"I'm glad we've made it," Davo said, "When do we get some proper clothes?" He tugged at his damp undergarments; the typical long, loose cotton trousers the Academy issued for male students and his own undertunic that covered the torso and upper legs.
"Maybe if you quit your—" Hanaette was interrupted by a hushing finger from Amaliva, "Right, yeah, no fighting. Need clothing anyways..." She herself sighed while looked down at her cotton gown and hose stockings. It felt weird on her with how damp it was, and was dangerously close to being provocative.
"Good, honey," Amaliva snapped, "Both of you should not be near each other, okay? And respect this house by being at least half pleasant."
"Yes, ma'am," the two sigh in unison.
"Thank you so much for taking us in, missus," Imillia sniffled, "Your daughter saved Keko, Ms. Flau, and I, I just... I don't know what would..." Tears ran down her cheeks as she cried, being taken into Saeva Flau's arms and gentled rocked to and fro.
"There, there," Saeva cooed, "It's all okay now, little one."
On the side, the Westerners awed and aww'd at the woman's compassion.
"One great mother figure she must be, eh," Ek wondered in amusement.
"Definitely," Malro agreed, "You don't even need sight to get that."
"Mother," Nattia greeted, "I'm glad to see you again."
"And I'm so ever happy to see my daughter safe and sound, but why are you here?"
"Did you notice an army marching past the farm, mother? Aelveil is attacking the town. These are some of my fellow students, as I said, and we only escaped with our lives."
"Oh, how terrible! I hadn't noticed anything because of the storm, but I had notice the Barking Knights weren't in their lodge."
"Really? Do you think they joined the battle?'
"If Aelveil is in battle, the Knights are as well..."
"Gods, I hope they're safe." Nattia glanced at Taltimia, who gave her a reassuring nod.
Dashing footsteps came down the stairs, audible over the conversations among the small crowd. A small figure rushed through everyone and lunged at Nattia.
"Ah!" she cried, falling to the floor with her younger brother, "Ow, ow! Okay, Arren, it's good to see you, too, but get off!" Arren jumped to his feet and let his sister up, only to cling onto her in a tight hug. "Aw, okay, Arren, one hug, but don't suffocate me, alright?" The mute boy nodded vigorously.
"Awww," Amaliva drawled, "Such a cute sister-brother relationship they have!"
"Probably the same way two certain Westerners collaborate, eh?" Davo winked.
"You mean us?!" Ek yelped.
"No, not you and Malro, you bloke! Talking about... ahem, them."
"Oh... what?"
"Kekie and Imillia, you broad-head," Amaliva smacked. "But hey, who wants to break the lady's embrace with Imillia to ask for clothing and food?"
"Excuse me, missus!" Ek bellowed, "May we have some clothes and food?"
Amaliva sighed. "Straight to it, eh."
Exchanging the whimpering girl with Keko, Saeva concluded, "Yes, we have plenty of food. But as for garments... well, I might have some clothing to fit the older of you young men, and plenty of Nattia's clothing to fit you two girls, but as for you two boys, I'm not sure if you would fit into Arren's or the old man's clothing..."
Old man? several wondered.
Nattia heard their thoughts. "Old man is Arren's and my birth father," she answered in a hushed breath, making sure her mother couldn't hear. "We don't talk about him."
"I was just wondering that," Malro said.
"Me, too," Davo trailed. Quick timing to our question, eh? Davo pondered, Or maybe I'm delving too deep into it.
"Well," Saeva ended, "We can work something out." She pulled her children to the side. "Fetch some clothes of them, hm?" Both children nodded. "And my, Nattia, I never thought you would make so many Western friends!"
"To be honest, mother," Nattia giggled, "I actually just met most of them. Only Hanaette, the Scentral girl, have I known for more than several hours. We were all fleeing in the same direction and chose to stick together."
"It's all the same to me, so go make some friends! A growing girl always needs plenty of friends."
"Yeah, yeah, mom, I get it." Turning towards the stairs, she and Arren broke for their room to retrieve some attire.
"In the meantime, we have potatoes, pork, and cabbage. Do you think you would all want some soup from it?"
"Yes, missus," several ex-students replied.
"Then I'll get to it." She excused herself and went to the kitchen to add fuel to the oven and ready some food.
"Well then, everyone," Amaliva started, "Why don't we help the family in the meantime?"
"I can cook," Imillia beamed.
"I can get water from wherever it is, I suppose," Davo mumbled.
"We can do some labor," Ek said with his arm around Malro.
"I can help with finding clothes," Keko replied, heading for the stairs.
"I can cook, too," Hanaette admitted.
"Alright," Amaliva concluded, "I can help with the clothing, too. So let's get to it!"
Hanaette and Imillia went to the kitchen to speed up the cooking, while Davo was told water barrels were outside. Davo and Malro hurried the barrels inside. Meanwhile, Ek was asked to feed the animals in barn. He very much obliged and ran to the barn to feed and goof around with the animals. Meanwhile, Keko and Amaliva reached the attic and helped Nattia and Arren with finding appropriate attire. Keko was advised to look for larger pieces of clothing in the outdoor cellar for the older of the group, and so he joined Davo and Malro outside, branching off to find the cellar and grab some pieces of garments.
[placeholder text; chapter part unfinished]
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