We entered to the familiar sound of Chopin’s Nocturne, this time played quietly. It distracted me so that I didn't immediately pay attention to the beautiful Icanthie female stretched out lazily on the floor in her Feline Form. She was a lynx and the tufts on her ears twitched occasionally in response to the music. As Kine and I drew closer, the lynx's head popped up and we were speared by an intent, focused gaze. Not quite piercing, as I discerned warmth in the depths of her eyes, but I still felt like she saw more of me than I was comfortable with.

Kine smiled as he spoke to her. “Mum, come and meet Sierra.”

The lynx immediately rolled over and sprang towards us, bouncing around us like an over excited cubs, rubbing her cheeks against our hands and legs. I couldn't help but smile at this exuberant welcome. Kine was outright chuckling by then but managed to pull himself to together to say, “Mum, it might be a bit easier to talk in another form?”

She froze, tilted her head in thought then, in a blink, I was face to collar bone with a Warrior Form. I didn't even get to lift my head to look at her face when two powerful furred arms wrapped around me and I was smooched in a tight hug. I think the noise that escaped me was an “eep” or perhaps a strangled yelp but it quickly died as my air supply became almost non-existent.

Kine, my treacherous cousin, enjoyed himself at my expense.

“Mother is very affectionate, even for an Icanthie. I suspect it’s because she’s starved of company when she’s away at the industrial centre. Was everything okay there this time?” He asked, a twinkle in his eye as his mum continued to squeeze me in the longest hug ever. I suspected he was the usual victim and enjoying watching someone else endure his fate…

“Yes, thanks to your timely warning. We started to see debris fall soon after your report so the shields were in place before any damage was done. We have the shields up constantly now and, surprisingly the drain on the power supply is far more manageable than we anticipated. Everything is running smoothly. As long as the rain arrive as scheduled, we shouldn’t have any issues.”

“Mmm,” Kine hummed thoughtfully. “Yes, we’re still chasing the sources of the glitches in the Weather and Environmental System. We thought the problem was a programming one at first but now we think WES’s problems may be linked to damage to the sensors it uses, rather than the programme itself.”

What was implied but not said is that the debris fall was damaging supporting infrastructure so BOADs systems couldn't do much about it. Things were escalating.

The turn in the conversation had caused Kine’s mum, whose name I still didn't know, to loosen and allowed me to breath a little easier again, though I still couldn't escape her embrace. She finally seemed to notice that I was trapped, but rather than left me go, she smiled down at me, lessened her arms and brought her hands up to rest on my shoulders, still firm and unbreakable without considerable effort. She gazed at me, her eyes searching and happy.

“Mum, this is Sierra, my cousin. Sierra, this is my mother, Sheeba, your aunt.” Kine introduced us. Sheeba. I finally had a name to go with the big personality and I couldn't help but smile. Though I felt overwhelmed, I found that, on first acquaintance, I liked this exuberant, odd aunt of mine. Bowing as much as her hold would allow, I greeted her.

“Hello, Elder Sheeba.”

“Oh child, don’t be so formal! We’re family, so you should call me Aunt or Aunt Sheeba. Kine had told me so much about you and yet not enough! I can already tell your bond with my Kine is so strong and it hasn’t even been a full orbit yet. I hope we can be as close.” She beamed.

I smiled back, swept up by her buoyant manner. “Thank you. Kine and Mathias helped me through my Maturity. Our bonds have been significantly stronger since then.” I explained. Although I liked this new kin, I was a little reticent about her. Searching my feelings to try and explain this odd response, I realised that it was because she was a mother figure. I’d lost my mum twice and never had many kin to start with. Finding so many was confusing. I wasn’t sure how an aunt different from a mum, a sister or a cousin. I don’t want to replace my mum but I desperately wanted this aunt and all the other relatives that I’d barely touched the surface of discovering. Kine had so many uncles, aunts, siblings, cousins, nieces and nephews and that was just the Den family. I’ve barely thought about my Kuthar kin, though they niggled at me like a splinter under the skin. Despite all the chaos of the last several moons, the split from the Myath, new places, new kin and kith, the trial, the debris fall, the diplomatic visits, the research, the Itbit encounter and the fungal spore infection… I had always felt all those neo-bonds and potential bonds hovering around me. Sometimes the air felt thick with them. The longer I spent in the Icanthie Capital, the more these bonds made their presence known.

“Mum’s just returned from the industrial city to the west. She loves plants, don’t you mum?” Kine interjected. He probably noticed my struggle.

“Oh I do, though the industrial centre isn’t like my garden here at home. Still, I enjoy volunteering in the farms, checking that the automated systems work properly and sending the produce off. I think its so important to know where all our resources come from. I’ve been there for six, moons even though that’s well over the mandatory volunteer minimum. That’s why we’ve not met yet but Kine has spoken about you regularly in our communications. I’m so happy to finally meet you Sierra.” I flailed mentally to find a response but Sheeba continued before I had a chance. “I love this piece of music you play dear. Can you tell me about it? Ive never heard anything like it. It’s so… indescribable!”

“Of course, though I don’t know too much about it. It has a visual file too, let me set that up. Hold on…” I pulled out my personal screen and linked it to my private files so I could send the whole audio/visual file to MEL. “Kine, can you make sure it doesn’t get broadcast to the entire mansion again please?” I asked, the file almost ready to play.

Kine did something briefly, the gave me a nod, so I started it. Two humans, long dead, filled the display. One sat at a large instrument that couldn't be seen in its entirety, though I’d fully seen the same instrument in other files, while another stood with an instrument held under his chin. We watched in silence as the entire piece played out and watched the emotion of these talented individuals as they created something beautiful. I trusted Kine but I wasn't sure how Sheeba would react. I suspected it would be alright, she’d raised Kine after all, still you never knew what would happen when it came to the humans, especially ancients humans.

We watched the whole thing in silence and when it finished, Sheeba asked to see it again. On the third viewing, the questions began…

“What does that writing say? I don’t recognise the language.”

“Do you know what the instruments are?”

“What are they made of?”

“How to they work?”

“Did they create this piece?”

“Who are the musicians?”

“When did they live?”

“How old is this piece?”

“Is there a story to it? It seems soo sad.”

“How old is the recording?”

“Why can’t we see it from other angles? I want to see the big instrument he’s sitting at.”

At it went on. I don’t know how many times we watched it or how many questions I struggled to answer but finally the questions stopped and the display went dark. Sheeba was the first to break the silence.

“Who knew that they could create such beautiful things.” No one answered her. “All we’re ever taught is they they are reckless and destructive but they also did amazing things, didn't they? That stringed instrument, the vey-o-Lyn?” she asked, shooting me a questioning look and I nodded, ignoring the odd pronoun citation. “It reminds me of our six stringed Gurtr. Did they prefer stringed instrument Sierra? I know the Fey prefer pipe and the Igidoe drums but I’m not familiar with either really.”

I smiled encouragingly. “They played all sorts of instruments, some would be familiar to us too. They would even play them all at once and create huge productions. I can choose a few files for you to watch and listen to. I have plenty.” I offered.

“Thank you dear, I’d like that. But all at once? That would be rather noisy wouldn’t it? Rather unpleasant cacophony.” Sheeba argued, her nose wrinkled in confusion, her tufted ears flattening at the imagined noise.

I laughed and shook my head. “I can’t explain it but you’ll see.” I said as I started sifting through my many, many files, trying to find some of my favourite and some that would demonstrate the orchestra I couldn’t explain. I even threw in some electronically create music and some other genres, just to give her a taste of it. I packaged them all up and sent them to Kine, because I didn’t have a contact for Sheeba yet. I expected him to send them straight to his mum, but he fiddled a little before doing so. I suspected he made a copy for himself and shot him an amused look.

“Thank you dear.” Sheeba said, seemingly directing it at both of us and proceeded to fiddle around with the files immediately. Small bursts of sound popped out of her personal screen here and there but she didn’t let herself be distracted for long. “Sierra, where did you get these files?” Sheeba asked carefully. For the first time since I met her, she was subdued.

“Oh, I was just telling Kine as we walked here. My Dad and I often explored ancients sites that were buried. I still did until I came to stay in the Capital. It’s amazing what can be found when you look but most don’t care about the past. I find it fascinating.” I smiled happily at the many, many amazing things we’d found in the most unlikely places.

Sheeba and Kine shared a glance. So much was said in a second, a whole world in that glance and I recognised it. Mum and Dad had the same look, the same ability to say so much in just a glance. Memories flashed by and I thought it would be painful but the edges of my lips curled ever so slightly up, and I felt happy to remember. The familiar scenes playing in my memory no longer sent a sharp pain to my heart like they used to. I used to think my grief would heal over time, though at the time, the reality of that ever happening was unimaginable. I needed to believe I’d heal because sometimes, the thought that the pain would lessen was all that got me through. Now, nearly two and a half orbits later, I realised I was wrong. My grief has never healed, never lessened over time. The raw sharpness has gone but my grief is as real and as large as when I first lost them. Instead, I changed.

For two and a half rotations, I grew, I had experiences that mum and dad will never experience or witness. I’ve met people they will never meet and experiences ideas I will never share with them. My grief has stayed the same, and sometimes all those new experiences melt away, and I am back to those times when I’d just lost them, but it doesn’t last. Life goes on and I encounter more and more new things, slowly changing a little bit more every rotation. No doubt, there will be times when it feels so close again, but for the first time, I realised that even though they were gone, I was going to be okay.

Kine and Sheeba didn't elaborate on their silent conversation. I don’t think they used telepathy for it, they just knew what the other was thinking and seemed to come to the same conclusion. Instead they moved the conversation on to a more serious matter.

“Kine, I’ve heard about the Gathering and I understand that it’s going ahead whether all the Races agree to participate or not. Still, do you have plans for what will happen after? If we can’t find a solution? More and more reports suggest the phenomena are continuing and they are increasing in severity.”

Kine sighed and seemed to shrink into himself as he plopped down onto a cushion. He wasn’t long recovered and he’d not taken a proper rest since getting back to work. Familiar concern for him bubbled up but I knew he was sensible. Things were really difficult right now and as long as he took some care of himself, I couldn’t in good conscience get him to take more. We all needed to put forth a lot of effort if we were to resolve this problem. I wasn’t an alarmist but it was quickly becoming apparent that this could easily grow into a global disaster. We needed a handle on it now.

“I’ve been so focused on getting the Gathering sorted that I haven’t had a chance to consider the aftermath, though I do have some vague ideas. Though I don’t think I can get support for them. They involve the humans…”

The tense silence that followed said everything. Kine would struggle to get his own people to agree to working with the humans let alone the other Races. He was basically saying he was desperate and had only a wish and a prayer the Gathering failed to produce results.

“Could we obtain the data through back channels?” Sheeba asked, her tone far too neutral, though her look said so much more.

Stealing, coercion, threats… We couldn’t go down that path. Whatever gains we made at the Gathering would be gone. It would be dangerous to give-in to desperation. We had to think about the future, about life after we resolved this problem. Though if we failed, there may not be a future to consider. There had to be another way. Maybe…

“I may have a few ideas but… they are extreme. It might be better to wait until the outcome of the Gathering is known Kine. I’ve done it before but… I don’t want to resort to this unless we absolutely have to.” I bit my lip, my tail twitching as I considered my options. “Ah that reminds me Kine, I have an ide-“

I was interrupted by the blaring of an alert. DESS’s voice rang out audibly and mentally as the windows and doors were sealed.

“Threat detected. Security measures activated. Please remain calm and stay where you are. The Threat is being dealt with.”