Stealth

Branch returned with his notes and found Maizy standing alone in the lobby of the Post Office. "Where'd they go?" he asked.

"To get something," Maizy signed. "Meet us out front." She pointed, then clambered onto Branch’s back without asking. He was wearing a brown poncho with a golden hood—one Maizy hadn’t seen before. Normally, he just wore the Kad Post poncho.

"Oookay then." Branch carried Maizy out front and stopped just beyond the Post Office’s fancy ramps.

Maizy carefully scanned the skies for scary birds before hopping off. Then she looked at Branch and decided this was the perfect time for questions.

"Brown poncho?" she signed, pointing.

"Oh, this?" He casually flicked the fabric. "It’s my Woodworkery poncho. You've only seen me in my Kad Post one, right?"

Maizy nodded. Branch straightened up, trying to look proud. "At the Post Office I’m just another worker—and the Postmaster’s keedo." He laughed. "But at the Woodworkery, I'm actually a senior apprentice." He pulled the hood over his head. "This golden hood means my tail's at tier 2."

"If I reach tier 3, I'll get a golden poncho like the Woodmaster." He grinned. "I'm actually the youngest kad—in a very long time—to make tier 2. The Woodmaster was 22 wobbles when he got his, which was still considered young."

Branch was trying to sound impressive, and Maizy was impressed. His brown poncho with its golden hood suddenly looked so handsome. She gave him an open-mouthed smile and signed, "Wow!"

She didn't realize her genuine admiration would be remembered by Branch for the rest of his life.

"How old are you?" she signed.

"Almost six." He hesitated, then looked a little worried. "Which means I'm going to get kicked out of the Post Office quarters soon."

What? Do we all get kicked out at six or something?

Maizy gave him a confused look. "Why?" she signed.

"Right, you wouldn't know... Keedos become legal adults at six wobbles. Then we're just kads." He shrugged. "Legally, that means we can't live with our parents anymore."

Kicked out at six wobbles!?  Harsh!

"You don't have to worry," Branch said bitterly. "Females can live in the tree forever."

Maizy was concerned. She signed, "What do you mean?"

"Males get kicked out at six—not just from home, from the tree. To stay, we need a mate or an important job, like doctor or earning a place in the Weed Control Force. Otherwise, out we go."

Maizy stared, shocked.

"You're probably too young to learn this but..." He spoke the sacred words that gave anyone the perfect excuse to divulge age-inappropriate info. "Females need to stay in the tree in order to have children."

"Why?"

"Because there's too much ambient magic. It interferes with fetal development—if you know what that means." He looked at her and was reminded that Maizy's still so young. "You'll understand when you leave the tree for the first time. You'll feel it. The magic flowing into your body—and especially your tail. Tails..." Then a thought struck him. "Wow, I wonder what it feels like with two."

Maizy's tail glowed blue for a moment.  So that's why Mom said that having only one tree is a problem!

"Need more trees!" Maizy signed.

"Exactly." Branch nodded, just as the Woodmaster appeared from the courtyard, holding a mesh bag full of strange balls.

"Your notes," he said, gesturing at Branch, who handed them over.

The Woodmaster scanned the papers. "Twelve centisticks in diameter, and only half a centistick in length? That's all?" He gave Branch a surprised, expectant look.

"Yes, Master." Branch bowed. "I tested many sizes, and anything shorter lost too much thrust. The diameter controls how much magic it takes to generate force. Twelve centisticks felt like the best balance—enough to lift someone heavy, like me, without draining too much magic. I still need to test different diameters and nozzle configurations."

"Excellent work!" The Woodmaster was impressed.  I have the best apprentices! Suck it, Master!  He sent a rude emoji over the mountain in his thoughts—because when you're a masterclass Woodmaster, passive-aggression can travel great distances.

Somewhere in the mountain kad village, an old Grand Woodmaster awoke—suddenly feeling just a little more motivated to start his day.

Branch wasn't used to praise like that. His mouth dropped open. He just... stared.

The Woodmaster's tail glowed bright green, and a huge kad-shaped figure appeared on the tree—limbs spread wide as if gliding, feet replaced with little ascendal thrusters. He studied it a moment, then gave it a head and a tail. It now resembled a wooden statue of a kad mid-flight.

Wow... he doesn't think that'll fly, does he?  Maizy eyed the clunky, statue-like platform with deep skepticism.

She tugged on the Woodmaster's poncho.

"What is it, sweetgum?"

She shook her head, pointed at the wooden kad, and signed, "Paper and pencil."

Branch snapped out of his praise-induced trance. "Master, she's read all the woodworking books in the library. Maybe she remembers something."

I remember something... but it's not from the library.  Maizy paused, considering.  Probably from my past life.

The Woodmaster squinted, still doubtful that such a young kaydee could improve upon his design, but handed her the writing tools anyway.  Maybe she'll surprise me.

Maizy's tail glowed blue as she sketched: first a teardrop shape with a flat bottom. Near the top, she drew a window and added the figure of a stick-kad with an arrow pointing to the window. Above the arrow, a barely-legible note, "PILOT GOES HERE."

Next, she drew a triangular shape with a wide, 145° angle at its point and straight, zig-zagging lines at the rear. She pointed at the ends of each straight segment, then moved her palms up and down—indicating that these portions of the shape needed to be able to bend.

She then wrote, "THRUSTERS," and circled two spots on her design.

I think this is called...  Maizy's tail glowed very bright blue for a moment.  Stealth Bomber? Yeah. That sounds right.