So then, with that Nerkmid in hand, Chester knew exactly what he was going to do. Every since he had been little, the Grarrl had wanted to try every type of food that he could find from all over the place.

As a result, after many years, Chester had eaten at least one type of food from all over Neopia, from the slushies of Terror Mountain to the tropical drinks of Mystery Island. The Spooky Food of the Haunted Woods was a bit off-putting, but it was still tasty in its own way.

Now, since he had tried every taste in Neopia, that only left foods beyond Neopia -- the delicacies of Kruledor and dishes of Gargarox Isafuhlarg from the Space Station.

Finally, after that, he only had the foods created by the Alien Aishas, and he didn't want to get those from anywhere else. He wanted to get one straight from the vending machine in Neopia Central. With this Nerkmid, he'd finally be able to experience the food of the Alien Aishas.

When he got there, there wasn't a line, and only a single Alien Aisha manning the machine. Undaunted, the Grarrl walked up to the Alien Aisha. "Hi there!" he said. "I just got this Nerkmid, and I'd like to use it."

"Ah, excellent!" the Alien Aisha replied. "The machine is very easy to use! Just pick one of the large buttons to press, then pick one of the small buttons to press. You can press the smaller button up to five times, but no more. After that, pull as many of the levers as you like. Then, you shall have a delicious delicacy emerge!"

"That's all there it to it?" Chester said, expecting alien technology to be much more complex than pushing buttons and pulling levers.

"Unless there is a critical error, that is all there is to it," the Alien Aisha replied.

"Sounds good to me!" the Grarrl said. He put the Nerkmid into the vending machine. A few lights started flashing, and Chester looked over the buttons. He decided to press the third large button, and then press the first small button two times. After that, he pulled all six levers.

The vending machine began to shake and rattle as it processed his order. Chester could hardly wait for the food of the Alien Aishas to come out for him to eat!

Finally, after about a minute of shaking and rumbling, out of the vending machine came...

Is that it? Chester thought to himself, a bit disappointed. He thought the vending machine was supposed to give him something to eat. Unless, the smoke itself is what I’m supposed to eat Chester thought. He looked over at the Alien Aisha for a cue, but it looked just as confused as he did. Chester's stomach started to clench as he wondered what had just happened.

"Is that all that happens, or is there more?" Chester asked the Aisha.

"I, uh, well..." the Aisha stammered. "This has never happened before. I thought visitors just put their Nermkinds in and the machine spat food back out."

"You thought?" Chester demanded. "What do you mean 'you thought'? Aren’t the Alien Aishas supposed to know how this thing works?" He crossed his arms, beginning to feel a bit angry.

The Aisha burst into tears. Chester was taken aback, not used to dealing with other Neopets that were crying. Only baby Neopets cried, and that normally meant they wanted a bottle or a toy. The Aisha didn't seem to want either of those things. He awkwardly placed a large paw on the Aisha's back.

"It-it's my first shift w-working here," the Aisha sniffled. "The other Aishas told me it would be no b-big deal, that I just had to t-tell you to push the buttons and pull the levers and everything would work out fine. N-no one told me that it might start smoking." The Aisha ran her paw across her eyes to wipe away the tears.

"It's okay," Chester said, trying to reassure the shaken Aisha. He wished he had a tissue to give to it so they would stop sniffling. "Everyone messes up at one point. My name is Chester, by the way," the Grarrl said, extending his hand.

The Aisha took his hand and shook it. "My name is Kenna. I've wanted to work here ever since I was a little Aisha, so I could see Neopia. It's so different from my home world! I was finally allowed to come, but I guess I wasn't ready yet." Kenna paused to sniffle.

Chester thought for a second. "Is there anyone you know who could fix the machine?" he asked.

Kenna's face brightened. "Yes! His name is Gardon. He can fix anything!" She clapped her paws together and got to her feet.

"That's great!" Chester exclaimed, standing with Kenna. "Where does he live?"

Kenna grinned. "You ready for a trip? He lives all the way in..."

Chester groaned inwardly. Being a Grarrl, and thus cold-blooded, he wasn't much for cold weather. For the sake of this little Aisha, however, he figured that he'd better toughen up.

"I'd be happy to accompany you to Gardon's shop," he said with a smile, feeling his heart lift as Kenna smiled.

"Oh, thank you, thank you, thank you, thank you! This is going to be the best adventure ever -- we'll travel across so many lands, and see so many sights! I'd better close down the vending machine for now and let my boss know -- the company will want to know that I'm doing overtime to fix the machine."

Kenna scampered behind the vending machine and emerged with a "closed" sign and what appeared to be some sort of futuristic communication device. She placed the sign on the vending machine and called what Chester assumed was her company, but he couldn't be sure as she wasn't speaking the same language anymore. Her new conversation consisted of many low buzzes, hums, and clicks, along with some high-pitched squeaking every now and again.

Finally, Kenna was finished and put the device away. Turning her attention back to Chester, she grinned and extended her paw.

"Come on, let's go now!"

Chester frowned. "We can't go to Terror Mountain like this..."

"We'll freeze," Chester said simply. "We have to get appropriate clothes first."

"Like parkas and jackets and stuff?"

"Exactly," Chester said, "and as much as I dislike that creepy Uni at the clothing shop, I don't think there's anywhere else to buy winter clothing."

Much to his relief, the Uni at the clothing shop was out on her lunch break when they arrived. Supervising the shop was her "assistant," a rather scrawny young Moehog who didn't seem to know what, exactly, she was doing, and instead wandered around with a blank look on her face. This delayed the process considerably, as they had to wait a few minutes for the assistant to figure out how a cash register was supposed to work, standing aimlessly in the checkout lane.

Once she had finally gotten the mechanics of the register and replaced the roll of receipt paper -- this took an additional minute, as she seemed confused as to which way the roll was supposed to fit -- Chester and Kenna left the store with their new purchases, which consisted of heavy winter jackets, long pants, and snow boots.

"Can we go now?" Kenna said, her eyes wide with excitement.

"Now that we have all of that out of the way, yes," Chester said. "However, unless you have a stash of Neopoints hidden away somewhere, I don't think we'll be able to afford an Eyrie cab all the way there. Let's head to the docks..."

Chester halted in his tracks, not having completely thought this through. "I'm not entirely sure," he said to her. "I am, however, positive that if there is a will then there will be away.”

As they neared the docks, they could see large masses that belonged to giant ships raise up into sky above the nearby buildings. The smell of the ocean had finally reached their noses, and they knew that the next step to their journey was almost here. They looked about on the dock, noticing a small "help wanted" sign sitting in front of a small shack.

Chester left out a loud whoop of success. "Here we go, Kenna! Didn't I tell you that where there was a will there would be a way?!?"

They walked into shack and took a look about. "Hello," Kenna called out. "We saw your 'help wanted' sign out front."

From the back of the shack walked and elderly Nimmo dressed in yellow rubber from head to toe. "'Ello, little ones! You came just in time -- I need a few hands on my ship to help me bring in some fresh fish. Without the fish I'm afraid I’ll be put out of business..."

Kenna and Chester exchanged glances. "We would be willing to help you, sir, if you could give us a lift to Terror Mountain," Chester said to the old Nimmo.

"Glenn is the name, son, and seeing as that's the way I am heading myself, I will gladly give you a lift if you help me bring in the fish. The faeries themselves must have sent you!" The old Nimmo smiled, knowing that his troubles would soon come to an end. He could feel it in his bones.

The friends gathered up what few belongings they had and help Glenn prepare the boat...

"Hush, Kenna!" Chester replied curtly. They had to look as happy as possible so they would be guaranteed a ride all the way to Terror Mountain.

The entire trip would take approximately six hours, which sounded like an eternity to Chester. Catching fish helped to pass the time, however. Chester had often fished at Ye Old Fishing Vortex, and was well past Level 200.

Kenna, on the other hand, wasn't anywhere close to being a pro fisher. She'd sometimes feel a tug on her line, just to find she caught a Diseased Mechafish that she had to throw back into the water.

"Chester!" she cried. "I need help fishing. I haven't caught ONE thing this whole entire time."

"Kenna, it's simple! You just have to be patient," Chester said warmly. He helped Kenna throw out the line far enough so she had an opportunity to catch something worth keeping.

They waited a while, listening to the ripple of the waves and feeling the warm sun beat down on them. Suddenly, Glenn broke the silence.

"Something has tugged on your line... it's reeling quite quickly!" Glenn tried to rush toward the fishing pole, but at his advanced age he could barely stand, much less run. Chester took action instead and grabbed hold of the fishing pole. Kenna followed behind him screaming at the top of her lungs.

"You've got it, Chester. It's a big one!"

Chester reeled the line in as hard as he could. Suddenly, something broke through the water. Chester couldn't believe his eyes. Right in front of him was a...

The small three-Neopet crew quickly took the faerie down into the vessel and helped her to her feet.

"Welcome, faerie," the Nimmo said, a slight whistle through his words, as he bowed toward the illustrious creature in front of him.

"Yes, hello," Chester said to her with a smile. Kenna waved.

The faerie looked rather dumbfounded, and then a look of disgust and anger crossed her face. "I was in the middle of helping a tiny Mundo caught in some litter down there!"

The Grarrl's smile gradually waned.

"And then I was caught and subsequently reeled in by you foolish crew!"

"Uh..." Kenna started, not totally sure what the appropriate response should be. The Aisha decided the best choice was just to tell the truth. "We're just trying to get to Terror Mountain; I have to meet up with my boss, and in order to do so that Grarrl and I had to take jobs aboard the Nimmo's fishing boat. And then... we caught you." She smiled sheepishly.

A wry smile came upon the faerie's lips. "Okay," she said. "I believe you." With that, she jumped back into the water.

The second the faerie was completely submerged, a very heavy storm began...

A fat, heavy raindrop exploded as it made contact with the little Aisha's head, the first of millions of ice-cold droplets that began to pound relentlessly into the boat, the sea, and the three Neopets.

The boat rocked heavily, and it took all of Chester's might to keep himself balanced. He grabbed the hand railing on the side of the boat, clutching with all of his might. He raked a gaze through the storm to see the old Nimmo had fallen over and was slipping and sliding alongside Kenna from one side of the boat to the other.

Chester groaned, knowing he'd have to help them before they were thrown overboard. He let go of the railing, launching himself toward the other side of the boat. He used his long, scaled tail to wrap around Kenna and Glenn before dragging the three of them to the nearest piece of railing. He once again began to clutch for dear life.

"Kenna, Glenn, grab the railing and hold on!" he shouted over the wind.

Kenna stood first, helping Glenn and leaning on Chester for support. The old Nimmo had just managed to grab onto the side of the railing before both his and Chester's ears were assaulted with the most horrifying sounds they could think of at the time: a shrill, high-pitched scream, a faint splash, and a deep, eerie crackling sound from somewhere below deck...

"The boat is breaking apart!" the Grarrl shouted. "That's the sound of wood splintering!"

Kenna and Glenn looked at him with horror. The Alien Aisha looked over to Glenn. "Do you have any lifeboats?" she yelled.

Glenn pointed to the other end of the ship. "They're on the starboard side!" he attempted to shout over the awful din.

Chester grabbed the two of them. "This ship is going down!" he said. "We have to get to the lifeboats!"

The cracking sound got louder and louder as more of the ship started to break apart. Chester tried to drag the other two of them through the storm, trying to get to the other side, but Glenn refused to move. The Grarrl looked at the old Nimmo. "Captain always goes down with his ship!" the Nimmo said.

Chester just stared at him for a moment before hoisting him up over his shoulder against his will. "And a Grarrl always gets what a Grarrl wants!" he said. "And my saying trumps yours!"

With the Nimmo over one shoulder and the Alien Aisha holding onto his other hand with a grip like a vice, Chester started to barrel across the ship as it started breaking further apart in the storm.

Several times, he had to avoid sudden holes opening up in the deck, struggling to keep his balance as the ship rocked and the rain continued to fall. All this, just because I wanted some alien vending machine food... Chester thought to himself with a slight laugh.

Still, the group must have had the luck of Fyora on their side, as they were able to get across the ship in one piece, and waiting for them there were the lifeboats.

There was a figure between them and their goal, however. It was the same water faerie that they had fished up earlier... except this time, she was joined by two other water faeries.

"The Drenched..." Glenn gasped upon seeing the three evil faeries...

Still, he had the will to survive and make it safely to the winter paradise.

So, therefore, there must be a way.

Chester advanced toward the opposing party, but tripped over a newly-formed crack in the fastly submerging ship. Flailing his arms about in the process, he managed to knock over Kenna.

The two got to their feet quickly, but the faeries still laughed at them.

"Foolish ones, I've returned," said the water faerie that the three Neopets had encountered previously; her tail color was a medium blue. She grinned mischievously.

"Yes," said the next faerie, whose tail was the lightest hue. "Because of you three, especially--" she wagged a trembling finger at Chester "--you, that Mundo down there didn't make it."

"And he was vital to our plans," the last faerie said in a deep voice, her tail color such an intriguing, mysterious dark blue that it almost appeared indigo. "We needed him for our plot, which has now been foiled by you..." she trailed ominously.

"But you won't get away with it," the faerie with the medium blue tail said. So, with that, all three faeries lunged at them...

...and then suddenly they stopped mid-air.

An orb of light illuminated The Drenched, and tinges of the falling rain bounced off of it.

They were immobilized.

Chester and Glenn looked toward Kenna, who was smiling with self-satisfaction and holding up a small object with many, many buttons.

Chester, the rain pouring harder with every passing second, asked, "What is that?"

"When you tripped before and we both fell, this little instrument rolled out from my spacesuit pocket; until then, I'd forgotten I had it!"

Seeing the bewilderment on the faces of the two, she elucidated further.

"It's something that Gardon gave me. All the employees of the vending machines get one; it's equipped with the latest alien technology!" She pointed to a small green button on the lower left corner of the device. "This makes a forcefield," the Aisha remarked, a broad smile across her cute little face.

Upon learning of this, the Grarrl decided not to waste any more time. "Let's just get to the lifeboats!" he screamed over the pouring rain as the three hurried and promptly jumped in one.

For now, they were safe.

About five minutes into their journey on the lifeboat, the real ship sank.

The second the captured faeries fell underwater, the storm ended.

"Alas, it's only temporary," Kenna said. "It'll keep them stuck for a while, though."

The three smiled and breathed a sigh of relief.

It was the Nimmo's turn to speak. "For a while there, I was really questioning my decision to take you along. 'Sent from the faeries,' eh? If anything, sent from the faeries to destroy me," he chuckled. "Everything turned out alright, though, and I had a really good time! It's nice that my old self got to have an adventure one more time."

The three laughed.

Chester decided not to say anything. He was perfectly content that the tiny boat was sailing on, unabated, toward Terror Mountain...

"I've checked the calibration, the I/O meter, and the PPM Re-mixer, and I just can't find the problem," Gardon said as the big, gruff Alien Aisha examined the machine in Neopia Central. "Can you show me exactly what you did?" he asked, handing Chester a complimentary Nerkmid.

The Grarrl never forgot a food experience, and so he pushed the buttons and flipped the levers in exactly the same fashion as he had previously.

Once again, the same thing happened -- a puff of smoke came out of the machine.

"That's the problem," Kenna said.

Gardon began to laugh.

Chester and Kenna exchanged awkward glances.

"That's the food!" Gardon exclaimed.

Chester looked dumbfounded.

"Put your mouth to it and suck up the air, Grarrl."

The Grarrl did as instructed. If that Aisha was correct, then the entire trip would have been one big waste of time.

Or would it be?

He'd made new friends, had new adventures, seen new things... no, the trip was actually pretty fun!

He smiled at Kenna and Glenn, both standing alongside him. They smiled back.

Regardless, he sucked in the air... and it was the greatest thing he'd ever tasted.

The End