91 Phase 78: Letters
Colin was feeling proud of himself as they left the logging camp when someone's presence touched his mind. [Colin!]
That wasn't Lynn. That was… [Iylara?]
[What's the meaning of this?! I'm getting ashes in my ocean!]
Colin winced. The Ocean Princess didn't sound happy about it. [Well…]
[What's Lynn doing, burning towns and polluting MY water?!] she demanded. [I've got half a mind to stop that stream at the source and never let it flow again!]
[Whoa! No! Don't do that! We need the water!]
[Then clean it up!]
[We're already working on it! The ash should stop once the ruins are buried!]
[Good! What about the ash already coming downstream?]
Colin gulped. [I'll get on it right away!]
[Hurry up! My Wilds are getting sick and dying!]
Colin scrambled. {Now I know how Lucy felt about being desperate. We absolutely need that water!} "Oreb! Get the Oakin to build filters all over the river, FAST!"
"Hoo?"
"The Ocean Princess just contacted me! She's going to stop the river if it keeps polluting her seas!"
"HOO!!" Oreb scrambled.
The rest of the night was a non-stop run to clean the waters of the river, even after the ash was buried. Colin caught more startled fish and crab-type Wilds in his filters than he knew what to do with, and every one of them put up a fight with the Forest Wilds. Most of those ended up at the Lakeside or Benjamin Town Comrade Homes.
"We cleaned up the river, all right." Colin wiped sweat from his forehead as he walked away from Lakeside Comrade Home with another big payoff from amazed Breeders. "We cleaned out the fish as well as the ashes."
The fish, mainly, had ended up with the Cougars, Owls, Lizards, Falcons and Foxes. Sort of a payment for their hard work. All of them accepted food without complaint. The Wasps were built shelters by the Oakin for payment, the boars were given honey from the wasps, and the Oakin were afforded the richest soil burnt from Floras and their favorite brand of fertilizer imported from the Uber Marshes and sold in Benjamin Town market.
"Hoo." Oreb advised him.
"Yeah. I should do that for the compensations also." Colin said, stretching out tiredly. "But we'll get to that tomorrow night, shall we? Let's save the forest one night at a time."
"Yip." Shiro agreed, slumping down beside him.
"You feel like doing overday training?" Colin asked Shiro.
"Yip." Shiro shook his head.
"Okay. You guys take a day off." Colin said slowly. "We've had a long, long night."
***
The eleventh night of Colin's time on Nakama World started with a letter to Katrin.
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Dear Katrin,
Thanks for your letter. It's nice to know Meek and her kids are doing so well. Rall needs bigger honey jars; his paws aren't as small as they used to be.
Forester work is more difficult than I thought. Sure, being needed by the townspeople is nice, and forming contracts with them so that we won't have to fight them is a good thing too. But you know, the Ocean Princess nearly stopped the river from flowing entirely… we spent all night cleaning ashes from the water so that she would leave it alone.
Henry won the treasure hunt at Joseph Town. I think he's going to try out the Windy Plains Group Tournament tonight. I thought of joining, but I'm busy with Forester work. A lot of Wilds got hurt by loggers without anyone knowing, and now that the Protectorate's paid compensation, it's up to me to distribute it among those who suffered. Usually, this means buying them a certain amount of their favorite foods. How much food exactly depends on the damages suffered. Oreb figures that one out, and I've no idea how he does it.
I haven't seen or heard from any of the others at all since yesterday.
Oh, and I met a pretty girl too. She's one of the Protectorate's nobles. We negotiated the contract for Benjamin Town's logging camp together. She agreed to keep strict watch on the woodcutters so that the forest wouldn't suffer and I let her double the size of their logging camp. She even gave me her number.
Abby called me yesterday and said they're buying the farm. She also mentioned awarding you a 20k DRIFT. Did you get the money?
Lastly, I've been trying to contact Michi, but for some reason, I can't seem to get hold of her. Have you spoken to her recently?
-Colin.
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***
Katrin's reply came back an hour later, while Colin was feeding little Coonie a not rotten ham and turkey sandwich. Her mom was getting a top-quality 10-acorn feather styling from the famous Deep Red Crested Falcon, Fasina. Her dad was awarded three weeks' worth of food, which covered the time they'd had to ration their food while waiting for it to heal and the remaining time he'd take to recover fully.
Colin felt a twinge of nervousness when he opened Katrin's message, but soon lost it in her words.
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Colin,
I didn't get a 20k DRIFT from the J-Knights. I got a 25k DRIFT and 100k in payment for the farm. Edward says they paid him another 200k for the farm, so I guess they thought I owned one third. Did they send you anything?
We're setting up our new farm a bit north-west of Hot Springs, where the water hasn't been touched by the bathers or the village yet. We'll bring in some soils from different places so that we'll have the best land and the best water, and we're going to build the best farm ever! Even Mayor Henry's excited about it.
Those princesses you talk about… they all sound awfully fussy. Build a camp on 'my' side of the river, and I'll burn down your town. Dirty the water coming to 'my' ocean and I'll stop the river. Really, these people should learn to be more considerate!
Send my congratulations to Henry… oh, never mind, I'll do it myself. Unlike SOMEONE I know, HE's still talking to me.
Don't spend too much time around pretty girls. I'll get jealous.
Love,
Katrin.
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***
Colin didn't have time to reply her until after he was done adding moss to Snortwart's favorite resting spot.
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Dear Katrin,
The J-Knights haven't sent me any money. Actually, I was just paying Abby back for a personal loan. She said to impress her, so I threw in 10% interest and she really seemed impressed. But no, she didn't issue me any payments.
All the money I get is from the sales of the Tames I sent to the Comrade Homes. Oreb says that I'm supposed to take 10% of the Forest's net income as Forester, but I haven't touched that yet. I'm still going around delivering compensations. We don't even know what the net income is until the end of the week.
About the farm, are you sure it's a good idea to build it on THAT side of the river? As you said, Lynn's got a thing about 'my side', 'your side' when it comes to rivers. And whatever you do, please, please don't litter! You have NO IDEA how much trouble a bit of litter could cause.
Have you checked with Lynn about using that land yet? That's not just some little forest around you're messing with there, it's the Forest of Legends itself! That's like the crown of all forests! Mess THAT up and there'll be hell to pay.
Also, please keep the water going to the Forest clean. There's little enough of it going through as it is. Mayor Henry thought that the new stream is giving the Forest of Legends more water, but the fact is, before the dam broke, all the underground water was going to the Forest. This new stream there is really just a small bit of what the Forest used to get.
Is Fireheart doing well? I just got a new Comrade, named Cour. He's a male Red Panther with Fire Bond. I wonder if they might be good mates one day?
-Colin
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***
Katrin's answer came back about midnight.
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Colin, dear…
If you want to talk about mates, why not start with the Travelers before you discuss the Comrades?
You keep talking on and on about the forests and what Lynn wants and doesn't want. I sort of like her, myself, but you're starting to sound really fussy.
Haven't you noticed? I NEVER litter.
There! See how Meek looks? She's starting to think that SHE's been littering… but her litter is of an entirely different sort, isn't it? What kind of numbskull thought up the idea of calling multiple cubs a 'litter'? It sounds like he thinks they're rubbish or something! That's so mean!
Don't be mean, okay, Colin? I hate it.
Love,
Katrin.
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***
Colin sent her another mail at about three in the morning.
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Dear Katrin,
I'm not being mean. I'm just warning you about danger.
I don't care what Meek's kids are called, they're still cute.
I just heard from Henry. He got trounced in the first round of the Tournament. But the guy he fought took third place, so he doesn't feel all that bad.
There was a fight across the river near Lamico Town. The Union's lost Floras Town, but they're still attacking the Protectorate and the Republic. I don't get it.
Rita doesn't get it either. She's been investigating Riverfork, and the Union's still blockading the river. The Republic used to fight to break it, but with Satrox's threat hanging over their heads, they're waiting until they can talk with him directly. Satrox was surprised when he heard that.
Hey, you're a Detective Type Justice Knight, right? Don't you plan to go around investigating sometime?
-Colin
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***
Just before dawn, Katrin replied.
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Colin,
I don't know any more. I mean, watching out for the area around the farm was okay, but what Satrox and the others are doing over at Lamico sounds scary.
Maybe I'm not suitable to be a Justice Knight. Also, what's the point of being a Detective type if the Hunter type I wanted to pair up with is busy feeding animals in the forest?
Colin… these past two nights have been the worst nights I've ever spent on Nakama World. Do you know why?
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***
Colin took the bait. He answered Katrin just minutes before he Woke Up.
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Honestly? No.
Why?
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***
Katrin's reply was the last thing she did before they Woke Up.
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Because these past two nights were the only nights I've spent in Nakama World that I haven't seen you at all.
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