The Earth sayings sometimes came out of my mouth and when the men liked them, they kept them. I had to smile at my family as I heard bits of my old life resurrected by them. It always seemed to make me a little wistful.


    I could go back and I knew that. The women had stabilized several portals to Earth. Former ves were offered the opportunity to return home if they wished it. The Paterian Administration was hesitant to close the portals too quickly. The process of healing was slow and leaving was a big decision.


    We met many former ves as we started our journey. In the first moon we were hesitant to stay outside an established camp for long. We met many, many freed ves and found their choices heartbreaking.


    “Where would I tell them I was?” one human woman had asked me forlornly as she sat in the medical ward of her camp. She was beautiful and broken, in body and spirit.


    The woman, who refused to go by her ve name and would not tell us her free name, had attempted to kill herself by jumping into a pit ofva. She had lost a hand when it dipped into the fire, but a young female Paterian had pulled the human out just in time. The act symbolized how hopeless many former ves felt. They loathed this ce but felt they could not return to who they were.


    “I have been defiled,” the suicidal woman informed anyone who asked. “I have no value to my family anymore. I would be cast out. There is nothing to return to.”


    The Healers in her camp were struggling to deal with her wounded human psyche. It was a scene I saw repeat over and over again. Even my own friends expressed their underlying concerns. There were things they felt made their decision for them, whether they liked it or not.


    “Earth would be a dangerous ce to return to,” Molly had told me stoically as she left the caravan to join her son. “They might think we were mad and lock us all away. If they believed us when we say where we have been the scientists would never let us go. Even if we never told a soul, there would be a danger our secret would be found out. We could never be free on Earth.”


    I felt for Molly, but she didn’t want my pity.


    “This is my life now,” she said looking out over the green hills that bordered her new camp.


    The men Keeping her son had offered for her to join them in their dwelling. She was essentially adopted like a small, lost animal. I hoped eventually she would find more here. She seemed to find some humor in my high hopes.


    “Not everyone is going to find the loves of their life here,” she announced in a resigned tone. “Some of us will just survive and raise our young…”


    My arms crossed like Damien would have done.


    “You seem like too much of a survivor to JUST survive…” I observed and she gave me a small smile.


    “Oh, I’m not giving up, Ciara,” she dered squaring her shoulders and I didn’t doubt her a bit.


    The troupe that continued on with us was an odd, hodgepodge bunch. We were nomads seeking many different things; experience, adventure, science, or family. As we gained confidence, we camped outside more often, unless we were close to an organized camp. As we traveled, we collected things the camps would want and traded for things we needed when we arrived at each new camp.


    Our boys learned to barter, in addition to everything else. Rose and I kept up their schooling, which was now more interesting as they saw most of what we talked about. Some thought our long travel would be disruptive to the children. It seemed to have the opposite effect. The boys were fast bingpetent little men.


    It wasn’t four moons into the trip that we realized our boys were excelling. Mycah’s family could secure a camp as fast as any man. They knew the dangers thaty in different environments and how to prepare for them. Edas and his Brothers were almost as quick. Both sets of boys were learning the new skills rapidly. Men had not had experiences like this in ages.


    I was learning, too. Previously I’d been sheltered and protected. Here in the wild I fought as hard as any of my family and was exposed to all the same danger. My gics made me different and I had to learn to keep up.


    Less than a moon into our trip I adjusted my expectations of myself and my clothing followed. I’d gotten used to wearing dresses, but they proved impractical in the wild world. Pants worked better and I patterned my clothing after my men’s outfits. We hunted together and I soon became a valuable member of the party. It wasn’t a role I’d expected and it certainly wasn’t one Damien had expected.Belongs to (N)?vel/Drama.Org.


    Kaley and Kelli would pass in and out of our days. Sometimes we’d go several day cycles and only hear their haunting melodies in the distance. Other times they’d sleep near the family in the area we’d fortified for rest.


    Hannah and Ra were seeking leadership in our old camp. I only spoke to them when we could use a monitor in a camp. The ones we carried were for emergencies, so I only called them when we were at an established camp. It seemed to me they had gained power by bing close to Asper. Damien congratted them on their good nning.


    Kennedy and her Sisters flew with us at first, but they often took detours. They had studies and experiments that took their time away from us. It was good to see them when they had the chance, though.


    Our journey around the world was a long one. It took over one turn of the sun, or about a year, in its entirety. The caravan took arge loop north and south as we traveled west. We picked up the rest of our extended family, as well as many others, and the caravan swelled. By the time we reached the T’vailk mountains we were two hundred and fifty families strong, at least.


    Men had not lived in the T’vailk Mountains for many, many generations. We found the caves that they had used long ago and the rooms were still in good shape. My family, along with another hundred families, stayed in the T’vailk. We set up a camp and made this our home.


    “I knew we’d end up here,” Kein informed mete one afternoon as we walked out of the bathing cave. The fields had been muddy. We were preparing a new area for crops and the weather hadn’t really cooperated today.


    The T’vailk Mountain range was known for wild storms, but if you stayed where we were, a half day’s travel from the coast, it was a tropical paradise. We got soaked today, but that was unusual. The windward side of the mountains usually took the abuse and we just got the wonderful weather in our small warm valley. There was, of course, the asional typhoon like storm that drove us into our mountain for protection, but it wasn’t often. This ce was the best we’d been.


    “Shame some men are too scared of the weather to live here,” Imented as I noted the preserved food we were transporting across the country to our cousins from less fertile areas.