I kept following the trail until I hit my foot on something. I looked down to see a half decomposed skull. It had to be at least 20 years old. At first, I thought that it could have been a skull of one of the colonists, but it was too new. 

When I glanced at it again, I saw words scratched onto the skull. They were so faded that I had to squint to read them. 

"This is the skull of the last person who came here. He wasn't fun, so we killed him. I hope that you won't be like him, Aria."

I stared at the skull, too shocked and too scared to move. Finally, I mustered up all of my courage, and continued to follow the trail. It seemed like forever before the trail finally ended. I stepped into the clearing, amazed.

The remains of an old Croatan village decorated the large opening. No one had ever found this place out. I took our my notebook and began to sketch the village.

"Who are you?"

I snapped my head up when I heard a voice, and I found myself staring at a male, Croatan Indian, about my age.

"I-I'm Aria," I stuttered, putting my notebook away. "Who are you and what are you doing here?"

"My name is Black Sun," he replied. "I am visiting my ancestors' village. Why are you here?"

"I'm here to get information on the Roanoke colony," I replied.

"Are you going to destroy anything, just like that last guy?" Black Sun asked, his eyes narrowing.

"No! Of course not!" I replied. "I wouldn't even dare to think about harming this place!"

Black Sun's lips curled into a smile. I smiled back, but brought my attention back to the question I was going to ask him.

"Oh, have you seen a little girl?" I asked. "Her name is Virginia Dare."

"That's not possible," Black Sun replied, his smile dwindling. "She's been dead for hundreds of years. She was killed by a terrible illness when she was only five. I should know. She's my ancestor."

"Oh, so she must have been a ghost," I muttered to myself. Then, looking back at him. "And what about this village? What happened here?"

"The same illness that killed Virginia wiped out most of this village too. Only a few survived, one of them was Virginia's younger brother, Tahkeome. They abandoned this place and built a colony on the other side of this island. I can bring you there, if you'd like."

"I would love to!" I replied, my eyes shinning.

"Here, take my hand and I'll lead you," Black Sun said, holding out his hand.

I took his hand, and he began leading me to where his village was. I could barely hold in my excitement. He was a real-life Native American! And I was holding his hand! I could practically feel the ancient history of his people.

"What's your name again?" Black Sun asked, snapping me back into reality.

"Aria," I replied.

Black Sun nodded. "In my village, we give each other names for the meanings of our names. You will need a name when I introduce you to them. Something that suits you. How about, White Star?"

"Okay," I replied. "If your people call each other by their nicknames, what's your real name?"

"My real name is Tawa," Black Sun replied. "For the word 'sun'."

"What does 'Tahkeome' mean?" I asked.

"Why do you ask?" Black Sun replied.

"I'm just curious," I shrugged.

"First time I met a pale skinned who was interested in Native American history," Black Sun said, smiling. "It means 'little robe'. He was called that because his father gave him a robe when he was born."

"I would love to learn more about your people," I said.

"You will learn more when you get to my village," Black Sun said. "We're almost there. See?"

Black Sun removed some leaves, and my eyes widened. In front of me was a bustling village of Native Americans.

"Welcome to my home village of Furesca," Black Sun said.