It was like having my dreams come true. My surroundings looked like I had stepped into a New Zealand evergreen forest. The trees were very tall reaching high into the sky while also creating a canopy above us. Everything is so green. It was oddly quiet with the absence of animals in the surrounding areas. The only animals I could see were the amberclaws that were pulling our wagons. I have never seen our amberclaws so upset before, it was all our caravan drivers could do to soothe them. As a result of this, the grownups immediately started unloading everything and just placing the items on the ground.

Sky and I were placed in charge of the other children so everyone could work efficiently. Aaron and Maya were placed in their carrier baskets near us while Jade hopped along. Aaron is 8 months old and the youngest of our group. He has black hair and red eyes. Maya is 15 months old with brown hair and pink eyes. It is still difficult for me to get used to the exotic hair and eye color of this world. The first time I saw little Aaron, I searched for where horns may start growing out of his skull. To my disappointment, he still has not started growing horns. I have not seen anyone with horns in this world but I will keep looking!

Looking at the ruins that we were sent here to study, the closest I can describe them is the Aztec ruins. Almost all ancient ruins have some form of pyramid back home quite simply because that shape is what lasted the best through the ages. Where Aztec structures have stairs going up the sides of the pyramids, these ruins have only one “staircase” that I can see but it is going up the side as a switchback path. It is a smooth path back and forth with no actual stairs, just an incline.

There was a large central structure and several smaller structures. I couldn't count them all from here but if the spacing is kept the same, there are eight medium structures evenly spaced around the larger structure. I’ve started calling them structures because the pyramid-like buildings are completely intact with not a stone out of place. The only ruins that I see in this area are a long stone structure that is missing its roof. The stones on the ruin do not match the stones of the structures. There are several doorways in the long structure, I can count 10 entrances from here. Was this temporary housing built by a newer generation of ancients?

The adults are still working together to empty all of the wagons. As soon as they empty one, the driver immediately turns the amberclaw around and leaves the way we came in. We are going to be well and truly alone for at least a month at a time. I have my job cut out for me, Jade is a bundle of energy and she will not settle down and hold still. To keep her occupied, I started a race with her to see who could run to a tree and back the fastest. I do my best to temper my speed and barely win each time. Sky looks like he is about to lose interest in watching the two younger children. He keeps looking at his dad and slinking closer to him.

Nina, Sky’s mother noticed her son getting closer to the wagons and came over to help watch over the children. Almost all of the wagons are empty so the extra pair of hands is not missed as much. Nina looks like she could have been a runway model in a past life. She has white hair with electric blue eyes. She is so petite that she can't weigh more than 100 pounds. Nina looks dainty next to the mountain of a man that is her husband.

After the last wagon was unloaded and gone, the adults all came to where we were sitting to have a meeting. Corrin stood on a log to address the group. “Alicia, Natalie, Lyra, Ardon please sort our supplies as best you can. Zarek, Myself, Teyas, and Anzu are going to roam the area and look for the best place to set up our dwellings. Judy and Nina, please stay with the children.”

You could tell that some of the adults were not adjusting well to the barrier. Many of them were rubbing their arms and legs like they were trying to work circulation back into them. The odd tingling feeling has mostly faded for me. If I think about it, then it starts bugging me again but it is easy not to focus on it. The other children were no longer rubbing their arms or being extra fussy.

Judy came over and sat next to Nina. She was Jade’s mother with blonde hair and blue eyes. I would describe her physique as willowy, gracefully tall, and slender. “If I never see another carriage it will be too soon!” she said to Nina.

Nina chuckled and responded, “I know what you mean, I thought Sky was going to start climbing the walls at one point. He just would not sit still. How is Jade doing with her letters and numbers?”

“Jade was far more interested in drawing or sticking everything in her mouth. We got her to start with her numbers a little bit.”

Sky had joined Jade and me in our racing game at this point. It was so nice to be able to stretch my legs once again. I made sure to pretend to compete with him but still only win about half of the time. His navy blue hair was dark enough to be confused for black when the sun went down.

[Skill increase: Running +1 (6)]

After about an hour, Corrin made a high-pitched whistle and waved everyone in to gather up again. Aaron immediately started screaming after being woken from his nap so rudely. His mother, Alicia, was close enough to be able to quickly pick him up and soothe him back to almost sleeping again by the time everyone else had made it to the group.

“I don’t know about the rest of you, but I do not want to sleep in a tent again tonight if I can help it. The boys and I wandered the area, and that ruin over there looks to be our best bet for a shelter.” He pointed to the long ruin missing its roof. “We should be able to tie our tent tarps on top of the structure to keep the elements out.” There were nods all around in agreement with Corrin’s observations. “Ardon, how are our supplies looking?”

“We are going to need to ration our food until we get our next supply delivery. Without rationing, we will run out of food in a little over a week. Thankfully, when we were delayed with the bridge, we were able to get a message out via message crystal to have our supplies delivered early. I still estimate we won’t receive any supplies for at least another week or two.” Jade’s father replied.

“Ladies, can you start moving all of our supplies into the middle two rooms of the structures we are moving into, please? Gentlemen, we need to get those tent tarps up over the building so we have shelter tonight. Zarek and Anzu team up, Teyas and Ardon are another team. I will float back and forth between helping with the tarps and helping to move our supplies inside.”

Nina approached the three of us and told us to remain in sight but to continue to play. Aaron and Maya were set down close to where the men were working. They had both fallen asleep so they required very little supervision.

By the time the sun was hitting the horizon, seven of the rooms had tarps over them and all of our supplies were stored inside the building. The campfire that night was the scene of a celebration. Everybody was singing and a few of the adults even started to dance. I wonder if they had brought alcohol with them. The dancing left much to be desired but it looked like they were having fun with it.

After a watered-down stew for dinner and the subsequent celebration, the families all wandered off to their new dwellings. Our new home was the furthest to the left and the closest one to the ancient structures. A curtain had been strung up in place of a door. Near the back, three bedrolls were made upon the ground. Two were adult-sized and combined to make a giant bedroll. My bedroll was placed a distance away and some supplies were set up between our beds to give the adults some privacy.

It did not take long for my parents to fall asleep. It has been a long day for all involved. I was sleepy, but I wanted to stay up and work on my sneaking skills. It is a novice skill and much harder to level up. I waited for the adults to have the even breathing of sleep and then very slowly and quietly got out of bed. Wrapping myself up in a darker blanket to hide my white nightdress, I headed for the door at a snail’s pace. Peeking outside, I did not see any of the adults still outside. The fire had been banked for the morning and the coals were giving off a very faint glow.

Luckily there was a full moon tonight and I was able to see quite well. There was a perfect circle of tree-free area around the ancient structures. A sea of grass was all that could be seen around the ancient structures. I sprinted between our house and the edge of the grass as quickly as possible to avoid being seen by any of the adults. I may not have seen any, but that doesn’t mean that they couldn’t be out here somewhere.

My goal tonight was to look around one of the smaller structures. When I say small, I mean it relative to the other structures. The smallest buildings could easily fit two football fields in them side by side. All of the buildings were perfectly square at the base and placed equidistant from each other. Walking around my target, I found a long switchback ramp up to the entrance at the top of the pyramid.

The path to the top of the building was smooth but with enough friction left to avoid slipping. Along the wall, there were intricate carvings. Every carving was depicting all types of triangles artfully arranged. They were mesmerizing to look at. Making it to the top of this building was quite an accomplishment for my stubby little legs. I felt like I was ready for a nap when I made the whole way up. The door looked to be sealed up tightly. I could not find any latch or button within reach to push to open the door.

Sighing in defeat, I made the long trek back to our house so I could get some sleep. Tiptoeing through the long grass, I looked around our clearing to make sure none of the adults were visible. When I could not locate any, I sprinted the last few yards to our door, slowing down just in time to reach our door curtain. My parents were both still sleeping when I entered our house so I was able to sneak to my bed and tuck myself in for the night.

[Skill increase: Sneak +1 (11)]

[Level Up +1 (18)]