After a couple of hours of flight, the Hoo finally touched down onto the charred, rocky land of the Fury Volcano.
All around her, Peach could see nothing but charred rocks dry dirt. Dirt-covered hills rose into the distance, and the air quavered with heat. Against the backdrop of the blue sky, about five miles away, Peach could see a huge mountain rise, white at its top with snow. A great opening could be seen at the top of the mountain. It must have been the Fury Volcano.
"I leave you here," the Hoo crooned. "I dare not venture in any further." Peach slid off of her back, as did the other four. When they were all set, the Hoo stared into Peach's eyes and said, "Princess Toadstool, I wish you luck on your journey."
"Thanks," Peach said gratefully.
"You'll need it," the Hoo continued. "This lands are marred not just by magma, but with evil and foreboding as well. I have a definite feeling in my feathers that you will encounter trouble."
Toaddette and the others looked worried, but Peach said, "We'll handle it."
"I know you will. You are strong-willed and skilled people. However..." The Hoo spat something into the ground. It was a huge leaf that looked sharp and razor-edged. "No one can endure everything. At one point in our lives, all of us will reach our limits. And that is usually the best time to make an exit. Use this leaf here to call me if you need me." As Peach picked up the leaf, the Hoo added, "Fold the leaf in half and then blow along the edges. It gives off a discreet sound that only owls can hear. I will hear and I will come for you." The Hoo dipped her head. "Use it as a last resort."
"Thank you," Peach said again.
The Hoo nodded and unfolded her wings. "Farewell, Peach and company," she said. "I know you will succeed. And do not forget the grass if you need me!" She took to the air, and in a matter of moments, she was flying back over the horizon.
*****************************************
Peach and her party first decided to explore the area. As it was, there was nothing much to explore. For miles, the only thing there was to see was dirt, rocks...and more dirt. The earth was cruelly blackened and had the distinct smell of charcoal. As if it'd been burned. Peach wasn't surprised. As she turned towards the huge volcano in the distance, Peach deduced that Fury Volcano was anything but dormant.
The tiny group walked on for several more miles. As they traveled farther inland, the air grew hotter and hotter and soon began to waver with the heat.
"I wouldn't be surprised if we started seeing mirages," Perry said sarcastically.
"Me neither," Toaddette gasped, gulping down some water from her canteen. "Princess, can't we rest a moment?"
Peach was eager to keep moving, but rationalized that their team couldn't possibly do their best if they were tired, hungry, and thirsty. "All right," she agreed. "Let's find a place to set up camp."
They found a small hovel ground out of a rocky hill nearby and decided to set up camp there. There was a nice little basin in the hill to put up a tent, and plus, the hill kept them out of any wind or rain. Peach doubted this place had any weather but heat, though.
Toadonelly and Toader set up the tent while Peach, Toaddette, and Perry fixed lunch. As usual, there were tons of pucker buds they'd stored from the mansion, and they began to roast them over a fire. After everything was said and done, they ate their meal near their tent: pucker bud stew, roasted pucker buds, and water. A very bland dinner.
The sun was still high in the sky when Peach decided to go and scout out their next route. They had no idea of where they were, and Peach had no idea if the land was pooled in lava or not, but she wanted to take the safest route possible. Toaddette and Toader and Toadonelly were all resting in the tent and hydrating themselves, and Perry was eating the leftovers from lunch when Peach set out.
She climbed over their camp hill and down the rocky path. Sparse brush began to grow here and there as the ground became narrower and began to form into a small slope. Peach was careful to take her time as she made her way down the small slope and then back onto even ground.
Ahead of her, the cracked charred earth rose and fell as it proceeded to the majestic volcano in the distance. Peach could swear that she saw smoke rising over some of the hills, but she was sure that it was just steam rising from whatever magma was nearby.
Suddenly, Peach could hear gibberish coming from her immediate right. Peach started and took a step back. "Who's there?"
The gibberish silenced for a moment, but then became louder. Cautiously, Peach inched forward, following the strange language as it rose over a small outcropping a little ways away. Peach reached the small ledge and peeked over the edge.
There was a small man kneeling inside the outcropping. He was plucking at some of the plants that jutted out of the cracks of the dry earth. When he found a suitable shoot, he ripped it out of the earth and placed it into the sack on his shoulder. The whole while he was doing this, he was humming a steady tune to himself in that weird, guttural language.
"Hello?" Peach called down to him. She was surprised to find a humanoid person at all on Vibe Island.
The man snapped his head up and, seeing Peach, began to cry out in surprise. He pointed a tanned finger up at Peach and began to speak in a long string of twisted words and phrases that Peach couldn't make heads or tails of. With lightning quick speed that Peach was sure an old man couldn't possess, the man crawled up the sides of the small ledge and leapt out in front of Peach, still pointing and shouting at her.
Peach raised her hands. "Sir, please calm down," she tried. She feared that the man was afraid of her. "I'm just a visitor to these lands. Er...do you speak English?"
The man continued to shout and yell. Peach heard rattling and footsteps, and she whipped her head around. To her surprise, more people dressed in simple tunics and skirts began to emerge among the stones and crags. They were all armed with spears, and some had the carcasses of dead or dying animals slung over their muscular, tanned shoulders. Each person had their face painted in the color of the volcano region: either dark brown, black, or tanned. As the first man continued to shout, the others raised their spears, aiming down at Peach.
Alarmed, Peach watched as the people backed her up against a rock wall, spears raised. "Excuse me!" Peach cried. "Please listen to me! I'm not here to...harm you! In fact, I may need your help!!"
A man lunged forward with his spear. Her heart hammering, Peach whipped to the side and snatched the pointed stick out of his hand before kicking him so hard in the chest that he toppled over onto his behind. The other indigenous men turned to Peach in half surprise and half fury, snarling and revealing nasty yellow teeth.
Peach held her stolen spear in front of her. "Look, just give me a chance to explain!" she said. "I don't even know why you attacked me! I didn't do anything to you!"
Still growling, the native men charged forward. Peach gulped and reached up for her necklace.
Just then, there was a shout from over the crest of the hill. "Princess!" Peach turned to see Toadonelly and Toaddette fly through the air and land in front of her. Toaddette was armed with Perry, and waved him around as if he were a sword. Toadonelly had taken a fighting stance, his fists raised.
"What's going on, Princess?" Toaddette asked.
"I don't know!" Peach said, throwing up her hands. "These men just appeared out of nowhere and began to attack me."
"We'll give them what for then!" Toadonelly cried. As a man rushed towards him, Toadonelly ducked under his spear and socked him in the nose. Another one rushed up from where the first fell, and he jabbed at Toadonelly. The toad again dodged the blow and kicked the man right between the legs. Howling in pain, the native man fell.
Three men were dashing towards Toaddette, but she blocked their attacks with Perry handle before dealing vicious blows to the head. As a man came up on her from behind, Peach swooped in and elbowed him in the stomach before kicking his legs out from under him.
As more men surged upon them, Peach, Toaddette, and Toadonelly backed into a small circle, rotating as they dealt blows to the vicious mob. Before they knew it, the men were all on their knees in pain, with only one standing: the first one that Peach had seen before. Angrily, the man drew his knife and lunged towards Toaddette.
"Enough!" Peach cried, activating her Rage Stone. Fire flared around her arms, and the man stopped in his tracks and gazed at Peach in awe.
"Back!" Peach shouted, stepping forward. At her command, the curls of flame licked forward menacingly, and the man, along with his comrades who scrambled to their feet, inched backward. With an extremely violent burst of flame, Peach sent the natives dashing back over the cracked earth until she could no longer see them.
Peach collapsed to her knees as she cancelled the Rage Stone. Exhaustion burned in her chest and radiated throughout her entire body.
"Princess!" Toaddette and Toadonelly cried. They rushed to her side and helped her to her feet. Peach was gasping as they helped her into a sitting position.
"That...that wore me out," Peach panted.
"I can imagine so," Perry retorted. "Princess, you've been using that necklace a lot lately. I imagine that it's sucking up a lot of your energy. It's no wonder that you're so tired."
Peach frowned. "I have a feeling that we're going to have to use the Necklace a lot more often now," she said. "Those people attacked us without cause."
"Yeah - who were they?" Toaddette asked.
"I don't know," Peach said. "But you remember what the Hoo said-the natives of this land don't welcome visitors very warmly."
"But what reason did they have to attack us?" Toadonelly asked.
"Perhaps they saw us as trespassers," Perry suggested. "After all, this isn't just wilderness like the other territories of the island might be-we're actually on land where indigenous people of Vibe Island are living."
Perry had a point. Technically, Peach and her party were intruding on a native people's land without permission. If that was the case, then the natives had a right to shoo them off their land. Perhaps that was what they'd been doing earlier.
"You could be right," Peach said. "But let's not worry about it right now. They're gone now. We've scared them off. Let's head back to camp."
"Yes, they're gone," Toaddette said in a frightened voice as they helped Peach back to camp. "But I have a definite feeling that they'll be back."
**********************************
The sun was dipping down in the sky when Peach and her party returned to their little camp, which Toader had been guarding during the skirmish. However, the scalding heat refused to be swayed. Peach had to take off her cloak and shoes when she went to bed to keep cool.
That night, Peach dreamed of Toadsworth. The toad was sitting on what looked like a very fluffy carpet. The room he was in was partly obscured by the haziness of the dream, but Peach could see that it was full of delicate, antique vases - some with tall necks, others small and round, while others as tiny as glasses. Toadsworth was tied and gagged, but he was reaching towards a tall vase that was on a tiny pedestal with his foot, as if hoping to topple it over.
All at once, a loud band sounded, and Toadsworth froze. Footsteps sounded as five magicians entered the room. Four wore bright blue cloaks and were armed with star-tipped wands. The last was clothed in purple robes that blew out behind him menacingly. Toadsworth looked frightened as they approached.
"Here's the last," a blue magician said.
"Throw him in the prison with the other twenty," the purple magician boomed. "And execute them at dawn."
Toadsworth's eyes grew wide as the four blue magicians grabbed him up. "Mmph!" he cried. He was urgently trying to tell them something, but nothing could get through the gag. "Mmph! Plmph!!"
The magicians ignored him as they drug him out of the room.
The dream faded.