Title: Flood
Author: Karina
Rating: PG
Pairing: Duo + Wu Fei
Notes: Challenge 206. Baby Series 4 #75. Takes place following Icicles.
Spoilers: None
Warnings:
Many thanks to ShenLong Deb for her work betaing this set of fics.
Disclaimer: I don't own Gundam Wing or the Characters from the series but the baby is mine.
Title: Flood
"Is there likely to be a flood?"
Wu Fei glanced at the woman who spoke, a diminutive matron with streaks of grey in her hair, bundled so heavily against the cold that it would be difficult to tell her sex once she donned the knitted woollen cap clutched in her mittened hands.
"Whilst it is the truth to say that there is always some degree of a flood with the snow melt coming down from the peaks, but the people here are well accustomed to the ways of their land. Melt floods are well known and generally do not cause problems. The snow from the highlands melts at a steady rate and the river and stream channels of Sanc are well capable of channelling off the snow melt. Occasionally though, the weather warms early and excessively. Such heatwaves, and they do not have to be all that high in temperature, certainly not enough to make a person uncomfortable, are uncommon."
Duo rubbed absently at his cheek, drawing on a pair of wool lined gloves. "When the weather warms too early and too quickly, the thaw is accelerated and more water than the river systems can handle flows at accelerated speeds."
Wu Fei inclined his head slightly, absently twisting his scarf about his neck, settling it more comfortably."There is a great deal of snow in the highlands and that water has to go somewhere."
"There is a photograph in the palace archives of the really great flood they had go through here about two hundred years ago. It showed the cliff in full flood, the waterfall stretching along almost the entire length of the cliff face you can see now. Half the city was inundated, a quarter of it wiped out. That event led to the construction of the great drainage channels ringing the city. Milliardo was horrified to find they had been let go, some filled in, and he's been having them restored. There is still quite a bit of work to be done before the task is completed."
Wu Fei shrugged his shoulders, smiling at the uneasy whispers amidst his councillors. "If there was to be a flood the city would be warned well ahead of time. The Watchers is an organisation that exists to warn the King of any concerns. Part of their duties is to monitor the weather and its possible effects on the country and citizens of Sanc."
"If it looked like the spring floods were going to be of greater volume than usual, the warning would be issued to evacuate areas that would be affected before there was any danger to the residents. It's all pretty much routine to these people." Duo rubbed his gloved hands together. "Personally I think it's cold today, but the ice disagrees if it's beginning to imitate rain, but that is just a warning to keep an eye on the weather. Something I have learned to be wary of since coming to Earth."
Wu Fei smirked. "Weather fascinates me."
End
Karina Robertson 2013