Journey of the Toads

Chapter IV

Before we knew it we had arrived back in Toad Town. Unfortunately for us, our time there would have to be short since we had to get to Star Haven as quickly as possible so we could learn more about what that thing that kidnapped the princess is. Toadette and I said hey to our friends and did some quick shopping, but as soon as that stuff was done we made our way out of town to Shooting Star Summit. The quickest way there is the path which leads there from near Peach's castle so we got to see Toadsworth. After explaining to him that Bowser wasn't behind the princess's kidnapping and that we're heading to Shooting Star Summit to learn more about this new threat, he saw us off and wished us luck in our efforts. We made idle chit chat as we made our way from the castle towards the beautiful Shooting Star Summit.

After a somewhat short jaunt we made it to the base of Shooting Star Summit.
"Well we made it to Shooting Star Summit, but what do we do now?" I thought aloud. Immediately Starlow (who had been quietly resting in my pants) flew out and uttered a response.
"Well Toad the only way up to Star Haven is the Star Way, and the only way there is at the top of this mountain. Obviously the only thing we can do at this point is climb up to the top."
"Yeah Starlow I know that. I guess I was just being a dummy." I responded chuckling at my idiocy, but feeling sort of embarrassed. I continued, "Well if we need to get to the top of this mountain, then we better get started now. We don't have all day." Toadette who had been silent this whole time finally spoke.
"You're right Toad. We should get going instead of just standing here chatting!" With that we started our hike up the mountain. Starlow being who she is though decided to chill in my pants while Toadette and I did the hard hiking.

After a couple hours we finally reached the top of the mountain meaning we had arrived at Shooting Star Summit. I had never needed to come all the way up here before so the absolute beauty of this place was new to me. As we finished our ascent up I marveled at the beautiful stars that had fallen from the sky and had planted themselves in this very mountain. I was gazing at the stars so intently that I almost didn't notice the large star shaped gate that we had arrived at.
"Here we are! The entrance to Star Way!" Starlow said as she emerged once again. "Now leave this to me, you two. They don't let just anyone into Star Haven." Starlow then flew off towards the gate. Toadette and I looked at each other without exchanging any words then we followed Starlow.

We followed Starlow and we soon came to be right up close to the gate. On the gate was a button, and what looked to be a microphone above it with a speaker to it's left side.
"Watch and learn you two." Starlow said with a cocky intonation. She then drew back slightly and pressed the button with her foot. A high pitched beep sounded and then a bored sounding male voice came out from the speaker.

"Hello. May I ask who's speaking, and what business you have in Star haven?" Starlow gathered her words and answered the man.
"This is Starlow. I live here and I'm bringing two guests from the Mushroom kingdom here on urgent business." After a brief silence the voice responded.
Who might these guests be? As you know this place has much higher security than it used to."
"These are my friends Toad and Toadette. They're trusted higher ups in the Kingdom and they are coming here so that we can hopefully get some answers as to the kidnapper of the fair princess Peach Toadstool." There was a roughly thirty second silence and then the voice spoke again.
"Well I can't argue with that. You all may pass." There was another short beep and then the gate slowly opened.

Beyond the gate was a beautiful path which looked to be made of twinkling stars. It had a very ethereal look to it. Being honest, I wasn't so sure that Toadette and I would be able to walk on it. It almost looked like we would fall right through. Thankfully that wasn't the case and the two of us were able to walk on the path with relative ease.
"This must be Star Way." I said in awe. "I had an idea of what this place was like because of Mario's story where he came to Star Haven to reach Bowser's castle, but I could've never imagined it being quite like this." I looked over to Toadette and noticed that she had a worried look on her face. "Hey Toadette, Are you all right?" She gave me a slight smile and answered.
"Oh... yeah I'm doing fine, but... do you think this path is really safe to travel?"
"Of course it is!" Starlow butted in. "We've only ever had one person fall off Star Way and that was a really really long time ago. Ever since then we've had state of the art safety technology installed on the path that both preserves its beauty, and protects those who may walk along it." Starlow then flew straight to her right past me and off the trail. When she got no more than a couple inches off however, she bounced back off of some kind of invisible barrier of sorts. She then did the same thing but on the left side this time. "See Toadette. It's perfectly safe!" Toadette then looked much more relieved.
"Well that's a big relief." Toadette said. "Let's all go on ahead now. We shouldn't be wasting time here." And with that we set off on our way through Star Way. As we walked we all took in the beauty of both the starlit sky above us and the sight of the kingdom far below. Eventually Starlow perked up and shouted.
We're finally here!" She said as she flew fast ahead of us to a serene star filled settlement which was most definitely Star Haven.