry about it; he pressed the button for the top floor and waited impatiently.

Damifrec was clearly acting as nervous as he felt because one of the people onboard asked, “Are you okay, son?”

Damifrec said nothing, but he once again suppressed his desire to strike them. If he attacked someone, they would probably detain him, call the police, and he would definitely be caught then.

An idea flashed in his mind. He could tell them he was being stalked by a strange alien. He could use his nervousness and his age as a weapon to trick them into protecting him from Gabriel. It was a brilliant plan. Even if it only worked for a few moments, it would give him the time he needed.

But to do that would mean admitting that he needed help. That he needed an adult's help. He tried to suppress the feeling, ignore it, and admit weakness this one time. It was manipulation, not dependency. He could do it. He could.

Yet when he tried to speak, the word would not form. The level of disgust he felt for himself was unimaginable. It was stupid, but Damifrec kept silent; he would do this himself and succeed.

 Once they had reached the top, Damifrec ran from the lift, leaving behind a lift full of confused and concerned adults.

The station was several miles away from here. Fortunately for Damifrec, there was a shuttle between here and there, so Damifrec boarded the first one he could get to and waited impatiently, constantly checking the time and the view, as though he could will the bus to get to its destination sooner.

He was also keeping an eye out for Gabriel. The alien had an almost unnatural ability to travel throughout the city. Damifrec had no idea how he was doing it. He knew for a fact that he could not fly.

The shuttle stopped at the station and immediately headed for the ticket booth. The station was not only on the top layer of the city but also on its border. Beyond the concrete and metal was the natural world—a vast scrub forest filled with wildlife. Under different circumstances, Damifrec would have loved the view and might have even done a little exploring, looking for vunalak or imak, now though there was only one thing on his mind.

Damifrec had reached the self-service kiosk when he noticed something moving. He turned his head to see Gabriel sitting on a chair.

Damifrec’s brain nearly broke as he realised that not only had the human not only gotten here before him, but someone had known he would be there. While Damifrec had been worried before, true instinctual panic started to set in. Damifrec ran for the wilderness, and once he was free of the building, he started to fly.

Behind him, Gabriel began to steadily jog after the boy.

Damifrec was pushing his body hard, perhaps too hard. He had already spent so much time in the air already, and now he was adding over six minutes of continuous flying to that stress.

Tufanda were not built for long-distance flight. They had evolved in canyons, their wings, lungs and heart built for manoeuvrability and short bursts to get them from top to bottom and from one cliff wall to the other.

His fear allowed him to ignore much of the strain, but eventually, his muscles gave out, and he was forced to glide to the earth. He was grounded now. His wing muscles had locked up from the strain; every bump and jolt of walking sent spikes of pain through his body.

He slowed, but he did not stop, despite knowing that without his wings, he was all but finished. The human would have all the advantages now, but even so, Damifrec ran as best he could.

The terrain was level but uneven, and more than once, Damifrec was reduced to a slow walk to make it over the next hurdle. It was awful being unable to fly; he had no idea how aliens lived with it their entire lives.

Panting heavily, Damifrec looked behind and could see Gabriel steadily jogging towards him. He wanted to rest. He needed to rest; he was quickly burning through all the calories he had eaten, overheating under the midday sun, and becoming dehydrated.

Yet despite being under the same conditions as Damifrec, Gabriel was not slowing down, he kept up the same steady pace, determined to run Damifrec into the ground.

After a mile of running, Damifrec collapsed, utterly unable to keep up the effort any longer. He had given it everything he had, and it had proven inadequate.

Seeing that Damifrec was done, Gabriel picked up the pace and, in short order, finally reached his quarry. Gabriel did not gloat, though; he quickly picked up the boy and brought him into the shade.

Gabriel then took a sip from his water bottle and dumped the rest of it over Damifrec's head. The water’s evaporation would help cool him down. Then he reached into a bag he had been carrying and removed the takeaway meal Damifrec had abandoned.

 “Eat,” Gabriel told him.

Damifrec said nothing, but not because of obstinance. He was too exhausted to speak, let alone feed himself. Gabriel realised this quickly, removed the drink, and put the straw to Damifrec’s lips.

There was no fighting this time, no attempt to maintain dignity. Dignity was a luxury for those with the energy to maintain it. Damifrec allowed Gabriel to feed him, desperate for food; for the first time in his life, Damifrec truly understood what hunger was.

In between bites, Gabriel took out his P.D.A. and rang Amalenue, placing the call on speaker. “I got him. He’s not going anywhere. He’s utterly spent.”

“Where are you?”  Amalenue asked.

“In the wilderness, not sure where, about a mile or two from the city, I can still see it, but I don’t know where the nearest road is. I’ll send the coordinates, and you can have someone pick us up. Preferably in a 4x4,” Gabriel explained, popping another nugget in Damifrec’s mouth.

“Did you persistent hunt the boy?” Amalenue asked, recalling a documentary she had watched several years ago.

“Not my intent. I had expected him to give up willingly once he realised I coul...

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