SQUAD Squadron: First Mission -- Part Two

The Chef hopped off of Fenris. "I think the Coco village is this way," the Flotsam said, pointing into the mess of green. Misty smiled and nodded, and Fenris gingerly stepped into the jungle, Misty on his back. After they had walked for a while, the large-leafed trees providing ample shade as the day grew hotter, the Chef turned to Misty. "I don't mean to be rude, but…" he trailed off, looking down.

      "Yes?" Misty asked, looking at him queerly.

      "Why…why do you always ride that Lupe?" the Chef asked.

      Misty laughed. "As you can see, I'm a Water Faerie," she motioned towards her large tail, "so I have a lot of trouble getting around on land. Fenris and I have been friends since he was a cub, and he's agreed to carry me anywhere I need to go on land."

      "Oh…" Feeling a bit Babaa-ish at his question, the Chef was silent as they passed through the lush, verdant foliage of the jungle. Soon, however, he turned to the Water Faerie again. "Are you really a Faerie knight?" he queried.

      "Sure am!" Misty said. "I graduated from the Faerie Academy first in my combat class, although I know some basic Water spells too. I hope I can help you," she added.

      "I'm sure you can. You're a Faerie!" the Chef exclaimed. Before Misty had time to answer, they came to a clearing in the trees. In the clearing was a large group of huts, and a huge hut in the center. "This is Coco Village," the Chef explained. "I, uh, live and work here."

      "Sounds fun," Fenris said sarcastically.

      The Chef gave him a funny look. "Mumbo Pango wants food practically every five minutes, unless he's asleep. I never get a break," he sighed, shoulders slumped.

      Misty gripped her sword. "I'm gonna have a word with that Mumbo Pango!"

      The Chef stepped in front of her and held his flippers out in front of him. "No way! Mumbo Pango is an absolute monster when he gets angry! I don't want to upset him further…" He looked over at a small hut near Mumbo Pango's. "Let's check my kitchen for evidence."

      The Chef's kitchen was still a mess, just as he had left it that morning. He sighed and started half-heartedly stacking dishes. Misty and Fenris walked straight to the pantry and started looking around. "I think I may have found a clue," Misty said, after a few minutes of searching. She came out of the pantry holding a torn piece of leather. "It was caught on a bamboo splinter on the pantry wall. It probably belongs to your thief."

      The Chef squeaked with joy. "It couldn't possibly have been a monster, then!"

      "Well, it might have been a Werelupe," Fenris said with a mischievous grin. The Chef's face fell again.

      "Fenris, don't do that," Misty reprimanded her friend. She dangled the piece of cloth in front of the Lupe's nose and he sniffed it gently.

      "It smells of brine," he said, "and…some sort of fruit…Kraku Berries!" he deduced. "Misty, I think I know who did this. It was…a pirate."

      The Chef gasped. "A p-pirate?! They're probably holding my poor food for ransom!" He buried his head in his flippers and started to wail.

      Fenris blinked at him, disgusted. "Fenris, how do you know this piece of cloth belongs to a pirate?" Misty asked him.

      "It was simple enough. First of all, that's leather, isn't it?" Misty pulled at the cloth and rubbed it, then nodded. "Pirates wear leather because it's heavy-duty and waterproof, and Krawk Island is very close to Mystery Island, so it's safe to assume that whomever did this was a pirate."

      "How do you know it wasn't someone on Mystery Island, though?" Misty inquired.

      "Who else but a thieving pirate would want to steal my food?!" the Chef yelled, now in a rage.

      "This guy sure has some weird mood swings," Fenris mumbled to himself. "There is one more clue that leads me to believe it was a pirate," he said more audibly. "And that's the scent of Kraku Berries. A pirate's favorite drink is juice made of Kraku Berries. They go crazy over the refreshing, sweet taste, and keep whole barrels of it on their ships."

      "Say, Fenris, how do you know all of this stuff about pirates? I've been to Krawk Island lots of times and I didn't know most of that stuff," Misty said.

      Fenris was silent for a while, and then said, "There are some things a Lupe is not at liberty to discuss." And that was that. Any time Misty would ask about Fenris's past, he would always say the same thing, that he "wasn't at liberty to discuss it." Whatever the matter, he seemed to know more than an average Lupe. Misty suspected that Fenris had done a lot of traveling when he was younger that wasn't exactly Fyora-endorsed.

      "Chef, we're going to Krawk Island to catch the thief," Misty said. "Are you coming?"

      "No…" the Chef sniffled, "I have to clean up my kitchen…" He took a pile of silverware from the floor and started sorting the spoons, forks, and knives.

      Misty looked at him with pity. She opened up a small satchel hanging from Fenris's side and gently pulled out a Strawberry Faerie Bubble. With a warm smile, she handed the delicate treat to the gloomy Chef. He looked up, surprised. "I figured you must not get very many treats around here," Misty said, "so here's one for being such a hard worker." The Chef's eyes filled with more tears, but these were tears of gratitude.

      "Thanks for everything, Misty…" he managed to say, before popping the tiny bubble into his mouth. "Wow, this is delicious! I'll have to order a box of these from Faerieland when this whole thing is over!"

      Misty laughed, glad to see the Chef happy. "Well, Fenris and I must be going now, but we'll come back soon with your food. Goodbye!" Misty said with a wave. The Lupe bounded out of the hut, through the jungle, and to the beach where they had landed. "Fen, let me swim to Krawk Island," Misty said, patting the mighty Lupe's shoulder affectionately. "That jungle heat is making me a bit dizzy…I need the sea…"

      Fenris, understanding a Water Faerie's natural need for the wet stuff, stepped into the surf until it reached his ankles, then knelt down and let Misty slide off of his back. She splashed the clear, salty water with her tail fin, and then crawled farther out until it was deeper and she could swim easily. She turned to Fenris, who was waiting patiently on the shore, and shouted, "I'll meet you at Krawk Island!" and with a flick of her tail, she was gone, cutting through the cool water faster than a Flotsam.

      Fenris smiled. He considered himself lucky to have been chosen as Misty's escort by Fyora herself. He didn't really think he deserved the position, but Fyora had insisted upon giving him Faerie wings to counter Misty's lack of them, and also putting a spell on him so that he could carry anyone on his back, even an Elephante. "Well…back to the old stompin' grounds…" he said to himself, as he flapped his wings and flew towards Krawk Island.

      Mere minutes later, Misty pulled herself onto a dock on Krawk Island, making sure her sword didn't clatter on the wood so she wouldn't be noticed. Faeries rarely ever ventured to Krawk Island, and Misty wanted to keep a low profile until her Lupe companion arrived. Tail fin dangling lazily in the water, she looked around her as she waited for Fenris to arrive. Just a few yards away was the Golden Dubloon, a pirate-ship-turned restaurant. Milling about the docks were the usual throng of pets and their owners, and of course, plenty of pirates. Suddenly, she heard someone behind her. A chill ran up her back and she gripped her sword, whirling around to find herself staring into Fenris's face. "Oh…Fen…goodness, you scared me," she said, taking her hand off of her sword. "Why didn't you fly up to me?"

      Fenris looked around. "I didn't want to attract any attention by flying. We don't know what sort of pirate we're up against." Misty mounted him again, and he strutted towards the Golden Dubloon. "It's the most popular place on Krawk Island, we may be able to find some clues there."

      As they walked through the doors, the clanking of dishes, snippets of conversation from pets and humans enjoying the food, and the almost overpowering smell of Kraku Berry juice greeted them. "It's…sickeningly sweet…" Misty said, her eyes watering slightly.

      "They had a good harvest this year," Fenris said. "Pets are drinking all of the juice they want." A red Zafara at a table close to them fell off of his chair with an empty cup, moaning and rubbing his round stomach. "But if you drink too much, you get Bloaty Belly." Fenris rolled his eyes, and strode up to the counter, where a blue Lupe was using a rag tied to the hook that replaced his left hand to clean out a glass.

      "Excuse me, sir," Misty said. The Lupe glared at her with his eye that wasn't covered by a patch. Misty cringed, but continued. "Have you seen anything suspicious lately?"

      "Suspicious? I seen a lot o' suspicious things lately, lass." He stopped cleaning the glass and continued to stare at her.

      Misty looked around nervously. "Er…like, say…any missing food?" She knew it sounded stupid the moment it came out of her mouth.

      The Lupe guffawed, then suddenly stopped. "Ye got any dubloons?" Misty shook her head. "THEN GET OUTTA HERE!!" he bellowed.

      Misty massaged her ears. "Ow…" she said. "What a rude guy…"

      "Yeah, pirates are usually rude like that," Fenris said, sticking his tongue out at the blue Lupe, who stuck his tongue out back in a show of immaturity.

      Misty sighed. "I guess we could always poke around the Smuggler's Cove…" Just as they were about to leave, the doors to the Dubloon burst open, and in walked a small brown Kyrii wearing a blue three-cornered hat, a long-sleeved tan shirt with a patch in it, brown pants, and a brown leather vest. His mane was messy and wild, and he was carrying a large sack slung over his shoulder.

      The Kyrii jauntily ambled to the counter, where the Lupe glared at him, and at the sack. "Yar, gimme two bottles o' Kraku Berry juice!" the Kyrii said forcefully, slamming his paw on the wooden counter.

      "Ye…got any Dubloons, boy?" the Lupe said slowly, now eyeing the sack more than the Kyrii.

      The Kyrii flashed the Lupe a grin, put his sack down on the ground, and pulled out two perfectly ripe Jummie Rolls. He placed it on the counter, and the Lupe's eyes bulged with greed. "Sorry matey, got none o' them dubloons…but I do have some food ye might be interested in…" The Kyrii's grin was absolutely devious now.

      Misty stared at the Kyrii. "How could a pirate Kyrii get Mystery Island food?" she whispered to Fenris. "This seems awfully suspicious to me." Fenris nodded, his eyes fixated on the Kyrii.

      The Lupe's paw reached for the Jummie Rolls, but he quickly pulled it back. "L-let's see more food, boy, and then I'll be thinkin' about that juice…" Without delay, the Kyrii pulled out three Taokicarrots. "It be a deal, Jones!!" The Lupe swept the fruits under the counter with his large paw, then grabbed two bottles of deep red juice from the shelf behind him and handed them to the Kyrii, who hopped gleefully over to a corner table, set his sack down beside him, popped the cork off of one of the bottles, and started glugging the juice like a Koi glugs water in the Lost Desert.

      Glugging… Misty thought for a moment. "Fenris! That's Glug Glug Jones, isn't it?!" The question was more of a statement of realization than a query.

      Fenris nodded again. "That bumbling pirate couldn't get a Two Dubloon Coin if his life depended on it…"

      "So how did he get all of that food?" Misty wondered.

      "Misty, look," Fenris pointed with his nose. "He's got a hole in his leather jacket…"

To be continued...