106 Families

Remian sent a certain letter with Charlie during this latest visit. It was a letter he had wanted to send since the first day he arrived at the Frontier, but the time and circumstances had not been right.

But now with the Beast Waves seemingly stopped, and having enough military force to fend them off easily even if they didn't, with the surge of growth in the Frontier, he felt it was time.

"It's really important." Remian emphasized.

"Who is it for?" Charlie asked.

"It's for my family." Remian told him in a low voice. "The time is ripe for them to join me here."

***

A terrible storm hammered Shadowflash Fief the following week. Mindy, fresh out of the infirmary and raring to fly her airship again, was caught right in the middle of it.

"This storm came out of nowhere!" Mindy protested. "Since when did weather like this happen here? We've lived here our whole lives; we've never had winds this strong, this sudden, before!"

"Think maybe we cut down too many trees?" Tim asked. He had likewise just gotten out of the infirmary and had thought to take a ride to see the new developments from above. He was currently regretting it very much. "Just how far to the west did George expand the farms?"

"I thought he was supposed to go all the way to the Amber Gorge?"

"That's what I was afraid of! That whole area used to be heavily forested. If we've cut them all down…"

Mindy gulped. "This sort of weather could be the regular thing from now on?!"

Tim nodded wordlessly.

They were blown off-course during their southward flight. Mindy hastily brought the airship down for a landing, and they ended up near the Encles enclave.

Several people came looking as the airship met the ground heavily. Some of them were concerned. Some of them offered help. Others thought they had come here intentionally and asked about their mission.

There was, however, one particular exception who was simply curious. This was a girl even younger than Tim and Mindy, roughly nine or ten, who once lived surrounded by the sea and now lived by a river.

"What's your name?"

"Alani! What's yours?"

"I'm Mindy. This is Tim."

"Is Tim your brother?"

"No, he's not. Do you have a brother?"

"Yes, I do. But he's not here now."

"Where is he?"

"My brother got a new job at North Black Depths Lakeside!"

"Really? Doing what?"

"Feeding a fish! A big one! They say it's the boss of the lake!"

Tim solemnly took off his hat, held it to his chest and offered a heartfelt prayer for that brother.

She showed them around their village. It wasn't much, compared to the new developments around Fort Spoas, but Mindy and Tim felt impressed. Not too long ago, these people had arrived here in a bedraggled condition, refugees from a sinking island. While most of their friends and neighbors had gone on to other islands to live, these people among others had opted to travel to safer lands far from the sea and storm. While Mindy felt today's weather was the worst she'd ever faced, to the people at the Encles clan, this was just a heavier rain, nothing compared to the downpours and near-hurricanes they faced on their old island. None of them were in any way alarmed, most of them were still going about their daily business.

More than half of them didn't even take a break from work. The fishermen were still fishing. Alani's mother was still knitting. Alani's father was still fashioning a new sort of fishscale armor for her brother. Tim discreetly whispered a recommendation to her dad; that he add some rubber lining.

They offered lunch while they waited out the 'storm'. Mindy and Tim sat down with Alani's family for the meal, Tier 3 Wilds meat with some sort of meltingly-soft leaves seasoned with salt.

"What is this?" Mindy asked, picking up one such piece of leaf.

"This is Luau stew. It's my favorite." Alani grinned.

"Taro leaves. It's surprising, but we actually found some growing here already. The same plant grows both here and back on our islands." Her father mentioned. "Either that, or there were Sea People here before. And by 'here', I mean right here at the riverside. I guess they took to the water like we did."

After lunch, the weather had cleared, and Mindy got her airship and crew underway. Leaving the Encles behind, she turned to Tim and said, "That was… interesting."

"You were wondering too, weren't you?" Tim mused, looking at one particular house where they'd had lunch. "What it would have been like, growing up with a family. To have a mother and father take care of you, an elder brother to worry about and be proud of at the same time. Alani has been through a lot, losing her island and then coming here as a refugee… but she still retains an easy smile and a kind heart. Don't tell me that you're not thinking it's because she has parents."

Mindy just shook her head wordlessly. "Of course I wonder. But it wasn't that bad for me. I had Mandy."

"So did the rest of us. She might have been your sister, but she took care of all of us too."

"Why did she leave?" Mindy asked, sadly. "What happened to her?"

"I guess… she felt we were safe." Tim scratched his head. "She was always worried about our safety. Once we were all safe, she didn't need to worry any more."

"You're the last person who should be talking about safety. You're the one constantly in the most danger." Mindy poked him. "The last time you were captured, we had to bring an army to rescue you."

"And the next mission I went on, I brought my own army with me. I'm never going to get captured again." Tim swore. "I'm going to bring my own army everywhere I go."

"Is that why we're carrying fifty lynxmice below?"

"Obviously." Tim grinned.

"They didn't take anything from the Encles, did they?"

"No. They didn't even leave the airship. I'd rather they stayed dry. You have no idea how bad they could smell when you pack fifty wet lynxmice together in a small space."

"Ugh. I thought you were keeping them clean."

"You wanna try?"

"No, thanks."

Tim sighed. "I'll have to keep them out of the town if we want to keep the town 'healthy' like Phoebe says. I can't even keep them on George's farm, or they'd raid the food stores."

"What do you plan to do, then?" Mindy asked.

"Bring most of them to wherever our next target is." Tim shrugged. "Meanwhile, I guess we'll have to stay at Kara-Goth. They're most comfortable with tunnels."

"They might be, but what about you? You're not a lynxmouse."

"I'm fine at Kara-Goth. Aren and Zane gave me a nice room in Goth's upper levels with a large window overlooking the river. The Encles weren't there back then, but now they're here, I could probably wave to Alani from my room."

"That's very nice of them. They treat you well, don't they?" Mindy asked. "Is it because they don't have their own kids? That might be why they're treating you like a son."

Tim cleared his throat. "Actually, Aren and Zane have a daughter. Her name is Talia."

"Ooh! Is she your girlfriend?" Mindy teased.

"No, no, she's Izak's girlfriend. I think."

Mindy blinked. "Who is Izak?"

"Taj and Nadia's son?" Tim blinked at her. "Haven't you met him?"

Mindy shook her head. "I've been flying airships this entire time. I don't meet many people on the ground… or under it, in Talia's case."

"Well, just so you know, we're not the only kids in town." Tim informed her.

***

They were about to receive two more, plus a teenager… and their parents.

Charlie came back with all five of them a week later. Plus, Deutero also sent another trading ship.

But that had nothing to do with this new family.

"Mindy, Tim, George." Remian introduced them. "I'd like you to meet my family. These are my parents, my sisters, and my brother."