Standard Disclaimer: I don't own Yoshis themselves, but I do own the characters. I own the locations in this chapter (except for Shooting Star Summit). That's about it.

Chapter Five

Growth Of Fire, Beginnings Of Water

The Ultimate Ten rejoiced over defeating Volvagia. They were happy for a full five minutes.

But then the volcano started shaking again.

"Uh…?" Healthoshi was having a hard time staying upright.

"Oh no…We've gotta get outta here!" Windoshi started the panic process.

Poisoshi spotted a button near the door Volvagia came in. He made his way over to it and gave it a whack.

A small hole opened in the floor in the center of the room. In desperation, the Yoshis scrambled down it.

The hole lead the Yoshis through a horizontal tunnel, which then lead into a huge cavern, the very center of Mount Vewaque.

"Oh man!" Shockoshi was shaking without the volcano's help. "This is where the eruption will happen! We're doomed!"

Flamoshi immediately spotted two discs connected by a two-hinge spring. He motioned the other towards it.

"Look!" he yelled over the bubbling magma. "It's a jump pad!"

The Yoshis each leapt off the Jump Pad, which boosted them all the way up and out of the volcano.

"RUN!" Emoshi was prepared to beat a speed record.

"No, don't run! ROLL!" Earthoshi leapt into his egg and started rolling down the slope at breakneck speed. The others quickly followed.

The volcano erupted, shooting lava and soot high into the air. Lava also flowed down the mountain, but because of the Yoshis' desperation, they stayed ahead of it.

Now at the foot of the volcano, the Ten sprinted to Volcanic Veranda. The lava-proof doors closed behind them as they fell to the ground panting.

After whisking away e-mails to their parents about staying at a friend's house for a while, the Ten went to the village leader, Heatrewas, to report their victory.

"As a matter of fact," the chieftain interrupted, "someone came to me before you did to report this. I think he wants to speak with you over at the Fire Temple."

The Yoshis made their way to the large temple at the center of the village. There was indeed someone waiting for them there. It was the ball of fire Flamoshi had seen in the battle chamber.

"Welcome," the flame started, but Windoshi butt in.

"Hold up a sec. What's up here? Flames couldn't talk last time I checked."

"Ah, I see. In that case I will show you my true form."

The ball of fire burst into a Yoshi shape, and then became one. The "newly-formed" red Yoshi glowed with intense heat.

"I am Vewaque, the one the volcano is named after."

"I hope this doesn't become a monologue…" Iceoshi muttered.

"Unfortunately, it is." Vewaque took a few deep breaths. "I must first thank you for rescuing me from that savage beast, the Shadow of Fire."

"So that's what that message meant." Healthoshi figured it out. "Volvagia was the 'flames of darkness'."

"Yes, he was. And he managed to imprison me, mostly because I was overconfident. But that is of no importance. First I must fill you in on the whole story."

"At midnight between the years of 999 and 1000, twelve Yoshis were on Shooting Star Summit. You know where that is, correct? They were having a New Year's celebration. In any case, they were a group of friends who were much like you: strongly bonded, they knew all about each other, but there were a few conflicts. One conflict was that one Yoshi, a metallic silver one, consistently had opinions against that of the rest of the group, which was, by the way, lead by a metallic gold Yoshi. Anyway, on that night, twelve mystical items fell from the sky and onto that sacred place. These were objects that funnel the powers of nature, and the Yoshis not being old enough to know better, claimed them as their own. It took a while before they realized the items had power, and they did experiment with it, oh yes. But as they matured, they realized these items were not for fun. Unfortunately, to keep balance with the element of light, one of the items controlled the power of shadow. The silver Yoshi took it and drifted ever further from his comrades, eventually leaving them and turning against them. The turning point was an actual battle, resulting in him being gravely injured and left to fend for himself. As the group gained more understanding of their powers, they found that they needed the items less often, and eventually didn't need to use them at all to use their powers. After the Great War, where Yosh'ter Isle was destroyed, they took it upon themselves to create a new Yosh'ter Isle, the one we're on right now. They named places after themselves and themed them to their elements."

"Can we get to the point?" Flamoshi let loose some impatience.

"All right." Vewaque sighed. "As you may have figured out, I am one of those Yoshis in the story. You see, I was born at a time where 'shi' was not a requirement of a Yoshi name…but anyway. I will give you this, Flamoshi."

Vewaque produced a right-handed copper-colored glove. It had a ruby in the back. He held it out to Flamoshi.

"Who, me?" Flamoshi hesitated, then put the glove on. It was incredibly light, feeling almost as if it wasn't there.

"It is the Glowing Gauntlet. The power of fire is infused in that glove."

Flamoshi looked doubtful, but tried lighting a few torches by spraying fire from the glove. The task was not easy, but was done quickly.

"I see you are a fast learner."

Vewaque turned to the group at large.

"Listen well. The rest of us are still imprisoned on the different reaches of Yosh'ter Isle, each guarded by nightmare beings. But some are weaker than others, and this is your key. Volvagia was the weakest if only because of his shortsightedness. The next weakest is Viscosious, a water shadow hiding in the depths of Navre Bay. I do not know how to get the Water Key to gain enterance to its lair, but I do know that you must first go down the Akino River and explore Ximmer Pond and Bakum Lake. Is there anything else you wish to know?"

Earthoshi waved the map of the volcano. "Why is there a picture of a temple where Volvagia was hiding?"

"Ah, that." Vewaque took the map and looked it over. "Back when this map was written, the temple we are in was in that location. But when the volcano got too active, the Yoshis of this village took it apart and reassembled it here, safe from destruction."

Healthoshi piped up. "How hard is this job going to be for us?"

Vewaque sighed. "I don't know. One thing is for sure: as time goes on, it will get more difficult."

Watoshi was next. "How could you have gotten captured?"

The answer was prompt. "When the shadows invaded this land only hours ago, they immediately set their sights on you. You see, they somehow foresaw that you would be a threat to them. They spread out to the ten areas and invaded where they believed we were. Caught by surprise, they got us. We couldn't really fight back. How can you burn a burning enemy? Freeze a frozen one? Bury a digging one? But we managed to hide a special item in each area, one that we know will help you defeat the shadows."

Shockoshi ignored the items and asked something else. "What about the gold Yoshi from your group?"

"Hmmm…" Vewaque thought for a moment. "He was in the Temple Of Light when the shadows attacked. I don't know what has happened, but we've lost communication with him."

"Communication?" Emoshi asked. "What communication?"

"We've been together for so many years that we can communicate with each other over tremendous distances. Even now I can hear Jovenin complaining about his working conditions…"

"Uhh…" Windoshi pointed at the floor. "Why's this tile lighting up?"

Everyone turned their attention to the spot. Vewaque explained. "The floor of each temple is engraved with a map of Yosh'ter Isle with an elemental symbol at each temple point. When things are going well in an area, it lights up. As you can see, only the fire symbol is emitting light right now…" The fiery Yoshi pointed to the west area, where the water symbol was. "Again, that is your next destination."

The Yoshis started leaving the temple when Vewaque stopped them.

"Oh!" he said. "I almost forgot. Do you still have the Fire Key you used to open the volcano with?"

Flamoshi said that he had.

"Good. I'd like you to place it into a pedestal in the center of City Of Yosh for me. You should find an empty park with nothing in it except ten pedestals. Put every elemental key you find in there once you've rescued another one of us."

The Yoshis accepted and left.

Somewhere in the Mushroom Kingdom, a black castle stood. Its moat was filled with lava and its rooms were lit with blue flames.

This is one of Bowser's Castles.

Bowser himself was sitting in his room, doing the crossword puzzle in The Troopa Times. He had just come back from a long day of minion bashing and was attempting to relax.

"Let's see here…a five-letter word for pest?" The Koopa King chuckled. "That one's easy. Let's write it down: M-A-R-I-O! Not only is it true, but it matches the 'a' in 'banana' and the 'i' in 'kingbowser'! Now, a five-letter word for extra life…"

A loud knock on the door blocked Bowser's thought pattern.

"Whaddaya what?" he bellowed. "I don't have time for this, so just get in here and spill the beans or I'll turn you into soap!"

A nervous Koopa Troopa shuffled into the room. "Uh, sir…" he began.

"Cut the formalities, dolt! Just gimme the skinny or you're next in the bowling ally!"

"There's been a lot of evil activity on Yosh'ter Isle recently, sir. I was told to let you know. As well, some Yoshis appear to be gaining shadow-proof powers. They may be planning an attack." The Troopa kept shuddering.

"Evil activity, huh?" Bowser started thinking. "This sounds like that Thousand-Year Door gunk or something…but I can't take any chances!"

Bowser got up. Grabbing his paper and snapping his fingers, he summoned the Koopa Klown Kar.

"I'm gonna check this out. I haven't beaten Yoshis up for what seems like a decade!" He leapt into his ride. "Tell everyone I'm on a Yoshi splatting spree, and don't send them after me unless they're armed with video cameras!" With a roar, he soared off towards Yosh'ter Isle.

As he watched the castle get smaller in the distance, he got the next word. "Aha! Five-letter word for extra life…a One-Up! Okay, six-letter word for a walking explosive…"

"That does it." Flamoshi stepped back.

The pedestal into which he had slotted the Fire Key was now glowing. He eyed the other pedestals, which were arranged in a large circle in the park they were in.

"I've always wondered what those things were for," Timoshi said. "Even the Guide said they had no purpose until 'the heroes' appeared…"

"Then again," interrupted Flamoshi, "we don't know what they're for. All we know it that we fill them with keys and something will happen."

The rest of the Yoshis were taking a break. The park was quite large and out of the way of most civilians, so they could rest for a while.

After a while, Earthoshi straightened up.

"We should start moving now," he said.

"Go west, us dudes," quipped Windoshi. "Go west."

The Ten traveled to the west side of City Of Yosh. Luckily for them, Akino River actually cut through a portion of the city, so they didn't have to leave the borders before getting there.

"Next decision." Watoshi contemplated the situation. "Should we follow the river, or borrow a boat and paddle down?"

"I'd take a boat," said Healthoshi. "It'd take less time, plus it's about 4:15."

Everyone agreed. So the Ten went to the nearest dock and managed to borrow a boat for twenty-four hours. Oars in hand, they unhitched the boat.

"By the way," asked the boat's owner, "where are you going?"

"We're headed for Navre Bay," stated Shockoshi.

"Ah yes, Navre Bay. I remember there well…" The owner looked towards the afternoon sun. "A peaceful place, that. Beautiful scenery…" Still mumbling, the owner strolled back into his office.

"Right! Hoist the anchor! Deploy the sails! Make good time or else I'll rhyme!" Windoshi was wearing a fake eyepatch he conjured up from somewhere.

Poisoshi looked at Iceoshi. "Think we should push him out?"

The reply was, "Not yet. Eventually, yeah."

Half an hour later, the Ten were going down Akino River at a good pace. Emoshi had taken to being the lookout as the others rowed. Except for Windoshi, who was annoying everybody with his pirate-like speeches.

"Ar, yes, the good grog it was," he went on. "Then, o' course, the wave hit us…ar, a good soaking we never got, aye matey!" The green one took a moment to get some cracks out of his back. "And now, for my next act, a re-enactment of something to do with 'Staches and Bassa-Boom festivals…"

Fortunately for everyone, Emoshi interrupted Windoshi's act.

"Hey! Isn't that Ximmer Pond?"

The Yoshis looked where she was pointing. Ximmer Pond it was. Earthoshi, at the rudder, steered the boat into the turnoff.

In contrast with the scenery, Ximmer Pond seemed almost ugly. Its overgrowth in algae, cattails and other such plants rendered the water nearly green, and it seemed to have a population of insects rather than fish.

"So we're here." Poisoshi looked around. "Now what?"

"Well, we're supposed to find something here. I guess we go for a swim," suggested Healthoshi.

One by one, the Yoshis got out of the boat and into the murky water.

"Brr! Cold!" Shockoshi splashed around a bit.

"Alrighty, guys. Let's go." Flamoshi took a deep breath and went under. The others followed.

The bottom was as murky as the surface. Seaweed a meter long floated around and sand particles battered the Yoshis' eyes.

"Remind me never to swim in a body of water with an 'x' in its name," Windoshi said as he pulled seaweed out of his nose.

"Hey guys!" called Timoshi. "There's a tunnel over here!"

The Yoshis swam through the tunnel. It went on through many twists and turns, then came up into a cave.

Emoshi was first to jump out of the tunnel onto the cold hard ground. The others soon followed.

"Anyone see anything?" Iceoshi's voice said.

"Well," drawled Poisoshi, "I see a whole lot of dark."

"What now?" asked Earthoshi. "Can anyone see in the dark?"

"We should hurry up in here," said Windoshi. "If we take too long, all the air in here will be used up."

A jet of flame suddenly darted across the room, nearly grazing Watoshi's shoulder.

"Oops." Flamoshi held up a ball of fire. "Hard to control whether I create a jet or a ball…"

With the light from the flame, the Yoshis found a wooden cabinet in the room.

"Stand back!" Flamoshi lit the cabinet on fire.

"What're you doing?" Timoshi was panicking. "Fire uses up even more oxygen than breathing does!"

"Crap!" Flamoshi turned to the other Yoshis. "We need to put this thing out! Get water and spit at it!"

The Yoshis rushed back and forth between the water and the fire. Eventually, the fire was out, the cabinet was gone, and the Yoshis were out of breath.

"Hurry!" Healthoshi ran across the room. "Let's get in the water before we suffocate!"

Each Yoshi ran towards the water. But Watoshi stayed behind and started shuffling through the burnt wood.

"What are you (cough) doing?" Emoshi waved from the water. "We need to (cough) get out of here!"

Watoshi paused. She reached into the bottom of the woodpile and pulled out a large key. Then she darted back towards the water and fell in.

"Good. We're all safe." Flamoshi sat on the bottom of the underwater tunnel. "But, Watoshi, why did you have to stay in there for so long?"

"It's obvious!" Watoshi looked annoyed. "Why else would that cabinet be there for? It was obviously containing something we'd need, because we had to come here, right?" She held up the key. "This must be it!"

The Yoshis were back in their boat, floating down the Akino River. Although they could see Bakum Lake, they were still a ways off, so they sat back and relaxed.

"You know," said Flamoshi, "I've been thinking."

"First time for everything." Windoshi's comment earned him a glare. "What?"

The red one continued. "How did Volvagia know my real name?"

At the other's expressions, he proceeded to explain what had happened between him and the monster while the others were blocked out of the room.

In response to the question, Watoshi said, "You know, that's really strange. I mean, they don't even come from this island!"

"You should have asked Vewaque," said Healthoshi. "He might have known."

"Yeah." Flamoshi looked out at the approaching lake. "I suppose I should concentrate on what's coming up next…"