Turning Tides
The rest of the trip to Kugane had gone unabated. Thor had met up with Baatu and his family, retrieving Dkota and made plans to stay awhile. Plans that were ultimately cut short by an unexpected announcement from Red just two days later. He needed them in Lominsa as soon as possible.
By the time Thor returned with Dkota, Red had procured them a few of rooms at the Mizzenmast Inn. One for the girl, one for Thor and one full of bunks that held the rest of the crew, bickering about the cramped quarters when they had a perfectly good benefactor in present company. Red had insisted on keeping a low profile though, given if the lot of them drew too much attention they'd be gaol bound. Eventually everyone conceded and Red was able to see to business. He took Thor out for a drink, followed by a bit of fresh air, and then he told him the 'good' news.
Dkota's family, her Aunt and Uncle in particular, had recently returned from Meracydia. They'd been on an excursion documenting some troubles with the local wildlife and had only returned sooner on account of having had no word from their kin in a discomforting amount of time. Once they'd learned of what had transpired, the couple had set out in search of their niece. Inevitably their search found them in contact with Red who then assured them their family would be reunited with the utmost haste. It'd all been very by the books, all the right things were said and done, but by the waters that night, there was an understanding between the two men that didn't need be spoken. In the end it was all but two exchanges that marked the decision finalized. "This is no a life fur a bairn." "No. I reckon it ain't."
The next morning they took a caravan down to the Drydocks and met up with the couple, reuniting them with Dkota who, while utterly adoring of Thor, was overjoyed to see her family again. Tears had been shed all around, save for Thor who'd maintained what he felt was an appropriate composure. True to his inability to follow orders, rather than give them, Greyson had accompanied the lot and now stood at the start of the pier watching the scene unfold down wind. For once even he was void of snide remarks and simply held a solemn expression in silence. When the sails picked up and the boat finally set off, Red turned away and flagged down the wagon city bound. As he lowered his arm there was a hesitation in his step, and from beneath the brim he uttered, "And that's why I call him Lone." Greyson's steel gaze shifted from the outlaw making way towards their ride back, to the big brute facing the rising sun with a hand held high as he watched the boat draw closer to the horizon. It dawned on him then that whatever their differences, there was a undeniable link between the lot. A common denominator that held the unlikely crew together when nothing else but profit ever could. Loss. As the sea carried one man's past away, it brought one girl toe to toe with her future. Dkota, a child who had been through more than any ought ever have to, was smiling brightly in the embrace of her family. A family forever grateful to an unknown soldier in the far-east, and the unlikely guardian that'd seen their home made whole.
