Wander

A zbornak is not a pet. Yes even if it looks like a space horse and is wearing a saddle and bridle. Now let's bring her back where you found her.

Man I wish we spoke the same language... How do you apologise for your kid in pantomime.... -- Gallifreya

[AN: Language has never been a problem in WOY... interesting, that]

Sylvia knew they weren't in the Kan'zass galaxy, any more, but this took some kind of cake. First she'd lost Wander, and then she got good and lost in the process of trying to find him.

And then there was the kid. Sylvia had a hidden soft spot for small children and this kid was almost at evil levels of cuteness. She had a finely tuned sense for anything hinky, and the kid seemed innocent enough. You didn't need language to play.

Sylvia would hate to admit it, but she liked playing when the occasion called for it. Looking after that fuzzy roaming nutbar had left her with a need for some good old-fashioned play. And at the end of the day, the little kid took Sylvias reins and lead her home.

Oh boy. This old chestnut. It followed me home, beloved parental, can I keep it? How could she explain by pantomime that she had someone to look for and a home galaxy to get back to?

Grop, she wished they had a common language.

The poor Parental took one look and got The Look. The look that all parents got when their darling little child managed to triumphantly drag a new pet towards the house. Sylvia didn't need to understand the language to know that the parental was doing The Speech.

Honey, I know you love it, but it clearly belongs to someone else. Yes, we can look after it tonight...

"It's not a problem, honest," said Sylvia. "I can look for my friend tomorrow and--"

"SYLVIA!"

Speak of the devil! Wander had donned an apron and still wore an alien oven mitt. But none of that stopped him from launching himself over their hosts and landing in a hug. "Wander! Buddy! I thought I'd have to walk all over this weird rock just to find you..."

"Man, I am so glad to see you," he said. "Did you know that I was actually thinking of staying in one place? I knew you'd be looking for me, so the best way to get found is to stay put. And then I met these lovely folks and they needed so much help..."

Of course they did. Sylvia should have just looked for the biggest patch of trouble on the planet... and there he'd be.

Now the parental was trying to explain, in slow small words and with extravagant pantomime, that their kid had made a mistake and they were so very sorry about the entire thing. So of course she and Wander stayed for dinner.

Alas, the kid picked up the more... colourful... samples of Sylvia's vocabulary. With luck, none of these good people would find out what they meant.

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Wander is supernaturally strong and doesn't realise this is a big deal -- Gallifreya

She saw it, now and again, whenever things got really tight. Wander could and would carry the weight of a world on his back. And once, he literally did it. Okay, so it was a small planet, as planets went. But that wasn't the point.

He either didn't know his own strength, or he hid it most of the time. It was only when he forgot himself that

Betcha Wander's licensed to perform weddings -- Anon Guest

There were a lot more refugees, these days. Seas of people from all sorts of planets, all walks of life. Many of them were camped in line to get enough Orbble Juice to skip to the next galaxy. Some were hoping for enough to just get to the next planet.

Wander was not handling it well. The worst thing in the world was being just as helpless as all the others desperately waiting