Chapter II
Va’kotiku was your typical desert town – concrete buildings with flat roofs, narrow, windy streets, and three bars. The two Yoshies headed towards one that Dy suggested, located in a quiet back street off the marketplace.
“Wouldn’t that be the first place
they look?”
“No,” Dy replied in Yoshian. His voice had suddenly gained a Yoshiville accent.
“You…you’re…”
“I don’t want to hear another word
out of you, Yosh, until we get there.”
“That’s not like y –“
“I said shush!”
The two Yoshies walked in silence until they got to the bar. As they entered, they were hit by a wall of the noise of babbling Koopas and loud, Koopan music. There was the smell of fragrant alcohol in the air mixed with the stench of beer and sweat. They paid no attention to the duo as they stood at the bar.
“Leave it to me,” Dy muttered to
The barkeeper turned and saw him. He seemed to pause before he called back, “Certainly. Follow me.”
The red-shelled Koopa told a nearby barmaid to tend the bar while he looked underneath it for a ring of keys. After finding them with a jingle, he beckoned them to follow him, and led them through the tables, through a low doorway, and up one floor of a wooden stairwell. They went down a corridor to a room with the number “3” on its door. The barkeeper unlocked the door and beckoned for the two Yoshies to go in, before looking along the corridor, and closing the door behind them.
The room had two beds on opposing walls of the room, a small dressing table, and a window that, as Dy requested, provided a commanding view of the marketplace. Immediately upon his entering, he unfurled the curtains around it so that they draped over it, so that no-one could see out…or indeed, in. The room remained light thanks to the light bulb overhead.
“It’s good to see you again here, Mister von Kippo.”
“Wha – how
do you…”
“It’s alright, you can trust him,” Dy said, removing his cloak to reveal his true self – Dyluck Thanatos Yoshi von Kippo, otherwise known as Lich. His Boomerang of Light rested in his belt on his right side, glistening in the warm light. “It’s good to see you again, Karkok.”
“I see you have a friend with you,
this time,” Karkok nodded to
“Yes. This would be my younger
brother,” Lich answered. “
“Pleased to meet you,” Karkok offered his hand.
Ark Beruga Yoshi von Kippo took it uncertainly, and shook.
“It’s alright, I hate those KBT scum as much as he does.”
“I Koopan
speak little,”
Karkok nodded and backed away, looking apologetic.
“Tell him not to talk to loud, then,” he told Lich. “If a tree rustles its leaves in the wind…”
“…the KBT will know about it before you do,” Lich answered.
Karkok smirked at the orange Yoshi as he told
“A promise that needs to be kept,” Lich replied with a sigh.
“A promise? A Yoshi, especially one like you with a price on their head is coming into the Realm to keep a promise? To whom?”
“A friend, who died.”
“I see. That sort of promise.”
“What can you tell me about the Gr’tokoru?”
“The Gr’tokoru?” Karkok drew in a breath through his teeth. “Do you know of a place called Ket’nalkok?”
“Yes,” Lich answered quickly. “What about it?”
“Well, they’ve been trying to get the governance of the place for years. Many dirty tricks have taken place…you’re not going up against them, are you?”
“Yes.”
Karkok took a step back.
“You’re mad.”
“I am?”
“Ket’nalkok grows the food, the Gr’tokoru deliver. They’ve got a lot of power and many links in high places...”
“To the KBT?”
“Some.”
“If I were to neutralise them, would I have the KBT after me?”
“If you merely breathe within the Realm after what you did, the KBT will be after you. They probably know where you are.”
“We crossed the border unnoticed.”
“No-one crosses the border unnoticed.”
“We did. There are now no witnesses.”
Karkok fell silent and shook his head, then said, “A few dead soldiers will make you more than noticed. Besides, they have pressure pads in the road, and can trace someone back to the last crossing and whether or not they are coming or going.”
“So they know what we did, then.”
“What, yes. Whom, I doubt, thankfully. They will begin searching tonight, I’m sure. Keep a look out – there’s nothing I can do about them. And if they come here, make sure you get out before they find you, otherwise I’m in as much trouble as you are for harbouring you. I’ve got to get back down there before people get really suspicious. Good luck, Mister von Kippo. Now, can I have fifty coins, please.”
Lich concentrated for a moment as he entered his Mana Storage, a place in his mind where he could keep almost anything. A black wallet appeared in his hand out of thin air. He opened it and gave Karkok a fifty-coin note. The Koopa thanked him and left the room as Lich returned the wallet to his Storage, shutting the door behind him.
“I
don’t see how you are able to fraternise with Koopa dirtbags,
Dy,”
Lich paused mid-step as he walked towards his bed.
“May I suggest you keep our parents’ sentiments to yourself,” he snarled, then sat down on the bed.
“Look,” Lich turned, “times have changed. You remember when we came to Yamauchi the first time?”
“Yes,
I remember how you got sick in the warp from and to Fa’diel,”
“You remember how Dad got upset when he heard that Dinokan had been sunk and said an anti-Koopa sentiment?”
“Yes…I do…and the flight attendant got all upset,” he said.
“Well,
it’s like that with me, too. Times have changed. When I was at Luka College, my Yamauchian
Studies teacher, Syoro Ki,
told me, ‘It’s not the Koopas who are evil; it’s who commands them.’ You’re
looking at an entire race of enslaved, deluded people fed on propaganda and
living in fear of the KBT. It’s no wonder that many of them have fled into the
“But aren’t we here to…well…”
“Yes.”
“Why though? I never met this person.”
Lich paused, and shut his eyes. He seemed troubled as he rubbed his eyelids with his thumb and forefinger.
“You…well…look,” he said. He then sighed and removed his hand. “It’s a long story, and I’m not even sure of it myself.”