Ok, at long last, I have yet another prepared to post. And thanks, steveoshi, glad you like it. Enjoy, everyone!
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“Mr. proctor, I wouldn’t-”
“Of course you wouldn’t, that’s why you’re not the proctor!”
“Sir, please-”
“Jolene-”
“Enough is enough.” Jolene stated with a slightly stronger voice. “It’s been a full day now.” The two of them had been arguing all morning in the proctor’s office, back in the city.
“And you’re positive that we can’t find any of them?” the proctor asked.
“With 100% certainty, sir.” Jolene said, calming down. “…all 6 of the major contestants have vanished from the maps.”
“It’s going to be a draw if they all disappear.” the proctor said. “Jolene, pack your bags. We’re going to go in after them.”
“What?” she asked, with a tone of dismay. “But that goes against protocol!”
“So does a disappointing race.”
Her hands gripped. “But sir, they are going as fast as they possibly can, and they already have two days of traveling. There is no way we could catch up with them.”
“Then we will have to go the opposite way on the race, and try to catch them when they come toward us.”
“We could get killed!”
“No, we’ll fly there, with a chopper.”
“…fine, sir. But what happens to us will be your doing from here on out.” Jolene sighed.
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“AAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!”
John, Yin, and Yoshifrog all shot up from their makeshift beds in the cavern, fully alert.
“What’s going on?!” Yin shouted.
Yoshiken and Yoshiko were both up, searching the cavern in a panicked fashion.
John’s eyes narrowed. “What’s the problem.”
“My blade!” Yoshiken shouted. “Somebody stole my blade!”
“Mine too!” Yoshiko responded.
John looked to his right, and then to his left in worry. As he did, his eyes widened. “That small gun thing I had is gone too!”
“…my kunei knife, and my 3 blades are gone!” Yin shouted.
Yoshifrog stood up as well. “And my… er… well ok, so I never had a weapon.”
All five of them looked toward one another. “We got robbed!”
Yoshiken looked the most upset though. “I’ll bet it was Zelek!” His expression was very serious. “That yoshi has gone too far!!”
“I thought they all got smashed earlier.” Yoshifrog said.
“And even if they did, how did they catch up?” Yoshiko asked.
“Don’t care.” Yoshiken said. “But we’re not going to race anywhere until we mind my katana!”
“But we’re in the lead!” Yoshifrog shouted. “Can’t we just by you a brand new katana?”
Yoshiken shot her back a very angry look, accompanied by looks from both Yin, and Yoshiko.
Yoshifrog knew she was no match. “Fine, fine, alright!”
The three of them all calmed down. John, meanwhile looked out of the entrance of the cave. “We can forget about winning now.”
“Not if we hurry!” Yoshiko shouted, rushing out of the save and back out into the jungle.
“You’re so impulsive.” John said.
Yoshiken and Yin also rushed out, at the same time. “I’m coming, Zelek!” Yoshiken shouted as he ran.
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There was no other sound, aside from the sizzling of breakfast over the open fire. Teo was up, bright and early. The light-blue dragon yoshi was at a makeshift stove, cooking some pancakes they had brought over a fire. Unlike him, his 4 teammates were fast asleep.
“How is it that I flew us so far, and they got more exhausted then me?” Teo asked.
At the same time, Teo looked at the frying pan, and gave it a small flip, turning over the pancakes as he did so. ‘So far, I haven’t done too much fighting.” he thought. “In fact, I’ve pretty much been their ride for half the time.”
The young dragon-morpher wasn’t too unhappy, working as his teams craft, though he still wanted to be more in the fray.
“Just being their lift isn’t too fun.”
<TEO!>
His eyes widened, and his teeth gritted. Teo, now in alert, turned backward, spotting Champ and Charon flying from out of the jungle. They looked rather beaten up, and a little tired.
“Whoa.” he commented, upon seeing them.
The two of them didn’t even try to land. With a quick whomp!, them hit the grass, right near Teo. Teo let the frying pan on the fire, and then turned toward the two chao.
“What happened?” Teo asked.
<We got attacked!> Champ shouted. <And they took Jay, LD, and Yoshee!>
Teo’s eyes narrowed, both of his hands becoming fists. Champ and Charon both gasped upon seeing his serious expression.
<…but, we managed to break free.> Charon said. <As soon as they dropped their guard, we broke free from our cages and came here.>
“Cages?!” he shouted. “Where?” Teo asked. By the tone of his voice, it was obvious that he knew something terrible was going on.
<…in there.> Champ said, directing them toward the heart of the jungle. In the village with the tree huts.
Teo nodded. “You two stay right here. In your condition, going anywhere isn’t an option.”
<Ok.> Champ said, with a simple relaxed voice.
<What about the others?> Charon asked.
“This will only take five minutes.” Teo said, cracking his knuckles. “I’ll be back before they wake up!”
Without another moment to spare, Teo raced into the jungle as fast as he could run, completely forgetting that he had left the fire unoccupied.
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Midnight‘s eyes narrowed. “…what?”
“Hunter is gone!” Yoshark repeated. “He vanished from his post!”
“Is this a joke?” Midnight asked.
Shez sighed. “He doesn’t have wings. He couldn’t have just flown off.”
“Maybe he fell off the ship last night?” Yoshark said. “This is horrible…”
“I know.” Kator nodded.
“You three get back to your posts.” Midnight said to her remaining crew.
“But Midnight, should we search the grounds for him?” Shez asked.
“I’ll take care of finding Hunter personally. Everyone else, get back to your positions.” Midnight said.
Without waiting for their response, she walked out of the room and slammed the door on them.
“I know you did this, Moshi.” Midnight thought. “Next time our ships meet, I’m not going to hold back.”
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There was, at very first darkness. Hunter felt like he was drifting in blank space, gently rocking back and forth.
“Hunter…”
He could hear the voice calling him from far away. The confused little lion cub could only continue to look into darkness.
“Hunter…?” this time, it was more clear, and yet, very far away.
“…yes?” Hunter mumbled.
“HUNTER!! HUNTER!”
Hunter’s eyes opened up. Moshi was standing over him, shaking him a bit. “HUNTER, WAKE UP!!”
“WAAA!!” Hunter shouted. “I’m awake, I’m awake!”
Moshi sighed and let him go, taking the sheets off of the beds as he did so. “Finally. Everyone else has already gone up to eat. If you don’t come soon, you’ll miss breakfast.”
With that, the rough yoshi walked out of the quarters room and slammed the door shut.
Hunter looked up and sighed. “She’s not too different then Midnight.” he said aloud.
“Yeah, she can be tough.” a voice replied.
Hunter gasped and looked toward a bookshelf, jumping out of the bed, and knocking some of the pillows away with his cone. “Who’s there?”
“Me.”
The voice was coming from a yoshi doll that was sitting at the top of the shelf.
“You?!” Hunter shouted, pointing at the doll.
“Yes. Sorry about my odd introduction, I know this must be awkward.” the doll responded. “My name is Merrier, and I have been staying aboard as a guest.”
Hunter gave back a startled expression, bearing no words of response. “…that plushie is talking to me.” he thought. “I’m still dreaming, right?”
Hunter quickly gave himself a bonk on the head. “Wake up, Hunter.” he said.
“You’re not dreaming, really.” Merrier said. “I’m under a curse.”
“…a curse?” Hunter asked.
“Believe me, it’s a long story.” Merier said.
“What are you doing here?” Hunter asked.
“I’m staying with them, because they offered to try to turn me back into a yoshi.” he replied. “What’s your story?”
“HUNTER!” Moshi called from above deck.
“Never you mind.” Merier said. “Best to head up there before she comes down here.”
“Er, right!” Hunter said, taking off towards the door.
“See ya.” Merier said.
“These people are insane.” Hunter thought, as he gave one last look at the doll, before rushing out the door.
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“Chain… chain… oh, shoot!” Leoshi thought.
He spent all night at one of the tables in the dining chamber. And yet, he still couldn’t decipher the next phrase of the book. “The first word is chain, but what is this next one?”
Leoshi was interrupted by a loud slam, as Yapi threw her plate nearby him. He gave a jump, which was unnoticed by everyone else. “Now this looks good!”
There was a waffle and a bowl of cereal on her dish, which she promptly sat next to.
“It is pretty good, you know.” Eloeem said. He finished his plate in one gulp, and held out the empty dish toward Moshi. “More, please!”
“What do I look like?” Moshi asked, with a raised eyebrow.
Spider was enjoying his own food while drawing a sketch, humming a tune as he did so.
It was about then that Hunter reached the peak of the stair that lead into the dining room. The morning sun was shining through the large windows, showing off the luxurious chamber of the room. Hunter quietly sat down next to Leoshi.
“Hey… that’s a cool looking book.” Hunter said.
“Don’t be deceived by it.” Moshi said. “That thing is the whole reason we’re all in this mess.”
“Really?” Hunter asked, with a curious voice and expression. “Can you tell me about it?”
Leoshi looked down. “Well…”
“To be honest, I know more about it then he does.” Moshi said.
“But it’s this Leoshi’s story?” Eloeem asked.
Leoshi sighed. “Alright, I’ll tell you.”
Hunter smiled, and grabbed a seat.
Moshi sighed, and walked away from the table, as Leoshi began. She decided that it was about time for some fresh air anyway.
Moshi proceeded through the door, and walked out, greeting both the winds and the cool temperatures. The deck was still wet from the rain last night, though everything was much calmer now, since they used Hunter’s blanket to sow up the sail.
No sooner did Moshi get out, she could hear guns cocking.
“MOSHIIIIIII!!!”
Towering proudly over the Majestuosa was Midnight, perched on the highest deck of her battle ship. All of the ship’s cannons were directed right at Moshi, who has retained a blank expression the entire time.
With a plain expression, she placed her hands on her hips and sighed. “What?”
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And that will be just about all for this time, guys. I’ll try to get more done as soon as I find the time for it. Yoshee, LD, and Jay, sorry for not having you in this one, but the next one will have more focus on you. And, for those of you who still aren’t looking forward to the next chapter, I’m going to add another member into the midst of the story (at their request). Next time should introduce (or at least hint at) this member’s arrival.
