Gabriel awoke with a different feeling. He seemed to have gotten a better sleep, the second time around, than the fist. He questioned whether he should tell Stella about his dream but decided not to, as he was still figuring if he can trust her. He, also, questioned her home. What she described was a group of Rén de xìn. But the remnants of this place claims it was a Native American tribe. He was hopeful that there would still be information.

It, also, explained why they didn't teach Stella enough about her surroundings. Well, explained some of why. The native people teach through voice and action. They didn't study the way the Rén de xìn did. They carried about life in a different manner. The native people cherished the earth and strove to be a part of it. They welcomed the world as it was. Never curious about things unless it affected them. If Stella didn't pay attention to their teachings, then she wouldn't have learned much.

The Rén de xìn, however, made their offspring learn through reading and pictures. After they learned what they could through that, they were brought out to learn how to study. Which brought up another question for Gabriel. If she lives within a native tribe, why did they have scriptures? What caused them to start writing things down? Something must've changed. And if Stella was right about the writings, he had to make sure he found them to look at them. There may, still, be answers here.

"We should start looking for the information." Gabriel suggested.

Stella nodded. "Yes, but we need to eat. You can start searching. I'll go pray to the river for food." Stella stood and started walking to the river with a torn net in her hand.

Gabriel wondered where she got the net from. He didn't see her get up or look around. He figured she must've found it last night and placed it somewhere. He looked around and didn't know where to start. Stella was the one who knew of secret passages and possible hiding places. She, herself, was frantic over some sort of secret that lay here. He kicked a couple of boards over and sighed. He decided to start at the far end and work back to the front.

Stella crouched down by the river with her net in hand. She started to hum a song. She moved lower, closer to the river and sat on a rock. She started to untangle the net as she hummed. Once she got enough knots out, she dipped the net into the river and continued to hum. Within herself, she prayed. She prayed to the river, asking it for some food for them to eat. She apologized for not having an offering. She asked for understanding and acceptance of her apology. All the while, she hummed. Soon after, her net started to jerk. Stella slowly pulled the net up, two salmon were entangled in the net. She smiled. Stella thanked the river for its mercy and apologized again for having no offering. She stood and brought the fish back to where they slept.

Gabriel had gone to the end of the camp and started to rifle through the broken wood and rope. He didn't find anything out of the ordinary. No secret doors, compartments, not even a trunk. He had hoped it had been easier than this. He wasn't even sure how far to dig. With everything in disarray, it was, somewhat, easy to filter through everything. But it was still time consuming. He had been searching in that one pile of rubble for a half hour. He wanted to move on. Stella should know where everything had been and should've told him which pile to pick through. Instead, she told him to go ahead and look. He decided to move on to the next one. He wondered where they would've put the scriptures and where they would've put Stella.

"Stella." He called. He wasn't sure if she was back from the river yet.

No answer.

"Stella." He called, louder.

"Yes?" She called back.

Gabriel exhaled. "Which pile of rubble should I look in?"

"The innermost one."

Gabriel nodded. He had thought that's how it'd be. He started walking towards the center mess. He had to guess which one it was, seeing that everything was everywhere. He picked a spot and started digging. Lifting, splintered, planks of wood and tossing them to the side. He had found a large, broken, table, he dragged it out and to the side. He moved broken and burnt chairs and burnt stools. He found a burnt bookshelf with no books around it. Rugs that were torn to shreds. He sighed. This was a bad sight. Even if he couldn't trust Stella, this had to be hard to see. He assumed she wanted to fish to save herself the trauma of seeing her home in this condition. He nodded, slightly, to himself. He understood.

The wind changed. Gabriel could smell something in the air. It was delicious. He stopped searching and went toward their, makeshift, camp. He could see the smoke of the fire. The closer he got, the more crackling he heard and the smell was stronger. He came from behind the shelter they slept in and found Stella sitting by the fire.

"What's that?" He asked.

"Fish." Stella announced. She turned and smiled at him. She gestured for him to sit down with her.

Gabriel accepted her offer and sat beside her. "How'd you manage to catch fish with that broken net?" He asked, suspicious.

"I prayed to the river and asked for food. The river answered." Stella explained.

Gabriel didn't understand. "You spoke to the river?" He asked.

"Yes."

"And it spoke back......With fish?" He was having a hard time to believe her. He would take a net or rod and actually fish. He'd get right into the water if he had to and wait all day if he needed to. But this, he couldn't wrap his head around.

"No." Stella looked at Gabriel. "I asked the river for food. It gave me fish for us to eat. There's two. Whatever we don't eat now, we can eat later. This will be enough to get us through the rest of today and tomorrow." She looked back at the fish. She had draped them over a stick above the fire. She would flip them soon.

"How'd you gut it?" Gabriel noticed that it was split at the belly.

"I used your knife from your bag. I washed it when I threw the guts in the river. I put it back in your bag."

Gabriel stared at her. She dug through his bag. He didn't keep much in there. He had some empty vials, two water bottles, a vial of antitoxin, a vial of goblin essence, a vial of pixie dust, a talisman, a knife, water rocks and a large rag.

"What are those things you keep?"

Gabriel was quiet a moment longer. He turned to the fire. "They're things we may need in our travels. They're to help protect us or help us when we're in need. The empty vials are so I can collect samples of things for, either, future use or questionable things I would bring to the Rén de xìn." He may as well tell her.

"What are those things you keep?" She asked again.

Gabriel looked at her. "How about you answer a question of mine before I answer another one of yours?"

Stella nodded once.

"What are the people you lived with?"

"I told you, already...."

"I don't want to hear whatever language you're speaking. I'm asking, try to describe them. Find the English words."

Stella nodded. "My people were a native tribe who trusted the earth. They were smart and kept things that was different. What's the black jar?"

"Goblin essence. If we come across a goblin, we dab a bit on our pulses. Helps keep us safe. They don't see very well because they live in the dark. But their sense of smell is not to be reckoned with. Why'd your tribe keep you?"

Stella took a deep breath. "They said I was special because I was not like them. My transference was not of this plane. They believed I came to the wrong world. What's the yellow jar?"

"Antitoxin. It was made by the Rén de xìn. It's supposed to counter any venom, toxin or poison consumed. Only a drop is needed. There's things here that says this was a typical tribe. But what you've explained to me so far says something completely different. I can see that your people were hiding something. Besides you, what we're they hiding?"

"I don't know."

"That's not an answer!" Gabriel growled.

"It's the only one I've got. They kept things from me. They didn't want to tell me a lot of things. They taught me, only, what would keep me alive. They believed we would be safe here." Stella put her head down.

"What magic was here?"

"I don't know. They never taught me any." Stella looked at the fish. She stood up and went to flip them.

Gabriel watched her as she stuck her hands over the fire and grabbed hold of a hot, greasy fish. She should've been screaming or jumping back, at least saying 'ow'! But nothing came out of her. She flipped the fish over, and then the next one. She sat back down beside Gabriel.

"Why do you distrust me?" She asked quietly.

Gabriel wasn't sure how to answer. But, he felt that if they were going to develop some kind of trust, he'd better be honest. "I don't know what you are. You look and sound human, but everything else about you is different. I don't know what you're capable of. I don't know anything about your people. I've never heard of or seen half of what you speak of. And there seems to be holes in your stories."

Stella looked down again. She gave a nod and looked back at the fish. "I understand."

"Why did you seek me out?" Gabriel asked.

"I didn't."

"I watched you run down the street. And of all the doors you ran past, you came to mine. You stared at my home with determination. You sought me out. Why?"

Stella shook her head, slightly. "I didn't. I was told to find a Gabriel, but the Gabriel I heard of was much older than you."

"So why did you agree to take ME back here?"

Stella didn't answer for a minute. "Why hadn't you hurt me?"

Gabriel frowned at her. He was going to protest but realized it was her turn to ask a question. "Because you hadn't hurt me...Yet. So far, you saved me a few times. Not a good enough reason to hurt you."

"I brought you back because you were the only person in the house. Your name is Gabriel. I thought you had magic. I realized you didn't when we entered the forest, and by then it was too late to change my mind. I still hope you can help me." Stella's voice saddened.

"Well....." Gabriel shrugged. He finally stopped staring at Stella and started watching the fish. "I can try to help you. But I know nothing of you. You're going to have to offer more answers and solutions instead of adding to the questions."

Stella nodded. "I can't tell you what I don't know. If I know the answer I will give it to you. What do you hope to find here?"

"The answers you don't have. Whatever we don't find, we'll have to ask the Rén de xìn. If there's any trace of what attacked your people, we need to bring it with us."

Stella nodded.

"Were you up last night?" Gabriel turned to stare at Stella again.

"No."

"Are you sure? Because you weren't where I left you."

"I went to the bathroom."

"What are you hiding from me?" Gabriel frowned at Stella, hard.

Stella flinched. It was subtle, but Gabriel caught it.

"What are you hiding from me, Stella?" Gabriel demanded.

"I don't know what to say." Stella said.

"Pick some words and spit them out!"

"I don't know what I'm hiding from you."

"Ahh!" Gabriel waved his had toward her. He stood up and walked a few feet away. "How can I help you if you won't let me?!"

"I don't know what I'm hiding from you....."

"That's the problem! You don't know anything! You can't ask someone for help and give them no information to work with." Gabriel had raised his voice a bit.

"Because," Stella began to finish. "I don't know what I am." She stood up and faced Gabriel.

Gabriel stopped pacing the ground. He looked at Stella, unsure if he should believe her.

"I know there's something different about me. I don't know what it is. I know some of my tribe feared me. I don't know why. And I know that some believed me to be what did this." She waved her arms in around her.

Gabriel looked around and the rubble. He took a deep breath.

"I know that I did not do this! I know that I did not hurt my people. Watched them grow for too long to do this to them!" Stella slammed her fist down to her side. She snapped her body and stared into the fire.

"What?" Gabriel asked. He took a step toward her. "You watched them grow?"

Stella sighed. "My grandmother was my mother."

Gabriel didn't move. He was frozen from what Stella just said.

"She was the one who seen me come through the tree. She was the one who brought me home. I watched her age as I grew. And I never aged beyond this." Stella gestured to herself. "She was eighteen when she found me. I watched her have children and her children have children. She was the only one who protected me from the others." Stella looked into the fire again.

Gabriel nearly fell backward. "That's why you know nothing. They didn't want you to be subjected to unnecessary abuse." Gabriel looked away. He stared off, thinking. "And why you can't answer some questions because you, really, don't know." He looked at Stella. He noticed a strange thing on her face. He walked over to her. Gabriel reached his hand up and bent his finger. With the crook of his finger, he scooped a multicoloured liquid from her cheek. He watched it sit in his finger as it hardened.

"What the hell?!" He said, softly.

Stella looked at him and followed his eyes to his hand. Her tear had dried to a diamond. She looked up at Gabriel, unsure of what he might do. Her people had no use for gems. But the humans.....They wanted it, bad.

Gabriel looked at her, his mouth hung open. "It's you!" He exclaimed, just, above a whisper.