"What took you guys so long?" Skyner said as his two companions walked or slithered off the gang plank and onto the dock where he had been waiting for them. He kicked off the remains of the fish he had procured while waiting. They hit the water below with a soft plonk and quickly sank out of sight.

"The water looked cold. This is Rekes after all. Not the warm waters of Issiq," Charai reminded the belemoid.

"I would have jumped but Charai said not to," Spalla said quietly. She fluffed up her large purple wings before settling them back on her back.

"Well if you don't like the cold then why are we here?" Skyner said as he walked next to Charai.

"I want to meet my Granddam. I have heard so many stories about her," Spalla answered.

"And thank you so much for coming with me," she added quickly.

"You know I would never have someone from our tribe go out on any adventure by themselves," Charai said, slithering a little closer to the large purple Tark'ee.

As the trio walked off the docks and onto the land they were greeted with snow. The snow lay on the ground in heaps. They could see an indent where other colonists must have walked, forming a sort of trail that led to the evergreen trees. Charai eyed it and put out a paw gently, only to pull it back quickly. "It's cold!"

"Well of course it's cold! It's snow! We are in Rekes you know," Skyner mimicked Charai from earlier. He took off running. As he ran he kicked up the white snow spraying it all over his two companions.

"Hey!" Charai said before she took off after the Belemoid. Spalla laughed and ran after them and they soon found themselves deep into the forest.

"I hope you know where you are going," Skyner asked Spalla. They had settled down to an easy going pace after their mad dash. Spalla found that she had to walk with her head down or she would end up hitting tree branches and causing the snow on the trees to rain down on her and her friends.

"I did a little research before we left. I have a relative in a nearby village. If I can convince him that I am a relative he might be able to take me to where my granddam lives," Spalla answered as she carefully moved a snowladen branch out her way.

"I do hope you know where this village is,"Charai asked pointedly as they moved through the cold snow. Unlike her companions, she was having to slither through the snow and was becoming quite cold.

Spalla paused under a rather large evergreen tree and took out a scanner from the belted pouch she was wearing. "Don't worry, I keep checking and we are going in the right direction. And we are getting pretty close. Maybe another hour before we get there."

Skyner was the only one that was still having fun bounding through the piles of snow that had accumulated between the trees. And at one point he found a small hill and had gone sliding down it on his stomach.

They soon came to the edge of the forest and when they stepped through the last of the trees they were greeted with the scene of a fairly bustling village. Colonists from different species and sizes were going about their day. Some with baskets in the paws, others looked like they were bartering with a green Tark'ee. Spalla pulled out her scanner and quickly looked at a picture she had saved in it before she had left.

"That's him," Spalla said quietly while pointing with one of her paws at the green Tark'ee.

Skyner squinted, "are you sure. You don't exactly look alike." He looked pointedly up at the purple winged Tark'ee, then back at the dark green Tark'ee who looked like was just getting done with his or her customer.

"Come on, let's convince him and then find a place to stay. I need to get warm," Charai said as she started moving her way toward the Tark'ee quickly.

As they neared the center of the town all activity stopped. The green Tark'ee walked slowly and approached them, "can I help you?"

He set down his nearly empty basket on the snow packed ground.

Now that Stalla was face to face with a living relative she was at a lost for words. How was she going to convince this colonist that they were related?

Before she could stop him. Skylar piped up, "You and Stalla here share the same Granddam and she has come looking for her. We thought you could help us."

She heard Charai next to her say under her breath, "and we can get out of this cold."

The green Tarkee blinked several times like he was trying to process what he just heard.

"You're my relative?"

"Yeah. My Granddam is Frostbite," Spalla said.

"Hey, so is mine!" the green Tark'ee said excitedly.

"You don't happen to know where she lives do you?" Charai said as a shiver ran through her body.

The green Tark'ee must have seen it because he got a concerned look in his eyes.

"I do. But it's too far to go today. You better come with me to my house. I can warm you guys up and Stalla and I can talk. Ever since I got left behind in the tunnels as a welp I have always wondered if I have any relatives."

"You don't have any fish do you?" Skyner asked.