A Candychan Plot: Part Three

      Quickly, we looked for Killian. We found him back at the clearing, still looking fairly miserable. Poor kid, to care that much about a Neopian. Maybe some Candychans really can be petpets, although the thought set a shudder along my spine. It didn't suit me.

      "Hey!" Androcles called cheerfully. Killian seemed to be very happy to see us, as if he expected us to have everything resolved already, and he trotted over.

      "What's the news? Did you find out anything?" he asked.

      Androcles glanced over at me, and I nodded. His idea, he should be the one to take the credit for it. Although, even if it wasn't his idea, he'd still take credit for it, but that's what teamwork is, right?

      "Do you, by chance, have a One Dubloon Coin?" he asked vaguely.

      Killian looked confused and frowned. He paused, as if in thought, and when he responded, you could almost see the lights come on. "I don't have one, but I know someone who does. You could ask him."

      Nervously, I looked at Androcles. "We're not a big fan of pets," I said.

      "Oh, he's not a pet. He's a Candychan. Doesn't have a pet either."

      Androcles and I nodded; that was much more acceptable.

      "His name is Strian, a Pirate Candychan; you can find him over on Krawk Island, which is just a quick flight thataway," Killian gestured vaguely.

      "And he'll just give it to us?" I asked.

      Killian shrugged. Guess we're just going to have to go find out.

      We thanked Killian for the information. Sure, we were doing this to help him, but we were the ones who'd get credit for it. We'd thank him in the "others" section of our speech.

      Kicking off from the ground, Androcles and I raced each other to Krawk Island. I beat him there, but that's probably because I was willing to dive into the sand. I'd just pick it out of my lovely whipped cream wings later.

      Following Killian's directions, we trekked over to the Smuggler's Cove. It was similar to the Ice Caves, except it lacked the pretty ice. The smugglers who the cave was named for appeared to be gone, probably collecting more goods. We headed past the opening, which was meant for tourists and ducked through the rest of the caves, until we came across a small opening hidden behind a stalactite.

      We squished inside and found that it was actually fairly well lit. There were tiny mounds of coins everywhere, but neither Androcles nor I knew which one was a One Dubloon Coin. We had no need for currency, as being Candychans who were easily overlooked, we could usually get what we needed without much trouble.

      "Hello?" I called out. A leap out of seemingly nowhere took me by surprise, and I found myself face to face with a pirate.

      "What er ye doin' down here ye rotten pondscum!" he said with a glare.

      "I'm Androcles, and this is my sidekick," Androcles chimed in.

      "...Who?" the pirate, who we assumed was Strian, asked.

      "ANDROCLES? Surely, you've heard of me. I've kindly introduced myself to nearly every Candychan. Plus, I saved Terror Mountain from an onslaught of zombies!" Androcles said dramatically.

      "Mm hmm..." the pirate hummed doubtfully. "So, what'cha want wit' me?"

      Pushing Androcles aside, who was pretending to be hurt for not being recognized, I explained what happened on Mystery Island, what we discovered on Virtupets, and our plan of action. "So you see," I finished, "we need to use a One Dubloon Coin. Killian thought you might be willing to give us one."

      Strian paused and seemed to carefully consider this. Finally, he spoke. "Ye say ye've met yerself every Candychan?" he asked Androcles.

      Perking right up, he grinned. "Of course. Except for you, who hasn't heard of me?"

      "I need ye ta find someun' fer me. Ye do that fer me cully an' ye can have yer dubloon."

      Communicating silently, because we were good at it, I told Androcles by glaring at him that I didn't believe he could find this person. He turned away, which told me he planned on ignoring me.

      "Sure! Who are we looking for?"

      I rolled my eyes, but since we agreed, and there seemed to be no other way, I decided to let Strian proceed.

      "There once was a lass, Cosmia she were called. A right purdy Rainbow Candychan what fluttered amongst the clouds o' Faerieland. She were a right fine companion an' I long ta know whence the winds have whipped her off to these days. Find her an' give her this." The pirate held out a small note corked in a bottle. "Er we in accord, messmate?"

      I took the note from him, seeing as how Androcles would lose it, and listened to a brief description of where she used to live and what she looked like. Androcles tapped his foot impatiently, and muttered, "Hurry up!" every few seconds. He's so helpful.

      Promising to come back soon, Androcles and I flew out of the caves and headed toward Faerieland. Androcles was being particularly sulky on our way there, so I reassured him that Strian probably never left that dank old cave, which is why he didn't know about Androcles' wonderful existence. He seemed to accept that answer, and took to humming the rest of the way there. He's easier to deal with when he's happy. Fortunately, it's easy to keep him happy.

      We arrived at the bunch of clouds quickly enough. "So, he said something about a Grundo plushie," I mentioned to Androcles. "She felt sorry for it or something, and spent her time around it."

      "Sounds like she has problems," Androcles chirped, and then he pointed. "Down there."

      Following his line, I saw the small blue speck on the cloud and we both fluttered down toward it. I didn't see anybody else immediately, so looking over at Androcles, we agreed to the same thing.

      We cupped our hands around our mouths and started calling out, "Cosmia!"

      After about fifteen minutes, I heard a small moan coming from a fluff of cloud near the wall of Faerie City. Bouncing over toward it, Androcles commented, "Seems like she likes to sleep a lot, like you!"

      I rolled my eyes, but ignored him and put a hand on the shoulder of the brightly striped Candychan. "Are you Cosmia?" I asked.

      She threw an arm over her eyes, and grumbled. I took that to mean, "yes."

      I pulled out the letter Strian had given me and shoved it into her hand. "This is from Strian. He was hoping you'd have something to tell him?"

      She sat up once she heard the pirate's name, and said, "Oh, my old friend!" She accepted the letter, and ripped it open. Her eyes scanned it eagerly, and she said, "A moment please," before she took to writing a response.

      It seemed like she was a quick writer, as her purple quill flicked over the pages, yes pages, with ease. She tucked them together, said, "I assume you don't need an envelope?" shoved them at me, and went back to sleep. Lovely girl.

      I looked at Androcles, so as to say, "Is it just me, or is she weird?" and he shrugged. Not like we'd ever have to deal with her again.

      I called out thank you, heard a grumble in return and took off. Androcles followed me quietly, and just before we entered the cave again, he shared one of his many pearls of wisdom, "She was strange."

      It made me chuckle, though, and we landed back by the Cove. Now more familiar with the Caves, we tucked back into Strian's home. I handed him the messed up bundle, which he took without saying anything. He flipped through the pages quickly, not to read them, but more to verify that they were from Cosmia, it seemed. He gave a nod, which seemed to suggest that he took them as a valid confirmation that we held up our end of the bargain.

      "Ye did a fine t'ing, lads," he said gruffly. "There's me pile shipmate, ye may have any One Dubloon Coin outta there what tickles yer fancy."

      Androcles scooped a couple up, in case we lost one, and I called out, "Thank you!"

      He was bent back over the letter. "Yeah, yeah."

      As we left the cave, I muttered to Androcles, "I think you'd better say those two are rather weird friends. They seem so mismatched."

      He grinned and whispered back, "Got that right! Some Candychans, geez..."

      Flying back to Mystery Island, filled with adrenaline and a bit of nervous excitement, we didn't speak again until we found Killian.

      Holding out the dubloons like a trophy, Androcles beamed that we accomplished the first part of our mission. We offered to allow Killian to tag along, but he said he wanted to stay on the island, so he could greet his JubJub the second his pet was turned back into, well, a pet.

      Androcles and I were fine with that – let him stay on the cockroach infested island. Better him than us. One final venture out to Virtupets, and we would be heroes. Androcles and I offered each other a nice grin, and with that, we gave Killian a nod goodbye, and set out to complete our task.

To be continued...