"You'd think a rich Duke would pay his men better," Fabian grumbled to himself as he looked through the contents of the pouches he had stolen. "How's a thief supposed to make an honest living if people won't carry larger sums of cash around with them? It's really quite selfish, if you think about it."

He was continuing down the path towards the town of Braithvale when he noticed a sign reading "Now Entering the Enchanted Forest."

"What the hell?" Fabian asked himself aloud. "Nobody said anything about passing through an enchanted forest. That would be one of the first details I mentioned when giving directions. The town's two days that way, once you pass through the enchanted forest. Well, maybe that's just the name of the place. Maybe it's not really enchanted."

A pixie fluttered by surrounded by a bright glow of light and disappeared behind a tree.

"Pixies don't tend to hang around regular forests much. Looks like we've got ourselves an enchanted forest here. Not really a huge fan of the magic."

A squirrel on a nearby tree branch looked up from the acorn he was munching on and blinked its eyes. "Pardon me, guvnah, but what's wrong with magic?"

"What's wrong with magic?" Fabian repeated. "I don't trust it. That's what's wrong with magic. It makes strange and unnatural things occur. Look at me, I'm talking to a squirrel right now."

"Nuffin' unnatural about that, lad," the squirrel said. "Squirrels talk all the time. Humans just don't usually listen. If magic brings people together more, I can't see anything wrong with that."

"That's all very progressive and everything, but would you mind telling me if there's a way around this forest?"

"It stretches a thousand miles in each direction, laddy. The quickest way to go is straight through. The city of Braithvale lies on the other side about a day's travel from here."

"Thanks, pal," Fabian said. He waited until the squirrel had turned away and then he stabbed it in the back. He built a quick campfire and had a late breakfast of roasted squirrel.

Feeling satiated, he patted his belly and let out a loud belch. He kicked dirt on the fire and continued on down the pathway further into the Enchanted Forest. He spotted a satyr chasing a wood nymph across the path in the distance, but as they appeared to be mostly naked, he didn't suppose they were carrying much in the way of treasure and were thus not worth pursuing.

He did spot a little frog wearing a golden crown sitting on a rock by a pond just off the pathway. He attempted to sneak up on it, but it spotted him and dived beneath the water before he could snatch the crown.

He shrugged his shoulders and was about to turn back to the path when he noticed the tell-tale sound of digging somewhere nearby. He tiptoed behind a large shrub and peeked around it.

In a clearing there was a man in a striped shirt with a red kerchief tied around his head digging a sizeable hole with a shovel. More tantalizingly, there was a large wooden chest sitting behind him.

Fabian was attempting to calculate the best possible way to drag the chest off without being detected when he felt something sharp poking into his back.

"Avast there, matey. I'll be taking all of yer gold now."

Fabian held up his hands in a show of surrender. "I don't have much money, but take whatever you want. Just please don't kill me." He felt a rough pair of hands dig through his pocket and emerge with his leather pouch.

"Arrr, this landlubber be dry as a bone," he heard the voice say.

Another high pitched voice echoed after him. "Squawk! Dry as a bone! Dry as a bone! Squawk!"

Fabian ventured to take a look over his shoulder. He saw a man in a big poofy shirt with long braided hair and a mustache and beard that had beads in it. He wore a three cornered hat with a skull and crossbones on it as well as an eyepatch and large golden hoop earrings. A bright red parrot sat on his shoulder. One of his legs appeared to be a wooden peg. A band of rough looking men stood behind him snarling.

"You've got to be kidding me. Pirates?" Fabian said.

"Aye, matey. I be known as Patrice, king of the pirates."

"Yeah, I gathered that," Fabian said. "What are you doing in the middle of the Enchanted Forest?"

"Arrr, it was the darndest thing. We were lost at sea in a deadly storm. A giant whirlpool threatened to take our ship. Then suddenly we were zapped to the middle of this forest, boat and all. It was like, magic, or something."

"Well, this forest is magical," Fabian said rubbing his chin. "I'm not sure how it managed to grab you out of the ocean from hundreds, if not thousands of miles away, but then I never pretended to understand magic. I have always thought it would be cool to be a pirate though. Can I join you guys?"

"Our crew be at full capacity," Patrice said. "And now ye know the location of me buried treasure, I'll have to kill you."

"Make him walk the plank!" one of the pirates standing behind Patrice shouted.

The pirate lord turned around and slapped the man across the face. "You idiot! We're in the middle of a forest! He's not going to drown from walking the plank!"

"It's pretty high up in the air now that our ship's stuck on dry land," the chastened pirate said as he rubbed his face. "He might break a bone or two in the fall. That's all I'm saying."

"Captain, I've finished burying the chest," the pirate in the clearing called out.

"Good work, Sharkey," Patrice said. "Make sure you draw an 'X' on the ground to mark the spot. Now as I was saying, you'll have to be killed. I think one of the cannons on our ship still works. We'll stand you in front of it and blast you to pieces!"

A loud rumbling sound ripped through the air.

Patrice whirled around. "Who's the lousy mongrel that fired the cannon already? The prisoner wasn't even in front of it! Arrr!"

"That was no cannon, Captain," one of the pirates spoke up. "That was a clap of thunder. It be raining, Sir."

"Arrr, this be giving me flashbacks to when we nearly lost the ship! I don't like rain anymore. Head for cover!"

No sooner had the storm started then it came to an abrupt stop. The sun peered through the clouds and a bright rainbow descended from the sky and landed on top of the 'X' mark the pirate had drawn.

They heard the sound of somebody whistling nearby and a little red bearded man in a green hat emerged into the clearing toting a black pot of gold. He came to a halt when he spotted the pirates and Fabian standing at the treeline.

"Arrr, get out of here so I can bury me pot of gold in peace," the little man said as he waved his hand at them in a hostile manner.

"Arrr yourself, matey," Patrice said. "I've already buried me treasure here. You're welcome to add your pot of gold to me haul."

"Arrr," the little man said. "I be a leprechaun, and this be the end of the rainbow. I need to bury me pot of gold here. I have no need for your filthy pirate treasure, now get it out of my spot."

"Filthy pirate treasure, is it?" Patrice said as he pulled out his cutlass and waved it at the leprechaun. "Those be fighting words. I'll keelhaul you, matey."

"Keelhaul me? Those be fighting words," the leprechaun said. "And stop making fun of the way I talk. Arrr."

"Arrr, you be the one making light of the way I talk," Patrice said. "Now leave me be with my treasure."

"You leave me be with my treasure," the leprechaun said.

Fabian took advantage of the distraction to slip away from the pirates. He walked nonchalantly into the clearing and suddenly grabbed ahold of the leprechaun. "Gotcha! Now, I know how this works. You have to grant me three wishes. For my first wish, I want all of the treasure for myself. For the second wish I want all of you fools to be transported a million miles away from here. And for my third wish I want to live in a giant castle with lots of servants and a harem to cater to my every sick sexual fantasy. Now chop chop. Make with the wish granting."

The leprechaun bit Fabian's finger.

"Ow, you little bugger, that hurt!" Fabian said as he released his grasp on the leprechaun. "What's the big idea? Why haven't you granted my wishes?"

"The wish granting thing is a myth, ya big oaf. You think all the stereotypes about leprechauns be true, do ye?"

"So hiding the pot of gold at the end of the rainbow is true, but granting wishes is a myth?" Fabian said. "That's a bum deal."

"Arrr, it appears we be having a common foe," Patrice said to the leprechaun. "I propose a truce. Why don't we join forces and teach this fool a lesson he'll never be forgetting?"

"Arrr, that sounds like a mighty fine idea," the leprechaun said.

Fabian looked around and let out an audible gulp. He quickly dunked his hands into the leprechaun's pot of gold and emerged with two overflowing handfuls of coins. Then he whirled around and took off running into the trees.