[Jaden Wolf]

Honestly. Kia could never roll her eyes enough at Trixi. The two sisters had immediately headed for the front of the Palace and Kia started her way around the other side to avoid them. She counted off on her fingers who she still had to find: Kati, Ghost, Xiya, Kip, Monday, Kiru, and Chocky. Why did they have to play with so many people? This place was waay to big to play in, even if they couldn't go just anywhere.

[Jaden Wolf]

Chocky

Well, at least some of them wouldn't be too hard to find. Kia felt her spirits lift as she set out once again. There were only so many places to hide in the open areas of the Beach.
In fact, Kia was looking forward to trying to find Chocky. That boy was perhaps one of Kia's best friends, or as close as she ever got. The two of them always got in such trouble together. It was fun!

[Jaden Wolf]

The only thing was, she wouldn't put it past Chocky to lay a trap for her. The whole thing with the sisters had given him plenty of time to do so and if she wasn't careful, she'd get pranked. With a keen eye, she looked out around the northern Palms for any sign of anyone. It was difficult, given the mist. It was lighter around the immediate vicinity of the Palace, but made it difficult to spot any sign of traps.

[Jaden Wolf]

Sure enough, Kia knew she'd made a mistake a second later. Somehow, she failed to see a disturbance on the ground in front of her, or the unusually bowed palm next to her. She lunged for the building just as she felt a snap underfoot. It was too late, unfortunately, as a rope snagged tight around her ankle and hoisted her up into the air.

Laughter echoed through the mist. Kia flailed in her upside-down state, ignoring the fact she was wearing her usual dress. She always wore shorts under it anyway. "Chocky!" she yelled, and the laughter bubbled up again in response. She pouted a little playfully and crossed her arms. "Ok, you got me!" she called.

[Jaden Wolf]

Nothing happened but more laughter. "You can let me down now!" she said pointedly. "Nah, Kia! It's hide-and-go-seek! You gotta come find me!" Chocky's voice answered. Kia sputtered in disbelief. "How am I supposed to come find you if I'm stuck up here?!"

The only response was howling laughter. Chocky was really enjoying this. Well, fine then! Kia hauled herself up and grabbed the rope. She wasn't terribly fit, so this was going to suck. Oh boy, was that kid going to regret this. The girl hauled herself up on the rope to reach the palm fronds.

[Jaden Wolf]

Hoisting herself up onto the top of the palm, she fumbled with the rope on her ankle. Man, he really outdid himself on this knot. While she tugged, she called, "Oh, you're so going to pay for this, Chocky!"

"Gotta catch me first, Kia!" came the taunting reply. Kia scowled, a playful light in her eyes. She was going to enjoy this. Finally, she got the knot undone and dropped the rope back off the tree. Great, now she had to get down from here.

[Jaden Wolf]

In immediate hindsight, she probably could have used that rope. With a sigh, she started her way down the trunk. Thankfully, this wasn't a terribly tall palm, which made sense since Chocky had to get up here to set the trap. Still, Kia lost her grip a short ways from the bottom and landed on her butt with an 'oomph'. Laughter broke out again and Kia rolled her eyes. Too bad the mist was making everything so echo-y, or she would be able to figure out where he was by all the noise he was making.

[Jaden Wolf]

Kia scrambled to her feet with a huff. As she brushed dirt from her dress, she called, "ready or not, here I come!" Then promptly began skittering from palm to palm, ever aware of where she was stepping. Eventually, she spotted a disturbance in the ground - another trap. With a sly grin, she moved around the tree, shaking the one next to it as she yelled.

"Oh, come on!" she shouted, and laughter erupted again. This time the laughter was much closer than before, and Kia's eyes narrowed. She rustled the tree a little more and jumped in place, huffing.

[Jaden Wolf]

Stalking carefully and quietly around the nearby trees, she spotted a figure ducked behind one, quickly dodging sideways to stay out of his sight. For a moment, she waited, breathing only once she knew he hadn't seen her. Oh boy, she really had him now!

The girl stepped carefully backward, keeping the tree between her and Chocky. Once she was sure enough of the mist was between them, she began to circle around so she could come at him from behind. Hopefully, he wouldn't move somewhere else.

[Jaden Wolf]

Sure enough, the boy hadn't moved from his spot. He stood there, peering out around the tree, oblivious to Kia's approach. "Found you!" she shrieked once she was close enough. He practically jumped a mile in the air and was so startled, he just ran. Gleefully expecting this, Kia pursued him.

Poor boy didn't realize that Kia was practically herding him toward the trap she'd never actually set off. With the tell-tale snap and a scream, Chocky was caught.

[Jaden Wolf]

The boy's eyes were large as Kia walked up laughing. "Gotch'a," she sang with a grin. Chocky crossed his arms and pouted, his glittering eyes betraying his foul expression. "Oh, very funny," he muttered, trying not to smile.

"Well, you're the one who got caught in your own trap," Kia commented mildly. Chocky rolled his eyes good-naturedly. "Alright, alright. Good point, you win. You can let me down now," he said. Kia's eyes widened innocently. "Sorry what was that? It's hard to hear in all this black stuff, y'know," she replied sweetly, before adding, "'sides, I got places to go, people to find."

With that, she skipped off into the darkness, ignoring the "KIA!" ringing out behind her.

[Jaden Wolf]

She faintly heard a rustle and thud distantly behind her as she circled around the palace. It took quite a bit of effort not to laugh out loud. Well, he got a taste of his own medicine, after doing that to her!

Now she had to find the others, though. At the last moment, she veered off toward one of the paths to the actual beach. You know how hard it is to refer to the beach when the whole place is often just called the Beach. I mean, sure, the whole place is called Sunset Song Beach while the actual beach is called Fairy Beach, but still.

[Jaden Wolf]

Monday Noon

This path to the beach was kind of vague, which wasn't normally a problem, but it was just so darned dark. Kia squinted at the ground in front of her. She was still on the path, right? The ground seemed to be a different colour, so she thought she probably was, but she couldn't be certain.

Turned out that she actually wasn't, as she very nearly fell off the rock ledge of the beach edge. They seriously needed a fence around here, Kia would have walked straight off into open air if she hadn't been watching the ground so intently.

[Jaden Wolf]

Taking a moment to recover herself from the adrenaline-inducing shock, Kia peered down into the hazy depths over the rocky edge. After a moment, she was able to make out one of the rock clusters that marked the border and her heart leapt into her throat. They were just rocks that wound up here for one reason or another and shoved into piles by the Beach keepers. They got sorted eventually, but it had been a while since the last one. It's not like anyone expected this mist stuff to make those piles such a hazard.

[Jaden Wolf]

"Uh, Kia? Is that you?" floated up a voice. Kia frowned and put her fists on her hips. "Monday! You're not supposed to talk until I find you!" she scolded. There was silence for a moment as the boy paused to think about that.

"Well yeah, but...I kinda need your help," he answered so quietly and meekly that Kia struggled to make out what he was saying. Her frown deepened. He needed her help? Why would he need her...wait.