Super Princess Peach

Ch. 10, Pt. 1

"Princess, can we stop?" Perry panted, floating steadily behind Peach. They'd been hiking through the woods for hours, and the sun was now high in the sky, tingeing it deep orange. The shadows from the thick deciduous trees and their branches thickened and lengthened. The heat of the day didn't cool though, and Peach felt a thick layer of sweat slickening her forehead. 

Peach bit her lip. Ladida Plains was far behind them. And it was probably still burning with the flames that she had created. She felt very guilty about that, but she was more concerned with whether or not they were being pursued. That's why they'd been walking for so long, to throw any following Goombas off their trail. 

But they hadn't heard any sounds of pursuit. And her toads looked really tired. 

"Okay," Peach said. "Let's rest and save our strength." 

"Thank goodness," Toadonelly gasped, collapsing to his knees. "I'm bushed!" 

The other toads began to sit down and catch their breath. Peach took a moment to glance at her surroundings. They were in a comfortably enclosed meadow with tall trees rimming around the outside. There was a small dip in the middle of the meadow, making the whole place curve slightly downward like a pit. Thick, healthy grass grew all around, with yellow flowers popping up here and there. It was an ideal place to set up a camp.  

"Let's camp out here," she told the toads and Perry. "We need to rest. We've all had a traumatic day." 

The toads gladly took the task with setting up camp with zeal. A couple of them began setting up some tents that they'd packed in their bags. Others cleared the area of debris like sticks or pine straw. Toadlee and a few other toadsset up a big tent in the far corner of the meadow.  

Peach watched them work, slightly dazed. It dawned on her why she was feeling so strange, so...relieved. Against all odds, Perry had been right: her tough toads had survived. They were here now, with her, and that were alive. She and Perry weren't alone on this island. 

Thank you, she thought, to no one in particular. Then, she cleared her head and set out to help. She went over to Toadlee and his friends and helped them adjust the tent, which kept leaning to one side. 

A toad came up to her while she was working. 

"Hey Princess, some of the other toads that aren't doing anything want to go scout for some food or water," he said. "Toadland said that he heard a river rushing by somewhere as we were retreating into the woods." 

"Good idea," Peach said. She was painfully aware of how dry and hard her own tongue felt. "I'm sure that everyone is really thirsty. Go ahead." 

While the toad rushed off to do his duty Peach inspected the rest of the camp. The sun was setting fast, and some of the remaining toads were making a fire in the middle of the camp from the debris that they'd cleared away earlier. Someone had gotten out a small pot and was boiling a ration of water over the campfire and stirring it steadily with a stick. Others were finishing setting up the tents and inspecting plants that rimmed the meadow, searching for anything that was edible. Remaining toads set to work coordinating lookouts and setting up a couple of watches around the camp. 

By nightfall, everything was in order. Over by the blazing fire, two toads were toasting thick-rooted plants over the flames and then placing each on a large leaf that served as a plate for each toad. Another was dishing out rations of dark liquid for drinks. Peach and Toadonelly had helped clear a small area around the campfire and roll some flat-ish logs that served as benches. Everyone got in line by the fire and was handed a "plate" of the strange toasted plants, a ration of bread, and a plastic cup of the brown liquid. Upon closer inspection and deep sniffing, Peach found that the dark liquid was actually coffee - without the doses of sugar or cream. She crinkled her nose and looked back over to the serving toad. 

"Where did you get this coffee from?" 

"Brought it with us, Princess, when we boarded the plane. The Mushroom Kingdom's military force can't operate without their decaf." 

Peach frowned. "Can I have water instead?" 

"The water we have is hot, Princess." 

"That'll be fine." 

"Suit yourself. Though I don't know why anyone in their right mind would voluntarily drink hot water." 

"Hey, no, I want some of this 'coffee'," Perry declared, floating behind Peach. "I'll need something good to wash down these crazy plants." 

After they received their rations of food, Peach and Perry went over to the campfire, where the toads who were not on watch were camped around, sampling their improvised dinner. As Peach approached, one of the toads stood up and bowed. 

"Princess," he said respectfully. "My name is Toadkins. I have something to tell you before you sit down and eat." 

Peach sighed. Her stomach was growling loudly. "Okay, what is it?" 

"I have something for you." Toadkins presented a large leather-brown suitcase with a pink handle. On the side in fancy pink script were two letters: PT. Peach's initials. 

"My suitcase!" Peach cried in euphoria. She rushed forward and took it from Toadkins. "Toadkins! This...where did you find it?" 

Toadkins smiled with pride. "We grabbed everything we could before we jumped off the plane," he reported. "I managed to grab your suitcase." 

"Thank you so much!" She knew that there was a clean change of clothes in the pack, and the knowledge made the clothes on her back suddenly feel battered and dirty. She was eager to change. Peach told Perry to look after her food and rushed off into the woods, letting a stationed lookout-toad know where she was going. 

Once she was sure that she was out of sight of everyone, she squatted and opened her suitcase. Surprisingly, it had suffered little damage during the devastating plane crash. Her weekend dress and her favorite lace-up pink boots were safely tucked inside, along with her Sunday cloak. Toadsworth had packed it for her - he must have imagined that the island would be a large collection of scattered towns and cities when he'd packed her wardrobe, not the vast and untamed wilderness that it really was. That also explained why there was only one change of clean clothes - he had to have thought that she would be able to wash her substitute pair and take a bath every once in a while. 

How wrong he'd been. 

Still, she was glad to have a clean pair of clothes to wear. She took off her dirty, raggedy princess dress that had a long tear on the side (from the cast) and tossed it aside. She then put on her weekend dress, which had a low cut across the chest and had short sleeves while the dress flowed down to her knees. Then, she eased out of her heels, which were killing her feet, and put on the relieving softness of her lace-up boots. She'd never worn them before, but she'd gotten them for her fourteenth birthday last year from her best friend Daisy Floral - they were for wear and tear and emergency situations, which was what she was in right now. 

Lastly, Peach put on the Sunday cloak. Her mother had bought it for her last Christmas and she usually wore it for church services, but now it would be a source of heat and shelter. She remembered the cold conditions she'd slept in when she and Perry were in the cave of the Vibe Necklace. Hopefully, her cloak would prevent that from happening from now on. Or, at least the conditions would be less severe. 

After she finished dressing, Peach folded up her raggedy, torn dress and placed it back in the suitcase under her muddy heels. She also took off her sapphire-blue earrings and placed them in a zipper in the suitcase. Vaguely, she wondered if she'd ever be able to go back and wear clothes like these again, or if she'd be stranded on Vibe Island with the constant threat of being killed. Petey had been dangerous. Were there others like him on the island that would slow her progress to Mario? 

From somewhere up above, there was an incredibly loud hooting of an owl. Peach snapped her head up, looking for the nocturnal bird, but there was nothing in sight.