I don’t think I’ve had such a hectic day in quite some time like how it was today. The previous night once I returned back to Luva I’d informed the girls of the orphanage I’d managed to find for them, receiving mixed emotions of course. Although I couldn’t blame them, it had to be hard to find everything but your life has been stripped from you.

That had been the night before and the second I’d gotten up this morning there hadn’t been a moments rest. After making sure that all of the girls had at least eaten something for breakfast, there had then been the fun task of getting them all into something resembling order.

In all honesty I doubt it would have been done in the time it had taken if Odeta wasn’t around to help me find all of the girls. At least I didn’t have to worry about where Maria was throughout the whole time, considering that the youngest seemed to have been permanently attached to my leg the whole time. I quickly found that it makes it difficult to walk when you’ve got the extra weight of a child hanging off one of your legs.

Because of that though Maria decided that she wanted to be the last one through before myself, claiming that she wanted to be like Odeta and help me out with getting the others to Saratov. I allowed her of course, saying that she could have the most important job of all which was to help me make sure that everyone got through alright. So after I made sure that everyone was ready, I’d thanked the settlers in Luza for allowing us to stay before opening up the portal through my kesa which was attached to the small parklands near the orphanage.

After that it had been just the long task of each girl making their way through the portal. Odeta and a few of the older girls went through first of course, they were the ones I’d asked to take care of the others until I finally made it through the portal. After that it had just been a matter of time before eventually it had been just Maria and myself left behind. So after prying Maria off of my leg long enough to go through my kesa, I went through myself and left the people of Luza to their peace.

It took a few more hours before I finally managed to get all of the girls safely to the orphanage. Both Kseniya and her mother Larissa seemed a little overwhelmed with the number of girls which they found herself with. I suppose that the numbers just don’t seem realistic until you see it in person.

They got over their surprise quickly though and went to work with getting all of the girls settled as be as possible into their new home and it seemed that the girls were accepting the orphanage as their own. I know it will take some time for them all to grow use to their new environment but I hold no doubt that they’ll all do their best to help out.

With such a stable place for the girls to live I felt as though I could relax a little, knowing that whoever else I managed to save from this war would also have a place which they would find safe until this entire mess was over and done with. Tomorrow though I’ll have to get back to work but tonight, I think I’ll just allow myself to rest.

I moved southwards through the different regions over the past three days, trying to see if there was any place I could find which would suit the girl’s needs. The smaller towns I’ve already decided against considering there just isn’t enough food and supplies to support the extra numbers.

After looking around the Ufa, Orenburg and the Samara regions I found that they were simply too far away from the front lines for my stamina to handle such teleportation lengths, it would just take up too much chi even despite the safety those regions would give the girls. It was a bit of a pity since they were perfect locations but I’ll keep them in mind though if the war gets any worse.

Yesterday I checked through Kazan before moving further south through Penza, Saratov and the finally the Volgograd regions. From what I could see though, Kazan city had turned into more of a construction and military zone. Most of Russia’s industrial plants and factories seemed to have been evacuated to the Kazan region which made it more of a centre for building tanks and plans for the war. Not exactly the kind of place I’d want to leave the girls in.

Penza was looking like a good possibility though and of course was far enough away from the front lines to pose as a safe enough location to send them but after visiting Saratov afterwards I found my mind had changed drastically. They were both good cities and held great potential, but Saratov had the advantage of being close to the border of Kazakhstan. I didn’t want to think in such a direction, believing of the possibilities that the Nazi army could invade so deeply into Russia to pose these inner cities a threat, but if that ever happened Saratov would be easier to escape from than Penza.

I happened upon a woman while I was scoping out Saratov, she was buying vegetables in the market. Kseniya her name was. She was buying food for her mother and herself to last them the next couple of days when I bumped into her, quite literally. We got to speaking about life and the war and she told me about how her father and two brothers had been drafted into the army. There was a sense of loss within her voice but Kseniya hid it well from most but then again, most families in Russia… most families in every country were feeling a similar feeling of loss because of this war.

She asked me what I was doing in Saratov, not that I could blame her since without any sense of disguise there’s no way I could pass off as Russian or anything other than Asian to be honest. I couldn’t lie about what I was doing there, of course I didn’t inform her of the whole truth either, just about how I was looking for a suitable and safe home that I could find for a number of orphans. Which was all true, to a degree all the girls would be considered orphans, refugee’s of sorts and I wouldn’t even know where to begin in order to look for their families… if they were still alive.

We talked about the girls for what seemed like hours, even despite the fact that some of them I’ve only known for a few days. There were others I’ve known longer than that and I couldn’t help but talk about just how well they were coping and supporting each other during the war, or the fact of how fond of them I’d grown since I rescued the first few. I must have said something she liked though because the next moment Kseniya said that there was no option but to bring them back to her place and it shocked me at first. Here I was attempting to find a church, orphanage, something to safely take the girls to and an offer was so easily dropped into my lap.

At first I couldn’t agree to it; that it would be an imposition on herself and her mother but even as those reasons slipped past my lips I saw the firmed resolved within Kseniya’s eyes. I think that with the sudden loss of her father and brothers to the war, she felt as though she needed to do something herself but until now had no clue as to what.

They lived on Chekhova Street, a quiet area of the city and found it was peaceful enough to believe that there wasn’t even a war going on at the moment. The house which Kseniya lived in with her mother was larger than what I was expecting. A two storey place with five bedrooms, obviously no where near large enough to be a home for all of the orphans back in Luza but after discussing things with her mother, Larissa, I finally had my answer.

Three doors down from their house was an empty orphanage, the place had been abandoned a few years before the war broke out back in 1939. The previous owners too old and sick to take care of the orphans any longer, that they had no choice but to close it down. Larissa seemed hopeful that they’d be able to reopen the building and said she’d speak with the others in the neighbourhood to see if they were interested in helping out.

That had been yesterday and after my visit back to Saratov today; I couldn’t help but sigh in relief when it seemed that Kseniya and her mother had been able to pull it off. There would be a lot of work and cleaning to do, but I held no doubt that once the girls were told of their new home, they’d be more than willing to help out. Of course I promised that I’d bring around supplies to help them out as often as possible, knowing that they’d be in need of it as more refugee’s were found. But the main thing though was that there was finally a stable home for the girls to live and one which I’d be able to bring others back to.

Tomorrow though I’ll make a link to that small park just a few minutes walk from Chekhova Street and allow the oldest girls to pass through first and wait for us on the other side. Granted it would seem a little odd to bring such a large group of people to one location at the same time so it would probably be best if I take them personally in smaller groups of no more than ten. It will take some time but at least we wouldn’t be drawing too much attention to ourselves, not that most people remaining in the area didn’t know that the orphanage was reopening, that much would have been common knowledge. I guess I’m just too paranoid in drawing any attention to myself or the girls since it would mean too many questions which had answers I honestly didn’t want to give.

For now though I need to get some rest, I’ve got a busy day tomorrow.

There’s one from last night which has been a huge help, considering the fact that I don’t understand a word of Polish and my German leaves much to be desired for. Odeta her name was, Polish girl from memory and one which came from a family of linguists if my understanding was correct. With what knowledge of Russian Odeta had the seventeen year old seems to have become more of a parental figure for the younger girls, taking care of them and becoming a kind of translator between the other refugees and townspeople.

My German could only take me so far and the majority of girls didn’t speak a word of Russian, none of course spoke Chinese so that was of no help either. It kind of left me feeling a little on the useless side when it came to trying to help them in Luza. At least I was still able to get the younger ones to smile with my abilities regardless on my lack of verbal communication skills.

The youngest girl there, Maria, wouldn’t leave my side (or my leg) after I transformed into a more childish version of myself. The astonishment upon her face made my poor attempts to lighten a grim situation all the worth while… granted after that they don’t call me anything else but ‘nagle’ each time they see me, a name which rapidly spread throughout the settlement. It doesn’t bother me though being called ‘short’ by everyone and I even find myself laughing at the girls expressions each time I transform into my more childish version in response. It’s nice to hear their laughter and know that I was actually making a difference no matter how small it was.

It also made things easier later on when I had to leave Luza in order to find a more secure location to take the girls. In all honesty I didn’t want to leave them so quickly after bringing them deep into what was supposed to be ‘enemy’ territory but there was no other choice. Knowing that Odeta was there to help out though; made me feel more comfortable in heading out for the day in search of somewhere easier to take them. She managed to explain it to them enough to stop Maria from clinging to my leg long enough so I could leave. Of course the compromise was that Maria got to wear my kasa until I returned but it was more than a fair trade for my leg being returned to me. She did look cute though with the oversized hat sitting on top of her head. I felt terrible leaving her behind but I couldn’t very well take her with me and it did gave me a quick connection back to Luza if the need called for it.

It was an image I kept in mind as I travelled further north in the Kirov Oblast region but it seemed the further I travelled north the less desirable the towns and cities looked. Most of the region was housing the Gulag prison camps, the conditions and cities they lived within definitely not ones I wanted to put my girls into, they’d already been through too much to live in such harsh conditions. That and the colder climate would be difficult for them to get use to but that could just be making excuses to find somewhere else in all honesty.

I checked all throughout possible locations though, just in the odd chance one sparked my interest.

After visiting Kotlas, Vorkuta, Salekhard and a number of other possibilities though it was quickly becoming obvious that north was not the answer. None of them seemed good enough in my own opinion, I guess almost anywhere was better than where I found them but I couldn’t just dump them off somewhere without feeling guilty for abandoning them in a place where they’d be worse off than remaining in Luza.

I know I shouldn’t allow myself to grow attached to any of them but it’s difficult not to when they’re such wonderful kids, something which heavily sways my decision upon a location I’m finding. I’m just hoping that eventually I’m able to find a city or town which can safely take them in.

That will have to wait until tomorrow though, I spent the better part of today searching to the north then of course spending the rest trying to barter extra amounts of food to take back with me. Fortunately though I was able to obtain a small number of wheat bags in exchange for helping the families left behind to tend the farms as their loved ones joined the army. It left me though with no time to consider searching since it night was falling but at least the extra wheat should give me a few more days to keep the girls safely in Luza.

Where else to search though?

Moving anywhere into Siberia was out of the question since it was far too much of a distance to travel each day and would take up far too much energy I could put to use elsewhere. Which left the more southern regions of the Kirov Oblast area and below; they were still generally untouched by the war which was a positive sign.

The decision has to be made soon though. I can only spare another two days, three maximum to finding another place to stay before I should head out again. Odeta, Maria and the others are safe for the time being and there were so many others out there which needed help that I couldn’t afford to dedicate any longer than that on my search.

The answer had to lie in the south though unless I take them over the border to Kazakhstan but that’s only something I’ll consider as a last resort.

I managed to rescue another nine girls tonight from just past the German front lines, bringing the total to fifty four. It was fortunate that the Germans were too focused on taking Crimea and the eleventh army had just moved out of concerntation camp the day before. There was only a small window of opportunity I had to pull this off, but there had been no other choice, I couldn’t just sit by and do nothing.

Nine out of the dozens of young girls were all that I could manage to save tonight before my attempt had to be abandoned. I hadn’t anticipated that the German guards would make their rounds earlier after the eleventh army disembarked, but it seemed that with the sudden drop in numbers the procedures surrounding the concentration camp became stricter. Something I should keep in mind next time.

I barely made it out of the small dorm room before the night guard entered; fortunately just missing how I’d managed to rescue this small amount. That was at least one small comfort I had, that I’d been able to slip in and out of different concentration camps unnoticed and rescue the few souls which I could.

It just wasn’t enough, no where near enough, but if I was going to be of any use to anybody, I couldn’t let them know about the certain abilities I had. Not that they could technically do anything to stop me but I’d hate to think what would happen to those girls... to all those innocents stuck in this war if either side found out that their security was so easily gotten past.

That was something best not thought about, although who would seriously believe that people could just vanish into thin air if he ever were caught in the act? It was one small consolation, one though that was best left for as long as possible.

Luza was the only location I could find which could accommodate those I’d managed to rescue from war. It wasn’t much, just a settlement along the railway station on the Luza Rive situated inside the Kirov Oblast region. The settlement consisted mainly of labour men and their families who worked the sawmill, preparing the wood for later work on the railroad tracks.

There wasn’t much here other than that, a few homes and buildings which houses the food storage inside and of course the railroad which connected the settlement to the rest of Russia. It was the only place I could find that didn’t have any Gulag prison camps to worry over and was small enough to remain unnoticed, forgotten; I guess that was one good thing about this being a settlement and not a town.

Of course it took a little bit of effort to get the people here to accept who I brought in but the main concern was providing enough food to support the extra mouths. Fortunately though I was able to work out a deal the locals that those I managed to save could stay here until a more permanent location can be established.

There isn’t much time though, the war was only getting worse and there were so many who needed help... too many that needed it. Tonight though it wasn’t like there was I could do, I used up too much of my chi to do much of anything else and I’m tired.

I know one thing’s certain though; I needed to get stronger, increase my chi somehow so that I could do more during the day. Tomorrow hopefully I’ll be strong enough to visit a few of the surrounding towns, see if anyone there’s willing to take in a few refugees. Luza will only hide them for so long before the settlement can't support them any longer.