4.24 Merry band of adventurers

What do you mean you're leaving? Now? What about university? You need an education! This was happening. It was actually happening! This was to soon. Aino wasn't prepared yet!

It's okay mum, I already got a job as a teacher. Optimism was always the best choice when the world was waiting.

You need to go to school! Daniel, say something! She couldn't leave now! And school was important!

What did he have to say? He hadn't gone to university either: I agree with your mum. You need university. You'll be able to start as a teacher right away, and you'll get payed more.

It wasn't all about paying lipservice to his wife; Daniel knew she was right. An education was the way to go. And it was best to have something to fall back on in case something happened. 

Nothing to worry about, I'm going to marry a rich old man and mooch off him! Irena had no idea what her parents was so worried about. She was all set to be an adult. Life as an adult was going to be the best thing.

Dad didn't appreciate what she just said though: What?!

No, sorry. I was just joking. No she wasn't. Or Bård, she could marry him to probably. Whatever.

Unfortunately, mum knew her better than she'd thought: Honey, you can't expect some man to take care of you! What if you break up? Then you'll end up on the streets all alone. And without an education as a backup. Or what if you get fired! Then you'll both end up on the streets.

Nah, then I'll just come back here. Easy peasy.

Had they really been that terrible parents? We're not going to be here forever!

Then I'll just stay with Neda or something. Irena still had everything planned out. Neda was going to be an old maid anyways.

Aino couldn't even think about calming down. When had this happened: You're not going to mooch off your sister!

Mum, I've made up my mind. I'm not going to university. Dad didn't go, and he's doing great! I've already gotten a place to live, so I'm just here to say goodbye to you. 

She was going to ask Bård to move in with her to. That way he could clean the place and pay the bills. Irena was still planning on getting a houseboat, but they were so bloody expensive.

Aino resigned, atleast she'd be close by.

You're sure you want to do this then Irena? Dad had to try one more time.

Daniel didn't believe pleading would work, he knew Irena to well for that. It wasn't that she was stubborn either, she was just very sure of what she wanted.

Yes dad. Everything will be fine. Usually those were famous last words, but Irena tended to always land on her feet.

I'm going to get the keys to my new place. Give it a few days, then come visit. Don't be a stranger. Okay mum? She might as well leave so dad could calm mum down. She'd come around eventually.

Okay honey. Aino didn't want her little baby to leave, she was still a little kid to her. Why couldn't she stay with her mum and dad?

Don't be a stranger, okay? Daniel hugged his little baby before she left. It was going to be empty around here without her. The two of them always had that extra special bond. Of all his kids, she really was the one that was most like him; as much as he hated admitting it at times.

I won't, she lied. She'd probably be to busy living the good life for a while. With no siblings or parents around.

Are you sure you don't want to wait to leave until after your brothers and sisters gets home from school?

I'd rather bathe with a toaster, she smiled. Not having her siblings around was by far the best part.

And just like that Irena was on the move. She'd even gotten a car.

It was a nice little place she had found for herself. A bit worn down around the edges, but nothing that wasn't possible to fix.

The parents might be sad that Irena had left, but for the kids it was positive. She'd been quite a dominating sim to live with.

Neda had her own little project going. Unable to forget what she'd overheard mum and dad talk about in Appaloosa plains, she'd tried figuring out what it was about. She hadn't found anything exciting about dad, but: Niko. What's mums maiden name?

Are you serious? You don't know mums maiden name?

No. How would she know that? Mum never said anything, and she couldn't find their marriagelisence.

Sometimes Niko forgot how much younger Neda was then him: Mallory. Mums' name was Mallory. When she married dad, she took his surname. That's how they ended up with the very common one instead: I think her dads name was Horsth- Mallory or something. Not sure what his firstname was, but it's not common here, so can't be that hard to find.

I'm not sure what her mums name was though; probably Horsth since that was grandpas middlename. Think it's how that works atleast. 

Neda didn't actually care about that, she'd just wanted to have something to search for online. She wasn't entirely sure what she was looking for, but someone was missing, and someone was an ancient old crust. Maybe even both at the same time. So the most natural place to start with was family, right?

Okay. I just wanted to look into mums familytree, so I need her name. Though, come to think about it; most likely it would be that mum had a sister. An older one probably that she didn't have contact with anymore.

Why don't you just ask her then?

If that was the case, it would make her the hero of the family! Reuniting the estranged sisters! Uhm... It's a schoolproject. 

I kind of wanted to do it myself.  She wanted the glory all on her own. Ofcourse she'd figured out that there was someone involved mum didn't want to meet, but she'd be dead now anyway. So her best guess was a missing sister. Or atleast it would be until the next time she changed her mind about who it could be.

Niko knew that she rarely finished anything on her own, usually because she failed before getting there. I get that. Why don't you ask Dragan, he knows where to look these things up.

They got the news that Irena had married her boyfriend just a few days after moving out; though the place they lived was far from a pretty one. Aino wondered how her little baby could live in this worn down place. Her and Bård should move back home to them. 

Isn't it a nice place gorgeous? Daniel tried to pretend he didn't know what his wife was thinking. Even if he was thinking the same thing himself.

I know the place is a bit run down mum, Irena knew what she was thinking, she'd thought the same thing: But it's whole and mouldfree. 

She did have a point. The cupboards were whole and the furniture looked pretty new. The wallpaper was terrible, but a fresh layer of paint would do the trick.

Irena continued: We are working and saving simoleons right now, so we'll get it fixed up eventually. Okay?

Okay

That didn't mean that Aino wouldn't go all mum on her oldest daughter, and make sure she had something proper to eat. Bet she only ate frozen pizza and bad food like that!

Daniel tried beeing a bit less paternal: So how are you enjoying beeing married? None of them cared that they hadn't been invited to a wedding. From what they understood, they hadn't had even a small ceremony.

It's okay. Not much have changed really. Bård's a chef, Irena said it a bit to loudly to make sure mum heard it: Between the two of us we're doing well enough finacially. And I've already gotten a promotion. 

That's nice sweety. Good thing her husband was a chef, because Irena couldn't even boil water.

It seemed like Irena was barely out of the house before Niko celebrated his birthday.

He planned on travelling around a bit before settling down somewhere, but for that he needed a better wardrobe; a practical yet stylish one. Damn, look at that. He really didn't have a butt.

Neda didn't want her bigbrother to leave; he'd be gone by the time they came home from school. And mum and dad hadn't let them skip either. That was so unfair.

Don't be upset Neda, I'm just going to Shang Simla first. I'll phone you when I get there okay? 

Shang Simla was like at the end of the world! And probably dangerous!

It's a small place that's full of tombs, and I'll be around several other experienced sims okay? It's perfectly safe. 

She wasn't so sure about that.

Dragan wasn't thrilled either, and did his best to pretend he wasn't crying. That was until his bigbrother hugged him: There there, It'll be okay. I'll call. Why was everyone so upset? Phones existed. Niko had to remind Dragan of that several times as he sobbed into his shoulder, leaving a wet spot on his jumper.

Aino was terrified that something was going to happen to her little babyboy. And why did he have to leave town? And for Shang Simla? That was like at the other end of simplanet! Her husband didn't seem to thrilled either.

Mum, everything will be fine, I'll be together with several other sims; experienced ones, Niko repeated. He hoped atleast, he really should have checked it better out.

Daniel plastered on a smile; why the hell would he be an explorer? That wasn't an actual job: So what are you merry band of adventurers looking for? He kind of imagined Niko with a long wizards robe and a pointy hat; full on covered with stars and a little magic wand with a star at the end.

We're going to try to find whereabouts of Pangus axe. Niko said, giving up on explaing to his parents that he was assisting on an actual excavationsite. He assumed they wouldn't find the actual ax, but that wasn't important to him. He wanted to live a bit before settling down. 

That sounds very dangerous. Aino was sure it would fall from the ceiling and hit her son across the head.

It's not dangerous. Niko laughed: everything will be done properly, it's even funded by a university. Okay? I'm just the help. I'll call you when I get there. 

When you meet a girl....

Niko smiled, mum was hopeless: I'm there to work mum

When you meet a girl, tell us okay. She really wanted to be a grandma.

He sighed: Sure mum. Why did they all assume he'd be back in a few weeks? He'd dreamt about this his entire life.

Aino and Daniel both disliked his decision. But there wasn't a lot they could do about it. He'll be fine right?

He'll be fine gorgeous. Atleast he assumed he'd be. This whole business sounded dangerous.

Just as promised, Niko did call when he arrived and the whole thing did seem safe. He was nice enough to send them some video he'd taken from the tomb. It looked a bit more boring that Neda had thought; it had looked completely empty to her eyes.

She still enjoyed her teenaged life, without any worry about what to do when growing up.

Dragan kept looking up and down, even if he didn't need to look at the keyboard when typing. His thin fingers having a lot of practice, flew over the buttons at a speed Neda couldn't even dream of. She knew how to type at a normal speed ofcourse, but nothing like her twinbrother could.

Here's ours atleast. He kept typing as he looked up at the screen again: And there's Nikos, and... he typed a bit more: And Irena. He bet she had been a fat baby with all that pettiness stuffed inside her: That's it. Just the four of us.

Dragan... Did you remember to look at mums maiden name?

Like any real investigator she hadn't told him why she was looking. She'd just repeated what she'd told Niko, but since they were in the same class; she just said she wanted to make a familytree. Dragan was so gullible at times she almost felt guilty.

He grinned: I forgot. What was it again?

Mallory, or Horsth Mallory.

He didn't look at her before he started typing again. She assumed it was legal, it was just that she didn't know how or what to look for. Besides, she needed birthcertificats. Because any other papers wasn't necessarily correct. Atleast she thought so.

He stopped typing after a while and started rubbing his chin: Here's an Ian Horst- Mallory... Parents Dominic Mallory and Nanette Horsth

Probably mums dad and his parents; you know; grandpa, Dragan. 

He didn't answer for a while again: Yeah, it's pretty old so... He kept rubbing his chin and staring at the screen, sometimes tapping a button with one finger.

Neda bet he'd forgotten what he was doing: Dragan, let's keep looking

He kept rubbing his chin without answering

Dragan. Neda loved her brother, but he was a massive airhead

Yeah, I found something. It's a birthcertificate for a Catherine Mallory. It's a bit before Irena was born.

What? Holy shit! They'd actually found something? Had she actually had an idea that turned out to go somewhere?! Because mum was an only child, that she was certain of! And that was probably how this worked, right?

Neda jumped up from the seat to look for herself: Dragan that's amazing. I can't believe you found something!

Yeah I'm really good. He had the same ammount of belief in his own skills as the rest of the family. 

What else does it say?! This could be the start to finding every answer she was looking for!

Nothing... It doesn't say anything. Nothing about who the dad is, nothing. But mum's the mum. Obviously.

What? She looked over his shoulder, seeing the clear "unknown" where the fathers name should be. How was that possible: I don't get it. Why hasn't dad signed it?

Because he's not the dad. She knew she was lost when even Dragan pointed out the obvious. 

He could be the dad, maybe he just doesn't know about her. But, if this was what mum and dad talked about, he did know about it. But maybe he just didn't know about it back then?

Nah, he's not the dad. Dragan insisted: If he were the dad, she'd be living with us. Doesn't make sense any other way. 

Sometimes Neda wondered how it was to have such a simple view on simlife.

He continued: Dad wouldn't not know about a kid he has, especially with our mum. They're married after all. And she's not a lot older than Irena, so he'd know about her. 

Dragan turned the computer off. He had such an easy time finding things online, he wasn't always sure when he crossed over into hacking: I think you should let it stay where it is Neda. I'm not helping you anymore.

At the back of his mind he hoped Neda wouldn't think about looking for a deathcertificate or adoptionpapers. If dad didn't know about this, it was best not to say anything. And if he knew, it was still best not to say that they knew. Sometimes secrets should stay secrets. Not that he got what this had to do with Nedas project, wouldn't she want to know the name of mums mum and her parents again? Then he forgot to think deeper about it.
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Irena and Niko grew up. I realise that there's not a good picture of Niko, but he looks exactely the same as earlier so I figured it wasn't a big loss; he's just a bit taller than before.

And yeah, Neda and Dragan are still a lot younger than their sibling, so it's not without reason she doesn't consider the most obvious things. Or even why her thoughtprocess isn't completely coherent all the time.

Thanks for reading