Chapter One

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by TravyBearNLT

by TravyBearNLT

Hey guys :) This is a short first chapter, but it had to be done to leave you hanging ;)

Noah smiled to himself as him and his family boarded the Integrity for the first time in forever. It was so nice to have it back. It was the first taste of home that they'd all had in a while. In fact, they were heading home for the first time in months.

Second eldest brother Bam had returned to Alaska a couple of days ago with his new girlfriend Adelaide. They all liked the girl but they had been worried she wouldn't fit in here at first. She was a bit of a city girl, coming from Seattle in all. But she had settled into the Hoonah lifestyle in the couple days she had been here and it was apparent that she was going to have no problem living out in the bush with them when they returned.

Now that Bam was back and all the family was present, they were finally ready to head back to Brown Town. They knew there was going to be a lot of work to be done when they got back, but they didn't care. They just wanted to get back as soon as possible. They'd had enough of this city life.

"All aboard!" Billy called out onto the deck. "Let's get home!"

Noah hopped up onto the boat while his brothers stayed on the dock, untying the ropes. When they were finished, they joined him. In matter of seconds, they were sailing off towards home.

Noah kept to himself, as he usually did, letting the wind blow his long hair around. He enjoyed the view, letting it sink in that they were really going home.

An hour later, he heard his brothers screaming that they were home. They scurried around him, setting the anchor and getting the skiff ready to go to land. Before he knew it, they were on the beach, staring at the land.

"We're home boys," Billy said with a smile. "Now, before we head down the path, I need to remind you of something. If you remember, one of the reasons we left was because of the problem we had with bears. Keep your eyes and ears open. Boys, I want each of you to have a gun."

"Yes Da," Noah replied.

Each of the brothers grabbed a gun. Gabe, Matt, and Bam kept their women attached at the hip as they made their way down the path. Noah walked behind his younger sisters, though they both had their own type of protection, Birdy with a gun and Rainy with her bow and arrow.

The family stood at the end of the trail looking around the land. Everything was like they had left it...destroyed. But to Noah it looked a bit different. It looked cleaner than it had been when they left. He had thought it would be messier, with bears invading their space while they were gone. But it was almost like someone had been here cleaning up. And it clearly hadn't been him and his family. Who had invaded their space?

"OOOOWWWWW!" Bear began to howl in happiness.

The family joined in, howling together.

"Let's get to work, boys!" Matt exclaimed.

The boys scattered. Noah instantly went to his father.

"Da, something isn't right," he told his father.

"What're you talking about Noah?" Billy asked.

"Something just doesn't seem right. Doesn't this place look different to you?"

"Of course it does. We were gone for months."

"No, Da, I mean..."

Billy laid his hand on Noah's shoulder. "Son, everything is okay. We're home and that's all that matters," he said. "Go check on your tent and fix things up."

"Yes Da," he responded, a frown on his face. He knew there was something different about this place, but he couldn't quite put his finger on it. Until he figured it out, his family wasn't going to believe him.

Noah pulled the tarp on the tent to the side, stepping into his much missed home. It was just like he had left it, destroyed. Some of his experiments were scattered on the floor, some of them retrievable, others totaled. With a sigh, he flipped on a lamp, hoping it would still be working. It lit up the front of the room after flickering a few times.

He got to work cleaning up the floor, throwing the trashed items into a garbage bag and placing the viable ones on his tabletop. He worked his way to the back until he came to his bed. The blankets were crumpled throughout making a big blob. When he ripped back the covers, he screamed.

"AHH!" he shouted.

The figure woke up from their apparent nap and turned to Noah with wide eyes.

"AHH!" the person screamed back.