Night at an Inn in Chai
-o-
Location: Daisy's Castle in Sarasaland, front door
"What!? You mean, I must wait until tomorrow morning?" cried Yoshi.
It is the same night of the fall of Star Haven and Star Road. Yoshi has already ascended of the rugged mountain leading into Chai, and is just outside Princess Daisy's castle walls, but is stopped by a yellow pianta chancellor. Instead of the usual tropical appearance, this pianta man has a flowering cherry blossom branch protruding from his head, and dons an orange ancient Chinese magistrate outfit, trimmed and adorned with gold threads.
"My apologies for such an inconvenience, Yoshi," replies the pianta chancellor, "But it is a Sarasaland tradition that no guests be let inside the castle after dark. Please, I will accommodate you in a nearby inn, at our expense." The pianta chancellor starts leading the way to the inn.
Yoshi sighs and drops his shoulders and reluctantly agrees, following the cherry-blossomed pianta for about a 5-minute walk south of the main castle to a two-story building, built in the resemblance of ancient imperial Chinese architecture.
They arrive and are warmly welcomed by an elderly green Birdo clad in a red dress and bow, who takes Stuffwell 2.0 to the room were Yoshi would sleep in. She returns with a plain, cerulean colored, silk kimono, placing it over Yoshi's shoulders, as she extends her arm and leads him to a dining room. The chancellor discreetly places a small bag of coins on the empty counter.
Hand drawn pictures of cherry trees and the cascades of the craggy Chai mountainside decorate the dining room. Three red lanterns decorated with light orange daisies lit the room. A wooden tea table surrounded by black floor mats was the center piece of the hall. A pot of Chai tea brewed in the corner on top of some warm embers inside a hearth.
The room coupled with the comfortable silk kimono, makes Yoshi feel very cozy. The elderly green Birdo motions Yoshi to a floor mat near the warm hearth at one end of the tea table. She bows at the Sarasaland chancellor and shows him to a mat across Yoshi's, who bows back and takes his place with decorum.
She calls in the resident cook, a red, angry-looking, lash-less Birdo. Sporting a chef's hat, apron, and sailor pants, he walks in with a cart filled with the most tantalizing banquet, the aromas quickly filling the room and Yoshi's nose. His stomach grumbles loudly, causing the green Birdo hostess to chuckle and the red Birdo to scowl and narrow his vision directly at the green dinosaur. The angry red Birdo places the exquisite dinner of Koopasta, a fish cuisine called Cheep-Cheep chowder, steaming fresh Shroom steak, among other delicacies endemic of Sarasaland.
The pianta chancellor claps his hands, and gallantly motions Yoshi to the food, who hurriedly replies by serving his plate, until food overflows from the plate onto the table. He takes in a forkful of Koopasta, and looks up; his eyes meet up with the red Birdo's eyes, who is now leaning on the entrance of the dining hall with his arms crossed.
Then, Yoshi gets a good look at the red Birdo, who is blind from his right eye and has a scar running down from his right eye lids to somewhere underneath his apron. After further inspection, this red Birdo seems very rugged for a Birdo, and has what looks like a tattoo from some kind of gang on his right bicep, but Yoshi can't tell what it is from where he is sitting. The red Birdo notices this, and scowls at the green dinosaur again as he leaves in haste, reducing Yoshi's enthusiasm for the feast to a couple of slow chews.
The pianta chancellor notices Yoshi's lack of excitement for the banquet after serving himself, and soon tells the green Birdo hostess as she brings the Chai tea to the table and begins pouring it into two cups, "May you be kind to give us time to discuss alone?"
"Right away, sir." She bows again as she exits the room, leaving the cherry-blossomed pianta alone with Yoshi.
The pianta looks at Yoshi as he clasps his hand and puts them on the table. "Wondering about these Birdos, huh?"
Yoshi swallows his food. "Yeah, man… uh, I mean, Chancellor. I thought that all of…"
"The Birdos were petrified, yes?" interrupts the chancellor, "We have no idea either, to be honest. All we know is that they were summoned inside milady's castle during that fateful day."
The pianta chancellor grabs two bowls for the chowder and begins filling one with the broth. He continues, "Soon after, we get word of many creatures from our kingdom and abroad like Sniffits and Shyguys, as well as Birdos becoming statues. Quite the shock for us all."
He wanted to give the bowl to Yoshi, but the dinosaur slowly digs his fork into the Koopasta, so he places it next to him and fills the second. "And I assume that you're wondering about the scar he got there?"
Yoshi nods as he puts another forkful of Koopasta in his mouth. The chancellor takes a quick glance behind him, making sure no one is walking by or in. He turns back and continues.
"Yoshi, that red Birdo was once part of the crew belonging to the infamous shark pirate, Jonathan Jones. For many years he was the ship's cook, and after one of their battles, he got slashed terribly, losing his right eye and voice, but by Eldstar above, survived. And about a year afterward, before Smithy's attack on the Mushroom Kingdom, he left piracy and took refuge here in Sarasaland, under a new identity. Your hostess and I were the only ones who know his true identity, and now, you're the third. Please, not a word about this."
Yoshi swallows, and nods. The chancellor soon after hands a bowl of Cheep-Cheep chowder to the green dinosaur, who takes it and nearly spills it on himself because the bowl became very hot.
"Okay, I won't. But why is the red Birdo…?"
The chancellor raises a wanted posted with a red 'X' crossing out Johnny's face, and a recent newspaper with a headline reading: The Shark Pirate brought to Justice.
"He was recently apprehended, and sent to a prison in Desert Hill. Even if Johnny does manage to escape, he'll dehydrate quickly and die in the desert. You can probably now understand the Birdo's anger."
Yoshi sighs and looks to the side, bringing a spoonful of Cheep-Cheep chowder to his mouth. After cooling and slurping the soup, he gives the broth a dreamy look.
"This is so good!"
"Ah, yes! The chef's specialty!" The chancellor clears his throat and grabs a pair of chopsticks left for him earlier. "You know, I don't want to spoil your appetite. Let us disregard our dreary conversation for now, and eat merrily, shall we?"
The chancellor begins eating with proper table manners, but is unperturbed by Yoshi frantically stuffing his face. Once dinner is over, Yoshi is ushered into a private room, complete with a comfy bed, nice decor, and a personal hot spring in an adjacent room. A pot of warm tea along with a cup sit on top of a table next to his bed. Stuffwell 2.0 is under this table. The dinosaur takes a quick dip into the hot spring. Ahh… that warm bath hits the spot.
After a while, Yoshi dries up and gets into his kimono again, he serves himself a bit of tea and sits on his bed. After a couple of sips of the relaxing Chai tea, Yoshi gets drowsy and rapidly falls asleep.
…
Next Morning…
Yoshi wakes and immediately goes to the castle, right after breakfast and thanking the green Birdo. Once inside the castle walls, he walks directly to the main palace, passing by a helicopter, readied for Yoshi and the chancellor for a trip to a fair in the nearby desert realm, Birabuto. Yoshi barely enters the palace, when he overhears a conversation from a pair of doogan castle guards, causing him to stop and eaves drop discreetly.
"Her highness is too kind to that blubbery fool that came a few days ago. What is she thinking, letting in the enemy so naively?"
"I hear ya, and I fear the worst will happen in the fair. If only the chancellor would let us go with them on that 'copter he prepared this morning…"
"You think he's a secret emissary from Bowser?"
"Nah, you fool. Bowser is down and out, but regardless, this new enemy might have sent him."
"I wouldn't be surprised with all the… stuff, happening in the world. And to top it off, no guards accompanied them, I hear."
"That's why I don't trust her highness' judgment on this one. But we were ordered to stand our ground here, so we must stay put."
Yoshi becomes very uneasy, and without thinking twice, he dashes outside the castle toward the helicopter readied to take them and goes inside the copter and frantically motions the pilot, a doogan, to leave.
"What're you doing? The princess is in danger! We must hurry to save her!"
"Oh no! Let's go then!" the doogan absentmindedly replies, and starts the engines.
The yellow pianta chancellor hears engine start from a distant part of the palace, astounding him that the helicopter was leaving too early and without him. He runs outside, but the helicopter has long departed. He looks to the side at a one of the doogan castle guards stationed at the front door.
"You, there! How long will another helicopter by ready for flight?"
"In fifteen minutes, sir!"
The chancellor grimaces and lets out a disillusioned sigh. "Ready a new 'copter on the double! This is a disaster, I tell you!"
"Right away, sir."
The yellow pianta begins sweating, as this guard runs off. He rubs his forehead in frustration.
"What was the pilot thinking? He already knows the situation, yet he…" He sighs again. "Too bad Yoshi has no clue about the situation. Well, all we can do now is hurry to the Birabuto's amusement park A.S.A.P."
-o-
Next time: A battle in Birabuto. Until Then…