Chapter 2: Dance of the Yoshis

Yoshi danced around the fire with his friends, singing a traditional song of his clan. This particular song had been passed down for generations.

"Laaaa La La La La!"

"Laaaa La La La La!"

"Laaaaaa La La La La!"
"La La La Laaaa!"

"La La La Laaaaaaa!"

The song had no actual words of course, like all of the songs of the Yoshi clan, it was the melody that was the important part of the song. Sure, one or two words would be incorporated into songs occasionally, usually the name of a fruit, or just simply the word "Yoshi" but Yoshis used their voices more like a musical instrument, rather than a vice to sing poetry through. Yoshi himself never really understood why humans, in particular would worry so much about the words when sweet melody was of the utmost importance.

Of course, Yoshi songs weren't just songs, they held a special power.

Yoshi continued to dance around the fire with his friends as the song ended. This next song would be of a bit slower tempo, so a new dance would be required. He paused for a moment before the song, and lashed out his long tongue up towards a banana tree. It wrapped around a bunch of bananas, and he quickly brought his tongue back fast. It happened very quickly, like the crack of a whip.

Mmmm… just the perfect ripeness.

Yoshi thought as he swallowed the bananas.

Yoshi looked over toward where the band was playing. There was a light blue colored Yoshi playing a pair of bongos crafted out of bamboo and reeds. He had a large nose, big, bright eyes that seemed to reflect the light of the moon, large, brown scales running from the top of his head, behind the eyes all the way down to his back. The scales ended at the red saddle on his back. This wasn't a man-made saddle, but something that grew on all Yoshis backs, naturally. He had a short tale, long arms, and wore yellow boots. His skin was almost completely that light blue color, aside from an area that ran from under his chin, down his belly to the end of his tail, which was pure white.

There were three other Yoshis in the band, one yellow colored played a flute type of instrument also crafted of bamboo. He looked exactly the same as the light blue colored Yoshi, aside from his yellow coloring and red shoes. All Yoshis looked almost identical when it came to their features, sure, there were slight differences. Yoshi himself could see that the yellow Yoshi had a bit smaller of a nose than the light blue Yoshi. The purple Yoshi playing the guitar there with the pink shoes had a small crack on his saddle, which made the left side droop lightly. Subtleties like these most humans or Toads could not catch, but they were as obvious to Yoshi as someone having an extra eye.

Yoshi himself was green, oddly one of only three Yoshis in the entire clan. He wore red boots, and his small oddity was well, not small actually. He was the only Yoshi of his entire clan who could speak the human and Toad language. Every Yoshi had a special talent, it wasn't just small differences in complexion, size, shape, or an oddity of appearance, they could all do things that others of their clan could not do. The red Yoshi in the blue boots standing over by the apple tree could whisper to trees, and they supposedly whispered back to him. The orange Yoshi with yellow boots gathering more logs for the fire could walk on water. Well, for a short time anyway. He certainly couldn't make it from here all the way across the Great Ocean to the Mushroom Kingdom.

The band started up a new song.

Yoshi started dancing to a slower beat.

Yoshi, like all Yoshis, didn't just hear the rhythm of the song, but he could feel the rhythm. He had tried to explain it to his friend Toad once, who was dancing along with the Yoshis one night, but he didn't seem to be able to grasp it. He supposed it was just a sort of extra sense that Yoshis had that perhaps other creatures did not. As the next song kicked in, Yoshi moved his arms up and down, and danced gracefully to the rhythm. He had done this dance many times, and it was like second nature to him. Like breathing.

Yoshi joined in with the other Yoshi's to sing the tune.

"The Aaaaaaaaple!"

"The Aaaaaaaaaaple!"

"The Aaaaaaaaaple!"

"The Aaaaaaaaaapleeeee!"

This song only had two words, but the melody was so soothing, it made Yoshi smile and relax. This was one of his favorite songs. He sang it every night, but he never grew tired of the melody.

Yoshi looked around the forest. The Yoshis' bonfire was in the exact middle of the island. Trees were all around, and right in front of the bonfire, the Super Happy Tree

stood proudly. It was the largest tree on the island, and bore the sweetest fruits. It's branches were thick, healthy with luscious green leaves and vines hanging down. This tree was worshipped by all of the Yoshis on Yoshi's Island. It was special for many reasons.

The Super Happy Tree could grow every kind of fruit imaginable. Apples, grapes, bananas, oranges, melons, all different kinds of berries, they were limitless on the Super Happy Tree. The tree could never run out of fruit, and the fruit would never spoil. Well, Yoshi didn't know that for sure, since he doubted-and had never seen-any fruit growing on the tree that lasted for more than a few minutes. The Yoshis had big appetites, and the Super Happy Tree would constantly remake new fruits every time one was picked off.

Aside from being a limitless supply of food for the Yoshis, the Super Happy Tree also released nutrients in the soil to purify water to it's most natural state, it fertilized other trees, and also provided great protection to the Yoshis during storms and other crises. The Yoshis had always lived together in harmony and peace under the Super Happy Tree, and for all of the wonders that the great tree provided, the Yoshi's would dance and sing for it every night.

"The Aaaaaaaaple!"

"The Aaaaaaaaaaple!"

"The Aaaaaaaaaple!"

"The Aaaaaaaaaapleeeee!"

Yoshi continued to sing and dance for the Super Happy Tree. He looked over at the great tree, and watched as his favorite part of the ritual commenced. Yoshi watched the center of the tree, as a very tiny heart shape started gradually growing larger and larger out of the bark.

"The Aaaaaaaaple!"

The heart grew larger, to the size of a grape

"The Aaaaaaaaaaple!"

The heart grew larger, to the size of an apple

"The Aaaaaaaaaple!"

The heart grew larger, to the size of a coconut

"The Aaaaaaaaaapleeeee!"

The heart grew larger, to the size of a watermelon.

Suddenly the heart grew to its full size, about five times larger than a watermelon. A smiling face and pleasant eyes looked down on the Yoshis, and the great, pink heart seemed to smile even wider as the melody kept on. The heart rocked back and forth to the beat of the rhythm.

Yoshi smiled a wide smile and laughed.

As the song ended, the Yoshis all cheered and yelled and clapped their hands; they all started to jump around, and embraced each other. The heart bellowed a great laugh, and suddenly spoke in a deep voice.

"NOW I GIVE YOU….. APPLES!" The Super Happy Tree boomed, followed by a thunderous laugh.

Suddenly, the branches of the great tree began to shake and hundreds of apples started falling to the ground. Yoshi grinned. He loved to make a game out of this part of the ritual.

"Hey, Red!" Yoshi shouted-In the Yoshi language-to a Red Yoshi to the right of him. "Make sure you keep count this time!"

"Hah! You won't beat me this time, Yoshi!" Red shouted back.

Suddenly, hundreds of tongues lashed out at the air for the apples. The Yoshi's tongues struck fast as lighting as the apples fell from the tree. The Super Happy Tree kept shaking it's great branches, and apples by the hundreds continued to fall. Yoshi kept count in his head of how many apples he caught and ate.

34,35,36,37,38,39... He thought.

Suddenly the Super Happy Tree stopped shaking.

"45, 46,47.…" Red shouted. "Forty-seven! I got forty-seven, Yoshi!"

"51." Yoshi said back.

"Oh, darn it! I will beat you one of these days Yoshi!" Red said back with a determined look.

"Uh, Red…" Yoshi said. "There's something wrong."

"What? Did you miscount?" Red asked.

"No, no…" Yoshi said worriedly. "I mean, the Super Happy Tree. I usually catch well over one-hundred and fifty."

"Hmm… come to think of it…" Red said, thinking. "Yeah, I usually have a lot more too.

The Yoshis all looked around with a panicked look. Suddenly, Yoshi heard a sound.

"GWAAAAAAAAHHHHH!"

"That came from the Super Happy Tree!" a pink Yoshi shouted.

Yoshi watched as the Super Happy Tree bellowed its horrifying yell. Its branches swished around, but no fruit fell. The heart in the center of the tree seemed to be crying as it echoed it's terrifying scream.

"What's going on?!" Yoshi yelled.

"ST…. STA… STARRRRRRR!" The Super Happy Tree yelled.

The Super Happy Tree gave out one final scream, and the heart in the center dissipated. As the heart grew smaller and smaller, the tree started to wilt. The tree slowly bent forward, as its bark started to change from it's healthy brown bark, to a dark gray color which crept up the tree from the roots in a spider web formation. A multitude of leaves and fruit fell off the tree, as the gray color completely consumed the tree. Soon, all of the leaves fell off the tree, dead and the fruit fell. Yoshi lashed out his tongue at an orange as it fell. He quickly spit it out.

"YUCK! Rotten!" Yoshi shouted.

"Look! Up in the sky!" Red shouted.

Yoshi looked up at the night sky through the trees. He could see two shooting stars flying side by side, and above them, a cluster of stars, The Star Road. He and the other Yoshis watched as the seven stars of the Star Road slowly faded out, one by one.

It's… dead. Yoshi thought. The Super Happy Tree, the Star Road…. Now what will we do?

Yoshi looked around at his fellow Yoshis. They all looked at each other in silence, tears in their eyes, as they stood beneath the dead Super Happy Tree. They all formed a circle, held hands, and started to sing a song of mourning.

I need to go find Mario. Yoshi thought as he sang with all of his heart.