Chapter 2

A New Friend

I had to resist every urge I had to swallow the bowl. My Mother always says that no matter how hungry or thirsty you are, to never ever gorge on the food a friend or guardian feeds you. I tried to eat humanely, but I must've looked completely out of place, because Kai eventually tossed her fork and began eating the vegetables with her tongue... I guess most Yoshi's use their tongues to eat like a frog, and maybe she took the forks out because that's what humans use. Kai quickly finished her food before I even made a dent in mine, and I guess that's because Yoshis don't chew food. She took her dish to a tub of water and made her way back to me.

Kai's POV:
"So where do you live?" I asked, hoping to get the girl to open up a little more. She had fallen silent after she stopped crying, and I knew she would be more comfortable with someone she knows more about than a stranger. The girl stopped eating (at a faster pace than a normal human. She must've been hungry.) and looked at me.

"Vancouver, Canada, Ms. Kai," the girl responded. I couldn't help but let out a short laugh.

"Just call me Kai, dear. How about..."

I paused. At first, I was going to ask her about her family, but I had a feeling she needed a little bit of time before I ask her about that. So, I decided to ask her something else... like about her interests? Maybe I can get to know what she likes to do so she doesn't completely die of boredom while she heals.

"What do you like to do, Lila?" I asked. Lila stopped eating, and it took her a few seconds to respond.

"I like to read, garden, and play tag," she responded. I couldn't believe what I heard at first. She liked to garden? Every Yoshi on this island (including myself) haaates gardening! We hate it because the soil around here isn't always reliable, and sometimes we get some bad fruits. I let her finish her food, and took her bowl to the tub so I could wash it later. It was not yet dark, and I heard the call:
"Hello? Kai?" called Sytik, and I quickly ran to the doorway. Sytik was my closest friend, and we've known each other since we were both tiny babies. I'm a young adult, and I have a crush on Sytik. He's such a great friend, and is always there for me. Anyway, he was at the doorway, and I smiled, moving to the side to let him come in.

"How is your guest?" he asked as I led him to Lila. She was staring out a nearby window, and turned her head when she heard us enter the room.

Lila's POV:

I looked at the two yoshis that stood before me.

"Hey, kiddo. How are you feeling?" asked the blue yoshi. He smiled at me, eyes shut, and held out one of his four fingered blue hands for me to shake. I took it with my good hand, and answered his question. "I feel alright now, thank you. My name is Lila, what is your name?" I asked, and he let go of my hand.

"My name is Sytik, but you can call me Sy if you like," he said. Kai stepped next to him.

"Sytik is the one who helped me carry you back to our village. He's also the village medic, so he treated your wounds and dressed your broken bones," explained Kai. I looked up at Sytik, and blinked. "You... you did that for me right off the bat?" I asked, both touched and confused. He nodded. "I thought you would be wary of me, because I'm... well, I'm a human," I said. Sytik looked suprised, as did Kai.

"Not at all! We don't care if you're not a yoshi!" exclaimed Sytik. Kay joined in. "You're a child, sweetie! We would never let you just lay there with your injuries!" she said, at the same volume as Sytik. I looked at the warm expressions on both of their faces, and grinned a toothy grin. Was the entire village this friendly?

"Well then, Lila. It's getting late, so get some sleep, okay? I'll take you out in a few days to see the village, but until then, you'll stay with Kai," he said. I nodded. He smiled at Kai, and left the hut. Kai sat down, and helped me lay down. So, I was on my back on this couch, and it was pretty comfortable, definetly the most comfortable couch I've ever slept on. The last time I slept on a couch was when Little Joe's friend came over, and I let him take my bed.

But, no matter what, I can never sleep in a recliner. I tried it once, and it hurt... almost as bad as I felt when the plane first crashed... okay, maybe not.

"Alright, Lila. Tomorrow, I've got to go out to ask the chief to work on something. I'll be back by two."

I nodded, and let out a yawn. Kai chuckled, and rubbed my forehead kindly.

"Okay, I'll let you sleep. Good night, Lila," she said, before pulling the covers over my body.

"Thank you," I said, and she smiled again before walking into another room. The day had died, and only moonlight peeked through the windows, making a few objects visible with a kind bluish tint. My eyelids began to feel heavy, and I quickly fell asleep, relaxed by the moon's gentle presence.

--

Narrator's POV:

The next morning, the sun came over the horizon, driving away the darkness and filling the sky with beautiful light, however slowly. Kai was already up and about, eating a few fruits from her garden and leaving a mango and a cup of water on a tray near the couch for Lila. Kai only left two fruits for the girl, because she knew quite well that a human doesn't have the appetite of a yoshi. She mentally laughed when she remembered once as kids when Sytik got into an eating competition with another yoshi. The memory then brought a smile onto her face as she remembered how the younger Sytik could only eat 7 fruit! In a yoshi's case, that's laughable. Now was different. Sytik was able to eat over 25 fruit in one setting, which is above average.

She left the hut, trying hard not to laugh now. Sytik had done some embarrassing things in the past. He'd volunteered to help get some coconuts once, and as he was walking on the beach to a palm tree, he slipped and his head knocked into the tree, with a lot of force, too. The force in the collision was enough to free a coconut and send it plummeting into the young yoshi's noggin.

"Poor Sy," muttered Kai under her soft chuckles as she left. Gravity was certainly amusing at times. The village was small, a few huts for the residents here and there, a store marked with a sign that read "WEAVER", and another hut with another sign that read "MARKET". Kai knew of another hut further into the jungle that sold tools for fighting such as swords and spears, but no Yoshi has needed to use weapons since the Great Crusade that brought them to the island in the first place. Kai started walking toward another hut. This one was the only hut in the village that had something called a "fan", a device that cooled a room down using four arms. It also had a second floor, meaning more room. Luxury. She cleared her throat and tried to look the best she could, and then knocked on the door. A few moments later, the door opened, and a green yoshi, well built, and able to build... just about anything stood before her.

Salminar, chief among the Yoshis.

He smiled at the sight of the young girl before him. "Hello, Kai. How is our guest fairing?"

Kai smiled back, nodding. "She's well. I got her to eat last night and she's resting right now. Chief, I need a favor-"

Chief Salminar held a hand in front of him, and shook his head. "-Kai, I told you: Stop with the formalities. I'm a Yoshi just like you, so treat me as one." Kai was a hypocrit in one way: She disliked being spoken to formally, and she went around doing it, too. It was a dreadful habit.
"I'll treat you as a Yoshi that rules us," joked Kai, earning a laugh from Salminar. "Anyway, what is it you need?" asked the Chief, stepping outside and looking around.

"We must make a wheelchair for the girl if she we ever hope for her to see our village. She's in no condition to ride any of us, except for perhaps Sytik."
The Chief nodded. Of all the Yoshis, Sytik was the gentlest when it came to rides. The only thing he couldn't do smoothly was a flutter kick. No Yoshi can manage a flutter kick without some type of recoil.

"Wait here," said the Chief as he walked back inside his hut. He returned a few moments later with a note.
"I would like for her to get some clothing and any essentials: medicine, food, water. If you show the shop owners this note, they'll let you take anything free of charge. If they don't believe you, take them to me and I'll deal with it. As for the wheelchair, I'll get right to work on it. You go now, and get whatever the girl needs."

Kai nodded, and smiled. "Thank you, Chi-... Salminar."
Salminar let out another laugh. "See? That wasn't so hard, now was it?"

Kai smiled, turned, and began to head to her hut. She didn't know what size... anything Lila wore. The girl was relatively small, but Kai still didn't want the weaver to waste his time making a shirt or something a size too big or small. He was already rather rude as it was, constantly making smart remarks about things other yoshis would say. Still, wise guy though he was, the weaver was still incredibly brilliant. He not only was the village fabric and basket maker, he was also the village's main source of defense from invaders, making fences surrounding the village out of the strongest wood he could find, only to cover the outside with poison ivy.

So far, no invader had made an attempt on the demonic fence. It was just as well, because the Yoshis had no training with weaponry except for spears, and the other tribes on the island had advanced equipment such as bows and arrows. One tribe of great mystery was said to practice with a weapon that could be either a crude gun with one bullet or a dagger. Luckily, the mystery tribe stayed out of the conflicts of the others, as did the yoshis. Conflict among the several other tribes often lead to fighting, and the fighting usually destroyed both tribes. The Hashashins were secretive, and always neutral when it came to a conflict. The entire island (oddly an exceptionally large island, yet not marked on a map) was said to belong mainly to the Hashashin tribe and the Yoshi tribe, though not one of either tribe member had actually met. The Yoshis called the island "Yoshi's Island", while the other tribes called it "Shy Guy Island" or "Hashashin Island", and even "Koopa Island". It was said that in the past, the two major tribes: Yoshi and Hashashin broke into several wars, and the Hashashins had won at every turn. After each loss, the minor tribes would make an attempt at the Yoshis, and would always be put down. Just because they lost to the Hashashins didn't mean they were helpless at the time...

But now, it seemed like they were. Spears wouldn't cut it against swords and arrows and catapults.

The idea of attack brought fear among the yoshis, especially Kai. The thought of being wiped out by any tribe was unbearable. But, with a young injured girl needing her concern, she had to push thoughts of the building tension on the island away. Inside her home now, she walked to Lila, whom was staring at the cast on her arm, probably trying to figure out what kind of plant it was. As the purple yoshi approached, Lila's eyes darted up, and she smiled.

"Hi. Thank you for the fruit," she said. Kai smiled.

"You're welcome. Now, this is going to sound silly, but I need to know what size all of your clothing is. We use sizes like Small, Medium, and Large. So, take a minute-"
But, Lila suprised Kai. Without missing a beat, she said one word: Medium.

Kai shook off her suprise, and smiled. "I've got to get you some clothes. The chief gave me a slip, so they're free."

Lila nodded a 'thank you', and without another word, Kai was outside, this time heading to the weaver. Sad to say, simply getting the clothes would prove much more difficult than Kai originally thought.

End of Chapter

I've gotten a review from another author, writing a story about a self insert on Yoshi's Island. I'm glad to see you liked it so far, but sorry about the POV changes. I have to do those because they help me remember to cover a lot of topics.