"Umi-chan, watch out for that snake! It's going to eat you!"
"What snake? I don't see a – AH, it's got my legs!" Umi's eyes widened with panic and her voice rose by a full octave as she spotted the snake.
Honoka raised her big knife for chopping branches down high above her head in what she thought was a pretty heroic pose. "Don't worry, Umi-chan. I'll save you!"
The snake was pretty big, like a bajillion feet long and really green and slimy. It had big, dripping fangs and scary red eyes. It had coiled itself twice around Umi's ankles and was beginning to slither up one of her legs. There wasn't any way that she was going to let her friend get eaten. She wasn't scared of a dumb old snake.
"Go away, stupidhead!" she shouted. The snake glanced at her but continued wrapping itself around a petrified Umi. When she realised that she hadn't intimidated the snake into slithering away to its cave or wherever it lived, Honoka decided to take more direct action. She raised the big knife over her head and charged forward with all the battle fury a seven and a half year old girl could muster.
Mr Stupidhead, as she'd christened the snake, finally got the message. It instantly uncoiled and let Umi go and started running off in the opposite direction, if snakes could run that was. Umi aimed a kick at its tail as it passed.
Dropping her big knife, Honoka continued dashing forward and gave Umi a hug. "You ok, Umi-chan? That was a close one."
Umi smiled at her. "I'm fine now. I was scared but you saved me." A second passed by before she added with a tone of concern, "Where did Kotori go?"
Looking over her shoulder, fearless explorer Honoka realised her other brave assistant had indeed gone missing. For a moment, she worried that Mr Stupidhead might have eaten her instead of Umi. "Kotori-chan? Where are you?"
"Over here Honoka-chan." There was a little bit of rustling and then Kotori poked her head out through a nearby canopy of jungle vines. A few stray leaves were stuck in her ashen grey hair but otherwise she looked perfectly fine. "Hey guess what, I found the path to the hidden temple! It's just through here."
For a moment, Honoka considered telling Kotori off for wandering away. After all, the jungle was dangerous if fearless explorer Honoka wasn't there to save the day. Umi might have been eaten whole if Honoka hadn't been there after all. But Kotori looked really pleased and Honoka didn't have the heart to tell her off. Scolding people was usually Umi's job anyway.
"Neat-o." Honoka picked up her big knife and pointed it in the direction of the temple. "Then let's go and find Mr. Magician man and save the village!"
Honoka slashed away at the vines and Kotori led the little intrepid group over towards the temple which was shaped exactly like a ginormous climbing frame. The temple was old and creepy and it scared Kotori and Umi, but not Honoka. She was fearless and determined to find Mr. Magician. Halfway through the temple, they accidentally woke up a dragon and they had to fight it to keep going. Umi shot at it with arrows to give Kotori enough time to sneak up behind it and tie its shoelaces together. Then when it fell over, Honoka bonked it on the head with a big rock.
Just before they entered the final room, a wall fell over, separating Umi from the other two. Through a gap in the wall, she let them now she was alright and would start tunneling a way through while they kept going. Honoka didn't like leaving her friend behind, but Umi promised she would be fine and when they got back they could all go home together.
Pressing on, Honoka and Kotori entered Mr Magician's room and to their surprise found Umi waiting for them. It turned out she had been a magician all along so now they could go back and save the village.
But then Kotori's mother called them in for cakes and biscuits so Honoka led her brave friends on a new expedition to the kitchen where they ate all the cakes they could. After that, Kotori led them up to her room for nap time.
It had been a fun day of adventuring, Honoka thought, before her eyes grew too heavy to keep open any longer.
A/N: Yes, I know snakes aren't slimy, but seven year old Honoka probably wouldn't know that, maybe. I don't know. Anyway thanks for reading. Bye bye.