Fledgling

Content Warning: The Chapter 16 Summary contains racist language.

After the group buys supplies, they camp out in their cars in a remote part of the woods. Shori asks Celia to keep watch while the others sleep. When Shori wakes, she drinks from Brook and notes that her scent and comfort level are already changing. She hopes she’ll be able to keep Brook, Celia, and Wright alive despite her ignorance. Celia tells Shori that the relationship between an Ina and their symbionts is like group marriage; the symbionts can have relationships and children with each other as well. Shori wants to provide this kind of home for her growing family.

When Brook wakes, Shori asks about Iosif’s potential relatives. Brook tells her that although Ina exist all over the world, his relatives were from Europe and killed during or after World War II. Many Ina were persecuted because of their “foreign” looks; the Ina also have several creation theories and written texts. Some believe the Ina are aliens brought to Earth by a mother goddess, and that they must prove worthy enough to return to their home planet. Shori also learns that she had four brothers and two sisters, and that their father was arranging future mates for them.