It was a beautiful day in the city of Catburg. The sun was shining, birds were singing, and a redheaded woman was trying to get out of her houseboat in time for a job interview while chasing her nephew across the kitchen.

"Come on, guys!" she groaned.

"You can't wear a T-shirt and jeans to a job interview!" snapped Jayfeather, holding up the clothes. He opened the dishwasher to toss them inside and hit start. "How about a nice shirt and a pair of dress pants?"

"I wasn't going to wear them to the job interview! They were to change into afterwards!"

"Oh. Sorry."

"I made you a good-luck breakfast!" added Hollyleaf, holding up a plate of scrambled eggs and bacon. "You can't go on an empty stomach."

"True. Wait, where are your life jackets?" Hollyleaf sighed and grabbed her life jacket, strapping it on and helping Jayfeather do the same. "Good. Now where's the babysitter…?"

She grabbed her phone off the counter and dialed the number for the babysitter.

"Hi, this is Squirrelflight. You're supposed to be babysitting my niece and nephews today?" She blinked in confusion. "New address? What new address? I didn't give you a notice. How soon can you get here?" Hollyleaf glanced at her brother with a smirk.

"I… don't know."

"Crazy old bat," muttered Squirrelflight, hanging up. "What am I going to do?"

"We'll be fine on our own for a couple hours!" Hollyleaf piped up.

"Are you sure?"

"Positive! Wear our lifejackets, stay on the boat, and don't let Jayfeather wander too close to the edge. Simple!"

"Oh, well… I guess it'll have to do, since it's almost—nine o'clock?!"

"You've got to get going!" gasped Jayfeather, pushing her towards where he thought the door was. Squirrelflight was wearing a blouse and a professional black skirt as she went along, trying to put on her heels. She smiled, feeling confident that today was going to go well.

She was almost on the dock before something occurred to her.

"Wait, where's Lionblaze?"

"Sleeping!" Jayfeather said just as Hollyleaf replied "Who's Lionblaze?"

Jayfeather gave his slightly-older sister a look that plainly said, 'you're an idiot and I can't believe we're related'. The boat lurched underneath them as the engine started, and Squirrelflight knew exactly where her other nephew was. She sighed and headed to the engine room, where he was kneeling beside the engine so he could hotwire it. It wasn't unusual for the triplets to try and take the boat, but they were usually a lot more subtle about their attempts.

"We'll get to Cape Vulpes before anyone realizes we're gone!" he announced, turning to see his aunt tapping her foot. "Oh… Hi, Aunt Squirrelflight."

"Yeah, come on. I want all three of you in the car, now."

They obeyed and she locked up the boat.

"You were supposed to get her out by nine, Hollyleaf!"

"You weren't supposed to start the boat until we gave the signal, Lionblaze."

"We never get to do anything," Jayfeather mumbled.

"Listen, kids," Squirrelflight sighed. "I know that it's been… tough since we moved out here, but that's why I need this job. And I can't go to my interview if you three are underfoot. So… I'm calling in a favor from an old friend. His name is Crowfeather."

"The Crowfeather?!" gasped Lionblaze.

"As in, richest cat-person in the world, Crowfeather?!" Jayfeather added.

"He owes me a few favors."

"I heard he managed to map out the entire giants' town on his own!" cried Hollyleaf.

"Yeah? Well, I heard he discovered Sun-Drown Island!" crowed Lionblaze.

"He traversed the mountains and befriended the Tribe of Rushing Water!" screeched Jayfeather, never one to be left out. "That Crowfeather?"

Squirrelflight let out an exaggerated sigh. "Yes. That Crowfeather. And he didn't do all that stuff alone. I was with him, and so were some of my friends." She twisted around to look at the three children in the backseat. "Are you sure you'll be okay hanging out with someone you've never met before? You've never been very trusting of strangers, especially Jayfeather."

"Sure, we don't, but we're going to spend the day with the richest cat-person ever! That's exciting," smirked Lionblaze. "It's worth trusting a stranger." He turned to his brother, poking him in the arm. "Right, Jayfeather?"

Jayfeather winced, and then put on a grin. "Yeah, it sure is."

"…And if we can expand our reach in the Moon Lake and Foreston region, and cut our funding to unnecessary departments…" Mudclaw was rambling again. And Crowfeather hated rambling. The cat-man turned to Crowfeather with an excited expression. "Well, sir, what do you think?"

"Wow. Fantastic," Crowfeather replied. Sarcasm. Which Mudclaw didn't seem to catch. The smile didn't fade.

A cat-woman with ebony hair stood up from her chair. "So it's decided, then. We'll reconvene next week. Same time, same place. Crowfeather? Crowfeather!"

"Yes, Nightcloud?" He looked up at her.

"We'll reconvene next week, same time same place. Right?"

"Right."

The trillionaire exited the boardroom and went down to the parking garage. There, his ever-faithful yet dim-witted driver, Bumblestripe, was waiting.

"Morning, Mr. Crowfeather!" he greeted him. "How was the meeting?"

"Boring. Drive me home."

"Yes, sir!"

Bumblestripe was a lot of things, but a good driver wasn't one of them. Crowfeather knew that, but he didn't care. He just wanted to get home. As a result, he was in the backseat, reading a newspaper as Bumblestripe chatted about some report that there was something out on Sun-Drown Island. All the while, the driver was smashing into things and not paying attention to the road. That is, until he reached the mansion and slammed on the brakes.

"What the—Bumblestripe, you could've killed me!" Crowfeather snapped.

"Sorry, sir. There's an… issue." Crowfeather poked his head out the window to see Squirrelflight leaning out her car window at the intercom.

"Come on, Brightheart! Let me in before—" Crowfeather honked the horn. "—he shows up."

"Get out of my driveway, you deadbeat!" he called. Squirrelflight sighed and got out of the car, Crowfeather doing the same. "Squirrelflight."

"Crowfeather."

"So… still living on that boat in the marina?"

"Yep. Still a trillionaire?"

"Yep."

"So…"

"So… get out of my driveway, you deadbeat!"

"I would, but it just so happens that I have a job interview!"

"So why are you standing there yelling?!"

"Because Brightheart said you would watch the kids! Can you do that without losing them?!"

"Of course I can!"

"Perfect! Thank you so much!"

Squirrelflight was also skilled in sarcasm.

The back door of her car opened and Crowfeather felt his breath hitch. The three kids he hadn't seen in ten years were now in front of him. He'd avoided them for so long, and now they were here.

"Crowfeather, this is Hollyleaf, Lionblaze, and Jayfeather. Kids, this is Crowfeather."

"Welcome to my home," Crowfeather told the kids.

"Now remember," Squirrelflight stated. "No tricks, no lies, and no trouble."

"Yes, Aunt Squirrelflight," the three agreed.

"I wasn't talking to you." She narrowed her eyes at Crowfeather before getting back in her car. "I'll be back for them tonight! Goodbye, my lovelies!"

The triplets waved goodbye as their aunt drove away. Crowfeather then led them to the house, where he left them outside the front door. Luckily, his one-eyed housekeeper, Brightheart, let them in. They took notice of all the décor in Crowfeather's house, including a painting of him shaking hands with a badger-woman.

"Midnight," whispered Jayfeather, straightening his glasses. He was clearly in awe of the fabled badger-woman who could talk to spirits of the dead and predict the future that Crowfeather had supposedly met on Sun-Drown Island.

"I didn't know she was so cool-looking," remarked Hollyleaf.

"Badger-people are weird," stated Lionblaze. "They're so much bigger than we are…"

"So are the giants!"

They followed Crowfeather into the dining room, where he sat down and began to read a newspaper. Brightheart brought him a bagel and set it in front of him, pushing the paper down.

"Talk to them," she stated. He grumbled and put the paper back up.

Next thing he knew, he had all three surrounding him.

"So, do children still like marbles?" he asked.

"If you're Aunt Squirrelflight's friend, how come we've never met you?" inquired Hollyleaf.

"How much money do you have?" Jayfeather questioned.

"Is it hard being an adventurer?" Lionblaze wondered. "I mean, you're a has-been now…"

The next thing the triplets knew, they were being tossed into a room. Brightheart gave them a bag of marbles and a look of sympathy before locking the door of the little room.

"We're totally ditching this room, right?" Jayfeather asked his siblings.

"Yep!" Lionblaze held up the bag of marbles. "And I know just how to do it."

He started whacking the doorknob with the bag until it broke off.

"Come on, guys. Let's go touch some expensive stuff."

Suddenly, a rope wrapped around Lionblaze, yanking him out of the room. Hollyleaf and Jayfeather screamed as the same thing happened to them. They had no idea what was happening. Next thing they knew, they'd been hung upside down as a single light—like an interrogation light—shone on them.

"Who sent you?!" a voice growled. "Sleekwhisker? Tigerstar? Answer me!"

"Aunt Squirrelflight!" wailed Hollyleaf desperately.

"Aunt Squirrel—omigosh the niblings!"

The person who'd captured them clapped and light filled the room. It was a cat-girl, just a bit younger than the triplets, with long, pale gray hair and green eyes. She was smiling widely as she grabbed a pocketknife and climbed up a chair to cut the rope. The triplets hit the floor with a thud, all groaning in pain.

"Who are you?" groaned Lionblaze.

"I'm Dovewing. I have so many questions! Who's the oldest? What's Squirrelflight really like? Who's the evil triplet?"

"Jayfeather," Lionblaze and Hollyleaf answered in unison, pointing at the youngest. Jayfeather shrugged.

"Tell me everything!" She took a picture and added it to a wall that looked like it belonged to a conspiracy-theorist.

"What are you doing?" Hollyleaf inquired, interested.

"I'm documenting Crowfeather's personal life, including family and friends. And you three qualify."

"We didn't know he had a kid living here."

"My granny's the housekeeper. She's a little overprotective, so I've lived here most of my life."

"Great, so you should know what to do for fun," Jayfeather noted.

"Oh, fun? I'm the best at fun things!" She looked around and spotted a vent. Quickly, she kicked it open. "See? Fun!"

Dovewing started crawling through the vent. The triplets glanced at each other and shrugged before following the younger girl. Lionblaze took up the rear to make sure Jayfeather didn't get lost. They came over Crowfeather's office and the blonde-haired boy stopped to look down at the cat-man and his housekeeper.

"You seriously don't want to see them?"

Crowfeather sighed at Brightheart's question. The scarred cat-woman was glaring at him with her one good eye and a frown.

"It's not worth the bad memories. Plus, after today, Squirrelflight's not going to let them near me again."

"You have been avoiding them for ten years!"

"No, I've been avoiding her for ten years. That family is nothing but trouble."

Lionblaze felt his heart drop.

Crowfeather hates us. What did we do wrong?

As quickly as he could, he scrambled to follow the others.

Crowfeather sighed as he leaned on his desk, facing Brightheart. She had her arms crossed and nostrils flared; he'd said the wrong thing.

" 'That family is nothing but trouble'… you're kidding, right? We both married into that family, Crowfeather."

"I know." He blinked and looked at the front page of his paper. "What the-?"

"What? What is it?"

" 'New Discovery on Sun-Drown Island—Possible Ancient Society?' This is my chance!"

"Your 'chance'?"

"To prove to those stupid kids that I'm not a has-been. I'm an 'am-now'."

"That's not a concept."

"I don't care!"

"You're letting a ten-year-old dictate what you do?"

"I'm going to need a boat and a driver."

"I can drive!" Bumblestripe called.

"We're going out there and I'm going to get back in the field."

"This is the secret hall of treasures. Everything here is from Crowfeather's adventures over the years."

The triplets gazed at the sheer volume of items that were stacked floor-to-ceiling. Jayfeather cleaned the lenses of his glasses on his shirt to make sure they weren't smudged. They weren't, so there were as many things in the room as he'd thought. Hollyleaf was just as impressed. Lionblaze wasn't.

"All this stuff is fake," he snorted. "No way that grump was some great adventurer."

"This is all real. He and your aunt and their friends went on adventures all the time!"

"Aunt Squirrelflight went on adventures with him? No way. She'd be just as rich, and we live on a houseboat in the Catburg Marina."

"She's one of the most daring adventurers of all time!"

"Yeah, I don't believe that," Hollyleaf spoke up, crossing her arms. "There's no way careful Aunt Squirrelflight ever did anything daring. She barely lets Jayfeather walk around the deck of the houseboat without somebody watching him because of his bad vision."

"Not my fault!" Jayfeather protested.

"None of this stuff is real," Lionblaze stated bluntly.

Dovewing pouted.

"Just because your aunt's careful now doesn't mean she always was! She used to be reckless and she took the chances that nobody else would on their adventures. At least, according to the diaries I found."

"This is stupid," Jayfeather commented, picking up a stick that was covered in scratch marks. "Why would you even make something like this?"

"That's the Stick of the Ancients!" Dovewing gasped. "It's said that the spirit of a long-dead cat-man is attached to it, only appearing to those who are worthy."

"Well, I'm not worthy."

As if to prove the poor-sighted boy wrong, the Stick glowed and mist rose. A bald spirit with blind blue eyes appeared, startling him. The children cried out in alarm and the smallest boy dropped the Stick out of fear.

"Jay's Wing, it's been a long time." The spirit shook his head. "That's not right. Jay's Wing died long ago. Ah. I see."

Lionblaze stared at him. "No, you don't."

"Lion's Roar, too? What a surprise. Wait, that isn't right either." He turned to Dovewing. "And I suppose your name isn't Dove's Wing, is it?"

"No, but you're close. It's Dovewing."

"What do you want?" Hollyleaf asked.

"He wants somebody to hold on to the Stick." All four kids turned to see Crowfeather in the doorway. "Go away, Rock."

"Ah, Crowfeather. Still hiding from reality?"

"Go back into the Stick."

"Give it to the younger boy. He is the one meant to hold it. Then I will go."

Crowfeather sighed and handed the Stick of the Ancients to Jayfeather. Rock turned back into mist and re-entered the Stick.

"What are you kids doing here?" he asked.

"We're exploring your secret museum," replied Lionblaze.

"Secret museum? This is the garage." As if to prove it, he flicked on the light. There were gardening implements and everything you'd expect to see in a garage.

"So none of this stuff is real except the Stick?"

"I didn't say that. All of it is real."

"Yeah right," scoffed Hollyleaf. "You'd never go on an adventure for real. You probably paid somebody to give you this stuff."

"You want me to prove it? Fine. We're going to Sun-Drown Island."

Meanwhile, Squirrelflight was having the worst day. She'd been late for her interview, gone to the wrong building, and then gotten to the right place only to find out the interviewer was her ex-boyfriend, Brambleclaw. Nothing about that day made her hopeful for getting the job and successfully paying for raising the triplets. At the end of the interview she leaned back in her chair hopelessly, making Brambleclaw worried.

"What's wrong?"

"Today's been terrible. And to top it off, I didn't even get the job."

"Who said you didn't?"

"Wait, what?"

"We need experienced adventurers to go on this next expedition. Particularly ones who are familiar with Sun-Drown Island?"

"I… thank you!"

"We're leaving in two hours. Be ready at the dock."

"I will! Thank you so much, Brambleclaw!"

"You're welcome. How are the triplets, by the way?"

"They're amazing. It's not easy raising them alone, though. I'll see you in two hours."

"See you."

He watched her go. He hated to admit it, but she was every bit as beautiful as he remembered. They'd broken up because she insisted on raising the triplets and he hadn't been ready to be a dad. A jerky move on his part, for sure, since she appeared to be desperate for a job. And according to her application, she still lived on the houseboat in the marina. It was his fault she was in this situation, and giving her a job was the least he could do to begin to make up for it.

She'd lost so much ten years ago and he'd only made it worse.

Okay, so this took two weeks to write due to time constraints, writer's block, characterization issues, and the fact that I wanted to release it after the season 2 premiere.

If you haven't picked up on it yet, this is based on Disney's Ducktales. The 2017 reboot of it. I'm obviously changing some things because of characters and story. A short list of character connections/who's who:

Donald—Squirrelflight

Huey—Hollyleaf

Dewey—Lionblaze

Louie—Jayfeather

Scrooge—Crowfeather

Mrs. Beakley—Brightheart

Webby—Dovewing

Launchpad—Bumblestripe

Investors—Mudclaw, Onestar, and Nightcloud

As the story goes on, I'll reveal more information, but Jayfeather isn't blind in this story. Rather, he just has really bad eyesight. Him being blind served no story purpose. Also, Brambleclaw is not Glomgold. That role is being filled by Tigerstar. If you haven't watched the new Ducktales, I would seriously recommend it. It's a legitimately great series and fun as hell.

So long and thanks for all the fish!