329 Comparison

Around that time, a ten year old girl was lost in a mall in Ashdale.

One of Mandy's group, she had gotten left behind during a shopping trip. Alone and frightened, she stayed right where she was crying for the better part of four hours, much to the dismay and the souring of moods of many perturbed shoppers.

At last, she was rescued and spent half the day moping around being comforted with treats and sweets and still sulking through the day, as if blaming everyone for herself getting lost and left behind.

Those adults around her merely shrugged indifferently. After all, she was just a little girl. She was only ten years old.

***

In those four hours, ten year old Alani crossed continents.

"Land ho!" the call rang out from the lookouts at the front of the convoy, passed along ship to ship, and then officially announced via comms crystals.

"That's the Midlands." Isabella informed them. "What you're looking at it either Itarim, the neutral zone, or La Vive, I'm not entirely sure. We'll know better when we get nearer."

"Or we could just ask the other ships where we've reached." Gary shrugged.

"But what would be the fun in that?"

"Is everyone well-rested?" Alani asked. "Anyone hungry?"

"Not hungry, and not tired." Gary answered.

"I am well-rested, though I could use a bite." Juni admitted.

"You could always use a bite!" Isabella rolled her eyes. "I'm fine, Alani."

"I'm a bit hungry too." Jamie admitted.

Isabella groaned. "We're going to go broke just feeding you two."

"Sorry, it's my fault." Siti cut in. "I'm the one who measured their portions wrong."

Quick admittance to mistakes was a trait Remian wanted to teach them, but they hadn't really picked it up yet, except for Siti, who had it already and never needed to learn it in the first place.

Alani glanced at Isabella. "Food."

Isabella nodded slowly, but took out dry crackers quickly. Not just Juni and Jamie, Siti and Alani herself took a bite.

"Schedule check?" Alani queried next.

"I'm on watch. Gary's up in half an hour." Jamie replied. "Not a single air pirate in sight."

Despite being in a convoy, there was still a chance air pirates might see fit to prey on this weak little plank-and-netting modified Tug. They had borrowed a decent Tier 4 ballistae that they had mounted on deck, but it was poor deterrent against Midlander air pirates.

Actually, the convoy's biggest reliance against air pirates were a group of mercenaries, mainly post-war ex-military deserters who had gone into private enterprise.

"Looks like we made it safely." Gary grinned.

"Except for the clouds." Juni pointed out.

Jamie agreed. "Might be bad weather."

Alani peered at it and frowned. They had a point. She wasn't a weather expert, but she did know a bit from living on an island. "It's coming at us fast. Stow away everything loose. This could get bumpy."

They scrambled about doing just that. Politely, the wolfcats stayed out of their way, but Lunar quietly sent a telepathic message south.

***

At Fal'Herim, Xiao Yan was dabbling around with a new Qi Formation when Cheery's ears perked up.

"Yip!" She suddenly stood. [Message from Lunar. There might be trouble with the gang.]

"Trouble?" Xiao Yan paused. [Remian! Word from Lunar! Might be trouble!]

Remian replied. [What does 'might be' mean, exactly?]

There was a bit of back and forth on that.

"What's going on?" Mindy asked, seeing Remian preoccupied and sensing some of the telepathic buzz.

"There's a storm approaching the Lockjaw. Lunar's a bit worried." Remian mused.

"Chirp." Chirpy added. "Chirp, chirp."

"Oh?" Mindy turned back to Remian. "Chirpy says not to worry. She'll ask her friend to help out."

"Her friend…?" Remian wondered. "Thanks, I guess? Anyway, Alani seems to be prepared, and it's just a passing cloud, so they should be fine."

"Mmmhmm. Leave it to Chirpy's friend." Mindy said confidently.

Remian shrugged it off. He didn't know what Chirpy's friend could do, but whatever the case, some heavy rain shouldn't be too dangerous to the kids.

***

"Not good!" Not just Jamie, now everyone was on their toes watching the clouds. They stretched out across the skies at a visible pace, and would clearly cover the convoy long before they could reach land.

"How could this happen? We were so careful to avoid bad weather!" Alani protested. She was familiar with sea ships and airships both, and she knew for a fact just how bad things could get in a sudden storm. Sea ships had it bad enough; airships had it even worse. Putting aside rain and lightning, the wind alone could very well capsize a low-grade airship like the Lockjaw, and not just the Lockjaw; half the ships in the convoy were industrial-grade, cheap and convenient, but nowhere near tough enough to face the likes of a storm without taking damage.

"Isn't there some way we can avoid it?" Gary yelped.

"It's coming in too fast! Just five minutes and we'll be caught in it!" Isabella could calculate it easily. "We need at least twenty to steer clear of that mess!"

"Everyone, make sure you have your Feather Fall Scrolls handy!"

They checked. "Got it!"

Alani nodded. "Take out the ropes and tie yourself to the airship. This is going to be rough!"

They rushed to do it. Alani, Jamie and Gary secured themselves to the railings. Isabella and Siti darted into the cabin to secure their cargo. Juni tied his rope around the Tier 4 ballista they'd borrowed from Mindy.

"Not that!" Alani gasped. "Juni, tie yours to the railing, like ours!"

"But it'll be too heavy! The railing might break!" Juni protested.

Alani didn't have time to explain the structure of the airship's skeleton versus a weapon stuck onto the deck. "It's less likely to break than the ballista!"

Juni didn't argue. He just trusted her. "Right!"

But it was too late. Juni had barely taken two steps towards the railing when a powerful gust hit them.

"Uwaah!" Juni was knocked clean off his feet, three inches into the air and came down stumbling.

POW! Another strong gust hit them like a punch. Juni went reeling…

"Juni!" Alani leapt out to block him.

BAM! He crashed into her. Both of them stumbled around flailing.

"Grab my rope!" Alani put hers into his hands.

Juni grabbed on as another blast of wind knocked the airship sideways.

"WHOA!" Juni almost flew straight off the deck. Alani still had both arms around him, but her meagre weight was no hindrance to his much greater bulk.

FWOOP! Both of them went sailing into the open sky.

CRASH! The railing broke. Under the strain of Juni's and Alani's combined weight compounded by their momentum, the particular segment Alani's rope had been tied to finally snapped.

"I told you it would be too heavy!" Juni groaned. "OOF!"

While the railing broke, the ballista did not. Juni still hadn't untied his rope from it yet, and thus was caught and left dangling from it while Alani dropped straight down.

"Alani!" her friends screamed, but there was nothing they could do.

"Feather Fall!" Alani triggered her scroll. Magic surged, slowing her fall to resemble a light, drifting feather. She turned back to the airship, just some ten feet above her, so close in terms of flight, but so very far in terms of a wingless human. "Toss me my pack!"

"What?" Gary stared, blinking.

"You'll have to leave me behind!" Alani said, her throat suddenly dry. "There's no time to look for me and pick me up! Get the job done and pick me up on the way back! I'll camp out on an island and light a signal fire on Monday evening!"

It wouldn't be too bad, right? A weekend camping out on an island, fishing for her dinner… it would be just like back home! Only this time, she would be alone. All alone, in unfamiliar seas, and strange islands.

"Yip!" suddenly, a furry bundle leapt out of the airship.

"Lunar?!" Alani gasped, securely catching the wolfcat cub. "What…?"

"Yip!" Lunar wagged her tail. [You won't be alone!]

Alani suddenly felt a lot better. Having Lunar around would change everything. Even if she was just a cub, just having an extra pair of eyes to watch her back was a great deal. Also, it would be great to have a soft, furry pillow at night.

Meanwhile, Gary was letting out a heartfelt protest. "We can't leave you behind!"

Siti, on the other hand, threw Alani's pack at her. "Here! Get dry as soon as you can and stay warm! We'll come get you once the storm clears!"

"Don't worry about me, get the job done! I'll be fine!" Alani put on her bravest face.

Nevertheless, a tremor of fear could be heard running through her voice.

"Yiyiyip!" And then another bundle of fur leapt off the deck. [Wait for me!]

"F-flare?!" Alani gaped, as a second wolfcat landed on her.

[I'm coming too!] Flare grinned at her.

Alani finally smiled, no longer afraid to face being marooned on an island for a weekend.

***

Meanwhile, the other ten year old refused to go out any more.

She pouted at Mandy. "I got left behind at the mall last time!"

"Don't be afraid…" Mandy tried to coax her.

"NO!" she ran away, jumped into her blanket and refused to get out of bed.