Orphaned in Felarya

A loud series of tree branches cracking filled the night air of felarya followed by several screams echoed. A family of five had just woken up to find themselves placed high in a large tree, the shock causing them to fall through the branches and to the ground. Luckily for them, they weren't too high up to begin with and laid on the ground in a moaning heap of parents and children.

Kirt, the father of this family, sat up and looked at his wife and three children in concern. "Everyone alright?" He said in a grunt, trying to mask his pain and fear as it was he who had been the cushion that had broken everyone's fall. He was a muscular man with brisled brown hear and cared more for his family than anything else, even his own life. In relief, he saw his family sitting up, moaning and complaining, but alive none the less.

"We're fine" Jane, his wife said dazedly. She was a slim woman with long, red hair and a beautiful face. The shine in her eyes made every day worth it for Kirt. "But, where are we? Dear, I don't think this is our house at all."

"That's obvious!" Their sixteen year old Teenage daughter, Keela retorted sarcastically. She resembled her mother in every aspect, however she was also very much a teen.

"Daddy! Are you ok?" Came the twins' voices. Ken and Mel were only six years old and adored their parents more than anything. Ken was a scrawny boy with light brown hair, where as his sister, Mel was taller and more athletic looking than her twin brother. Even though they did everything together, the difference was very obvious between the two.

"I'm fine, now that I know that you're all safe." Kirt said with a small chuckle as he stood up and helped his family to their feet as well, "We should find out where we are though. This doesn't look like a forest anywhere on Kona."

"This is just great!" Keela complained, folding her arms in a huff, "We're in the middle of nowhere, in the middle of the night and I have a date tomorrow! What's Kyle gonna think when he comes up to the house and I'm not there?!"

"Right now, I'm more worried about getting us shelter for the night." Kirt said stirnly, "We can worry about your date plans when we know how to get back home." Keela answered with a low grumble as she muttered something under her breath. Kirt ignored this and darted his eyes back and forth for a place to stay. His eyes came to rest on a small cave. "There!" He He exclaimed, making his family jump as he pointed at the mouth of the cave, "We can stay there for the night!"

Kirt and his family approached the cave, but before either of them could enter, he held his arm out in front of them to stop them. "I'll go in first to check it out." He said, turning to look at his wife, "If anything happens, I want you to take the kids and run. Don't worry about me. Even if I sound like I'm dieing an horrible death, there will be no hesitation. You and the children come first. Promise me that you will get them to safety." He said with importance in his voice. Jane swallowed and nodded at her husband who nodded back in return before turning to face the tree.

"Alright, you children listen to your mother while I'm in there. Don't question what she says." He said, walking into the cave cautiously.

Jane and the children waited quietly for what seemed like a long time before they heart Kirt shouting in fear, making them all jump, hearts pounding against their chests as they heard him call out, "A mouth! It's a mouth! Jane! Get them out of here! Hurry get-" Kirt's screams were cut short as the mouth of the cave snapped shut and they heard a loud swallowing sound as it rose into the air to reveal itself as a giant tree woman who stretched and yawned lazily, peering down at the family. Jane wasted no time picking up the twins in her arms as they sobbed and screamed for their daddy, and instructed her daughter to run.

Keela just barely managed to jump out of the way as the tree woman's hand hand reached down and tried to snatch her up. She staggered a bit, but managed to stay balanced and continue running.

They ran for almost a mile before they judged it safe to stop and catch their breath. Jane put the twins down who were now sniffling as they sat on the ground. Jane found a rock to sit on while Keela sat on a broken log, both of them gasping for breath.

"What...the...HELL....was that?!" Keela demanded, her right hand over her heart while she wrapped her left arm over her stomach, almost doubled over as she held her cramping side.

"I...don't know....whatever it is...it swallowed your father..." Jane said sadly, wiping a tear from her eye. She hoped that it was just a nightmare, but it still felt very real.

"Well I'm sick of this!" Keela shouted, standing up and stomping off, "I'm headed back home! I don't care how long it takes me to-" Before she was able to get another word in, they heard some strange noise. It sounded like screaming and it was getting closer.

"Quick!" Jane shouted to her children, pointing to some uplifted roots of a tree, "Hide!" They all made a run for it and dove under the tree roots, Jane made sure that the children were safely hidden before climbing in herself and they all lay there in silence to watch the scenery.

Moments later, three women came running past, each of them had a cat tail and cat ears like they were some kind of cat-human hybrid. A giant hand reached down and snatched one of the women up who began sobbing and pleading with her captor desperately as her two companions continued to run, being persued by another creature. Jane could only see a green blur rush past their hiding spot and disappear as the begging and pleading continued.

"P-please miss naga! D-don't eat me! I-I'll do anything!" The cat woman's voice pleaded, only to get a small chuckle back in return.

"Like I haven't heard that one before. Look hon, this is Felarya. You gotta eat to survive and quite frankly, you're on the menu."

"N-no! Please! There's got to be some way I can-" But before she could finish her sentance, she broke into a long-winded scream, sharply cut off moments later, only to be replaced with a series of sickening slurps and moans. it seemed like forever before they heard a gulp, signaling that the cat woman was being sent to meet her fate as this "miss naga" patted her stomach happily and went off in the direction of the other cat women, a big, brown blur slithering slowly past their hideout before disappearing.

Jane signaled to her children to stay put as she crawled out of the hiding spot. She looked around and sighed in relief as she saw nothing and signalled that the cost was clear.

As soon as the children had all crawled out, a large, scaly, brown tail shot out of nowhere, wrapping around their surroundings, providing no escape for either of them.

"I knew you'd come out if you thought you'd be safe." The voice of the naga said as her giant human body came slinking out of the darkness, looking down at the family with evident satisfaction, licking her lips. "Hmm, I have room for one more....The rest I can give to Jewel. She loves humans."

With that, the naga reached a hand out to grab Ken, but, to her dismay, Jane had jumped in the way, causing her to get snatched up instead.

The naga brought Jane to her face and licked her lips. "Well, not what I wanted, but food is food. "Without waiting for Jane to speak, the naga tossed Jane into her mouth and swished her around, enjoying the flavor of her meal.

"Lia!" Came a voice in the distant and the naga jerked her head back to where it came from as her friend came out of the shadows. "Lia! There you are! I've been looking for you. I've still got room for a couple more, so-Oh! What have we here?" She said, her eyes lighting up as she saw the three humans staring up at her in fear.

"There all for you, Jewel." Lia said as the other naga gleefully picked the three of them up, licking her lips and tossing Keela in first, shutting her mouth quickly on her, cutting her screams off as she tilted her head back and swallowed, her eyes now looking at the two twins, trying to decide which to eat first.

Jewel seemed to have made up her mind. She reached down and picked up Mel, holding her up to look her over. "Hello yummy." She said in a sing-song voice, only to get a raspberry back, making the naga jump, dropping Ken who tumbled down a nearby hill as she wiped spit out of her eyes, then turned back to glare at the little girl angrily. "You're gonna regret that!" She shouted, tossing her into her mouth and swishing her around furiously before swallowing. "And I was gonna keep her as a pet too. Geez. Where's that other one at?"

Lia pointed to the hill which Ken had tumbled down. "By now, he's dead." She said, shrugging, obviously not caring.

Jewel, however, pouted at this information. "Geez! What does a girl have to do to get a cute little pet?" She complained as the two of them slithered off.

Meanwhile, Ken had tumbled to the bottom of the hill, splashing into a pool of water and alerting a nearby giant sized fairy who flew over, looking at the water.

"Hello? Is anybody-eek!" She jumped as Ken splashed to the surface, struggling to not drown, "H-hold on! I'll save you!" She said, reaching over and plucking him from the water and holding him in the palm of her hand. "Are you alright? You're just a child, what are you doing out her like this?" she asked with concern on her face as the boy coughed and sputtered, then began to cry.

"Mommy, Daddy! Sis! Mel! Th-they're...they're all...." His words broke off into a loud sob as the fairy patted him on the back, trying to comfort him.

"There, there, it's alright. Aunty Ming is here. I won't let anything hurt you. "She cooed, holding him close to her body to keep him safe from the cold night air and comfort him at the same time, "C'mon now, let's get you dried off and then off to bed."