And can teams be changed like that? What's going to go on with the race if somehow, Lava, Yoshee, Teo, and everyone make it across at the same time? Will it happen? So many questions un-answered!"
Well, it's an all-goes race. Anything can happen.
It's Grubba the 2rd! What will happen next?
You may now cease wondering *bricked*
Alright, I am well then more then aware that I’m late as usual, though at long last, I was able to find enough inspiration necessary to complete this next chapter. Without another moment’s delay, please enjoy!
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Leoshi felt himself regaining a state of consciousness. The first thing that he had noticed was that it was still dark, and that the sound of the river was now stronger then the ambient atmosphere of the heart of the jungle.
He could still feel the same amount of pain that he felt when he was struck, though now it seemed to have become more compacted and restrained. Looking down upon himself, he came to the realization that he was surrounded by a coat of bandages, covering almost all of his body, save for his hair, half of his face, and his tail. Though otherwise, he looked very similar in appearance to that of a mummy. He wasn’t able to see too far ahead of him, since the mysterious one named Twi had absconded his glasses.
“…wh-“
“Hey, you’re awake!” he heard a voice exclaim.
Leoshi turned his semi-bandaged head and spotted Yapi, who was sitting alongside the river at the time. She gave an expression of joy, though this was the expression she almost always carried, so it was quite normal.
“He-“ Leoshi tried to respond.
“Don’t talk yet.” She said. “You’re hurt, save your energy.”
Leoshi tried to get back on his feet, slowly but surely.
“I found you like a huge mess.” She said. “Luckily, I found you. Though I might have gotten a little carried away with all the bandages.”
The blue yoshi nodded. He was almost completely coated in bandages, even in places that didn’t have any injury whatsoever.
“No need to explain it to me.” She said. “Whoever attacked you took the boat and our friends. We have to go and get them back.”
Leoshi nodded, and stood on his feet. Since his shoes were stolen, he now walked on bare feet, or that is, feet covered in bandages. Yapi began to walk ahead, with Leoshi trying to trail along, but simultaneously being slow because of all the bandages he wore.
“Hm…-“ Leoshi mumbled.
“Wait, that wasn’t right.” He thought. “I was trying to tell her something.”
Leo tried to speak again, but he only mutter another “hm…” He realized his mouth was constricted by something, literally sealed shut.
“Argh, she bandaged my mouth shut.” He thought, sighing to himself.
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Both Teo’s and Yoshee’s entire teams (minus Jay) flew aboard Teo’s Dragonesque body. As night continued to fall, and a sense of ominous darkness began to fall around them, things had become peculiarly nerve-wracking. There was almost no way to see in front of your own face, due to this night’s complete lack of a visible moon. Teo was able to fly safely due to his own Dragon Instincts, though for the others, sight was impossible, making everyone else on board completely visible from sight. The added sensation of the wind blowing against them, and the feel of rising and falling also added for a bit of uneasiness.
“…Just like old times, huh guys?” Yoshee asked.
“What do you mean?” Lava asked.
“I just mean that it reminds me of the times back when we first left that city. You remember, before we had the ship, when we traveled mainly with Teo.” She explained.
“Oh yeah, I remember.” Lava said. He gave a chuckle to himself. “How long has it been? Nearly a year since this whole ordeal started?”
“A year?” Yoshee replied. She gave a suppressed laugh. “I don’t know about that.”
<Anyway…> Champ cut in, <We should probably focus on the race for now.>
“Yeah!” Velvet T exclaimed. “We don’t even know who’s winning anymore!”
LD looked ahead, and stood up on his two feet. He spotted something visibly glowing ahead of them, appearing to have a red-colored luminosity.
“What’s that?” LD asked.
“I think that’s the volcano, where the race’s final obstacle is.” Yoshee said.
They went into a few seconds of silence. It has seemed as though they had been racing for an exceptionally long time, and now, at long last, it might finally be coming to its long-awaited end. Though, they all knew that the volcano itself would prove to be no small feat. Judging by the glowing of the lava up ahead, there was no doubt that it had to be considerably active.
Coming nearer and nearer toward the volcano, they could feel it’s heat and sweat-enduing environment, similar to placing one’s hand on a stove’s hatch. It appeared to be considerably tall, and by the looks of the geography, a single opening in the mountain at the riverside would prove itself to become an entrance point. But, how to get inside? There had to be a specific way to fit such a huge dragon into such a-
“HOLD IT RIGHT THERE!”
Their thoughts were cut short by the challenging cry, seemingly coming from close behind.
“Who was that?” LD asked.
“Who else would speak with such a clichÈd sentence?” Lava asked. “What do you want, Ansem?”
Coming from out of the darkness of the sky was a rather large figure, something huge and flying. But not too gracefully in the sky was it flying, since it seemed to be bobbing up and down considerably abruptly. Judging by the silhouette, it appeared to be a dragon.
Sitting on the dragon’s head was Nauro, holding reigns like a horse-rider. Apparently, he had replaced the beast that he rode on since Rogueport with this monstrosity. Sitting behind him were the other teammates in the group: Ansem, Zelek, Demon, Charfg, and the mysteriously silent henchmen.
“So, you’re back in the race again?” Lava asked. “I thought you guys wrecked your boat on the waterfall.”
“Who says we need a boat? You guys didn’t need one.” Ansem asked.
“We don’t have time for you guys, back off!” LD shouted.
In immediate response, the dragon they were riding on rushed ahead directed by Nauro. It slammed into Teo, causing everyone aboard to shout and shake.
“Are you insane!?” Yoshee asked.
“Land right now.” Zelek said. “We will settle this right now, at the base of the volcano.”
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Everyone inside the Majestuosa was watching through the windows. Since the current was strong enough, they had taken up the sails, allowing it to travel at the mercy of the currents. They seemed reliable enough, since the water didn’t direct them into any walls.
“Leoshi” stood near the bow, watching the area up ahead.
As they traveled the glowing of the lava increased, adding a sort of sinister feel to the cavern. Any sounds that were made on board the ship magnified in here. The acoustics of the interior of the cave made it so that any and all sounds were amplified and echoing.
Hunter was the only other one outside at the moment, sitting on a railing on the higher deck. The wind that rushed against them as the sped brushed strongly against his fur. He had to sit in an odd position; otherwise the shape of the cone on his head would have caused him to blow backwards.
He looked onward, keeping an eye on what came next. As he did, he caught eyesight of something approaching from ahead. It appeared to be a higher elevation of land, enough so that the river would finally come to an end. It would only be a mere few yards up ahead, and to their dismay, their current momentum was too strong to do anything about.
With a sudden jolt, the Majestuosa came to a halt. Everyone both inside and out was tossed around, along with a lot of the loose furniture, which all rattled or broken on the spot. She was at a new angle at the moment, with her bow having been run aground by the force of her impact. However, she seemed to be relatively all right.
“…Uh, is this our stop?” John asked.
“I guess.” Yin said. “Let’s get off.”
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They had all gotten off of the boat by that moment in time. All of them stationed outside of their ship by the bow, observing it’s damages as minimal at best. The curious thing to note about the crash was that the ship’s bow was literally driven into the ground, placed perfectly what appeared to be on the edge of some rails. The tracks, apparently those that would work as a mine kart system, seemed to lead forth. At the ending of the cavern were a set of very large doors, looking to be covered so much in rust and cobwebs, that if anything had be on the door before, it was gone, leaving it nothing more then a huge obstacle. The railways seemed to lead right underneath the doorway, perhaps leading deeper into the volcano.
“K, how do we get past that thing?” Spider asked.
“We can break it down, probably.” Moshi said. “Look at that thing, it’s so old. I can’t possibly be too strong.”
Yoshiken stepped ahead of the group, already holding his katana. “Allow me.”
The sword-wielder walked up close to the enormous door, and gave them a strong stare. He took a couple of steps backwards, then kicked forward and charged the door with the sword in his hand.
The katana struck the door, tip first, directly at the door crack. Though to Yoshiken’s surprise, the blade was almost instantaneously thrown back, with enough force to case him to let go of the sword, letting it fly behind him and come to a stop, in which it sliced through the rock ground and stayed.
“So, you can’t do it, eh?” “Leoshi” asked.
“What was that?” Yoshiken asked.
“You couldn’t handle it.” “Leoshi” replied back simply.
Yoshiken folded his arms. “Well...”
“Well, I don’t know what to do now.” Eloeem said. “I mean, if Yoshiken couldn’t break it down.”
“We just need to ram it with something larger then his tiny little blade.” “Leoshi stated. He looked back at the ship. “We can ram the ship into the door.”
“That’s too reckless!” Yin shouted. “If that door doesn’t open, we will just smash the boat apart.”
“And your point is what?” “Leoshi” asked. “We do need to get past here, don’t we?”
“Leoshi?” Yin asked. “Can I speak to you alone?”
He simply nodded.
Yin led “Leoshi” back to where the ship ran aground, until they were hidden behind the Majestuosa’s Hull.
“What is it?” “Leoshi” asked.
“Leoshi.” Yin said quietly enough so that nobody else would hear him. “Give it up.”
“Why?” he asked.
“Because It’s more then obvious that you’re not Leoshi.” she said.
“Leoshi” chuckled. “What kind of nonsense is that?”
Yin reached for the rim o her bandana, and swiftly pulled it off her head. Opening both of her eyes, she revealed her golden-colored eye, starring directly at him.
“Oh, I see.” “Leoshi” stated. “So you weren’t fooled, unlike those other idiots.”
“Where’s the real Leoshi?” Yin asked.
“Why don’t you go and find out for yourself. I would prefer you do that instead of go back to the others, so if you will on your own merry way-”
“Uh-uh.” Yin stated boldly.
“Alright, very well then.” “Leoshi” said. He walked toward Yin, standing right next to her. “But please…” he took her Bandana and hastily wrapped it around eh top of her head. “Put that eye away, it’s annoying.”
“What?” Yin asked.
Though in the next instant, she had become aware of how much danger she was, with his claw so close to her golden eye. Before she was able to react, she felt a strong blow almost directly at her eye. The attack was enough so that she was thrown backwards and feel back into the rapids.
“Leoshi” was left holding only her bandana, which he let fall to the ground. With a smirk, he walked back into sight.
“Oh, sorry about that, everyone.” He said.
“Where did Yin go?” Moshi asked.
“She just went inside for a second.” “Leoshi” said. “She wants us to start without her.”
“How?” Yoshiken asked. “We can’t break it open.”
“That’s because your-um, we are too weak too.” “Leoshi” said. “But rest assured… I do have a plan.”
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Eh, not too big this time, or rather, nowhere near a big as I had hoped so. Ah, sorry about that, folks. The next chapter will be ready soon everyone.
