Skya was under water. She was stunned, her wings felt frozen. So cold... She thought. Where was Oceana? Was she alive? Skya looked around, and saw Oceana at the bottom of the pool, swimming towards a glowing portal.

Green light filled the pool. The portal was somehow swirling with a thousand colors while still being green. Oceana was basically bouncing while under water, she was obviously very excited. She swam to Skya and grabbed her hand, dragging her into the portal. Skya tucked herself into a ball as she was pulled into the swirling depths.

Skya woke up to bright sunlight. She was laying on her back in a field of... white grass? It was white. That meant.... They made it! they were in a new dimension! Skya sat up and looked around. The trees around her were covered in purple leaves. Their trunks were silvery white and glimmered even in the shade.

She smiled. Amazing. She thought. Suddenly, Oceana burst out of the trees.

"Skya! Skya! You have to see this, I found something amazing! It might be a new species!" She whisper-yelled. Skya stood up in shock

A new species? She thought. This was great! They could have just made an amazing discovery. Skya followed Oceana quietly through the trees as they reached another sun-lit clearing. In the middle, there was a log. And this log had carvings of all kinds of things. Trees, flowers, bushes, plants of all sort. And next to that was a... deer person? They were sitting on the log carving something new.

They looked like they had the body shape of a human, but covered in creamy brown fur, and down its back were dark brown spots. Its antlers poked out of a darker brown tuft of fur almost like hair, and it had big deer-like ears. Its tail was small and it was twitching as the creature carved.

"Wow..." she whispered, at a loss for words. She tried to get closer, not noticing the rock in front of her foot. She tripped, yelping as she tumbled into the clearing. The creature stood up, saw her, and shrieked, running behind a huge tree, shaking. Skya waved as it poked its head around the trunk to look at her.

"W... What are y-you?" It stuttered in a decidedly boyish voice.

Skya was speechless. He could speak English?! She cleared her throat.

"I'm a human... My name's Skya... W-whats yours?" She asked. The deer creature stepped out from behind the tree. He had a white belly, and longer strands of fur on his head and around his face. He had hooves, and freckles on his face and legs. He had sky blue eyes that stood out on his light brown face.

"Owl. I'm a carver apprentice." He ducked his head. "I made all these." He gestured to the carvings and smiled. "Where do you come from?" He asked. Skya didn't know how to answer, but Oceana answered for her jumping out of the bush behind her and saying;

"A different dimension!" She said, running over to where Skya was still laying on the ground. Owl jumped a little, his ears flattening. "I'm Oceana! I have so many questions! Are there more of you? What are you deer people called? Do you live together? Where are the animals? What do you eat? Is your fur soft? Can I touch it?" Oceana fired questions at Owl, much like she had done to Skya that first day.

Skya rolled her eyes. Owl took a step backward, as if to go hide again.

"I-I mean... yes, there are more of us... We're called daer... um yes, we live together. What are animals? We mostly eat Purple Berries, witch are really good, by the way, and yes my fur is soft. No, you can't touch it." He listed off the answers, looking at Skya again.

"Does she always meet new people this way?" He asked, grinning shyly at Skya. She got up off the ground and nudged Oceana sharply. Not the best way to meet new people. Skya thought.

"Yes she does, unfortunately, but that's only because she's naturally curious." Skya answered, stepping closer to Owl. "Can I feel your fur?" She asked. Owl shifted his hooves.

"No. But I do want to show you my village." He said, turning around and running to the edge of the bushes, surprisingly graceful for such a twig-like creature. He turned around and smiled, then vanished into the trees. Skya ran after him, following him into the shimmering purple forest.

She looked around in confusion, then saw Owl sitting calmly on a higher branch. How he got there, she didn't know.

"How'd you do that?" She asked. She looked up and down the tree, looking for any way he could have gotten up.

"It's my magic. Every Daer has a Birthmagic. Mine is jumping high. Recently, we shunned a Brokenhorn that had the power of growing trees. My mentor has a woodworking Birthmagic. He can carve anything super fast." Owl explained. Skya was intrigued. Not only a new species, but one with powers, too.

"You wanna see something cool?" She asked. Her wings fidgeted.

"Sure." Owl replied. Skya spread her wings, and lifted off the ground. Yes! My wings do work here! She thought. She had worried that she still wouldn't be able to use them, but evidently, they worked. Owl looked amazed. His eyes were shining, and he was grinning.

"That's amazing!" He said as she touched the ground. "I've never seen real wings before!" He said, awestruck. Real wings? She thought.

"What do you mean 'real wings'" She asked. Surly they had seen wings on like, birds before, right? Then she realized what was wrong, something she had noticed before, but not really thought about. Where were the birds? She hadn't heard any birdsong at all since they landed.

"Well, we've heard about them in stories, but I never realized that things with wings even existed." He said.

"But what about birds? You're named after one." She pointed out. Owl looked confused.

"I'm named after a legend. Owls don't exist, right?" He asked. Skya was astounded. Owls are a legend here, that's so cool! She thought.

"Well in our world, we have a lot of creatures like owls. There are birds of all kinds. You should see it right now, when it's fall and the leaves are changing colors." She said.

"Changing colors? That's so cool!" He replied, jumping down from the tree. "Follow me, I'll show you my village. Wheres your other friend?" He said. Skya turned around to see Oceana with some science-y stuff looking at the purple leaves. She rolled her eyes.

"She'll catch up." Skya replied, shrugging. Owl grinned and leaped into the forest, jumping from tree to tree like it was nothing. Skya flew after him, and before long, the came to a distinct path.

"Is this the way to the village?" She asked.

"Yup. Only a short walk from here." He replied, calmly walking down the path to his village. Skya followed, marveling at the wonderful purple leaves in all different shades. There were fern-looking things all surrounding the road. They were a lavender purple, and they quivered in a slight breeze. She wondered if Oceana had followed. Then she noticed bright green hooveprints trailing from Owl's hooves.

"Why are there prints trailing behind you?" She asked. Owl looked at the ground behind him and said,

"Oh! those are so Oceana can find us. Its a technique we use when in a confusing part of the forest so we don't get lost." He said. "I left some so Oceana can find her way back." He explained. "Oh, we're here, by the way." He pointed out a stop to the forest. A clearing opened into a village of tree houses. Huge tree houses. They stretched from tree to tree, and were connected by swinging rope bridges. Daers were walking on the ground, or in the treetops.

Some carried jugs or paper, or sometimes even a young Daer. Children sat in branches, or on balconies, and some were playing in the grass below. She took a deep breath, and stepped into the village.