Rain was pouring down hard now, but I didn't care. I still haven't moved an inch from where I first lay, not even bothering to move because it partially rained on me. I tried to tell myself that there would be a next time,
that I could try again, but deep within me, I knew this meant that I had to go through a long while not knowing the answers to my questions once more.

Someone came up to me, I didn't even bother to look up to see who it was, but his familiar voice said it all.

"Look," Kiiroshi said in a soft, comforting voice, "Only because you didn't make it his time around doesn't mean you won't succeed next time. You'll have more opportunities, nothing's lost unless we stop trying."

I didn't say a word. I knew Kiiroshi was trying his best to get me back in a good mood, but it wasn't going to happen now.

"Well, if it might make you feel any better, some yoshis were talking about seeing something out in the ocean off the northern shore, might want to check it out, it'll help you get your mind off your woe."

It took me some time to think about it. It did pique my interest, but I made no move, "With this storm about, they probably thought they saw something."

"Maybe so, but I'm going to check it out. Aren't you going to come?

I shook my head. I wasn't in the mood to find out that what they saw was probably nothing.

"Fine, if you do change your mind, you'll know where we are," Kiiroshi stated.

I nodded and gave Kiiroshi a small smile. This seemed to please him, he did take my mind off of my failure for a minute. With that Kiiroshi left towards the northern shore to see what was about.

***

It's been a while now that I lay there, still feeling down but I did start to feel a bit better compared to earlier. Maybe I ought to go see what's going on at the northern shore. If it were nothing, Kiiroshi would've been back
by now. Maybe those yoshis from eight years ago did in fact find their way home and have come back, "Like that would happen," I told myself. "Since they were lost when they found this island, the chances of finding this island again are rather slim." My thoughts continued to flow, but all of a sudden, I heard some rustling in some bushes ahead of me. I looked up, seeing a yoshi pop out of
the bushes while tripping in it, falling hard to the ground. It seemed frightened, looking at me with distressed eyes. Then, as quickly as the yoshi popped out, something dragged it back into the bushes. I was frightened, I got up and runin the opposite direction. I didn't know what was going on, what horrible creature took away that yoshi, and more importantly, what did it do to it after it was caught? I carried my hasten pace, getting farther away from where I had been.

"Burushi!" Someone exclaimed off in the distance.

I came to a sudden stop, that was Kiiroshi's voice! I turned around and ran towards the shout's origin. It came from the northern shore, was the creature catching that yoshi and the "something" the other yoshis saw off the
northern shore connected? Whether it was or not, my mind was set. I was going to find and help Kiiroshi no matter what.

I got to the northern shore, and stopped in my tracks. There was a boat on the shore, and most, if not all, of the other yoshis tied up beside it, and with those was Kiiroshi. I ran as fast as my legs could move towards Kiiroshi,
and once he spotted me, he yelped, "It's a trap, run!"

I looked around, some turtle creatures were surrounding me, probably planning to take my prisoner also. I wouldn't allow it, my resolve burned strong, I would save Kiiroshi and the others. As one of them approached me, I let
my tongue do the talking, gulping it down almost instantly. The other turtle creatures stop in their tracks, slowly backed off, and called out towards the ship. I approached the captive yoshis slowly, while keeping my eyes on
the turtles, but then some yelled out, "Behind you!"

I spun around and saw the weirdest creature I had ever seen, even more weird than those turtle creatures. It looked like those turtle creatures, yet these had shells that were shiny and spiky and covered their whole bodies. It wasmenacing, and to save my fellow yoshis, I had to take these on also. I tried to grab the closest one and gulp it down as I did with the other turtle creature beforehand. I grabbed it, I took it in my mouth, pain! I released that turtle from my mouth, that shiny shell with spikes hurts so bad, I couldn't defeat them like this. I threw eggs at them, yet none of them were even close
to hitting their mark. I tried to headbutt them, but yet again, those spiky shells hurt me too much to continue. I then concluded that ground pounding them was also out of the question. I was running out of options, I began to
panic. Then luck shined upon me, there was a melon close to where we were, I gulped itdown, and shot the melon seeds towards my foes. It seemed to have some effect, the seeds hit the small portions where there was no shiny shell, and they backed off. My confidence soared right now and I thought, "Now that I found some sort of weak point, I can save ...

***

I woke up, my head really hurting. I felt dizzy, like if something had hit me behind my head. As I came to more and more, I realized that I too was tied up and with the others. I was scared, what was going to happen to us? Who arethese creatures? Why did they attack us? Suddenly, a short turtle with glasses spoke to us. "You insignificant little dinosaurs, you are now slaves of the great King Bowser. Do what we tell you and no one will get hurt, fail to comply and suffer the consequences."

He sounded serious, none of us dared to speak up, never in our island's history have we been faced with such a dilemma. Who was this Bowser anyways? What did he want from us? Why did he make us slaves? I was confused, and my headache from being hit from behind hurt more and more with all those questions.

"Now," screeched the goggled turtle, "You will take down all the tress and gather all the stone, once you get these, bring them to this ship."

This guy's crazy, we would never kill off our island resources. Some yoshis began protesting, mainly the red and blue yoshis, then all of a sudden a lightning bolt hit on a those yoshis and injured them badly. We looked at the
turtle with glasses, he grinned and lowered his wand. "This is nothing compared to what I could do to you all, know get to it!"

The revolting yoshis settled down instantly, every one of us were now very intimidated by this unwelcomed newcomer. In our current situation, we had no choice but to comply.

***

It was harsh, really awful. We were beaten, whipped, forced to work non-stop until everything was taken, and now there was nothing left on the island. It was horrible, the forest where I grew up in, the fruits, everything.
Everything was gone, we had loaded everything unto their boat, most of us wincing or moaning from our painful treatment we had. It was disheartening, most of us
hit rock-bottom in morale. The goggled turtle, though, seemed rather pleased, "Ha, with these resources and slaves, Bowser is sure to promote me well! Now, all of you, board the ship, we're leaving."

We were reluctant, we were scared to move, and yet, we were more afraid of that turtle than the unknown that is our future. We slowly climbed aboard the ship and it departed soon afterwards. Ironic as it was, part of my
dream was fulfilled, I left the island, but at what cost?

***

After many days on the boat, we finally arrived at the destination we were brought to. Most of us were happy just to get of that blasted ship, but the scene in front of us was not pleasing. The sky was of the blackest variety that I have ever seen, there was no sign of vegetation where we landed, it all seemed gloomy. We were forced to walk even deeper inside this new realm. After a short while, we came in sight of a stone building off to a distance. The building itself didn't seem intimidating, but what we saw formed on the cliff's edge under the bridge to this building was the scariest thing I have every
witnessed. It was more scary than all of those turtle creatures combined. What lay on the side of that cliff was the face of... of a monster.

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