Part 7
The beach was decorated by sticks in the ground that marked the graves of the Yoshis that had fallen in their island’s defence. Flowers and pictures lay atop the graves as Yoshis visited their dead loved ones. The village had been returned to normal and the bodies of the fallen Koopas had been sent to the jungle, where the Piranha Plants feasted. Russ T. was kneeling before Minh T.’s grave as he had been for almost every waking hour of the past days.
He had trailed a spiked vine around the branch and covered it with flowers. Missing a picture of her, Russ T. instead carefully arranged flower at the foot of the stick to form the image of her face, if somewhat crudely. His hands were still raw from the constant pricking he had suffered from the vine while trying to arrange every flower perfectly. In addition to all that he had sewn seeds around the grave and done everything he could to make sure they grew.
A hand rested on his shoulder and Russ T. turned to look into Davri’s eyes. “Mr. Russ, I came to tell you the ship is ready.”
“What’s the point?” was all Russ T. said.
“I have lost friends on the battlefield before, and with all due respect, Mr. Russ, I can tell you that sitting around feeling sorry won’t bring them back.”
“All she wanted was to look at flowers, she never wanted to harm anyone. Look what happened to her. And why? What did she die for? Tell me!”
“She sacrificed herself for you. She took that Banzai Bill so that you might live, and you in turn saved us.”
“Save you? I can’t even remember what happened.” Russ T. turned away and closed his eyes; he didn’t want to remember what he had done.
“If that’s what you say, Russ. All I know is one of my men saw you with a bloodied axe and a bunch of dea-”
“That’s enough!” Russ T. snapped. “I’ll get my things and see you at the boat.”
“Very well.”
The Yoshi walked off and Russ T. pushed himself to his feet, stumbling back to the hut where he kept his things. Russ T. shook his head as he tried to push away the memories of what had happened to the Koopas, what he had done. When he walked into his hut he noticed somebody holding his suitcase, Kyla.
“Oh,” Russ T. said. “What are you doing here?”
“Getting your luggage,” she replied.
“I’ll take it,” Russ T. said, holding out a hand.
“I’m fine, it’s not heavy.”
“Let me carry it,” Russ T. insisted. She did have a point, though; the suitcase only had a few books Russ T. had gotten off the Yoshi Village chief.
“I can manage. Now let’s get going before they cast off without us.”
She pushed past Russ T. and began heading to where the Yoshis had docked the ship. The little Toad followed Kyla as she walked across the beach, making sure not to step on any graves, and allowed himself to linger at Minh T’s for a moment more. Swallowing, he went on and said a silent prayer for the soul of his departed friend. Finally, the two of them arrived at Bowser’s ship, which the Yoshis had taken for their own.
They had removed anything to indicate that it had belonged to Bowser, except of course the telltale design, and placed the emblems of the Mushroom Kingdom upon it. The Yoshis bustled about, loading the last of the supplies or checking on the knots. Davri stood at the prow of the ship, watching all of them work and occasionally barking orders. Russ T. noticed the Bill Blasters had been reloaded on to the ship in case they ran into any trouble.
Russ T. followed Kyla onto the ship and to the cabin, where she placed his suitcase. When Russ T. returned to the deck the Yoshis were just about to set off as Davri approached the Toad.
“Are you ready, Mr. Russ?” Davri asked.
“Yes I am,” Russ T. replied.
“All right, then. Cast off!” Davri yelled.
The Yoshis began their work once more and Davri beckoned for Russ T. to follow him below deck. Kyla scurried off to help the other sailors and Russ T. followed, walking carefully down the stairs as the ship began to lurch off the shore. A sharp jerk sent him flying down to the steps, almost falling on top of Davri, who was waiting at the bottom.
“Don’t worry, Mr. Russ,” he chuckled, helping Russ T. stand, “you’ll get your sea legs soon enough.”
“I’d just as soon stay on land,” Russ T. grumbled when a thought struck him. “Davri, if you don’t mind my prying, where did you learn to organize defenses like you did back at the village?”
“I served in the Mushroom Kingdom armed forces, leave it at that.” His tone left no room for argument.
“Oh. Right then. What is it you brought me down here for?”
“There’s something important you need to see, Mr. Russ.”
“What is it?”
“Something which I think might be a souvenir from Crystal King.”
Russ T. nodded as Davri pushed upon the door to his cabin and the two entered. There was a desk in the center of the room, a small pile of maps and books in the corner, and a bed. But there was something on the desk that caught Russ T.’s eye. A perfect sphere of ice big enough to fit in Russ T’s hand lay perfectly still amidst the rocking ship and not a drop of water indicated it was close to melting. Russ T. walked over and picked it up.
“When did you find this?” he asked Davri.
“When we were looting the ship for weapons I found it on the deck. I don’t know why but Crystal King must have dropped it here.”
“You’re right, he must have.”
“What do you think it is, Mr. Russ?”
“Crystal King couldn’t have known we would take the ship so I don’t think it’s a tracking device or anything like that.”
“A weapon?”
“Against Bowser’s men? He would have used it before they landed ashore if it was.”
“Then what?”
“Possibly a spying device.”
“You think?”
“Seems the most likely.”
“Should we destroy it or toss it overboard?”
“Toss it, he already knows we took the ship and there’s no use wasting the time to destroy.”
“Time? It wouldn’t take more than a moment.”
“It most likely survived rolling around
the deck on Bowser’s ship, I don’t
know how easily it would be destroyed.”
“Should I, Mr. Russ?”
“No, I’ll go.”
Russ T. gripped the orb tightly and began walking up to the deck. He gazed at the crystal and for a moment thought he had seen a shape but it quickly disappeared, if it had ever been there. When he arrived on deck he saw Lavalava Island as only a faint blot, there was an incredibly powerful wind blowing them onward. Russ T. began walking towards the edge of the ship to toss the ice sphere when he heard a crack from above.
A part of the mast snapped off with the violent winds and plummeted towards Russ T, smashing into his hand. He fell to the ground, his hand searing with pain and bleeding as the crystal orb shattered into pieces. As its shards were scattered about the deck Russ T. saw what had he had seen inside the globe.
Growing from where the ice had smashed was a frozen Piranha Plant, escalating in size with each passing moment. Soon its vines wrapped around the ship like a Blooper around a Cheep Cheep and the ship was tilted into the waters.
The ship half-submerged and those crewmembers that did not latch onto anything began sliding into the water or into the Frost Piranha’s gaping mouth. Russ T. himself had grabbed a fallen rope that was luckily still attached to the mast and clung on for dear life.
“Hyuck! Hyuck! Hyuck!” the Piranha Plant laughed. “Finally free! That wretched Crystal King trapped me in there but now Frost Piranha is free! And what better way to celebrate than a nice Yoshi meal!”
Frost Piranha threw back her head and
laughed once more before descending upon the Yoshi crew as Russ T. screamed
with terror.
Part 8
Russ T’s grip was slipping. He had lost track of time and reduced the world to two things, the rope and the fearsome jaws of the Piranha Plant below. His palms dripped with sweat and the rope was sliding out of his slippery grasp. The Piranha Plant below snapped her jaws eagerly, as if sensing that the little Toad above was about to fall. Just as Russ T. was about to let himself fall and accept his fate, he heard a voice.
“Russ! Over here!” a voice somewhere off to Russ T.’s left shouted.
The Toad whirled his head around to see Kyla standing in the doorway that led to the cabins below. Because the ship was tipped she stood between the floor and one of the side walls, carefully balancing on the slanted surfaces. But the thing that really interested Russ was the rope she was holding in her hands. It was thick and looked quite heavy, and Kyla had tied it around her waist.
“Russ, I’m going to throw this rope to you,” Kyla shouted. “You’ll need to let go of the rope you’re hanging onto and grab this one. Do it quickly though because you’ll only have a second or two before the rope falls.”
Russ T. gaped at her, incredulity obvious in his eyes. He doubted he could have done what she just said even if his arms weren’t almost numb. He noticed that her arm went back to throw and Russ T. opened his mouth to tell her to stop when he suddenly realized in his shock that his grip had come loose.
He began to plunge and his arms began flailing wildly, his hands opening and closing in an attempt to grasp something, anything. The thick rope that Kyla had thrown smacked into Russ T’s stomach and the air was knocked out of him as his arm accidentally wrapped around the rope. He realized that the rope could keep him from falling and quickly grasped on for all he was worth as Kyla began pulling him up.
“Hang on, Russ!” she yelled down at him.
Russ T. didn’t bother to reply as he had no intention of letting go and he couldn’t think of anything to say. The rope began to move up slowly, very slowly, jolting Russ every time Kyla changed her grip further down the rope to pull more. Below him Russ T. could see Frost Piranha readying herself to move upwards and catch Russ T. between her fearsome jaws.
Russ T’s eyes darted between looking up at Kyla and down at Frost Piranha. “I don’t mean to be rude,” he began tensely, “but if you could maybe pull a bit faster.” His eyes now fully downcast, more than a hint of panic had entered Russ T’s voice.
“I’m pulling as fast I can.” Kyla replied, “But you aren’t exactly light as a feather.”
“I’ll make sure to cut back on the sweets if I make it out of this alive.”
“Hyuck, hyuck, hyuck!” Frost Piranha laughed beneath Russ T, “The only thing you’re going to be cutting back on is living.” She flung herself forward again.
Russ T. felt a sharp jerk, something that made his stomach come up to his throat, look at the drop down, and run to hide somewhere in his feet. He hadn’t remembered closing his eyes but there was something about peril that made you think “If I can’t see it, it can’t hurt me. Right?” When Russ T. opened his eyes he realized, to his pleasant surprise, he was not in a part of the digestive track of the Piranha Plant.
He looked down at Frost Piranha’s closed jaws, he was in fact less than a centimeter from standing on them. Since looking down made him lightheaded with fear, Russ T. decided not to look at the fearsome teeth below him and so he turned his head upwards. Kyla was no longer alone pulling the rope up, Davri was standing beside her. Russ T. assumed their dual efforts must have been why he hadn’t been devoured.
Between the two of them the Yoshis managed to pull Russ T. up before Frost Piranha decided to try to eat him again. They began walking below the decks, something that is much more difficult when your boat is at a slant.
“Thanks, you two,” Russ T. said to the Yoshis who were walking on either side of him.
“It was nothing, Mr. Russ,” Davri replied.
“I would have died if it wasn’t for you two,” Russ T. continued.
“We never would have gotten off our island if it wasn’t for you, Russ,” Kyla pointed out.
“I still feel like I owe you something,” Russ T. persisted.
“Tell you what, Mr. Russ, you repay us by helping us come up with a way to get Frost Piranha off of our ship,” Davri suggested.
“How many did she get anyways?” Russ T. asked, fearing the answer.
“We prefer to think of it as how many survived,” Kyla responded. “In total we’re probably half of what we started with.”
“Any more on deck?” Russ T. inquired.
“You were the last, Mr. Russ,” Davri answered.
They had reached the door where Davri’s cabin was and the Yoshi bent down to open it. Balancing on the wall and the floor were all the Yoshis who had made it off the deck in time. They were sitting on the floor, or more accurately partly on the floor and partly on the wall. It looked very uncomfortable.
As Russ T. walked in the Yoshis all looked at him and smiled with the knowledge that they had saved everyone they could. Unfortunately with this knowledge came the realization that they now had to do something about Frost Piranha. Without words they all looked around at each other and finally their expectant gazes settled on Russ T.
“Well, uh… I guess we need to find a way to get that plant off of this ship,” the Toad supplied lamely.
“Actually, I think that may be a bad idea,” said a blue Yoshi.
“And why is that?” Davri asked sharply.
“Her roots, Captain Davri. She’s bored holes in the hull but luckily her roots are jamming them up. If we were to get rid of her this ship would sink like a stone,” the Yoshi answered.
“Aren’t we sinking now?” Kyla asked. “What with the extra weight of Frost Piranha and all.”
“Yes, but it’s a lot slower than if we had bloody great big holes in the boat,” the Yoshi replied.
“So… we need a new boat.” Russ T. sighed.
“Um… Would four be all right?” a yellow Yoshi who was sitting near a small hole in the wall asked.
“Four would be perfect,” Davri began sarcastically. “I’ll just fly out to them with the helicopter in my pocket.”
“Take a look for yourself, sir,” the Yoshi said, a hurt tone in his voice. Davri and Russ T. walked to the hole as the Yoshi moved away.
What they saw were four boats off in the distance, each with a symbol on their sails and each heading distinctly towards them. One had a large Mushroom on the sails, one had a crown that was colored to look like it was made of ice, one had a large “X” on it, and another had the perfect likeness of Bowser’s face. Russ T. walked away from the hole and shuddered.
“Oh my.” He breathed.
“One must be from the Mushroom Kingdom,” Davri stared, “one from Bowser, one’s an X-Naut ship, and I’m not sure what the fourth one is.”
“It must be Crystal King’s,” Kyla, who had walked over to take a look, stated. “Who else would have a crown of ice?”
“So we know who they are, but why are they here?” a pink Yoshi asked.
“Hmmm …Crystal King might be here to get back his Piranha. Bowser’s men might be here to check up on his ship that went to Lavalava Island. I’ve no idea why the X-Nauts are here, I thought they were disbanded. The Mushroom Kingdom ship must be because Peach finally heard about the problems on Lavalava Island,” Davri reasoned.
“Bit late for her to come,” a green Yoshi murmured.
“They’re all coming this way…” Russ T. muttered.
“And I doubt any of them are going to get along,” Kyla said.
“So we’ve got four ships, each of them possibly hostile to us and definitely hostile to each other heading this way,” Davri summed up.
“Well look on the bright side, they’ll arrive here and have a huge battle, and if we stay here we’ll probably be the only ones who come out of it alive,” the blue Yoshi stated.
“How’s that the bright side? Dozens of people will die!” Russ T. was appalled.
“Yes, but we’ll have four new ships to choose from,” the Yoshi answered.
“Besides, it’s not like there’s anything we can do,” Kyla pointed out.
“That’s what you say,” Davri spat, “but if there’s going to be a fight here I’m going to make sure Crystal King’s men pay for what they did to our island.”
“Ya!” shouted the yellow Yoshi, “And Bowser’s no better, if his men win they’ll take our island just like the others tried to.”
“We’ll do what we can to help the Mushroom Kingdom soldiers, but how do we let them know we’re on their side?” Kyla piped up.
“A flag,” Russ T. suggested. “If we can wave something that looks like a Mushroom Kingdom flag they’ll know we’re on their side.”
“Right,” Davri agreed. “I’ll take Kyla and search for anything we can use as weapons onboard. You two,” he pointed to a green Yoshi and a pink one, “Try and make a mushroom flag.”
Russ T. was about to ask what he should do when a resounding BOOM was heard. The cannonball tore through the room, taking the green, blue, and yellow Yoshis with it.
“Looks like there’s no backing out now,” Davri said. “Their lives will not be forgotten.”
The Yoshis in the room clenched their fists, let out a shout of agreement, and ran out of thecabin in search of weapons to avenge their three friends.
“Oh no…” Russ T. moaned. “I knew I should have flown to Rogueport.”
To Be Continued...
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