My family and I are taking a three day trip to Kastter, a town about two hours away from here. We are going to meet the newest addition to the family, my newborn cousin. I met many new people in my first months of life here, to the point where they all blurred together. Relatives, friends, neighbors, fans of the shop, and even strangers came to meet me. The birth of a baby is a big deal here, and everyone in the community comes to visit the child. Visitors will bring food for the parents for the first several months. They will also offer blessings to the new baby. It is believed that the more blessings the child receives, the healthier and safer they will be.

 My cousins and uncles that we are visiting today had come to bring food and offer blessings when I was a month old. Now, we are reciprocating. My parents made a rag doll for the new baby, and my brothers helped them bake a loaf of bread with dried fruits. We had rented a cart for the day, pulled by one of those pig/goat things, which I had learned was called a yarco. My parents used to have one of their own, but it has grown too old to work. It was sent to a farm last year. (At least, that's what us kids were told. I figured the old yarco probably died).

 Anyways, they'd be getting a new one next month. They had purchased a calf some months ago, and were waiting for it to mature. For now, renting carts suited us just fine. This would be my longest trip yet, and I was fairly excited. The boys were exuberant at the beginning of the trip, but they quickly became fidgety and temperamental. The last 20 minutes was basically non-stop arguing between the three of them. I had been enjoying the peaceful ride, but even I was getting bored and irritated. As soon as the cart stopped, the boys were given permission to run around the house for ten minutes, while the rest of us went inside. My papa held me, while my mama unloaded the bags. Mama set the bags down and knocked out the door. 

A large, pale man with fluffy red hair and matching beard answered the door. "Welcome! Please, come in!" His resemblance to my mom was apparent. The only difference was his light green eyes. Another man sat on a rug, playing with two children, a little girl and a boy. The man had dark brown skin and long purple hair. His eyes were a slightly lighter shade of purple. 

"Hello everyone, " He said, standing to greet us. My parents and brothers exchanged greetings, while I waved earnestly from my father's arms. The orange-haired man chuckled. "Hello, love," He spoke softly, leaning down towards me. "You may not remember, but I'm your Uncle Wally  and this is your Uncle Karse." He said, touching his husband's shoulder. Wally then walked to the nearby bassinet, scooping up the baby inside. "And this is Elta." He added with  a huge grin on his face. Elta looked around and the new people, a curious look on her face. She had Karse's skin tone, and her peach fuzz matched his hair. But her eyes were the same light green as Wally. 

"Don't forget about us! I'm Zira, and I'm six, and he's Shae, and he's three!" Chimed in the little girl. Zira had light brown skin, with purple hair and lavender eyes. Shae was a little clone of Wally, minus the beard of course. My parents smiled at her. "How good it is to see all of you. I'm glad Elta is well. Shall we give her the gift now?" "Go right ahead." Karse gave permission. My mama removed the doll from her basket, and held it up to Elta. Baby Elta eagerly reached for the doll, and it was placed in her arms. The adults all smiled, pleased that the child had accepted the toy. My parents both offering blessings to Elta, for her health and happiness. We then went into the kitchen, and my brothers came tumbling in just in time for bread. They were sent to wash up and offer their own blessing to Elta before they could partake. We all settled in, comfortably cramped around the kitchen table. 

As we sat around the table, a scratching was heard at the back door. "I'll get it!" Yelled Zira. She ran for the door and flung it open. A small creature came darting in. It looked quite a bit like a house cat from earth. It was long and slender, with fluffy gray fur. It had tufts of fur on its triangular ears. It had four large paws, with a lengthy tail, a little button nose, and whiskers. I stared in awe. I have always been a cat person. I had greatly longed for one when I was Annabelle. I never had the opportunity, but I did have a number of plush cats. The red cat creature trotted in, rubbing against the legs of its people. "Agab!" I yelled excitedly as it approached us, sniffing my family members carefully. My dad smiled and bent down. "Look Pyra," he said, "This is a tiebell." "His name is Marrow and he's the best tiebell in the world!" Zira informed us. I reached my hand out to Marrow, and rubber against it. I laughed in delight. I can't believe this world has cats! I don't recall them ever being mentioned in the book. Then again, few creatures were. Only the horse-like creatures the nobles used as transport were ever described in detail. Those beasts were called shilens. They had horse-like bodies, lion-like tails, and horns similar to those found on rinos. To know this world has felines filled me with joy. I spent the next several days spending as much time with Marrow as I could. My parents noticed my fondness. I overheard them whispering to each other that we may have to get a tiebell of our own. 

All too soon it was time to head home. We said our goodbyes, with promises to visit again soon. As much as I appreciated my extended family, I had to admit I was mainly interested in returning to see Marrow again. The trip home was uneventful, until we reached about halfway point. We had to travel through a stretch of thick woods. The overcast sky made the surroundings even darker than usual. Suddenly, mama had to stop the cart. A fallen log blocked our path. It didn't appear to be heavy, so papa hopped out of the cart to move it. But, before he could even touch it, a clattering came from the woods. A group of men, armed with knives and batons, jumped out. We were quickly surrounded. A burly man with a dagger approached papa. "Hand over anything valuable, and you all get to leave here alive."