The sky cloudless, the gentle sea breeze blowing through the numerous palm trees throughout the island. Another perfect day to just sit back and take life easy. This way of life is just how the inhabitants of Saurus Island like it. These inhabitants are none other than Yoshis, dinosaurs that come in multiple colors and personalities.
Saurus Island, a tropical paradise perfectly suited for these beings. With the abundant plants and fruit bushes, not to mention what seems to be an ever-lasting supply of different sea creatures around the island, more notably the Kipp and Blooper, the Yoshis never have to worry about finding a food supply. Surrounding the island are beaches that stretch for quite a while, encircling the island. Even with the very high temperature the Yoshis must endure almost every day, there are many palm trees just waiting for a tired,
dehydrated Yoshi to just lay down under it and dose off. Going towards the interior of the island the palm trees become more bunched together and a small forest of these trees is at the center. In this particular forest, there is also a clearing, with many little, hard white balls with green spots on it. These are Yoshi eggs, laid and arranged in a very organized fashion in many nests that are spread through the ground.
It was well passed the part of the year where the Yoshis' lay their eggs and soon the time would come where a new generation of these dinosaurs will be born. During that time, the adult Yoshis take turns to tend and safekeep the eggs while they are preparing for the big day where the little Yoshis inside will come out. And of course, that time came.
An adult Yoshi is lazily sitting close to the nests and is dosing off in this comfortable environment. Then that's when it happened... first by the small movements of the eggs and then by a little cracking sound. The Yoshi, one minute about to fall asleep, now is jumping in the air and calling out for the rest of the population to come quickly. Many Yoshis began to appear from all directions towards the clearing, eagerly awaiting the coming of the youth to the world. Every adult is looking on with great interest at the eggs, for every adult will have to take care of every youngsters, as it has been done for many generations. After only a short while, there came the first baby of the batch. All watched anxiously as the process of life took its course. All one could see was a small pair of sneakers coming out of the cracks, then the small yoshi found his way out of its egg. The first newborn was a red yoshi. The adults looked at each other, each knowing what the other was thinking. The good thing about Yoshis is that it is easy to determine its personality by its coloring.
The red yoshi, they knew that it would be a handful. Even though they like to do everything any yoshi would do, these Yoshis have always been known for their short tempers. To see any yoshi get angered is rather rare, even for the red yoshi, but it will get angered more frequently. Apart from the red yoshi, more and more Yoshis began to pop out of their eggs at this point.
The dark blue yoshi, this one would be yet another handful. These are known as troublemakers and don't like to follow the dinosaur pack's rules, they'd rather be doing what they want and how they want it most of the time.
The yellow yoshi, not as bad as the other two as for the disciplining tends to go, but another one the adults will have to tend to. This is not because of them causing mayhem on the island, but rather because the yellow yoshi tend to act impulsively and on instincts rather than common sense, often leading them to trouble. Jolly and happy by nature, these yoshis tend to do anything pleasing, such as having fun or enjoying a nap under a palm tree.
The pink yoshi, this one is indeed the one that the adults do not need to keep an eye out for. These Yoshis tend to be more responsible than the others and cares a lot for every other yoshi on the island, they don't like to see any fellow yoshis get in trouble and ultimately, get harmed.
The green yoshi, a great portion of the islands population is green, so more than every, they knew what this one would be doing all day, seeking adventure. More than anything, the green yoshis would travel around the island to look for anything out of the ordinary, something interesting to do.
With all the eggs but one left to hatch, the adults quickly started to tell each other what kind of yoshi would come out. Some said green, while others said yellow, and some others did not care which color it would be. While the conversations were taking place, the egg started to move. Little by little, cracks started to form along the egg's surface, and out came the infant. All went silent, every single adult in the clearing could not even mutter any words from their mouths from the sheer shock of the situation. Even though Yoshis come in different colors, no one on the island had anything knowledge of this.
What came out of the egg was a light blue yoshi...
Chapter II : Journeyman Competition
Boy it's hot today, even hotter than the previous few days. Most, if not all, of the yoshis seeked refuge in the refreshing shade that trees had to offer. This, of course, was no different for my best friend and I, already under a nearby tree not too far from the water's edge. I was on the brink of dosing off until a familiar voice prevented me from falling asleep.
"I'm bored!" a yellow yoshi exclaimed beside me.
"Kiiroshi, you can't stay still for more than five minutes." I replied with a chuckle.
"I hate sitting around doing nothing when I'm not tired, you know that."
The conversation continued on, but I was lost to memories while we were talking. I remember, five years ago, when Kiiroshi and I were but small yoshis, going about playing various games and exploring our island. We were inseparable, and still are. Actually, Kiiroshi is the only yoshi on the island that doesn't feel like I'm different from everyone, me being the only light-blue yoshi after all. Every other person would either treat me specially, while others would ignore me until we talked or something of the sort, and I hated that. All I wanted was to be treated equally, not to be treated specially or being ignored. Kiiroshi is the only yoshi, and that is why he is my best friend. I have great respect for him, because I know he respects me the same way.
Although, we do have our differences. He, being a yellow yoshi, is prone to act out of curiosity and impulse rather than thinking of what he will do. This has lead to many inconveniences. For instance, one time I tried to warn him that the fruits he was about to eat were bad, but I was too late. He, being too hungry to even think about what he would catch with that tongue of his and gulp in, he ate to his hearts content... also leading to a very bad upset stomach. Remembering this incident caused me to laugh a little.
"What? Did I say something funny?" asked Kiiroshi while giving off a small spurt of laughter of his own.
That was another one of his traits, he would almost always be in a good mood, even when being a tad confused at times.
"Wha... oh. I was just thinking."
I knew what he was thinking there, that I think too much. That would be a good way to describe me. Everytime I'm not doing anything or the like, I'm thinking. Thinking of what I could be doing rather than nothing, thinking of random thoughts that would pass through my head, or thinking about why I was different from everyone and trying to figure out why. This leads others to conclude that I'll almost always be daydreaming or zoned out. And, whether I like it or not, their right.
"Hey, I was thinking..." I started to say, but was promptly interrupted by something he always says in this situation.
"When don't you, Burushi?" he stated sarcastically while giving me a friendly wink.
I couldn't hold it back, I gave off a good laugh before I could even continue my train of thought.
"As I was trying to say, with the days becoming longer and the temperature being hotter, do you think that it will be held soon?
"It? Oh, you mean that. I heard that it's going to start in two days time, you in?
"Of course, what about you?
"No, I don't want to."
To this I rose and stood from my seating place and gave off "Yellow-belly." before chuckling and running off.
"Hey, that wasn't nice" said Kiiroshi as he lumped up, while laughing at my remark, and began to chase me down.
The "it" we were referring to was what we called the Journeyman Competition. This event started from even before I was born. About eight years ago, the yoshis from our island found other yoshis stranded on the northern shore. They were taken in and tended to, and rapidly the newcomer yoshis became friends with the yoshis of the island. When someone asked where they were from, they replied that they came from Yo'ster Isle, another island with yoshis on it. They talked a lot about their island during their stay, about being connected to a kingdom filled with various inhabitants, about their popular racetrack where they would have what they called a mushroom derby, and about their leader, a yoshi named Yoshi. They said that although he didn't want to be their leader and wanted everyone to be as equals, they regarded him very highly. Because of its vagueness, many versions of this Yoshi is heard nowadays. Some say he can sprout wings at will and fly, some would say he could drink the waters between their island and the kingdom and hold it in his mouth long enough for every yoshi to cross freely, while others state he is about twenty feet tall and all-powerful. Some believe these versions, but I find them rubbish.
After staying at our island for two years, the newcomers decided to try and make it back home, even though they were not sure in which direction they came from. We had found them on the northern shore, so they set out from there. We never had any news from them since, so we hope that they made it safely.
Ever since their departure, we had this event, to determine which one of us had the skills and endurance to survive the trip across the ocean, for the island elder had forbidden anyone not qualified to set out. I have been questioning myself whether or not I would like to enter this event. I like adventuring, to see new places, to make new friends. Although I always wondered if I really wanted to do this because of adventure, I knew that that was not my reason. My reason was simple, to see this Yoshi with my own eyes, to see if all yoshis could actually live as equals. That was my motivation.
The next two nights were rather restless, the last time I was about to fall asleep was when Kiiroshi exclaimed his boredom. I was too anxious to get some rest. My thoughts and excitement gave me insomnia, and the worst part is that even without rest for two nights, I wasn't feeble and tired.
***
The day I awaited was finally here. I really wanted to make an impact and be eligible to leave and search for the person who could give me answers to my questions, Yoshi. This competition was divided in four categories: the jump, the shell, the stomach and the throw. Unfortunately, I wasn't adept at jumping and throwing, so I had to work extra hard on those. All in all, I was ready.
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