The surprise
Árni and Sigríður quickly realized the mistake they had made in refusing an official escort that would have taken them to the same location as the expedition's organizer and the relatives of some members of the crew that had been able to make it. They had simply not expected the pier to be so packed with people. So the members of this crew were going to return as heroes, after what they had probably done to their son. After more than three weeks of travel including two in quarantine, any exterior signs of mistreatment would have faded away. They had no idea where the welcoming party would be waiting and, as the ship approached, the crowd go too packed for them to get much further from where they were already standing. The boat eventually got close enough for them to try to identify the six figures standing on the bow of the boat, which was arriving bow-first, to their right. The figures formed a line on the side that would remain visible to Árni and Sigríður once the boat got closer. They quickly identified Reynir on the far left of the line, at the back of everyone else. They identified the other red-headed figure in front of the line, to the far right as the crew's captain, the medic behind her and the cleanser behind the medic. They took a little more time to identify the scout and the skald, as the former had a collar partially hiding his face and the latter had apparently cut her hair very short some time after the photo given to them had been taken. By the time they had identified everyone, the captain had started to wave at a portion of the crowd that gave every sign of being straight in front of the boat when all, except for the scout who looked like he was either taking a nap on the railing or being seasick, started waving as well, but did not move from their positions. Were they dreaming, or was Reynir happily waving at someone down there as well? Maybe it was just to show the organizers that he was present and alive. They suddenly felt watched. Trying to find where it came from, they noticed the scout was now staring at them. The scout turned his face in the direction of Reynir and the skald, moved to Reynir's back and poked him with his elbow, while using his other hand to point in their direction. Reynir finally noticed them, told the scout something and started waving a them, with a smile that somehow managed to say both "happy to see you" and "sorry, sorry, sorry, please don't yell at me". The commotion didn't go unnoticed by the skald, who saw them as well, asked Reynir something that was answered with a nod and started to wave at them with a big smile on her face. Nice try, they had a good idea of what she was up to. The discussion caught the attention of the medic, who noticed them as well and placed himself behind Reynir, putting two friendly hands on his shoulders and nodding towards them. The cleanser asked the skald something, briefly looked at them after getting his answer, but quickly lost interest in favor of talking to the scout, who had gone back to his original place right next to him. The captain took her turn at noticing them, asked the cleanser something and started yelling in the direction of the pier while pointing in Árni and Sigríður's direction. Couldn't get rid of Reynir fast enough, could she?
After yelling for a while, the captain joined the medic, Reynir and the skald. Just as she was doing this, something dropping from the scout's bent-over upper body to the water below pointed towards definite seasickness, while the cleanser held him to make sure he didn't fall over, a worried look on his face. Seeing this side of two people who had probably heartlessly bullied their son made them uneasy. When they got their focus back on Reynir, the captain was proudly lifting his arm with one hand, while using the other to point at an armband that they hadn't noticed before. They couldn't quite make out the symbol that was on it, but the color scheme matched the white, orange and black of the uniforms worn by the crew. Reynir wrestled the arm out of her grip, made a move to cover the symbol, then told her something that got either backed or translated by the medic. She didn't seem to agree with whatever she was told, but made a show of ruffling Reynir's hair with smile on her face before walking back to the bow of the boat. Reynir seemed to forget he had been waving at them, let out a sigh, looked at the hand-covered armband, looked at them again, this time completely apologetic and lacking any obvious sign of joy. Now they were curious as to what that symbol was supposed to be, why the captain seemed to think they should see the armband and why Reynir was electing to hide it from them at the moment. The skald noticed the gesture, told him something, and a few exchanges later had put a smile back on Reynir's face. Someone came through the crowd, calling Árni and Sigríður's names. They made themselves known, as soon got led to the welcoming party, getting there just in time to see everyone get off the boat. Everyone had apparently agreed to let Reynir off first. As he was running towards them, he had forgotten about hiding the symbol on the armband, which they they recognized despite his arms moving. The apprentice mage badge.
