The weather started to turn foggy, and the position of watchman atop the mast became a full time job. Mostly they watched for over vessels, while the Giant Armored Octopus kept an eye out for underwater monsters. There weren’t many to be found, but they had been catching one almost every day since the weather started to get cold.


    If it weren’t for the temperature, the white fog against the blue of the sea and gray sky would actually make for a beautiful day. Everyone had spent at least some time out in the cold just to enjoy the view, limited as it might be by the fog. This also marked the first time since arriving in this world that any of the transfers had truly longed for a camera, or even art skills good enough to replicate what they were seeing. Especially when the bored Giant Armored Octopus would y with each other in the waters near the boat.


    In the afternoon of the second day of heavy fog, the Octopus reported that the water was getting very shallow. Which, ording to their charts, shouldn’t be correct. The seas in this world weren’t the best explored, but finding an ind in what should be among the’s deepest oceans was a true anomaly.


    They took another sighting to determine their location and found again that the chart said they were in the dead zone, too far east to be on any of the major trade routes and over a thousand nautical miles fromnd.


    The Octopus was the first to spot the ind in the fog, surrounded by floating icebergs and snow. The summons were happy to clear the route for them, and N carefully guided the Queen Rose into a protected bay before setting anchor so they could explore the mysterious and Snow covered ind.


    The n was to have Laura and Cain explore the area, as both can be formidable Dragons who are unbothered by the cold. Flying seems like a much safer way to explore, and Evangeline is not a fan of the cold in any way shape or form, so it seemed like it would be best for the two of them to see if the ind was upied.


    “Fly out for ten minutes and then return. We don’t want to be gone too long or get too far away from the ship.” Cain instructs both clones of Laura before transforming into the Golden Proto Dragon and taking to the air.


    He decides to check straight up the center of the ind, not knowing yet what size it is. But once they’ve gained enough altitude to begin the survey, Cain and Laura realize that the ind is only a few Kilometers across, with a small vige in the caldera of an old volcano.


    They drop back to just above the fog,nding a few hundred meters from the vige and transforming into smaller forms so as not to scare the locals. The wind immediately cuts into Cain’s human skin, so he adds a thick fur cape to the outfit, wrapping himself up and disregarding the fashion.


    They could see activity from the air, so the vige isn’t abandoned, but it wasn’t possible to tell what lived there. Humanoids under 2 meters tall with white robes, but that doesn’t narrow it down much.


    Waking closer through the fog, they can make out the details of the people inside. They’re Yuki Onna or Snow Women, an ice element Youkai. There are a handful of Yeti serving as guards patrolling the area, so Cain steps out into the open and waits until he’s noticed. It’s only a few seconds before a pair of huge Yeti guardse running over, and Laura tenses up to attack before Cain stops her with a pat on the head.


    The Yeti are well over 3 meters tall, built like a Pr bear designed to stand upright and just as furry, but they don’t look particrly angry or aggressive.


    “State your name and business here, traveler.” The Yeti insists in a surprisingly pleasant and soft-toned voice.


    Thenguage is strange, Cain understands it, but he can swear it’s not themonnguage. It takes him a second before realizing it’s thenguage he knew in his previous life. Hence, he responds the same way, finding that thenguage now feels dull and difficult for his mouth to form as if he had never used it and was trying to Mimic a foreign ent from memory.


    “My name is Cain. We happened across the ind during our travels and came to see if it was inhabited. We have some trade goods if you are short on anything.”


    Both Yeti look startled when Cain answers, and he can see Laura giving him a strange look, but the guards aren’t getting aggressive. Instead, one whistles over a passing Snow Woman and whispers something to her.


    “Hello, I am Eri. I will be your guide to the vige Elders; they take care of all business involving outsiders.” She’s a very slender, white-haired, ice white skinned woman roughly 165cm tall. The thick blue dress and the soft curve of her body indicate that Eri is, in fact, female, but the board t chest suggests she might actually be a beautiful man.


    Eri didn’t speak as they walked, nor did anyone else, though many stopped to stare at Cain with a clone of Laura on each shoulder as he is escorted to the middle of town. Seeing the locals is unnerving. They’re all simrly dressed and all very slender in build, but it’s the faces that get to Cain. They’re not quite clones but so close that his brain wants them to be identical for ease ofprehension.


    Eri is one of the tallest they’ve seen, with many being no more than 150cm tall, though all appear to be adults. No children are visible anywhere in the vige.


    Along with a few dozen more Yeti, there is also an assortment of Ice Harpies, wing-armed humanoids with beaked heads, bird feet, and blue to gray feathers. Cain did his best to record every new variety and ss they came across, expanding his repertoire of ice-type creatures.


    “This is the council building. The Elders will meet you inside.” Eri says politely when they reach therge stone hut in the center of town, waving them in but remaining outside herself.


    The Snow Woman Elders also look very simr, though with age wrinkled faces, and Cain doesn’t see any men among them. That shouldn’t surprise him, given what he knows of the species, but somehow it does. Yeti don’t seem to show their age, only get bigger, and Cain is mostly unable to tell Harpies apart by anything other than feather color.


    “You are the first traveler in a long time to speak Youkai.” A furry Yeti elder whose head nearly touches the ceiling greets them, having a deep and hoarse voice instead of the soft and gentle voices of the guards. Perhaps those were female Yeti? They all wear skirts of white wool, and Cain didn’t think to find a way to differentiate them.


    “It is an old memory, nearly forgotten, but I’m d we could talk to each other.” Cain smiles back with a polite nod. One of the others growls at him, and Cain turns towards the voice, confused.


    “Are you flirting with my husband, human?” The Yeti Elder growls at him.


    “You mistake me. That is brotherly camaraderie. I’m a male human and uninterested in other males that way.” His exnation calms the Elder down, but the Snow Women and Harpies areughing at her.


    “Harpies and Yuki Onna are all females, you see. She’s never seen a man that isn’t a Yeti or a dragon.” Despite her age, Cain can tell the Snow Woman Elder used to be a beauty in her youth, and extremely simr in appearance to the others in this ind, with pale hair and skin that looks like they’ve been frozen to death.


    “Is that why I don’t see any children?” Cain asks, curious.


    “There are some, but they’re in school right now. The n of Wooly Ice Dragons that create the fog that hides us sometimes take a lover from the other species, but not often enough that we have many children and Yeti can only have children with each other.”


    “I didn’t see any Wooly Dragons,” Laura says with a hint of sadness in her tone.


    “They’re likely sleeping in the fog. The Wooly Ice Dragons sleep a lot during the winter. Almost enough to say they hibernate.” The Yeti Elder exins.


    “Since we’re here, is there anything that your vige needs? We don’t have full stock, but we carry many things.”


    “Other than a way off this rock to resupply? Maybe some snacks? We have plenty of fish and walrus and whales, very little in the way of berries and summer vegetables, but no sugar.” Laura looks horrified at this revtion and flies over to hug the Elder. Or at least the side of her neck, as that’s as much as the Pixie Dragon can reach without changing forms.


    “I believe we can help you with all of those things. The Guild System should let me create a portal to our other houses if I can find a building big enough to qualify here. But the crew is undoubtedly well supplied with sugary treats.


    “There are no buildings that big. Too hard to keepfortable, and the Dragons wouldn’t allow it. But we might be able to work out a portal solution. Are you familiar with the intercity portals?”


    “I am, but can they reach this far? We’re from the north side of the central continent.” Cain wonders what she’s got in mind,as he’s confident he hasn’t heard of city portals leading between continents.


    “If there is a Youkai on the other end, our Elders can create a portal to them. We only need to send someone with you to your home and then go to them. It’s a unique spell from the southern continent.”


    “We’ve got three Tengu already at the castle. Sora, who is my Lieutenant, and adolescent twins. But I don’t know how to link your spell to them.”


    “Youkai on the Central Continent? That should be easy to sort out.” The Elder focuses for a moment and then smiles.


    “Three Tengu in a castle in the desert? That might be the worst possible ce for us to create a portal, but I can do it.”


    “If it helps, the portal room that we use is underground, in a cool dark basement area. You can go from there to the other underground areas without going up into the sun. It’s hot enough out in the open that I almost melt; I understand where you’reing from.”


    Cain’s joke puts everyone at ease, and they begin to joke with each other, breaking the subtle tension in the air.