I met up with Cītlalli and Coyotl at the entrance to the house. Coyotl had wooden planks tied together on his back. It seems it would take a whole army to carry all that. He even had some more being dragged by him on the floor. I told him that there were stashes of materials near the house and in the cave. Both of which by themselves, were more than enough to build a base. And based on my structure. We needed only few of them. But Coyotl laughed and said it was just in case. And the fact that he already bought it. The gates to the house were operated by one man with a series of pulleys and levers. With a light signal, the massive gate opened wide and we were off. Cītlalli led the way after I told her of the specific spot the tlatoani mentioned to meet at. We didn't bring any torches or a candle as to prevent any enemy from spotting us. But thanks to Cītlalli's skill  After a few minutes of silence. We finally met with the him. Behind the tlatoani was a wide gap of the reddish brown mud. So wide that it was half as wide as our house. He grabbed tiles attached to one another and carried them across the muddy terrain. It seemed like an hour or two and he was back. He placed it on the other side one tile short. And walked straight back to the house. Ignoring us. Yet another stern lesson from him. We then walked over the laid out path. The mud began to whistle on each of our steps. And on the last one, we jumped. A loud howl came after each of it. Cītlalli stopped. She then looked up and then pointed to the West of North. She said that the house we are to scout is there. She then moved her hand a few degrees to the right. The cave was at that direction. We stayed where we were to ponder if we should go to the base of the enemy first or if we could go ahead with my plan. Cītlalli mentioned that we wouldn't need to get insight on the base if we were to destroy it. Coyotl added that if there were any precautions taken if the river were to ever flood, then that should be taken into priority. I also added that it would take some time for the setup. After some time, we decided we were to scout the base for future reference and see if there were anything that can sabotage the sabotage. Double sabotage. We then ran towards the house with Cītlalli in the front.

The house itself was located near the mountain that held the cave. If we were to divert the river that comes from the mouth of the cave, it would fall directly at them. We remained on the peak of the mountain. Overlooking the house. Such a climb was long and painful. It seemed I was the only one heaving while my friends hid theirs well. Especially Coyotl despite the heavy materials he carried  by his own. The house itself had no roof and if there ever was, it was in rubble. The walls have fallen with the glass openings like our house are all shattered with shards sticking out. The enemies base on that house looks like a parasite on its back. All of their structures made entirely of wood. We looked outside and there were in fact precautions if the river flooded. If we were to damage it without anyone noticing, we could achieve what we set out. Me and my friends can finally rest for a week if we're lucky. I could continue work on the house next to my village. So much stuff I began to overwhelm myself with excitement. I look to my friends and they had the same thought though their idea of rest or what they will do may be different. Coyotl maybe eating till the sun falls. Cītlalli could be another scheme for something. And the rest of our fellow villagers can rest easy. Coyotl hid his stuff at the top of the mountain. The  we quietly made our way down the mountain. Not again. As I was heaving once again at the foot of the mountain. We noticed how high up the walls were. It seems that the floor we were looking on to was not the ground floor. Cītlalli went behind one of the structures. She then appeared on top of the wall itself. It felt as if seconds has passed when she went behind that wall. She dropped a rope to us. All of the rope began to fall when all of the rope was on the ground. We stared at that rope for way longer than the time it took Cītlalli to climb up. She went down and grabbed an end of the rope. Climbed back up again. And tied it to a post. After we climbed up the rope, we placed it back and walked as quietly as possible. We hid behind boxes, snuff out many torches, and gathered as much Intel as possible. We realized that their barracks was at the other side of camp. Cītlalli went ahead while me and Coyotl looked for the sleeping quarters or if any civilian lived here. After mapping out the whole area. Confirmed there were no civilians. As we rushed to the outside of that house, two guards appeared right in front of us. We had ducked behind another box. We peaked and they were carrying weapons with full armour on. Coyotl nodded at me and sneaked around the box to get behind them. I realized that he did not carry any weapons on him. He didn't even had full armour on but a black leather tunic. Weird. I supposed he wanted me to handle them while I distracted them. I quickly got up to pounce on them like the jaguar on its prey and... Coyotl was carrying both of them by their backs, fully unconscious. I noticed they had a dent on their helmets. Despite them still holding it, I thought that he may have used their own weapons against them. We then continued to the sleeping quarters and finish the mapping. I had travelled to only parts of it so we needed more time to map out the area. We had hoped it to be similar to our own house but it was much larger. It had a circular corners within a square shape. The walls were high, suggesting that there were more floors. An entrance to a structure beneath the building was also spotted. It seemed my plan was too good to be true. But I noticed the openings I mentioned to my tlatoani. It seems my plan would work if I wanted to give them a decorative piece. We made it to where we came up the wall. Attached the rope. And climbed down. It seems the first time I climbed up the wall, I did not noticed how high up it was. I think to myself I was too distracted. I wanted it to be a quick problem. Have it be done before sunrise. But I hoped too much. As I climbed off the rope, I noticed that Cītlalli was damaging the structures for floods. She was cutting parts of it on the bottom so no one on top of the walls would notice. She broke wood by wood and lazily placed it on top of each other. It then seemed it was never broken. She looked at me and smiled. We might need to add a ramp to your plan. If we can divert the river into the opening from the mountain. We can flood the whole thing in one go. I looked at her with astonishment. She joked that I may not be so good in this and laughed. Me and Coyotl then joined in on the laughter and joined her in breaking the sabotage to the sabotage. After a while, a group of men ran into the house. A few moments go by. And a whole army ran out. We watched in horror that while we planned to scout at the dead of night. They planned to attack. It was not in our rules to attack before the day of war. But as I am a living example of ignoring those rules. Our village maybe in trouble. We rushed up the mountain. Tailing that army. I didn't catched my breath. Felt tired. Or even blinked. I focused all of my strength at that army. When we reached the top of the mountain. The whole army began to turn right for us. We all stood still. Did they spot us? We were distances away. Did one of the guards caught sight of us? Was it the items left by Coyotl that gave us away? We did not know. Before I knew it Coyotl and I flew right to the bush. Carried by Cītlalli. As we hid in that strangely large bush. The whole army passed right by us. Large sounds of marching came right by us. Deafening us. Choking us from the dirt they scattered with their footsteps. We held our breaths. Silently, we peaked out of that large bush. And realized the cave entrance was right behind us. We were on the river itself. Soaking wet. But there was a bush floating on it? Standing completely still? We payed no mind and walked back to camp. It would take them a while to noticed the damage we've done. With enough information, we can formulate a plan with the others back home. Even though my original plan would have to wait. Me and my friends were just glad to be alive. But then we heard a loud scream echoing from the cave. It sounded deep and in pain. I stared in that cave, hoping I misheard it but there it was again. Louder. It sounded like it was speaking something. I couldn't understand it, it could be because of the echoing. I wasn't the only one staring as Cītlalli and Coyotl looked on to that cave as well. We looked at each other. For a brief moment, they looked at me with fear. Not because of the sound, not because of the army in there. But because they knew I was about to say something. Before I could speak, Coyotl said "Quetzal, we didn't want you to come with us because you didn't have to prove to us anything. We have to go back." I looked at him with sincerity. I was about to say yes. Nod. Run away as fast as we could. Back to base. Back to home and regroup with our friends. But before anyone knew it. I ran to that cave. I heard a loud groan. It could've been Cītlalli or Coyotl. But both of them were hard on my tail. We were all soaking wet, cold, scared out of our minds. And we were rushing to inside that large open cave. A village could have made that sound. They could be in trouble. Inside that cave could have been a weapon of some sort that can attack our village. It could've been anything. What we only knew, is if we can put a stop to this.

We sneaked behind stalagmites, rocks, and even small holes. Despite that, we were in a hurry. We had to rush and help them. As we headed deeper and deeper. The scream was getting louder. We were close to becoming deaf. We closed our ears and continued. We noticed not one army was held back to guard the opening. It seems it was all hands on deck. As we finally reached that army. We were once again over the enemy. We looked down to that hole of the cave. It was well lit. There were houses in that hole. Farmlands, livestock, beds, homes. It seemed that this was their village. But not one civilian was there. Nor where there any rushing out. It seemed they were expanding their village. And this was a new part of it. I continued to look around. Marvelling the structures and how they mingled with the cave. I could live here. Heck, I want to live in a place like this. The setting and buildings complemented each other. Not one thing was out of place. I realized they placed more effort to this place than their own defenses. It felt homey. It felt warm despite of how wet and cold I was. Cītlalli on the other hand, seemed drier than all of us though. Then I noticed, Coyotl and her were staring. They had this horrified look to them. Much more than when we were outside. I looked where they were staring. Beyond the houses, beyond the whole village. Deeper on the cave was a hole, not quite as large as the opening on the entrance. But it seemed way larger when I noticed what was in there. I saw the whole army as tiny little specs. Rumbling around like ants. They were circling around this thing. I couldn't make out a shape as I wondered what that structure was. It was strangely humanoid. It was strangely... It was a GIANT. It was a GIANT HUMAN. It looked like it can grab a full grown man in it's hand. It made all of the armies around it like dolls. It was wearing strange clothing. A long sleeved shirt with plumes on its collars. The color of those feathers resembled our sacred bird. It was brown and leathery. But how many animal hides would it have taken to make that. It had an opening, revealing another shirt. It wore a cloth shirt, much like the material from my own ichcahuipilli though it didn't have the same crotched patterns. It was also color white. It wore short pants. Same material as what I'm wearing now, they were maong pants. But a darker brown as well. It's hair was long and much like my own cut. It was a mohawk. But it was colored. Colored like the plumes on her long sleeved shirt. They had it tied down. There I noticed that the large army was down to just a few men. They were frantically keeping the beast in check. With each struggle from the beast, the ropes that tied it down were ripped. But with each rope broken, the few who survived replaced them with ten more. Again and again. The structures they had lying around were broken down for parts. It seemed they were planning to encase the beast in a tomb. Strong enough to encase it. But that plan was only met halfway. They were so busy with that giant that the few there focused all their strength on it. And the giant started to slow down. By the looks of it, it too was getting tired. It seemed that the tomb would not be needed. Entranced by what I saw, I never noticed that it was speaking. From all of the loud shouts, the reverberations from the walls. I hadn't noticed until we were close enough. But it was saying something. It was speaking the same language from the house of wooden mountains!! From all of what I read in that place. All of the words, came from that same language. It was terrifying. Horrific. What if this beast was thousands of years old. What if it were a god of some sort? I focused all I could in translating what it was saying. There I realized it was asking for help. It was asking why they were doing this? It only came to check on something. Why did they attack them? It came in peace? It mentioned its own name. Huitzipulli. It seemed it didn't want to fight. But in the state it was in, it was no wonder its frantic. He must have been surprised when they got the drop on him. That such tiny people could put maneuver and capture him. I do not know who this beast is or if he wants peace. All I could think of at the moment was... People. There were people behind us.