"Are we expecting company, Henre?" Safina asked her fellow Usul housemate. "Someone just knocked at the door."

"Not that I know of..." Henre said as he walked over to the window and looked out of their tree home. The blue Usul couldn't see near the base of the tree, so he turned and walked down the stairs that spiraled down the trunk of the large tree that contained their home.

"Be right there!" he yelled ahead as he stepped down the last few stairs to open the door.

Upstairs, Safina hummed as she set the table for dinner. She then heard Henre call for her, in a rather urgent tone. The red Usul hurried down the stairs to see what was the matter. When she reached the open door, Safina gasped in surprise. There was Henre, with a perplexed look on his face, standing next to a crying baby Elephante!

"Goodness gracious!" Safina exclaimed, running over to the baby Elephante. "How did he get here?"

Henre shrugged, "Maybe he flew?"

Safina briefly glared at the blue Usul, then proceeded to examine a note pinned to the Elephante's diaper.

Both of the Usuls stared at each other in shock for several moments. Henre broke the silence. "Well, what should we do?" he asked, scratching his head.

"Carry it in, what else?" Safina said, pushing the door to the house farther open.

"WHAT?!" Henre cried. "Safina, it's twice our size!"

"Well, I'll help you carry it, then," she offered.

"But—" Henre began. However, he was cut off by a fierce look from Safina. The blue Usul sighed in defeat and began to half carry/half roll the baby Elephante through the door and up the stairs...

"Now, now dear. There's no need to cry," the red Usul cooed as she struggled to cover Sylvan with blankets that were much too small for a creature of his size.

Within minutes, Sylvan was fast asleep on the living room floor, snoring loud enough to make the floorboards rattle.

Meanwhile, Henre was pacing back and forth in the kitchen, clutching the note in his hand and grumbling under his breath. When Safina entered the room, he stopped and stared at her with a flustered expression on his face.

"No use getting all worked up, Henre," Safina said, as she resumed setting the table. "Where's your sense of hospitality?"

Henre threw up his hands and yelled, "Hospitality?!? A huge creature shows up burbling at our door, and you expect me to be hospitable?"

"Henre," the red Usul chuckled, "you're acting as if Sylvan was an evil villain. He's only a helpless baby, and whether you like it or not, he's our responsibility now."

Henre plopped down at the table and let out a long sigh. "Forgive me. I'm just confused, that's all." Henre held up the note that had been pinned to Sylvan's diaper and gazed at it like he was trying to solve some sort of cryptic puzzle.

"Henre!" Safina exclaimed. "There's another note on the back!"

Henre flipped the piece of paper over and began to read as Safina rushed to his side...

Dropping the note, he and Safina stared nervously at each other.

"Pirates?" Safina whispered, glancing out the window.

"That's what the note says," Henre said quietly. "Just a minute." He walked calmly out of the kitchen until he was sure Safina couldn't see him, then dashed to the front door and locked it. Panting heavily, he sat on the floor to calm down, then ran around and latched all the downstairs windows. He shoved a small sofa in front of the one with the broken lock before climbing the stairs back to the kitchen.

"What was that for?" Safina asked, pouring him a cup of tea. She had brought Sylvan into the kitchen somehow. The baby Elephante took up the entire floor of the small, round room.

"Oh, just checking that window with the broken lock," Henre said casually as he joined Safina at the sink. They leaned against the smooth sides of the sink and sipped their tea while watching Sylvan chew toothlessly on the table.

Both Usuls suddenly froze at the sound of pounding from the front door. The pounding went on and on until it seemed like the door should have fallen off. Whoever it was soon tired of pounding the door, then began yelling instead. The yelling was perfectly audible, even from the kitchen.

"If ye don't open up this 'ere door 'afore I counts t'ten, ye scurvy--" Henre and Safina covered their ears at the string of unsavory names that followed "--me 'n me mates 'ere'll break it down!"

"Do you think we should open it?" Safina whispered, eyes wide.

"No," Henre whispered, his paws tense around his teacup. "Whoever that is, I certainly don't want to let them in here."

"One! Two! Three!" the voice yelled.

"But, he said they're going to break the door down," Safina whispered frantically.

"That's a good strong door," Henre whispered back, wishing he felt as certain as he sounded.

The voice was still counting. "Four! Uh, six, seven, five... arrgh! One! Two! Three! Four -- arr, curse this countin' stuff... TEN!"

There was a pause, then an enormous CRASH that shook the entire house.

"Is the door that strong?" Safina hissed as the kitchen shook.

"I think so," Henre whispered, brushing plaster from the ceiling off his fur. "I hope so," he added under his breath...

"Ok, ok," Henre said, thinking for a moment as the house continued to shake. "I've got it! Here's the plan..."

A few minutes later, Henre was rushing Sylvan out the back door, trying with difficulty to unlock the door and keep an eye on the curious Elephante at the same time.

Meanwhile, Safina was greeting the pirates at the front door, dressed as an old woman. In her best old woman voice, she said to them, "Can I help you? You practically knocked my house down with all that bangin'! You made it very difficult for me to get to the door with all the rattlin'!"

The pirates looked a little confused and glanced at each other, hoping someone would know what was going on.

Finally, the one who appeared to be the pirates' leader stepped forward and said, "I don't know what game yer playin' 'ere, but I want me baby Elephante, and I want 'im now."

"Ohhh!" Safina cried, thinking fast. "Is it Christmas already? Now, I thought Halloween was when you youngins came looking for treats door-to-door, but what do I know?" She turned and waddled into the living room, where she remembered having an old baby Elephante plushie.

Safina returned to the door and gave them the plushie, almost bursting with laughter when she saw the looks on their faces. She was about to say "goodbye" and close the door on them when she saw Henre and Sylvan dashing across the front lawn.

"Uhhh, come in! Maybe I have something for all of you!" she said, grabbing the leader's arm and pushing him inside the house as the others followed. She thought she had saved Henre and Sylvan from being seen when...

"Those blasted gnomes! I always knew they were trouble!" Henre gasped, struggling to get out from under the wailing Sylvan.

"Arr! Thar be the baby!" the pirate leader cried out excitedly, pulling away from Safina.

"What? What baby?" Safina said, desperately trying grab the pirate again and lead him into the house. "I don't see anything! Are you okay? You might be tired from all that walking around you've been doing!"

The pirate stared at her in confusion and turned to leave when Safina, thinking fast, grabbed the baby Elephante plushie from his grasp and began relentlessly beating him with it.

"Ahh!!! What d'ye think yer doin'?" he huffed, his talking muffled by the continuous blows he took while trying to fight her off. When the pirate couldn't get her to stop, he screamed out to his crew, "What be ye scallywags waitin' fer?!? Help me!"

The crew had been sitting there, dumbfounded, watching as their captain was attacked by a little old lady armed with a toy.

"Erm, um... well," one of the pirates mumbled, trying to think of a good explanation. "Well, you see, Cap'n Furrytail..."

"HEEELLLPPPP MEEEE!!!!" the captain screamed, lashing out blindly at Safina.

"RUN, HENRE! RUN!!!" Safina yelled as Furrytail grabbed her wrist and yanked her down.

As Henre was getting ready to sprint as fast as he could out of there, though, he looked back and stopped when he saw...

"HENRE! WHAT ARE YOU DOING?!?" Safina bellowed, tearing herself away from Furrytail's iron grip. She chucked her old lady disguise and raced out the front door.

"Arrr! She be leavin', the scurvy dog!" the leader of the pirate horde rasped loudly. "Get 'er, mateys! I be here, er, nursin' me wounds..." He let out a theatrical groan and stumbled inside the house to the sofa. His crew stared at him, unconvinced.

Meanwhile, Safina flew out the door in her haste to escape the pirates. She raced across the muddy lawn and skittered to a stop next to Henre, who was attempting to pull a sniffling Sylvan from the ground.

"Henre! There's not much time!" Safina gasped, leaning on Sylvan's broad shoulder for support. "We have to get out of here!"

Henre's eyes were wide with panic as he heaved and huffed, trying to get Sylvan to stand. The confused crew's arguments drifted down from the doorway.

"The Cap'n be lyin!" a pirate protested loudly. "Nay, I'm suspectin' that he really aren't havin' any wounds! In fact, methinks that he's tryin' t' hornswaggle us'!"

"Aye, he hasn't tol' us why this 'ere Elephante be so important anyway!" another pirate chimed in.

Safina shook her head, trying to clear her mind. Everything seemed to be a blur. The Elephante nudged her with his trunk, as if to bring her back to Neopia. The Usul smiled weakly at the baby. They had to think of a plan, fast. With that thought, Safina, Henre and Sylvan fled down the street as fast as Sylvan's stubby legs would allow them, until...

"What's wrong, little fella? C'mon now, just a bit further," Henre tried, but his attempts were futile. The baby Elephante wouldn't quiet down, nor would he move. The worst part was that the two Usuls could hear the pirates had taken up the chase again and were slowly catching up.

"Arr! They be up ahead, mateys! Seize 'em!"

Both Usuls stared at each other, wide-eyed and panic-stricken.

"What do we do?" Henre cried. "Just why do they want Sylvan so badly anyway?"

"Well, we can't just leave him here," Safina noted. They were stuck. They tried again to calm Sylvan, but to no avail.

That's when Henre had an idea.

"Henre, what're you doing?" Safina asked, but he didn't answer. The blue Usul walked past her, in the direction of the pirates. Before they reached them, he motioned towards Sylvan.

"Try to calm him down and get yourselves out of here," he said to Safina.

"But I can't leave you--" Safina argued, only to be cut off by a determined Henre.

"Go!" he said with a rise in his voice, taking on a more commanding tone. Safina swallowed and nodded. Frowning a little, she went back to her efforts of trying to quiet Sylvan.

"C'mon, Sylvan. We'll get you some ice cream once we get away from them, alright?" she said. That seemed to make the Elephante happy. With one last choked sob, he gurgled and followed after Safina.

Henre, meanwhile, was standing his ground as the pirates slowed to a stop upon catching up to him.

"Arr, outta me way!" one pirate urged.

The Usul swallowed before he held out both hands in a surrendering way. "Wait, wait," he began. "Do you even know why this Elephante is so important? Shouldn't your captain tell you these things?" he asked.

The pirates looked down and shuffled their feet sullenly.

"Are you feeling blue? Degraded? Just want to stop taking orders?" Henre went on, trying to distract them.

The pirates all looked at one another, confused. Then they all nodded, blinking and shrugging.

Henre continued, "Well then, I have just the thing for you." He paused, trying to think of something…

"Eh? What?" a pirate asked.

"The Pirates In Need Society!" Henre continued. "We receive over three hundred complaints from undervalued and overworked pirates like yourselves each day, and assist them with their problems! Would you like to know our address?"

An array of mumbles could be heard from the horde of pirates as they all turned to one another, nodding their heads in agreement.

"Aye!" one of the pirates shouted. "Give us a moment fer gettin' a pen." The pirates began to scramble around looking for something to write with, preparing to inscribe the address down onto the back of their hands. Each and every pirate looked eagerly in Henre's direction.

Just as the pirates were ready to take down the address for PINS, their captain (who had apparently finished nursing his so-called toy-bashing wounds) dashed up behind his crew.

"Arrrr, ye scallywags," he yelled. "What are ye waitin' for? Arrrr... the Elephante is gettin' away!" A rather small pirate Kyrii turned to his captain and began to explain the new scheme Henre was telling them about. Captain Furrytail nodded in agreement until he realised Henre's trick.

"Arrrr, he be lyin' to ye mateys!" the captain yelled. "There be no such thing as this 'ere help society! He be lettin' them scurvy dogs get away! After them!"

"I think we would all like to know why you want the Elephante first," Henre said more calmly than he felt.

"Aye," the pirates chorused, nodding in agreement. "What be so important 'bout ye escaped booty?"…

The pirates refused to budge.

Captain Furrytail groaned loudly as he watched the slowly retreating forms of Safina and Sylvan as they disappeared around the corner. This should have been one of his easiest missions yet! "Do ye really need t' know?" he asked reluctantly.

The pirates all nodded.

A deep blush came over the captain's face. "Well, umm… that is ta say…" he began.

"Tell us!" a crew member shouted.

"That there Elephante ate me ruby," he muttered. "I found yon ruby in our las' plunder, an' that monster ate it!"

The pirate crew burst into laughter, making Furrytail's blush even redder than it was before.

In a last ditch effort, the captain roared, "But ye'll each get a share in that ruby if ye go an' get th' Elephante for me!"

The laughter faded into a cheer as the pirates drew their swords and dashed past Henre, heading in the direction that Safina and Sylvan had gone.

Henre groaned to himself. His friends were still in danger. His efforts hadn't been enough. The Usul was about to completely give up hope, when he heard a soft voice calling, "Excuse me! Have you seen my baby Elephante? Have you seen my sweet Sylvan?"...

"I have, but you see, there’s a slight problem…" he answered. "Are you Sylvan’s mother?"

"Yes, I am. What is this slight problem?" the Skeith asked. With creeping hysteria, she repeated, "Where is my baby?!? Has something happened to my sweetest child?!?"

Henre shifted uncomfortably, wondering how he should break it to her. He wasn’t very used to dealing with hysterical mothers. He decided to begin with a proper introduction. "My name is Henre. Safina, my fellow housemate, and I found your child at our doorstep…"

"Yes, I know all that. It was I who put him there," the fretful mother snapped. "Please get to the part where you’ll tell me what happened to my snuggly-poo!"

"Ok," Henre agreed, rolling his eyes slightly. Taking a deep breath, the Usul tersely explained, "Sylvan is being chased by pirates. By now, he has most likely been captured."

"NOOOO!" the anguished Skeith cried. "This can’t be! My poor, poor Sylvan!" Shaking her head dramatically and wiping the uncontrollable stream of tears from her face, Sylvan’s mother softly asked, "What will we do?"

"There, there..." Henre said consolingly. "I’m sure we will think of something, Miss…"

"Lorraine," the Skeith said. "My name is Lorraine. What is it that you plan to do?"

A few moments later, the two Neopets were jogging along at the top of a hill, peering in every direction. Suddenly, Henre and Lorraine gasped as they saw Safina and Sylvan, hands bound together, being made to walk ahead of the pirates. They were constantly poked with the pommel of Captain Furrytail’s sword whenever their pace slowed.

Seething, Lorraine made ready to charge them, but Henre held her back. "Wait, let’s not go about making any hasty moves," he whispered.

"Don’t you see what those scoundrels are doing to my baby?" Lorraine hissed.

"Yes, but we’ve only got the force of a blue Usul and an angry, impetuous mother! We don’t stand a chance against those seasoned pirates!"

"I guess you're right," Lorraine sighed reluctantly as she tried to calm her maternal instincts. "So what do you suppose we should do?"

"Hmm, those two henchmen over there don’t seem to be guarding very closely," Henre mused. "Also, Captain Furrytail seems to be a good distance ahead of them… AHA! I’ve got it!" the Usul exploded. This shout caught Lorraine unawares, and she jumped in fright. The Skeith lost her balance and fell onto Henre, causing them to roll down the path, straight towards the pirate horde!

BANG! The tangled mass that was Lorraine and Henre crashed into the horde of pirates, adding their flailing weights to the increasing "snowball," which was gaining momentum and showing no signs of stopping.

"WHOA!" the snowball clamored as it sped through Neopia Central, all the time gaining in size as more and more Neopians were swept up in its path.

Finally, the mass exploded into a million Neopians as it crashed into the Money Tree. Sylvan coughed loudly as the ruby came flying out of his mouth, landing a few meters away from Captain Furrytail.

"Arrgh! At last, me treasure be found!" he shouted triumphantly. Just as he was about to close his hands over the glittering gem, a sinister snicker could be heard as a ghost swooped down, picked up the ruby, and glided away. "NO!" Captain Furrytail yelled. He summoned his henchmen and ran down the road, leaving only a trail of dust behind them.

With Sylvan and Lorraine reunited, Safina and Henre embraced, happy that this ordeal was finally over. They walked up to the gleeful family.

"Hey Lorraine, why did you leave Sylvan with us anyway?" Safina asked.

"Oh, I forgot to tell you! We’re moving here, and you’ll be my new neighbors," Lorraine explained. "I thought the pirates would not find my Sylvan here, seeing that it’s so far from Krawk Island, so I left him with you, hoping it would be a good hiding place. Anyway, I’m glad that they’ll finally stop pursuing Sylvan. Imagine! All that for a shiny little stone!"

With that, the four friends, exhausted after their adventure, strolled home to enjoy a regular old cup of tea.

The End