“Hoist the sails! Quickly now, before she catches up! C’mon ye salty sea dogs, the Great Expedition awaits!” a voice cried out, the sound tinny and weak despite its owner’s best efforts.

“...I’m not a dog. And there aren’t any sails. And why are you talking like that?” Anna asked, a small pout forming across her face. She wasn’t a dog. She’d never even seen a dog.

Besides, why would she want to be a dog? If she had to be anything…it would definitely be a snake. Definitely. Snakes were the coolest; plus, Miss Triss had even said that, of all the kids she hosted storytime to, Anna’s hiss was the most authentic. Which was a big word for cool and snakelike.

And she was going to be so upset if she found out what they were doing. When she found out. She wasn’t that far behind; Anna could already imagine hearing the clomp-clomp of her boots somewhere in the distance. Luckily she was just imagining that part, but she definitely wasn’t imagining the sounds of Miss Triss calling their names from a few streets over.

The boat rocked as the other kids piled in, sending droplets of null-water soaring upwards. Anna flinched back, a hand quickly finding its way to her [Little Guardian’s Totem]. The warmth of its touch quickly bolstered her resolve. Compared to the adults’ versions, it was older, just a little more worn, and significantly more sticky. Anna never took it off anymore; not since that first night when the Little Guardian had beaten the awful monsters in her dreams.

Sometimes they tried to come back, but when they did - well, Anna made sure to give them a big - but little - hiss to make them think the Little Guardian was near. Every time, the moment she heard the sound, the monsters disappeared. They were scared away.

Which is why, even though Miss Triss was going to be angry, and even though Anna hated doing things she wasn’t supposed to do, she was going to do this.

The Little Guardian was on the other side of the null-water. Somewhere in the giant forest that was sprouting on its banks. And she wasn’t the only one determined to see him as soon as possible.

Thus, the Great Expedition was born.

“We’re on a boat, so we’re gonna be pirates,” Ian, the oldest and self-appointed leader of the bunch, finally answered. “And pirate captains like to call their crew members ‘dogs’ in the stories. Um, Arrr!”

“Can I be a snake instead?” she asked. Pirates would be cooler if they were snakes instead of dogs, and only the best pirates could survive the Great Expedition. Ian eventually agreed after all of the other kids chimed in, also wanting to be snakes.

“Hoist the sails! C’mon ye salty sea snakes, the Great Expedition awaits!”

Ignoring the fact that there weren’t any actual sails either, the members of the Great Expedition let out a cheer and reached for the boat’s oars. They were uncomfortably heavy, with each oar requiring multiple pirates to paddle, but the Great Expedition was never going to be easy. That was why it was so Great.

After a few practice rows that sent them spinning in continuous circles, Anna and the crew were finally off. The boat skimmed across the null-water at dangerous speeds, probably moving faster than any pirate crew/expeditionary force in history had ever managed. Like, as fast as Anna could run when she scrunched her eyes really tight, maybe.

Though she had stopped doing that the last time she bumped her head. She shivered. Some levels of speed were just never meant to be reached.

By the time that they reached the shores on the other side, Anna knew that they were free and clear. If Miss Triss had seen them crossing, she would’ve already been following, but she wasn’t.

The Great Expedition would continue. Nothing could stop them now!

They had stopped. It was hard not to. Not at first; at first, the ragtag group of pirates/expeditionary members had moved quickly through the growing forest. Soon enough, though, they had started stopping every so often to poke at a neat plant; how could they not? They were really pretty, every single one of them a mix of golds and blues and greens or browns. Like someone had covered their fingers in multicolored paste and painted unsteady lines down every surface. But, in general, they had kept their minds on the goal.

Finding the Little Guardian.

The problem was, they didn’t know where he was. Didn’t know how to find him. They knew that he could find them, but the other way around was a little harder. Still, it wouldn’t be a Great Expedition without Great challenges.

And if they got a little lost along the way, losing sight of the city that they had left behind, at least there were plenty of fruits to gnaw on and help keep up their spirits. To the once-starving band of children, it was like finding a treasure trove. One that they were eager to loot to its fullest extent.

“Go, Ian!” they cheered as their self-appointed leader clambered up the rough surface of a scraggly tree. Prickly and dangerous looking gold-blue spikes ranged across the bark, each held by a thread of independently moving, twining ivy that shifted and turned away every time his hand lightly pressed against them, as if the tree itself was careful to avoid hurting the boy - and in the few times it didn’t move fast enough, only a few drops of red joined the golds and blues and browns and greens before the [Little Guardian’s Totem] dangling from his neck fixed him up again.

At the very tip of the tree, where its spike-filled branches started to intertwine to form a canopy of razor-sharp leaves, a great number of fruit dangled - each a beautiful, glistening orb of temptation laced with blue and gold and others colors too, forcing saliva to pool in Anna’s mouth. Her stomach grumbled grumpily. Her mouth did, too.

They looked good.

Anna’s stomach grumbled again as she bounced up and down, cheering the climbing pirate captain/expedition leader on with the rest. Then, one by one, fruits started to fall. The first dashed itself against the ground with a disappointing squelch, rocketing past Anna’s outstretched hands and spraying her legs with a pulpy mass of juice and seeds. She made sure to catch the second, ignoring the brief stinging in her hands in favor of bringing it up to her waiting mouth.

Her stomach cheered with delight, and she - along with all the others - cheered with it. Anna beamed, sticky juices running down her chin.

Anna giggled when she saw one of the other children stick out their tongue, little lines of blue and gold tracing across its surface. She stuck out her own tongue, slightly itchy and strange-feeling, and went cross eyed, looking downwards and desperately trying to catch sight of it. She just barely managed it, catching sight of its pink tip covered in bits of blue and gold. It was pretty. She giggled again.

A pulse of warmth spread across her chest, feeling as if it reached up towards her tongue to wipe the itchiness away. It took the colors with it, and her - along with everyone else’s - tongue went back to its normal color.

She took another bite, and the itching started again. Anna laughed again; it gave every bite a funny little kick, like biting into something deliciously sour, but not quite that. It was a little fun. The warmth from her [Little Guardian’s Totem] stretched out again, wiping away the itchiness; the warm sensation continued, stretching out to her limbs and filling her with boundless energy.

Or maybe that was just her being excited.

Either way, Anna wasn’t the only one affected by the jitters. Before long, every member of the Great Expedition was dancing back and forth, giggling and playing.

Even if they hadn’t found the Little Guardian yet, the Great Expedition was off to an amazing start! Anna was sure that it could only get better.