Journey of the Toads

Chapter II

    That day passed in a flash. All of my time was spent getting together all the stuff that Toadette and I would need for the Journey. I got all the necessities, and packed them into a backpack. Food, water, amap of the Kingdom, a tent, sleeping bags, power-ups and so on. By the end of the day the backpack was so heavy that I felt like Captain Toad when I was wearing it on the walk home from the Commercial District. When I got to my room the backpack immediately hit the floor making a loud thud as it hit the carpet. Unfortunately I had missed dinner since I was busy so I had to make do with raiding the castle kitchen for leftovers. After my reheated meal I finally changed, and got off my aching feet and into my bed. I was exhausted so sleep came easy that night, but I was still very nervous about the day that was to come.

    The morning came far faster than I would've liked. When I awoke the sun hadn't even begun rising yet. On any other day I would've tried to get back to sleep, but my nerves kept me from doing that today.

    As I drank my morning coffee, I reflected on the events that had transpired these past couple days. Peach had been captured by some unknown figure and both of the Mario Bros were missing.
    "Why did I even volunteer in the first place?" I pondered. "Couldn't we have just sent the Yoshi's to do it? Those guys saved them when they were just babies after all." I finished my beverage, and washed up. It was almost time for me to meet Toadette at the front of the castle. I hoisted my heavy backpack onto  my shoulders and slowly trudged to the castle lobby.

    We agreed to meet up at 8:00, but I decided that I would try and show up early, so I got there around 7:45. She had the same idea though because we both entered the room at the same time.
    "Um. Good morning Toadette." I said nervously.
    "Good morning Toad. I see you came prepared." She replied. She sounded just as nervous as I did.  We exchanged small talk with one another. I think we both wanted to delay the inevitable for as long as we could, but we both knew we couldn't put it off for very long.
    :So… do we have any idea where we gotta go?" Toadette asked.
    "Not really. I think the best place to check would be Bowser's castle. He's always causing trouble, so it makes sense to go there." I suggested.
    "Okie dokie. Let's head to Bowser's castle. It only  will take us about a day to get there. This mission will be a breeze!" The lovely mushroom girl replied clasping her hands together in front of her chest.. She sounded much more confident now, which made me more confident too.. Her confidence made sense since she had rescued Peach once before. She wouldn't have the Super Crown to help her this time though. Peach had all of them destroyed in a mass fire.
    "You're right! This is gonna be so easy. Let's go!" I excitedly said. We then made our way out of the gaping hole that was the front of the castle. The front doors hadn't been repaired yet.

    We stepped into the cool morning air The weather outside couldn't be more perfect. There wasn't a cloud in sight, there was a gentle breeze and the temperature was just right. As Toadette and I were bathed in the morning sunlight I felt something else come over me. It felt like there was someone headed our way. I knew Toadette felt it too because we both began looking around for whoever was coming. I finally saw it when I looked up into the sky. There was what looked like a yellow ball heading in our direction.
    "Hey Toadette! Look up there!" I shouted while pointing at what I saw. I had managed to get Toadette's attension, and she joined me in watching as this thing drew closer and closer.
    "What's up you two!: It said in a familiar voice. It was none other than Starlow. She wasn't around too much now-a-days, but She had aided Mario and Luigi several times in the past.
    "Hey Starlow!" I said excitedly. "How've you been lately?"
    "Oh I've been pretty good thank you!." She replied in a chipper voice. "So I was told by the Star Spirits that you guys are headed out on a little adventure and I just had to join in the fun. I'm so happy I caught you two just in time. I flew straight here when I heard the news about what happened, and how you two are gonna save those three. Please please please let me tag along with you. I've been absolutely dying to go on a new adventure lately."
    "Why of course you can!" Toadette giggled. "You know what they say. The more the merrier. It would be great to have another girl to talk with too."
    "What's that supposed to mean?!" I said in disbelief.
    "There's nothing wrong with you Toad. Hehe… it's just that there are certain things us girls like to talk about that boys like you wouldn't understand or care to hear about." Toadette said while smiling widely. Starlow looked at me, and then at Toadette and then she flew right up to my face.
    "So… can I please come along with you? Pretty please?" She pleaded. I begrudgingly accepted her request.
    "*sigh.* Fine. You can come with us."
    "Yipee!" She screamed as she flew all around the castle garden in excitement. I continued.
    "Just… please try and stay out of trouble."
    "Oh you don't have to worry about me. It'll almost be like i'm not even here hehe. But uh… hehe… is it ok if I stay where I did when I was traveling with the Bros? You know… for old times sake hehe." She said as she inched twards me.
    "I guess I don't see why not." I answered.
    "Thanks a bunch. You're the best!" Starlow said as she flew right up to me. "Now don't worry, This'll be kinda uncomfortable and awkward at first, but you'll get used to it in no time hehe." She winked and then immediately after she flew right into my pants. I felt a warm feeling in my pants that had not been there before. I don't know what Starlow did, and as she said it feels pretty awkward, but at least she's done talking for now. I looked over to Toadette who was unphased by the whole situation.
    "So should we be going now?" I asked.
    "Yeah let's go!" she cheerfully replied.

    And so we set off on our journey to Bowser's castle confident that we would find our fair princess and the noble bros there. We were seen off by a group of our friends as we left Toad Town's main entrance. Wemade a straight shot for the Evil Koopa's fortress Which thankfully didn't take us through any of the many dangerous areas throughout the kingdom. It was really great seeing all the typical sights along the way too, like the beach, the desert and the snowey mountains. All of them were off in the distance though as we were just walking down the straight dirt path that would lead us right to Bowser's part of the kingdom. The whole way there Toadette, Starlow and I were Talking about all kinds of stuff too like what we wanted for lunch the next day. I was able to sleep pretty easily that night. I was confident that the next day would be a great one. The next morning we awoke and gazed off into the distance at the mighty fortress that was our destination.