%20pngg.png)
(sisters, amiright)
Meanwhile Mike reached Thranion's camp after talking to Dane and waved at Thranion to get his attention. "Hey, sorry to bother you, but the kids need places to stay for the next few days and I was wondering if you had any extra space to offer. If not, don't worry about it, but I thought I'd ask."
(Yup)
“No no, I’m sure we could lend a few spare tents,” Thranion replied, “I’ll make sure there on the other end of the camp so the night stalkers don’t get any ideas.”
"Ah yeah, probably a good idea. Thanks, I'll let them know." Mike nodded at him and headed back to the dock, stifling a yawn.
Tanrial met up with Mike once she was done visiting James, “Hey, how’d it go?”
"Dane has a dozen empty tents, Thranion has a few. They both said they'd be willing to donate them to the cause for a while. What about on your side, any luck?"
“‘Bout the same. Trouble said she’d have to clear a few tents out and clean but as long as the kids don’t mind the noise then there’s a place there. James has quite a lot of space, too.”
(All right, I gotta go out for a while, take good care of yourself! makes more tea for you)
Mike nodded. "That's sad, but good for our purposes. We may not even have to talk to Polla at all. Let's go tell the kids so they can choose how they split up."
(gladly accepts the tea Okie dokie, you too. Later!)
“Yeah, that sounds like a good idea,” Tanrial sighed, “Come on then.”
Mike turned and went over to the kids. "Well," he said to Wren, "It looks like there'll be plenty of space for you all, but you'll have to divide into smaller groups." He explained their options, pointing out each different camp as he spoke. "We still have to figure out the food situation, but maybe that should wait until we've all gotten some sleep. Sound good?"
Wren nodded. "Yeah. Thanks, guys. We can probably figure it out from here."
"Okay." Mike paused. "Oh, and what's your plan for Ryker and the other two? They'll wake up sooner or later."
Wren glanced at her unconscious family members with resignation. "I'll bring them with me and talk to them when they come to, but I really don't know how they'll react to all this. I think we'll keep them tied up for now, much as I don't like it."
"Sounds fine to me. Just give a holler if they make trouble." Mike turned and started towards the tavern. "Okay, Tanrial, I think we can sleep now."
“Yes!” Tanrial sighed contently as she walked in step with him, “I’m gonna take the biggest nap.”
"Me too." Mike opened the door to the tavern and stepped inside, nodding a greeting to the bartender as he made for the stairs. "Guess Rick and Bernon aren't up right now. I'll see you later."
“Okay, see you later.” Tanrial gave him a small smile before heading to grab a glass of water from the bar. She headed upstairs shortly after that.
Her room was just as she'd left it, except that the bedding had been freshly cleaned and laid out neatly for her. The late morning sun streamed brightly through the window, but the heavy curtains easily did the job of blocking the light and making sleep possible.
Tabrial sighed, taking a swig if the water before taking her shoes off. She untied her hair before falling asleep on top of the covers.
A few hours later, there came the sounds of voices from downstairs. It sounded like Mike and Bernon were awake by now, and maybe some others as well.
Trudging downstairs, Tanrial spotted Mike and Bernon and walked over, rubbing her eyes tiredly, “Hey guys, sleep well?”
Mike started to say yes, but Bernon cut him off.
"Tanrial!" he cried, grinning happily. He tried to stand up but winced and gingerly settled back into his seat. He was covered in bandages and still looked tired, but he continued to beam at her excitedly. "You're up! Mike was telling me what happened, but he's not a good storyteller. How are you? Did you get hurt or anything?"
Tanrial chuckled and sat down next to him, “I’m fine. Got nicked in the leg but it’s all good now, don’t worry. What about you? How are you feeling? You look like you should still be sleeping, Bernon.”
"Aw, I'm fine, I've been sleeping for hours. These burns are pretty minor, really. I'm just sad I wasn't able to help out more." He took a sip of his drink. "So I take it all the kids are safe? Mike hadn't gotten to that part yet."
“Hey you helped out loads. And yeah, all the kids are safe,” Tanrial picked at a thread on her jumper which was too big for her, “Jack and Eric are restrained with Ryker, I dunno if Mike told you that or not but all the others are fine.”
Bernon's face fell a bit. "Oh yeah, I guess some of them would have put up a fight. It's too bad they couldn't be reasoned with…."
"Wren said she was going to try talking to them," Mike spoke up. "That was a couple hours ago. It could be that she's convinced them to cooperate by now….although I kind of doubt it. They seemed pretty set in their ways."
"I see," Bernon said. "Maybe we should go see how that's going in a little while? I think I'll feel limber enough to walk pretty soon."
Tanrial nodded and rested her head on the table, “Sounds like a plan. Honestly I feel like going back to sleep again but probably not the best idea when we’ve got things to do ya know?”
Mike gave a one-shouldered shrug. "I suppose we will be busy again before too long. I'm going to enjoy this pause in the action while it lasts, though. And probably go to bed early tonight."
"Me too," Bernon sighed, stretching. "I haven't updated my notebook for days….it would be nice to put something in it about everything that's happened if I get the chance."
Just then the bartender came over with a plate of food for each of them and a mug of hot tea for Tanrial. "Have some lunch, you three. You look like a bunch of starving bears who came outta hibernation too early."
Tanrial chuckled, “Thanks, I feel like that’s a very accurate description of what we look like,” She smiled and took a sip of the tea, warming her hands through the jumper for a few moments, “Hibernation doesn’t sound all too bad though. Maybe we should all just do that.”
"I can actually turn into a bear," Bernon said thoughtfully as he started to eat. "So in theory I could totally hibernate. Man, that sounds amazing. I'm really not fond of cold weather."
Mike snorted a little. "I think I'll stick to my human sleep patterns, thanks. I'd lose too much time if I slept for half the year."