"That's quite the unexpected sight..."
Zombie made a bitter expression, reaching out his hand and moving a part of the brush out of his way.
What he was looking at and referring to was an outpost – a fort with a tall wooden outlook tower from atop of which the vast area of the forest entrance could be surveyed.
Since the Dandelions had vaguely recognized the general location - as the terrain hasn't been altered in any major way since the last time they were there - all five of them came to a conclusion that it must have been the first link in the chain of settlements that would lead them to their village.
This was of course a good thing, but it certainly wasn't as great as it could be.
Why?
Mainly because the outpost that they had come into contact with wasn't an abandoned ruin that they expected but a fully fortified, fully manned fort.