***
The next morning, Lemmy woke with a start.
"What?"
Why wasn't he in his room? Where was his bed? Everything was wrong. He sat up and looked around. He saw miles of sand in every direction. Wendy was curled up asleep a meter or so away from him.
"Oh no," he muttered. So it wasn't all a bad dream. Iggy really was . gone. He and Wendy really were stranded in the middle of nowhere.
He shut his eyes again. Maybe he was still dreaming. Maybe if he kept his eyes closed long enough, he'd wake up in his bed. He closed his eyes and kept them that way for a long time. Eventually, he fell asleep again. His body may not have needed sleep, but his mind was still exhausted.
It was quite a while later when he woke up again. He probably wouldn't have even gotten up at all if it weren't for Wendy.
"Lemmy?" she whispered. "Lemmy, wake up."
"Mmmph," he grunted. He never wanted to get out of bed again. But then again, he wasn't sleeping in a bed, so he slowly sat up.
"Come on, sleepy head," she prodded. "We have to get out of here as soon as possible. Wherever this place happens to be."
"What?" Lemmy questioned, getting to his feet. "You mean we're not in Desert Land?"
"Not as far as I can tell."
"How exactly can you tell? It looks for all the world like Desert Land to me."
"See those mountains in the distance? They are very far away, but we can still see them clearly. That means that they're probably huge."
"So?"
"Desert Land has no huge mountains like those. I don't know where we are, but it is not Desert Land."
"How fast did that Doomship of yours travel?" Lemmy wondered aloud. "How could we have ended up way out here when we where only in the air for about five minutes?"
"Well, Ludwig designed it to be as aerodynamic as possible, reducing any resistance. This makes it very fast, so. I would estimate about 40 thousand miles per hour."
"That's your idea of an estimate? You just pull all this info out of thin air?"
"Hey, some of us actually pay attention in class. Also, Ludwig told me how fast he thought it was capable of going when he gave me the ship's blueprints."
"But you just said-"
"Okay, okay, so it was Ludwig's estimate, not mine. But either way, I still think it's best to get out of here, soon."
"Right," agreed Lemmy. "We'd better get going. Those mountains seem as good of a direction as any."
"I don't know. Those are a long ways away, Lemmy."
"You have a better idea?"
"I guess not."
And with that, they were on their way. The mountains seemed a long way off. And they were.
Neither of them did much talking for a long time after that. They trudged on endlessly, never stopping to rest. Perhaps if there had been any food to speak of, the two Koopalings might have rested for a while. But there wasn't, and so there was no reason to stop.
The hours passed by. Every now and then, one of them would look up a little, but the mountains never seemed to be getting any closer. The sun beat down on them mercilessly, and fatigue began to weigh down their legs. Each step on the scorching sand was painful.
"Come on Lemmy," panted Wendy much later. "Can't we stop for a few minutes? I'm sure I'll collapse if I have to stand a minute longer."
Lemmy hesitated. There was no shade, so even a rest wouldn't keep them from the sun's blistering rays. Those mountains still seemed awfully far away, too. They would need every bit of distance they could get if they wanted to make it at all.
On the other hand, he wasn't even sure if his own legs would support him much longer if they went on like this.
"Okay," Lemmy answered wearily. He sat down abruptly, and Wendy collapsed on the sand.
"Ooh," she gasped. "We've been walking since we woke up,"
Lemmy was surprised. Daybreak had been a long time ago. Had they really been walking for that long? He berated himself. He should have known not to push their limits like that.
They waited about half an hour, and then pressed on when they felt ready to walk again. The walk was more or less uneventful. Apart from the sand, the only thing they saw was the occasional cactus. Wendy almost fell over when she thought she saw something move.
"Whoa!" she cried suddenly.
"What's wrong?"
"I thought I saw." she trailed off. Already it seemed more like an illusion. They kept walking.
Suddenly, something whizzed by them, blowing a cloud of dust in its wake. The dust blocked his vision a little, but Lemmy caught a glimpse of feathers. It continued on its speedy path.
"What was that, a roadrunner?" Lemmy demanded of no one. Whatever it was seemed to be coming around for another pass. It zipped closer to them than before, and came to a dead stop right in front of them.
"That's it!" Wendy exclaimed. "That's the thing I saw!"
This bird-like creature stood about a foot taller than both of the Koopas. It had two powerful legs and was covered in feathers. Atop its long neck rested a small head with a beak and two intelligent-looking eyes. Its two feathery wings somehow didn't look as if they were meant for flight.
"It's." Wendy examined the creature carefully. "An Ostro. That's what it looks like."
The Ostro curiously tilted its head at them, as if to ask, "What are you doing here?"
"Maybe we could eat it," suggested Lemmy hungrily. "We haven't eaten for at least 24 hours, and I' starving!"
"We certainly will not!" Wendy practically screamed. "How could you kill something this sweet?"
"Well, gee. That makes perfect sense," Lemmy rolled his eyes. "If we are going to starve to death, we probably shouldn't live if it's at the expense of something cute, should we?"
"Oh, shut up. We could use it for something else. Did you see how fast this thing was running?"
"Yeah."
"Well, maybe we could ride it! Wouldn't that be better than walking?" she turned to the Ostro. "You'd give us a ride, wouldn't you?"
As if to answer, it lowered its long neck. It was too tall to climb onto, but the could use its head as a sort of ladder.
"See?" said Wendy. "It even wants to help us."
Having no better ideas, Lemmy followed his sister onto the back of the tall bird.
"Are you sure this is safe?" he asked uneasily as he sat down behind Wendy.
"Nope," responded Wendy immediately. "But now we don't have to do the walking anymore! Isn't that right, Ossie?"
"Now it has a name?"
"Ignore him, Ossie," Wendy told the Ostro. She patted its head lovingly. "Now, can you take us to those mountains over there?"
The Ostro, or Ossie, as I suppose we must now call him, responded by heading off towards the mountains at top speed. Unfortunately, with two koopas now weighing him down, Ossie's "top speed" was only about the average running speed of a Koopa. Still, even Lemmy had to admit to himself that it was better than walking.
This didn't solve all of their problems, not by a long shot. The sun was still hot and hunger still tore at their insides. But at least now they wouldn't have to worry about transportation.
Their spirits now slightly higher, the two Koopalings tried to enjoy themselves as they rode on the back of their newfound friend.
Even though it was clear that Wendy was enjoying herself, one single thought kept returning to Lemmy's mind.
It was Iggy. He still couldn't bring himself to believe that his brother was gone. The two had been like best friends from the beginning, always looking out for each other. The best of times, the worst of times, they had always come through together.
And now, Lemmy thought to himself sadly, Iggy was gone. Only in memories did he still exist.
He knew that he shouldn't raise false hopes for himself. But still, he couldn't help nursing the small hope that his brother had somehow survived the crash. That he really was still alive out there somewhere.
Somewhere.
To be continued.
Rachelle Davison 2001
The next morning, Lemmy woke with a start.
"What?"
Why wasn't he in his room? Where was his bed? Everything was wrong. He sat up and looked around. He saw miles of sand in every direction. Wendy was curled up asleep a meter or so away from him.
"Oh no," he muttered. So it wasn't all a bad dream. Iggy really was . gone. He and Wendy really were stranded in the middle of nowhere.
He shut his eyes again. Maybe he was still dreaming. Maybe if he kept his eyes closed long enough, he'd wake up in his bed. He closed his eyes and kept them that way for a long time. Eventually, he fell asleep again. His body may not have needed sleep, but his mind was still exhausted.
It was quite a while later when he woke up again. He probably wouldn't have even gotten up at all if it weren't for Wendy.
"Lemmy?" she whispered. "Lemmy, wake up."
"Mmmph," he grunted. He never wanted to get out of bed again. But then again, he wasn't sleeping in a bed, so he slowly sat up.
"Come on, sleepy head," she prodded. "We have to get out of here as soon as possible. Wherever this place happens to be."
"What?" Lemmy questioned, getting to his feet. "You mean we're not in Desert Land?"
"Not as far as I can tell."
"How exactly can you tell? It looks for all the world like Desert Land to me."
"See those mountains in the distance? They are very far away, but we can still see them clearly. That means that they're probably huge."
"So?"
"Desert Land has no huge mountains like those. I don't know where we are, but it is not Desert Land."
"How fast did that Doomship of yours travel?" Lemmy wondered aloud. "How could we have ended up way out here when we where only in the air for about five minutes?"
"Well, Ludwig designed it to be as aerodynamic as possible, reducing any resistance. This makes it very fast, so. I would estimate about 40 thousand miles per hour."
"That's your idea of an estimate? You just pull all this info out of thin air?"
"Hey, some of us actually pay attention in class. Also, Ludwig told me how fast he thought it was capable of going when he gave me the ship's blueprints."
"But you just said-"
"Okay, okay, so it was Ludwig's estimate, not mine. But either way, I still think it's best to get out of here, soon."
"Right," agreed Lemmy. "We'd better get going. Those mountains seem as good of a direction as any."
"I don't know. Those are a long ways away, Lemmy."
"You have a better idea?"
"I guess not."
And with that, they were on their way. The mountains seemed a long way off. And they were.
Neither of them did much talking for a long time after that. They trudged on endlessly, never stopping to rest. Perhaps if there had been any food to speak of, the two Koopalings might have rested for a while. But there wasn't, and so there was no reason to stop.
The hours passed by. Every now and then, one of them would look up a little, but the mountains never seemed to be getting any closer. The sun beat down on them mercilessly, and fatigue began to weigh down their legs. Each step on the scorching sand was painful.
"Come on Lemmy," panted Wendy much later. "Can't we stop for a few minutes? I'm sure I'll collapse if I have to stand a minute longer."
Lemmy hesitated. There was no shade, so even a rest wouldn't keep them from the sun's blistering rays. Those mountains still seemed awfully far away, too. They would need every bit of distance they could get if they wanted to make it at all.
On the other hand, he wasn't even sure if his own legs would support him much longer if they went on like this.
"Okay," Lemmy answered wearily. He sat down abruptly, and Wendy collapsed on the sand.
"Ooh," she gasped. "We've been walking since we woke up,"
Lemmy was surprised. Daybreak had been a long time ago. Had they really been walking for that long? He berated himself. He should have known not to push their limits like that.
They waited about half an hour, and then pressed on when they felt ready to walk again. The walk was more or less uneventful. Apart from the sand, the only thing they saw was the occasional cactus. Wendy almost fell over when she thought she saw something move.
"Whoa!" she cried suddenly.
"What's wrong?"
"I thought I saw." she trailed off. Already it seemed more like an illusion. They kept walking.
Suddenly, something whizzed by them, blowing a cloud of dust in its wake. The dust blocked his vision a little, but Lemmy caught a glimpse of feathers. It continued on its speedy path.
"What was that, a roadrunner?" Lemmy demanded of no one. Whatever it was seemed to be coming around for another pass. It zipped closer to them than before, and came to a dead stop right in front of them.
"That's it!" Wendy exclaimed. "That's the thing I saw!"
This bird-like creature stood about a foot taller than both of the Koopas. It had two powerful legs and was covered in feathers. Atop its long neck rested a small head with a beak and two intelligent-looking eyes. Its two feathery wings somehow didn't look as if they were meant for flight.
"It's." Wendy examined the creature carefully. "An Ostro. That's what it looks like."
The Ostro curiously tilted its head at them, as if to ask, "What are you doing here?"
"Maybe we could eat it," suggested Lemmy hungrily. "We haven't eaten for at least 24 hours, and I' starving!"
"We certainly will not!" Wendy practically screamed. "How could you kill something this sweet?"
"Well, gee. That makes perfect sense," Lemmy rolled his eyes. "If we are going to starve to death, we probably shouldn't live if it's at the expense of something cute, should we?"
"Oh, shut up. We could use it for something else. Did you see how fast this thing was running?"
"Yeah."
"Well, maybe we could ride it! Wouldn't that be better than walking?" she turned to the Ostro. "You'd give us a ride, wouldn't you?"
As if to answer, it lowered its long neck. It was too tall to climb onto, but the could use its head as a sort of ladder.
"See?" said Wendy. "It even wants to help us."
Having no better ideas, Lemmy followed his sister onto the back of the tall bird.
"Are you sure this is safe?" he asked uneasily as he sat down behind Wendy.
"Nope," responded Wendy immediately. "But now we don't have to do the walking anymore! Isn't that right, Ossie?"
"Now it has a name?"
"Ignore him, Ossie," Wendy told the Ostro. She patted its head lovingly. "Now, can you take us to those mountains over there?"
The Ostro, or Ossie, as I suppose we must now call him, responded by heading off towards the mountains at top speed. Unfortunately, with two koopas now weighing him down, Ossie's "top speed" was only about the average running speed of a Koopa. Still, even Lemmy had to admit to himself that it was better than walking.
This didn't solve all of their problems, not by a long shot. The sun was still hot and hunger still tore at their insides. But at least now they wouldn't have to worry about transportation.
Their spirits now slightly higher, the two Koopalings tried to enjoy themselves as they rode on the back of their newfound friend.
Even though it was clear that Wendy was enjoying herself, one single thought kept returning to Lemmy's mind.
It was Iggy. He still couldn't bring himself to believe that his brother was gone. The two had been like best friends from the beginning, always looking out for each other. The best of times, the worst of times, they had always come through together.
And now, Lemmy thought to himself sadly, Iggy was gone. Only in memories did he still exist.
He knew that he shouldn't raise false hopes for himself. But still, he couldn't help nursing the small hope that his brother had somehow survived the crash. That he really was still alive out there somewhere.
Somewhere.
To be continued.
Rachelle Davison 2001
