A Yoshi's Stolen Heart

Chapter 3: Castle and Caldera

The three friends hurried out of the desert, eager to finally escape the heat. Awaiting them were the rolling grassy hills, where they hoped to have an easy pass to Bowser's Castle. The only issue? None of them actually knew where the castle was. As welcoming as the gently blowing winds and blue skies above were, they didn't mean much when the three were wandering aimlessly. Their best bet was to ask someone for directions, which they did once they saw a few Skipsqueaks running in place on some of the rolling hills.

"Excuse me, do you know how we can get to Bowser's Castle?" asked Yosher. Instead of answering, the Skipsqueak he asked ignored him and continued to jog in place.

"Best not to bother them. Those Skipsqueaks are serious about getting their exercise," Tiny pointed out. Not one to give up so easily, Yosher continued on and asked the next person he saw, a passing-by Goomba in a Havana hat.

"No, not really, but I'm sure you could get there by following the road signs," he told the three, before going back to walking. It wasn't the info they were hoping for, but Yosher and Tiny figured it was better than nothing.

"Barry, can you keep an eye out for any of those road signs?" asked Tiny as he and his friends continued down the path.

"You can count on me!" exclaimed the Boo, floating up and zooming around to scan the surrounding area. The three walked for a few minutes before Barry spotted something up ahead.

"Look! It says which way Bowser's Castle is!" he said, proudly pointing at the decrepit, worn-down sign he had found.

"I dunno. It looks like a pretty cruddy sign. Who knows how long it's been there, or if it's even accurate," noted Barry, clearly skeptical of the degraded arrow, which had fallen over in the meantime.

"Well, it's worth a try. Besides, it's not like a castle can move around, right?" responded Yosher, who eased his friends forward. The plains passed by as they walked, day turned to night, and night turned to day until finally, the three had reached their destination. Or at least, what they thought was their destination. At the edge of the green hills lay a fortress of gray stone, one that towered over the small rolling hills they had been passing through.

"Wow! What a huge castle!" exclaimed Yosher, wagging his orange tail in excitement.

"Yeah! It's even bigger than our mansion!" added Barry. The Boo and Yoshi were certain this was Bowser's Castle, but Tiny had his suspicions.

"Well, it definitely is a castle. But it seems kinda small to me," he said. Yosher tilted his head.

"Maybe Bowser had to downsize. And if it isn't Bowser's Castle, whose castle is it? There can't be that many people living in big castles," he responded. Tiny shrugged, not really having a good response, so Barry and Yosher took that as a chance to head off to the fortress in front of them.

As they stepped up to the towering castle, the three found themselves draped in darkness. The bright blue sky of the hills disappeared under the enormous shadow the fortress cast. If that weren't ominous enough, the spiked castle door opened on its own, inviting the three in to discover what lay within. Inside, Yosher, Tiny, and Barry saw an enormous staircase, lined with red carpet and lit by metal torch sconces.

"Homey," Tiny sarcastically remarked. He and his friends began their ascent up the royal staircase, watching out for any sign of trouble as they climbed. When the castle began to feel deserted, two Spikes hopped out of their crevasses in the wall to prove that notion wrong.

"Intruders!" they yelled in unison, only to spit out spike bars and begin throwing them. Yosher and Tiny dove out of the way of the rolling hazards, but the Spikes weren't done with just one. One after another, they spit out more spike bars and chucked them down the stairwell.