Chapter 34: Stranded

Double D had no idea what happened to him. He saw darkness, though he could hear peace. There was a quiet sound of waves crashing, and the sound of seagulls. He noticed he felt comfortable. Though for some reason, he was completely unable to see. He tried to open his eyes but could not.

"Hello?" He asked quietly.

Nothing.

He rubbed his face, and finally forced his eyes to open.

In difference to the darkness, the light was blinding. He covered his eye again, until they could adjust to the difference. When they did, they inspected his surroundings.

He was lying on his back on the sand. The sea touched his now exposed feet. He was covered in sand and water. He got up slowly. Nearby, small wooden debris were scattered on the beachside. Palm trees moved softly in the wind. There seemed to be a jungle nearby.

He decided to check himself for damage: the most distressing being his hat was missing. His shoes and socks also seemed to be gone, and his remaining cloths tattered. He reached into his pockets. He felt some of his supplies he brought along, along with one of the crystal stars.

"Where am I?"

The last thing he remembered was being thrown into the water. But he recalled no island nearby when the SS Flavion foundered.

There was no point in staying in place. He started walking down the beach side. As he walked, he noticed just how hot and humid it was around him. Sweat trickled as he walked. He took off his shirt and wrapped it around his head, to make a replacement for his hat.

"…where is everyone? What happened to… them…" he remembered Eduardo Jr.: he was far too young to swim.

Vivian also had a cast; she couldn't have either.

"Where…." he asked again, looking for them.

It seemed like hours passed underneath the glazing sun. He continued to see debris scattered on the shorelines as he walked… though no one was to be found.

All he could think about was walking. He would keep walking until he found someone.

He suddenly tripped on some washed up driftwood. His face collided into the sand when he fell, and the shirt he wrapped around his head fell off. He left the shirt alone, proceeding for the water to wash off his face.

He knelt on the waterside and dipped his hands into the water. Using the water, he whipped off his face. When he did, he looked at himself in his water's reflection. He saw the Eye of Wisdom he heard Vivian walking about.

He touched it with one of fingers and wondered…

As far as he could remember, it was always there on his head. His parents tried to have doctors remove it, but none could safely do so. Instead, they hid it from the world, in fear of what people would say and make fun of him. On that dreaded day, last summer, Eddy and Ed managed to remove his hat to see it, though none of them knew anything about the strange item.

And then, just a few days ago, Vivian saw it, and identified it. Who else knew about it?

"Hey Double D! Where… uhhh…" Nazz's voice said.

"EEK!" Double D shouted and covered the Eye of Wisdom with both hands and turned to face her.

"What happened to your hat?"

"Nazz, it's so good to see you again!" He would have hugged her, had it not been both hands where on his forehead.

"Same here." Nazz said with a smile. "Are you okay?"

"Now that I know someone's okay." Double D said.

"Why are you covering your head? Did you hurt yourself?" Nazz asked, pointing at Double D's forehead.

"OH! Uhh…. It's nothing." he said.

"Okay…" Nazz simply said. "Anyways, come over here with me for a sec."

"Okay." He followed her through the jungle.

"This is just like before." Nazz suddenly spoke up.

"Huh?"

"We have a sailing accident, and we find each other in a new place." She clarified.

"Just like old times…" Double D trailed off.

"Not necessarily… look over here." She moved some tree branches away to show him a new beachside. Here, small tents and makeshift houses were built from driftwood and supplies from the woods.

"Did you make this yourself?"

"No. Those guys did." Nazz directed Double D to a bunch of beaten up, though apparently okay sailors grouped together.

"It's good to see others made it out." Double D said.

"Most of them are here." Nazz said with a regretful look on her face.

"Most?"

"Well…come over here." she mentioned over to the sailor groups.

They walked over to the group.

Flavio stood in the center of the group, that had created a circle around him. "Okay, now that I have your attention…I will proceed with the roll call. When I call your name, please say 'here' and wave."

"Pa-patch!"

"Here! …how'm I supposed to wave with no arms?"

Flavio grimaced. "Whatever, just say here."

"Nazz."

"Here!"

"Uh… Eduardo Jr.?"

"Here!"

Double D ran over to where Eduardo Jr. was when he heard him name, as Flavio continued to call out names.

"Dad!"

"Good to see you again!" Double D picked up the little Yoshi with one hand, but kept the other hand on his forehead.

"Where's your hat and shirt?"

"I…don't know."

"Double D!"

"Uh… here!"

"Koops?"

"Here."

"Vivian?"

"Here…"

Double D let Eduardo Jr. on the floor and ran over to Vivian. "You have no idea how glad I am to see you."

"Likewise!" Double D and Vivian tried to hug with their free arms but Double D froze, remembering one important detail.

"Vivian, I lost my hat." Double D whispered. "What if they find out about…"

Rolf looked at them both questioningly.

"Wear mine." Vivian took off her own hat and placed it on his head.

Her hair now freely flowing in the wind. Double D looked a little unusual, but it would do the job.

"Alright, listen up folks." Flavio said. "After doing a tally, we have four missing crewmen and passengers."

Double D listened closely.

"Four Eyes: the passenger, Ralph T: the toad lookout, Bobbery: the navigator…"

"No…" Double D quietly.

"…and Eddy the passenger."

"Eddy's missing!" Double D shouted. He already feared the worst for them all.

"Now…I'm tired. I'm going to rest. Pa-patch, it you will?" Flavio walked away from the group.

"Thanks a lot." Pa-patch said sarcastically. "Right! We'll launch a scouting party, to see what they can find. The rest of you, keep the camp secure."

"How low are the supplies?" Double D asked with concern.

"They are only abundant for another week. After that, we have to hunt for supplies." Pa-patch said.

"Anyways, right-a now, it's best if we all-a get some rest." Mario said.

"But four are missing! We can't just leave them." Nazz said.

"We all-a just washed ashore on Keelhaul, none of us are in-a condition to leave. We don't have any idea what could be here." Mario said.

"He's probably right…" Koops said.

"There must be something we can do." Nazz said.

"We can start a fire and hope they follow the smoke." Double D sighed. "With any luck, a passing ship might-"

"Kid, do you have any idea how terribly feared this island is? Only we in all of Rougeport had the guts to come here. Ya won't find another vessel in over 100 nautical miles." Pa-patch said.

"They're here!" a voice shouted. Double D recognized it belonging to Flavio. He ran to them sobbing.

"Who's 'ere?" Pa-patch asked.

From the jungle, a few blue embers rushed in. Double D finally got a good look at them: floating balls of fire, that seemed to have an evil face.

"Embers." Goombella shouted. "No doubt the same ones that sank our ship! They are said to be restless spirits materialized unto this form."

"HYAH!" Rolf rushed them and smacked one. "Rolf shall make you pay for entrapping us!"

"Good idea!" Mario shouted. He rushed one with his hammer. This attack didn't work at all. In fact, his hammer started burning when he made contact with the ember.

"Avoid the flames, attack it from afar!" Double D looked over to Vivian, who looked back.

"Basic attack?"

"Sure."

They stood next to each other when the pointed and cast out the spell at the same time:

"Fire!"

Fire shot from their fingertips and struck the embers with an explosive force. Fire exploded right in the camp. Dozens of sailors ran from the sight.

Double D and Vivian dismissed the flames at the same time. …though the embers did not vanish. In fact, they seemed larger then before.

"What!?" They both exclaimed.

"Your magic flames fed theirs!" Rolf stated. "That was a very foolish move!"

"What can we do now?" Double D asked.

"I know one way…" Jimmy said.

They paid attention to Jimmy, as he revealed the crystal star they got from creepy steeple.

"Wait! Are you sure you're strong enough to harness all of its power?" Nazz asked.

"It's worth a shot!" Jimmy said. He held the star in his left hand, positioning it over his head.

It started to glow very brightly. Jimmy looked at his right hand and saw a paintbrush.

"Hm… this is my niche." Jimmy said.

He started drawing with it in the air. Out of nowhere, lines and marks started appearing around the embers.

Jimmy spent a few seconds drawing in the air, then stopped. "My master piece is complete. Bye-bye."

The star glowed again, and the drawing Jimmy made around the embers exploded. The embers followed in the explosion, until they had dissolved into the air.

"Leave that kind of power to an artist only." Jimmy said.

"Well…" Flavio started. "That was fun… okay, but seriously, I'm appointing you all protectors of our camp."

"What the heck are you going to do?" Nazz asked.

"I'm going to nap." He said.

"What good'll that do!" Eduardo jr asked.

"I got to keep myself rested." Flavio said.

Evening passed by quickly. A fire was started. By 10:00, most of the people had gone to sleep.

Double D stayed wide awake. By now, he had gotten his shirt back, as well as making a new makeshift hat from extra supplies. It looked like his sock hat, only made mostly of cloth. He sat outside of a tent he pitched, sitting in the sand beside the sea. Since the attack, someone was assigned to stay awake and keep a lookout for anymore intruders.

Though Double D wasn't looking. Instead, he was grieving.

"What am I going to do? I lost rod in the shipwreck, my lab-top is broken beyond fixing by these standards… I still have my powers, but surrounded by water, it's not going to help too well. And Eddy… I don't want to think about that happened to him."

Apparently, Double D wasn't the only one worried about Eddy. The cul-de-sac kids with him were also upset (except Kevin). They regretted being mean to him, but any apologies they could have wouldn't matter. They feared it would be too late.

He noticed that someone else had stayed awake as well.

"Goombella, why are you up so late?" He asked.

"I don't know. There's been a lot of things that have been confusing me as of late." She said.

"You mean how the Embers attacked?"

"No, not that. I'm worried about this whole thing. Y'know, the kidnappings, then we have to hunt a legendary treasure of unknown and unspeakable origin… that, I was able to hold. But ever since those creepy woods, things haven't been the same. I don't know… …did I tell you about what happened to me when I ran from the group?"

"No." Double D said.

"Well…"

Flashback

"AH! I CAN'T TAKE THIS! AHH! AHH! AHH!" Goombella was hyperventilating at this point.

"Please, calm down! PLEASE!" Double D pleaded.

"HEEELLLLPPP!" Eddy's voice shouted somewhere.

Goombella freaked out and ran away in the opposite direction screaming.

"Goombella, come back!" Double D shouted. She did not. All she could think about was running. He looked back one last time and saw the other two standing still, calling for her.

The light on her hat was like her only link to life. It streaked through the woods as she ran. She ran off the path and into the heart of the woods. She suddenly fell down and looked up to a hand carrying a wrench. The person attempted to knock her out by slamming it on her head, but her helmet sparred her from it. Though she might as well of lost consciousness, because her light broke and turned off when it smacked her head. She screamed out for help, though apparently, whatever fate held for her would be inevitable.

Something started dragging her on the group, over rocks and twigs, hurting and bumping her with every strike.

As she was being dragged towards a building, she noticed three sets of eyes, all staring at her. The strange thing was that they were glowing in the darkness One pair blue, another yellow, the last red. She didn't have much more time to think about what she saw. Her kidnapper tossed her through an open window. She fell onto the ground and completely blacked out…

End Flashback

"That was back when Kevin was still evil." She said.

"Those three sets of eyes… by chance, I wonder of the Shadow Sirens saw you?" He asked.

"Possibly. That's where you saw them and found Vivian, wasn't it?" She asked.

He nodded. "I noticed; you seemed awfully concerned about Eddy that night."

"He was kidnapped and lost in the woods! I thought the kid was dying!" she said.

"I'm worried about him now." Double D said. "It's possible he could have gone down with the ship."

"…no. If he survived the woods, I think he survived this. I know he did. We just have to find him." she said.

"It's not realistic." He said.

"You're awfully pessimistic, aren't you?" She asked.

"I'm trying to be realistic." He said.

She got up and started walking back towards the other tents.

"I'm going to rest. We'll need it when we scout this island." She said.

"Go on." He said.

She kept walking until she reached her tent. "Good night."

"Good night."