Peach Treasurer

Tarot, the clumsy and terrible messenger who claims he is a shipwright, brought Timothy and others behind an alleyway with a jolly expression.

"And we have arrived, my lone friends!" Claiming they were his friends, Tarot dragged others' attention on him with a visually bored face and compelled Timothy into arguing, "I never said we were friends! And how on earth are you a shipwright that can't even deliver mail properly? You are one giant monkey who can't even climb trees properly!"

Tarot scratched the itch behind his ears and sped up every moment, "Everybody calls me a "monkey," it's just how I roll." He responded and crossed his arm with a proud aspect and a confident one at that.

Chiaki reached for Timothy's ear and pulled his head next to her lips, "You were stupid too," and then let go of him, leaving him with a miserable and unimpressed glance.

"Now, since I brought you to a safe place! Pay away!" Tarot extended his arm in front and opened his palm with a joyous smile.

Chiaki puffed her cheeks with a disappointed thought, "Why should we pay you? You were the one who got us into trouble anyway."

Tarot froze in his stance, his eyes churning and shaping into a depressed state. His eyes and pupils began to swirl, and some tears started gathering in his eyes.

He looked like a kitten.

"Please..."

Timothy sighed, reached into his pockets, and grabbed $50 bolts which he slapped in Tarot's name, "There! $30 additional bolts to explain what's going on around Anison City."

Tarot looked at the bolts, confused. He grabbed the paper and looked at it like a lost cause, "Bolts? I didn't want money. I am asking for peaches. I tossed my last one at the lobby."

Timothy's arms fell in front of his knees while his jaw dropped to the bottom of the floor, "You have gotta be kidding me. Don't you dare tell me you took on a part-time job to gain peaches as a reward?"

Tarot continued watching the flapping paper and slowly nodded, "Yes, I sure did! Man, you gotta believe me! Those birds have some amazing peaches!"

Timothy, his sisters, and his soul-linking partner, Chiaki, all gazed at each other in bewilderment. "What birds? What job has to do with birds being the directors?!" Cassidy inquired with utmost shock and puzzled mind.

"Well, you see..."

~ Tarot rode his nimbus cloud through the sky at high speed on his way to find some peach trees for his journey ahead, "Come on! Come on! I need some peaches! Don't you dare tell me there aren't any in the west!"

It was his first time entering the eastern side of the Vast Expanse, and with his nimbus cloud, that was the easiest thing for him to do. The nimbus cloud could move from 500 to 1000 miles per hour.

"Peaches! No more peaches!" But suddenly, his vision came across a massive tree with peaches growing from the leaves and branches, "Peaches!!" he shouted in excitement and flew toward the island.

"Here I come!" His eyes had peaches drawn in their pupils, and his expression sparkled in particles. He flew down directly at the tree and without being careful, rammed his entire body into the trunk, making the whole tree shake at a rapid pace.

He collapsed on his back with a bump as a bunch of peaches piled onto his body, covering him like a snow pile.

The mountain of peaches jiggled a bit and from beneath it, Tarot sprung, raising his arms in the air and screaming, "Woo-hoo! Peaches!" and began to sing, "I got peaches! Round and round orange peaches!" He began stuffing his mouth with them, biting at them from every corner until a sudden flock of birds dove at him and began pecking him.

"Hey! Ow! Let me go!" He swung his arms left and right, but the birds didn't surrender and continued messing up his hair and clothes. "These are my peaches! You can't have them!" He complained, hugging the peaches like embracing another person, and made a silly expression, "Hmph! Go find your own!"

In an instant, he heard a high-pitched voice that sounded almost like a squirrel. "You are the one who entered our territory!" Tarot's eyes became as white as the ghost.

He screamed in the air, "Aah! This island's haunted!" Before he could sink under the pile of peaches, he noticed one of the birds transforming itself into a human child with feather arms.

"Eh?"

Tarot paused in his position and blinked several times, "Are you an ostrich?" He pondered, puzzled more than one could be.

The child argued, complained, and shouted into Tarot's face, "No! I'm a bird, you absolute idiot!" Tarot reached with his finger on his cheek, "You sure you're not a dog? Ooh! Ooh! I got it! A hot dog! Have you ever tried to fly with those wings, hot dog?"

The feather child seemed irritated and unimpressed by Tarot's stupidity. "Anyway! Do you mind if I grab some of these peaches for the road? All of them! I get grumpy without them, and I haven't seen them for a couple of hours! The last one I ate was when I entered the west!"

The feather child became infuriated, "This is east! It's where stupid monkeys like you don't live!"

Tarot hit the top of his right palm, "East?! What do you mean "east?" I was born in the east in Itto-Itto Lands! Don't make me look stupid." Tarot crossed his arms, sitting down with his leg crossed.

"Itto-Itto Lands is on the west, not east! You were born there. How should one not know on what side of the world you were born? You're in the east right now!"

Tarot shrugged his shoulders, "Look! East, west, or test or pest! I don't wanna hear none of it! I want to take these peaches, and I'll do anything to get some of them!" The feather child froze in his stance, thinking of the directions Tarot responded with, "Test? Pest? Those aren't world directions! And if you really want some peaches! Then you'll have to do something for me instead."

Tarot made a wide smile, "You got it! Whatcha gonna make me do? Go kick some baddies' butts? Or, or craft a ship! Maybe rub your feathers! Ooh, I'm so excited!"

Suddenly, he received an answer, "You will deliver exactly 1000 letters and wallpapers to the people it leads you to. When you finish, you may eat as many peaches as you want. Delivering the messages is my job, but I think it's about time I rest up."

A question mark popped above Tarot's head which spun about the more he tried to understand. Suddenly, he responded, "You bet!" He hit the top of his palm, "Gimme those papers! I'll deliver them all in 24 hours!" ~

Timothy and others seemed flabbergasted and disappointed with what Tarot signed up for, "You became a messenger to get some peaches? You are the craziest person I've met in my entire life." Cassidy answered, and suddenly Timothy raised his arms in the air, "Awesomeee! I like peaches, and I like food! I got an idea, Tarot! Join my crew!"

Chiaki, Ayuka, and his sisters looked at Timothy, "Ehhh?!" They broadened, stretching their word to ring around the alleyway, and turned out surprised.

Tarot's eyes whitened, swirling with amazement and excitement. "All right! Get me on board!" Tarot sprung to his feet, lifting his arms in the air.

Once again, Timothy's allies asked, "Whaaaaat?!"

The next moment, they watched Tarot and Timothy folk dancing, leaning their arms around each other's shoulders and singing while the girls became speechless.

"He... He just met the guy." Cassidy answered, looking at him confused, "And why would he ask a stranger to join his crew and not his only two sisters?!" Cassidy started tearing up, rolled herself into a ball, and began shaking backward and forward like on a swing in depression.

Trinity calmly placed her hand on Cassidy's palm, "There, there, Cass. I'm sure everything will work out."

To be continued...