The Not-So-Great Adventure

[Kaili Talith]

Somewhere deep in the jungles.

Of their backyard.

On the island.

At home.

A treasure was to be found. A magical treasure of unspeakable power that would grant the lucky collector anything they wanted from the all-powerful witch. This artifact had been tossed into the forest by the wicked witch on the top floor herself and now it was up to the two brave explorers Kaili and [member="Micah Talith"] to find it. Their parents had not been informed, for it was the express wish of their employer to keep it all on the down-low in an effort to avoid attention by The Man.

Little did they know it was very hard to hide anything from those two. It was if they had eyes everywhere.

Everywhere.

Oh mother and father was well-aware of this little adventure into the forests behind the house. The only immediate dangers could be the potential critter that the civilized folk hadn’t scared away yet but if ever there was anything fathers were good for it was that kind of stuff. Now that was something Kaili was well-aware of.

With bold steps the young maverick explorer looked over at her brother and also companion for the mighty quest. There was a magic stone somewhere out there that was to be added to their hidden stone collections in their rooms. The next adventure should be to figure out how they kept disappearing, but when they had asked the grown ups they told of special elves that liked to get rid of those stones.

That didn’t mean this young explorer would stop anytime soon. Kaili would catch them one day, and when they did she’d make a fortune selling them to the Galactic Circus Society.

“Are you ready?” Her eyes squinted her eyes with determination as she looked at her brother. “There is no telling who or what lies beyond these bushes.”

It was the adventure of a lifetime!

Again!

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Maleah Talith"]

"Heh," the low grin would quirk over a youthful face, the devil in Micah Draith's eyes with impish mischief. "Oh I'm ready!" he would claim, perhaps a bit too boldly, but you couldn't blame him for the level of audacity he held. He had his father's ego to blame of course.

Along with the large wooden kitchen spoon he had pilfered from the kitchen. He brandished it with noticeable flair -- no skill of course -- but it was good enough to be used against those would be space elf pirate folk who dared take their booty!

With a stubborn clench of his teeth, he tucked his 'saber' into the loop of his belt.

"I'll go first!" he told her, his arm brushing her to the side, taking the first bold steps towards the dark bushes -- well they weren't REALLY dark, just kinda shadowy -- and began to walk a trail for Kaili to follow.

A small toss of his head would fling his long bangs away from his boyish face, and while he would move quieter than his siblings, he still had to make sure that they avoided attention from The Man.

With luck, the Wicked Witch would grant them a greater booty once they came back with their treasure. Granted, she had to do her own pilfering first....

 

[Kaili Talith]

[member="Maleah Talith"], [member="Micah Talith"]

Letting brother go first was okay with her. Okay in the sense that last time she went first adventure had quickly been prevented by the evil bush gremlins snapping branches in her face. So what if he would be the first to witness the new world beyond the sticks and leaves? She was a pretty close second! Besides, as long as it was Micah who got the branches in his face and not her it was all good.

The rustle of bushes, or rather the hiss of their ship’s loading ramp was the start signal that the adventure had begun. Careful tiptoeing ensued as the young girl followed close behind her sneaky colleague. A careful out of character glance shot back for the house as she took note of her immediate surroundings. Games were great and all but remembering where you are and not getting lost was better, nobody ever heard of an explorer who got lost!

At least none who were still alive.

Reverting back into the role of expeditionary-extraordinary-of-best-ever Kaili Talith would continue her tip-toeing behind her brother. This place could be full of traps left by the nasty wood people. They were kind of like the sand people that she had heard about, but they lived in the woods! If rumors were to be believed they ate kids, but that was half the excitement wasn’t it?

“Keep your eyes peeled for bad guys.” The young explorer would state as she turned around into a backwards walk. “There’s no telling what they-”

Caught off-balance by a stray rock the little girl fell to the ground. “WOOD PEOPLE! IT’S A TRAP!”

They had really gone and did it now! The wood people let their battle cries be heard in the form of, well, silence. The girl got up from the ground in a giggle as she ran past her brother and further into the woods.

“Micah, we must hurry before they find us!” A tiny hand beckoned at him to follow along. “Run!”

Then came the second out of character look around, just for safety. Again.

 

[Louise]

The wicked witch beautiful Queen reigned high in her tower above.

Stood on her very tippy-toes the top of her head barely crested above the window ledge. Her Highness, of course, was trying to catch sight of the squires that she had sent upon what would no doubt be an epic fetch quest. Of course, without standing on something the Queen couldn't actually see out into the jungle backyard below and thus withdrew from her position.

Draped in only the finest attire Maleah swanned around, her royal garb (father's cloak) drowning her tiny figure and dragging out behind her so far that any bride would have been jealous of the trailing magnificence. Atop her brown hair sat the noble crown (a chain of flowers, with a few valrain feathers poking out the top of her head) and not to mention the beautiful jewellery that sat around her neck and upon her fingers (macaroni and glue).

A greedy smile crested upon her child-like features as the twin struggled down the stairs from the loft. The heavy cloak dragged her down somewhat and the fur of the imposing collar tickled her cherub cheeks but she felt like true royalty.

Now that her siblings were distracted by their own quest the young Talith was free to find her own treasure. The most grand treasure of all.

Cookies.

Golden brown with chocolate chips and freshly baked by the Queen's Mother herself. Yes, they were hidden somewhere upon lofty heights but Maleah was more than just determined to find them. With [member="Kaili Talith"] and [member="Micah Talith"] out of the way, there was only one obstacle left, an obstacle that was likely in the library being really super boring!

However, she couldn't do this alone, no, her Highness needed help, needed a noble steed to help carry her to greatness! So with a gluttonous grin plastered across her face the young girl shuffled throughout the house, making her way to the back door of the massive house.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Maleah Talith"] [member="Kaili Talith"]

"RUN KAI!! RUN!" Micah would yell out with dramatic flair, feet pounding as he would go reaching out for his younger sister's hand. Palms would connect, fingers wrapping round, and before you know it, they were off.

The sound of tiny feet would pitter patter along their path. It had to be them! The leaves would rustle, whatever was underfoot getting closer and closer.

His heart was thundering, Micah glancing back every now and then.

"They are getting closer!! Go!" came his exclamation, huffing and puffing as they went deeper into the jungle of the small island they called home. It was only 1.8 kilometers in length... but this was their domain!

The uncharted territory of the Goonies! Pirate elves that would make off with their magic stones!

BUT NOT THIS DAY!!!!

"Keep going!" Micah would bravely shout, turning on this feet to slide across the floor. Pebbles would scatter, and he took on a determined look on his face, his jaw tightening and his eyes narrowing down. Out came his sword of justice -- the kitchen spoon -- and began to brandish it much like he'd seen his father do with his saber.

"YOU SHALL NOT PASS!"

 

[Kaili Talith]

“Woah!” A startled Kaili would exclaim as her brother quickly dragged her along in the adventure. Enough distance had passed for the last check of her surroundings to seem out of date and out of reach. It was officially to the point where Kaili Talith, the greatest explorer ever, was lost and it was SO. FREAKING. EXCITING!

Now the real adventure had begun! The wood people were closing in, the goonies being approached. Kids liked to cry when faced with uncertainty but most kids didn’t have what Kaili had brought with her; the force and a kickass brother. As his awesome lightsaber came to life she quickly reached for the ground to find herself a stick or a branch to hold. The crooked cane-like handle on the one she found had her thinking of the pretty images in one of Aela’s books on lightsabers. This was totally just like those!

Still following close behind her brother she too tried to slide across the ground, only her speed was in no way equal to her elder. She settled for holding her leg out in front of her as the other pushed her ahead. One day she too would slide as elegantly across the terrain as [member="Micah Talith"] had but until then this would have to do.

“Run you fools!” An excited little girl would giggle. “Kai and Mic want that stone!”

With her wooden blade already brandished the young girl too began flourishing it at the sneaky-invisible foes. Then they moved on to blasters and the girl had to block it. A wiggle up and down in front of her face would suffice until they moved on to the detonators.

“Bombs! They’re bringing bombs!” She threw herself on the ground. Dirt already covering most of her back it only made sense for the front to be covered as well. “They got me! They got me.”

In a move of feigned death she rolled around onto her back and remained limp on the floor. Her face was riddled with smudges and spots of black and brown. For all it was worth it was a nice break to just lie down as well as a good opportunity to keep a check of her surroundings again.

[member="Micah Talith"]​

[member="Maleah Talith"]​

 

[Louise]

Their jungle paradise home was sprawling, actually taking a significant time to get from one side to the other.

A fitting castle for a Queen, of course.

However, it took small legs a very long time to actually go from the upstairs loft all the way down to the back door. An adventure all in itself, frankly. Although the only real peril was stumbling upon her royal garb, well, that and the boring demon in the library but she would be busy reading no doubt.

The Grumpus.

That was the name that Maleah decided for the demon as she clomped through the house, walking with what was not at all a Queenly gait.

Eventually the young twin reached the back door, grin still present and anticipating the great reward of cookies. Oh yes, she could already taste them now, practically melting in her tiny albeit greedy mouth. Perhaps she would have them with a glass of milk. Calcium is important for growing bones after all, although to the small Queen, it was simply a great accompaniment to cookies.

Peeking out into her royal garden Maleah tried to whistle. Unfortunately she hadn't quite mastered her technique yet and instead just kind of blew air out.

“Tooooofleeeeeess,” she called out with a harsh whisper, a caution needed when The Grumpus was around, “come out! We're goin' on a 'venture!”

---

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

“They got me! They got me.”

The rather dramatic death would echo throughout the small bit of the jungle; Micah would ignore the small giggle that came from his youngest sister as he would bravely face the dark goonie elves coming at them.

At least, until the bombs came.

"Gaaaah," he would cry out, and roll to the side in this dramatic flair of a roll. One that would end him with flopping on top of his sister belly down.

His lightsaber kitchen spoon saber would go flying to the right, and a few pebbles would scatter. He felt his sister give an omph! -- she was getting squished of course -- and that prompted a roll to his back, snickering as he would catch his breath.

That's when he heard something; one nerf licked head coming up to peer out towards the right, straight into the darker bits of the small jungle of their home.

"You hear that?" he would ask Kaili, matching suns of his eyes panning over towards hers.



---

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Maleah Talith"]

 

[Kaili Talith]

Much like was to be expected the eight year old Kaili oomphed as the impact caused the air in her lungs to force their way out of her. A breathless giggle radiated around the area as once more she sat up and let out a big yawn-slash-breath. She had to regain her breath somehow, and what better way was there to both do that and get a hold of her surroundings than to yawn?

“It must be the Chimaera of Ryloth!” Improvised name, no judgies. “It’s here to keep us from reaching that crystal! We must defeat it!”

The girl rose from the ground and picked up a nice looking branch to brandish. “First the dewback head, then the Nerf head! End it with the Kath hound’s head!”

If there was one thing Kaili had become an expert on it was her creatures of non-existence. A chimaera, to her, was much like if a kath hound but it had three different heads all over it’s body. It’s back had a nerf head and it’s tail was a dew back. All of them with the force imbued abilities of their own.

The Kath Hound had a mighty roar. Ear deafening and enough to push the mightiest of warriors away from it. The Nerf head lay limp on it’s back like a hump but was imbued with the ability to heal any damages done to it’s host body. Finally there was the dewback which spewed venom all over ground.

You had to be smart with a chimaera. A single strike at the body would be futile. If the dewback or kath hound didn’t eat you then the nerf just healed it. Yet if you tried to go for the nerf you would find yourself entrapped within the jaws of the dewback.

All of the heads had to go, but how?

“Go for the heads!” Spoke only as macabre as the innocence of childhood could make things. “Death is the only answer!”

________________​

[member="Micah Talith"]​

[member="Maleah Talith"]​