Meeting Aella again.

Once everyone was ready, you choose some weapons to offer with the other gifts. A longsword, a short sword, and some knives. Feeling ready, your group with the three dinos started the walk toward the village, with Copper saddled up so anyone could take a break from walking if they wanted. By the time you'd reached the forest the only two who had ridden Copper were Dawn and Jane. You chuckled knowing it wasn't because they were tired from walking, but rather just really enjoyed riding Copper. You couldn't blame them of course, and made a mental note to take Copper out for a ride soon.

Making your way through the forest there was a moment that kind of made you think for a moment. You started watching the group making their way through the various obstacles a forest naturally has. Fallen trees, brush, branches that can trip you up, and so on. What you noticed was the girls didn't seem to have much trouble at all navigating these obstacles. It wasn't exact evidence that you'd win every fight your group got in to, but it certainly gave you a lot of hope that they were becoming very capable individuals who you'd be able to trust having at your side in a fight. You are about to make a comment on it when you hear a familiar voice call to you.

"I thought you might come this way" Aella loudly proclaims stepping out from behind a tree.

"Aella, it is good to see you again" you reply smiling "let me introduce you to everyone. This is Annabel, Dawn, Nadine, Yvette, Jane, and Bruce. You have already met Copper and Lysandra of course" you say pointing out each individual.

"Everyone, this is Aella, daughter of Lira" you say gesturing at Aella. Everyone waves or nods to Aella who bows slightly in return.

"I look forward to celebrating with you all tonight. For now, let me guide you to our village as our guests" she says pointing the way towards her village.

"Of course, and thank you again for inviting us. We have all been looking forward to the celebration. On that topic, what exactly is the celebration about. You said it was your sister's coming of age ceremony, or something of that nature" you ask as the group starts following Aella.

"Yes, when a person lives to eighteen summers there is a celebration. Normally it is not more then gifts and well wishes from the village, and possibly a feast, but being the Queen's daughter it is a good chance for our people to have a bit more fun than normal" Aella states as she guides you around the forest.

"Not to offend, but what is the term for your people, or rather how do you refer to yourselves as a group" you ask her.

"We are Amazons" she replies simply. Not that she is looking at you, but you nod your head anyways as she confirmed what you'd been assuming. Another thing your old world and this world share. Making you wonder more and more about the nature of these connections between the two worlds.

"So how many people live in your village" you ask.

"We have around two hundred people in our village, and few dozen or so more living in other areas of the Green on their own" she replies.

"The Green" you ask.

"It is what we have named our home, or more specifically the forest we live in" she replies.

"Ahh that makes sense. A fitting name for a forest. I would imagine the Green is an important aspect of your culture then" you ask rhetorically.

"Living in unison with the Green is our way of life. It protects us and we protect it in return. If you are wondering if we sacrifice animals to appease some spirit of the forest then the answer is no" she says smirking at you "but we do teach our young how to respect and live within the Green" she adds.

"Do you occasionally have guests like us" you ask curious about how many people travel this far south.

"We have lived in isolation for generations. You will be the first we have allowed into our village in centuries. Outsiders tend to...complicate things" she responds.

"Not to be blunt, but why are you letting us in then" you ask. Aella stops and looks at Lysandra for a moment before continuing on.

"That is a question best answered by my mother" she answers. All her answer gives you is a sense of resignation that this is related to a prophecy of some sort, but you can't understand why Lysandra would be part of it. For now you decide not to press the topic. Hopefully whatever Lysandra represents to them will be revealed soon. Looking to the others you can tell they are thinking similar thoughts. The remainder of the trip is mostly silent with Aella occasionally pointing out an interesting tree or animal. One tree she points out is particularly interesting. It reminds you of the Redwoods from your old world as it is very tall and wide.

"We call it steel wood. Despite the name it is not actually as strong as steel, but it almost is. The trees themselves are rare and hard to grow, so we do not cut them down to harvest, but when their branches fall we are quick to harvest them. Depending on the size and shape of the branch we can make various things from it, and it is also very resistant to fire. If a fire were to spread through this forest the only trees left would be these steel wood trees" she says giving the tree a gentle pat. As if the tree was an old friend to her.

"Why are they so hard to grow" you ask.

"Several reasons. Firstly they only produce seeds about once every ten years, and on top of that they only produce a few seeds. Even a big beautiful tree like this one will only have five or fewer seeds. Another reason is that they are difficult to grow and require a lot of care and attention, and grow very very slowly. In fact we have people in the village whose job is strictly to go around the Green and care for them. It is a task that is highly respected to us" she explains. "We should continue on though. I know my mother is excited to meet you and would be cross with me if I delayed your arrival too long" she smirks.

It isn't too long after the steel wood tree when Aella points ahead. Before you is a wall of trees that have been grown together. You recognize the type of tree immediately. They are not as tall and wide as the previous one Aella showed you, but they are definitely the steel wood trees. As you get closer you note that there are no gaps between each tree, making the wall of trees at least fifty feet high. You know you wouldn't be able to defend from on top of the walls, but good luck getting in. There is a single gate you see, also grown into the wall of trees, and it is equally impressive. Each door is roughly twenty feet high and the width of each door has to be at least fifteen feet. The doors are open swung inward, but you can still see the thickness of each door is probably five feet. With proper bracing you can't imagine anyone would be able to force their way in.

"Welcome to our home everyone" Aella says as you start walking through the gates. Your jaw drops as you realize the scale of what they have done here. It was hard to see from the outside just how big of an area they have walled off, but you cannot even see the opposite wall. Partly due to there being forest inside the wall, but also because of the distance. Various roads lead to a variety of buildings which you assume are homes and tradecraft buildings, but looking up you can see bridges spanning from tree to tree where even more buildings have been constructed.

"Aella, this...this is truly a beautiful home your people have built. I had no expectations in what you were going to show us today, but I'm very impressed so far" you say as you swivel your head around trying to take it all in. Moving your attention to the people around you, you notice your group is getting a lot of stares yourselves. The people themselves are a mixture of obviously very tall and strong women, but also men and children. The children and men appear to be no different then any other place, and you chastise yourself a little having assumed there would be no or few men. Aella beckons you to follow, and a group of children quickly fall in to walk parallel with your group. They whisper and laugh to themselves. One little girl, who looks to be maybe eight or so, can't stop looking at you and Lysandra. You pause the group for a moment and wave her over. She seems a little reluctant at first, and looks to Aella for permission. Aella gently smiles and nods her head. The little girl quickly skips over to you.

"Hello little one. My name is John Doe, what is your name" you ask her as you kneel down to her level.

"Ainia...sir, daughter of Lira" she responds a little shyly. You look up at Aella.

"My youngest sister" Aella grins. You return your attention to Ainia.

"No need to be formal Ainia. It is a pleasure to meet you. I noticed you were interested in Lysandra here" you say pointing at Lysandra "would you like to meet her? I promise she is very friendly" you tell her. Ainia gets a little wide eyed at first, but excitedly starts nodding her head. Aella tilts her head as she watches you guide Ainia to Lysandra who lowers her head down to meet Ainia.

"Ainia, this is Lysandra. Lysandra, this is Ainia who would very much like to give your chin some scratches" you say introducing the two. Lysandra gives Ainia a quick sniff before darting her tongue out to to give Ainia a lick on her cheek. Ainia giggles at the affection and quickly starts giving Lysandra those chin scratches you'd mentioned. Lysandra's eyes close contentedly and you wave the other children over who waste no time to surround Lysandra's head. They don't take long to start scratching under her chin and petting her in general. Lysandra starts letting out a deep rumble of a purr at the attention. You hear Copper and Bruce each let out a jealous warble noise, so you beckon them over.

"Everyone, this is Copper and Bruce, and they are feeling a bit left out. I would bet they would also love some attention from all of you" you say smiling at them, and Copper lets out a friendly bark in agreement. It doesn't take long for the jumble of children to be running between each dino to give them pets and scratches. You stand back for a moment just watching the fun all of them are having, and Yvette steps beside you to grab your hand and lean her head against your shoulder as everyone watches. A few minutes later your group continues on with an escort of laughing and chattering children. Soon the smell of food hits you and you see a large building that reminds you of something you'd see in a Viking movie, with a big clearing in front of it like a courtyard. Surrounding the clearing are people cooking and setting up tables for the celebration. Aella guides your group to the front of the building.

"My mother awaits you inside" she says opening a large door to the building.