Malli did not often think. End of sentence.
It was too boring and got in the way of fun. She liked fun. Papa was lots of fun, and so was auntie! She showed Malli all the best fun toys. Big choppers and tiny little stabbenators. All the funniest toys!
Now, Papa told Malli she could only keep a few toys. They had to travel, and he didn't want her little legs getting all tired. She knew her legs were tough, but Papa would get so sad that she didn't think she reaaaallly needed more than like, four tiny tooth cleaners and maybe her favorite slashy friend. He let her keep that on her belt, which made her very happy to show off whenever they met someone who wasn't just a stumbling herd of half dried jerky.
Oh, she loved jerky! Especially the smokey kind Granny made with the fire at night and the dried deer meat. Oh, it was so tasty when they were hustling down the roads, and so nice for when she had to hide when Papa and the ladies had to get extra rough since it didnt make any loud crunchy noises. Although, those yummy little curled chips that Auntie Luna gave her once were almost worth the noise. So salty, and they left her fingers tasty.
Though, Papa told her not to lick her metal hand. He said it could make her stomach get holes! That'd mean she couldn't have as much of Papa's shrimp soup! Nuh, uh, no stomach holes.
Currently, Malli was huddled down in a bush using one of those weird little veil things that made her look like she wash a bush. Papa was beating the snot out of a gigantic angry bear while they were searching the woods. It was really cool, but sometimes Papa would get hurt. Malli got really upset when he got hurt. Things started to smell funny when she got upset, and Granny told her that was a no-no. She had to make sure not to get upset, at least unless Granny or Papa were there to hold her when she cried.
She liked it when she got to cry. Not that she was crying. Crying hurt and made her think, and she really hated how her cheeks burned afterward cause the tears from her eye would leave her skin all achey and itchy. The crying part was awful, but afterward, she always felt a lot better. Whatever she was upset about didn't matter so much anymore, and Granny always gave her more jerky after a good cry. So it was ok to hurt sometimes. You just had to know when to do it safely.
Malli liked being safe, but she also liked being scared. She loved it when Papa would play hide and seek and jump out to spook her. It always made her giggle afterward. She loved to run, too! Her metal leg always felt kind of sore afterward, but Granny said that was normal. Her leg was really pretty, so she didn't wanna complain about all of Auntie's work anyway. Her arm and leg looked like she was wearing big bright knight armor right in her skin where, well, she had no skin, or bones, or anything at all! And it moved and punched just as good as her fleshy one.
Papa said she wasn't big enough yet for fighting, but he was happy to teach her. He said that the world is a mean place sometimes, so you never know when it's gonna try and get the jump on ya! So be ready for when the day comes that Papa's busy or punching some other big meanie, and you gotta punch your own meanie.
She munched hungrily on another slice of jerky, itching a little at her rust red hair in its little set of meatball buns that Auntie had taught her to make. They were extra cute when she first showed Granny, but they did get itchy after a while. She scratched a little under the collar of the orange tunic that Papa made for her. It had one of her drawings pressed right on the front with her and papa and auntie and her other giant auntie with golden hair.
She had asked Papa when her cousin was coming, but he had told her that some magoc hooby booby was stalling his arrival to keep him safe. Something about when he gets here being extra scary, so they had to wait for a good time. Wouldn't the cabin have been good? Or maybe he hadn't been ready then, but maybe he is now? Well, they had to find them then! Malli couldn't let her baby cousin go into this world without all the fun she could show him!
She is gonna show him how to climb trees and swim in the rivers! How to catch the slimey fish with your hands or even crabs! Crabs were so tasty, but they gave ouchies, so you had to be extra careful when you were grabbing them. Malli had punched one for snipping her once. Papa asked her not to do that again. It made a big mess, so she decided not to do it again.
She saw Granny fiddling over some weird statue that looked like imps playing horsie. She didn't seem to think Papa needed help, and Papa didn't seem like it either as he wrestled the bear. It kinda looked like two big doggies. Only one was way bigger but losing to the other, slightly less but still very big doggie.
Granny gave a soft harumph over the lock. "Blaidd, dear. I can't seem to get it, and I don't know where our knight friend has run off to." Papa's answer was to hurl the big bear with a howl. Granny snapped away just before the bear crashed right through the glowy blue door that she had been so puzzled trying to open. "Oh!" She blinked back beside Malli, who stood and shook off her brief found bushihood.
"Papa got it!" She shouted cheerily, which Granny giggled at as Papa dove in after the big bear. It got really loud for a second in there, then extra quiet. Papa walked out and shouted, "Bear steaks for dinner!" Which Malli jumped over clapping. She loved steaks. They had butter and the yummy herby smells that made her head all happy.
Today was a good day for Malli. The Princess of Malenia, and Miquella. Though, Mama had made her keep that a secret. Not til Mama said so. Her secret Papa was scary, she had told her, so her real Papa got to just be Papa. She never met her secret Papa, but Mama said she had lots of sisters, too. She hoped to meet them one day! Though, Mama always got sad whenever she talked about her sisters. She could tell that Mama maybe wasn't always a good Mama, but she was trying for Malli. So. That was good. Right? She missed Mama.
Mama would make everything okay again, just like when they were happy before her gold auntie broke the big ring. A lot of people got really upset over a ring. It was kinda silly, but Granny said it was important. Maybe Granny was just old. Old people got really weird about little things.
She just had to trust in Papa and trust that one day, she would find Mama down there in the big crack in the world. She had thrown Malli outta there when she got really, really sick. She doesn't remember much, just that she couldn't remember anything or even where she was sonedays. Everything had been really blurry and scary, but Mama told her she had to go and find someone before her secret Papa got back, or he would hurt her.
She got so lucky to find Papa. Well, that Papa found her. Her was everything her secret Papa wasn't. He always combed her hair and made sure she was clean. She was his princess, a real one. Not some weird, icky blood talk the old people mean. A real princess. She was his whole world, so that meant she couldn't let him or her Mama down. Never, ever.
...Ok. Maybe a little around snack time, but what was two, or three, or four cookies extra. Really.