The spotted Uni was born with his wings (unlike some other messengers), which meant that he flew with a skill and swiftness that only a Uni had.

He normally wasn't very curious about what he was delivering, but that wasn't the case today. Tallon was itching to look into the package that he was carrying in his messenger bag.

He knew he couldn't do that, though, or else Mr. Bask might find out. Skeiths were not known for their forgiveness and Mr. Bask was no exception.

Tallon did, however, give the package a few shakes as he flew past Brightvale.

He was almost halfway there now since he'd taken off from Faerieland.

The sky was clear and a cool breeze was skimming past Tallon. By all accounts it was a beautiful day. These were the times when the Uni loved his job.

It was so quiet that the only thing he could hear was a flock of Crokabeks that seemed to be heading to Meridell.

He could almost make out Meridell castle as he continued to drift over Brightvale.

As he continued toward the Darigan Citadel his journey was peaceful -- until he reached Meridell and saw someone frantically waving their arms.

Tallon was still only at the edge of Meridell but his vision was sharp. He could make out a blue figure on the ground. The spotted Uni kept on flying, though, since he didn't think it had anything to do with him.

However, the figure seemed to be following him and was now yelling something.

Keeping his guard up (in case of any trouble, since thieves sometimes tried to steal his packages), Tallon decided to fly a little lower and see if he could figure out what was happening...

As the figure neared, Tallon began to realize who the mysterious character on the ground really was. By all means he should have guessed the identity from the start, but Tallon was not too bright on such accounts. The frantic figure belonged to none other than King Skarl, the Grumpy Old King as some of his... well, less-admiring subjects called him.

The Uni debated whether or not he should stop, as such things had nothing to do with him, but he went against his better judgment and pulled down, closer to the ground.

His hooves soon came into contact with the lush grass, then sent dirt flying in every direction as Tallon struggled to come to a complete stop.

Flying was a skill that he was born with; stopping, on the other hand, was another matter altogether.

The frantic footsteps and haggard breathing of King Skarl soon followed. The king placed both hands on his knees and doubled over from the (much needed) exercise. King Skarl raised his index finger before he managed to blurt out:

"Turmaculus!"...

"Hehehe... works... *huff*... every... *huff*... time!" he chuckled.

Tallon just stood there, mud in his face from the sudden stop, and stared at the unusually jolly Grumpy Old King. After he managed to pick his jaw up from where it had dropped to the floor, he tentatively bowed to the Skeith.

"U-um," he began, "Your Grump--I mean... Highness? What's the matter?"

"What's the matter?!?" Skarl roared joyously. "Well, lemme tell you..."

The Uni had an ominous feeling about this. The king's jolly demeanor seemed rather phony, forced. Tallon wasn't one to disrespect a king, though.

"Your advisers are well-informed. My name is Tallon, and I am, indeed, heading toward the Darigan Citadel. What is the reason behind this spur-of-the-moment meeting?"

King Skarl chuckled, then replied, "Don't tell me you don't realize the importance of the item you're carrying there in your bag. You didn't sneak a peek, not even a little one?"

"Of course not!" Tallon said, scoffing. It was against his integrity, against his very reputation and being.

"Well, then... take a look now. Surely, with my authority Mr. Bask will understand."

The king slyly reached over and seized the package from within the messenger bag. Like a back-alley salesman teasing his wares, King Skarl beckoned the Uni closer.

Tallon leaned in closer. Maybe just a glance...

"Cookies?" Tallon asked, suddenly confused. Mr. Bask had said the package was extremely important and was set to be delivered to Lord Darigan himself.

"Not just any cookies," the king said. He was smiling so smugly that his eyes were reduced to slits, "but Chocolate Cloud Cookies made by Fyora herself. I've heard Lord Darigan is a fan and that he orders two dozen every week."

"That's... interesting," Tallon said, making a motion to reach for the box, but King Skarl snatched it away from his grasp, causing the cookies to hop around precariously in the box.

"I wonder what would happen to Lord Darigan if his precious cookies were to, say... be eaten," King Skarl mused, eyeing the cookies hungrily.

"He would probably kill the messenger," Tallon said through a stony face. He certainly did not want to get caught up in a prank war between the King of Meridell and the Lord of Darigan Citadel. Plus, he had never failed to deliver a package and he wasn't about to let his reputation falter over a box of delicious-looking cookies.

They really did look quite delicious, and made by Queen Fyora's own hand? The smell alone enveloped them both and made their mouths water.

"Turmaculus!" King Skarl cried again.

"Nice try," Tallon said through gritted teeth. "Hand over the coo--"

Tallon stopped talking abruptly when he felt a warm cloud of breath on the back of his neck. He turned slowly to come face to face with the hulking form of the Turmaculus...

"No!" Tallon wailed. "Lord Darigan's going to KILL ME!"

The Uni couldn't believe it. King Skarl was actually rolling around on the ground, laughing at him. His chest heaved with each breath as he tried, and failed, to contain it.

So much for being known as the Grumpy Old King, Tallon thought.

King Skarl's fit of laughter was short-lived, however, when both he and Tallon were taken by surprise by the Turmaculus' sudden strange behaviour...

Realizing where the multicolored creature was going, the Uni came to his senses and spread out his wings. The Turmaculus was huge and the damage it could do to the floating citadel would be enormous, though there was little Tallon could do to stop it. King Skarl seemed to still be in too much shock to stop the Uni as he shot into the air and pumped his wings to try and catch up.

The Turmaculus seemed to be going much too fast for the spotted Uni to keep up, until the creature slowed to a stop once again. Tallon started slowing as the body began to turn...

His thoughts spun as quickly as the Turmaculus had spun through the air. The gigantic Petpet had slowed further and seemed to have come to a decisive stop among the clouds just above Darigan. The sight only confused Tallon more. What was going on? What had happened? Was the Turmaculus just going to hang there? Most pressingly of all, what was Tallon going to do?

Ideas budded at the back of his mind and grew as he winged his way closer. Chocolate Cloud Cookies were a faerie delicacy, and it was obvious that eating the cookies had had a magical effect of sorts on the Turmaculus. Perhaps they weren't meant for Petpet consumption, or perhaps there had been a spell cast on this particular batch. Tallon also recalled that the treats were sold in the Faerie Food store in nearby Faerieland and, should he need to, he might well be able to dash there and back without Lord Darigan noting any delay in the delivery.

His musings, however, didn't shed any light onto what should be done about the Turmaculus and, Tallon thought, the creature couldn't be left as he was. The Uni blinked, lifting a hoof to shade his vision as a section of the sky lit in his periphery. Light? He peered ahead, eyes narrowed, and his breath rushed from him in a gasp.

The Petpet had begun to emit a strange glow...

King Skarl gazed up in bewilderment as his great Petpet floated in the sky, completely petrified.

What is happening to him now? Tallon wondered.

The Citadel doors then swung open. Slowly, Lord Darigan fiercely stepped out. "What is going on here?" he shouted.

Tallon could feel his wings quickly tightening in fear. With a deep gulp, he answered, "Lord Darigan sir, I work as a messenger for Mr. Bask. You see, I was supposed to deliver a package to you and I'm sorry, but..."

"Package? What package?" Lord Darigan inquired.

"Your weekly shipment of Chocolate Cloud Cookies, sir," Tallon nervously answered. "The ones made by queen Fyora herself."

"I haven't ordered those cookies in ages!"

"But I'm told you get them every week," the Uni cautiously rebuffed.

"Nonsense! I got sick of those things years ago. She's been sending me her famous Faerie Apple Pie instead. I just got one yesterday!" Lord Darigan declared. "So now, can someone please tell me why you are all here and why there is a giant Petpet hovering around my castle disturbing my peace?"

Tallon thought carefully about the source of the package. Mr. Bask had told the Uni to pick it up from a tree outside of Faerie City. If those weren't orders given by Fyora...

"Well, uh... Lord Darigan, sir, Your Majesty..." Tallon stumbled over the words. He didn't usually deliver the packages directly to Lord Darigan and his presence was, well, intimidating.

"Out with it!" Darigan roared. "Tell me what's going on here or--"

"Please don't destroy me!" Tallon implored, cowering.

"Destroy you?" Darigan lowered his voice. "No, of course not. You're just a messenger, and as long as you tell me exactly what I want to know I also won't throw you in the dungeons to have you brain warped and Neopoints stolen by Master Vex and his blasted game. So, who gave you the cookies?"

"Well, I don't know. I was ordered to pick them up from a pre-arranged location. I didn't see who dropped them off."

"So, you're telling me that the Turmaculus just so happened to snatch them out of your bag while you were flying over Meridell?"

"Well, no," Tallon responded.

"So, you stopped on your way here?"

"Well, yes, but please don't tell Mr. Bask! He'll fire me!"

"Then you had better have a VERY good reason..."

"King Skarl waved me down. He wanted to look in the bag and said that, as long as he ordered it, then it would be okay--"

"Skarl? What did Skarl say when he saw what was in the bag?"

"He didn't seem surprised. In fact, he knew exactly what kind of cookies they were and where they'd come from. Isn't that odd?"

An outrageously loud guffaw echoed down the street behind where Tallon and Lord Darigan stood talking.

"No, no it isn't." Lord Darigan sighed and started to walk back into the Citadel proper.

"Wait, what's going on?" Tallon called after him.

"Just one of Skarl's pranks," Darigan declared and then disappeared into the shadowed archway.

"What about the Turmaculus?!?" Tallon shouted.

The doors of the Citadel slammed shut and all that remained was the echo of Skarl's hysterical laughter.

Tallon skidded to a half half a second too late. His horn knocked against the storefront window and, for a sickening moment, he thought the glass was going to shatter.

Mr. Bask flung the front door open and marched -- he never merely walked somewhere, and that had made him a great courier in his younger years -- into the street.

"What took you so long?"

"I, uh... had a bit of an accident."

"Did you make the delivery?" the older Skeith asked.

Tallon nodded. "You could say that."

"Are you sure? There's another package to take to Darigan Citadel from Faerieland. Two in one day -- that's never happened before."

"The contents of the package got where they were going, Mr. Bask," Tallon replied. He left out the part about them being in the Turmaculus's belly, which also happened to be in the Darigan Citadel.

Bask shook his head. "Well, you're going to have to go right back."

"Yes, sir, and this time I won't stop in Meridell, not for anything."

"Excuse me? Did you say--"

"The accident. I had to stop in Meridell for a few minutes. I was just saying that it won't happen again."

He wondered if the spell Skarl cast on the cookies had worn off yet, or if the giant Petpet's shadow was still cast over the Citadel. Hopefully the Turmaculus had learned his lesson, but Tallon doubted it.

The End