“I can’t just leave it here. Ilto wants it back.”

Ninto just shrugged. “You brought it back to the village once before. Try gaining its trust. Find out what it wants and see if you can help it.”

The creature picked up a small stick, and beckoned to Ani and Ninto. It cleared away the leaf litter, exposing the red clay below, and drew a stick figure.

Then it drew a second, smaller stick figure.

It pointed at the first drawing, then at itself, back and forth several times. Then it pointed at the second drawing and at the two of them.

Ani and Ninto watched, ears wide with curiosity and puzzlement. The new creature repeated the gesture over and over again.

“It’s trying to say something,” Ninto said.

Finally it picked up a green leaf, put it beside the second drawing, then put a brown one by the first drawing. It concentrated hard, and slowly began to turn brown. Then it pointed from itself to the drawing.

“I think I understand,” Ani said, “The first drawing is itself, and the second drawing is a Tendu. See, those things on either side of the head are supposed to be ears.”

“Then what’s that stuff sticking out of its head?”

“When we found it, its head was covered with long fuzz, like an ika flower.”

Concentrating hard, Ani copied the stick-figure Tendu on her skin, and then superimposed a picture of a Tendu over it. Then she did the same for the drawing of the new creature, superimposing an image of what it had looked like when they first found it. The image was hazy and indistinct, but the animal seemed to understand. It bobbed its head vigorously and made more guttural noises. It smoothed over the drawings in the dirt, and started another.