Yoshi Legacy: Heroes of the Mushroom Continent

Currently the Series' Offical Site!

Yoshi Legacy: Heroes of the Mushroom Continent - Chapter 1

f:id:WhiteYoshi:20130711163945p:plain

I must warn you: The chapters in my series are going to be very long. If you thought the prologue was something, you have another thing coming. If you hate brick walls of text, well, I'm really, really sorry.

From this tower, the entire island is in view. The tops of trees, sandy beach, and vast ocean, gently brushing upon the landmass is calming to me. Definitely a much different feeling than over at my home on the beach. Sometimes, I just lose myself over here on the structure I built, just looking around and thinking to myself.

"..ward..."

A familiar voice emanates from below, and I peek down to investigate.

"Edward!"

Oh, it's just Marcellus. He's almost always the one who goes out to fetch me from my spot. As I climb down the ladder, I hop down the last few rungs directly to the ground. I turn around to answer his pleasant face.

"Yes? Coming to get me?"

"Why yes, but of course.", Marcellus replies with a scratch on the back of his head. He ushers for me to follow him on a walk back to the hut we reside in. Yet, I don't exactly feel like returning... just yet.

"Marcellus? How about we take the long way home?", I inquire.

"Well, you know how your father is when you're late. Are you sure you would prefer this?" he cautions.

"Why not? I'm sure it won't be so bad."

Marcellus and I are sadly very well acquainted with my dad's angry speeches about how worried he is about us not coming back when we say we would, but today, Marcellus actually consented to taking a walk around the beach. Although my dad is my actual dad, Marcellus has been a much more fatherly figure to me than my dad. He'd taught me to read, write, speak fluently, and much more, even reaching out to swordplay with wooden makeshifts. We shared a lot of our feelings and moments with each other whilst my father grumbled away in the hut in his windowless room. I know that he had troubles from before, but I never really worked up the courage to learn too much about it. I'm pretty sure that he wouldn't want me to know anyways, since he said much to me about anything.

The sun began to fall over the western sea as we walked around the bend. The waves began to get larger as they hit the walls, somewhat unusual for this side of the island. I peeked over into the ocean and watched the waves form, then splash onto the beach, dissipating. When my eyes rolled back out to the ocean to watch another wave start to form, I noticed an object floating on the water. Curious, I asked Marcellus if had noticed it, and what it might be.

"Marcellus? Look in the water; there's something there. Do you know what it is?"

"Oh! I hadn't noticed. ...Looks to me as if it could be a book of some kind."

A book? Perhaps it came astray from my father's small shelf-ful of them at home. I had read all of them many times over already in the melancholy hours of days past, and knew them all pretty well. Stories of adventure, realism, and more have been burned into my memory. Both Marcellus and I were intrigued by the object, so I jumped into the water and fished it out. When I came back to shore and we both had a good look at it, I found that it wasn't a book from my dad's shelf at all.

"'Yoshi Legend'?", I asked.

"It seems like a history book. I don't remember seeing this one before.", Marcellus responded.

"Strange... I don't recall it either."

We both stood there for a moment, moving through the waterlogged pages carefully. We both agreed that it was definitely from somewhere else, and stood there reading it for a while. Eventually, we realized that the sun had set quite far over the horizon, and we both began to panic.

"Oh, dear. It's dark outside, Edward. We'd best hurry, or he'll start to really lose it." Marcellus panicked.

We rushed home just in time to find my father with an oil lamp getting ready to search for us. Upon seeing us clamber up to the hut, his concerned look immediately contorted into one of extreme irritation.

"Where have you two been? It's been hours since I sent you out, Marcellus.", he thundered.

"My apologies, my king! I didn't mean to worry you yet again!" Marcellus pleaded.

Sadly, my dad began his usual rant again. He sat us down at the wooden table and chairs and began to lay into us with how he had lost enough already and how it would kill him if he lost us two to something. It was then that I decided to speak up about what we had found in the ocean.

"Wait, wait. Dad, one second. Can I expl-"

"How DARE you interrupt me, my son? Apparently, you haven't learned your lesson yet after I have talked to you about this many times before, so I have to remind you yet again!", he raged.

"Let the child speak. I'm sure it's something of worth, Your Majesty.", Marcellus broke in.

"Very well, but make it quick. I'm very, very disappointed.", dad grumbled.

I pulled the book out from underneath the table that was in the ocean earlier. I handed it to him, and asked him if he had seen the book before. I began to go on about how the book was the reason we were back so late, but he just sat there, absorbed in its pages. After a short while, his gnarled, uptight facial expression mellowed out to one of curiosity and intrigue, and he calmly excused us both to our chambers. 

Marcellus and I were puzzled. He never ended his frustrated speeches so early on before, so that book must have interested him much more than it had for us both.

"What do you think made him want to read it so badly?", I asked.

"I'm not so sure, Edward. It's quite strange that Yoshius cared so much for books all of a sudden. I knew for a fact he preferred doing most of anything else over reading.", Marcellus murmured.

"I wonder how long he's going to spend reading that thing. I hope he doesn't lose sleep tonight over it." I replied.

"Well, with the state that your father's been in throughout the last ten years, you never know. Perhaps we should just go to sleep and find out in the morning."

"Yeah, the last thing I would want to do is bother my dad, especially since we made him worry today."

We both lay down and let the night pass us by. Strangely, we both weren't exactly surprised to find him still reading 'Yoshi Legend' on the table. Upon our door opening, my dad peeked behind himself. His eyes were bloodshot, and he had a strange smile across his face. He got up from his seat, and began to frantically speak.

"I-I-I-I-I've got it! Yes! I do indeed! Marcellus, I know what I must do!", he sputtered.

"Your Majesty... are you well? You should probably calm down, especially after staying up all night."

"Don't you dare interrupt me now, my advisor. You must hear me out!", he scrambled out.

I'd never seen him act this way before. My dad was trembling in his arms and legs, as if he had been subjected to something that drove him completely insane. Yet, what he said next wasn't something of gibberish, but rather, an elaborate, thought-out plan.

"Listen, you two! This book just gave me all I needed to know!", my father shouted.

"Might you elaborate on this, my king?" Marcellus inquired.

"Oh, I'll tell you, all right. 'Yoshi Legend' is a history book, now. It's not some kind of misguided fairy tale, I know that for sure! What the thing says is history I was taught as a boy. I would know that kind of thing!", he triumphantly spat out.

"Can you tell us in a calmer voice, dad? Organize your thoughts and stuff, I don't know. It just sounds like your frantic.", I let out with a bit of concern.

"Fine, fine..."

He let out a sigh. As he grabbed ahold of himself, his limbs went slack, and relaxed as he once again took a seat.

"You see," he began, "these past ten years here, I've been stuck in my own spiral of sadness. I never did tell you why, my son. Marcellus knows very well, and it doesn't seem he brought himself to telling you, either. Well, it's about time you learned why I am the way I am. I used to be a proud king of a place called Yoshi's Island. I had a wife, and we were happy. However, I soon lost her, your older sibling, and my entire country through a series of events that is too complicated to explain in a reasonable amount of time. I wanted to tell you for such a long time now, Edward, but... I was afraid you wouldn't be able to handle it."

"Dad... it's okay. I'm fourteen. I think I'll understand. And even though I never knew my mother or that I had a sibling, it's okay. You should just get to the point and tell us about what you found from that book.", I comfortingly replied.

"Okay, okay. Well, my island was taken from me due to an act of dark magic. It was literally pulled under the sea by whom Marcellus claims is your older brother."

"My brother? Why would he want to take his own home away from his father?" I asked.

"It was an attempt to take your father's life, Edward. Mine, included. However, we left for safety in a timely manner, so we then found refuge on this island.", Marcellusadded.

"Oh, dear... Well, go on.", I replied.

"The historical evidence found in this book told me of a way I could undo the fell magic placed upon my domain: your homeland, my son. Five elemental gems have been scattered throughout the continent that embodies my island, and when put together, they have the power to undo any foul spell that curses anyone or anything. They were originally given out by our god, the White Yoshi, to five heroes who fought off a monstrosity known as the Devil Yoshi."

"Wait a second, dad. If you say it's history, why is a 'god' involved? Isn't a god usually something people believe in rather than something people remember through history?" I thought out loud.

"My son. The White Yoshi wasn't a myth or legend. He was seen physically by my ancestors. He traveled the world, sharing his blessings wherever he went. Yet, he soon ascended the heavens one day. In fact, he left our world just after he granted the heroes these elemental gems."

"If you say so..." I muttered.

"Well, anyways. What I was thinking was that I could travel around the world to find these five elemental gems. When the heroes died, the gems they possessed were enshrined around the continent in different locations. If I could just get them together again and put their power to use, I could reclaim Yoshi's Island!", my dad exclaimed.

"Isn't this a little bit outlandish, my lord? I don't mean to be a downer, but considering they've been enshrined according to the book, they'd be under guard, am I not correct?", Marcellus inserted.

"Hmph. If all you two will do is disagree with my plan, then very well. I'll be going through with this on my own, then. You can stay here all you want; I don't honestly care.", my father said.

He then got up and left outside. We both watched my dad start to set up a makeshift raft, after seeing how much the boat he came to this island in had deteriorated. Although Marcellus and I condemned  my father's plan, we couldn't bear to see him try and leave alone. It just wouldn't be right. So, we got up off our feet and walked outside.

My dad, King Yoshius IV, as well as Marcellus and I, right then and there, didn't know it at the time, but what we were about to get into was much, much more than we at first thought.

 

WELL, THAT WAS A NICE, LONG READ, EH? I BET YOU DIDN'T READ IT ALL. I BET YOU DIDN'T. Well, anyways, if you actually did, I hope you enjoyed. This took a couple of hours for me to finally complete, so leave comments and stuff. Thanks, and see you soon.