Days later, inside the primary port of the mobile city of Chernobog, several key figures of Reunion gathered to await the arrival of Rhodes Island.
Ordinarily, a simple visit from Rhodes Island wouldn't cause such a turnout. Given how familiar both factions had become, people would usually just offer a casual nod, unsurprised to see the landship rolling back into town.
Today, however, the stakes were entirely different. News had arrived that Talulah, Jeanne, and a massive migration of roughly ten thousand displaced Victorians were returning alongside the vessel.
For Reunion, accommodating such a staggering number of newcomers all at once was uncharted territory, and a palpable current of nervous anticipation hummed through the gathering.
"Hey, Ivan, check this banner! Is it hanging straight? From my angle, it looks a little crooked. Or is something wrong with my eyes?"
A white-furred operator from the Yeti Squadron squinted up at a banner he had just hoisted. Written in crisp Victorian letters, the greeting read: Welcome New Friends to Chernobog.
"You idiot, you hung it upside down!" Ivan, a burly Ursus warrior, slapped the Yeti Squadron member across the back of the head, staring at the inverted text with a face full of dark veins.
He really shouldn't have trusted this clod with a simple setup task. If the guy hadn't bothered to double-check, Reunion would have suffered a catastrophic public humiliation right in front of the new arrivals.
Worse, outsiders might actually start thinking Reunion was entirely illiterate. If that happened, their leader wouldn't just string them up by their heels—she might just quietly purge them from the face of the earth to salvage the organization's dignity.
"Oh! So it was upside down! I thought it was just leaning to the side." The Yeti Squadron member showed not a shred of embarrassment, nodding in satisfaction solely because his alignment hadn't been diagonal.
"Are you out of your mind? Hurry up and fix it! They're pulling into port right now!" Catching sight of the massive landship slowly decelerating toward the berth, Ivan delivered a sharp kick to get the hopeless crew moving.
"Everyone certainly has a lot of energy," Alina murmured with an amused smile, watching the playful scuffle unfold among the Yeti Squadron as she chatted with FrostNova standing beside her.
Her primary purpose in coming to the port wasn't just to welcome the Victorian refugees—it was to intercept Jeanne and Talulah, particularly the former, who had been away from home for an absurdly long time.
Did that idiot even remember where she lived anymore? Alina privately suspected that if Jeanne stayed away any longer, she would completely forget the location of her own front door, leaving her spot in the household permanently up for grabs.
"Those blockheads are like this every single day," FrostNova sighed, rubbing her temples with a cold expression. She sometimes wondered if her leadership lacked sufficient menace, considering how easily her subordinates devolved into absolute clowns.
Yet, despite her stern complaints, FrostNova never actually forced them to adopt rigid, humorless discipline. While she hated being embarrassed in public, she had no intention of stamping out the natural, resilient spirit of her fighters.
Still, watching her squad butcher a simple welcome banner left her feeling a rare flicker of embarrassment. Fortunately, FrostNova possessed a naturally stoic, icy demeanor, meaning nobody could ever quite tell whether she was mortified or entirely indifferent.
FrostNova silently reflected that it was probably a good thing the old veteran hadn't come along today. If Patriot had been present, these mischievous Yeti Squadron members would have instantly straightened up and behaved like model soldiers instead of turning the welcome dock into a circus.
As for Patriot himself, he had gracefully declined the invitation, judging that the appearance of a towering Wendigo in a formal welcome ceremony might accidentally terrify newcomers who didn't yet understand the local culture.
Even though everyone agreed that having such a prominent figure present would lend weight to the event, the veteran warrior ultimately chose to stay behind.
"Life would be awfully dull if everyone walked around like statues," Alina chuckled, glancing back at the snowy fighters. "Don't you think having such a lively group of comrades is actually a wonderful thing?"
Alina had always appreciated the Yeti Squadron. She admired their ability to laugh and find warmth no matter how harsh the wasteland conditions became; their relentless optimism had a way of lifting everyone's spirits.
"Being lively is fine, but there's a limit to how chaotic they can get," FrostNova conceded, though the perpetual headache her subordinates gave her remained unchanged.
Whatever, she decided, letting out a silent breath. As long as these idiots don't pull stunts like this during actual combat, I'll just turn a blind eye.
She quickly pushed the thought aside as the massive hull of Rhodes Island finally ground to a halt against the boarding ramp, signaling the imminent arrival of the Victorians.
As the heavy mechanical doors hissed open, Jeanne and Talulah stepped out first. Spotting the familiar faces waiting on the platform, Jeanne immediately raised a hand, waving brightly with a wide grin.
Seeing her long-absent friend emerge from the landship, Alina felt a warm wave of joy wash over her, tempered by a lingering, seven-tenths proportion of petty irritation over how long Jeanne had stayed away.
Right behind them came the Victorian refugees, their faces painted with nervous apprehension. Peering out at the towering structures of the mobile city, many hesitated at the threshold, clutching their meager belongings as they stared blankly at a completely alien home.
"Don't be afraid. There's nothing here that will hurt you," Jeanne said softly, turning back to offer an encouraging smile. Her words seemed to carry a quiet, reassuring strength, coaxing the hesitant crowd to finally take their first steps down the ramp.
As they took in the welcoming faces on the platform and the banner overhead, a profound wave of emotion swept through the refugees.
When had anyone ever welcomed them? In their past lives, such a concept was utterly unimaginable.
Coming from the deepest dregs of Victorian society—impoverished Taran locals and persecuted infected alike—they were used to being treated as nuisances. People usually recoiled from them, cursing their existence and demanding they stay far away.
Seeing an actual banner of welcome broke something inside a few of them. Tears welled up in their eyes, and before long, choked sobs echoed across the dock, catching the trailing refugees off guard. Why were people crying at the finish line?
"It looks like they've had to endure too much pressure over the years," Jeanne murmured, turning back to watch the weeping migrants. Some had dropped to their knees, completely overwhelmed by the sudden shift in reality. "I can't even begin to imagine what they've survived."
"It's been too long, Alina! FrostNova! Did you guys miss me?" Jeanne bounced over to her two friends, beaming as she inspected them.
She paused, narrowing her eyes as she looked at Alina. "Wait a minute... do I look shorter, or did you actually grow taller, Alina? How are you still getting taller at this stage in life?!"
Comparing her own unchanging height to Alina's stature stirred a sudden pang of existential dread in Jeanne's chest. Am I destined to become the shortest member in all of Reunion?
"You're hardly going to be the shortest member—don't forget the Durins exist," Alina laughed, gently patting Jeanne's head before pulling her into a warm, affectionate embrace. She had missed her fiercely during these long months apart. "Besides, if you put in a little effort, who knows? Maybe a miracle will happen."
"It really has been ages," FrostNova remarked, watching the two embrace before shifting her gaze over to Talulah to let the reunited friends have their moment. "We saw the reports of what you two were up to out in Victoria. None of us expected you'd cause such a massive upheaval."
"Neither did I," Talulah sighed, rubbing the bridge of her nose with a wry smile. "We only meant to investigate the local situation. How it escalated into a full-scale migration is beyond me."
"Well, you accomplished everything you set out to do—and brought back an unexpected bonus, didn't you?"