It has been a while since a proper update. For that, I apologize. (Life has been crazy.)
This chapter took much longer than what I expected. We're looking at over 5000 words for this one, folks. My fingers have minds of their own, apparently. Hopefully this chapter makes up for the hiatus.
Any who, have at it.
Once morning arrived, the events from the night afore was brought to the attention of the universe. Articles had been posted all over the internet and sold throughout the city, much to the plumber's apparent grief. Now any who happened to take a glimpse at them within the streets would know for sure: those were the fools from the Chinese restaurant.
Nintendo and Sega were furious and had sent scathing letters to both him and Sonic, along with the threat of canceling the Olympics all together. Wario and Waluigi, the clowns that tricked Yoshi and unleashed all hell, were given a good thrashing of the tongue from Mario himself – the miserable sods still hadn't heard the end of it. And by the sound of things, their other peers had been giving them lip as well.
Yoshi hadn't left the suite all morning; hurt by the mean trick the two played on him, embarrassed that the world also knows of it, and downright depressed about his entire situation. He had even refused to eat that morning, afraid his mouth would go up in flames had he ate anything else. Silver had kept trying to coax him out of the hotel and at least bring him to practice with the other athletes.
However, it was to no avail.
The disturbed dinosaur mostly remained in the bedroom, either engrossed with the television or gazing out the window for several hours, with visitors coming up to check on him every so often.
Sonic, Peach, and Amy visited him twice.
Luigi came three times.
Mario came up between every hour.
Even Espio came up once or twice.
But Silver had hardly left the room, if at all.
The hedgehog waited on him hand and foot – or at least offered to. He hadn't asked for anything; all he wanted was the memory of last night to go away. All of it.
…No… He wanted nothing more than the memories he lost to return to him once more. What he wanted was his old self: the Yoshi he was always known as, the Yoshi he himself had always known. Not the meek and gullible fool everyone sees now. He wanted things to return to normal again.
He wanted this to have never happened in the first place.
Distress, annoyance, rage, and sadness; a storm of mixed feeling that conjured within the mind of Silver the Hedgehog.
He was distraught because the dinosaur refused to eat or drink anything. All day he laid in bed, only getting up when he found it necessary – which happened only twice thus far. Annoyed with the stunt Wario and Waluigi pulled last night that caused a huge scene and had them all banned from the store. Livid at what they've done to Yoshi, and at himself for not watching him and keeping him close. And last, but not least, blue at the sight of a broken Yoshi distantly staring out the window as he sat on his bed. He hadn't ask for anything from him, let alone spoke to him. The detached reptile mostly kept his back towards him, the only kind of response he gave was a silent shaking of the head, and nothing more.
Every bit of it crushed him.
The hedgehog skipped practice today to stay with Yoshi, to make damn sure to keep an eye on him. This entire fiasco was his fault, after all. His deep regret made him wish he had stopped the dinosaur from going down the hill.
Which did nothing but enhance his grief.
Vigorous knocking on the door snapped him out of his thoughts as he slowly pulled himself off the couch and towards the door. To no surprise of his, it was Mario… this time holding a plate covered with aluminum foil.
"I've had it." he said in a low tone. "He needs to eat."
"Try telling him that…" the hedgehog sighed. "I've been trying to get him to eat something."
"We just need a different approach." With that, the plumber allowed himself into the suite, taking the plate of food into the bedroom. Silver less heartily followed, carrying with him the doubt of what Mario had planned.
The plumber knocked on the opened bedroom door, causing the Yoshi to tear away from the window and have his gaze rest on him. He walked up to the dinosaur beside where he sat on the bed, his stern gaze upon the Yoshi's blank stare. "Yoshi, you need to eat. You are going to eat what I brought up for you… End of discussion."
Briefly, Yoshi glanced at the covered plate in his hands, before looking up at him. "No thanks."
With an exasperated sigh, Mario sat on the bed next to the gloomy Yoshi. He looked dead into his deep blue eyes. "I know you, Yoshi… I know for a fact that you wouldn't go through a whole day without eating something. Especially not willingly." the dinosaur merely turned away from him, fixing his gaze towards the carpeting. Sighing softly, the plumber inched closer towards him. He took a deep breath.
"Listen, Yoshi, you can trust me." he paused, looking over towards Silver who stood behind him. "You can trust us. We won't hurt you, but we will do our best to keep you safe. You just need to trust us." For a minute he let his words sink in, before directing his gaze towards him once again. "We know you have amnesia, and we will not ask much of you. In fact; the only thing we ask from you is your trust. Whatever Wario and Waluigi told you… don't listen to them. Not all foods taste like wasabi; the meal I have for you is nowhere near as spicy."
Mario extended his arms and held the plate in front of him, Yoshi continued to stare at the plate. "We care about you, Yoshi. So don't even think for one second that we would just sit here and let you starve. You're eating what I have for you. The end."
Silver sat down on the foot of the bed, and watched as the dinosaur slowly took the food from the plumber. "We're really worried about you, and we want you to be healthy again, Yoshi." the hedgehog spoke. "Even if you can't do it for you… do it for us."
Yoshi stared at the plate in his lap. He looked up to Mario, his eyes carrying a new spark of hope. "Am I going to be okay?"
"You're going to be A-Okay." Mario assured with a bright beam. "Because we said so." Yoshi glanced at Silver, who gave him a reassuring smile. Looking back down at the plate, he finally removed the foil. On the plate was a couple pieces of seasoned chicken, complemented with stuffing and string beans. The scent of the food seemed to of had the dinosaur intrigued, the steam coming from the plate confirmed the freshness and heat of the contents.
"That's not all. I've even brought you desert…" Mario pulled out something else wrapped in foil. From the shape alone, Silver could tell it was a big slice of watermelon. "This was your favorite fruit. You loved these."
"What is that?" Yoshi asked, pointing towards the object in his hand.
"Watermelon. But I can't let you have it until I see you eat your food."
Without haste, Yoshi picked up a slice of the chicken breast and popped it into his mouth. Another moment or so, he finished off the rest of the chicken and took a small bite of the stuffing and string beans. The rest of the meal was poured into his mouth before he licked his lips with a satisfied moan. It brought a smile to the plumber's face, as well as Silver's, both please that they've finally convinced him to eat.
Mario unwrapped the watermelon and handed it to Yoshi. He took a large bite of the fruit, smiling as he savored the taste. The rest was eaten in one gulp, and he was content with the meal he had.
Stretching his arms he laid out on the bed, sharing with Mario and Silver his own happy grin, thus enhancing their smiles. As Mario got up to leave, Silver mouthed to him 'Thank you.', his smile warm and filled with gratitude. Amiably the plumber gently placed his hand on his shoulder before exiting the bedroom.
The hedgehog scooted closer to his gratified friend, and began to stroke his white tummy. The dinosaur sighed softly as he began to relax, his eyelids struggling to stay opened. Silver chuckled. "Tomorrow we'll get you out of the hotel. You can come to practice with me and the other participants, I'm sure they'll all be happy to see you."
"Mm-hmm…" Yoshi mumbled, sounding as if he was about to drift to sleep. Smiling, Silver rested his head on his stomach, relaxing as he listened to the steady breathing of the dinosaur. As he laid there with his hand softly caressing Yoshi's tummy, Silver's eyelids began to grow heavy as he was enjoying the current moment… and allowed his eyelids to fall with ease. Both he and Yoshi were at ease… and together. He couldn't ask for a better moment than the one they currently shared.
But he only wished that the dinosaur was free from his amnesia…
Soft knocking coming from the bedroom door immediately brought the pair back into sitting positions, startled eyes glued to the person at the door. There Peach stood, her hands folded in front of her with a soft smile on her face.
She walked into the room and stood in front of the TV, but kept her posture. "We have a surprise for you." she said, motioning one of her hands towards the door.
As if on que, Amy came through the door with Wario and Waluigi behind her, dragging them into the room by their earlobes. By the time she released them, both men were nursing their ears. Silver smiled inwardly, contented and amused with the scene before him.
The pink hedgehog pushed the two closer to the bed, who slouched and grumbled with sour expressions. With a smug smile on her muzzle, Amy spoke, "Now; do either of you have something to say to Yoshi?"
The Wario bros only responded with synchronized groans.
"What was that?" Amy asked with a mildly threatening tone. "I don't think he heard you…"
"…Sorry…" the two moaned, their eyes glued at the carpeting.
"For…?" Peach inquired passively.
Both Wario and Waluigi huffed, before collectively groaning, "For tricking you into eating wasabi…"
"Say it like you mean it." Amy snapped. The pair repeated themselves, although faster than necessary, thus resulting a kick behind the leg from Amy.
"Let's try that again…"
"No. Close enough." Yoshi shrugged, leaning back into the pillows. "Thank you kindly, ladies. And… thanks for trying, guys." The girls smiled while Wario and Waluigi grumbled beneath their breaths, already turning to leave.
"Get well soon, Yoshi!" Amy turned around and marched out of the room, grabbing the two men by the ears as she walked out of the suite. Peach nodded farewell to Silver and Yoshi before following the others out the door.
Silver got up from Yoshi's bed and proceeded to walk towards his own. "Looks like it'll be bedtime soon."
"So soon?" Yoshi frowned, glancing out the window once more. "But why?"
"Well… as athletes, we need all the rest we can get so we'll have plenty of energy to practice for the Olympics. As they say; practice makes perfect." the hedgehog began to pull back the covers on his bed, and making the necessary arrangements to settle in the bed. "Not to mention how quickly it gets dark during this time of year. But regardless, we need as much rest as possible."
"I take it you're really competitive?" the dinosaur asked, getting up from his bed.
The hedgehog shrugged, slightly unsure how to make of the question. "I guess so. But, I just follow the rules and do the best I can in these things."
Yoshi nodded, adjusting his bed to his liking. "Just, how hard are these games, really? I mean, everyone I know so far is taking part in the events, and I know that I had as well – according to you guys anyway." He looked up at the hedgehog, who had his eyebrow raised in mild confusion. The dinosaur paused momentarily before continuing. "I guess what I'm asking is; is it possible for me to relearn how to play the sports? In time, at least?"
Sighing through his nose, Silver dropped his head, finishing what needed to be done with his bed. "Well… I guess that all depends on how soon your memory comes back…"
With his own sigh, Yoshi plopped back down on his bed, his gaze resting on the comforters. "That's not ever going to happen… is it?"
"Absolutely not." Silver stated firmly as he stood up straight. "You heard what Mario said. It's going to take time for your memories to come back, be it sooner or later. Even if they don't come back in time for the Olympics, the only thing that matters is if they come back at all." He kept his eyes glued to the reptile and awaited for his response, though he only sat there with a blank expression on his face as he fiddled with his blankets.
Silver slowly sat down on his bed, his gaze fixed on the bedroom door. He had just remembered Mario stating that they still had to see what needed to be done about Yoshi's partaking in the events. The answer seems obvious, even the plumber himself knew that – the saddened and disappointed look in his eyes already told Silver of the likely outcome. But there wasn't a thing either of them could say to the Yoshi.
The truth may crush the dinosaur's spirits even further.
"…You're right." the Yoshi finally admitted, after releasing a heavy sigh. "I should be thankful if my memories come back at all… I can't begin to imagine not being able to remember how amazing my friends must really be." the hedgehog returned his gaze towards him, a small smile forming on his muzzle.
His sweet personality still hasn't left him.
"And hopefully, you will remember how amazing of a person you are, Yoshi."
His smile was warm, his words lightly tugged at his heartstrings, everything he had done for him thus far was out of generosity – or maybe there was more to that.
There are so many people standing by him, and who are all willing to help him. How was he in acquaintance with such a nice group of people? He even had plenty of fans – people outside of his life who admired and supported him. Was he really as amazing as the hedgehog commented?
Who was he? Who is Yoshi?
Silver's faint blush faded as he came to realize something. He rose from his bed and began to walk over towards the TV stand. After picking up the remote-control he turned to Yoshi and asked, "Did you wanna watch some TV?"
A baffled expression appeared on the dinosaur's face, before he glanced at the TV behind the hedgehog and his face lit up in acknowledgment. He smiled and nodded eagerly, and Silver turned on the TV and tossed him the remote.
"You go ahead and pick a channel, okay?" he began to walk towards the window while Yoshi stared awkwardly at the remote.
After Silver had closed the curtains, he turned and found everything in the picture on the flat screen reversing at a fast pace. Yoshi was staring at the TV and the remote with a nonplussed frown and mumbled, "How do I work this thing?" He pressed another button on the remote, but all it did was turn the volume on and off. Silver chuckled, though Yoshi was becoming frustrated. He pressed another button, which had caused the picture on the screen to stop.
The dinosaur immediately dropped the remote. He directed his widened eyes towards the hedgehog and asked in a worried tone "Did I break it?"
Silver laughed, but then stopped once he realized what he did. Shaking his head at his own stupidity, he walked towards the bed and sat beside his troubled friend. "I can't believe I forgot about your amnesia… Just like that." he chuckled. "I'm sorry. I just thought you'd already… never mind. Let me see the remote."
Once he was given the remote, Silver held it in a way for Yoshi to see as well with one hand, while pointing to each button with the other. "This button here you've just pressed was the 'Stop' button, which stops the picture from moving. To have it move again, just press the 'Play' button above it." He pressed the mentioned button, before he continued. "These buttons next to it are the 'Rewind' and 'Fast Forward' buttons. Down here near the bottom are the buttons you would use to change the channels and the volume. The small button beneath the volume was the 'Mute' button… used to turn on and off the volume. Those are the basics."
"Right." Yoshi took back the remote and began to flip through the channels, in which he settled on the cartoons.
The hedgehog got up and asked "Anything you need while I'm up?"
"All set…" he yawned, pulling the covers over himself and snuggling within the bed. Within what seemed like no time, Yoshi was fast asleep.
Silver chuckled upon watching the silly dino fall asleep, inwardly melting at the sight before him. Oh how he wanted to plant a kiss upon the terribly cute slumbering dinosaur.
Seeing as he was the only one within the room – as well as the only one awake – he leaned over and placed a soft swift kiss atop the Yoshi's nose.
…
Once morning arrived, Silver and Yoshi went to a breakfast buffet inside the hotel. After breakfast the pair headed outside, Silver pulled out the map of the area and began to unfold it completely. Yoshi was staring at the map wide-eyed, while the hedgehog went over the geographies.
"This is the map for all of the sports venues." he explained, eyes glued to the map. "It's really huge. Half of the facilities are located in the mountains, while the other half is by the sea. The Olympic Park, or the costal cluster, is located near the sea. That area alone was designed to hold over seventy-thousand people…"
"That's great, but how do we get there?" Yoshi asked, wanting to explore.
"But wait, there's more. The other half is called the mountain cluster. There's the Olympic Village, other hotels, a media center… and I think there's a few restaurants there. If my memory is correct, Amy said something about a spa being located…"
"But how do we get there?" Yoshi queried impatiently.
With a sigh and a frown, Silver closed the map in half and answered "Well, that depends on where you want to go. I'm just letting you know where's what so you'd have a choice."
For a moment the Yoshi silently pondered his thoughts, before he answered "The Olympic Park sounds interesting. What sports do they have over there?"
"Anything that has to do with skating, but everything's in separate domes." Silver once again opened the map and began leading the both of them towards the dinosaur's desired destination. "We're using the Bolshoy Ice Dome for ice hockey, Ice Cube Curling Center for curling, Alder Arena aka Skating Center for speed skating, Iceberg Skating Palace for figure skating and short track events…"
"We get to skate in an actual ice palace?!" the Yoshi gasped.
Silver laughed. "No, it's just the name."
"Oh…" Yoshi let out a disappointed sigh, before releasing his own chuckle. "Still, that would be pretty cool."
"I agree." the hedgehog said with a small giggle.
It was approximately thirty minutes later by the time the pair reached the Olympic Park by foot. Upon arrival, Yoshi gawked at all of the sights the area had to offer. The beauty of the area and its surrounding arenas even captured the eyes of the silver hedgehog. It was a sight he could never get over. The nighttime view – especially when they had the opening ceremony – was even more breathtaking.
That overwhelming feeling, the rush that traveled within them since their first time setting foot in the stadium, the zest of being an olympic athlete, a very intense emotion that danced upon the heartstrings.
It was truly amazing.
Taking a deep breath, basking in the air around him, a huge smile grew on Silver's muzzle. His determination stood with him. In his mind he was impeccable. Invincible. The only thing that would have made it more perfect was if the Yoshi he originally knew was standing beside him.
All the same, he loved that Yoshi. And he would do whatever it takes to bring him to his original self. He will strive to make everything right again…
…and fix the mess he started in the first place…
He was snapped out of his thoughts when a flying snowball made contact with the back of his head. He stumbled forward out of shock, before glaring harshly in the direction it came from.
Only when he saw some familiar faces did his expression slightly softened.
"Gotchya!" a green crocodile laughed from afar, waltzing up to the hedgehog with a pleased grin. With a sleek pair of headphones on his head and a thick gold chain around his neck, it was none other than one of his peers from the Sonic Team.
"Morning, Vector." Sliver wearily greeted. "What are you doing, exactly?"
"Nothing much." the crocodile shrugged. "Just going for a stroll… 'till the end of the playlist, that is." he pointed towards his headphones.
"Okay. But why did you – " his sentence fell short with a yelp when another snowball hit him from behind, colliding into his bottom. Now officially steamed, Silver whipped his body towards the source of the snowball and screamed "STOP THROWING SNOWBALLS AT ME!" A snicker emerged from the crocodile behind him, who immediately covered his smirk when the hedgehog turned to throw an evil glare at him.
From behind one of the pillars, a head belonging to a certain ape's slowly rose into view, a crimson tie hanging with the letters "DK" in yellow hanging from his neck. Wide-eyed he meekly stated "My bad… I was aiming for Vector."
"Yeah right!" Vector bellowed in a laugh, nearly bursting the hedgehog's eardrums in advance.
Silver huffed, his cheeks heating up in anger, while the two shared a laugh over their shenanigans. "Why are you two attacking me with snowballs?" the hedgehog hardly bothered to disguise his annoyance.
An air of silence hung over the three as Donkey Kong and Vector exchanged a look for a moment or so. Finally, Vector was the one to answer the fuming hedgehog. "Well, you see other people walking around here, right?" With a tight expression on his muzzle, Silver silently nodded. "Throwing snowballs at you would prevent us from getting sued." the pair once again roared in laughter.
A poisonous glare forming upon his muzzle, the hedgehog slightly lifted from the ground, a turquoise aura surrounding his frame. The designs on his clothing glowed vividly, the palms of his hands were faced upward…
When the mischievous pair caught sight of this, their laughter came to an immediate halt. Vector held out his hands and shouted frantically. "Whoa, whoa! I was joking! I'm sorry! We're just practicing our aiming for Snowball Scrimmage, that's all!"
"You mean… the Dream Event where we're using machines?"
"Well we still gotta aim with the thing…"
Another minute or two had passed before the hedgehog resumed his normal state, the glowing effects dying down as feet returned to the ground. He sighed, releasing a small percent of his aggravation as he exhaled after a deep breath. Calmly he spoke. "Use something else as a practice target, okay?"
"Will do!" Vector loudly exclaimed as he gave a thumbs up. "And while we're still talking, we heard about what happened to Yoshi."
It took a while for Silver to register what the crocodile was talking about, before he dropped his head. "Oh… Yeah…"
"Why'd you do it?" Donkey Kong suddenly asked, anger in his voice. "Why'd you let that happen to him? You were there with him, weren't you?"
"Of course I was!" the hedgehog snapped. "I tried to stop him, DK, but he was already down the mountain!"
"So you just let him go anyway, in spite of the weather that day." the ape snarled. "What? You couldn't use your powers to stop him and bring him back up the mountain?"
"I would never use my powers on any of my friends."
"Bullshit. You almost did it to us. And with Yoshi it could have been a life-or-death situation, but you still chose to sit there and do nothing!"
"I went down the mountain with him!"
"But you didn't get hurt, he did!"
"You weren't even there! How dare you call me a bad friend!"
"Well the whole town's heard of it! Not everyone can be wrong, pal."
"They can when they don't know what happed."
"ALRIGHT!" Vector exploded, stepping between the two. "So Yoshi has amnesia now. The only thing we can do as friends is to be there for him! The both of you acting like a bunch of fools isn't gonna do anything to help him!"
"I am trying to help!" Silver barked as his glare was still fixed on the ape.
Donkey Kong withdrew from the group, walking in a circle as he exclaimed "OH THAT'S A LOAD OF…" he flew towards the hedgehog, shoving him hard into the snow. Anger officially taken control of him, Silver got up and jumped atop the ape and grabbed him in a headlock. Donkey Kong turned and flopped backwards into the snow, as if he tried to land on top of his opponent.
"KNOCK IT OFF!" Vector tried to break up the fight, but resulted in being pulled into the tussle. Alas, he ate a lot of the blows that were thrown between the two.
After a few minutes of rolling around in the snow, Donkey Kong stood with one hand wrapped tightly around the hedgehog's neck and the other balled into a fist as it reeled for a good strike. Vector got up and grabbed onto the arm that was pulled back, in attempt to stop DK from landing the blow. Silver had his hands wrapped around the monkey's wrist, and began to glow cyan as the symbols on his clothing stared to glow vividly once again.
"STOP!" a voice shrieked, thus causing the tangled trio to freeze in their positions.
A green dinosaur with a large round nose and narrowed blue eyes stood before him, his hands resting on his hips. "Put him down." he sternly ordered.
"But he's the reason you have amnesia!" Donkey Kong maintained, and gave the hedgehog a rough shake.
"No! He's not… I am." Yoshi declared. He dropped his head, and solemnly spoke, "If I had listened to him, I wouldn't be in this situation. I wouldn't have thrown everything off-balance for anyone."
"Yoshi…" Silver was dropped into the snow by Donkey Kong, who had already begun making his way to the dinosaur.
"I'm just glad that you're here, safe and sound, even if you're not a hundred percent you."
"And I'm happy that you guys still support me, even if I have let you down…"
"Garbage. We're here for ya, Yoshi. And that's that." Vector chimed in.
"If there's anything we can do to help you out, you know we would." Donkey Kong then turned around and began walking over towards the hedgehog. "And, Silver… sorry for jumping down your throat the way I did. I was just that worried about my buddy."
"Well, you're n – AH!" he shrieked when Donkey Kong lifted him high off the ground, before placing him on his two feet once again. He dusted the snow off of him before he continued. "Alright DK, but you're not the only one whose worried about Yoshi."
"No… Really? I had no idea…" he stopped himself for a minute. "…Yeah. Okay." he turned around and left, looking back once more at Yoshi. The crocodile said his goodbyes before running to catch up with the ape.
Doing all he can to regain his composure – which he lost for a while at this point, Silver watched the pair leave, the dinosaur standing next to him. He crossed his arms over his chest and sighed deeply, as Yoshi placed his hands on his hips once again. "What's that guy's problem?"
Silver released another sigh. "He's just really worried about you, Yoshi. But if I run into either of them again, it'd be too soon… Anyway, where did you disappear to? I thought you were still with me?"
"I went over there." Yoshi said, pointing towards somewhere ahead of them. "It had an amazing view – I saw each of the six different buildings, but… you only told me of four arenas."
"Well, you can't just leave my sight like that. I have to be able to know where you are, so that same fiasco like last time doesn't happen again." he looked straight into the Yoshi's eyes, his sadness and gravity expressed through the pupils of his own. "I would never forgive myself if you were to get hurt again. I still can't get over your amnesia. Every time I look at you… I'm reminded of… how I…"
"I don't blame you." the dinosaur stated. "Unless you physically pushed me down the mountain, I don't see a reason to place blame on you. For that I only have myself to blame."
"But… I've never even told you…" His face felt tight, his eyes felt warm, and it hurt to talk. Silver closed his eyes, taking a deep breath, in which was no more stable than a shudder. "I never told you what exactly happened…"
Yoshi took the hedgehog's face within his hands, and tilted it upward to face his. Their eyes were locked with the other, a stolen moment was shared between the both of them as they remained in their current positions.
"That can be a story for another time…" the Yoshi softly spoke. "For now, we have some sports to play. Cheer up." he smiled lightly.
"But Yoshi…" he paused, and stared into the expression of his friend. His smile, his eyes… there's heart in them. He wasn't looking at the same broken Yoshi that was in his room yesterday, but the same Yoshi he knew before the accident in the Extreme Park. The same Yoshi he was best friends with during the Olympic games. The same Yoshi he grew fond of during his first year of joining the Olympics.
But all the same, he loves this Yoshi. With or without his amnesia.
Finally he gave his own small smile and nodded. The dinosaur used his thumb from one hand to lightly brush away the liquid that threatened to run down his cheek. Silver once again found himself melting before the Yoshi; the look in his eyes, the feel of his touch, the sensation coming from his smile and kind words…
It was almost becoming agonizing.
Sweet and adorable Yoshi. He has his heart by its strings.