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Chester; Hi everyone! 8D Chester speaking, the small purple thingy, down here. Anyway, Mary is using my page to try at a Not-a-Meepit story again! ^^

Spring had come and gone on Poogle Mountain. The snow had melted into the soil, giving much needed water, and as the curtain opened on summer, the fields normally rocky and barren were now filled with fields of flowers and grass. The tempature was perfect; Not stifling hot, but warm enough that if they wanted to, a person could go swimming.

Chester crept from behind a wall, tugging nervously at the pirate hat on his head. He peered from behind a corner, then gestured with his hand behind him. Instantly, a gelert appeared, eye patched and bandana-ed. In her arms, she clutched a golden canister. She looked up at her chia friend, mischief glimmering in her eyes. "Is it safe?".

The two pets ran from behind the wall. However, they didn't get very far, when, suddenly...

."Auuuugh!" Chester shrieked, hitting the ground as a plushie snowball made contact with the back of his head. Goldie tried to stop, but ended up tripping over Chester, almost losing the canister but managing to get a grip on it last minute. Laughter bounced off the walls, and Chester glanced up, already knowing who it was. "Captain Hisser." He muttered.

The baby hissi laughed manically, holding the toy pirate cannon in his wing. An eyepatch covered one of his eyes, but Chester could clearly see what the hissi wanted in the other one. "You can't have them all!" shouted Chester. "Goldie, don't let them have it!".

Goldie nodded determinedly, hugging the canister close to herself. Hisser smiled. "You think that'll ssstwop me? Ha!" He gestured with his other wing. "Trissstan, take it fwom them!".

The baby lupe shuffled forward nervously. He was wearing a striped pirate shirt over his normal one, and in his paw he held a wooden practice sword. He looked towards Goldie, who was glaring at him, and bit his lower lip before asking in a high-pitched, three-year-old voice, "Um...May we have them, pwease?".

Tristan looked back up desperately. Hisser sighed. "Fine, I'll so it!" The hissi pointed the toy cannon at Chester. "Give them up, Captain Chester, or it'll be the last thing you ever do!".

Tristan squeaked in horror and covered his eyes, acting as if it were a real cannon. Chester stared at the cannon hole worriedly. "Wait, wait!" He wailed, as Hisser was about to pull the string and unleash small plastic ball fury. "What if we share?".

Hisser stared at Chester as if he were insane. "Share? Share? Share the TREASURE...?".

."Yeah, if we run out, Zelemay will always make some more tomorrow.".
."Oh. Okay, then! ^3^".

Tristan opened his eyes and saw Hisser happily drop the toy cannon and sit down, curling his tail around him. Goldie and Chester sat down, and Tristan cautiously sat down to complete the circle as Goldie pulled the canister open. She took a sniff, smiled, and dumped the treasure they had all risked their 'lives' for on the floor; Four big chocolate chip cookies.

Chester 'squee'ed and grabbed one, immiedently starting to eat it. Goldie and Hisser reached for the same one, and had a momentary hand battle over it before Goldie pulled away, victorius. Hisser grumbled something about people with fingers as he started on his, and Tristan nibbled contentedly, this being one of the main reasons he played pirate.

."Y'know, I bet we'd all be real good pirates." commented Chester in-between bites. "Yeah!" agreed Goldie. "I bet we'd be the fe- fa- fearsoomest pirates is the whole wide world!" "Y'know what I think?" said Hisser calmly, licking his wings clean.

."What?" chorused the others. "I think," Hisser said, mischief glimmering in his eyes. "I think we'd be better...if we took lessons from a real pirate!".

Whhhhhaaaat?" gasped Chester, leaning forward, eyes wide. Hisser nodded enthusiastically, smiling.
There's two in the guild, riiight? Charlie and Kate! They can teach us to be better pirates, we can learn to steal more cookies and fight better and-

Goldie and Chester were already up. "You had us at more cookies!" Goldie smiled, grabbing Tristan's paw just as he finished eating and jerking him up. Tristan blinked confusedly as they all began to drag him down the hall, laughing and talking; Nobody heard him whimper and say quietly, "G-Goldie, you're squeezing my paw too twightly...Gwooooldie...

Soon, they burst through the doorway into the main room of Not-a-Meepit. The owners in the room looked up, surprised. However, the kids had no eyes for them as they spotted their victi-I mean, their destination across the room; A pirate.

."Charlie! Charlie Charlie Charlie!" They all ran towards him, tripping and dragging Tristan, in Goldie's case, before encircling him and all beginning to talk at once. Charlie looked terrified, suddenly being surrounded by small, talking children, who all demanded his attention at once.

Holdddd it!" He shouted, as they backed him up against a wall. "One at a time, one at a time! C'mon!" Hisser held up a wing. Charlie blinked, and slowly pointed at him. "Ah..small, purple, and slithering?

."Charlie, teach us to be piratesss!" Hisser demanded, looking up at him eagerly.
Charlie blinked. "...Excuse me?".
."We wanna be pirates!" Chester said in a rush. "and you're a pirate! So teach us!".
."Uh...well, guys...".
."C'mmoooooon!" they all begged, except for Tristan, who just whimpered from his hand still being crushed. "Guys.." Charlie said quieter, his pirate toughness beginning to soften from three pairs of puppy dog eyes.

Suddenly, somebody let out a scoff. Charlie whipped around, glaring. "Shut up, Kate!".

The female pirate peered at him from behind a cup of what appeared to be coffee. She smirked. "I didn't say anything, Charles.".
."You scoffed. That suggests something.".
."Well, since you honestly want to know..." Kate drawled, leaning back in her chair so that her feet were propped up on the table. "I just don't see why they would want lessons from you, I mean, with you not even being a good pirate....".

."Excuse me?!".
."Well, I mean by comparison, Charles. Ever notice how a gem looks compared to a rock?".
."...What are you implying, Katherine?".

Kate gritted her teeth but said, "I'm just saying, Charles, that they may rather take lessons from a pirate than a deckhand.".
."What makes you think you're better than me?".
."I never said that, but now that you mention it...Ever fought three men at once, Charles, and won?".
."Ever had to keep watch in the Crow's Nest during a storm, Katherine?".
."Ever had to eat month old biscuits when you run out of food at sea, Charles?".
."Ever had to fight off fifteen rats at once in a small storeroom using nothing but a mop?".
."Ever pillaged?".
."Heck yeah I've pillaged! Ever drunken 15 bottles in a row, Katherine?".
."16!".
."Ha! 15's my lowest record! 17!".
."Yeah, well, 16's mine! 18!".
."19!".
."20!".

."21, 22, 23.." Chester interrupted the pirates, who were now almost face-to-face in fury. "I like counting! 8D" "Ooooh, so do I! ^^" Goldie cheered. "24, 25, 26..".

The two pirates ignored the small counting critters, backing up so that they weren't so close. Amy cast Megan a 'oh here we go again' look, to which Megan responded a 'oh well what can we do' shrug.

Kate slammed her hands on the table, glaring at Charlie furiuosly. "Charles, I'm not getting into arguments over nothing, we both know I'd make these kids much better pirates than you can ever dream of doing!".
Charlie's eyes glinted with anger, crossing his arms in front of him. "Ha! You wanna bet?".
."Heck yeah, I'd bet!".

Amy popped up, suddenly looking interested. "Oooh, let's do a bet! 8S".
Megan smiled. "Okay!".

."Wait, I was only doing that for emphasis...".
."So, Amy, what's the bet? 8D".
."Oooh, I know, Megan! Let's have a contest! The pirates have about..two weeks to make a bunch of the little kids ship-shape sailors of the scurvy sea, and at the end, we'll have a huge competition between the two crews!".
."Hang on, me and Charles haven't agreed to thi-".
."Alright, sounds awesome! 8D and...if they don't win, they have to let their owners give them a makeover!".

."WHAAAAAAAAAAT?!" screeched the two pirates, horrified. The giggling owners ignored them. "Yeah, yeah!" agreed Amy enthusiastically. "and if they refuse....well, Kate knows what'll happen! and it won't be pleasant, no sir! ^^".
."As does Charlie!" Megan nodded toward the male, wide-eyed pirate. "and if they lose, they have to wear their make-over for at least....a day!".
."No, a week!".
."A week, perfect! ^^".

."Hang on, HANG ON!" shouted Kate. "We haven't agreed to any of this, ANY OF THIS!".
."But, Amy, we'll need more little kids. A crew of two will be lame. D:".
."Yessir, it would! :{3 Let's go get as many little kids as we can!".

and the two owners ran off to the chat board enthusiastically, still talking in loud chatters. Charlie and Kate remained like statues, mouths open, still too shocked to speak. Slowly, Kate looked up at Charlie. Charlie looked back, and the glimmer in their eyes spoke clearly what both of them were thinking;

By the next morning, a cluster of pets and owners had formed on the front lawn of Not-a-Meepit. They all awaited eagerly this said challenge, and many of them had small pets with them, ready to be pirates. In front of this crowd was a male pirate and female pirate, an overturned rowboat the only thing separating them.

In the midst of this crowd was a small baby lupe, clinging to the pants of a tall human. "Mama, I don't...I don't wanna be a pwirate..." Tristan whispered, clinging to the fabric. His eyes were already wet from worrying; Melissa looked down, noticed this, and immiedently got down to hug him, because a baby lupe with wet eyes is possibly one of the saddest things one could see at Not-a-Meepit, next to an empty jar of jellybeans.

."Oh, Tristan. You'll be a great pirate, they aren't so bad." Melissa reassured him. "Besides, it's not like being a real pirate. You aren't going to be gone for more than a few hours a day." Tristan looked up into her eyes, hiccupping. "..W-weally?" "Yes, really, would I lie to you, my little mellow shmellow?" Melissa teased, poking Tristan on the nose. Tristan giggled and poked Melissa back, saying "No, mama." before hugging her again. It was a good thing Megan suddenly called for everybody's attention, because Melissa, guest , and all other readers of this story would've exploded from cuteness if this went on for much longer.

Megan clicked on the microphone, and waved it in the air, gesturing wildly. "Welcome one, welcome all, to the official Pirate Competition of Not-a-Meepit! Amy has a list with her of all the competitors of this fine competition! If your pet's name is mentioned, please bring them up here, and leave them beside the corresponding pirate! and I thank you! Amy?" The squirrel jumped up and onto the girl's shoulder, smiling a mile a minute as Megan held up the microphone to her mouth.

Amy pulled a rolled up piece of paper from behind her back, and unrolled it, until it was roughly half her size. Clearing her voice, she declared, "Hear ye, hear ye! Okay, first up, we have the dastardly pirate Kate!" Kate adjusted her head bandana, but besides that, paid no attention to the applause from the crowd. Amy smiled, and waited a few minutes before continuing, "As you know, we had a lot of applicants, and we randomly sorted them...So, on Kate's t-…crew, we first have Sequoia, usul, pet of Tana!".

There was a loud squeal from the crowd as a skunk usul darted from the cluster, and ran up to Kate, rapidly shaking her hand. "Hihihihi! I'm Sequoia, we're going to have so much fun, this is going to be great, great, yayness, this is going to be so much FUUUUUUN!" She sang loudly, while Kate pulled her hand back as if something burning had touched it. Charlie stifled laughter from across the boat.

Amy nodded. "Glad to see enthusiasm. Okay, next up on Kate's tea- I MEAN, crew...Melly Zafarian, zafara, pet of Jewlz!".

A short, little zafara poked her head out from behind Jewlz, who ushered her forward. She looked extremely young; yet, she walked easily over to Kate, and smiled shyly up at her. Kate rolled her eyes, while Sequoia happily blathered on and on at Melly.

."Now, next up, we have...." Amy paused for dramatic effect. "Spot, acara, pet of Jordyn!".

Spot happily ran forward, smiling. "Hi!" She giggled, waving at the other people on her 'crew'. Kate frowned even more seriously, raising an eyebrow. Amy blinked, then continued slowly, "oookay....and, as the last three, We have...Chester, chia, pet of Mary, Hisser, hissi, pet of Darky, and Charmy, bee, guardianed by Sonic!".

The owners let out cheers as the last three boys made their way up to Kate, pushing each other out of the way and basically darting about, in Charmy's case. Kate ducked as the bee went over her head and Chester and Hiss began talking to her. Finally, she snapped. "Everybody! Quiet!" She roared.

They silenced, and Amy laughed nervously. "....Alrighty, then! That completes Kate''s tea- FOR THE LAST TIME, CREW......" Melissa looked down, and Tristan looked crestfallen. "Honey, what's the matter?" She whispered, confused. "I'm not on Melly's…crew..." He whimpered, gripping Melissa's pants ever tighter. As Melissa got down to comfort him again, Amy continued.

."Okay, now we have the fantastic pirate, Charlie!" Charlie smiled slightly as the crowd appluaded for him like they did Kate. "First up on the crew...We have KK, gelert, pet of Mae!".

KK shuffled up there, looking like he'd really rather be anywhere else. Charlie laughed nervously. "Um...Hey." KK looked up at him through mounds of hair on his eyes. "Hey is for unis." "...Right, um...".

."Moving on!" exclaimed Amy, gesturing wildly like Megan had. "next two are...Rin, xweetok, pet of Jellarine, and Draco, hissi, pet of Kendal!".

An elegant, high-social little xweetok made her way from the crowd. She was dressed up like she was supposed to be going to some dance, not pirate lessons. Charlie visibly paled, suddenly remembering the sake of his dignity rested on this etiquetted xweetok. "Oh, this won't do..." He muttered as Kate snickered.

After her came a baby hissi, who looked curious at the state of his surroundings. "Hi!" He said eagerly as he approached Charlie. "Do you wanna hear a story?" "Er.." smiled Charlie. "Not right now." Rin didn't say anything, just simply smiled.

."Next two are...Goldie, gelert, pet of...Gelert, and Nyrii, ....rabbid..., gaurdianed by Sonic!".

KK suddenly started laughing loudly and insanely. Charlie stared at him, wondering what the heck was going on, until Gelert ran up and high-fived him, immiedently setting in on blabbering on about how, "This was going to be awesome if they were on the same crew" "totally", etc. etc. After her came a small rabbit-like creature, and Charlie, who'd never played video games before, was simply flabbergasted on exactly what it was. "Er...nice to meet you." He said kindly, reaching out a hand. The sweet kimonoed creature shook it, saying quietly, "You too.".

Tristan squeaked in terror, and Melissa gave him a little push towards Charlie. Tristan shuffled up there, looking wide-eyed, terrified, up at Charlie. Charlie smiled. "Hi, nice to have you on the crew." Tristan said nothing in response, just stared desperately at Melissa, who smiled encouragingly.

."This," Amy called, eyes shining happily as her voice projected across the lawn. "are your crews for the great Pirate Competition!".

The cheers were overwhelming and seemed to last for a long time. Amy smiled widely; Kate and Charlie met each's other gaze, and both smirked a determined look before Amy continued with a loud shout, "Now, before we let the crews begin their training, we want them to do one last thing as an announcement- make up pirate names to paint on the side of the boats!".

Suddenly, the confidence failed a little, at least on Charlie's part. He turned back towards his group, and they were already arguing. "The Cannons!" KK shouted, to which Goldie rigorously shouted, "Cannons, Cannons, Cannons!" Rin turned a deaf ear towards them, saying, "Nuh-UH! Let's be something prettier....like Treasure!" "Treasure's shiny!" interjected Draco happily. The four continued to argue, and Charlie looked behind him to see Nyrri and Tristan whispering to each other. Tristan said something, and Nyrri giggled. "I like it!" She said, just loud enough for Charlie to hear.

."What?" Charlie asked. Tristan fell silent, but Nyrri smiled up at him. "The Rubber Ducks!".
."Ah, yes, well, that's not exactly a-" Charlie began, but it was too late; Draco had heard. "The Rubber Ducks!" He exclaimed. The other three fell silent; staring at him.

."Hey, I like it! 8D" Rin said happily. "Oh, yes, the Rubber Ducks. I'm shaking already." KK said sarcastically. "What kind of name is that?".
."One Tristan came up with.".
,"...Oh. Then I'm all for it! 8D;;".
."Let's toughen it up just a bit...How about we use that word we heard Charlie and Kate use yesterday? ^^" Goldie said happily. Charlie frowned and held his breath, only imagining what that could be. "Y'know, Pillaging?" He breathed a sigh of relief.
."The Pillaging Pirate Rubber Ducks! 8D" exclaimed Nyrri.

The others gave shouts of agreement. Charlie looked blankly at them, then sighed. He was down six to one. "Oh, maan..." He gave a glance towards Kate, wondering if she was having any kind of easier time with this.

."We're not going to be the 'Rainbow Treasure Island Crew'!" Kate growled angrily for the millionth time. The boys immiedently agreed to this, though Spot and Sequoia didn't give up hope. Melly remained silent, and bit her lower lip, glancing over at her two best friends in the other group.

Hisser slammed his tail on the ground, the closest he could get to of stomping. "Let'sss be something fierce!" He declared. "Like the 'Bloodthirsssty Bunch of-'" "Okay, don't finish that sentence." Kate said strictly, pointing a warning finger at the small hissi as the others' eyes grew frightened.

."Stooop!" Chester shouted, waving his stubby arms around in an attempt to get everybody's attention. Everybody stopped talking and stared at him. He cleared his voice. "Thank you. Okay, first, let's think of pirate things. Any suggestions?
."Cannons!".
."Guns!".
."Coolish pointy hats! 8D".
."...Crow's nest?" inquired Melly quietly, finally speaking up. Nobody except Spot heard her, and so it everybody thought she had come up with it when she declared, "I know! 'Birdies of the Crow's Nest!'".

."I liiike it!" Sequoia squealed, clapping. Everybody else gradually came to an agreement. "I guesssss..." "Okay, that'll work! ^^" "I don't have a problem with it." Charmy buzzed from above, finally taking a side in the arguments. In fact, the only person who seemed to have a problem with it was Kate. ."There is no way I'm captaining a crew called 'Birdies of the Crow's Nest!" She cried, horrified. "Too bad! You're outvoted!" Sequoia said defiantly, sticking out her tongue at the pirate captain. "So there! Nyyyyah!".
In response, every other crew member stuck their tongue out too. "Nyaaaaaaaaaaaaaaah!" (Except Hisser, who's, of course, sounded more like a 'Sssssssssss'.)

Kate raised her hands in the air, as if surrendering. "Fine! Fine! Have a lame crew name, it's not my problem! I'll be over with you bunch by the end of next week." Kate mumbled the last part, so that it wasn't heard by the crew, who was too busy celebrating to care.

."Crews, do we have our names?" cried Amy. "Yeaaaah!" cheered a majority of the little ones, pumping their fists in the air. "Then captains, please come write it out on the boat...!".

Silently, Kate and Charlie marched up to the boat as if on death row. They both sat down, and picked up their sharpies. Then, slowly and carefully, they wrote their crew names out on the boat.

."Okay, te-...CREWS! 8D;;" cried Amy. "Would the Rubber Duckies please go into the woods behind you and down the yellow marked trail? Kate's, please go into the one behind you and turn down the green. The rest of us...to the HQ!" Amy screamed the last part, and immiedently everybody began stampeding back towards the HQ. The children waved towards their owners/guardians, and turned promptly back towards their current captains.

Kate gave them an appraising look, and turned promptly on her boots towards the woods, shuffling towards it. "Well, you heard the squirrel." She called over her shoulder. "Let's get a move on." The children immiedently scurried after her, talking amongst themselves.

Melly trailed slightly behind, looking at the ground and hugging herself. Sequoia fell back from the rest of the group, giving her a quizzingly look, but before she could inquire anything there was a loud gasp from everybody in the front.

."Apparently..." muttered Kate, staring at the scene before her as the children screamed and ran towards it like a playground. It was more like a lake, with a sandy shore and a small dock leading out onto the water. But that wasn't what caught Kate's eye. It was the ship.

How the heck did Not-a-Meepit do things like this? It was a miniature ship, roughly half the size of a real one. Kate walked along the dock, and the deck was only about an inch above her head. She could hear the children inside, hurriedly gabbing away. In fact, even that small zafara that had been lagging behind was on the boat now...

Suddenly, something caught her eye on shore. It looked like a tool shed, and on it read, "Captain's Supply" in large letters. Kate left the dock and crossed the sandy area, making a mental note to take off her shoes next time as they sank down into the grains. Needless to say, it took a little while, but she managed to get to the shed and pull open the door.

Inside was the most pathetic amount of stuff Kate had ever seen. Instead of gleaming swords, for what Kate knew was for later on in training, there were soft, Styrofoam ones that graduated to wooden ones. Instead of guns, there were water pistols. Instead of cannonballs, there were water balloons (Empty at the moment). Kate stared, then sighed. "Great, I need to talk to Amy about better equip- Gaaaaaaaaaaaah!".

Kate slammed into the wall, dislodging some supplies, as a small box hit her in the head at alarming speed. She whipped around, glaring at it. "What the heck?!".

Something has happened!
	Not-a-Meepit says; 'Remember, if anything you learn from Not-a-Meepit, it's this; If it's shorter than you and furry, do not give it weapons! Oh, and Thanks Jellyneo.net for our custom Random Event!

Kate blinked at the random event box. "What. The heck...Curse you, jellyneo! GAH!" Kate's head slammed into the wall again as a box smacked into her forehead and bounced off.

Something has happened!
	Not-a-Meepit says, 'Don't you dare curse our friendly random event maker! 8K oh, and Thanks Jellyneo.net for our custom Random Event!

Of course, elsewhere, Charlie was still meandering through the forest, talking to the jabbering children around him. "What'll we be doing all this time?" KK asked dully. Charlie shrugged. "I suppose I'll figure that out as we go, correct?".

."Oh my gosh, look!" screeched Rin, darting onto the beach. The reaction was basically the same as the Birdies'; Charlie stood there, dumbfounded at the scene, as the children rushed onto a set similar to that of Kate's. Charlie slowly approached the ship, mouth open. It, too, was only about an inch above his head.

This was amazing; he took appreciation where Kate didn't. This ship reminded him a lot of his first, and Charlie ran his hand over the intricately carved waves of the rim. He noticed a rope ladder over the side of it; The children were already pulling themselves up and over, screeching and talking. Charlie smirked and just pulled himself over the side, landing on the deck.

Charlie didn't exactly get a good feel for the ship, for immiedently after he boarded and laid his hat and sword on a random chest (since he thought they wouldn't exactly be handy in the few seconds he would have them off), Goldie spotted something he hadn't immiedently. "Oh, wow, look- A wheel!" She cried, running over and immiedently beginning to pull on it. "Hey, wait, no, let me do it...!" KK declared, pulling it in the opposite direction.

This wouldn't be such a problem if Not-a-Meepit knew better boat designs. They didn't, so this boat was perfect except for one detail; The boat rocked if it was tied up and the wheel was turned, instead of turned. So, while the two pulled at it, the rest of the unfortunate crew and captain slid across the deck, stumbling, until they hit a wall.

."Ack! Stop!" screeched Rin, running up at a free moment and tugging it in Goldie's direction, so that way was even more forceful. "Let me do it!" "No way, let me!" Draco cried, latching his tail around one of the spokes and spinning it towards KK. Now the only ones tripping and falling were Charlie, Tristan, and Nyrri, all of whom looked freaked out; Tristan looked moments away from tears.

."Make it soooop.." he whimpered, clinging to Nyrii as they slid across the deck for the millionth time. He seemed to cling to things for comfort in this scary world. Nyrri clung back as they were almost chucked over the side after a rather rough tug. Charlie tried to remain standing, having survived many storms at sea standing up, and he had almost achieved this when....

Charlie looked around, and his eyes widened in horror as a chest flew across the deck. The boat was threatening...it wouldn't...but it was...! "Noooo!" Charlie yelled, running and trying to grab onto it minutes too late. It slid fom his grasp and abandoned ship, attempting winged flying but failed miserably into the water. It wasn't that deep of a pool of water, and soon enough the contents of the chest began to surface; Costume pirate equipment, such as bandannas, hats, shirts, eye patches. However, There was something much more important to Charlie on that chest. and soon enough, part of it surfaced; a much better made, soggy hat that had been on Charlie's head not moments ago....and the sword, it just wasn't floating.

Charlie stared in horror at the water, hand still reached out, as if the power of the force was going to bring his stuff back. The children stopped arguing, yet Tristan was still clinging to a confused and now awkward Nyrri, eyes closed and whimpering, unaware the boat had stopped moving. There was a moment of silence.

Charlie looked up slowly, and put on a forced smile. "I hope you guys are for swimming, becuase our first teamwork assignment is retrieving m- our stuff." "I don't really wa-" "I don't really care. C'mon, now...".

Ten minutes later, five happy children were out in the water. They had thought to bring bathing suits, yet most of them were floating on little wooden rafts with nets to scoop up equipment. KK swiped at Goldie's head, which Goldie quickly revenged upon, which began a huge fight of swiping at each other. Charlie, relieved somebody was excited at fighting with long equipment, yet not wanting to get into trouble with the owners, quickly put an end to this. Rin and Nyrii were in excited conversation over something concerning hair, and Draco was in the water, slithering around with Charlie. He helped the captain drag the chest back up from the water, and the captain himself had retrieved his sword, and so Charlie was now listening with amusement to the children babbling.

Tristan ran through the woods, panic-stricken. He had told Charlie he had to go potty. Charlie had told him to go back to 'HQ' and pointed towards the path. Tristan had gone up the path. It was a dead-end, somehow. and now, the baby lupe was lost. ."Help!" he wailed, running. "Help me, Help me, I'm lost, Help mee!" What if he had to spend the rest of his life out here, living in a cave? Tristan whimpered, thinking of Fang, whom his mother had told him was found in a cave. Fang was so brave and awesome, but did Tristan really have to live in a cave to be like Fang? Caves were scary, they had things like spyders and centipedes. What if he went hungry? Went if he was never found? What if they did find him, he was a meany and didn't like people? Oh, Fang was so lucky he didn't have that happen to him, but oh Tristan didn't want to-

Tristan was so worried he didn't notice he had come upon a cliff. He stopped moments before slipping, and stared, horrified, down into the deep water. His gaze traveled across the water, and his heart leapt when he spotted a pirate ship, about the size of his thumb by here, on the opposite shore. He must've gone in a circle! But Tristan didn't want to go in the woods again, oh no, so he opened his mouth to shout when...

It was a whisper, carried by the wind. Tristan froze, too terrified to move, as it continued to waft from the woods, now a different person with a slightly higher voice.

."I don't know, must be one from those stupid pirate camps...".
."Psh, that kid a pirate? He's not brave enough to be a bucket of dirty mop water on a ship, let alone a pirate. Did you just hear him? 'Oh help me, oh help me! Two seconds in the woods, save me!'".

Cruel laughter echoed from the woods, followed by a slightly less sure one. Tristan turned around slowly until he was facing the woods, mouth dry.

."Hey, looks like he noticed us. Think he can see us?".
."Cowards don't have the courage to look into shady places where voices come from. Hey, maybe we should mess him up a bit, teach him not to stray from his mommy again...".

There was a snapping twig, and footsteps coming closer. Tristan's little heart beat faster and faster. "N-n-no.." He stuttered and rasped, too terrified to speak correctly.

."You cannot be serious, you're sticking up for a little kid?".
."Not just any little kid, it's Fang's little brother, and Melissa's pride and joy. Melissa will wreck our lives if she knows we messed with him at all, and I don't know Fang well enough to even think of what he will do, but judging on his looks, it won't be pretty.".
."Now you're being a coward...".
The voices dropped to such a low mutter Tristan thought they were gone. His heart slowed down as he relaxed, and he closed his eyes, thanking Fyora nothing had happened- ."Shut UP!".

That was all it took, one small outburst when he thought there'd be none. Tristan gasped and stepped back in surprise, foot hitting nothing. The lupe flailed, looking down as his other foot lost contact with the ground, and then one last fleeting look towards the woods. He saw something he barely registered before lost sight to a bunch of rocks, and screamed.

."Moooommmmmmyyyyy...!" He wailed, falling. The water collided with him, gobbling his little body in one bite. He floated, stunned from the hit and terror, until his lungs begged for mercy. Tristan waved his arms frantically, and kicked with both legs as hard as he could, until he broke surface, arms and legs tired already. "Heeeeeeeeeeeelp!" He screamed one last time before the water overtook him again....

Across the water, Melly stood, a Styrofoam sword hanging limply at her side. She blinked, not really paying attention to the chatter around her. This was probably the reason she heard what a lot of them didn't- Was that really a scream for 'Mommy'?

The zafara leaned over and poked Charmy. "Charmy, did you hear that?" She whispered. The bee looked down at her, forgetting the shell he had been examining. "Hear what?".

Suddenly, there was another scream, and they both whipped around, staring into the water in just enough time to take in the small, flailing figure before the water returned to normal as the figure sunk.

Charmy got there much faster than Melly; He skidded to a stop in front of the confused captain, on the other side of the boat. "What, bee?".

Of course, at that exact moment Charmy couldn't place the exact d-word to describe what was happening, so he started rattling off every d-word of bad stuff that came to mind.

."The water, in the water....! Ah, uh, delusion...! No, no, dehydration...!".
."In the water?".
."No no no, ah, ah, um....Diarrhea! DIARRHEA!".
."Diarrhea in the WATER? Woah, okay, too much information..." The captain quickly said, confused as to why this bee was screaming 'Diarrhea' at her.

Melly came tearing around the corner. "DROWNING! Across the water, DROWNING!" She screamed. Kate's eyes widened as she spun around without another word, peered across the lake, and caught a small paw waving above the water momentarily. Without another word, the captain was in the water and swimming at an amazing speed.

Chester popped his head from beneath the deck, somehow covered in whipped cream and orange peels. "8D You guys will not believe what we found in he- Hey, what's with the long faces?" He inquired nosily, pulling himself all the way up.

."Somebody's drowning on the other side of the lake..." Melly said quietly, pointing. "I think it's Seq or Hisser, since everybody else was on the beach with us...".

Chester's eyes widened. "Oh wow!" Then he quickly ducked back below deck, and could be heard shouting, "Seq! Hisser! Guess what, one of you is drowning on the opposite side of the water!"

Seq, soon followed by Hisser's, head soon popped up, looking extremely perplexed. "What in the world, Chester, we're right here...".
."Wait...." said Charmy quietly, thinking seriously. "If those two are here....and everybody else is on the beach...then..." He concentrated hard, then gasped. "It must be somebody not in the crew!".

This was followed by either a shocked silence of realization or a shocked silence of the fact the bee had taken that long, this narrator will never be sure.

."What if," whispered Chester again. "Our fearless leader just swam out to save a big evil fish that's going to eat her?" "What if it's an evil shadow and it's going to take over her body?" whispered Charmy, hugging himself in fear. "What if it's the boogeyman?" squeaked Melly, wishing Tristan was here.

."and what if it's just a normal person who was drowning?" Hisser said sarcastically, jumping onto deck. "C'mon, guys. It's porbably just a petpet or something, a little lost doglefox..." "Hey, I think you're right." Seq exclaimed, leaning over the edge and pointing out into the water. "Look, here comes the captain now...".

Seq had every right to think it was a doglefox; Tristan was so bunched up into a tight fetal position, eyes closed and not even whimpering. Kate looked determined, and behind that was such a cold wall only a pirate could put up. Behind that wall, one could only guess....fear, worry, perhaps? I'm not going to ask her.

."Everybody! HQ, we need owners and ambulances and...some other stuff!" Kate commanded, pointing towards the path. They stared blankly at her, confused as to why she was obsessing over a doglefox.

Kate was halfway across the sand when she paused, realizing they weren't right behind her. "CREW! BEHIND ME, NOW!" She yelled furiously. They walked down quietly and slowly. Kate was a stew of emotions; Fury, disbelief....everything you could think of. "This is a life and death situation, dang it, crew, get your tails behind me NOW!" "Over a doglefox?" muttered Hisser just a bit too loudly.

Kate spun around, fire in her eyes. "A doglefox? Oh ho, so now he's-" She hung Tristan limply from her hands, unsure of what a doglefox was at all. "-is just a doglefox?".

Everybody gasped, horrified, but Melly- Melly crashed. She gasped, gaped. Kate spun around and continued to run, and Seq had to stand behind Melly and push her along, she was so stunned.

Finally, minutes that seemed like hours later, the guild HQ came into sight. Tristan was coughing horribly, something that started halfway here, and Kate thought he was slowly coming out of it and hitting his back just to make sure. She kicked the door open to HQ, shouting loudly, "Hey, We've got a problem!".

Or atleast, that's what Kate thought before Mae and Hana swung their heads from beyond a doorway. "Wha-?" Mae started to ask, then stopped short, staring at the sopping mass that was Tristan. Without another word, she ran and grabbed Tristan from Kate's arms, and looked at Hana. "Hana, get a towel!".

Hana was already on it. She ran over, blue towel in hand, and handed it to Mae, who turned around to begin rubbing water off of him. Hana turned back to look at Kate, eyes wide in horror. "What happened?".
Kate shrugged, suddenly back to uncaring. "He was in the water on the other side of the lake, he's not even in the crew....what happened to everybody here? I expected a crowd.".
."The Altador Cup, of course." "The what?".
."An extremely popular event, I can't believe you didn't hear about it." The acara gave Kate such a look the pirate narrowed her eyes before retorting. "Yeah, well, if it's so popular why aren't you two there?".

Hana held up her wrist, to which a watch was strapped. "Mary handed out tons of communicators she had been working on since her second story so we could all keep in touch at the games. Every member and one of their pets got one, just in case. Mae couldn't find hers, though, so I stayed behind to help look...".

."Everybody has one, huh?" Kate said dully. "Hmm. Better call up this little guy's owner or something, no doubt he's going to be shaken when he's back to normal...".

She had a point. Hana flipped open the watch's cover to reveal a bigger screen and tons of buttons. She pressed a few, and instantly, an address book popped open. Scrolling down to the 'm's, She saw there were two 'melissa's. One had to be her pet, but nobody had bothered to clarify which one was their pet's and which one was there's. Hana sighed, and hit the 'Call' button on the second listing, hoping this worked.

Halfway across Neopia in Altador, Fang was bored out of his skull. Sitting on the floor behind the many counters of Slushie Slinger, he stared blankly at the watch, as if it would go faster.

Melissa giggled, ending yet another game. She wiped her hands on her apron, and turned towards Fang, grinning. "Hey, Fangy, what's the matter? Turn that frown upside down!".

Fang stared blankly back at her, before sighing, and turned back to staring at the watch. Melissa frowned. "You want to be anywhere but here, don't you?

Fang gave Melissa a 'figured that out all on your own' look, and nodded. "Wouldn't anyone with sanity?" She smiled. "Oh, you know you couldn't of, anyway, I said I wanted you to stay. After all, we need a communicator." Melissa explained proudly, holding up her empty wrist.

The watch had been given to Azure, who had trailed Ayame and Karen to make sure they didn't deafen anyone in make Some Noise or killed anybody in Yooyuball, which, knowing them, all was possible. Fang looked at the watch again, possibly ignoring her. Melissa pouted. "Besides, I want my Fangy-Poo!" Fang's ears twitched backward in annoyance instinctively. He raised the watch, tapping the screen. "Are you aware of the fact you've gotten over 76 calls on this thing since you told everyone you'd be reached here?". ."What, really?" Melissa paused in her reaching for a slushie cup. "What'd they say?". Fang shrugged. "I let them go to messages." Melissa frowned. "Oh, Fang, you seriously need to work on your social skills some…Look, next time somebody calls, answer it, m'kaaaaaaaay? That is…" She smirked. "That is, unless you want to help mee…".
."No.".
."Oh, come on! Slushie Slinger is fun! and You get an apro-".

Suddenly, 'Lime in the Coconut' began blaring from Fang's wrist, which has to be one of the strangest sentences I've ever written. They both jumped in surprise, and Fang looked nervously down at it. "Amy…" He pulled it up to his mouth, and slowly flicked open the screen lid. "Ah…er...Hello…?".

."Fang?" Hana's voice rang out. Fang paused, as usual, and the oblivious Melissa, too busy to hear who it actually was on the phone, cried out, "Hey, Amy! I was just about to try and convince Fang to play Slushie Slinger with me! I mean, don't you think he would look rather dashing in an apron, kind of cu- AUGH! NO! OW! SO COLD!" Melissa screeched as Fang shoved her, a bit harder than he meant to, into a slushie machine, which broke and bright pink slushie sloshed, covering Melissa.

."Er…uh…yeah?" Fang said quietly into the watch as Melissa howled. He could almost hear Hana's smile as she responded, yet it was slipping away, "Hey. Fang, listen…something happened with Tristan…" All signs of humor and/or embarrassment disappeared from Fang. His words were coated in frost, shooting through the frequency like bullets.". What Happened?".
."Fang, it's okay, he's alive and okay, a little problem with the water, I'll fill you in later, but...he needs the comfort of somebody he knows, an-".

."Problem! PROBLEMPROBLEMPROBLEM!" Mae shouted, voice thick with hysteria, distant to Fang. Hana's voice grew further away as she turned around. "What happened?" "His breathing...he stopped coughing, but he's not breathing normally, I...I..!" Mae said in the background.

. "Hana, did you give him air from his inhaler?" He said quietly, short and clipped, darting out of the room to a less noisy bathroom right next door. She gasped as a response, and Fang's heart rate increased.

."Oh, no, I forgot he had asthma, it didn't even cross my mind...I thought...!" She whispered, horrified.
."Go find the first aid kit, and it's the blue bag with dinosaurs on it." Fang instructed, gripping a sink. There was a silence, and a clanging noise as a cabinet was flung open, and then a cry of, "Got it! Mae, here!".

."Hana, we'll be there a.s.a.p." Fang said evenly, almost calmly. .
Okay, Fang, be careful.".
."Bye.".

Fang flung open the door and reached into the pile of slushie mixture, yanking out a sticky, wet, fruity-smelling Melissa. "That stuff doesn't taste half bad..." She muttered, but then noticed the glint in Fang's eyes.

."What's wrong?" She asked, surprised, having missed the whole of the conversation. "We've got to go, now." Fang explained as he dragged her out into the crowded coliseum. People gave them a wide birth as they walked towards the transportation, Melissa's eyes widening as Fang filled her in, dripping slushie still. Finally, they came upon a small crowd of people, advancing in line. "Fang, why are we waiting in line?" Melissa demanded. "The ferries are in the other direction.".

."Shh, I'm trying to contact Ayame and Azure. Read this." Fang explained impatiently, handing her a brochure with a rainbow on the front and "A.C.T.S" displayed proudly. She flicked it open, and began reading:

. "A.C.T.S, or Altador Cup Tube System, is new technology from Virtupets, in joint with Maraqua and Altador. A.C.T.S is a, depending on where you're going, underwater and underground tube system. There is a large station in the legendary Altador Cup stadium, with ten tubes per world. Each tube, depending on it's color, goes to a certain world, where a smaller, but still well-attended, station awaits it's passenger(s)...".

The rest was a bunch of boring blither blather. Melissa looked up to see Fang angrily shaking the watch near his ear. "I can't believe they aren't picking up…" He muttered, whispering a message.

."Next." The tuskaninny called dully in front of them, and the people in front of them disappeared through sliding doors. Melissa looked around, bored and anxious, and her eyes lit up as her name was called.

A zafara and squirrel (yet another odd sentence) waved from the line next to them. "Jewlz! Amy! What're you guys doing here?" Melissa cried over the hubbub. "Going for lunch, food here is seriously expensive. What about you?" Jewlz shouted, smiling. "Emergency up at the guild. Me and Fang have got to get up there." Melissa shouted. Jewlz and Amy had question marks in their eyes, but suddenly the tuskaninny droned, and Fang grabbed Melissa's still wet and sticky hand, dragging her through the gate.

Melissa gasped, looking upward, momentarily awed. Above her were hundreds of intertwining, colored tubes against the black background of stone, like a rainbow gone wrong. Fang looked around, obviously too occupied to look up. "Okay, listen..." He explained carefully, pulling up in front of a long, white tube and opening the door to a silver pod. "Wait until the next pod comes, and I'll meet you at the exit gate at Terror Mountain, okay?".

."Why? There's enough room for both of us." Melissa complained, stepping inside, cramming herself against Fang. Fang's eyes widened, and he began to argue, "Wait, stop, this thing spins and you're covered in slush-!" but it was too late. The door swung shut, and the pod spun rapidly around, a girl's screaming coming from inside interlaced with a boy's deep, shouting demand of shutting up, and then the pod shot off into the tubes. Kate sat in the window, staring at her crew, out in the yard. They were sitting around nervously, hoping Tristan was alright. However, Kate's mind was far from that. Oh, it was far. Out at sea. Wondering why, in the world, her crew didn't follow her instructions.

What if it had endangered the entire crew, not just Tristan? A crucial emergency, for the lives of them all? Crews should know to listen to their captain, no matter the whimsy.

Suddenly, though, her mind was tugged back to shore as a familiar laugh rang out from the forest.

Charlie appeared from behind the trees, laughing, rubbing his hair with a towel. His own crew followed closely behind, all tucked into towels of their own, talking and giggling amongst each other. "Hang on, guys, I gotta see what's taking Tristan so long to pee." Kate managed to decipher from his lips at this distance. The kids all giggled at the word.

However, suddenly, none of them were laughing as her own crew ran up to them. Charlie listened to their tale, eyes confused, then widening in horror slowly. His towel was dropped in the mad dash for the guild, a door flinging open. "What's going on?" He blurted, eyes panicked. Kate blinked up at him seriously, yet laughing inside.
."I told you a deckhand shouldn't be a captain." Was all she said quietly.

."Fang?" Mae called from the next room over, poking her head in. Her face fell when she saw it was Charlie. "Oh.".
."Where's Tristan?" Charlie asked, voice tight with worry. Mae gave him a hard look. "He's fine, but, he's not talking." She said huffily. "Well, he is talking, but I'm not telling you what he's saying.".

."What?!" Charlie demanded, pushing past her.
Tristan laid in a heap on a couch, curled in a blanket. Hana was stroking his back in sympathy, her eyes looking up in surprise as Charlie barged in and her hand freezing. Tristan shivered, and Hana turned her attention back to him, whispering 'shhh' when he began whimpering. It took Charlie a moment to pick up what the little kid was saying.

Over and over.
Charlie frowned, eye's horrified, stumbling backward.
One day. It had only taken him one day to make somebody never want to be a pirate again. A single question popped up into his mind, then another, and he tried to smother them both, but they kept reappearing, over and over. Like Tristan's whimperings.

If he had done this in one day, what would he do to the other children in two weeks?

At that exact moment, a hand came out of nowhere and grabbed Charlie by the shoulder. Said pirate whipped his head around, to find himself peering into the eyes of one seriously ticked off shadow lupe.
Charlie stared back at him, dismay echoing off his eyes.

Fang's grip relaxed slightly, not as hard but still enough to shove Charlie away from the doorframe and allow Melissa entrance into the room.

."Oh, Tristan!" Melissa cried, running over to Hana and the baby lupe. Tristan's eyes opened wide at the sound of his mom's voice, and with a wail of "Mommy!" promptly burst into tears again. Melissa scooped him up and held him tight, consoling him.
."Shh, Tristan, it's okay…".

Hana looked up at Fang, who was watching the entire scene with serious eyes, full of relief and relaxation. He glanced down and met her gaze, giving her a small grin full of gratitude. She smiled back up, filled with something a bit more than 'you're welcome'.

Melissa took Tristan out of the room, still holding him close.
."I-I don't wanna go back, Mama…" He whimpered, clinging to her neck as she trekked into the kitchen. Tristan had stopped crying to the point of only a few hiccups, a runny nose, and the inability to let go of his mom.
."Oh, honey, you just got lost, it won't happen again…but I won't mak-" Melissa began sympathetically, reaching into the freezer for a popsicle to help Tristan feel better.
."But Mama, they-they said I wouldn't be able to b-b-be a pwirate…they said, they said I was as scawy as a mop of dirty bwucket water…".

Melissa looked down to see a little kid, ashamed and staring at the ground after making this outburst. "Is that all this is about?" She exclaimed, surprised and wondering who 'they' were.
Tristan nodded sadly, sucking on his newly claimed ice lolly.

Melissa put Tristan down, and looked him squarely in the eye, gripping his shoulders. "Tristan, whoever they are, don't listen to them. They don't know you, and THEY are full of cra…um, POOP!".

Tristan gasped at his mother's use of a bad word, but she charged on, a fiery glint in her eyes. "You can be whatever you like. You, Tristan, are part of my family, and WE don't let anybody tell us what we can and can't be! If Ayame wanted to be a ballerina, nobody's going to be able to tell her she's not calm enough, if Fang wanted to be Prom King [ which I don't see happening but oh well], nobody's going to be able to tell him he's not social enough, and if YOU want to be a pirate, nobody's going to be able to say you're not scary enough!".

At that moment, Mary poked her head in the doorway, one headphone off and one headphone on. "Hey, Melissa," She shouted enthusiastically, unaware of what had just happened, "Jewlz and Amy mentioned you were up the mountain, and we were going to all come have lunch up here anyway, so-".

Melissa looked at herself and realized she was still covered in slushie. "Oh, um…" She tried to explain, attempting to lift her hand off of Tristan's shirt but found it stuck to her hand. After a few seconds of yanking, it finally came loose.

."Ack, you're all gross!" Mary exclaimed, running over and beginning to try and push the two-year-older girl out of the kitchen. "In MY kitchen, too! And don't you deny it," She threatened as Melissa opened her mouth to deny it. "Who makes most of the jellybean smoothies in here?".
."Your smoothies explode everywhere! How is that not worse?".
."…That's different! Now, outside! Now! Hose!".

As the younger girl shoved the sticky one out the door, Melissa cried over her shoulder, "Don't forget what I said, Tristan!".

He stuck the lolly in his mouth, Melissa's words circulating in his head. People couldn't tell him what to be…but what if he was unable to be it, honestly? Tristan wasn't scary (hopefully)…and pirates were supposed to be scary…What if, maybe, Kate, Fyora forbid, wasn't scary at one point in her life…how did she fix it? She must've changed…

Suddenly, Tristan knew what he had to do. As the grandfather clock chimed, and little kids began pouring in from outside, Tristan's little eyebrows mounted and he raised his popsicle stick like a knight with a sword. His little squeaky voice rang out,

."Cross my heart and hope to die, I pwomise, after naptime, I'm going to change myself and become SCAWY!".

The sun rose high into the skies the next day, and small children waited outside NAM headquarters.

Charlie's crew all milled about one subject; Tristan. Instead of his usual pastel-colored shirt and comfy jeans, Tristan wore a black tee with a roaring graarl on the front and jeans with a hole the size of a penny. He gulped, and looked down rather nervously at his shirt, cringing at the face. Melissa had seemed so ecstatic that morning when he'd decided to wear it; 'I promise, Tristan,' She'd declared. 'The dinosaur won't eat you!

Still, Rin came up and poked him square in the chest, and that terrified him just as much as a dinosaur's fang. "Where'd you get that shirt, Tristan? I've never seen you wear it.".

Tristan gulped and took an involuntary step back. Scary! His memory declared, and with a deep breath, Tristan himself declared, "None of your business!" which in reality came out more like "N-N-None of your bwu..the amusement park.".

Whilst Tristan struggled with himself, Kate's crew had a different matter to attend to entirely.

There was a rare hushed silence among the toddlers, as one of their comrades colored on the ground. Chester hummed to himself as he drew the crayons across thick lines, entirely unaware of his friends still staring after he'd spoken two minutes ago.

Chester paused, and looked up momentarily, smiling. "I sed, I am drawing a cheezburger.".

."Mommy shows me something called 'el-oh-el cats'. Teh speeks like tis, and I think dey be funny, and I copies dem.".

El-oh-el'…cats?' One began to question, when out of nowhere two boots accidentally snapped Chester's red crayon in half. He looked up, angry, which quickly changed into fear.
."Alright, crew, we're going to be working on sword battlement today." Captain Kate declared, tossing Styrofoam swords at them, most of which missed their target, who'd more than likely ducked.

Behind her, Charlie darted out of the woods, red-faced and panting. He took one look at Kate's crew and swore under his breath. "Dangit!".

."Cap'n Charlie!" the little kids cheered, flocking to him.
."I wanna do what they're doing. Cap'n!" K.K announced excitedly, watching Kate demonstrate by knocking a tree repeatedly with a fake sword.
."Well, we were GOING to…' Charlie muttered. "But I'd rather be keelhauled then do what Kate's doing at the same time as her. So, today," He declared, raising his voice. "I'll start you guys on running a tight ship!".

."Guys, I'm your captain, do as I say!" The tone changed so drastically that the little kids easily followed, too stunned to do otherwise.