Treasure? Adventures with Mei!

Spoiler:

Brown eyes were wide with excitement as her arms were filled with cotton candy, lollipops, and other sticky sweet goodies. Mei had come across this small, deliciously created island when she was on a trip to find her small bunny friend a long time ago. It was only now that she was alone that she had remembered it and wanted to get a closer look and considering her childish personality, Mei hadn't the restraint to not pick up her most favorite sweets as she roamed across them. Perhaps, there was more to be found as she ventured further into the island. Her deep, brown orbs only grew more vivid in motion the more candy she had consumed and the faster her body went along as it seemed she was in the midst of a sugar rush. However, after so much candy consumed the girl would grow bored, full, and form a tummy ache of the most annoying quality. The dragon child would wander further dropping all the candy she had been carrying somewhere along the path she was following, which would lead her to only the cutest of villages. It was a small, temporary village of candy makers and medical specialists that dealt with every anomaly that the candy could form within a body. Of course, Mei simply had to purchase their most popular tummy ache medicine, instantly making her all the more cheerful with a lesson learned of the most valuable priority in her mind. 'Don't eat too much candy.'

Her newfound knowledge wouldn't leave her any less interested in the temporary village and what they were trying to accomplish, which was obviously to make the tastiest candy of all. There was also the goal to make candies that had special abilities and special different properties, which they were determined to keep secret leaving Mei to simply respect their wishes, although she really wanted to watch. Along the way, Mei would come across a board with a single piece of paper on it before tearing it down. "Ah.. Uhm.. Sp-e-cial. Tre-sure. Hmm..
V- a- hm... UGH! Stupid brain! You're such a baby!" Mei would sigh as she lowered the paper. She couldn't fully read well yet, but she could certainly sound words out to the best of her ability. Nonetheless, it was still a huge disappointment to feel so grown up only to realize she had a small brain.

"Aye, you be lookin' for the riches as well?" the man spoke, his voice echoing within his... well . .. actually what did it echo from?

He was a man who was far long gone. His skin had rotten away and left him with his bare bones and a thirst for a drink that would never satisfy. However, none would ask how a dead man could still find himself a drunken rage, or rather the ability to be drunk at all.

"It ain't be here, girly." he would tell her, "But thar be other treasures on this island." The man couldn't stand still, moving with each word as if he was about to fall, his bottle in his right hand and his mind emptied.

But how would the girl see him?

After all, he was the most harmless pirate in all of the seas.

Mei would turn wide eyed with the paper in hand as a voice echoed through her head from behind. It was a strange dialect that Mei had known about since she was just a small child, as did many other children. It was a voice only heard by the brave masters of the sea, a voice heard by princesses needing saving, and a voice little boys normally attempted to take on when their imaginations ran wild with adventure. It was shocking for someone who had been told all their life that they weren't real to finally hear but a true one. The voice of none other than a true pirate spark a sense of astonishment in the small girl's heart. It was frightening, it was dreadful, it was real, and t was absolutely amazing! Mei would grin from ear to ear as she let him talk to her and she could understand every word he spoke.

"WOW! You're a REAL pirate! Like a REALLY REAL one! I've never seen one before! This is amazing!
Are you looking for treasure too?! I bet you are because.. you're a pirate... and that's what you do... huh? I want to go on an adventure with you! Will you come find this treasure with me and teach me pirate things! I bet you tell great pirate stories too! This is awesome!" She began speaking after he was done with his own words and he probably hoped she would stop. However, Mei just couldn't hold herself back for this day just kept bringing her opportunities.

"Treasure? On ay candy is-land?" He twisted his skull in a curious way listening to the child's words. Surely she was much younger than she looked, but how young? Whatever the answer, she was much too young to drink, and thus was ruled out as a drinking partner. . .  . but in the land of the dead, perhaps age didn't matter here. Maybe anyone could drink the devil's wine.

"Ay, thar be no gold on this is-land girly, but ye can find the Glitter Gumdrops." he would smile if he had lips, but that didn't stop his bones from defying logic and twisting in a strange way. If the girl sought adventure, perhaps he could busy himself with that. After all, he was distilling sugar on the other end of the island at an attempt to brew something strong. Here, there was no poisonous drink as he wanted. He was a pirate without a ship, and thus, this girl was one of his only ways out.

"Ay, you remind me of the tale of the girl who ate cake." He would say again, only before taking a step in a different direction than either of them had been going.

He was going to make this worth his time.

Mei was a bit disappointed to know that there was no treasure on this island, but she was a bit curious as to what Glitter Gumdrops were. Maybe they were very, very sparkly candies that were just the most delicious candies anyone would have ever eaten ever. Maybe they were actually candies for fairies. Maybe it was the name of a fairy dance group that was super super good at dancing and Mei would definitely feel like she had been given a treasure watching them. Maybe it was the name of a pirate ship where the pirates were all girls and the seas would glitter as the ship sailed making them the Glitter Gumdrop crew! Maybe their base was on this candy island and Mei would get to see them in their piratey sweet goodness! The girl would beam with happiness as the pirate before her began to speak more. Then, his walking off would prompt her to chase after him.

"H-Hey! Wait up! What about cake? What girl? I wanna hear a story! Will you tell me? Are we looking for Glitter Gumdrops? Are they pirates? Are they candy? Are they fruit? Are we really gonna find treasure? Wait... tell me about the cake girl first!" It had seemed that the more excited the brunette got, the more she rambled on, and the more difficult it was to keep up with her. However, she was quite the charming and cute girl making everything better for her.

"Once upon ye time, thar be a young girl." Ravage began, toying with the girl. He hadn't really had a conversation in a long time. He was far to used to his one sided ramblings talking to a tree. However in his defense, it REALLY looked like the bartender. Even though it was in the middle of no where, and there was no drink.

"The young girl was hungry, so she went out to buy cake. Then ye girl ate the cake." He would turn to face the girl, and with a twist of his arm across is chest, swinging it like the weight of a grandfather clock he continued, "Ye end."

It wasn't the most interesting story, but for a dead man, it was probably the best Mei was gonna get. "Thar grow like flowers." he would tell her, "Ye can tell if thar be ripe if the petals be dead. If you pluck em too early they will be too hard to chew, but be plenty good to suck on like a jawbreaker. But when ye find a ripe one, it be the best candy ye ever had!" He'd lick his lips. Except, he had no lips, and he had no tongue, just a weird rotting muscle that existed in his mouth.

He also has no tastebuds.

No one knows why he knows so much about how things taste good or bad, and no one dares question a dead man. He's lived a while. He's probably seen some shit.

And Ravage has DEFINITELY seen some shit.

Mei would stare at the skeleman, as they walked along towards whatever this "Glitter Gumdrop had been that he was talking about. He would begin the tale of the girl who had eaten the cake. It seemed like the most boring story in the history of the world to anyone else that would have heard it; however Mei would only stare with was as glittery as the gumdrop they were after. Her whole being seemed to perk up at the end of the story. "That was the most amazing story ever! I can't believe she ate the cake she bought! What a crazy ending! I wonder where she got it.
I wonder what kind of cake it was. I wonder if she was hungry AFTER she ate the cake. I wonder if the cake was magic or just a cake. I wonder what color the cake was. I wonder what the girl looked like, maybe she looked like me.
I wonder if it was me. I like cake. This is such a good story. I love stories. Are you gonna tell more stories?" Mei would ramble on and on about the story, the girl, and even herself. Until, the bone man started speaking again.

Mei would listen to his tale about what the gumdrop candy looked like, except she was even more interested to hear that it was a flower and not exactly a gumdrop at all. This would probably cause many problems for the pirate as the two walked along together. Mei would see flowers galore and ask EVERY SINGLE TIME if it was the Glitter Gumdrop, except, "Oh.. well.. this one isn't very glittery.. and this one isn't very dead... and oh wait.. that's not even a flower," she would say after she asked every time. Mei certainly was a child at heart and in mentality. However, it just made her that more adorable.

"Aye, thy be the story. I like to believ' it had been a Glitter Gumdrop cake." He'd laugh a bit at her reaction. She was surely a child at heart. The two of them would continue on, looking for some rare candy that neither of them ever saw or heard of. At least, until today. Or had he?

There was no telling with a dead man, he wasn't even supposed to tell tales. Yet, here, in the land of the dead, he told tales. He would wander with her, looking for this . . . oh I said that?

"What kin' of story do ye wish to hear?" he would ask the girl. Today he would work on request.