"MANAMAAAAAAA!!!" A deep voice rang throughout the tavern as the door almost flew off its hinges. "I'M HOOOOME!"

Barrel chested with a great curly black beard, a man who could only be Kilm walked through the open doorway. Under each of his arms was a barrel, and strapped to his back was a delicate looking box. They were of quality make, something that contrasted his cheaper, rougher clothing quite clearly.

"Would you please just shut up dad? And you don't need to kick the door open every time!" A smaller figure entered behind him, inspecting the doorway carefully. "I don't want to have to repair this thing again."

"Eh, not an issue. We can afford a new hinge or two."

"Would mama approve of such a thing."

"Eei, no."

"Then stop doing it you oaf!"

"Papa! Rize! No fighting! It makes mama angry!" Pinishi yelled at the two of them from the Captain's lap.

A voice joined her protest from the kitchen. "Don't make me come out there ya dimwits! I still got a knife in ma hands!"

"You ain't done yet? I thought we agreed we were going out today?"

"Change of plans, dingus. I think you'll understand if ya take a look around."

Kilm took a look at his immediate vicinity, seriously expecting there to be some heavy damage to the bar. That would make the most sense if they truly couldn't afford to go out. It wasn't that the tavern couldn't operate with some damage, only that it served as a danger when their patrons inevitably got rowdy.

Perplexingly, there wasn't any that could be seen. "Rize, take the alcohol to the cellar. I'll go see what's up with Manama." Maybe there was something wrong with the kitchen.

Rize only grunted in response. It was an affirmative to be sure, if a little resentful.

The group sat in silence at the back corner of the room, waiting patiently for Kilm to notice the Captain's presence. He had a hand hovering over Pinishi's mouth to inform her of his intentions, and she was struggling to hold her giggles in as Kilm's gaze passed over the group. He didn't even register Pinishi sitting on Shishti's lap.

He set the barrels and box on the tavern's bar before heading back into the kitchen while Rize carried the crate already fastened to his back into a separate room in the back. From their position in the corner they could only hear bits and pieces of the conversation inside, but from the lack of explosive energy that would have been expected from the Captain's presence being revealed, Manama was likely being vague about why their plans had changed.

"I think you should get back to work Pinishi. It might get a little hectic once he sees me."

"Okie dokie Uncle Shi. Do you all want more juice?" Everybody save the Librarian nodded and handed their mostly empty glass to her. "I'll be back soon, okay?"

She headed back to the kitchen, passing Kilm as he walked out. "Hi daddy."

"Hi Pinishishi." He patted her on the back. "Did I do anything to make mama mad?"

"Mmmm, I don't think so?"

"Okay. Thank you for helping out baby."

"You're welcome daddy!"

Frowning a bit, he turned to look at the tavern's interior with a little bit more detail. Manama said something important arrived and was waiting for him out here, but he couldn't see a package nearby. There wasn't anything out of sorts near the bar, and he couldn't remember there being any furniture that needed repairs.

Soon enough, his attention was drawn to the corner of the tavern where some patrons were exhibiting some odd behavior. They weren't talking, and they didn't have food. In fact, it felt like they were watching him.

"Is there anything I can do to help you folks?" He approached them with a friendly demeanor. He was technically the establishment's owner, even if it was really Manama who ran the place, so doing so was fine.

"I don't think there's much you can do for us at the moment, no." A man in the back spoke for the group. "Your wife is handling our meals at the moment, and your lovely daughter is going to get us refills on our drinks."

"Good, good." He scratched the back of his head, slightly ashamed of himself. It had dawned on him that maybe their behavior wasn't as weird as he thought. He couldn't remember them, meaning they weren't regulars, so of course they would be a bit curious about his family's antics. His friend always used to prod him about his odd behavior, without him around he tended to forget that he was, indeed, an odd person. "If you don't mind my asking, what is it exactly that's waiting out here for me? My wife seems to think its obvious enough that it doesn't warrant an explanation, but I can't seem to figure it out."

"Hmm, I think it would be best for you to take a good long look. Having someone just up and tell you what to look for would ruin the surprise would it not?"

A mighty fine suggestion. If it really was a surprise from his wife, then it wouldn't reflect well on him to have someone else point it out for him. It would also explain why she was somewhat mad at him for not noticing. To her it might feel like he had ignored her work.

If the surprise was grand enough, it would even explain why she had waited to do it until he was gone.

"A good long look eh?" He took a good long look at this group of newcomers as Pinishi came back out with their drinks. They didn't exactly fit the usual customers that would come at this hour, but that in and of itself wasn't surprising. Sometimes people just wanted to try something new.

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The young man with brown hair and the young woman with the blond hair were very clearly of the same culture, if not the same race, owing to those black line tattoos underneath their eyes. He'd like to say they were husband and wife, but he couldn't exactly discount them being siblings.

The old woman, well, from his experience she was almost certainly their superior in some manner or another. That of course assumed that they worked for the Sanctum. If they weren't, all bets were off as to her role.

The young man with the eyes that constantly changed color was a little off-putting to Kilm. His proportions just seemed so off, arms a bit too long and torso a bit too short. That said, he seemed nice enough.

The final person, the man who had been speaking on behalf of his table, was wearing clothing that was of a more ceremonial nature than the rest at the table. It was the traditional garb of the Sanctum's navy, something he was quite familiar with considering his line of work.

"Shishti?"

The Captain grinned a bit, the gag was up.

"AAAHHHAHAHA, SHISHTI YA DAFT SCALLYWAG!!!!!" Much the same as his wife, Kilm shuffled around the table. Unlike his wife, Kilm was huge, and almost toppled the Scholar out of his seat as he passed. Whether he had deliberately avoided the Librarian or not, she felt herself quite fortunate to not be on the floor. "I THOUGHT I SMELLED SOMETHIN' FISHY IN 'ERE."

"WOULDJA QUIET DOWN YOU STUPID BRUTE? I DAMN NEAR SPILLED THE EGGS ON MAHSELF!!" Clearly his sudden uproar had startled his wife.

"Aiee~" Pinishi was crouched on the ground, holding her ears. He was way too loud for her tiny ears to handle unprepared.

"Ah, eh, uh, sorry loves!" Shockingly, the man made to look like an unstoppable force was humbled by the combined complaints of his women large and little. "Now back to you!"

Once again the Captain found himself in a strong hug. Unlike the previous hug, Kilm was much stronger. The Captain was almost unable to breathe, only saved by the fact that Kilm had chosen to wrap his arms around the waist and lift him off the ground as opposed to commit to crushing his ribcage.

"-hoooo."

"BAhaha, ever the frail specimen aintcha. How ya been buddy?"

"-down, lemme down!"

"Ah shit, sorry Shi. Got a little excited."

"I can tell." The Captain rubbed his sides. "Sit down, I'll tell you all about it. First I should be asking how Rize is doing."

"He's been doing pretty good I'd say. Methinks he's going through a bit of a rebellious phase right now, though he only really seems to be antagonistic towards me."

"I can't even begin to imagine why." The sarcasm was palpable. "How could any young man possibly come to resent a father who always seems to hugging him or otherwise physically restraining him."

"So you're saying you know more about parenting than I do?" Taken at face value the words would be antagonistic, but there was a clear element of play alongside it.

"I just spent ten years commanding a boat with a crew primarily consisting of men a little over his age. I think I know a thing or two about adolescents."

"Bah! Humbug." Kilm swung his arm around the Captain and took a swig of the Captain's juice. "You think I don't have to deal with those sorts on a regular basis? I might not be in active duty, but I still get called to train the yunguns from time to time."

"You thinking of getting back into the fray once Rize's grown up?"

"Without question. I actually had a talk with the big man a few months back, one of the admirals is thinking of retiring soon and they'll need someone to take his place."

"An admiral position? So soon after recall?"

"I'll be her number two for a period of time." Rize reappeared from the open doorway just as the topic shifted away from him. "Oi, Rize, forget about the alcohol for a minute or two, someone's here to see ya!"

"It's not Kelly is it?"

"No, its yer uncle."

"Nice try dad but that gag won't work this time. You only got sisters and mom's brother don't like her much." Rize brushed his father off and picked up another barrel.

"I think you're forgetting about the other uncle ya got."

It was only when Rize turned around and saw who his father was wrapping his arm around. For a brief moment he froze, only thawing to stop himself from dropping the barrel. "U-u-u-u-u-u-uncle Shi? You're back? You're back!" He was on the verge of tears, shaking in excitement, but had the mind to safely deposit his barrel on the floor.

In the Captain's eyes, that was behavior he had inherited from his mother. Kilm would have just dropped it.

Like lighting he was on the Captain's other flank, practically jumping into his lap. The Captain, despite the emotional pain it caused him, had to signal to him that he was just too big now. He may have been fifteen, but he was a big fifteen year old.

"You haven't started telling him about the voyage yet have ya? Oh please tell me I didn't miss anything!" He was completely different than he was mere minutes ago.

"I haven't told him anything important yet, only talked about his career going forward. Seems like your dad's going places Rize."

"And I wish he would get there sooner."

Rize's little quip drew laughter from everyone at the table, especially his father. Despite his apparent rebellious phase, he clearly didn't have a bad relationship with his father. At worst it could only really be categorized as tenuous.

"Now come on, come on, tell me! You promised ya would when ya left."

"You remember that?"

"Why wouldn't I? I loved your stories about your job!"

"Yeah, but that was ten years ago silly boy."

"And? If anything that should only make you more eager to share with me! Surely you've got so much to tell me about!"

"I do, but maybe not as much as you'd be inclined to think. See, we spent most of our time heading to the target zone. There wasn't much time to do anything else. Aside from a few choice moments, nothing of note happened."

"Then just tell me that stuff!" Rize was shaking in anticipation. This was the man he looked up to from a young age, whose stories of dueling stars to the death gave him chills and pushed him where he was today. "We can wait for momma if ya want, but please just promise me you'll tell me all about it."

"You have my word, Rize. Until your mother comes out with our food, why don't you tell me about how you've been. As you can imagine, I've been a bit starved on the gossip side of things. You've been pushing yourself hard to make yourself an inviting prospect like I told you to, haven't you?"

"I think he might have been going at it a bit too hard." Kilm sounded concerned when he said that. "Nothing maleficent or anything like that, only that he's been drawing a few unsavory characters."

Rize sighed at his father's words. "Maybe. Kelly's definitely the worst of 'em though, so I can't really say its too bad."

"Sorry to interrupt, but what exactly are they coming to you for?" The Scholar, the one actually comfortable with butting in here, spoke up.

Kilm sighed, as if he was somehow annoyed about the whole situation. "Rize's got an unusually high level of split. Now I admit me an his mama probably got something to do with it, we are rather proficient in our own right, but the effort he put in to get to where he is now is honestly quite impressive. I'd reckon that the number of people with more split than him residing on the Great Csillacra numbers in the thousands, those from the academy included."

"That makes me something of a desirable individual for lower class nobles who want some strong blood in their future. Unfortunately they all seem to have been the sort to resort to coercive means, so I have absolutely no intentions of marrying into any of them."

"Ah, the joys of feudal politics." Diana was currently shaking her head in disappointment.

"Maybe, but that's the whole reason I'm doing this. Grandpa's chosen me ta be the heir to his merchant company, so I'd be an idiot to not secure further backing elsewhere. I've also got to get into a position to secure little Pinishi's future too. Dad can't help her outside the Sanctum."

"Good man." Donovan could respect that. He too was in a position of having to protect someone, so he could understand the desire to have a trump card.

"Pinishi isn't going to stay in the Sanctum?" The Captain seemed a little concerned about that. Evidently he thought that was a bad idea.

Kilm nodded while bringing her up on his lap. "If she wants to leave, we want to give her that opportunity. Hopefully we can find her a good man before that though."