“Look. I've paid good money for this fishing trip today, and the forecast is still clear. You're going to take us out, or you can be sure that I'm going to sue your little 'family business' into oblivion."

Kestrel pinched the bridge of her nose between her fingers, rubbing her eyes slowly as the client raged at her father, just doing her best to breathe. “I'm sorry, sir. We'll get you out on the water right away. I assure you, though, Kestrel here is our best sailor in the family. I have no doubt that you and your guests will have a perfectly lovely time," her father said, bowing his head to the man.

“Oh, we'd better. Otherwise, you're going to have a lot of very nasty, very specific reviews to deal with," he said with a sneer before he stormed off to the rest of the group.

Kaiden turned to face his daughter, “Look, hun, I know you're trying to do your best. This is a charter that we can't afford to lose," he said emphatically, looking worriedly over at the very wealthy group of people.

Kestrel rolled her eyes, “I get that dad, but I'm telling you, that storm is going to hook this way, and they're not going to have a good time, regardless of how much money they're paying us!"

Kaiden scowled, looking at the distant storm, shaking his head. “Every weather professional is saying that storm isn't going to come anywhere near us. It'll be fine. Besides, even if it does, there is no one in the family that I would trust more to bring them in safely than you, my little bird."

Kestrel fought not to smile at that, but she never succeeded with that kind of thing. She grinned goofily at her dad and sighed, “Alright. I'll do it," she said, shaking her head as she walked over to the family's sailboat that they used for charter fishing trips like this. It had a good, well-furnished cabin for the patrons to go to when they needed a little break from the deck, well stocked with food and drink... quite a good selection of the latter being alcoholic, all from their family's breweries and distilleries... and also medicine to help people with seasickness.

They may not have been out in the ocean, but the great lakes were practically inland seas in their own rights. Still, their weather could be pretty wild, all the same. She'd grown up on the lakes, having sailed on all five of them in her turn along with trips out to the open ocean, and she knew their weather patterns like any good sailor of old. This trip was going to get messy, but she would just have to rely on her skills in order to bring these rich, arrogant idiots safely home.

She released the clip on the rope at the head of the gangway and bowed deeply to them. “My deepest apologies for the wait," she said, not meaning a word of it, but she'd learned a fair bit when it came to saying things that she didn't mean with pretty amazing conviction. “Please, come aboard, and we will get under way for your afternoon of fishing," she said with a big smile, as much as she would have rather been sinking her teeth into them for what they were forcing her to do.

For a good while, the fishing trip went well, and the fish were certainly biting today. They even wound up having to pull the second cooler to start loading their catch into that. The passengers were really treating this all like some big party, though, seeming determined to burn through the alcohol reserves on the boat. They didn't even seem to really be properly appreciating it, more concerned with just getting good and drunk rather than savoring the bottles of her family's finest.

Kestrel had to grit her teeth and breathe as she kept herself to the helm. The awful part was that their drunken revelries were making it difficult for her to properly concentrate, having to practically put blinders on herself to keep them safe as they sailed along.

Still, when one of the particularly drunk women said, “Hey... those clouds are getting really dark..." a statement that got a round of laughter from the partygoers, it snapped Kestrel out of her hyper focus, her eyes looking up at the storm... which was bearing down on them quickly.

Kestrel swore at herself, quickly jumping into action. “Everybody, please, pull in your lines and head into the cabin," she said with a voice of command that got most of the guests to follow her instructions as they closed up the second chest and dragged it into the cabin along with their high-end gear. However, the belligerent one who had threatened her father stormed up to her, glaring fiercely.

“Hey. You don't get to tell us when to pack it in. I'm the one paying you, and we'll fish as long as we want to!" The last stragglers who hadn't made it into the cabin yet faltered, unsure of who to listen to. Idiots. Thankfully the man's rant was cut off by a loud clap of thunder, which was all the encouragement that the stragglers needed to get inside the cabin, watching the storm through the ship's windows.

Thankfully, Kestrel was a very experienced sailor in fair weather and foul, and as the man was still trying to yell at her over the building noise of the storm, she had no trouble keeping herself well under control when a wave kicked up by the descending storm gave the boat a good knock. She heard the screams of those inside the cabin as they were tossed, but at least they were secure. This idiot, though drew her attention once more as he screamed in true panic as he was flung from the boat.

Kestrel had to remind herself that he was the one paying them, but nonetheless, she quickly had a rope in her hand and dove in after him, pulling him up and out of the water before practically throwing him into the cabin. His expensive, carbon-fiber fishing pole, with the artisan lure on it was less fortunate than he was, getting whipped off into the stormy waters.

As soon as he was in the cabin, Kestrel was doing everything that was needed, swinging about on her anchoring rope to secure the ship so that they wouldn't be sunk by the waves. In her heart, she could feel the presence of Bran and Janelle with her as she worked. Remembering one of Bran's stories of when he helped bring a ship in during a storm flitted through her mind, and she got hold of the rope that controlled the angle of the sail, wrapping it around one arm as she returned to the helm, her other hand taking hold of the ship's wheel.

The sail was a fairly simple one, triangular, with one boom that pivoted off of the mast. With the rope, she had control of that boom, and she would need that extra level of control to get them through this. Thankfully, she knew this lake like it was her home, and she hadn't lost their heading. With a mighty effort, she pulled the ship around to head cross-ways, knowing that the storm was mostly just hammering the southern end of the lake, where they were. If she could get them out of the path she'd seen the storm taking, they would be just fine.

She may only have been twenty, and not a particularly muscled young woman, but she was still stronger than any of the girls she'd known in school, and she was confident that she could keep control despite the fury of the wind and waves.

It wasn't easy, though, and she just had to focus to keep them going toward the safety of calmer waters. She gritted her teeth, practically growling as her muscles strained. In time, though, she began to see glimpses of clear skies as the ship was tossed on the waves.

She let out a small cry of triumph which quickly morphed into a scream of dismay as the rope she'd been holding onto began to slip from her grasp. She desperately tried to get hold of it again before it was whipped out of her reach, but she just couldn't manage it. But that was when something remarkable happened. Suddenly, there was someone right there behind her, and a powerful, well-muscled arm shot out, grabbing hold of the rope, looping it around itself deftly as they were making their way free of the storm at last.

“Hold on, lassie..." a thick Scottish accent said as the new arrival took the weight of the sail from her. She didn't hesitate, bringing her other hand to the ship's wheel, sharing the burden of steering them to safety with this mysterious man.

They were nearly there... they could make it... but then yet another thing happened that made Kestrel's heart sink. One of the hatches flew open, water washing over it. If the hatch was left loose, it wouldn't be long at all before the ship began taking on water, and then they would all be screwed.

But once again, a miracle happened. Yet another person came into her view, swinging across the deck. This one was smaller than the man behind her, and yet... she knew who it was. To a significant degree, she was glad for the rain and the spray... they helped to hide the tears welling up in her eyes, and none of the guests would be able to see what she was going through right now.

This third figure secured the hatch like an experienced sailor before she went to check on the other hatches, getting to one just as Kestrel's rushed work failed, getting it secured back before much water could get inside.

Kestrel gritted her teeth, pulling mightily at the wheel as she roared at the storm, demanding that it wouldn't get the better of her, and not long after, they tumbled away from the strongest winds and waves, far from clear of the rain and chop, but they were at the point where it wouldn't take any grand heroism to get to where they could let the storm pass and return to port.

The young woman relaxed her grip on the wheel, her arm moving to wipe across her eyes as she turned her head, looking up and seeing the smiling, bearded face of her ancestor Bran smiling down at her. “Well done, lassie. You did me proud," he said before she turned to hug him tightly, burying her face in his chest as she couldn't hold back any longer and started to cry.

A moment later, she felt a gentle hand on her shoulder, rubbing softly. “You've got some practice to do on your knots during emergencies... but still. You're a fine sailor," Janelle said, causing Kestrel to look up at her before she released Bran and embraced her.

“You're here... I knew... I knew it was all true... from the moment I heard it... I just... never... expected to ever meet you two..." she said, pulling back just enough to look into Janelle's eyes, her own filled with tears as she was fighting to catch her breath, “I... fell in love with your part of the story..." she said, turning her head to give Bran an apologetic smile, “I love you too, but... something about Janelle really just... spoke to me..."

The half-demon woman on her mother's side laughed and touched her cheek gently. “That's nothing to be ashamed of, dear. I've been paying particular attention since you took on the work of learning the family story. It needs people like you to carry it on. And we love seeing the rich lives that you all lead."

That got another round of tears from Kestrel before she finally caught her breath and drew back from Janelle, just doing her best to center herself. “Thank you... both of you. But I guess you two... shouldn't be around as I'm getting these idiots back to shore," she said with a little laugh.

That got a nice, big laugh from the other two before Janelle replied. “No, we'd best not be around for them to see. But just know... you are never far from our attention, dear," she said before she took a step back and seemed to disappear into the wind.

Bran bowed his head to her, laughing softly as he said, “Good luck with that lot," before he vanished as well, leaving her with a boat that was settling into calm waters and a cabin full of drunken idiots that she needed to get back to port once the storm passed.

It added about an hour to their fishing trip, but they didn't exactly get any more fishing done for that fact. Nor did they do any more damage to the liquor supply, which was a fair relief to Kestrel. Still, she proudly sailed an undamaged (if not completely clean... some of the passengers had not taking the tossing of the ship very well... but Kestrel had done the best she could to clean up from that) boat back into her family's pier.

The belligerent one stepped off of the ship significantly more sober than when he had gotten onto the ship. He thanked Kestrel directly, and when Kaiden approached to check on them, he turned to the man and apologized profusely for his behavior before they had set off. He promised to pay them extra for the added time and any damage that resulted from sailing in a storm like that, and swore up and down that, rather than negative reviews, they would be praised on social media.

When they departed with what remained of their fishing gear and the two coolers, Kaiden turned to look at Kestrel dumbfounded by the man's changed behavior. Kestrel laughed and shrugged, “I mean... you save someone from getting swept off of a ship one time, and it's like they owe you their lives..." she said.

That got a good laugh from her dad, who patted her on the shoulder, “And I was right when I said that if anyone in the family could get them back safely, it was you."

Kestrel blushed and smiled sheepishly, though she didn't say a word to her father about what had happened during the storm.

As soon as she was able to get away from the docks, she rushed to Aldrich's home, letting herself in with the key that he'd given her, rushing to the study, which seemed to be his preferred napping spot in the house. To be fair, his recliner there was very nice.

This time, though, he wasn't napping. He was reading through one of the books as she arrived. Seeing that he was awake, she simply couldn't contain herself, bouncing and squealing with excitement. “I saw them! I saw them! They came and helped me!"

Aldrich blinked and tilted his head to one side. “Woah... slow down, there... you saw who? And what help do you mean?"

Kestrel did her best to slow her breathing, trying to clear her mind a little. “Sorry. You'll understand in a moment," she said as she pulled her chair over so that she could sit across from him. “Okay... breathe..." she said, working to calm herself while the old man looked at her with amusement. She finally brought herself down enough to start speaking intelligibly.

“Alright... that's better... now... like Bran said... start at the start. So, this afternoon, we had a group of clients wanting a fishing trip. They were proper idiots and assholes, and when I told them that we couldn't because of the storm, they got furious and threatened to ruin the business if Dad didn't make me take them out. I really didn't have a choice at that point. So, we get out there, and things are alright for a while, but because of how much I was having to do to manage them, I lost track of the storm, and before I knew it, it was on top of us. I got most of them inside the cabin before we got knocked, but the one who had been threatening dad got knocked off of the ship."

“I grabbed a rope and dove in, pulling him back on and shoving him in the cabin. I then used the trick Bran did in the storm near Acre of using a rope to control the sail while also working the wheel. It worked, but then I lost my grip on the rope. But before I could do anything, Bran grabbed hold of the rope. And then when a hatch popped, Janelle got it secured back! Then I had a moment to talk with them... they're paying attention to me!" She was getting giddy again, but brought herself back down, taking a deep breath, “They told me that they were proud of me... and the way that I'm learning about them... and then before the passengers even really knew what way was up, they disappeared into the wind..." she said, just unable to help but smile from ear to ear, trying to keep her breath under control.

Aldrich was beaming at her story, his heart bursting with happiness. “That is wonderful, darling Kestrel. I remember when I saw them when I was young... nothing so dramatic... but they let me see them once... and that was the moment I started becoming their tale-keeper..." he laughed and smiled, “I was older than you were when you found that spark... but still... we all know in our hearts that they are out there... but it is few of us indeed who hold memories of actually seeing them in the flesh. Yours is... the most dramatic of any tales of encountering Bran and Janelle that I have in my records. I can't wait to see the story when you have written it, so that I can add it to the family records."

Kestrel blinked and froze, staring at Aldrich for a long moment. “Wait... I get to write this story... and it goes into the official family records?" She panicked a little at that prospect.

Aldrich laughed and shook his head. “Don't worry, little bird, hardly anyone ever reads them... never mind knows that they exist in the first place," he said with a grin. “I mean, you'd never heard about the records of past encounters with Bran and Janelle, and you've been my apprentice for... fifteen years? Really, only those who have contributed to the record ever learn about it. We don't like to... push people to seek out their own chances to add to the stories," he said with a little laugh and a smile.

Kestrel relaxed a bit. She knew that it was true, and she knew that her family believed in Bran and Janelle, and that they were watching over them... but she had trouble being confident that most of the family would take her seriously if they heard her story. “That... makes me feel a lot better. I didn't even tell my dad that I'd seen them."

“Good. If they're ever ready for him to see them, he will... at which point, he'll know about your story. Until then... you are simply the hero of the day, and that's all."

Kestrel chuckled and sighed, finding a spot at the writing desk to pull her notebook out and start writing her account of that day. It took a while, especially with everything to do with the clients leading up to the encounter, but the story would be meaningless if she didn't include them... so their foolishness would be part of the record as well. She really didn't mind that.

When she was done writing the full account, she brought it to Aldrich. He read it over carefully and was very gentle as he removed the pages to add to the records. Her handwriting would be part of it all. That... thrilled her in ways that she hadn't expected. When she was done, she asked if the next time she came to learn from him.

“Of course. I'm sure you will find many of the tales very interesting. But, for right now, go and enjoy the rest of your day. You've earned it," he said with a laugh, sending her off on her way for the night.

“She's a good kid, Aldrich," Bran said, chuckling and smiling as he read over what Robin had written, “And she's got the makings of a good storyteller."

Aldrich turned and smiled at Bran, nodding his head slowly, “That she does. I just hope that I live long enough to finish getting her ready to take my place."

Janelle grinned, “Oh, hush, you. You're still well in the prime of your life. You're only ninety years old."

Aldrich laughed and smirked at her, “You seem to have forgotten what the human time scale is like."

“Pfft, trust me, you'll be fine and have plenty of time to pass our heritage down to Kestrel. Something interesting is coming... I can't really pin it all down just yet, but... old Oli is going to be thrilled with how interesting things are about to get around the world, if I'm right," Janelle said, rolling her eyes.

Aldrich groaned, rubbing his forehead. “Ugh... don't tell me things like that... my heart can't take that..." he said with a grimace.

“Just understand that it's coming. There's a buildup and nowhere for it to go. It'll find somewhere to go," Bran said, shaking his head and frowning.