Heinrich
The adults were sifting through their belongings. The items that wouldn't be necessary until the evening would be left behind at Prisoners' Point, since the group would be sleeping there again that night; this way, the adults wouldn't have to make the approximately hour-long hike back to the dock unduly encumbered by their packs.
"Áthas," Klara called, holding her much emptier bag. "You still haven't told us why we couldn't choose our shack in daylight. Can you tell us now?"
Áthas, who had been standing in the grassy area approximately in the middle of the scattered huts to oversee the packing, nodded and waited until everyone else had joined her. "You can drop your stuff for a moment," she told the adults. "Does everyone remember where you stayed last night? And I do mean, remember exactly?" The mystified group nodded. "Okay. If you return now to your respective hovels, do have a very close look around. One of you - maybe - will find something very, very interesting."
The triplets locked eyes with one another for only an instant before dashing off to the largest of the shacks. Phoenix nodded to Heinrich. "I'll be over in a sec to help you look." So Heinrich turned and entered what could charitably be called the doorway of the ramshackle hut they had stayed in the previous night. Just once, he looked behind him, and was not surprised to see Phoenix speaking with Áthas.
Hmm.
It was easier to see in here now that it was daylight, of course, so Heinrich took a good look around for anything that appeared out of place or amiss. Without furniture or even especially sturdy walls, there just weren't that many places where he might find something "very, very interesting." He was about to head back out to rejoin Phoenix when some freshly disturbed earth deep in one shadowy corner, nestled beneath a tipsily leaning beam, caught his eye. He knelt down beside it, giving the beam a gentle nudge to confirm that it wouldn't be falling down on top of him, and then, satisfied, began raking his fingers through the soft soil to dig up whatever might be under there.
The muscles in the palms of his hands were just beginning to tire when he had gone far enough to feel something besides dirt. Some kind of cloth was there beneath his fingertips. Burlap? He dug more around it until a small pouch made out of, yes, burlap was revealed. He gently tugged it from the ground and undid the simple knot tying it shut.
Stepping over to the sunshine pouring through one of the east-facing holes in the wall that had presumably been intended to serve as windows, Heinrich peered inside the pouch. Sunlight sparked in glittering shards off of a number of small, pale blue objects inside. Wait, was this -
A series of screams from across the plain knifed viciously into his awareness, and with no further thought for the contents of the pouch he had just unearthed, he shoved it into his pack and hustled outside. "What's happened?" he panted, looking around for what he assumed was some kind of sudden danger.
"I think what's happened is that the triplets found something very, very interesting," Áthas said with a chuckle as she and Phoenix came to stand beside him.
"What?" Heinrich asked in bewilderment, shaking his head to try and clear it from the fright he'd just had. "What? They found - what?"
He felt Phoenix put a gentle arm around his shoulders and pull him into a sideways hug. He took a deep inhale, then let it go slowly, as he had earlier that morning when breathing with the waves. The sickening flood of adrenaline coursing through him abated slightly.
The triplets marched triumphantly out of their hut, with one of the boys - at this distance, Heinrich wasn't sure which - holding a small box over his head. Sunlight scattered wildly off of the vibrant gems on its lid.
"What have you got there?" Siân called as the others emerged from their shacks, having concluded, thanks to the kids' racket, that the "very, very interesting" prize had been located.
"Treasure!" the boy holding the box regally declared.
The group gathered again in the center of the plain - Phoenix kept his arm around Heinrich's shoulders, a gesture for which the latter found himself quite grateful - to see what the triplets had found. It was Owain who had been holding the box, Heinrich now saw, and the boy reverently raised the lid, revealing a small cache of colorful gems.
"I should probably mention at this point that these aren't real jewels," Áthas told them, but the triplets didn't seem to be disappointed by this; all three were gazing adoringly at their treasure. "But they certainly are pretty, aren't they?"
"Really pretty," Owain agreed.
"I'm glad you found them," Áthas continued, addressing the triplets. She held their gaze, then glanced around the group of assembled adults, as well. "Because treasure hunting, you see, is a very valuable skill on Sidereal Isle."
As usual, this immediately got everyone's attention. "Is it, now?" asked Emyr.
Áthas nodded. "It's one of the legends of this island, the legend that I will be telling everyone tonight after dinner."
"Did you hear that?" Osian crowed to his siblings, giving Olwen an excited shove for no discernible reason and nearly knocking her into Acair. "There's probably buried treasure here! Real treasure!"
"We're going to find it, right boys?" Olwen announced, shoving back so hard that Osian barely kept his feet. "Just call us the Treasure Hunting Triplets!"
Owain nodded vociferously, but didn't shove anyone because he didn't want to drop the box of make-believe gems. "The matter is thus decided!" He then looked to Heinrich and suddenly appeared stricken. "Oh, but you and Fynn can join us too, if you want. We can be the Treasure Hunting...Five?"
"Doesn't quite have the same ring to it," Osian pointed out.
"How about the Clever Quintet?" Fynn suggested.
The triplets shrieked with delight. "Yes, yes!" they cried. "The Clever Quintet!"
Phoenix pulled Heinrich a little closer and grinned down at him. "You like that name too?"
Heinrich nodded wordlessly, glad for the relative safety of Phoenix's embrace. Life beyond the orphanage moved so fast sometimes; it felt like his brain couldn't quite keep up with the onslaught. But the triplets were still gazing at their treasure, which reminded him! He turned to his brother and murmured, "Hey, I forgot to tell you -"
"Right then," Áthas said briskly. "Adults with me, get your packs together and we'll get a move on. Oh." She stopped. "Do any of you kids have a watch?" Heinrich, Fynn, and the triplets shook their heads. "Okay, that's fine." She squinted eastward. "Alright, everyone see that tree there?" She pointed to an especially tall one near the shore quite a ways southeast from Prisoners' Point. Everyone nodded. "When the sun starts poking higher than the top of that tree, which will be about an hour from now, you can begin preparing your offenses and defenses. And in the meantime, you can talk them over to decide what you want to do."
"Aye-aye!" Olwen replied with a salute.
"See ya later, bro," Phoenix said to Heinrich with a grin and one last sideways squeeze. "Good luck."
"Be good, you three," Emyr said as he turned to follow Áthas, Siân, Acair, and Phoenix, who had already set off up the plain's easy slope. "Fynn and Heinrich are in charge, so you need to listen to them, okay?"
"We will!" chirped Owain.
"Alright," Olwen said to her teammates, rubbing her palms together, a devious grin on her face. "Let's get to work."