I wanted to get this out sooner, but apparently I didn't. But since I started keeping backup chapters in cases of long delays, I can bring to you Chapter 4 after all!
And in other news: Private Messages? I'd like the system better if it didn't just email the message to the person. And personal forums? I don't think I'd need one, though I've opened one in case anyone had anything to say.
Chapter 4:Bitter Rivals
The star Claude and Kirby were riding shot straight through a cloud. Claude held on more tightly than was necessary. He didn't really have Acrophobia or anything like that, but he still had a bit of an unsettled feeling knowing that the only thing keeping the two of them this high in the sky was a thin magical star.
The star descended under the clouds. Claude wasn't sure how long they had been flying, but he guessed anywhere between 15 to 20 minutes. They must have 'crossed lands' by now, because the bright and cheery surroundings of Dreamland had been replaced with a wide ocean, the scent of salt water evident in the air.
Something Kirby told him earlier was bothering him until he finally said, "You said the star had its own center of gravity. But it's too small."
Kirby glanced back and said, "You're in another dimension now. Earth's rules of physics don't necessarily apply here...oh, look! I see the island!" Kirby pointed towards a mound of land further ahead in the sea. They cleared the cloud they were under and the sun shined down brightly, causing Claude to block it out with his hand to see the island Kirby was pointing to.
Yoshi's Island looked much like it did in the games. Four oddly shaped mountains, capped in white, jutted up to the sky from the center of the island. Everything else surrounded the mountains: hills, forests, plains, a lake, and a few structures such as castles and towers. The star lowered further and was now close enough to the surface of the water to send it parting behind it.
"Uh...um..." Kirby was hesitant. "I think I should tell you that...I'm not really good with landings."
"What!" Claude shouted as the water beneath them was replaced with the sand of a beach. Kirby flinched.
Claude thought back to all the games, and remembered that Kirby never had what would be considered a good landing. In fact, most of his landings consisted of his star plummeting to the ground and exploding, sending him flying from the crash site.
"I shoulda saw this comin'," Claude muttered, holding on even tighter to the star when they crossed the sandy beach and over grassy plains, with a forest not too far ahead of them. Kirby took the opportunity to lower the star even more, the 'nose' of it digging into the earth and kicking up soil behind them. The friction was causing the star to slow down, and Kirby was now confident that he would have his first decent landing in years when...
'Pop!'
The star exploded into a cloud of stardust, leaving both Kirby and Claude soaring through the air before tumbling and rolling through the grass. Lying on his back, Claude got a sudden feeling of déjà vu when he opened his eyes to find Kirby standing over him and apologizing.
"I'm sorry!" he bellowed. "I would have worked on my landings if I knew I was going to be flying guests around!"
Claude sat up and said, "Forget guests! You should work on landin', period. What if you get hurt in one of those crazy crashes?" He stood and brushed the grass from his clothes.
"Okay! Okay...I'll work on my landings!" Kirby defended himself. He glanced around their surroundings and said, "The village isn't too far from here. You'll like it!" Kirby headed into the direction of the nearby forest, bouncing happily. Claude followed him, half expecting him to burst into song at any moment.
He didn't. However, he did wonder aloud, "I wonder where Yoshi is?" As if on cue, bushes near the forest rustled and the familiar green yoshi stepped out into the grassy plains, holding a mound of exotic fruits in his arms and lapping them up and into his mouth with his long tongue. He looked up and blinked at the odd pair.
"Kirfy?" He said through a mouthful of fruit. "Waat arr y..." He swallowed the fruit after receiving appalled looks. "Like I was saying, what are you doing here? And who's that?"
"This is Claude. He's a fan, from Earth! And we were just-"
The fruit fell to the grass in a clutter, abandoned. Yoshi had appeared near them in a green blur, and now was thoroughly examining Claude with a skeptical look on his face.
"You don't look like someone with the ability to pass between dimensions," he said, eying him.
"Yeah, well, I won a contest and Miyamoto helped me use a machine that got me here."
A pleased grin quickly replaced Yoshi's once skeptical glare. "So, you won a contest so you could hop-skip dimensions, just to meet me?"
"What? No, I didn't even know that-"
"You don't have to be embarrassed. I'll even give you an autograph. I'm sure that's what you want, next to meeting me and all." If Yoshi's large ego wasn't apparent to anyone before, it was now. "You got a pen?"
"I don't want any autographs."
"Nonsense! I'll give you one! You did come all this way after all!" Yoshi said.
"Yoshi..." Kirby said, almost regretting dragging his new Earth friend into this. "When I said fan, I meant Nintendo fan, not just a fan of you..."
"But that includes me!" Yoshi declared, pointing a thumb at himself. "And we all know the fans flock to me! He just wants an autograph..."
"But-" Claude started, but was interrupted by Kirby.
"Don't bother," the puffball said. "Yoshi's in an impenetrable state now that his ego has fully kicked in."
"Hey," Yoshi spoke up, as if oblivious to anything Kirby had just said, "Why don't I show you to the village? Then you can tell all your friends about it, and how cool I am."
"But that's why I brought him here!" Kirby yelled. "I wanted to show him the village!"
"Kirby, don't be so self-centered," Yoshi said, brushing him off. "It's this way," He pointed into the forest, taking the lead and scooping up some of the fallen fruit to continue his meal.
"Me? Self-centered? Compared to HIM!" Kirby asked himself, nearly outraged.
"C'mon!" he heard Claude call out. He and Yoshi had already started to disappear into the depths of the forest.
Kirby raced to catch up with them along the forest trail, which started to narrow as trees and boulders began to close in. After a few minutes, the trail had disappeared completely, and Yoshi started to climb the large boulder that marked the end of the trail.
"It's not that far from here," he said, balancing himself on the top of the rock and nimbly jumping onto another boulder. Claude followed, taking note of Yoshi's agility. Kirby took the easy root by inflating his body and floating closely behind them.
"I didn't know you were so..." Claude started.
"Agile?" Yoshi said, a bit of his ego slipping out. "I have to be, for the Super Smash Brothers tournaments and all. I'd like to think that one of my groupies would know that."
"So I'm a groupie now?" Claude remarked with sarcasm, leaping off of one boulder and onto another.
"You want to be called something else? You think that's a little extreme?" Yoshi asked nonchalantly.
"Actually, I don't want to be-"
"Oh, we're almost here!" Yoshi exclaimed.
Another trail had appeared once they made it past the boulders. A short walk and they arrived at a huge, circular clearing.
"I present to you, the Yoshi Village," said Yoshi, throwing his arms out with a welcoming gesture. Claude and Kirby stepped out of the forest and into the busy clearing. Yoshis of every color bustled to and fro, some even off to the sides sleeping. There were a few huts scattered around, but Yoshis actually preferred sleeping outside, so they were used for storage and emergencies in most cases. None of the busy dinosaurs had noticed the new arrivals. They all continued about their normal activities.
"So, what d'ya think?" Yoshi asked with a grin on his face. "Cool, huh? I mean, I do live here and all, so it has to be cool."
"I didn't know there was a place like this," said Claude.
"And you shouldn't have ever found out!"
Eyes turned to the right, as a yoshi stepped out of the darkness of the forest. His scales were blue and shades sat atop his large snout. Around his neck was a spike-studded collar, and a saddle similar to Yoshi's sat on his back. His footwear was specially designed to expose his clawed feet. An arrogant, nasty smile was on his face.
The ground shook slightly as his partner caught up with him. This creature, also a dinosaur, was much taller than all the other Yoshis, with brown scales along her body. She looked like a cross between a T-Rex and a Yoshi, and stood quietly behind the blue yoshi, her shadow towering over him. She was Shyla.
Yoshi rolled his eyes. "What do you want today, Boshi?" he asked in annoyance.
"You damn well know that you aren't supposed to be bringing anybody in here...a human, no less," he added acidly, throwing a look in Claude's direction, who raised a brow in return.
"Actually," Yoshi said sternly, "the rule says that you can only bring trustworthy friends along."
"Trustworthy?" Boshi asked mockingly, trying to suppress a laugh.
"Bah, go annoy someone else. I'm busy right now," Yoshi said in an attempt to get rid of Boshi. It didn't work.
"You're just mad..." the blue dinosaur said, reaching under the saddle on his back and revealing a medallion, which he put around his neck, "...because she gave me this." He fiddled and fingered the heart-shaped medallion, twisting it back and forth.
"Oh really?" Yoshi said, his ego taking over. "Is that why it says 'to Yoshi' on the back? It sounds more like you stole it from her to me."
Boshi's arrogant smirk dwindled, and disappeared completely when he checked the medallion himself. He cast an angry glance at the dinosaur behind him, which wasn't fully readable behind the shades, but still had its intended effect, because she winced in reply.
"Look," Yoshi said. "All I want to do is show them the village."
Boshi's cool demeanor returned. "Not if you're bringing the human along."
"'The human' has a name, and he goes where he wants to," Claude replied, which garnered a glare from Boshi.
"That's what you think," Boshi finally said, with a hint malice in his voice.
"What, are you going to stop me?" Claude asked with a raised eyebrow and a smirk.
"Don't tempt me, or I'll get her to do it," he said, gesturing to the large dinosaur behind him.
"Ha, I'd like to see you try to send Shyla after me."
Awkward silence. Stares.
"...how did you know my name?" the large dinosaur inquired in her deep voice.
Whoops. They didn't know.
"Yeah, I don't remember sayin' anything about her to you..." Yoshi said suspiciously. "Did you tell him, Kirby?" Kirby shook his head (or body, really) in reply.
"Well, uh...who doesn't know about Shyla back on Earth?" Claude asked casually, trying to save himself.
"Wait, you're from Earth!" Boshi's shades almost fell off of his face as he was taken aback. "What's someone from Earth doing here!"
"Making history," Yoshi said, gesturing for Claude and Kirby to follow him into the village, leaving the somewhat confused Boshi behind.
Before long, the trio found themselves in the middle of the village, a swirling rainbow of Yoshi's around them. There were a few looks and whispering, but that was to be expected. This made Claude curious nonetheless.
"How many humans have been here before?"
"You're the first one," Yoshi said with a smirk. "C'mon, I want to show you my hut." Yoshi cut into the mass of Yoshis, with Kirby and Claude trying to keep up. The crowds were thinning near the edge of the village, where most of the huts were located.
Yoshi slipped a key out from under his saddle and unlocked the door of one of the huts. Claude and Kirby followed him inside into the sparse room, which was only occupied by a lone computer.
"That's a pretty impressive looking computer," Kirby commented. "But what's something like that doing on this island?"
"Actually, Samus gave it to me. She said that it was for emergency contact with the island, since there's no technology here. Personally, I don't think it needs to be here since hardly anything ever happens on this island, but I wasn't going to turn down a free computer! And considering how hard I rock, I deserve it."
"Well, I guess that make sense...but we can't stay too long. Captain Falcon may already be in Corneria!"
"...why would you be worried about where Falcon is?" Yoshi asked, sitting in a makeshift chair by the computer.
"We're supposed to be meeting him in Corneria, to see Fox and Iris's kid. The reason why I brought Claude here was because it was on the way, and I thought he'd like to see the island!"
"Yeah, we're gonna see the baby. Captain Falcon went ahead of us." Claude added on.
"Well, I'd stay away from Falcon, if you want to preserve your brain cells, y'know?" Yoshi said, swiveling in the chair. "The guy is a lost cause. I'm surprised he hasn't turned Samus into an idiot yet."
"Hey," Kirby said, an idea coming to him. "Do you want to come with us?"
"Nah, I have a feeling that I'll see the kid soon enough."
"Well I'm sorry to cut this visit short, but we should go. Maybe we can come back later!"
Kirby happily bounced out of the hut, followed by Claude and Yoshi. A star had already fallen out of the sky and awaited them. Kirby hopped on while Claude hesitated for a moment before sitting on the star aswell. They waved to their green friend as the star started to ascend above the village and mass of Yoshis.
"HEY! YOU DIDN'T GET MY AUTOGRAPH!" Yoshi cried out.
"He doesn't give up," Claude said with a chuckle, as the star took off with a burst of speed, leaving the island behind.
"I hope you're comfortable," Kirby said. "Because it'll be a short while before we get to Corneria."
-----
"Grrraaaaaahhh!"
The furious scream was followed by the crash of a trash can. The kick did nothing to subside the young man's anger, as he continued to walk down the street, consumed by his own rage.
"Mine was the best and those bastards knew it..."
"I couldn't help but notice..." a voice echoed from the shadows of an alley.
"Sorry, I don't associate with winos," the young man said rather crudely, and kept on his way until the mystery man stepped out of the shadows and revealed himself to be a well dressed man of Japanese decent. The glasses on his face gave off an ominous glare.
"Okay, so you might not be a wino. That still doesn't explain why you're hiding in alleyways and talking to people you obviously don't know."
The man didn't seem to be fazed by this, and continued to wear a devious smile. "As I was saying, I saw the little contest back there and..."
"So! What do you want?"
"I just want to give you what you deserve. You see, I also believe that you should have won."
"So you've read my stuff?"
"Yes, and I'll make sure you also receive the 'prize' for the winner..."
The young man gave an incredulous look to the mystery man, whose smile only broadened in return.
UH-OH! Foreshadowing! Chapter 5 is nearly complete, though I may end up splitting it into 2 seperate chapters. Either way, the real plot will start to show itself once the quest to see the baby is over.