THE NEXT MORNING, WITH THE FIRE LONG DEAD AND A FLOWER SPROUT PRESSINGAGAINST HER CHEEK, the girl stirred as a delicious scent tickled her nose.
"What's that smell?" she mumbled, sitting up—drool smeared across her mouth.
Scouring the plain, she followed the scent until something made her freeze.
Laughter.
Unfamiliar laughter.
"Hahaha, stop it, Jackie!" one girl giggled.
"Oh, come on, Mona. Food always tastes better when it's someone else's," Jackie teased.
"You girls eat up before your food gets cold," a man's voice chimed in—warm, but firm.
"Yes, Mr. O'hara."
"Yes, Dad."
Parting the tall grass, the girl poked her head through the clearing to see what was going on.
There they were—Mona and Jackie, sitting cross-legged and eating grilled, skewered vegetables. The smell alone made her stomach growl.
Startled, she quickly closed the grass curtain and spun around, whispering to herself, "I hope they didn't hear that."
But they did.
All at once, Jackie, Mona, and Mr. O'Hara stopped what they were doing.
Jackie glanced at her father, who gave a small nod.
"I guess I can let you have this one." Mona said with a grin, already digging back into her food. "Go get'em, tiger."
Jackie stood, brushing off her shorts.
Then, she took off running, darting into the tall grass, flanking wide and fast.
"Oh, what do I do? What do I do?" the girl muttered to herself anxiously. "Did they hear that? Stupid tummy! Be quiet!"
Just then, a shadow fell over her as she argued with her stomach.
"Huh? Why'd it get so dark all of a sudden?" she whispered, slowly raising her head.
"You're a kid?" Jackie said, resheathing a blade hooked beneath the back of her shirt.
Startled, the girl jumped back—falling through the wall of grass and into the clearing where Mona and Jackie's father stood, surprised.
"Whoa! A kid?!" Mona yelled.
Mr. O'hara coughed sharply, nearly choking on his food. "What the?!"
"What are you doing out here, kid?!" Mona asked.
"Yeah, where are your parents?" Jackie added, stepping through the grass.
"Yeah, where are your parents?!" Mona repeated.
"Will you stop yelling, loudmouth?!" Jackie snapped, annoyed by Mona's loud questions despite their close proximity.
"Hmph, says the one yelling," Mona mumbled under her breath.
Mr. O'Hara stepped forward gently. "Hello, little one. What's your name?"
"M-My name?" the girl echoed, nervous and unsure.
"Yeah, kid," Mona added. "I'm Mona. That's Jackie, and he's Jack, but we call him Mr. O'Hara."
"I… I don't have a name," she said awkwardly.
"No name, huh?" Mr. O'Hara crouched down a bit. "Do you know where your parents are?"
"Parents?" She tilted her head. "I don't think I have any…"
"Oh my gosh! She's an orphan!" Mona blurted out—
Whack!
Jackie punched her in the back of the head, knocking her out cold. The girl flinch.
"Think before you speak next time, idiot!" Jackie scolded, despite Mona lying face-down in the grass.
The girl blinked. "What's an orphan?" she asked, half-flinching as if expecting to be hit for saying the word.
"Oh, don't worry about that," Mr. O'hara said with a sheepish smile. "Hey, I know—how about you take us to where you live? Do you remember how to get there?"
The girl nodded. "Mhm."
"Then it's settled. Jackie, put out the fire—and carry Mona."
"Awe, what? Why do I have to?"
Her father patted her on the head. "Think before you act next time."
Growling under her breath, Jackie accepted her punishment. She doused the fire with a bucket of water, then grabbed Mona by the leg and started dragging her along the ground, trailing behind the girl and her father, Jack.
"WE'RE HERE!" THE GIRL SAID AS SHE TOOK OFF, RUNNING TOWARD HER HOME.
It's a tree, Jackie thought, blinking in confusion.
"Mr. Bird, are you here?" the girl called out.
Without delay, Mr. Bird swooped down from the branches and landed on her head.
Just then, Mona began to stir. "Ooow, Jackie, that hurt…" Blinking at her surroundings, she realized they were no longer at the campsite. "Hey, where are we? And why are my clothes so dirty?"
Jackie avoided eye contact, crossing her arms behind her head and looking away as she whistled.
"This is my home," the girl said, gesturing to the tree. "And this is Mr. Bird."
"You live in a tree? And your best friend is a bird?" Mona burst into laughter. "Bwahaha! That's hilarious!"
This time, Jackie went for a subtler route—smacking Mona lightly on the back of the head.
"Ooow, stop it, Jackie! It still hurts back there!"
"I don't live in the tree," the girl corrected her. "I live in the little den beneath it."
Mona began to laugh to herself, but one sharp glare from Jackie was all it took to shut her up.
"Do you live here all by yourself?" Mr. O'Hara asked.
"Yep. Just me and Mr. Bird."
Mr. Bird let out a flurry of tweets.
"What do you mean I can't take care of myself? I feed, bathe, and clothe myself."
Mr. Bird tweeted again.
"You provide all my food?!" She quickly cupped her hand over her mouth and leaned in to whisper to him. "Okay, listen here, buddy—we've got a good thing going. I appreciate it, really, but let's not make me look bad in front of the new guys, alright?"
"Are you… having a conversation with that bird?" Jackie asked, a hint of concern in her voice.
"Oh! I suppose I should introduce you all," the girl said, lifting Mr. Bird gently from her head. "Mr. Bird, say hello to Jackie, Mona, and Mr. O'hara."
Mr. Bird tweeted a cheerful greeting, and after a moment of awkward hesitation, the group mumbled their hellos back. Mr. Bird then chirped something directly to Jackie.
"Hey, it's kinda rude to ignore your elders," the girl scolded.
"Huh?" Jackie blinked, confused.
"He asked where you came from."
"Wait, you can actually understand what it's saying?!"
"Yeah. Can't you? He was speaking pretty clearly."
"No, I can't," Jackie said, looking at Mr. Bird suspiciously.
"People usually aren't…" Mr. O'Hara paused, searching for the right words. "Well, no one's ever been able to talk to animals—at least, not that we know of."
"What? That's insane. The animals are my friends—we talk every day!"
"This chick is bonkers," Mona muttered under her breath.
"Hey, I've got an idea," Jackie cut in. "How about we give you a name? You said you didn't have one, right?"
The girl's eyes lit up as she gasped. "Really?! You mean it?!"
"Ooh, I know! How about Karen?" Mona offered enthusiastically.
"Karen! I love–"
"No," Jackie said flatly with her arms crossed.
Standing side by side, the girl and Mona began to plead in unison, only to be shut down by Jackie's unwavering stare.
"Trust me. You don't want to be a Karen."
"No one should be a Karen," Mr. O'Hara added with a grin.
"I know—how about Lily?"
"Ew, no, those taste yucky," the girl said, scrunching her nose.
"How about Vale?" Jackie suggested, inspired by the landscape around them.
"What's a Vale?" the girl asked.
"It's kind of like where we are now. A valley."
"So I'd be named after my home?" she repeated, eyes wide. "I love it!"
"I figured you would," Jackie said, smiling.
"She was gonna say she loved Karen too," Mona mumbled to herself.
"Hey Vale," Jackie's father said, "how'd you like to come home with us?"
"Where's your home?"
"It's in a place called Margeaux Parish, located in Meteor Kingdom," he replied.
"I don't know what any of that means, but yes! I want to see it!" Vale's eyes lit up like the stars themselves at the thought of discovering a new place full of wonders she'd never imagined.
"Great. We'll head back in the morning."
"But Dad," Jackie protested, "what about our training?"
"It's fine. We've just about finished anyway."
"Training?" Vale asked curiously.
"Yeah," Mona said, chopping the air like a martial artist. "Mr. O'Hara's training us to be some bad-a mofos!"
"By that, she means we're learning to fight and survive in the wild," Jackie clarified.
"Yeah, yeah, same thing."
"And for their final lesson," Mr. O'Hara added, "these two will have to find their way back to Meteor Kingdom."
"Wait, what?! It'll take us ages to walk back there. I don't even remember how we got here!" Mona complained. Just the thought of walking that much made her tired.
"Oh, calm down. We can handle it," Jackie said, trying to encourage her—but deep down, she dreaded it too.
"That's my girl," Jackie's father said, flashing her a smile. "Now, Vale, I'm going to take the girls back to the campsite so we can pack up. We'll come by in the morning to get you, okay?"
"Okay!" Vale said, waving goodbye to her new friends. She smiled to herself. "I can't wait to see what Margeaux Parish is like."