Chapter 2: Meeting with the inhabitants of this world

The friends continued to walk through the forest, carefully avoiding strange plants and unknown creatures. The deeper they got into the forest, the more they felt that this place was not as safe as they would like. At some moments they could hear movement in the foliage, whispers and rustling - something was watching them. 

Suddenly, they heard voices and footsteps. Coming around the bend, they saw a strange creature resembling a mixture of a bird and a monkey. The creature stood on two legs, had a body covered with colored feathers and a long curved beak. It was tall and moved strangely gracefully, as if dancing.

"Greetings, wanderers!" The creature exclaimed. "I am Melinda. Who are you and what brought you to this world?"

Tom and Tim were startled by what they saw, but resolutely took a step forward. "We came from the other side, we don't know how we got here," Tom replied, barely recovering from his amazement. He told about their strange disappearance from the studio and how they ended up here.

Melinda listened attentively, then said, "Yes, the revival of portals has been a frequent occurrence lately. But this is the first time they've brought someone like you. You must have something important for us that determined your appearance here."

And so began their acquaintance with the inhabitants of a strange world in which they had to go through many trials and discoveries.