Trees seemed to touch the sky in the mystical forest called Everwood. As a bird call pierced the silence in the early dawn, a soft breeze stirred the underbrush, only to scatter dried leaves haphazardly across the earth. But as the first light filtered through the branches, a man with a faded headscarf and a frayed eyepatch appeared from out of the brush. With a quiver of arrows slung across his back and a longbow dangling from his hand, Black-eyed Baxter wasn’t just a hunter—he was a scallywag, a shyster, a desperado, and a good-for-nothin’ pirate. And as everyone knew on Lumiere, pirates weren’t hunting deer in Everwood. Oh no. They wanted something much more valuable, much more powerful, and much more precious, something that could only be found on the Isle of Lumiere.
The scallywag pushed through the brush, chopping at tree branches like they annoyed him, when suddenly, he stopped. With his one good eye narrowing, he spotted something glinting in the grass ahead. He caught his breath, and in an instant, he was on his knees, pawing at some leaves.
“Ha!” He barked. “Ain’t this my lucky day!”
As he scratched his eyepatch with his filthy nails, leaving streaks of dirt on his weathered skin, there, sprawled on the ground, was a creature more beautiful than anything he’d ever seen.
It was a golden starling. Lying there motionless, it shimmered with an otherworldly glow. Breathtaking to look at—every feather looked like spun gold, as they caught the sun’s rays.
“They’ll all talk about this…about me.” Baxter chuckled, his laughter low and deep.
With blood like the Gods, the golden starling was said to bring unimaginable fortune to whoever possessed it. To pirates like Baxter, it was the ultimate prize. But as he wrapped up his treasure, he noticed something. The bird was still alive! Its wound, which initially looked fatal, had mysteriously disappeared. Baxter froze as the bird’s eyes flickered open.
“What in blazes—?” he muttered, leaning back as the starling flapped its wings like two small propellers, desperately trying to escape. With no time to spare, the pirate shrugged off his jacket and flung it like a net, catching the bird mid-flight under the weight of his coat.
> “Ha! Well, aren’t you somethin’ special,” Baxter murmured.
He wrapped up the bird excitedly and held it bundled against his chest, cackling triumphantly. When he was done rejoicing over his new prize, the black-eyed scallywag tipped his head back and whistled a sharp melody that sliced through the forest air.
“Baxter? Is that you?” Said a timid voice from out of the shadows.
“Hurry up already! I’m over here.”
From out of the dense woods emerged Two-fingered Tex. His right hand had reminders of his past betrayals. Tex was Baxter’s cohort in crime and bad-deed-doing buddy, and there was no one Tex was more loyal to than Baxter. Tex swung a cage of twigs and twine off his back and dropped it on the ground with a thud. “I finally found ya!”
Looking bothered by Tex’s lack of speed, Baxter growled, “Hurry up and open the cage already!” His buddy unlatched the shabby door as Baxter unfolded his coat and shoved the frightened creature inside. They both stood over their new prize, gloating. “We’z gonna be rich from this golden beauty! You wait and see, Tex—she’ll go for lots of gold, buddy!”
“Yesiree, she’s a dandy, Baxter! Yesiree—Yesiree!”
“Tell me you set the other trap!” Baxter demanded like a warning. His gaze darted around the clearing, as shadows seemed to shift in the growing light.
“I did,” Tex whispered with a toothless and oh-so-greasy grin. “The birdies will eat the sweet poison—um…I mean nectar.” Tex started snort-laughing, which sounded frightening, then barked, “They’re as good as dead!”
Baxter joined his buddy, snort-laughing, which sounded just as frightening.“Excellent! Excellent! Now let’s go see what we got!” And they disappeared into the dark forest.
Reappearing out of some brush, the two pirate buddies were now over the top of their trap. Dew-dropped webs sparkled in the morning light as spiders awaited their prey. Like Baxter and Tex, they anticipated their prizes, too —more magic birdies falling prey to their poisonous nectar trap. Feeling anxious, Baxter pulled out his telescope.
“Watch-a look’n at?” The two-fingered pirate asked stupidly. Baxter started hitting Tex with his scarf repeatedly.
“Okay, okay,” Tex grumbled.
“What do you think I’m lookin at? You imbecile!” Baxter barked, “We need to hurry up and trap’em before the Cap finds out we’re missen.” The black-eye pirate griped, “Imagine what he’d do if he knew we had these treasures.”
Tex snickered, “McSly would probably shishkebob’z us —for sure.”
The two snort-laughed out loud in unison again, proud of their criminal accomplishments.
Born to be bad, Tex and Baxter were part of Captain Corbin ‘Peg-leg’ McSly’s crew. McSly was known as one of the most ruthless pirates who hunted down magical creatures on the isle. But recently, Baxter and Tex had read a story in the newspaper about a pirate, Pitney “Evil Grin” Torp, who captured a golden starling on his own and became instantly wealthy after selling it at the dark market. So the minute McSly’s ship docked to fill up on supplies at the port of Bellefonte that morning, the two secretly set their sights on capturing some treasures for themselves.
As the two pirates waited, they noticed a twinkling light fluttering about. “A fairy bug,” Baxter whispered. “They’re so annoying!”
The fairy, who had watched Tex set the trap earlier, fluttered near the birds and whispered in birdie language, Eating that nectar will send you to your doom!
When they heard the fairy’s news, the birds screeched in a panic, immediately scattering into the sky.
“Only a cursed fairy bug could do this!” Baxter roared with rage. His good eye darted between the fleeing birds and the glimmering fairy as the clearing erupted into chaos. “We’ve been tricked!” he snarled, shaking his fist at the shimmering pest.“Quick, Tex—your bow! Shoot the bug!” he barked, his voice escalating to a shriek. “No, wait—get the golden starlings! No, no—blast it all, shoot everything!” Tex flailed wildly. Baxter’s rage turned Tex into a frenzy of useless motion as he fumbled to get his weapon.