~Chapter 2- Repairs~

The next day, Wilvur made sure to buy extra supplies for the barn house, just in case. The kids seemed to have more than enough money and didn't mind. Ordinarily, he'd need a couple transports to carry all of the supplies from town to the farm, but the kids did it themselves. The black-haired boy Aero took two wooden beams over both of his shoulders and jogged all the way from town back to the farm.

When they finally returned to the site of the destroyed barn, Wilvur handed the kids shovels. He needed them to dig out holes where the support beams would lie in.

Aero began digging up the dirt and... SNAP! The shovel split in half. The boy apologized immediately, promising to get him a new one. Wilvur hesitantly handed him a new one, but he pushed it away.

"That'll only make it more difficult," Aero said.

Aero and the others began digging up the dirt with their bare hands at alarming speeds. Before Wilvur knew it, they had dug holes more than deep enough.

Wilvur directed the kids, telling them what needed to go where on the structure and in what order. The Densius child Ruben went to set one of the wooden beams into a hole and accidentally bent it at a terrible angle. Good thing they bought extras. The kids took far more care going forward, and there were fewer accidents as a result.

The kids worked fast! Much of the foundation had been set up. Even if there were twenty men on the job, Wilvur doubted they would be going as swiftly as these kids. It was like they had unlimited energy.

"Lunchtime!" Cecil called out.

Wilvur stopped what he was doing, "Alright, kids. Come on. Can't have you working on an empty stomach."

The children all sat around the family table, except for Ruben. The red-eyed Densius knew its weight would probably break the wooden chairs at the table, so it opted to stand. Besides, it didn't need to eat anyways.

Cecil prepared an extra large meal so there would be enough for everyone. The Phantine Nout abstained from meat, fortunately there was corn shucked from their fields to satisfy his herbivorous ways.

Aero crinkled his rounded nose and tore into his meat like an animal, and Wilvur looked at him with a grimace.

Corri threw a quick jab into her brother's side, "Watch your manners, Aero."

Wilvur rolled his eyes at Aero. He reminded him of the good-for-nothing guy that Bonnie ran off with all those years ago. But this kid seemed to have a good heart.

"This is delicious. Thank you so much!" Jirro said politely, trying to offset his cousin Aero's manners.

"You're very welcome," Cecil said with a smile.

Meg stared at Corri throughout the meal. The two weren't far off in age. With both of them sharing red hair, they could be mistaken for sisters.

Cecil asked, "So, I heard you boys were in a tournament?"

Corri answered first, "Technically, all of us entered. But Aero and Jirro got the furthest out of us."

Joe leaned over the table, "How far did you get?"

Jirro took a moment from eating to answer, "The semi-finals."

Wilvur's eyes widened, "The Semi-finals?! As in the top 4?"

"Mhmm," Aero said nonchalantly, still chewing a piece of meat.

Wilvur sat back in his seat, "How didja get so strong? Did you learn from that Fighting Academy down south?"

Aero and Jirro were busy getting down their food, so Corri answered for them, "No, not the Fighting Academy, but we were on our way there. We learned from our dads. Nout and Ruben learned from their tribes."

Cecil and Wilvur glanced at each other, "Where are your dads?"

Aero swallowed hard before answering, "They're back home. We're traveling separately from them right now."

"How old are you kids?"

Jirro swallowed before answering, "Aero and I are 13. Nout is 12. Corri is 11. And Ruben... is technically 51, but that's really young for a Densius."

Wilvur placed a hand against his forehead. What sort of father leaves their kids unattended like this?

The kids finished their meals and prepared themselves for more work on the barn. Meg walked up to Corri and tugged on her sleeve, "Do you want to play?"

Corri smiled at her, "I'm sorry, I have to help your grandpa with the barn. Maybe later?"

Cecil looked at the two red-haired girls, "You can play with her if you want."

Corri looked up to Cecil, "Are you sure?"

Cecil flicked her wrist, "Of course! Play with her for a little while, and you can get back to the barn right after."

Corri nodded and headed outside with Meg.

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Meg was eager to show off the tiny bow her dad made for her. She fired off some of the makeshift arrows she had, all blunted at the end so it couldn't seriously hurt anything. Rojo perched atop the house and watched the two.

Meg aimed for an apple on a tree and knocked it down on her first try. "You're really good!" Corri praised.

"Do you want to try?" Meg said with a smile, a gap in her teeth visible.

"I'll try..." Corri said as she took the delicate bow and arrows in her hands. She took aim at another apple, pulled back the drawstring and... SNAP! The drawstring of the bow split in half.

Corri looked at Meg. Tears had already started to form in her eyes and she was on the verge of bawling. Corri rushed to the little girl, "No-no. Don't cry. I'm sorry, I'm sorry!"

Meg sniffled hard, her emotions building. "Please don't cry Meg. I'll get you another better bow, I promise!"

Meg continued to sniffle hard, exhaling and inhaling dramatically. Corri looked up to Rojo, "Meg, if you stop crying, I'll let you take a ride on my bird!"

Meg's dramatic motions suddenly ceased, and she wiped her eyes, "Really?"

Meg composed herself pretty quickly, and Corri called Rojo down to them. The sparrow circled overhead and landed near the two red-haired girls. She lifted Meg up onto the bird's saddle and jumped up behind her. She attached the saddle tether to Meg. Corri could handle a fall much better than she could.

Meg was giddy with anticipation. Corri gently urged Rojo to fly. He kicked off the ground and began gliding across the ground. Meg squealed with excitement. They gently turned in the air, circling around the home.

"Higher! Higher!" Meg commanded.

Corri smiled and took them a little higher into the air, above the apple tree. Meg clapped her hands as they whizzed past her home. Corri could see Meg's mother, Cecil, watching from the window with a smile on her face.  

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~Chapter 3- Corri & Cecil~

Several hyena riders charged through the countryside. Among them was the Mecarne Temp, who rode on his hyena he named Kelvin. He had a purple tint to his metallic-looking flesh.

The group sought to intimidate folks into handing over their belongings... but people were becoming bolder. They weren't as scared of their crew anymore. Temp had a fairly meager take that day.

The group eyed some farmland as a potential target. As Temp rode along, he saw a red streak whizz through the sky. He stopped in place and looked to see what it could possibly be.

He looked and saw a red sparrow shooting through the air over the farmland. A sky rider? What was one of them doing here on the ground? Temp took a scope from his bag for a closer look.

He recognized the rider - it was one of those kids! The ones who fought Ekor and the other bandits before. When he looked to the ground near her, he saw the rest of the kids building a barn together. As strong as those kids were, Temp didn't dare trifle with them on his own.

Temp rode towards the cave Ekor's crew had been staying at. The other bandits in their crew came in, presenting their take for the day.

The rotund man, Ekor sat back against the cave wall, sharpening his axe as the booty for the day was left in front of him. Everyone could tell he was agitated at how little it was. A hand-shaped burn scar disgraced the side of his face.

"Cook and Chill won't be happy that haven't made our quota," Ekor grumbled to himself. There was anger in his voice, but also a twinge of fear. He knew what came with failure.

Temp leaned his slender frame against the cave wall next to Ekor, "Things have been getting more difficult for us lately."

"It's those kids!" Ekor shouted from his gut, "Ever since we ran into them, people haven't been treating us with the respect we deserve."

Temp rolled his eyes. He was seriously considering ditching this gang. Of course, none of the others would ever leave, they were terrified. Not of Ekor, but of Cook and Chill.

Everyone heard of how they treated traitors in the past. Cook had literally cooked people alive as punishment, and Chill would freeze them and break apart their body piece by piece. Terrible ways to die.

Of course, Temp didn't have to worry about that. As a Mecarne, he wasn't affected by the heat or cold. Those tactics wouldn't work on him.

"We can't keep being soft," Ekor announced to the gang, "We've got to show them why they should be scared. If we maim or kill a few people, that'll send the message."

Up until now, Ekor tried to avoid actually hurting people. He would just scare them. As soon as people turned up hurt or dead, their bounty would go up quickly. The authorities would relentlessly pursue you then. Ekor was desperate to get back into Cook and Chill's good graces.

But Temp didn't want to hurt anyone. Not really. Then he remembered the kids back at that farm.

"You know," Temp began, "I saw those kids who caused us all that trouble on the way here. If we put them in their place, things could turn around for us."

Ekor nodded exuberantly, "That's a good idea, Temp! This is why you're my right-hand man!"

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Cecil watched the reconstruction of the barn from their home. Wilvur anticipated it'd take a few weeks or so to repair it, but at the rate the kids were working, it'd be finished within the week

The sun fell, and they called it quits for the day. They would continue in the morning. The children all retired to the guest house for the night.

But Cecil couldn't sleep. She had a feeling about Corri. A question she just had to ask, but was scared to. She stepped outside their home and went to the guest house. She paced out there for a few minutes before reluctantly knocking.

Ruben promptly opened the door, startling Cecil. The Densius gave her a rocky smile, "Hi there."

"Hi... Is Corri awake?"

Cecil heard footsteps, and the young Corri came into view, "What's up?"

"May I talk to you about something?" Cecil asked, partially regretting it as soon as she had.

"Sure."

Corri followed Cecil into the house quietly. Wilvur, Joe, and Meg were all asleep upstairs. Cecil lit a few candles so they weren't completely in the dark.

"What didja want to talk to me about?" Corri asked.

Cecil began, "Yes. I wanted to ask... Is your-"

Cecil stopped herself. She wasn't completely sure if she wanted to know. She exhaled and turned her attention to her family photos on display, "I want you to take a look at these."

Corri gave her a perplexed look. She probably thought it odd that Cecil would fetch her just to look at family photos. But she went along with it. The portraits were all taken at different times, pictures of this quality weren't cheap to have painted. It was usually only for special occasions. The two looked at the photos under candlelight.

There was a picture of the family when Meg was still a baby. Cecil was sitting at the center of the frame with her daughter in her arms, Wilvur and Joe were at her sides. There was another picture of Joe and Cecil's wedding, Wilvur had more of his hair back then.

A third picture featured a younger Wilvur, Cecil when she was a kid, and another red-haired girl. She looked deadly serious.

"Who's that?" Corri asked.

"My older sister, Bonnie," Cecil said with some bitterness. She hoped Corri would recognize her.

"Where is she?" Corri asked.

"I'm not sure. Fifteen years ago, she took off with some good-for-nothing guy and never came back," Cecil said.

"Oh, I'm so sorry," Corri said.

Cecil shrugged as if to suggest she was over it. She gathered up the courage to ask, "What was your mother like Corri?"

"My mom? I don't know anything about her. My dad refuses to tell me anything at all," Corri said bitterly.

Cecil swallowed hard, "Your dad... his name is Razan. Isn't it?"

Corri turned to Cecil abruptly, "Yeah! How did you know-"

Corri paused and looked back at the photos of Bonnie very closely.

Corri and Bonnie's features were similar. It was more than just the red hair. Bonnie's face wasn't as round as Corri's, but the resemblance was undeniable. Bonnie had a rounded nose, just like Aero did. Cecil noticed the resemblance before, and now Corri recognized it as well.

Corri and Cecil looked at each other and said nothing. But they both knew.