Nomad

No More

A heavy wind rattled the window and they looked at it. "Whoa, when did it start snowing?"

"Apparently, while we weren't looking. Let's bundle up warm and make sure everyone's alright." Quirin suggested, leading Varian out of the room. "Go on, get into something warmer."

"Uhm, yeah." Varian nodded. "Do you want the scroll back?"

"Just put it in your room for now." Quirin headed for his own.

After they got changed into warmer clothes and into warm coats and gloves, they set out to check on everyone in their homes.

"Quirin, we're all frightened. We've never seen a storm this big." A woman said anxiously.

"We don't have bunkers like the Capital, what do we do?" Her husband asked.

"There are tunnels under the city, you'll be safe and warm there. Grab whatever you need and head down below. I'll show you the way!" Varian said, and Quirin smiled at him proudly.

They went around to every house like that, and soon they had a parade of people following Varian underground to safety.

"Oh, I can't even hear the wind down here." One of the women said with relief after the exit was secured.

"If we need anything, warm food, drinks, blankets, I can go up to through the entrance to my lab. The manor will probably hold up better than anywhere else here." Varian said as his father helped the elderly to where they would be safe to sit.

"This place looks a little damaged." Someone commented.

Varian chuckled nervously. "Uh, yeah. But, it's safe. There's nothing in here that will hurt anyone." He glanced away. "Anymore."

"Quirin, what will we do? The rocks were bad enough, but this storm came before we could harvest, and we'll have lost everything!" One of the farmers said, turning to him.

"Let's just worry about getting through this storm." Quirin told them. "If we can survive, we can rebuild. The Capital will just have to be patient with us. I'm sure they're being hit just as badly as we are."

--

Varian headed up to his lab and got blankets from his home, which he set up for people to lie down on, especially children. Ruddiger scampered over and nuzzled Varian and he picked him up, stroking his fur to try and soothe himself.

"Is the storm still going?" Quirin asked him.

"Yeah." Varian nodded. "Manor's still intact, though, as I thought. But, the less stable of houses..." He sighed.

"It's alright." Quirin assured them. "We'll salvage what we can in the morning and then rebuild. We were planning to move, anyway, what with the rocks." He reminded them, and they all nodded grimly.

Varian pursed his lips, thinking of that scroll. It might not be a good idea to try translating it now, and he wasn't sure he'd be able to concentrate enough right now, anyway.

"What if they follow us?" A child asked.

Varian had been wondering that, too, but he doubted they would. "I've been studying these rocks," he told them, "following their movements. They're not going to follow us. They're heading for the Capital."

"But why?" Another child asked.

Varian sighed. "I don't know. But, as far as I have observed, they're going on a straight path there. More or less. I don't know where they came from, only where they seem to be going. As long as we don't put our new homes near the Capital, we should be safe. Assuming it doesn't become unpredictable."