╞════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════════╡
Personality ;;True to her name, Kaliq is a very creative bean. She might as well live on her arts and crafts table for all the time she spends on it, but why wouldn't she? With all the crayons, finger paints, and glitter glue she could ask for, Kaliq finds no shortage of materials to set her imagination free on. It is best to note, however, that her artistic endeavors go beyond putting a pencil to paper. A flat, two-dimensional picture isn't sufficient to capture the vast expanses of Kaliq's imagination, at least not in her eyes. Every art piece essentially becomes a multimedia project where objects aren't always used in orthodox manners (For example, she'll use crayons to draw grass on a piece of cardboard, then glue said crayons right on top as a foundation for building a house out of construction paper). Of course, most of her creations aren't nearly as ornate as this might make them sound. More often than not, Kaliq is basically just sticking things together to see if they'll stay standing.
Trial and error is Kaliq's preferred method of solving problems even outside of her arts and crafts. Often times, however, her attempts land closer to the "error" side of the spectrum. She can be rather prone to small accidents and injuries, though it's rare for anything to require more than a band-aid and a kiss from mommy or daddy to make it better. Luckily for her, Kaliq isn't easily discouraged by things not going according to plan. She isn't afraid to fail and she won't stop trying different methods until she finds one that works. Kaliq also responds better to a more hands-on approach when it comes to learning. Following verbal lessons or instructions aren't her strong point. It's much easier for her when there's pictures or models for her to play around with. Even just writing things down can help a little, as long as it helps her visualize things (Although she might need help reading it later. Good luck with that, her handwriting is far from being the neatest). Kaliq's a bright little girl though, and if taught in the right way she can pick things up pretty quickly.
Getting Kaliq to sit down and listen in the first place could prove a challenge. She prefers to figure things out on her own rather than with the help of others. It's not so much that Kaliq dislikes interacting with people as much as it is her having a stubborn streak of independence. She may not entirely be in a rush to grow up, but Kaliq likes to prove that she's a "big girl" and can take care of herself (Though seeing as she's four, it's not really surprising that she still needs help from her family, whether she realizes it or not). Kaliq also tends to be very protective/possessive with her stuff. She loves playing with her brothers as long as they understand that the green blocks are
hers, and that only she can touch them. Why? Because a hundred million years ago the magical Green Warlock of the Blocks made an unbreakable law that only dragons named Kaliq could play with the green ones, and you can't break an unbreakable law because that's against the rules. So there.
Family Relations ;;Shroom
I'm not going to lie, Kaliq has a stronger connection with her
mother than she does with her father. Since she inherited
her mother's creative bone, she's always showing Shroom
her drawings, sculptures and miscellaneous creations. Being
the only daughter in a family full of boys, Kaliq is thankful to
have a great female role model in her life.
OJ
Shroom's not the only role model Kaliq has. Sure, her perception of OJ may not be the most flattering (In her mind he's basically the grump who sits on the couch all day and tells her not to jump on the bed) but she still likes to hover around her father and play in whatever room he's in. Kaliq doesn't take after him much yet, but don't be surprised if his sass starts to rub off on her as she grows older.
Wheatley
Though not as exciting as Tyrion, Kaliq still has fun playing
with Wheatley. She finds him a little silly at times, and he
can usually get a giggle out of her, though not always
intentionally. Kaliq's preferred activity with him is board
games even though she only knows how to play half of them
and makes up her own rules most of the time. Wheatley won't
say anything though. At least, not any more. After a while,
you give up trying to explain why you can't just move
backwards in a game of Monopoly and pay for Boardwalk with
a hastily written "IOU" on the back of a candy wrapper. Aside
from their board game misadventures, Kaliq and Wheatley
get along fairly well, though she sometimes feels a little
competitive over the attention they get from mom.
Tyrion
Kaliq absolutely loves to spend time with Tyrion. He always comes up with the funnest games and leads them on the best adventures, even if they don't always go quite the way they expect them to. It's never a boring afternoon when Tyrion is around. Maybe it's even a little too fun. Kaliq isn't quite old enough to keep up with all of her brother's antics. Despite her best efforts, there are still occasions when Kaliq will fall behind while Tyrion wants to continue forward, much to both their frustrations.
A Grand Adventure ;;The back door was flung wide open and a small, furry flash bolted out from inside, her orange pelt blazed into a fiery ginger by the setting sun. "Camping!" Kaliq squealed excitedly, bounding around in energetic circles. "Gonna go camping!"
Another figure, bold red and yellow, followed behind with notably less enthusiasm. "We're going camping in our
backyard. How is that fun?" Tyrion asked, surveying their new "campsite" skeptically.
A third head poked out from the house, catching the door just before it slammed shut. Breathing an internal sigh of relief, Wheatley tried to give his brother a reassuring look. "It's almost exactly the same though. We can still do all the fun camping stuff, there's just no scary things out here." He gave a shudder. "Like bears, or mountain lions!"
"Exactly!" Tyrion huffed. "How is it fun if I don't get to ride home on a wild bear?" He rolled his eyes and sighed. "Did you bring the marshmallows?"
Before Wheatley could reply, Kaliq scurried over to them, her eyes two perfectly round orbs of periwinkle. "Oh no, Kali forgot, Kali forgot!" she cried, dashing back inside and leaving both her brothers standing on the porch, staring at each other and blinking.
"Um...yeah, I got them," Wheatley finally answered, digging into his pouch to make sure they were still there. "The sleeping bags too." He nudged forward two tightly wound rolls.
Tyrion looked at them quizzically. "What about for Kaliq?"
"She said she didn't need one," Wheatley said, shrugging. "I don't know wh-"
"Choo choo!" A cardboard box decorated in a copious amount of stickers sailed outside the hastily thrown open door. This time there was no one to stop it from flying shut with a resounding
thud!, causing Wheatley to cringe and the two adult dragons inside to sigh. Kaliq peeked out from the box like a meerkat. "Kali ride to camp on the train," she announced, her tail a happily waving pennant in the evening breeze. A tiny green insect flitted onto her head and she giggled. "Marvin come too. We all come! Le's go." Kaliq gripped the front edge of the box in her paws, bouncing up and down so that the entire thing started inching forward ever so slowly.
Tyrion watched the spectacle with a slightly bemused expression. "I'll take the Kaliq Express if you take everything else." Once again, Wheatley wasn't given a chance to answer. Tyrion immediately began to push the "train" forward, much to Kaliq's delight.
"Kali Espress go whoosh!" she chittered, occasionally humming a few more "choo choo"s for good measure. Wheatley glanced over at the camping supplies set nearby on the ground, his mind letting out another silent sigh. Practically juggling the sleeping bags, flashlights, and miscellaneous items in his arms, he waddled slowly behind his siblings.
Tyrion marched along with a confident gait, more than happy to be the leader of this expedition. If anyone could make a camping trip to a boring place like the backyard exciting, he figured it was him. He even knew the perfect spot to set up. After what felt like ages (to poor Wheatley, anyway) but was really only a short 30 second walk, Tyrion finally announced, "We're here!" Upon hearing those words, Wheatley allowed everything, including himself, to drop. He stayed laying there for a moment, panting heavily. Once he'd regained his breath, he allowed himself to look over his surroundings.
They were on the far side of the yard, almost hugging the long, weathered fence that separated them from the neighbors. Their house wasn't visible in this spot, blocked from view by the leafy bluberry bush that Kaliq liked to sneak pawfuls from. It was a bit of a snug fit between the three of them and their inventory, but it was also fairly convincing. If not for the slabs of paint-chipped wood less than a foot away, Wheatley might have been fooled into thinking they were actually out in the forest.
It seemed to be enough for Kaliq though. "We here! Camp Tywheatliq!" She hopped out of her vehicle eagerly, Marvin still sitting on her head. "Tyri's the best train driver
ever," she gushed, her eyes glittering.
Tyrion couldn't help but beam proudly at the compliment. His morale strengthened, he looked down at pile of supplies scattered on top of and around Wheatley, pulling one of the rolled-up sleeping bags to himself. "Let's get ourselves set up."
"That would be nice..." Wheatley wheezed, dragging himself out and beginning to unroll the other bag.
Kaliq watched the two of them work and scurried back to her box. "Kali set up the tent," she declared with a nod.
The older dragons exchanged a glance. "Um, Kaliq, we didn't bring a tent," Wheatley reminded her. "They take too long to put together. We're just supposed to use our sleeping bags..." He trailed off on the last point, remembering Kaliq had opted not to bring one. She was not to be put off, however.
"But Kali
did bring tent," Kaliq stated. With a messy flourish, she flipped the cardboard box upside down and crawled in. After a few seconds she poked her head back out, grinning cheekily. "See? Kali brought tent for Kali and Marvin."
The confusion lining Tyrion's face grew more pronounced, but Wheatley responded to him with a simple shrug. It wasn't really a problem, so it'd be better if they just didn't question it. With the work divided between the three of them, it didn't take long to organize the rest of the camp. Wheatley sorted out their snacks and supplies into neat piles, Tyrion set up the battery powered lantern that would give them light in lieu of a fire, and Kaliq helpfully collected sticks as fuel.
Once they were finished, Tyrion slid discreetly over to Wheatley's stacks and fished out the marshmallow bag. "Who's up for roasted marshmallows?" he asked, licking his lips.
The question earned a tilt from Wheatley's head. "How are we supposed to roast marshmallows?" He furrowed his brows. "Mom said no campfire."
Tyrion smirked, plucking a marshmallow from the bag and sticking it on one of the sticks Kaliq had collected. Holding it close to his mouth, he parted his jaws and a tiny lick of flame seared it into a dark ochre. "What?" Tyrion feigned innocence at his brother's disapproving gaze. "It's not
technically a campfire." He took a swift bite from his marshmallow and held the bag out. "Want some?" he offered through a mouthful of sticky, white dessert.
Wheatley hesitated for a moment, then took a marshmallow and passed the bag to Kaliq. The little bean was more than happy to reach in and wrap her claws around as many as she could. "Hey, we're just supposed to have one at a time," Wheatley griped.
"But i'
is one," Kaliq countered, showing her other empty paw. "Is jus' one hand." Her smile was as sweet as the squishy treats she was scurrying away with. Defeated, Wheatley plopped the remainder of the bag in the center, chewing his single marshmallow slowly while Tyrion roasted himself more and Kaliq started connecting hers together into strange shapes with sticks.
They didn't speak for a few minutes, and so the first stars to appear in the darkening sky were greeted by a web of silence. After about his third or fourth marshmallow, Tyrion broke the fragile soundless strands. "You know Wheatley, you were wrong about backyard camping being safe from
all the scary things."
Wheatley felt his throat clench. "Wh-why do you say that?" He didn't like where this was going.
Judging from the snigger playing on Tyrion's face, he thought quite differently. "It can't protect you from...scary ghost stories!" He punctuated the last half with a dramatic leap, causing Wheatley to yelp and Kaliq's eyes to widen with interest.
"B-b-but we can't tell s-scary stories," Wheatley gulped, reaching out for a good excuse. "because, uh, Kaliq! She's too young for that stuff." He nodded shakily, seemingly assured in the logic of his own answer.
Kaliq was less satisfied by that response. "Nuh uh, Kali not too little!" she huffed, puffing up the fur on her chest. "She jus' the right size, no too small or too big. Perfect for scary stories!"
"See? She'll be fine, quit being such a wimp," Tyrion cut in before Wheatley had a chance to argue the point further. "I know like a hundred scary stories, and they're all the best ones." Incidentally, he knew around 32, most of them exaggerated to the point of being ridiculous, but the few Tyrion chose to tell did their job with the audience well enough. Kaliq would gasp in shock at all the appropriate places (and sometimes even the parts where it wasn't necessary, leading Tyrion to believe she didn't entirely get the story but just really liked gasping dramatically).
Wheatley, meanwhile, spent the entire time planted firmly in his sleeping bag, his body completely covered by the fabric. At the end of each story, he'd poke his head hopefully out into the open, only to pull back speedily into his shell when Kaliq giggled and clapped her paws, requesting, "More Tyri, more!" It was hard to stake the blame on a voice so full of pure excitement, but Wheatley was nonetheless relieved when she finally said, "Okay, no more story for Kali."
Tyrion himself also felt a small trickle of relief at hearing those words, as his voice was beginning to tire after reciting so many stories back to back. "Alright, what should we do now then?"
Kaliq was quick to answer. "Hiking!" she almost cheered. "We go hiking."
"Hiking?" Wheatley crawled tentatively out of the safety of his sleeping bag. "That sounds nice," he agreed, smiling softly to himself as he imagined what it would be like. "We could walk around the whole yard, look at all the amazing things we didn't know we had here, forget all about those awful ghost stories..."
"Those stories were awesome and you know it!" Tyrion said in defense. "Besides, that sounds boring. We're in the backyard! There's nothing to see here besides grass and some plants."
Wheatley was about to argue back when Kaliq jumped between them, flailing her arms wildly. "No, no boring! Kali know where we hike." She pointed to the tall fence that flanked their campsite's left side. "Through secret tunnel. Lo's of bushy tails and hoppys and hoo hoos."
"A secret tunnel?" Tyrion's voice betrayed his rising intrigue. "Why don't I know about this? Lead the way, counselor Kaliq."
Elated, Kaliq immediately began leading Tyrion towards the spot in the far side of the fence where she knew one of the slats were loose. Wheatley, on the other hand, wasn't quite sold on the idea. "Wait, are we really leaving the yard?" He shuffled his paw in the dirt. "Cause I don't think that's such a good plan."
"Aw, come on, a little hike won't hurt anyone," Tyrion prompted, turning back to try and nudge Wheatley forward. "It'll be fun! Mom and dad are probably asleep by now anyway, they'll never know we were gone." Wondering if there was even a point in arguing against anything his brother said, Wheatley sighed and gave in, following Kaliq's disappearing tail out of the yard.
There was no other house on this particular side of the fence, so rather than ending up in the backyard of a neighbor, the trio ended up in an empty grassy field. It was probable that something would eventually be constructed there, most likely another house, but right now, it was all theirs. Without pausing to wait for everyone else, Kaliq took off across the field, letting out delighted cries and enjoying the cold night air flowing in sheets through her fur. Tyrion came after her, shooting like a bullet across the new environment. Ever the cautious one, Wheatley carefully padded out last, the deep blue of his eyes flicking wildly around.
His attention was momentarily caught by a grayish-brown blur, followed by a slightly more distinguishable orange one pelting after it. Kaliq skidded to a stop in front of dark hole the figure she'd been pursuing had vanished through. "Aw, the hoppy got away," she said, pawing at the hole's edges in disappointment. Marvin, who had been perfectly silent up until this point, suddenly released a series of chirps before hopping off of Kaliq's head and into the jet black circle. "Oh no Marvin, wait!" she called after him. "You gonna get lost down there."
A spike of dread pierced through Wheatley when he saw Kaliq start to squeeze herself into the tunnel. "No, Kaliq, stop!" He dashed towards his sister just in time to see her figure swallowed whole by the opening. "This is bad," he squeaked. "Really bad."
Hearing the commotion from several yards away, Tyrion darted over to investigate. "What happened?" he asked, glancing around. "Where'd Kaliq go?"
"D-down there," Wheatley gestured meekly at the hole. "I think she was chasing a rabbit and then Marvin followed it so she went down after him."
The alarm in Tyrion's eyes was instantly apparent. "We've got to go get her!"
"How?" Wheatley cried. "We won't be able to fit down there."
"We'll have to make ourselves fit," was the stubborn reply. Tyrion crouched down in front of the rabbit hole, scraping at its walls with his forepaws.
Wheatley watched him anxiously. Though the opening was growing wider, he seriously doubted they'd be able to clear a large enough path through the entire tunnel. "I don't think this is going to work," he began, but his words were cut off by a fit of echoey laughs from under the earth.
"Kaliq?" Wheatley shouted close to the hole. "Is that you?"
There was a tense moment of quiet before the laughs started again. "Wheadley! Kali found the hoppy. Hoppy tickles! Found Marvin too."
A temporary sense of relief filled both of the dragons waiting on the surface. It was a good sign if Kaliq was close enough to hear them. "Kaliq, we're going to try to get you out. Don't move," Tyrion commanded. The last thing they needed was for her to get lost in the deeper end of the rabbit's tunnels.
However, Kaliq seemed to have ideas of her own. "Kali can get out of hoppy hole," she replied indignantly.
"No Kaliq, you have to stay where you are," Tyrion said, more firmly this time.
"Kali can do it!" Kaliq's voice was noticeably fainter than before. "She get out all by herself."
"She's going deeper inside," Wheatley frantically pointed out. Tyrion returned to scooping out pawfuls of dirt, this time also working to wriggle himself down the hole.
After five minutes of diligent work he let out a muffled cry. "I'm stuck!"
"You're stuck?!" Wheatley paced around Tyrion's wildly kicking hindlegs. "I should go get mom and dad, they'll know what to do."
"No, don't do that!" Tyrion said quickly. "Then they'll know we left the backyard."
Helplessness and desperation welled up in Wheatley's chest. "What should I do then? Kaliq's lost, you're stuck, and we can't ask anyone for help."
"I don't know," Tyrion groaned. "But we need to figure
something out."
Wheatley sat with his tail curled to the side, racking his brain for ideas when suddenly he detected a soft chirping sound in one of his ears. "Do you hear that?" he asked, tilting his head to hear it more clearly.
"Besides the sound of your voice and the blood rushing in my ears, I hear nothing." Tyrion grumbled.
But the sound only grew more incessant in Wheatley's head. "I think I know how to find Kaliq." Trotting in the direction of the noise's source, Wheatley scanned the grassy terrain carefully for the feature he needed. It was there, he was sure of it. After all, a wise mouse has more than one entrance to its mouse hole. Finally, he spotted it—a second rabbit hole, around the same size as the first one. From here, the chirping noise was almost distractingly loud. Placing his muzzle near the hole, Wheatley called down, "Kaliq, is that you?"
Almost immediately the cricket chirps stopped, replaced by a little four-year-old girl's voice. "Yea Wheadley, is Kali!" Exactly 17 seconds passed before a lively flash of blue and orange appeared from the tunnel opening. "See? Kali said she get out by herself." No one could deny that her nod was one of self-satisfaction.
"You were right," Wheatley sighed, a smile forming on his lips from knowing his sister was safe. "Let's go help Tyrion."
When they neared the original rabbit hole, it seemed to both of them that Tyrion had fallen asleep. He gave a start when Wheatley delivered the news that Kaliq had been found. "Huh?" Shifting his position, Tyrion stifled a yawn. "You found her? Great! Now get me out of here."
Wheatley nodded, then remembered Tyrion couldn't see him. "Okay, Kaliq, help me pull him out."
Kaliq bounced up to Tyrion's struggling form and gripped onto one of his legs. "Kali and Wheadley rescue team!"
Wheatley hugged the base of Tyrion's tail. "Alright, ready? We're going to pull...Now!"
Tyrion winced as they started yanking hard on his body, one of them a little more roughly than the other. "Careful back there! My leg's fine where it is without it popping out."
"Sowwy Tyri," Kaliq apologized, adjusting her hold slightly but not really doing any better at being gentle.
Luckily for Tyrion, with a bit of wiggling, the rest of his body managed to pop out of the hole before his leg did from its socket. "Freedom," he gasped once his head was out of the hole. "Sweet freedom."
Wheatley's shoulders sagged with relief. "Great. Why don't we go back to our nice campsite and agree not to go down into any more strange holes." He directed his gaze at Kaliq.
"Oke," Kaliq sighed sleepily. "We go back." Draping his tail over Kaliq's shoulders so that she wouldn't wander off, Wheatley led the way back to fence opening that would take them home. As soon as they arrived, Tyrion and Wheatley both collapsed onto their sleeping bags and Kaliq slid into her sticker-covered cardboard tent. Her energy was all but spent from the excitement of the night's events. Even Marvin's unusually quiet chirps sounded exhausted. There was nothing Kaliq wanted to do more at that moment than sleep. Of course, that would be amended in the morning. After all, there were still far more adventures to be had.
