"You wouldn't believe how much of a relief it is to see you...well, sort of, anyways," remarked Yoshi as he walked towards his house with his invisible load. "I've had the most boring day imaginable. Nothing at all happened until you came to visit."
"Funny," Daisy thought out loud, "I was thinking the same thing a little earlier."
"Alright. Now let me get my botany book."
Daisy dismounted as Yoshi began poring through his shelves.
"Let's see...History of Yoshi's Island? No. A Melon by any Other Name: Yoshi Philosophy. Hm, I think we have enough of an existential crisis going on as it is. Oh, there it is! The Considerably Loquacious Encyclopedia of Flora and Fauna from the Mushroom Kingdom through Sarasaland and...oh, forget it. Who makes up these titles?"
He slapped the large book down on a desk, smashing Daisy's unprepared arm, which was invisibly resting there, in the process. Of course, there was no way Daisy could tell him so, but she still tried to with a flurry of exclamations.
"So, Daisy. I'm guessing you probably already know most of the stuff in this book. To be clear, I pulled it out because I don't know everything about flowers, and I want to know if there's something out there that might have turned you completely invisible and inaudible. I've never heard of that before, but I can't think of anything else in your kingdom that could remotely pose any real danger of doing that, so I have to look for what seems like a logical explanation. After all, after you eliminate the impossible, whatever remains, however improbable, must be true, right? Here. Tell me if anything looks promising."
The pages of the book appeared to turn themselves as Daisy leafed through. Her search appeared to yield little fruit, however, until she suddenly stumbled across the exact plant she'd seen in her garden. She froze the page and patted Yoshi on the nose again.
"C'mon, Yoshi. Please understand what I'm trying to tell you."
"Vanishing plant? 'This native flower of the Koopa Kingdom has the power to render one nearly undetectable, or so the legends say. According to one story, an unlucky princess once stumbled across this plant and was never seen again. Of course, this is just a silly story, and seems unlikely because' and blah, blah, blah. Alright. So you saw one of these in Sarasaland, even though they're from the Koopa Kingdom. Probably Bowser wasn't the culprit- this little pansy would give him the same trouble it gave you. This means, though, that if anyone knows how to make you visible again...it's Bowser. Great."
Daisy shook her head. Of all the goofball circumstances to get into, this one really took the cake. Here she was, invisible and silent to everyone but herself- and the only solution was in Bowser's domain.
"I guess we better take a Warp Pipe," said Yoshi resignedly. "I'll need you to hold something in your hands so I can keep track of you. Can't have a Princess wandering away from her escort."
Daisy picked up an orange from Yoshi's table.
"Perfect. Well, let's get going."
A short walk and a long pipe later they arrived at the border between the Mushroom and Koopa Kingdoms.
"Are you ready?"
Daisy shook the orange up and down. "I'm as ready as I can be. Brother, you'd think this would be easier."
"You'd think this would be easier."
"That's what I...forget it."
Daisy hopped on Yoshi's back again and he began walking towards the castle, careful to take side roads through smaller villages and avoid as much attention as possible. After about a mile he stopped short.
"You know, maybe we can do this without talking directly to Bowser. There are plenty of people around here who I could probably talk to without raising an immediate alarm. Maybe the flower is real common around here and everyone knows how to cure it. Why didn't I consider that earlier?"
Daisy shrugged and then realized, to her surprise, that others not hearing her talk made her tend to talk less.
"Better start simple. There's a Goomba up ahead. Let's see what she knows. Excuse me!"
The Goomba, noticing a Yoshi within licking range, bolted.
"Okay, so that didn't work. Maybe someone else will be more helpful."
"Heh-heh...oh!" came a familiarly unpleasant laugh from behind. Yoshi and Daisy whirled around and were dismayed to see Ludwig Von Koopa approaching in his airship. Daisy quickly tossed her orange aside as Ludwig said, "Well, Yoshi, this is a pleasant surprise. You aren't the sort I expected to find on patrol- but it's nice to meet a cousin."
"The only thing we have in common, Lugwig," said Yoshi icily, "is that we're reptiles."
"You mean cold-blooded," replied Ludwig with another sinister chuckle.
"At any rate, I'm not bothering anyone, so I'll see you later."
"Ah, don't be hasty! I must extend to you an invitation to Bowser's Castle."
"I'll have to decline."
"I'll have to insist."
"I'll have to resist."
"You seem a decent fellow. I hate to kill you."
"You could be a decent fellow. I'd hate to die."
"Then, for the last time, surrender!"
Yoshi looked his opponent directly in the eye. "Death first."
"Brother!" thought Daisy to herself. "All because I picked a stupid flower.
No comments:
Post a Comment