It took me a few more "days", just to arrive at my location, but the sight was really extraordinary. The place looked like a part of Great Forest, although differed in plants. There were some tall weird looking trees, as if they had faces. Besides that, grass and shrubs were present everywhere. I could also see Atols running around. These were small Atols, and probably were playing some kind of game. 'This place… It feels so serene. No one would guess that, this is still the North' I thought.
As I approached the area, and a few of the older Atols, arrived in front of me. One of them asked "Hello Human, do you have a specific reason for your visit?". I nodded my head, and said "Yes, the Atol called Apam invited me to come here, and visit. I hope you don't mind". The leading Atol shook his head, and said "No, not at all. We know Apam, and he also told us about you. You helped him out, while not asking for anything in return. This alone shows, that you are a good person. Follow me friend, I will take you to Apam". I nodded my head, and followed after the Atols.
As we walked through the forest, the leading Atol asked "I assume that, this is your first visit here?". I nodded my head, and said "Yes, I've never been here. This place is… different. Compared to the rest of the North, it's like a paradise. Although, I saw something similar at the Vulture Cliffs". The Atols became visibly angry, and the leader asked "Why did you visit Avians?". I said "Don't worry, they hate me now. I killed of a lot of them. I'm also aware that you hate them. I wonder myself, why you hate them so much?". The Atols visibly calmed down, when their heard me say that. The leader said "Sorry, we misjudged you. You are a friend after all! Not only did you help Apam, you also killed those Avian bastards!".
He then continued "I will tell you, why we hate them so much. As you already said, Vulture Cliffs have something similar to what we have here. The reason is simple, they stole all of that from us! If not for their ability to fly, and the distance between us, we would already go and kill them off!". I nodded, and said "Now I know, why they had so much greenery over there. I also wondered, how they managed to do it, but it seems your people are the reason. That King of Avians even dared to say, that they managed to find a way, to grow these plants in the North. No wonder they betrayed me".
The Atol nodded, and said "Never trust Avians. Our ancestors did that, and they stole everything! These bastards will act nicely, but underneath, they are rotten to the core". I then asked a question "So, how do you call this place?". The Atol replied "We call it Apium, we don't have cities or villages like others. This whole place is our home. You will find Atols everywhere here. Besides that, we make our houses on top of trees. We respect the nature, so we don't like to harm it. We mostly use outside materials to build our houses, like the rotten trees outside of Apium, or if we really have to, we use the materials from Apium".
I nodded my head, and asked "What about the money? Do you also use the Hals, as your currency?". He nodded, and said "Yes, we accept Hals, as we also travel to other areas. Therefore Hals are useful to us as well, but you can also pay us by working, or helping us out, which you already did". He then stopped, and pointed at a tree. He said "Apam lives over there, let me check if he is inside". I nodded, and the Atol climbed the tree quickly, then check if Apam was inside. The house was made from wood, and it actually looked amazing. It was one storey, but circled around the whole tree, as if the tree grew with that house. It was so well incorporated. The planks had very good finish, and nothing was roting. 'The Atols have some skilled craftsmen, to be able to build such houses' I thought. I myself built a small house in the past. It wasn't as refined and well created as these, yet I had to put in a lot of effort to create it. I could imagine the amount of work, the Atols had to put in, just to create one house.
The leading Atol returned shortly with Apam. Apam, which I met at the Arena, looked at me and asked "Do I know you?". The others turned almost hostile, with intention to attack me. I raised my hand, and said "Don't get all excited. He doesn't recognise me, because I had a mask on". I took out my mask from the bag, and placed in on my face. Apam immediately exclaimed "Oh! It really is you! I didn't recognise you without that mask". I took the mask off, and threw it inside my bag. I then said "Of course, you never saw my face, so you couldn't recognise me". The other Atols calmed down, and smiles appeared on their faces again.
'It seems they really hate liars, or people who try to deceive them' I thought. The Atol leading us till here, said "I'm sorry, we doubted you again, but we really don't like people who try to deceive us. You are, who you claim to be, and so we shall no longer judge you like that". I replied "Don't worry, It's better to be protective, than suffer later". He nodded, and said "Thank you, for your understanding. Apam will show you around, and if you want to stay, he will show you a guest house. You don't have to pay us anything for a place to sleep, after all, you did help us".
The other Atols left, while only me and Apam were left standing. Apam asked "You want me to show you around?". I nodded, and said "Sure". We went on a tour, around the Apium. Apam explained a few things to me, on our way. "There are a few rules, that you need to abide by, when you are here. Please don't attack anyone. We allow duels, if both opponents agree to that, but attacking someone without their consent, is not allowed. We are a one big family here, so we take care of each other".
I nodded, and said "I didn't come here to fight with you guys. Therefore, I have no problem with that rule". He nodded, and continued "As you already know, we respect the nature. So don't go around destroying it". I nodded, and asked "Do you have any herbs here, that I can collect?". Apam asked "Herbs?". I said "Yea, plants that can help you regenerate faster, and so on". He realised what I was talking about, and replied "Ah that! Yes, we have loads of those things. Picking one or two will not be a problem, but if you want more, you will have to give back to the nature". I was a bit confused, and asked "How can I return something, to the nature?".
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He laughed, and said "Plant more plants! If you plant new plants, and take the old ones, this will keep a balance. That is what the Atols, who know how to process these plants do". I nodded, and asked "Can you introduce me to some of those Atols? I would like to learn more". Apam nodded his head, and said "Of course. Do you want to go now, or do you want to see the rest of Apium?". I replied "Show me the rest of your land. I'm interested what else you have in here". He nodded his head, and the tour resumed.
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