Sailing for Adventure {Morgan}

[Dash Parr]

It was upon leaving after another visit with the Riveras that Dash saw it.

For a kid who was used to real Superheroing, perhaps the park put on small ferry boat Pirate Adventure Cruises wouldn't seem all that exciting. It was just a bunch of kids going around with an adult pretending to be a pirate and solving clues but...it sounded fun! In the way this park worked, everything took on a magical, fun tint. And plus Dash was pretty sure he could solve all the clues in record time! But he would be fair and let the other kids try too!

"Oooh sign me up!", Dash didn't say this to his mom or anyone, just himself, though he would tell Mom where he went. But wait... Dash paused on that thought, and turning to head back towards his own hotel room to do such (at a speed Mom would be ok with). All of this was set up at the Grand Floridian, it...it would start and go from there. What if you had to be staying at the hotel to go?

This thought wasn't true, but Dash thought it was...and moped about the lobby about it until Mr. Héctor found him and inquired on it, and also why he hadn't gone home. Dash gave a brief description of his troubles and...it was so casually asked; why he didn't just sneak on*.

Wide eyed, Dash blinked at the skeleton, before declaring him a genius and darting off to make his plan a reality! One blank hotel key to have about his person (and they didn't even have video proof it went missing, it was just there and then not!) and Dash figured he had enough of a cover to get by, and no one stopped him to ask anyway as he made his way to the ferry and groups of kids already there.

The Cast Member in charge even gave him a bandanna, eye-patch and life-vest like all the other kids, so this ruse was working splendidly! Again, Dash thought incorrectly to himself.

While they waited for the other kids to get settled, Dash hopped from one foot to the other, not in impatience (this time) but a sort of victory dance.

{*Héctor's idea and use approved by Sephy}

[Deleted]

Pirate Princess Morgan, or what the imaginative six year old pretended to be as soon as she wore the pirate bandanna that the Pirate Cruise pirate had given her the moment she had joined in the activity that she was encouraged to attend, was a little nervous. It was a hotel activity for only kids 4-12 years of age, so she was alone in this hotel activity. Actually, she was alone in the hotel room, so some encouragement from Jessie was all she needed to try it out so that she wouldn't be so lonely. She remembered Giselle used to say that making friends was a good thing, though that was still a little hard to do for the shy girl.

Morgan glanced around at the kids of various ages with a shy smile, though her hazel green eyes spotted a boy that seemed to be doing a little dance. "A-Are you okay? Do you have to go to the bathroom?" She ventured to ask with a raise of an eyebrow and a slight smile of amusement. Why couldn't the boy just go before they would have to set sail? Was he also shy about asking for going to the bathroom?

The pirate adult gave a copy of the treasure map to a select few, Morgan being one of them, and encouraged the kids to get partnered up in order to work as a team. Morgan lifted her Jessie doll so that they could both examine the treasure map. "Maybe one of the treasures is magic!" She pretended, trying to make it more fun by turning it into something magical with powers. Leave it to Morgan to somehow connect something to magic to let her be something like a fairy pirate princess.

[Dash Parr]

"A-Are you okay? Do you have to go to the bathroom?"

Amidst his hopping, Dash heard this question, and glanced over to find the little girl who had asked it. "Nah", he grinned, "I'm good". He could have tried to explain why he'd been hopping then, but Dash left it at that.

The adult in charge then handed the maps out, Dash taking note of which kids got one to help with deciding which partner to pick. A few Siblings paired up that made sense. Dash would have tried to bring Jack-Jack also, but that would be pushing it, and given away his sneaking on, and there had been some sort fine print about being potty trained also amidst the age listing...

Jack-Jack was a very smart baby, but he wasn't there yet.

The little girl didn't have a partner yet (unless she was going to count her doll! Dash chuckled to himself at the thought), and she seemed like a nice enough little kid, and again, Dash thought she could use his help, with him being the older kid and all. And not just because of the magic comment he caught off her.

"Hey", he walked up, and held out a hand to shake, "Dashiell Robert Parr. You wanna be partners?".

[Deleted]

The shy little Morgan was definitely counting her doll as being partnered up, which was why she didn't bother to look around for another partner while trying to read the treasure map. Jessie was just as real as any other kid. Plus, the cowgirl was the best partner she had when Giselle wasn't around. Jessie was almost better than - well, she wasn't sure if she should even betray her own thoughts on even thinking that she was better than her other toys back home just because she could talk but.. what kid wouldn't love to talk to their toys and have them talk in return?! In any case, that was why Morgan she blinked and looked up in confusion when a blonde boy - the same on that was dancing by himself earlier - introduced himself to her.

"Hey. Dashiell Robert Parr. You wanna be partners?"

The six year old glanced from Jessie as if to get her silent approval, which she always used to do around an adult, then back to the big kid again with her lips parted in surprise. A big kid wanting to be her partner? That never used to happen in school! "Okay..!" She managed to respond shyly with a demure smile, then moved Jessie under her arm and switched the treasure map for her other hand to hold it so that she could shake the boy's hand. "I'm Morgan Phillip," The six year old introduced herself when she took his hand to lightly shake it before gently letting go to hold Jessie and the map properly in both her hands again.

Morgan turned her attention back to the adult pirate who spoke again once the partners were all decided on. The adult pirate next instructed them to try to get all the clues in the different areas on the map, which all required that they go across to the different ports of the large lake in one boat. It didn't matter which area to start off, but the pirate adult made sure to say that first one to get the treasure chest wins. "Do you want to see the treasure map?" She held the map out for him to look at. "Where should we go first?" Morgan asked while she glanced over as few of the kids started commenting on their plans, while others were already starting to head out to get started on finding clues. Most of them seemed to be going one direction though. "Maybe we should go the.. other way?" The shy little girl ventured to suggest, though it wasn't at all firm considering it was a big kid. She just preferred to find the clues with few people around and not really about showing off in front of other people. She wasn't used to so much attention on herself. 

[Dash Parr]

"Okay..! I'm Morgan Phillip,"

He'd perhaps come across as too much for the little girl, Dash realized, at her hesitant answer. Little surprise, he could be too much sometimes. Dash reminded himself to take things a bit slower than he normally did.

Dash listened to the adult in charge also. He knew she wasn't actually a pirate, but maybe Morgan didn't. They would go to different ports and find clues from there. Piece of Cake! Or so Dash thought it would probably be.

"Do you want to see the treasure map?"

Dash glanced back over to her. "Oh, yeah, sure!", he glanced to it as well, to get a better idea of the clues they would be finding.

Once they reached their first port, Morgan asked where he thought they should head.

Going in the one direction as all the other kids could be on the right track or...

"Hmm...well if there is a clue that way, we could find it first if we went that way first...yeah let's try that!", Dash agreed, "Come on", he started to head off, and not in being bossy (it had been her idea even) just in watching out for Morgan, as the younger kid, and him the older one, as he was used to doing with Jack-Jack. And even if it wasn't this way, they could probably make ok time back...hopefully.

<<I was gonna take clue finding, but handing it off <3>>

[Deleted]

The passive little girl gently handed the treasure map to the boy - Dashiell, she recalled. She lowered her head insecurely as she twiddled at her fingers, thinking that he wasn't going to like her idea of going the opposite way. Dashiell seemed like the kind of big kid with lots of friends at school, so she wasn't sure if her idea was a good one; maybe he'd want to go where the rest of the kids are going. That's what most of the other kids at school seemed to do, anyway.

"Hmm...well if there is a clue that way, we could find it first if we went that way first...yeah let's try that!"

"Really?!" Morgan instantly perked her head up in shock before she smiled widely across her chubby cheeks. Wow, a big kid liked her idea! "Okay!" This was only confirmed when Dashiell told him to come on, and she obediently followed along beside him. As soon as they stopped, the 1st grader tilted her head as she tried to read the clue. "I am not a real dollar, that much you can tell. I used to be like a sea ur-chin?" There was no question mark there, but she pronounced it like a question only because she hadn't seen that word as often, "But now I'm like a shell." When she finished reading, she narrowed her eyebrows with a slight crinkle of her nose inquisitively as she tried to figure out that answer, before glancing up at Dashiell curiously to see if he knew what the answer would be. "I don't know a lot about shells. I don't go to the beach as much..only in the summer.." She smiled slightly in a sheepish manner. New York was too cold for the beach except in the summers, where she would usually go to see the Mermaid parade in Coney Island. Indoor pools were different though. Morgan could even tell you what the latest trend was in swimsuits based on the magazines she'd look through, but the different types of shells? Not so much. 

(I made that clue up, so if the clue was too complex, I could make it easier lol)

[Dash Parr]

Dash could be the kind of boy that would just brush such a little kid off, if he wasn't careful. Not really meaning it, but in his rush to prove himself and Be the Best; a concept his father didn't mean to pass along, but which he picked up off Bob anyway. While both back home and while he'd been here.

Thankfully, though she had to try harder and actually tell it to him, Helen's influences were also making it in.

That and there was something hard to deny in Morgan's happy smile as he agreed with her idea. It was like all the praise a Super went for all in one somehow. Dash was still the cool, in charge older kid, though, as her words and following proved, so he had to look like he 'had this'.

"I am not a real dollar, that much you can tell. I used to be like a sea ur-chin?"

Morgan read the clue, and Dash peered over to see what the hard word was. Urchin, yeah she got it. He nodded to her pronunciation, just in case she wondered if she got it right. Though the Fifth Grader knew the word, he couldn't have told you with scientific accuracy what it was, but some kind of shell or sea thing. He puzzled over the whole clue though.

"But now I'm like a shell."

So they weren't shells? Or maybe that was just part of the riddle...

"I don't know a lot about shells. I don't go to the beach as much..only in the summer.."

"Hmm...", Dash thought.through this. "Well, I've been a few times, but...I don't think I've seen an Urchin, though...wait...not a real dollar...". He paced, thinking, "Is a sea-dollar a thing?", and somehow as he said it, something from a day learning about sea creatures clicked! "Sand Dollar! Sand dollars are a thing!", he exclaimed happily. Now then... He glanced around for one.

[Deleted]

Pirate Morgan looked up to Dashiell when he nodded at her pronunciation and smiled meekly in gratitude. It encouraged her to keep on reading if she was doing a good job, especially in front of a big kid. Reading in front of daddy, even though he was an adult and older than a big kid, just wasn't the same thing.

"Is a sea-dollar a thing?"

The little 1st grader watched as the big kid thought of an answer out loud. The shy girl never thought out loud before. "Maybe..!" The imaginative girl easily entertained the possibility of them being a thing. Up until now, Morgan hadn't even considered such a thing as sea dollars, but the imaginative 1st grader immediately thought of how they would be useful for mermaids. "Well..mermaids do have to buy things.." She "reasoned" as-a-matter-of-factly to Jessie, though it was more imaginative reasoning than a logical one. Mermaids needed to buy things like pretty accessories for their hair and jewelry. It was possible that mermaids could simply make them, but the New Yorker was more into the idea of shopping. 

"Sand Dollar! Sand dollars are a thing!"

"..A sand dollar?" Morgan repeated with a curious crinkle of her nose, but with a small, relenting smile. She somehow liked the idea of sea dollars better, though it was probably because she was already imagining all of that in her head as a sea dollar, so a sand dollar just sounded silly now. A dollar made out of sand wasn't nearly as great in her imagination. Still, she walked to the shoreline to look for a sand dollar. Naturally, she was looking for the shape of a real dollar. 

"..It said it's not a real dollar.." The curly haired girl remembered. "..What does a fake dollar look like? Like monopoly?" All she could think about was monopoly money. She didn't like that game very much the one time she played, but she remembered that the money wasn't real. It was only too bad she couldn't ask a mermaid for a sand dollar, though she did look out into the water with the small hope in her imagination that one would just pop up and give her one. 

[Dash Parr]

"Maybe..! Well..mermaids do have to buy things.."

She addressed this to her doll, and Dash was sort of glad, because he didn't want to have to decide if, and how, to answer. There, of course, were no such things as mermaids (Supers Absolutely; Santa Yes; Mermaids No), but...little girls believed in that kind of stuff and...Mom would tell him to not "Burst her Bubble" or whatever and let her believe it. He supposed that example was sort of fitting given the topic was mermaids, or maybe all this sea talk was also making it in, but back to the riddles!

"Yeah...", Dash still felt he should say something and so half commented.

"..It said it's not a real dollar....What does a fake dollar look like? Like monopoly?"

"It means you can't use it like real money...", Dash both answered and thought through the problem a bit more. He scanned the beach. What did they look like? He tried to recall. As he scanned, he faced Morgan again with a small smile, "Adults, like the ones who wrote the riddle, don't think mermaids are real so that's why they put that", he shrugged and explained.

Score one for still playing along with and not upsetting a little kid! Since he realized saying you couldn't use them like real money might mess that up.

"Here!", Dash bent and picked up one, showing it.

<<I forget what's supposed to be attached to it. Another riddle? Should I make that up?>>

[Deleted]

(Lol yeah, or just look up beach riddles like this next one I'm doing. I don't take credit for this next one.) 

Sadly, no mermaids that were capable of gifting her a sand dollar were found when the imaginative little Morgan peered out into the water. The boy, Dashiell, was looking in the sand, so she quickly snapped her hazel eyes away from the water and the helpful girl kept looking around in the sand. "Do you see any? There's just gotta be one somewhere!" She was mainly talking to her Jessie doll, but she did steal a quick glimpse over at the big kid as if it was okay if it were addressed to the boy, too, she supposed. She wasn't used to friends, but the shy girl was slowly getting comfortable enough to be herself around him. Just a little.

"Adults, like the ones who wrote the riddle, don't think mermaids are real so that's why they put that"

Morgan glanced over at Dashiell when he said that and a comforted smile spread across her chubby cheeks with an understanding nod, her eyebrows tilted upwards with a soft humorous tone in her voice, "Yeah, they can have a hard time with these things."  She almost sounded mature for her age upon saying that, which was sadly true. "Just like when my daddy had a hard time believing that Giselle was a princess, and she was!" She almost had a sassy attitude towards the end with a look as if it was SO obvious, but it took her daddy a long time before he finally believed her.

"Here!"

"That's a sand dollar?" The six year old asked with a raise of an eyebrow, parting her lips in shock. "Wow!" She mused softly in amazement and smiled contently at having seen a sand dollar for the first time. Maybe if she ever went back home, she could suggest to her daddy that they go to the beach more often. "Hey look! It says something.."  She pointed out to the paper attached to the string that went through a hole in the sand dollar, then lightly slapped the sand away from the paper as the hint was buried in the sand to avoid it being too obvious for the kids. The passive girl looked over at the blonde big kid, almost silently asking if he wanted to read or if she could read it, then took a breath as she tried to read it. Reading aloud more than once? That was more times than the shy girl was used to reading aloud at school! This was seriously forcing her to step out of her comfort zone. The only reason that she was trying though was because this was a big kid and she didn't want to look bad in front of him.  

"Swimming.. around the.. ocean.." Morgan began to read slowly, "While... pr..prey? It does seek.." She crinkled her nose with a curious tone in her voice as she looked up at Dashiell, wondering if she read that right. She had no idea what prey meant. "The.. Dis-co-very Chan-nel" Now those were big words she had to break down into syllables. "Gives it its.. own.. week." Another breath was exhaled after she finished reading, but then the shy girl smiled a little proudly at herself. Her daddy would be proud about her reading if he were here, but now she had to read it again to understand what it said. 

[Dash Parr]

If they had been back home, Dash would have doubted Morgan's statement on seeing a real princess a whole lot more, and thought the little girl was just too far into her imagination; but here there were real princesses, and queens and such. Elsa had apparently been one once or something. Dash wasn't quite sure what the whole story was, the ice-powered Super (as even he thought of her) being Mom's friend and therefore the little boy not asking many pertinent questions, as that would be considered rude.

"That's a sand dollar?"

"Yep!, Dash smiled, glancing at the sand dollar once more, "We learned all about them in school". It was nice to be able to teach the younger girl something. His only experience with being older, and more experienced, was Jack-Jack and, as a baby, he didn't need to know anything yet.

"Hey look! It says something.."

"Huh?", Dash looked, letting Morgan take and read the card though, and forgetting, until she paused, that maybe there were big words she would need help with. She got it though.

"Swimming.. around the.. ocean..While... pr..prey? It does seek.."

Dash listened to the clues, and caught Morgan's questioning look at that part. Oh, she didn't know what that was. "Prey's fancy for what stuff eats", he answered. "Other animals", as he said it, he thought, knowing that was part of the clue. Predators then...

"The.. Dis-co-very Chan-nel...Gives it its.. own.. week."

Dash knew enough to know that was an unfair clue! "We didn't have that channel back home!" he complained to no one, "How can they expect every kid to know this if they use unfair stuff from now?". He knew it was a channel now, though, from the hotel rooms, but it had been boring talking shows so he hadn't paid attention and flipped on past to the cartoons.

It ate other animals...predator...

"A whale maybe...",

<<Hehe this might turn into more of a Morgan Says it First. I feel like it's not too hard for Dash to get Shark, but also wanted to give Morgan something! since he got the last one, and even with her reading the clue >>

[Deleted]

"Yep! We learned all about them in school."

Morgan didn't mind learning new things from people older than her, though it was very rare to have a big kid teach her instead of a grown up. Given that she never had a brother or sister, she never had much experience in what that must've felt like. "Oh..where do you go to school?" She asked Dashiell shyly, wondering if he was a local or if he was from a place far away like she was. Unless maybe.. there was a school here, too? If there was one, then Morgan figured she should head over there tomorrow. That's what her daddy would want. Besides, it was not every day that she would get to go to school with someone she was more or less comfortable with talking to.

"Prey's fancy for what stuff eats..Other animals"

The little girl crinkled her nose slightly in confusion, trying to understand what he meant by that. "...stuff eats other animals? What kind of stuff?" She repeated quietly as she gazed down at Jessie, wondering what that meant. "You mean how we eat chicken?" She asked the boy again. Were they prey because they eat chicken? Obviously, she got that mixed up, but she didn't know the word predator yet, though she did remember hearing that word on TV before. Suddenly, the boy's reaction after she finished reading snapped her attention away from chickens and whether they were prey or not. She blinked her eyes in bewilderment upon hearing him complain about not having that channel back home. The little girl was trying to register what he meant about using stuff from now. Wasn't it always now? The six year old didn't yet know that there were people here from different times. In fact, she had no idea that he wasn't even from around here like she was.

"A whale maybe..."

Whale? Discovery Channel doesn't do a lot on whales. Or they don't do it for a whole week anyways. She would know, her daddy would sometimes make her watch Discovery Channel instead of cartoons to focus on "real" stuff, even though fairytales were real, too! Morgan thought that they should do a mermaid week. Suddenly, the six year old's hazel eyes widened just as soon as the "whale" and "channel" clicked in her mind, along with "week." Mermaids or Whales might not be for a whole week, but there was another animal in the water did have a whole week! "Shark Week!" A gasp fled from her lips. "It's a shark!" She exclaimed with a bright smile across her chubby cheeks. Then, she hurried towards the water's edge. "There!" The little girl pointed with her index finger of her doll-like hands. Further away in the distance, sticking out of the water, was a fake shark fin with a noticeable paper attached to it to further indicate that it was fake. Morgan glanced over at the plastic floaty looking rowboat with paddles next to it on the sand, then glanced over at Dashiell. "Um..Dashiell? Do you know how to row a boat?" She asked with a sheepish smile that was almost embarrassed to say this in front of the big kid, but the young New Yorker wasn't used to being on the water that often. In fact, her daddy usually rowed in her 1-time only experience in a boat, so she didn't count that very much.  

[Dash Parr]

School was only a topic Dash would avoid around his mother, because he knew she was still trying to solve the problem of the fact that he essentially didn't go to school while they were in the parks. An arrangement that was fine by him. But answering a smaller kid's questions on it was different. "I did go to Metroville Elementary, before coming here", Dash answered, then went on for some reason, and probably because Morgan was an ok sort of younger kid, "My mom wants me to at lest keep learning science from this scientist who's here, Mr. Jumba Jookiba, and...that would be ok, as he's cool", Dash admitted.

Dash thought he might have messed up, and would now have to tell her about the harsher facts of life, as his definition of prey seemed to confuse Morgan.

"You mean how we eat chicken?"

"Uh, yeah, like that!", Dash answered; and moved on.

"Shark Week! It's a shark!"

Morgan was apparently a kid from closer to the time they were now in, because she knew the channel the clue meant. They gave Sharks a whole week?! Dash was about to ask more questions on this specifically, and what kinds of shows were on during Shark Week, but Morgan got them back on track by pointing out a plastic rowboat.

"Um..Dashiell? Do you know how to row a boat?"

Dash recalled that time he had super-sped his mom and Vi to shore, with Mom being a boat, as a superhero...but that wouldn't help here.

Still, he could steer one well enough and knew that here it would just be with a paddle. "Sorta. I can get us to the shark though, yeah", Dash knew that was what she meant and so confidently went over to get and take the paddles, waiting until Morgan was settled before starting them off. It wasn't without a bit of drifting this way or that, but the boy managed it, and managed to get them over towards the shark.

"Here, I'll get it", it wasn't that Dash thought Morgan would toppled in...but it was also better to take the risk himself. Pulling the paper he then read. "Your going straight, don't stop now, steady on, and check the bow", Dash thought, "Bow, that's the front part of a ship I think, but...this is a rowboat...".

Still, on the front part of their rowboat, and probably just looking like decoration without the clue, was a painting or drawing of a tree.

[Deleted]

"I did go to Metroville Elementary, before coming here"

Morgan didn't know about a school named Metroville Elementary, but her attention peaked upon hearing the words "before coming here." "You're not from around here, too?!" Her lips parted upon hearing that confirmation that this boy was not from around here. The poor little 6 year old couldn't fathom just how many people were just like her, though it was making her feel a little better to hear that another kid was in her same situation. "I used to go to The Dalton School in New York before.." Morgan added shyly and faltered with a small smile. Before she came here, that is.   

"My mom wants me to at lest keep learning science from this scientist who's here, Mr. Jumba Jookiba, and...that would be ok, as he's cool,"

The six year old's smile faded only slightly upon hearing that his mom was here with him. Morgan gripped her Jessie doll just out of need for comfort. She didn't have a mom, but it was nice that he had his family here. She wished her daddy was here with her, too. "Yeah, that sounds like something my daddy would say.." She finally said, agreeing that his mom sounded like something that her dad would tell her to do if he were here and there wasn't a school for her to learn. The Dalton School was an Ivy Preparatory School League, and daddy was all about making sure she did well in school. She was alone in the parks though, so she wasn't sure how to go about doing that sort of thing on her own, especially with the scientist named Jumba that she didn't know. Unfortunately, she was too shy to ask.

Morgan's chubby cheeks smiled a little more when Dashiell said that he could row them to the shark. Maybe that was why they tried to have them paired with a grown up kid. She watched as Dashiell did it though, trying to learn how it was done. Daddy always told her that she needed to be independent. She knew that word because he said it a lot. She had never done this before, though she had seen it before. "They do this a lot in Central Park, but I never got to try it!" She commented as she stared around at the water around them. She wondered if her daddy would ever do this for Giselle. 

The little girl in the pirate costume smiled upon hearing Dashiell offer to get the paper from the fake shark fin. Daddy told her to be independent, but Daddy was also a gentleman like that, too. She thought Dashiell was a gentleman, just like that prince she met! She tilted her head curiously as she listened to the riddle, not understanding what it was at all. "..The bow?" She repeated with a curious crinkle of her nose; she had never heard of that before, but watched as Dashiell seemed to quickly understand what it meant! She moved over towards the edge of the boat to glance down at the front of the row boat. "It's a tree!" Morgan exclaimed excitedly, then looked at him in confusion, wondering where they should go. "Where should we go now?" She asked him for suggestions, looking up to him like the leader that he was. It could be any tree, right? 

[Dash Parr]

"You're not from around here, too?!"

Dash had just taken it for granted that Morgan was in the same boat as him (no pun intended) in terms of their situation as well! "Oh...yeah, I don't know why I just assumed you were the same". Hence why he hadn't explained what he meant, and had almost expected Morgan to know.

"I used to go to The Dalton School in New York before.."

"Wow! What's New York like?", Dashiell asked.

He missed her look as he mentioned mothers, and honestly might have been tempted to feel similarly on fathers, as she mentioned hers, but recognized by her words that that was similar as well, and both of their fathers weren't here with them either.

After letting her answer, Dash paused before going on, "I could introduce you to Mr. Jumba if you want, and you could check out his class". It was odd to think a kid might want to seek out school, but Morgan seemed at least half interested.

"They do this a lot in Central Park, but I never got to try it!"

"Really?". Dash knew what his mom would tell him to do about that, and to let her row, but honestly he wasn't sure if he was good enough for teaching it. "I've only done it a few times myself, and am sort of ok". And that time being the motor on Nomanis didn't count as the same thing.

"It's a tree! Where should we go now?"

Apparently the clue was being cute, and rowboat or no, they did mean the front of the boat. Morgan spotted the tree painting that could just be used to set the boats apart, or could be part of their clue (or both). Hmm...tree...

He glanced around, there were a few trees it could be, but they weren't exactly in the water, except for...there over closer in to shore they had floated a blow-up tree in the shallows, which you would still probably have to be at this angle to see. "I think there!", Dash rowed over towards the tree, stopping the boat once they got close.

"See anything?", he glanced around for their next clue.

[Deleted]

Morgan tilted her head curiously as to how Dashiell knew that she was in the same situation. Was it kind of like how Giselle looked lost in New York, when she first found her by that billboard? Perhaps Morgan did feel out of place; She was used to New York all her life that this place was way different than what she was used to. It was really quiet in comparison, and a lot like something from a fairytale book. "Do you know more people that aren't from here?" She ventured to ask instead, wondering if maybe Dashiell must've met a lot of people that were not from here that he probably thought everyone was out of place, just like them!

"Wow! What's New York like?",

The little girl from the Big City smiled upon recalling the city that was her home. "New York has really tall buildings everywhere, and it's really busy! There are a lot of people that walk to different places for work or for shopping," In fact, it was so busy that it was the very reason why so many people chose to walk. Her daddy preferred to use a taxi when possible though, especially at night, given that it was dangerous. It was one of the reasons why he signed her up for Karate lessons. "Where are you from, Dashiell?" She ventured to ask with an inquisitive smile while the big kid rowed the boat. 

Within a minute, Dashiell quickly discovered a tree actually floating in the shallows, hidden by the shadows of the bridge that it was floating next to that wouldn't be easy to spot unless you were where they were on the boat.  

"See anything?"

Morgan tried to look around, peering closely into the water. It felt like she looked around twice for anything actually on or at the bottom of the tree before she finally saw a gleam that the sun hit through the water, which made a silvery white object glisten in the white sand below the shallow water.  "There's something shiny in the water! Right there!" She pointed to it in the water, hoping Dashiell would see. Just in case he didn't, Morgan set aside her Jessie doll in the boat and began unlacing her shoes in order to go into the shallow water to get it.

[Dash Parr]

"Do you know more people that aren't from here?"

"Oh sure, I've met a few...", and Dash had to recall which of those few he had met as himself and not in his Super Identity. Which was hard and he always felt he was on the verge of saying something to mess it up. But for his point here he didn't have to get too specific. "And they aren't all human, there's been talking animals and aliens, like I said and Mr. Jumba".

New York sounded a bit like Metroville, except his family still drove, and especially since they had gotten that house out in the middle of nowhere, basically. Speaking of which, Morgan asked where he was from. "I'm from Metroville", Dash answered, "Or a bit outside it. Metroville looks a bit like New York, with tall buildings, but we live a little outside the city. Now. We moved a lot before", he explained.

As they rowed over towards the tree that was their next clue, Morgan spotted something shiny in the water. She started unlacing her shoes, like she would go in, and Dash knew if he was being fully gentlemanly he couldn't let her do that, so he scanned too and soon saw it! Only Morgan had the right idea and they weren't close enough for what Dash next tried, reaching over towards it and leaning a bit too far.

Thankfully the boat didn't go over, and thankfully it was shallow, so Dash just sort of plopped into the water and sat up, shaking the water from his hair.

He held the shiny thing though.

"Uh...was this it?", he asked, handing the item over.

[Deleted]

Pirate Princess Morgan smiled at Dashiell upon hearing him say that he met others too, not deterred at all that they weren't human. She did blink in surprise upon hearing him mention that he had met aliens, though. "You saw a real life alien?!" She asked Dashiell softly in surprise, her vivid imagination only trying to picture what they must've looked like. "What did they look like?" She asked afterwards with curiosity in her smile, the gullible six year old completely believing Dashiell without a single doubt. 

"I'm from Metroville..Or a bit outside it. Metroville looks a bit like New York, with tall buildings, but we live a little outside the city. Now. We moved a lot before," 

"Oh.." Morgan replied quietly. It made sense that he was from Metroville after going to school with the word Metroville in it, but she had no idea where that is, though somehow felt like she was expected to, so she decided not to ask. The first grader had never had the experience of moving a lot either. She always stayed in the same school since she was in kindergarten.  "So..Why did you move a lot, Dashiell?" She ventured to ask with a soft tone of curiosity, hoping it wasn't a bad thing to ask. 

"Um..Dashiell..?" The six year old tried to say when the big kid tried to lean over in the boat to reach for the shiny object in the sand. The little girl felt that Dashiell must know what he was doing though, so she instead kept quiet and gripped onto the sides of the boat just in case it was going to tip over. When Dashiell next plopped into the water, she blinked her eyes wide and couldn't help but stifle her giggle with a hand upon seeing Dashiell sitting up on the shallow water and shaking off his wet hair in a funny way.  She glanced at the object that Dashiell handed over to her, wiping the sand away. "It's a key!" She gasped in excitement. "Where do you think it's supposed to go?" Was this supposed to be part of the Pirate Adventure game? Or was it a real key? 

[Dash Parr]

Dashiell nodded to the question of having seen a 'real-life alien', and could almost guess what Morgan no doubt thought they looked like, so went on to correct those old movies even as she asked about them. "Not like the movies make them look", he answered. Again, and even with the amount of times it was proven by references and even just the guests' dress around here, he couldn't help forgetting that he came from a time behind those of the other kids around here and expected her to have seen the same old alien invasion movies he had.

"He isn't all gray with big eyes, he is more...of a blue purple and has four eyes, which he hides with sunglasses. I promised not to tell his name", he explained, and took the promise very seriously, knowing about secret identities and all, though of course he would later reach a point with Morgan where he would tell her and invite her to Jumba's science class.

Thankfully they moved on to why he had moved around a lot, though that was tricky too and Dash realized he'd walked into a question he couldn't answer easily. He had to stop doing that! He thought for a bit. "Well...my dad kept...making his bosses mad and so they wouldn't ask for money with how mad they were we would just move". There, that was both true and not telling about Super Powers, Dashiell also only half understanding the concept of the legal trouble said bosses would try to bring against his parents and from half understood conversations between Mom and Dad every time they did move and about, the old days and the lawsuits and such.

'But he's a good person, promise", Dashiell went on, "His bosses were just...cranky". Especially the last one from what he'd heard!

Falling into the water in front of a younger kid was very embarrassing, but Dash shook it (and the water) off, peering more closely at the key as Morgan identified it. "A treasure chest probably!", was of course the first thought to hit Dashiell and he glanced around, "There's probably one buried somewhere around here...".

He thought he caught another glint off in the water, one that could correspond to a...something jutting out of the surface. He almost took off running after it, before realizing that while it was still in the shallows, he would be pretty deep up in the water if he walked to it. They were meant to row. So he walked back over to the boat. "Sorry, I gotta get back in wet", he apologized, "But I think we row over there", he pointed to show.