"So, you escaped from the elders?"

Miya was attempting to make small talk as she and her yellow companion hiked through the jungle. Meekachu was desperately pressing on through the vast growth, as if he were running from a tidal wave incoming behind him. Miya was following as best she could, trying all the while to understand what was happening, and what Meekachu had to do with it. The answers she had received thus far were a little too vague for her taste.

"Yes, I managed to escape before I was brought to trail before my brothers. Unfortunately, I had to force my way out, which meant fighting one of my better friends, Charbok," Meekachu willingly supplied, still not dropping his swift marching pace. He snapped an obstructing twig out of his path with a swing of his arm.

"Oh..." Miya patiently accepted that input. "So, are the elders looking for you now?"

The yellow yoshi sighed, venting some tension. "I can almost guarantee they are," he confirmed. Meekachu slowed to a stop, making his first break from fleeing that whole day. His arms dropped heavily to his sides, and he kept his back turned to the pink yoshi.

"Miya..." he began, his voice soft and low. Meekachu's gaze slowly crawled off the ground and climbed the nearest tree. His eyes roamed amid the jungle canopy, as lost as his thoughts.

"...You know I've always wanted what's best for you, don't you?" he finally asked.

Miya nodded, already uneasy about where this conversation was going. She watched Meekachu fold his arms over his chest and anxiously drum his fingers on the tips of his elbows. The claws on his feet fidgeted with the loose soil beneath them and sifted the grains of dirt between his toes. The yoshi's countenance acquired a pensive look, as if he were in deep deliberation over something.

Eventually, he found words for this thoughts. "Miya, I want you to know I'm sorry for all I've put you through these past few days. I didn't mean for any of this to happen. And, well... As much as I nee--want," he mended his words, "your company right now... especially now... it would be selfish of me to risk your life again for the sake of my..."

His eyes glistened with the buildup of water, and Meekachu closed them, pushing back the growing tears.

"...I can't escape the elders."

Miya didn't immediately grasp what he meant. She drew closer to him, forcing the yoshi to meet her questioning stare.

"What do you mean you can't? Then why have you been running all this time?"

Meekachu bowed his head with shame. "I have been foolish. I knew the whole time I'd never be able to run from the elders forever. I've been fooling myself..."

His voice began to break. "...But I can't... I can't run any longer. I know what's going to happen, but I don't want you to get caught in it. It's just not fair to you, Miya. You're still so young. ...You've already lost everything."

Miya shook her head sympathetically. "No. No, that's not true. What's happened isn't your fault, Meekachu. M'hakashan wasn't your fault! What are you trying to say?"

The yellow dinosaur sniffled. "You have to... go, Miya."

Miya blinked. "What? Go where?"

He came back, stronger. "Get away. From here. From me. Right now."

She vehemently shook her head. "What? No! I can't! Why??"

"No, you have to, Miya," Meekachu insisted. "You have to get as far away from me as you can. When the elders come, they'll--"

Distant shouting stole both yoshies' immediate attention. The sounds of nearby rustling signaled that something was traveling the jungle. It was something big... Or, lots of little somethings.

Miya was on full alert. "What's that?" she asked, taking the precaution to whisper.

Meekachu fixed his eyes on the thrashing vegetation ahead. "I... don't know."

The noise intensified, as did the shouting, but the sounds were so meshed with the wave-like crashing of leaves as to be rendered indecipherable. Miya and Meekachu glanced to each other, probing for advice, but neither was sure of what to do, so silence was answered with silence.

Deliberately careful, Miya crawled toward the far-off clamor, and Meekachu decided to follow. As they neared the source, voices were distinguished.

"...So, you decided to sneak around behind our backs and take the dragon for yourselves?"

"You underestimate our sense of honor, my dear Piewa. We were merely assuring that it wasn't YOU who was sneaking around behind OUR backs!"

"Nonsense! You know you came for the dragon! You lowly slugs think we're stupid enough to just let you walk right up to it??"

"Who's speaking nonsense? How do we know that you weren't just going to take Marawok for yourself while we weren't looking??"

The quarreling appeared to originate from a clearing of trees that the two yoshies spotted not far from their position.

"That sounds like Caimon," Meekachu barely recognized one of the shouters. He turned to Miya. "What's he talking about? And what did I hear about Marawok?"

Miya nearly smacked herself for the absurdity of the situation. She rolled her eyes. "Oh, after M'hakashan erupted, the king dragon was speared right off the shores of the big river, supposedly by a Piewa hunter. The Mulhollens say otherwise. They're fighting over the dead body."

"Hrmph," Meekachu grunted, mildly humored by this. "Pointless squabbling."

"Tell me about it."

The pair continued to eavesdrop on the two tribes.

"...I wasn't going out for this, but I say we settle this dispute right here, right now!" Caimon daringly proposed. "What say you, Mulhollens??" he queried the band of spear-armed yoshies to his back.

"YEAH!" arose an enthusiastic cheer from the sizeable group; at least a dozen yoshies or more.

"You want a fight now?" the Piewa leader invited the Mulhollens to confirm their challenge.

"You bet we do!" Caimon cockily answered. "We can pulverize you any day, any time! That dragon is ours, and you know it, clear as day!"

A cross look seized the Piewa leader's expression. He bared his teeth in a snarl, and aggressively stamped one foot on the ground before him. "Fine, your challenge is met, Mulhollens! We fight right here! Winner takes Marawok!"

An eager roar issued from the Piewa camp. They matched, if not bettered, the Mulhollen's numbers, which brought the total in that palm-fringed clearing to nearly thirty dinosaurs.

"Oh no..." Miya released both words in a single breath. "I can't believe they're actually going to fight over it!"

And yet they did. As swiftly and with as much of a racket as a bolt of lightning ransacking a cloud, a yoshi from one tribe leapt at one of the other, and the battle commenced. The clashing tribes wrought such a discord that no creature to break the jungle's serenity short of a dragon ever rivaled it.

A scarlet Piewa warrior, clad in an elaborately patterned headband, whipped out a short, ragged blade fashioned of chipped flint. With it, he tumbled past the driving point of a Mulhollen spearhead, sprang into the air, and brought the dragger across the nose of another, distracted yoshi. The cut dinosaur reeled from the attack, gripping his sliced face and fighting to suppress the flow of blood escaping the fresh gash. He hardly released a wail before a foreign spear drilled through his back and broke the skin on the front of his chest. The impaled yoshi cringed with a jerk, yet again caught off-guard. The pointed weapon retracted, dislodging a spray of crimson that freckled the face of the teal-skinned yoshi behind the stabbing. The fatally wounded creature sucked in one more quivering breath before toppling over to sleep with the grass patches forever.

Caimon and the Piewa commander were grappling with each other, oblivious to the surrounding rumble that comprised the surging battle. The green yoshi swung a cane pole at his opponent's head, but the Piewa warrior smartly ducked under the swipe and countered with a wide uppercut. The Mulhollen staggered back, stunned by the blow enough that a second later his feet failed him and he staggered over backwards, throwing up a small cloud of dust as he hit the ground.

Seizing his opportunity, the Piewa charged for the downed fighter, but Caimon clung to the cane in his hand and swept it out, level with the ground. It caught the Piewa's heels, and the orange yoshi was felled with a short yelp. Both dinosaurs sprang to their feet, at even odds once more. Caimon experimented with the pole again, but the Piewa warrior's patience with it was already tried. His hands flew up to block the swing, and nimbly latched onto the tip of the long stick. The look of surprise that stuck to Caimon's face was quickly replaced with a grimace of pain as the orange dinosaur snatched the pole away with a hard tug and twirled it around to bear upon Caimon's tender, distended nose.

Caimon hopped backwards with a harsh yell, his hands adhering to the germinating bruise on the top of his snout. His lapse of attention provided ample time for the Piewa leader to land a heavy punch to the green one's gut. Caimon stumbled back and found the floor again, this time searching for air in gulps.

From her vantage point within the thick of the jungle, Miya looked on over the scene, entirely dumbfounded and horrified at the same time.

"Those idiots!" she raved, "Don't they even realize what they're fighting over?? A stupid dead dragon?!"

"The quaintest things can start battles. Even less has brought wars," Meekachu poetically recited.

After a long glance between the bloodshed and her adoptive father, Miya said simply, "You have to stop it."

When the grave implications of her remark caught up with Meekachu, the yoshi nearly lost his bearings in shock.

"What?! Me?"

"You're an elder, aren't you? If what you say is true then you have the power to do something!" Her demeanor pleaded earnestly with him. "Please, Meek!"

His focus was lured over to the battlefield. His eyelids curled up skeptically as a sense of doubt kicked in.

"You really think I can?"

The pink Yoshi, however, was confident. "You're an elder, right?" she repeated. "You have the power to make this stop."

"I was an elder, once," he corrected her. His line of sight drooped to the ground. "...I won't be for long."

"So?" Miya persisted. "You still are right now, and you should do what you can while you still can do it. I mean, look what's happening!" She indicated the brawling yoshies with an outstretched hand. "They're killing each other, Meek! You have to do something!"

Meekachu sized up his daughter for a moment, aiming to find the meaning behind her suggestion, and perhaps a reason to question her faith as much as he questioned his own. As much to his dismay as his surprise, he couldn't find a trace of uncertainty. When his stare was returned with genuine seriousness, Meekachu understood her noble intent. If anything, she craved a resolution--an end to the violence. Her heart was set to intervene through any means necessary, the personal cost be damned--even if she must dive into battle, herself. It could have been a paternal impulse to prevent this rash commitment that pushed Meekachu into action.

"Okay..." He reluctantly nodded. "Okay, I'll do what I can."

Wary of fulfilling this verbal promise, yet willing to try anyway, Meekachu stood up, breathed in a whiff of courage, and broke free of the jungle flora masking his eavesdropping. He marched boldly into the space devoid of trees, approached the mass of combatants, and stopped just on the outskirts of the battle.

The yoshies were incognizant of his company. They continued to pummel each other with sticks, knives, fists, tongues, or anything available. Already a body count was rising, one at a time, and a handful more were knocked senseless, left on the ground right where they fell to doze away the rest of the struggle.

Meekachu set about to create a diversion, and hopefully a lasting one. With a deep sigh, his eyes drew closed, and his arms opened out to his sides, the palms held outward. His lips barely moved to a voiceless chant. Seconds passed like this, before his hands took on a luminous yellow tinge. The glow, as a fine mist, gradually snaked up and around his arms, and spread over his body as Meekachu's chanting grew louder and more forceful.

Before long, his entire figure was consumed with a yellow vapor, one that so acutely matched his personal color that an actual yoshi was hardly discernible from the light. When Meekachu's whispered chant tapered off into silence, he unveiled his eyes: a pair of brilliant, solid orbs, flared yellow like those of an anger-piqued dragon. The yoshi raised his arms, proffering his exposed palms to the heavens. A final word set the spell into motion.

"Thunder!"

A funnel of wind captured Meekachu, and a crackling blast shot echoes across the jungle as a thread of lightning seared down from the cloudless abyss. The writhing bolt clung to the yellow yoshi, encasing him in a wall of electricity. The lightning then coalesced into Meekachu's outstretched palms, and with a heave he rained the fury of a storm onto the hoard of squabbling yoshies.

Everyone nearest the point of impact was thrown back through the air and sent barreling over the heads over the yoshies behind them. The remainder flew to the ground, stunned by the crash of lightning.

No one was hurt, as it was, for that would spoil Meekachu's purpose. Everyone was, however, shaken out of their wits. Rumbling thunder was left ringing in their ears as they peeled themselves off the jungle floor.

Caimon sat up, startled beyond coherent words. "Yo-yo-yo-shi...? W-what WAS that?!"

His sparring companion, also perplexed and unnerved, had no answer to give. The Piewa commander shook his head dumbly.

One Piewa warrior wildly scanned his surroundings, prying for an explanation for what very much seemed like a bolt of lightning in the middle of a clear day. His scouring turned up a suspiciously passive figure--a yellow yoshi--standing his ground on the rim of the field and overlooking the mess of spooked dinosaurs with what appeared to be a smug grin.

He jabbed an elbow into the yoshi next to him, who moaned his appreciation for the sharp jolt and wearily dragged himself up. "Ugh... what?"

"Who's that guy?" He pointed at Meekachu.

The disturbed yoshi squinted his eyes at the indicated one. "Uh... I don't recognize him. Is he Mulhollen?"

"I think so." A thought struck him. "Say, isn't he one of those guys with the bounty on their heads?"

Caimon, also searching the forest clearing, soon spotted the suspected yellow yoshi, as well. It took no less than two seconds for Caimon to recognize him.

"Meekachu?!"

The yellow one snapped his head to meet the voice, and a wry smile smeared over his features. "Oh, hi Caimon," he greeted his former acquaintance with mock casualness.

Other members of the Mulhollen tribe quickly realized who was there, and what he meant to their queen.

"It's Meekachu!"

"Didn't he help the slave prisoners escape?"

"Yeah, Queen Lucia wants him captured!"

"NO," Caimon corrected everyone while clambering to his feet again. He glared his irritation at the yellow dinosaur. "She wants him DEAD. What are you doing here, Meekachu?!"

Meekachu was taken aback by the news of his queen wishing his demise. His smile vanished from his face faster than a cat from a dog, and his eyes widened in expression of dreadful surprise. "I beg your pardon?!"

"You heard me--dead," Caimon spat as he reached to the ground near his feet and rearmed himself with his cane pole. "And if you'll forgive me, I'm favored right now to follow her orders, you traitorous coward..."

"Traitorous??" Meekachu echoed, both confused and mildly offended by the appellation.

A Piewa hopped upright and stabbed a finger in Meekachu's direction. "I remember now! There IS a bounty out for him!"

A second concurred. "Yeah, there is!"

"Let's get him!"

The entire group turned on Meekachu, their eyes instilled with a hungry look and their teeth bared in treacherous snarls. The mob slowly advanced on him like a pride of lions, anxious that their prey might bolt away if they approach too suddenly.

Meekachu's pupils shrank to the size of marbles and he froze in his place, petrified and alarmed by this drastic turn of events. In hindsight, it would have been a good idea to figure in a plan for escape while plotting this reckless diversion.

"Um... er... uh..." Meekachu stammered. 'RUN!!' reverberated in the cage of his skull.

"NO!" cried the jungle's skirting. Miya leapt from hiding and stood firmly in front of the yellow yoshi, her back to him and her arms stretched out to her sides as if to shield him. "Don't hurt him!" she begged.

The warriors paused in their tracks, unsettled by the arrival of yet another stray yoshi. As in the yellow one's case, it didn't take long to place a name to a face. Caimon shouldn't have been surprised; where Meekachu went, Miya was sure to follow. Even so, the shock of finding her couldn't be repressed. "Miya??"

A Piewa broke from his fellows and glowered at the pink one, his extended finger aimed right at her. "YOU!"

Miya peered at him strangely before recognition struck her mind. "Oh...!" She grinned, in the same fashion as Meekachu upon first seeing Caimon. "Nice to see you again. How's the nose?"

"Grr... I'll show you what a broken nose feels like!" he flung himself into a tantrum, his anger nearly boiling over. "And this time, you won't have your little fox friend to help you!"

"Get them, quickly!" Caimon demanded of the mobs, both Piewa and Mulhollen.

All were glad to comply. The group raced towards the two yoshies, as determined now to have their heads as they were to have each other's moments ago.

Meekachu swallowed the lump in his throat and spoke over Miya's shoulder. "I think we're in trouble."

A soul-shattering roar showered from the heights. Their feet glued to the earth, every yoshi snooped around the jungle, perplexed as to the source of such a hideous wail. Seeping through the crowd was a word choked with awe and pure terror.

"D-Dragon..."

As several others passed on the word, the muttered phrase grew into a shout of panic.

"Dragon! DRAGON!!"

Cued onto the scene, a shadow zipped overhead. Looking skyward, the yoshies beheld a hovering dark blotch, circling overhead like a vulture. It took the shape of a winged menace, poised to crash upon the cowering dinosaurs. As if the present threat weren't enough, Miya sighted even more lithe, winged shapes, sailing across the jungle-carpeted landscape from the smoking mountain poking at the clouds in the background. The yoshi-stuffed clearing lied directly in their path.

"Dragons!" Miya hollered, emphasizing the plural.

The hovering monster of immediate concern slicked back its wings, rejecting the wind keeping it afloat, and dropped into the dinosaurs' midst with a rumbling thud of impact to announce its arrival. A hellish shriek was conjured from its throat and it reared up on its hindquarters, its wings unfurled and its front claws held out menacingly. Any yoshi nearby scrambled away like startled sheep, abandoning their weapons and their fighting gusto right where they lay.

As Miya, quieted by terror, watched the monster, Meekachu stole a glance at the pink one and spoke aloud the confirmation of his fears.