Author's Note: There's something up when I try to change my chapter titles… I can't edit them. I messed up on them, so I'll edit them whenever this gets fixed. Just a heads-up! But, let's get back to the story.

He slunk to his home, forgetting about what he was supposed to do. It was rather important… He sprang to his feet as he remembered. Sour candy! Without hesitation, he ran towards Piñata Central. Langston probably wouldn't be too happy to see him, after what happened earlier this same morning, but he was one of the few he knew about that could spread the news.
Fergy was panting once he reached the entrance to Piñata Central. Langston was there, noting things down on his clipboard. He looked up to smirk at the Fudgehog.
"Well! Look what the Kittyfloss dragged in," he quipped. "Finally surrendering yourself, Fudgehog?"
"Oh, shut up," Fergy muttered, still catching his breath. "There's… something… I… gotta… tell… ya…"
"What is it? The bananas aren't ripe, and the Cinnamonkeys are in a tizzy? Heh!"
"No. It's… Paulie… candy…"
"What is it, boy? Speak up! I can't hear you!"
"SourcandylimeocerousPaulieImisshimbestfriend! Waaagh!" Fergy began blubbering like a baby.
Langston was unimpressed and kept looking at his clipboard. "Alright, and now in proper English with breaks and punctuation, pretty please?"
"I saw sour candy lying around haphazardly and all – and a sour Limeocerous and Paulie – well, Paulie…" He didn't know how to formulate his sentences correctly at this point and covered his eyes, commencing his crying. He gave a long-winded, scratchy wail, flattening himself on the ground, this time out of despair. "Paulieeee…"
"Goodness me, that sounds terrible!" Langston almost dropped his clipboard as he sprang to his feet – quite literally. "We gotta tell everyone. I'll tell Pecky Pudgeon and you just – well, just do whatever you can."
Fergy stopped crying for a moment and looked up. "Does this mean I'm off the hook for today?"
"Oh, Fergy, you're impossible…" Langston rolled his eyes and hopped away.

Soon enough, it was all over the news. The headlines on the island's local newspaper, the Piñata Yadda Yadda read; "Sour candy epidemic! Limeocerous attacks! Pretztail infected? Local Fudgehog says; 'Paulie, sour candy! Best friend! Waaagh!" (yes, those were his exact words)" and most if not all piñatas were aware and warned to not eat any sour candy they saw lying around, no matter how nice it smelled.
A few days later, and even though he still had the rest of his friends by his side, Fergy opened the door to his leaf-adorned house and stepped out, giving a downhearted sigh. He was becoming exceedingly lonely without his fellow party hater on his side. Slacking off was fun, but it was more fun with your best friend! Wise words. It didn't matter – he was upset, because his friend wasn't seen for over a few days. Would it even matter? He was probably a savage beast by now, devouring everything in his path…
He bumped into two long legs – not papery ones. As he rubbed his sore nose with a whine, he looked up and saw the friendly masked face of Leafos looking over him, with a well-meaning smile. This young human was one of the few that could be among the piñatas without scaring them off – and she was also one of the few of her kind to understand their language.
"Can I help you, Fudgehog? You look worried," she asked in a sincere tone.
Fergy stumbled backwards, not accustomed to humans very much – he always associated them with Professor Pester, and Professor Pester meant one thing in his tiny little mind – trouble. Leafos, however, was one of the most kind-hearted people on the island, so his fear was entirely unjustified.
"Come now, don't be scared! I won't hurt you," she said with a voice so gentle and sweet that it would calm any piñata and knelt down, reaching out with a gloved hand in a friendly manner. Fergy's nose twitched and he looked from left to right, collecting himself and dusting himself off nonchalantly.
"I wasn't scared," he lied and gave a forced smile.
The girl nodded, standing up again and folding her hands before herself. "It's fine. But you look troubled. You should tell me if you want to, maybe I can help out?"
"Oh, alright. Well, you see, I have a really good friend… he's a Pretztail, like any other. But he's eaten sour candy and now he hasn't been seen for a long while." Fergy twiddled his forepaws. "I was wondering if you could help me find him."
"Oh, I'm sorry," Leafos said. "I can help you, but right now, I can't help you with finding him – I have to help beginning gardeners set up their things. And when I look at your pretty garden, you don't look very much like a beginner."
A noticeable pout formed on the Fudgehog's face.
"…But, I can help you out and lend you my journal. It has everything we know about every piñata we know. Almost everything."
She made a few gestures into the sky and the dusty tome materialized into her thin, gloved hands. She knelt down once more and handed it to the needy Fudgehog. "Please be careful with it, though – it was my father's."
Fergy's pout made place for a more curious expression, but he gladly accepted the book after sniffing it cautiously, and looked through some of its pages.
So many plants, so many piñatas – and all in alphabetical order, as well. Some of them he had never even seen before.
"Gee, thanks, miss…?"
"Leafos," she said with a nod and a smile. "What's your name?"
"Uh… gosh." Fergy blushed and looked down to the ground, still tightly clutching the journal with both his stubby forepaws. "Fergy. …Fergy Fudgehog, ma'am."
"Alright, Fergy," she said and turned away to walk off into the other direction. "I have to go now. Good luck. Hope I'll see you later!"
He watched her leave for a while with an absent-minded smirk before turning back to go into his house, the journal clutched under his right arm. "Sweet girl. Wonder why I haven't seen her before…"