Note: Some formatting changes were made for readability, but otherwise this is completely unedited from November 2007
Prologue
Many years before the notorious Mushroom Kingdom Earthquake, many yoshis lived together in peace and harmony. Sharing Yoshi’s Island as if one, they had kept their beautiful island as it had been before it broke off of the main continent. Working together, they soon became the dominant species on the island. Using wood-carved tools, they multiplied their workforce and lived without fear of a large challenge. Though a challenge was yet to come…
Chapter One
Don wasn’t very unusual to the other yoshis; picking Frostberries wasn’t an odd task in September. Walking along his plantation, he kept his eyes open for the bright blue berries. Of course, he couldn’t resist to eat a few nice looking ones, even though he needed quite a lot for the annual Winter festival.
His favorite part of the festivities was to participate in the potluck, where most everyone would share a favorite food or drink in celebration of the upcoming snow. As soon as the first flake touched the ground, yoshis of all sizes would burst out of their tree-trunk homes and play and eat and dance until the sun went down. No yoshi ever knew when it originated; they most likely didn’t care.
Gathering up the last of the berries, he headed off in the direction of his house and looked around at the flowers growing on the stems of the Frostbush. wow, he thought, I can’t ever imagine that this beautiful island was ever part of Bowser’s island. That island was filled with bleak-hearted koopas and enslaved yoshis. The color of the trees was so brilliant that he almost tripped on his door step.
Walking into his small but insulated house, he remembered his history teacher explaining how yoshis were used just for work and not comfort; they were complete slaves to koopa society. I’m so glad that we now have this island, he continued to think. He walked over to the fireplace and poured himself some hot cocoa from the kettle. I just can’t imagine being forced to eat random things, he thought as he sipped his warm drink.
As he gulped down the last of his cocoa, there was a small rumble. “Huh?” murmured Don. It repeated, this time a bit more violently. “EARTHQUAKE!” he heard a nearby neighbor shriek. He put down his cup and ran outside to see absolute chaos. Yoshis everywhere ran for there lives as rock fragments tumbled down the central mountain range. Higher up, some trees were uprooted and the yoshis fell down with it.
Scrambling like crazy to get to lower ground, he noticed something on the horizon. Every time there was a large shake, it appeared to come closer. Soon, he saw roads, buildings he didn’t recognize and…
… Bowser’s castle
Chapter Two
After a while, the earthquake had ceased, and all the island’s yoshis gathered on the sandy shore to witness the gloomy island move closer and closer. They just stared and imagined the terrible fate Bowser would soon bestow upon them now that he knew where they had hidden from him many years ago. Soon, the island stopped slowly moving and Don could make out small, yellow figures on the other island. Looking closer, he could see troopas in full battle armament.
“They’re attacking us already?!” he heard a red female scream.
Soon, all the yoshis were chaotically running and screaming just like the earthquake had caused them to do. He felt surprisingly frightened to, but this sort of chaos would just get them killed sooner. After he managed to worm his way through the crowd, he ran up to a rock sticking out of the hill where he could see the entire scene. The young and the elderly were trampled underneath the advancing mob of yoshis, and the Battle troopas had already loaded and boarded their warships.
Boy, he sure is mad about us abandoning him. Something has to be done, he thought. “ENOUGH!” he yelled. The yoshis continued to chaotically run with no general direction. This isn’t working, he thought, I need a diversion to get focused on. He surveyed the hillside carefully for something loud enough to divert the stampede.
Don quickly ran over to a large stone under a plum tree. It looked just heavy enough for him to carry, but hard enough to divert the chaos that still ensued. Slowly, he hoisted it onto his shoulders and began to walk back to the rock he had recently stood on. Then, he managed to throw it down onto the rock’s hard surface. Its resulting sound was so loud, it seemed to throw Don backward.
The crowd continued to run without slowing. Rats! he thought. However, the powerful force of the blow was too much for the tiny ledge to hold, and it fell out of its pocket on the grassy hillside and tumbled down, carrying Don and part of the hillside with him.
After a hard and uncomfortable landing at the bottom of the hillside, he sat up and spat out the dirt that had fallen on him. As he quickly cleaned himself with his tounge, he looked up at his surroundings once again. All of the yoshis had stopped to look at the strange scene in front of them.
Now is my chance! he thought. Slowly, he stood up and thought of what to say to the crowd. They were still intently focused on him, as if they wanted him to somehow stop the dreadful events that had happened this afternoon. Don cleared his throat, and started to speak.
“What has happened to our spirit of cooperation? Our sense of organization? Our battle spirit? Look at what has happened to us!” Don continued to speak. “Why is it that when a small army of troopas come, we scream and run and trample our fellow yoshis?” The crowd began to look around and see the dreadful carnage that their stampede had caused.
Slowly, the more wounded yoshis sat up and lick the blood of their cuts and cleaned themselves. “In a time like this, we need to prepare for what is ahead of us, not excessively fear it! Are you with me?”. At first, there was utter silence. Don noticed that the war boats had began to set sail. Just as he began to panic, a young, orange yoshi stood up. It seemed like an eternity as he stood there. Don shook his head, as if motioning for him to speak. “He’s right.”
Almost immediately afterwards, all the yoshis surged up the grassy hillside. As they split up to go to their own houses, Don did the same. Joggging around his small plantation, he thought to himself. Was this the right choice? Most yoshis would have died anyway, but now they at least had a chance of survival. He quickly opened his door and set to work preparing for what was yet to come.
After he equiped his rough leather armor, Don looked up at the most important thing he would use today: his father’s sword. Slowly and carefully, he lifted it out of its sheath. Dust floated around, and he carefully shifted it back into the sheath. War is a horrible thing, he thought aas he imagined it bearing the blood of others. He had seen pictures of it’s aftermath, with bodies floating in the water and covering the ground. The only reason the world should fight if it is used to protect others, he thought.