3. Treehouse

Wading across the tranquil stream, we continued through the woods in silence, just enjoying the air and nature. There was no place like this where I lived. Maybe occasionally a plant or two, but essentially, just cold, hard buildings. The only place I had seen anything like this was in pictures and photographs of the past. Without those photos, I never would have known I was in a forest and what trees were.
"So... You really from the future?" Khanna asked, casually doing a couple front handsprings.
"It would seem so..." In all honesty, I wasn't completely sure, but I guessed that I must be in the past, since I was pretty sure we weren't in the future.
"What's it like in the future?" I thought a little bit, lost in my thoughts for a moment, before answering.
"No woods like this. It's all buildings... Cold, hard buildings..." It was the best I could do to describe it at the time, for I was at a loss of words.
"What?! No lovely green trees? No fluttering butterflies, no soaring birds? No flowers?!" She seemed shocked, and I laughed a little internally at her reaction.
"There's an occasional plant here and there for decoration purposes... We do have some animals that are kept for research and a few birds in the wild that managed to survive without trees."
"How do you survive in such a cold world?" Her eyes were wide with curiosity and surprise, and I wondered what I looked like at the time.
"Now that I'm here, I'm wondering that myself..." I really felt as if I was at home in this place, even though I had only been here for a very short while.
Khanna jerked to a halt and I crashed into her, not able to stop fast enough.
"What is it?" I whined, rubbing a sore spot from the collision.
"It's our house." I looked in front to see a large tree.
"It's a tree..." I muttered under my breath. She heard anyway.
"No, silly! Look up!" Straining my neck, I searched higher. At first, I only saw greenery, but my eyes widened as a giant complex system of ladders, platforms, and roofs came into view. They covered several trees, the leaves cleverly hiding all of the structures behind them. Unless you looked carefully, it looked like a normal clump of trees.
"Wow..." I managed to say, jaw dropping open. Looking around, I found no way of getting up.
"Uh... How exactly are we supposed to-" I started to ask.
"To get in?" she interrupted. "Well, normally Faalan brings us up using his mind powers, but since we ditched him earlier.... We'll use my powers." I went rigid, remembering my past experience with her powers.
"Don't worry, it'll be fine!" she insisted, seeing my worried expression.
"If you say so..." I squeaked, throat closing up in my nervousness. Khanna's eyes closed in concentration and her mouth turned into a thin line. Holding up a hand, a glowing portal appeared. But it was a brilliant shade of green.
"Green?" I whispered. The portal that had taken me here had been blue. Perhaps the color had something to do with it.
"Okay, let's go!" Khanna chirped merrily, yanking my hand and jumping into the portal.
"But, I-" starting to protest. My voice was cut off as I fell forward and my mouth opened in a soundless scream. Swirls of emerald surrounded both Khanna and me. Before I had time to recover, I was thrust forward once again, landing on top of Khanna.
"Owie...." Khanna whined underneath me.
"Well, you fell on me last time, so it's only fair, right?" I retorted, wincing at my scraped knees.
"True... Well, let's get going!" Once again, she began to drag me around, taking me from room to room. I didn't ask, but I wondered why they would need so many rooms.
As we moved along, I desperately tried to remember all the different ladders and rooms, but to no avail. There was just too much to remember.
"What's your gift, Fala?" Khanna asked suddenly as she whipped around a corner.
"Erm...." I didn't know what to say. I was afraid to lose her as a friend, but I didn't want to lie to her. Plus, if I made up a gift, she would ask to see it, and I would have no way of showing her.
"You are of age, right?" I twiddled my fingers a little before answering.
"Yeah, I'm of age. I just turned 17." I sighed quietly.
"Then...?"
"Well, the truth is, I don't really know my gift." I murmured.
"No worries, you'll find it soon enough, right?" I stopped abruptly. She was the first one to take the news without turning away in disgust. That is, other than Tahi. He had been a little uncomfortable at first, but he had taken it well.
Khanna just continued on, oblivious of the fact that I stopped, and when I realized that she was going farther and farther away, I ran after her, trying to keep up. I didn't feel like it was the right time to ask why she wasn't repulsed by me, so I followed her silently except for when a reply or comment was needed as she showed me even more rooms.