"Wait...what?" Brent said. He tried getting other words out, but his throat grew dry, and he could only move his beak silently.
"Ya heard me, pal. I'm just a small-time pickpocket in comparison to her," the Krawk barked as he struggled to his feet and brushed himself off. "Ya got played by her sweet lies and tricks."
"I--I...But this Dubloon of Fa--" Brent choked out as he stared down at the over-polished Dubloon in his paw.
Giving a small smirk, the Krawk cackled, "Ya seem like a poor sap, so I'll let ya know a little somethin'. There's no such thing as a 'Dubloon of Fate', see? That's just an old tale, passed down on this island. By now, she'll probably be laughing her head off down at the beach, ready to set sail to another land to trick another poor sucker out of everything he has." Chuckling to himself, the Krawk ambled away, deftly stealing a few Dubloons out of the bag of a passing Bruce before slipping into a shadowy alley and disappearing from Brent's sight.
His mind racing from the Krawk's words, Brent used his broad wings to quickly take flight. From high up in the air, he spotted a large ship starting to unfold its sails and move away from the sandy shore. Flapping his wings as hard as he could, the Eyrie zoomed towards the beach.
As he swiftly approached the deck of the ship, he could see No-Beard giggling to herself at a massive pile of assorted items before her. Large bags of glittering Neopoints, colorful hats with feathers of all sizes, and various other shiny odds and ends. Her laughing was abruptly replaced with a wide smile as soon as Brent made a soft landing on the deck and confronted her face-to-face.
"Well, well, look who we have here. My partner in crime!" she chortled. "Did you catch No-Be--"
"I'm not in the mood for your jokes and your tall tales anymore. I know who you really are," Brent said, his eyes honed in on the lumpy bag she held at her side.
Noticing his gaze, No-Beard held up the bag and said, "Looking for these apples? Well, you can have them. I don't really feel like getting into a fight on my own ship and scratching it up. It's my most prized possession after all. Here."
She tossed the bag to Brent who looked at her with narrowed eyes. Opening the bag, he peeked inside and saw a large pile of Everlasting Apples still within it, and the Eyrie let out a sigh of relief.
Still grinning, the Poogle asked, "Happy? Now if you'll excuse me, I have some other places to be. Don't you have your own delivery to make?"
Feeling too worn out to answer her, Brent turned away from No-Beard and slowly took off towards the Swashbuckling Academy, holding the bag tightly in his right paw.
Watching him fly away, No-Beard let out a final giggle before turning her attention to the ship's wheel.
***
"Captain? I have your delivery!" Brent called out as he knocked on the door of the Academy.
After a few seconds, the door creaked open, and the jolly Captain greeted him with a loud, "Hello there! Yer a bit late, aren't ye!"
"I'm sorry, Captain. I...ran into a little trouble on the way," Brent replied as he handed the bag to Captain Threelegs. "But these should be the Everlasting Apples you asked for."
"Well now, let's take a look here!" the Captain said as he reached into the bag and pulled out an apple. His grin suddenly disappeared from his face as he stared at the apple he held in his hand. "Is this yer idea of a joke, sonny?"
"Is there somethi--" Brent began, but before he could get his question out, the Captain handed the apple back to him, and he noticed something that he hadn't before.
"A giant bite?!" he gasped as he saw a large, juicy mouthful taken out of the apple. Hurriedly snatching the bag back, Brent inspected the other apples, each of which had a giant chunk bitten out of it.
He groaned out, "No wonder she just gave them back to me!"
Captain Threelegs, his previous jolliness completely gone now, sighed, "I'll be expectin' another fresh delivery, ye hear?"
Brent nodded glumly, as he realized that his paycheck next month would be a lot smaller than usual.
***
Already far away from Krawk Island, No-Beard looked up at the sky as she mused to herself, "I bet he's noticed by now. My best joke yet!" And she took a large bite out of a large Everlasting Apple she had swiped just before Brent took off.
The End.
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