Course To Central Wasakona

The sandstorm cleared enough during the night to keep Tim and his friends from experiencing any more bad weather. They awoke to a bright and sunny morning, then prepared for the adventure ahead of them. He received assistance by putting Ayuka on his back, and then stepped outside with the rest.

"'Kay, let's get going. First, we'll bring Ayuka to the doctor, then I'll go hunt down that "king" guy."

"I still can't thank you enough. I really didn't expect people like you to ever show up in Golden Wasakona."

Codey drew up his sleeves as he opened the door to the residence they had taken refuge in. With a neutral expression, he gazed at Ireene and then around the landscape, apparently wondering about the path.

"Save your thanks' for later, once we're done with this mess. Lead the way."

"Yes, all right! The capital city of the Golden Wasakona is located straightforward to the Western direction of Hatly. We should be there in a couple of hours if we don't stop."

"Couple of hours? I suppose we're not that far from it at all."

Karisa yelled and grabbed into her pocket, pulling out a bottle of water that made everyone thirsty. "It would seem that there is no more water..." She demonstrated to the others that there was not even a spray of water slipping out of the container by turning it upside down.

"You're kidding! It's the final stretch, and I haven't drank ever since yesterday's morning!"

Tim was perplexed, his face displaying a clear sign of hunger. His arms dangled in front of him, almost brushing the floor's edge, and he yawned loudly from the depression and nearly wobbled over onto the ground, where Karisa apologized and closed the bottle.

"I'm sorry, Tim, but there isn't any water left. I know it's a struggle, but you'll have to move on without it."

"Aw, that totally sucks! Guess there's nothing I can do about it, so let's just get moving and follow Ireene."

The rest of the group listened to Codey's next message, which he delivered to everyone as an introduction to their plan. It was largely based on a handful of strategies that involved breaking up into three groups; Group 'A' was in charge of getting Ayuka to the doctor. Group 'B,' which would join Ireene in rescuing their king from the jail, and Group 'C,' their main attacker's group, whose job was to keep Byron and his compatriots at bay, away from both Groups 'A' and 'B.' It was enough for them to more precisely and beneficially remove the kingdom's gloom.

"Ha?! Why am I on the group which involves the least action? I wanna fight!"

With Nina, Tomomi, and Ellie standing by him, Tim wondered who would be his assistants in the quest for the doctor. However, their strategy was still a little jumbled at the time, and several positions were simply impossible to execute without a good guide, such as identifying the capital's doctor.

"First and foremost, it's because you're responsible for keeping Ayuka safe and transporting her to the doctor. We need Ireene to take us to the king's jail, which is yet another vital responsibility for the current administration of the Golden Wasakona."

"I appreciate your perspective, Codey, but looking for a doctor without a lead is impossible. Even if Ireene provides us directions, the doctor may not be at home, and while we could ask the locals for assistance, I doubt they'd help since we're "pirates" to them. It would be far too little to ask them to help us in any manner."

"You make a good argument, and I understand that Ireene's father may be in terrible health and not in a hurry, but if we can drive Byron away and bring back the king, the locals will be more willing to share the directions with the rest of us. The king of Wasakona and our companion Ayuka are the two most crucial jobs, so the sooner Group 'B,' which includes me and Karisa, arrives at the jail and rescues the king, the sooner we'll be able to save Ayuka. After seeing us passing through their land, the locals would not dare to rescue us, just as you stated, Nina."

"I suppose Natan and Elliott have the least important job of these three options. I suppose that makes sense since both of them are dumb enough to take on the rescuing mission or navigation."

"EXCUSE US?!" Natan's and Elliott's loud screams reverberated around everybody who heard Karisa's accurate sentence and quickly steamed out from their noses, until Elliott quickly slipped toward Karisa with pressed palms together. The pink hearts were beating out of his eyes and chest as he chuckled and quickly accepted a rather "understandable" insult.

"You're right, my darling Karisa! You've got a good heart just like any other princesses do!"

Karisa pressed her palm on Elliott's forehead and pushed him away, moaned in regret, and then shifted her attention to Tim and the others.

"I suppose sending Tim alone isn't the best option either, since he's not the best at following directions, so Tomomi and Nina are accompanying him, but that should be it. Isn't Ellie a formidable warrior? Perhaps he should join Elliott and Natan."

"Nope, not a chance. I'm not going anyplace with individuals like them. I prefer not to deal with perverts or folks who are as uninteresting as Natan or Elliott. They're just not my type; I'm fine with any other group, but not theirs."

"How rude!"

"Then forget it... At the end of the day, I suppose Codey's idea was the best of all the others. That's fine, but I wish we had someone we could rely on to get Tim and the others to the nearest doctor."

Behind their backs, they heard a startling voice. They turned around to see Kou standing there with a barrel of water on his back, his shoulders held together by strong threads.

"I can help. I know exactly in which direction doctor Raya is, so there's no problem if I go with them."

After reminiscing his past of how he despised the pirates, Kou's most unexpected decision shocked the rest, yet despite that, he looked to have another essential purpose for the crew's better performance. He had enough water to quench everyone's thirst and restore their energy, and Tim's eyes twinkled with delight at the sight of the enormous barrel.

"We can help as well, as that is the least we can do to thank you for your support yesterday. We know how to get to the kingdom and where the king is positioned in the hallways. Princess Ireene will be able to help another group this way. I understand your distrust of us, but we, too, long for our king's return. He's also more familiar with people like us, so if we were the ones to save him, he'd comprehend the situation."

"Here's the water, like I swore. It may also be important to defeat Byron."

Kou dropped the barrel of water on the floor as Tim's body quickly leaped toward it like a jaguar and began hugging it with sparkles swinging around him, swirling on his face and having red cheeks as he smiled, where Ireene inquired.

"I didn't think you'd really go grab some water, but Kou... I don't understand why the sudden change of decision? Is there something you see in these people?"

Kou looked to the side, embarrassed and leaned his arms behind his neck, crossing them with murmuring mouth.

"I heard what he said yesterday. I-I guess I just want to help them... Don't ask any more questions!"

Tim quickly hopped onto his feet and to the side of Kou's shoulder as he began to laugh out loud and slap Kou's back without stopping.

"I knew you were a good guy!"

"Hey! Stop hitting me! Don't act like we're buddies now!"

"But we are! Just look at yourself! You shared water with us! That makes us friends!"

"That's not how this works! I said... Stop hitting my back!"

Despite Tim hitting Kou's back from happiness, Ireene spotted Kou blushing and quickly realized that his faith in them had grown.

("I haven't seen Kou showing so much trust before. I suppose what happened yesterday, sure made him change his mind. I'm quite glad that he finally managed to show some trust to some people.")

After that, everyone heard Codey's next message, which he shared with the others with a light grin.

"Well, if that's the case, then I suppose we can organize this plan a bit better!"

Upon everyone's agreement, with some of them being less excited to help, they each prepared for their plan in advance by drinking water and Codey sharing a brand new plan, and changed how the groups would proceed.

Group 'A' - Doctor Group involved; Tim, Nina, Tomomi, and Kou. Their mission is to transport Ayuka into the city and locate Dr Raya, who could treat Ayuka's injured and ill body. Kou played a role as the person who could persuade Dr Raya to help.

Group 'B' - King Rescue Group involved; The Sand Shark Surfers, Princess Ireene and Karisa. Sand Shark Surfers and Princess Ireene are their key members to entrust everyone's support into the king's decision. Their aim is to reach former king's jail and rescue him in order to hopefully restore the kingdom's peace.

Group 'C' - Invader Group involved; Codey, Elliott, Ellie and Natan, who acted as their main members to strike down Byron and his sidekicks, Their job is the hardest but the easiest to reach. Once their job of defeating Byron happened to be finished, their next mission would be to meet with Group 'B'.

The journey continues...