Benjamin O'Riley and Tyree Davis had been waiting a particularly long time for their wedding. They had been planning on having it during the opening of Australia's Animalian colony. However, neither of them anticipated how long their government would take in actually selecting and settling land for Animalia. When the Aborigines first met them and hailed them as living gods, it sped things up in the Tasmanian tigers' favor. Now a new colony has been built near Uluru Rock. The new colony, called Ayers Town, was a relatively short drive from Alice Springs, so this particular colony would not be so remote. A second colony has been set up on the northern coast, a place that would be called Northland from the rough translation of the Aborigine name for the place.
But of more importance to Ben and Tyree was the fact that they could finally have their wedding. And of course, Animalia Ambassadoria were visiting Australia to attend that wedding as well as look at the new colonies set up here. Thankfully, they did not need to dress up extra fancy for this wedding. For one thing, Animalians had more relaxed standards and formal wear didn't need to be so stifling just to look good. Another factor was the considerable heat in Australia. Though granted, since Australia was in the southern hemisphere, it just had the winter solstice instead of the summer solstice. But still, winter in Australia is far from chilly and lower temperatures or not, Uluru Rock was almost precisely in the middle of one of the largest deserts on Earth.
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The lower dress code did make sitting during the ceremony a lot more bearable. Some of the members of the ambassador group were tempted to stare at the other guests at the wedding, but they tried not to be rude about it. And it wasn't just the uplifted specimens of Australia's unusual fauna that drew attention. The Aborigines attending did stand out a lot, especially since some were dressed in traditional outfits.
Sarah was politely speaking with one of the Aborigines. "You are aware that nobody here is a god, right?" she asked, "I mean, it's flattering, but we're not trying to put ourselves above humans."
"Perhaps, perhaps not. Things can be interpreted many ways," said the Aborigine she was speaking with, "Beings like yourselves were known in the Dreamtime."
"What is the Dreamtime anyways?" asked Sarah, "Is it like the time of ancient myths?"
"That is a complicated question, which doesn't have the same answer even among different tribes. It is the old time of legends before Man came here, but it also continues on, in a way beyond our ability to see," said the Aborigine.
"It's certainly beyond my ability to understand," admitted Sarah.
"I bet it's a lot cooler in the Dreamtime," said Malice, who was panting in the heat, "No wonder these guys are so dark-skinned."
"Mary Alice..." said Sarah in a warning tone.
The Aborigine just smiled and said, "There's no harm in it. The old myths did say the sun did blacken our skin with its heat. You can only imagine the shock for us when the white men came."
"Oh look, the ceremony's starting," said Sarah quickly.
Because of the location, there were a few things unusual with the ceremony. For starters, instead of wearing a tux and dress respectively, Ben and Tyree were dressed up like tribal chieftains. Instead of standing at the altar, they sat upon wooden thrones. And the Aborigines provided the music for the ceremony with traditional instruments. The didgeridoos in particular sounded very strange to the members of Animalia Ambassadoria, more than a few of them found them really annoying.
However the ceremony was performed, Ben and Tyree had signed their marriage license and they were now legally man and wife. There were things to do afterwards. Animalia Ambassadoria had a look around Ayers Town, which was not that different from Alice Springs. Now they needed to see Northland. Ben and Tyree were also going to be going on their honeymoon. Thankfully, Ben's uncle, Melbourne, will be helping them with that.