CHAPTER NINE: OF FIRE AND RAGE

The day was a torturous experience for Luigi. As soon as they had made it out of the bay and into the rolling waves of the sea, he threw up every so often, despite the helpful advice he was given by Captain Briney. Aeolian, who watched him with more fascination then compassion, was still unsure what was wrong with him, but he could sense discomfort.

Mario and Peach were having a pleasant experience, however. They walked laps around the deck, talking to each other and reflecting on past events in-between visits to Luigi, who stayed at the same place. Each time they saw him, his face appeared to be a color very similar to his hat and shirt.

On their routine visit to him, Mario patted his brother's back and asked, "so, did you try any of that ginger you brought?"

"I... I'm saving it for later..." his voice was noticeably weaker then usual. "I'm afraid I didn't bring enough..."

"Why don't you have some now? You'll feel better." Peach told him gently.

"I was thinking about it..."

The boat was hit by a wave at an awkward angle, and he gagged. "I can't take much more of this..." he said after gathering himself, "I'm pathetic... no wonder I can't find myself a girl."

"Lots of people have problems on boats." Mario said encouragingly. "Well, I'll leave you be. Let's go to the cook and find us something to eat, Peach. You can come if you want, Luigi, but... I'm not sure its the best idea for you to eat right now."

"Yeah, you're right..."
"I'll stay here," Aeolian said. "I'm not hungry."

"How can you not be?" Peach asked. "You haven't eaten since this morning."

"Yes I have. I caught a fish."

"You did? How?" Mario asked curiously.

"I saw one jump out of the water so I grabbed it. Is that okay?"
"Well, yeah, but its hard to catch a fish." Mario replied, rubbing his chin. "So did you like it?"

"Yeah, it tasted kind of salty. I like salt."

Mario and Peach exchanged glances. "So that's why the whole can of salt went missing yesterday..." She muttered. "Well, see you later Aeolian. Keep an eye on Luigi, okay?"

"Sure!" Aeolian replied with a smile. "But I don't think he'll be going anywhere anytime soon." He looked over his shoulder at Luigi, who was hunched over the railing. "Have fun, Mario and Peach."

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On the second day, temperatures had dropped dramatically. Though now miserable from the cold, at least Luigi had finally gotten over his seasickness by drinking a special ginger tea prepared by the cook, at least for the time being. He and his family were all inside Mario's cabin room, shivering within blankets and staying together to keep warm. Poor Aeolian had to stay outside in the freezing temperatures, but he was kept company by Captain Briney.
Luigi, who was wrapped in his green blanket and sitting on the floor in the cabin, was worried about Aeolian. He wondered if dragons produced their own heat. If they didn't, Aeolian would be in a rough spot if he stayed in the cold too long.

Luigi stood up, adjusted his hat, and exited the cabin, leaving Mario and Peach, who didn't bother to ask where was going.

He walked outside, only to find Briney petting Aeolian's head. The large Dragon shivered when he saw Luigi.

"Its so cold..." Aeolian frowned. "I can't get warm..."

"Agh, this 'ere dragon cannot stand the temperatures." The captain sighed and shook his head. "We need to figure out some way of warming him up."

"I think I brought some fire flowers," Luigi said. "Maybe if he eats one, he can feel better."
"Hmm.. good idea," Briney tapped his chin. "But wouldn't that burn him?"
"Its too cold to be burned, I think." Luigi turned to leave, but then stopped to ask, "How close are we to the Shiver Region?"
"Ahh, very close. In just a day we'll be dockin' and unloadin' the cargo."

"Thanks."

He disappeared, and soon afterwards returned holding a strange flower in his gloves. The plant, which was a vibrant red, seemed to glow with an internal heat.
"Here, Aeolian. Eat this. It'll burn at first, but it should warm up your entire body. I've done it a few times. I don't like how it feels but hits helpful when I need it."

Aeolian didn't seem to care about the consequences of eating a fire flower. He took the plant and devoured the entire specimen. He then shot a breath of fire into the sky, then said, "Yeeeouch! It burns!"
His scale color seemed to fluctuate between white and green, then after a puff of smoke, he sighed and said, "Aaah... sweet relief! Thanks, Luigi..." After a moment, he said, "hey... I think that fire flower triggered something."

He then purposely shot another fireball into the sea from his mouth. "Wow!" he said with a grin, "The fire flower opened my fire chambers! Now I can breathe fire! I always wondered how I could figure it out... Dad told me that every dragon opens his fire chambers a different way."
He turned to Luigi and grinned. "I won't be cold anymore. Dragons, Dad told me, are cold blooded but when our fire chambers work, we make our own heat!"

"Yes!" Luigi jumped for joy. "That's amazing! Good job, Aeolian! So dragons all breathe fire? Interesting!"

"Hey, you're the one who helped me," The dragon nudged Luigi lightly, but still managed to make him stumble. "I'll be fine out here now. Don't worry about me and go get some rest. You've been up all last night with that seasickness of yours."

"Yeah, I am kind of tired... and for some reason, I feel fine now. Just a-ok." He smiled sheepishly. "Well... see ya."

Aeolian curled up on the deck and closed his eyes, relieved at his new discovery. At last, he could breathe fire! The cold will be no match for him now.

Or would it be?

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The third day passed slowly. Mario, Luigi, and Peach were rarely outside due to the extremely cold temperatures. Briney, as the captain, stayed outside most of the time, telling them what Aeolian said when he made his rounds back to the cabins. Aeolian, he reported, was not complaining about the cold, but was complaining about some sort of wind that he was hearing.

Peach was dressed in her heavy pink coat, and wore many layers of clothing. Luigi and Mario were both wearing layered clothing under their trademark overalls. They were ready for Shiver City, and the Shiver Region too. They were in their cabin, awaiting Briney to give his routine checkup.

The old toad knocked and entered, then began talking about what Aeolian had said recently.
"He describes it as an unnatural howl," Briney tapped his chin. "He said the wind seemed like it wasn't coming from the air. He said it makes him afraid, whatever it was."

"A strange wind?" Peach hummed. "Well, Reyva did tell us that Growle was going to hire Bowser to find us. Do you think Bowser found a new weapon? Or is it just the wind?"

"I'm not sure..." Mario said, and began pacing. "Why would this dragon hire Bowser? What if Reyva was trying to trick us? I don't see what harm it could do by telling us that we are going to be ambushed by someone other then Bowser."

"But whatever it is, Aeolian hasn't found it." Luigi said. "So we should be fine, right? I mean, we should't be afraid of something that isn't there... we should only fear when it makes itself seen..."

"You didn't end that very optimistically," Mario grimaced. "Lighten up, Luigi. We're about to see another world!"

"Like we haven't seen enough of those," Luigi sighed.

"Oh, you suck the life out of everything, Luigi. Why don't you go and get seasick again? You were more optimistic then." Mario muttered.
"Why don't you go lose some weight?!" Retaliated his brother angrily.

"You know what that L on your hat stands for?! Loser!"
"That M stands for Moron!"

"I'm sick of you!"
"I'm glad YOU'RE the one who's sick now!"

"Go eat a Yoshi!"

"QUIET!"

The last voice belonged to Princess Peach. Luigi had never seen her so angry before. He quickly cowered away from Mario, for he had found himself standing over his short brother with his chest puffed.

"We can't just stand here and argue! The boat will be arriving in Shiver City very soon and we need to be wary of what Aeolian saw. Let's not give him the benefit of the doubt- if he thinks there's something wrong we better believe it! Now get your heads together, kiss and make up, and let's pack our stuff."

The brothers exchanged glances, first of anger, then their shoulders dropped and they both gave a grimace and a weak smile, suggesting the thought of 'sorry about that, we really lost it back there.'

"Well, I'm already packed." Luigi said quietly. "Um... sorry, Mario."

"Yeah... sorry too." Mario replied, looking down at the ground. "I didn't mean to blow up like that."

"Its my fault too. I shouldn't have encouraged you by carrying on."

"No, its my fault."
"No, its mine."

"Luigi, its my fault!"
"Mario, you know I was the one who-"

"Okay, okay, you're both sorry!" Peach cried out. "Now come on, let's pack up."