Taran starts at Esteeemed Vishal's suddent departure, pulling out his crossbow and jogging after him. It was entirely possible they were a threat.

Caelius nods and follows, signing,

You head over towards the group of people. As they get closer, you realize that while the two shifters in Qiku clothing are unfamiliar, the two in Adaran clothes are Murephan and Kelki (see either the NPC list or the lore thread). Murephan runs a brief gaze over all of you. "Finally," he grunts with a roll of his eyes. "We've been looking for you for two days. Where in Dolurrh have you been?"

"You're not dead!" is Kelki's cheerful contribution, ignoring the immediate reprimanding glare from Murephan.

The two shifters with them are a male with a gridlike pattern of deep scars slicing across the brindled fur on his arms and face, and a black-furred female with a long spear slung across her back. They greet Tel-Lir with a brief bow and then grin and clasp hands with your shifter guides, exchanging news while you weird Adarans talk.

Vishal gives Kelki a big grin as he says, "We got caught up in a time storm that seemed to lost us a couple days. Oh Siepha this is Murephan and Kelki. Muerphan is one of the best members of the Summit Road though a little prickly, Kelki is his apprentice."

Taran bows to Murephan and Kelki, "W-W-We j-j-just e-e-exited it, b-b-but i-i-is e-e-everything -o-o-okay? W--W-We w-w-weren't ex-ex-expecting an escort of y-y-your... e-e-esteem."

Kaori is a bit slower to follow the others, but chirps softly when she sees Kelki, giving her an excited wave.

Siepha swallows hard and nods to Murephan and Kelki upon her introduction.

Murephan's eyes flick briefly over Siepha, and he grunts. "We'll talk later," he says simply to her, eliciting a slight paling of her face, before turning his attention to Taran. "Everything's fine. Speaker suggested I take a quick trip up here to talk to some Saartuk contacts while picking you up. Chatted with them a few days ago. Don't bow, you're not a stork and I'm not your superior."

Kelki jumps up and down excitedly, waving back to Kaori happily. "A time storm! I wanna hear everything! TELL ME EVERYTHING! Was there fire? Like, really oooold fire? Ooooh, and did you meet your parents? What about your future children? And was there fire? Tellmetellmetellme!" The dromite's antennae are waving around energetically as she talks. "Oh and don't worry, he's not gonna like, kill you or anything, unless you're capable of being gruffed to death," she adds offhandedly to Siepha.

"R-R-Right sir, s-sorry sir." Taran says, resisting the urge to bow again. He turns to Kelki, "I-I-I h-h-hope i-it d-d-doesn't d-d-disappoint you, M-Miss K-Kelki, b-b-but w-w-we d-d-didn't s-s-see an-any f-f-fire. W-We did s-s-s-see a dr-dragon th-though i-in the s-storm."

Kelki briefly slumps with disappointment, then perks up at the mention of a dragon. "A DRAGON? Like a big one? Not a little shapechanged form - not that those aren't cool," she adds hastily, glancing at Siepha. "But was it big and scaly and had wings? And did it breathe fire?!?!"

"I-It w-w-w-was v-v-very b-b-big, a-and h-had sc-scales l-like b-b-burnished Bronze, a-and m-massive w-w-w-wings. I-It d-d-didn't b-b-breath f-f-fire th-though, i-it m-more.... w-w-was e-exploding w-with w-w-white l-l-light? I-I-I a-assume i-it w-w-was s-s-some s-s-sort of m-m-magic."

"Awwww." Kelki slumps with disappointment.

"Kelki. Stop bothering them," Murephan grunts.

"Sir yes sir!" Kelki says with a roll of her eyes. "Don't you have a refugee to gruffly intimidate by accident? Why can't I keep asking questions?" Siepha goes a few shades paler, despite Kelki's cheery wink.

Murephan sighs and clears his throat to get the attention of the shifters. "We're headed back now. Thank you for guiding us."

Tel-Lir turns to face him with a slow grin. "Tel-Kas and I will be remaining with you to guide you back to your ship. You should be well out of Kalaak territory, but there are other dangers on the Tundra to those who do not know it, and we swore to see this group safely to the coast. We will say farewell when you arrive at your ship, not before."

Murephan nods briefly. "Thanks. All right. Taran, scout ahead with one of the shifters to make sure we aren't surprised. Everyone else stay near the other shifter and do what they say. Except you." He nods at Siepha. "You're at rearguard with me while we talk."

Siepha, by now nearly the color of the snow around you, manages a tiny nod.

"Y-Y-Yes S-Sir," Taran says nodding, but he pauses a second before moving over to Siepha and giving her an awkward pat on the shoulder.

"I-I-I kn-know i-i-it is t-t-terrifying," He says quietly, "b-b-but... you d-d-don't h-have t-t-to w-w-worry ab-about m-m-messing up. J-J-Just t-t-tell h-him th-the tr-truth, an-and, i-if th-things g-g-go b-b-badly, w-w-we h-have w-w-weeks on th-the sh-ship t-t-to c-clear it up, o-or f-f-find a b-b-better w-w-way f-f-forward. I-I-W-We, w-won't a-abandon you, tr-trust th-that m-m-much at least."

Siepha swallows hard and manages a nod before slowly dropping back to walk next to Murephan.

OOC: Okay, so I'm not going to draw the trip out. I have a few things to hand out to people before you get properly started, and then I'm going to skip right to arriving at the ship, unless you have something you want to do on the trip. Please inform me in the Discord whether or not you have something you want to do on the trip or before departure. I want responses from EVERYONE.

You head off into the Tundra for the final leg of your trip. After about an hour, Siepha catches up to the rest of the group, leaving Murephan alone at rearguard. The young dragon doesn't exactly look happy, but neither does she look as terrified as she did at the start of the conversation. She fields a barrage of whispered questions from Kelki about her form and abilities, until Murephan shouts from the back for Kelki to stop bothering her, to which Kelki predictably rolls her eyes, but mock salutes and turns her attention to talking incessantly to Kaori.

Siepha seems to be at this point fairly comfortable around you all, and Kelki's constant chatter seems to put the young dragon at ease around the dromite too. She does, however, continue to seem nervous around Murephan, though the elan pays her little mind for the duration of the trip.

About three days later, you arrive at the coastline, where you see the Felix floating offshore. "Say your goodbyes," Murephan says gruffly before glancing at Siepha. "And make your decision." She nods mutely.

The shifters each incline their heads to you all. "Safe travels and good fortune in your battles. Bonded we live," Tel-Lir says with a faint smile.

"Kill a few southern Riedrans for me," Tel-Kas adds with a much fiercer grin.

"S-S-Safe tr-travels t-t-to y-y-you as w-well, and I-I h-h-hope the M-Mother of S-Storms k-k-keeps you s-s-safe," Taran responds before turning awkwardly to Tel-Kas, "Um, w-w-well, w-w-we l-likely w-w-will... n-not s-sure a-about d-doing it f-f-for you b-but... I-I'll... m-m-maybe?"

Vishal smiles at the shifters but turns to Siepha, "Siepha I know this is your decision to make, right here and now. But, you've seen what you can do out there with us. You kicked butt. It was amazing. And I know you would continue to do so even back home with us. So please, will you come back with us. I promise I'll do everything I can to keep helping you be able to change back if you do. As you saw I'm pretty good at helping people overcome their fears." 

Persuasion: 18

Tel-Kas just chuckles and waves, making it difficult to tell if he's being serious.

Siepha hesitates, looking uncertain after Vishal's words. After a long moment, she nods. "Okay," she says softly. "I'll come back with you."

Kaori gives a happy chirp at Siepha's decision, the birb looking much more cheerful than before.

You all finish your goodbyes to the shifters and board the ship. Captain Daara seems pleased to see you all, and hardly bats an eye at the addition of Siepha. Soon, the ship is taking off across the water, skimming the sea with the same speed and grace it showed on the way here.

A few hours into the voyage, Siepha approaches you all. "Can we talk?" she asks softly. "In private?"

Vishal smiles as he says, “Of course, you’re part of the team now.”