Wandering Princess

Codey and his friends retrieved gazes at the gigantic turtle as they saw it open its massive mouth.

"Waaaah! It's going to tear us apart with is fangs! Have some mercy!"

They all braced themselves into a guarding position as they called out for their weapons only to see the turtle yawn and spew out saliva, with confusing others and paused them in its tracks. It turned away, slowly and continued to stroll forward with is large feet stomping on the ground, causing the ground to bounce others up.

Elliott's eyes narrowed as he pulled for his pen, which he had tucked behind his ear, and pulled out a sharp blade.

"That turtle made a fool of me!"

Nina slid on the sand in front of Elliott, her arms lifted in front of her chest, as she waved left and right, a worried expression on her face and sweat streaming down her brow.

"Now, now! Elliott, take it easy. Don't attack it. It's just going away."

Elliott wiggled his butt left and right, clapping his hands together and smooching with his lips forward, as his eyes formed pink hearts.

"Whatever you say my darling angel!"

As he proceeded to examine the turtle's shell, Ellie puzzled why it was ascending. He drew his arms across his chest and let out a disappointed sigh while sweating from humiliation. Others stared at him and listened intently to his brief speech.

"I honestly believed we'd have to use force to push it off our route. I suppose certain large beasts aren't too bothersome. Turtles, on the other hand, are completely harmless, so I'm not sure why we were so concerned. It was only different in that it had a larger body and a rockier shell. I was able to see the heart. The most stunning, innocent, and wonderful turtle. I'm sure its existence was inconvenient! Just because she's cute, I want to give her a big bear hug."

"You certainly had some unusual inner thoughts, and how do you know it's a female? We should not pass judgment on its sex."

"Hey! Every turtle is referred to as a female by me! Don't disrespect me just because some compassionate miracles have broken through my brain's hole!"

"I didn't even make an attempt to offend you."

"You insulted my decision on giving her a gender."

"You moron, the turtles have both genders, and we didn't even know what it was."

While the two of them proceeded to argue over a turtle's gender the girls, along with Natan heard a feminine voice while Elliott continued to circle around them with love hearts floating around his body, who spoke in the back with miracle of romance.

"That's a Mount Shell Turtle, right there. This desert is its home. It's extremely common in these locations and is completely harmless, although many people are afraid of it because of its size. It rests beneath the sand to avoid direct sunshine, and cool down, but once it has cooled down, it travels on and continues the process."

The girl at the top of the hill was dressed similarly, with a hood over her head and a brown penguin standing behind her, staring down at them.

"Is that a penguin?"

She carefully removed her hood, and Elliott immediately fixed his gaze on her, collapsing to the floor with his heart pounding loudly.

"Another angel came to see me! This is the best day of my life!"

"Who...?"

"Oh, don't mind him! He's just plain and simple, so basically dumb. But, what about you? Are you a traveler through these deserts?"

"You could call me that, but most of the time I'm just looking for something. Sorry for forgetting to introduce myself. My name is Ireene, and I'm a citizen of The Golden Wasakona."

Karisa and Nina were immediately intrigued by her motivation for traveling through the desert, but they were nonetheless taken aback by the situation.

"The Golden Wasakona? That's excellent! We've been trying to get there, but haven't been able to find our way through the desert. Do you think you could help us out? We'd really appreciate some help."

"You'd like to visit Wasakona? But for what reason? Don't you understand that going there is a risk of your lives being cut short? Many people tried to visit the kingdom, but due to our ruler, most of them had to go through a long and dangerous trial."

Natan raised his head with his arms tugged inside his pockets and quickly dragged out a poster that he received from the Oxfell Arton.

"You must be talking about, Byron, right? A "Sea Noble" and pirate with a high bounty of $75,000,000."

"So you're aware of him as well? Yes, I'm afraid so. He's a cruel dictator who decided to jail the king in order for him to take over the Golden Wasakona's reigns. He's been attempting to force our king's approval ever since he took over the Golden Wasakona, but we're fortunate that the king has declined his request. Byron, on the other hand, has been using the situation and forcing people into slavery if they survive the trial. There's no stopping him, and the world government hasn't intervened because of the "Sea Nobles" reputation and the fact that he's part of them."

"The world government is a complete failure for the entire world. They only do one thing: hide in the shadows, waiting for an opportunity to assault or imprison pirates. We'd previously seen the 'Foremost Agents,' but all we got out of it was an injured companion who was also suffering from desert fever. Due to the requirement of departing Oxfell Arton, we've been trying to find a doctor, but there were no islands closer to us than the Golden Wasakona. So, please, we need to find a doctor as quickly as possible for our friend. I can't just let her die because I was powerless to defend her once she was punctured."

"Huh? I don't understand. All of you look fine."

"Y-Yeah, none of us are hurt, but our captain who has been keeping her safe has vanished from our group, and we have no idea where he went. The sunlight is simply too harsh, and I'm not sure how or when he left us alone. I knew he struggled with navigation, but getting lost in such a short period of time is completely inexcusable."

"I could bring you to the Golden Wasakona, but I really just can't allow myself to do it. I'm sorry..."

"What are you talking about? We just need a doctor, so please help us."

"As I said earlier. I'd like to help, but our town's only doctors were enslaved by Byron, and there's only one doctor remaining in the kingdom who's not, and we have no idea where she went."

Between Karisa and Ireene's conversations, Codey took a step forward and stood there in silence for a few seconds.

"Ireene, please... We've gone across the ocean, and with our friend on the verge of death, we can't just give up now. In the midst of our chat, her wounds are deep and her disease is worsening. We would greatly appreciate your help, at the very least, directions."

Ireene pressed her hand against her chest with others pleading with their heads and confident gazes which was ruined by Elliott's sudden interruption, who leaped over the air like a ballerina and suddenly landed in a kneeling position with his arms raised like swan.

"How thoughtful of you to express care for us, but a sweet angel like you shouldn't be concerned about people like us! I've come to lend a hand, expecting you to accept my dashing hand so that we can finally discover true peace and love."

Karisa's jaw grew in rage as she chased him down and slammed the top of his head, screamed at him, grabbed the back of his collar, and yanked him away.

"Put an end to your frivolous romance! It's not going to help!"

"Why do you always have to ruin my relationship? Karisa, am I truly that important to you? How sweet of you to accept my affection."

She spun around and pounded the top of his head again in wrath as she yelled at him, giving him the third bump.

"You weren't in a relationship in the first place! Who would accept your arm if you're acting like a fool?"

"...You're so sexy when you get angry... It was definitely worth the trouble..."

Natan waited for Karisa to drop Elliott on the floor and then finally managed to speak back to her with a very calm expression and a soothing voice as he once again begged for her assistance.

"I'm sorry to bother you with questions, but are you by any chance the Golden Wasakona's royal daughter known as Princess Ireene."

"W-What? You know me? But how is that possible? Was I careless with keeping my identity...?"

"A princess?!"

"The mark on your forehead was accidentally exposed as it slipped from beneath your hair. Although I am not a resident of this island, I have been educated a great deal about it. From the way it was constructed to the royal family's signature ritual. I've heard that the king or queen would mark the baby with a particular sign someplace on their bodies when they were born, so that people could distinguish the difference between a regular civilian and a royal blood person."

"I guess I'm too naive to think I'd be able to conceal my true identity from passing strangers... I'm sorry, but I really don't want anyone to know who I am, so even though you know who I am, I'd really appreciate it if you could keep this between us a secret. There's a reason I'd like to keep this mark hidden, so please heed my request. Even though I know I shouldn't trust strangers, I'm hoping you won't divulge who I really am."

Karisa and Nina chuckled in return, but nodded with a gentle smile, when Karisa suddenly understood the situation.

"Don't worry. Your secret is hidden with us. We'll gladly comply with your request if you don't want to be identified by the people of this city or anyone else. We're not some rogue pirates that want to reveal important information about someone or anything."

"Thank you very much. I really appreciate your approval."

"Of course! But, please, we'd like to ask for your assistance one last time. I beg of you to bring us to the city, and we'll look for the doctor by ourselves if necessary."

Codey and his friends noticed that Ireene had been hiding another thing that she wanted to avoid telling, but soon she smiled, and finally accepted their request.

"I understand. You keeping the secret should be fairly acceptable. So, I'll bring you to the Golden Wasakona. However, the journey may be tough and there's a couple of areas that we might need to go through. I'll also share all the information about our island when necessary."

"You really will?! Thank you so much, Princess Ireene."

"Just Ireene is fine. But, you mentioned about your captain. If he holds your friend, then we need to find him, so that we can traverse together."

"Y-Yeah... I'm sure we'll find him soon."

Soon, Ellie decided to finish with another question who scratched the side of his head and continued to think about something that seemed important to him.

"Can I ask you something?" The princess nodded in response.

"What's with the penguin? Shouldn't he be in a more chilly area?"

The penguin raised its wing and bleated loudly in response of the uncommon question that came out of nowhere.

"Oh. This here is Tubby. He's a friend of mine. I first met him when I was a child. He was thirsty and was looking for some water. He belongs to a different species of penguin that favors warm environments to frigid ones. He's the polar opposite, which explains why his body is warmer in hue. The Desert Penguins are what we call them, and there are only a handful of them in the Golden Wasakona. They are, nevertheless, quite friendly and harmless to people. Basically, I spent a lot of time with him during my childhood, and we became great friends during that period. He's been accompanying me wherever I've gone. He's a lot of joy to be around."

"I sure never expected penguins to have the complete opposite versions that the ones that I'm used too."

"Yes, when people see him for the first time, they are taken aback. However, they rapidly become friends with him, particularly the children. He's upbeat and amusing."

"It's nice to meet you, Tubby!"

Nina chuckled and smiled as she crouched in front of him, shaking his wing quickly. They both chuckled in return, as the rest of the group was taken aback by Tubby's antics.

"Well, I suppose we should be looking for Tim. We need to find him as soon as possi-"

Spoken about Tim's whereabouts a sudden commotion once again met their eyes as they saw a gigantic wall of sand bursting out from the floor. They shouted in fear and shock and noticed how two massive claws came rubbing out of the sand, followed by a massive body of a crab with two people seated on top of its head.

"NOW THERE'S A MASSIVE CRAB?! THIS IS CRAZY!" Screamed Elliott who leaped into the air from fear and resumed to feel astonished by the wild creatures found in the Golden Wasakona.

"Wait, guys. Somebody's riding it."

Upon Ellie's comment they each looked at the top and saw a familiar face with a big smile and raised arm waving at them.

"Hey, guys! Look, I found ourselves a ride! Now we can course through this desert without too many difficulties!"

"IT'S TIM?! AND TOMOMI?!"

"Holy crap! Since when did you know how to tame wild beasts like that?! You're absolutely nuts!"

Tim in response only laughed while Ireene and Tubby looked at him with quite amusing face and confusion stuck in their mind.

"Looks like we won't be visiting the Golden Wasakona with empty tummies!"

As Tim drooled and had been heard by the crab, the crab sweated and quickly lost control that forced Tim to lose balance and bounce off its head through the air toward the bottom and sand, while he screamed and stretched his arms forward.

"Tomomi! Hurry, grab Ayuka!"

Tomomi pressed her sole into the crab's rough body, picked up Ayuka, and jumped into the air, floating through the air while the enormous crab rolled over toward Tim's friends, who screamed when they saw the massive shadow covering the tops of their heads.

"We're going to get crushed!"

Before the crab roared and lowered its weight onto Tim's small body, they dispersed like wild birds and flew in different directions, leaving Tim alone on the floor with his face embedded in the floor. The sand bounced in the air and blanketed the area, leaving the others stunned and perplexed. They then observed Tomomi slowly float toward the ground, untouched by Ayuka's corpse.

Tim, crushed by the weight.

"YOU IDIOT?! DO YOU KNOW HOW TO BE CAREFUL?! AYUKA COULD REALLY BE IN DANGER!"

"Hahaha! Don't worry! She was saved by Tomomi."

"So, what?! What if Tomomi wasn't around?! That fall would just injure Ayuka's body even more!"

Tim rubbed the top of his head while smiling and closing his eyes, then felt his back give out and drop on the floor, a white soul flying out of his mouth.

"There goes my 602 bones..."

"You only have 206, idiot!"

Their journey continues...