"So, just let me do the talking for now," Renna explained, and I nodded.
There wasn't much I had to say at this point; I was just trying to absorb everything. As far as I could tell, there weren't any men here, and I kept trying to reason out why that was.
"Yeah, I feel a bit at a loss for words now. I will just wait till I can talk to your village leaders," I said as we walked up to the village.
I could see women working in the fields, some washing clothes at the nearby river, and two walking like a couple. Two women loving each other wasn't strange, but a village of only that was.
"Renna, where did you find this one?" A taller, more muscular woman with sandy brown hair and a stern face asked, stepping in front of us.
"Back off, Cindy! I found her in the forest, and now I am taking her to see the council," Renna said, but Cindy narrowed her eyes.
For some reason, my body started to move, and my hand snapped out to grab the bigger woman by the wrist as she swung at Renna. I pulled the woman's arm out to the side and used my free hand to push on the back of her shoulder, slamming Cindy to the ground.
"I am not quite sure how you do things around here, but I am not impressed with your attitude or actions," I growled.
Just who did this woman think she was? She was just about to strike Renna without any warning.
"Who is this monster?!" Cindy screamed from the ground, and women started gathering around.
"If you act civilized, I will let you back up. You will be back on the ground again licking dirt if you try to strike me, do you understand?" I said, taking pressure off Cindy's shoulder.
I slowly got up and looked around, and all the women looked at me with shock, which was no surprise. What was strange was that none of them looked scared by my actions.
"Well, now this is interesting," an older woman said as she stepped out of the crowd with two much younger women following her.
"I am sorry, Elder Lily! I found this person in the forest!" Renna apologized, bowing her head to the lady.
"This is not her fault. Cindy, this woman I had put down, openly attacked Renna without provocation. She could not defend herself in time, so I took it upon myself to stop the fight before someone was seriously hurt," I explained, and Elder Lily nodded at me.
"This doesn't surprise me, but your strength does. If you don't mind, I would like to talk to you privately," Elder Lily requested, and I nodded.
"Sure, but I have one request," I told the old woman.
"And that is?"
"That Renna accompanies me. I have no memories other than waking up in the forest; she is the first person I met. I don't think this one over here," I said, pointing at Cindy, who scowled, "Is the type to let sleeping dogs lie. So it is a combination of my selfishness and concern for her personal safety," I explained, and Elder Lily nodded.
"I approve; let us go," Elder Lily said and began to turn, but Cindy didn't seem satisfied with the results.
"Are you not going to punish this person?!" Cindy yelled, and Elder Lily turned her gaze on Cindy, and it was ice cold; even I could feel the dislike.
"You are no longer the strongest in the village. I think you might learn to watch your tongue, or have you forgotten how you treated the rest of the people here so quickly?" Elder Lily asked, and Cindy flinched back.
All the women looked away from Cindy and started to walk away.
"Fine!" Cindy screamed and ran off to the forest.
I could hear some of the women talking about how this was better and calling out past grievances they had with her. I could see that this woman had been through a lot, but I didn't want the big one to just leave.
While this place seemed nice, I assumed there would be more world to explore. I would also like to figure out why I was here since it didn't seem like I belonged.
On top of everything, everyone was calling me a woman, which was incorrect.
I signed, and Renna walked up beside me.
"I hope she is okay," Renna said from beside me, and I looked over at her in surprise as we started to follow the Elder.
Renna was the last person I would expect to feel sorry for someone who had clearly meant to hurt them. Though, maybe there was more to the story. Renna seemed like an odd duck compared to the others I had seen.
"I will talk to her after I am done here, but I am curious. Why do you care? Is she related to you?" I asked as we approached one of the larger tents.
"Really? I think she might listen to someone stronger than her. Cindy wasn't always like this, but her partner left a few months back to see the world. Since then, she has been angry, but she won't listen to even Lily," Renna explained, and I nodded.
"You are a very kind person. The rest of your people quickly turned her away, but you acted like a true friend, even though you could have been seriously hurt. I can respect that, but it's not something I can sit by and watch it happen. I will go see her after this; now, let's get inside," I explained, pulling back the flap to let Renna in.
She stood and waited for me to enter, but I held it for her. Finally, I waved for her to move, and she nearly jumped forward. What was up with these people?
"Thank you. Normally people don't do things like that," Renna explained, and I nodded as I followed her behind.