Super Princess Peach

Ch. 12, Pt. 2

Peach's heart plummeted as the thick forest growth finally ended, revealing a huge waterfall ahead that was lined on either side with smooth, water-slicked rocks. 

Before they knew it, they were over open air. 

"Everybody hang onto my handle!" Perry shouted. 

They fell faster than stars down towards the waterfall pool below them. Peach grabbed Toaddette and closed her eyes, praying harder than she had in her entire life. Please, please, please don't let us die! 

Slam!  

The impact was so hard that it made Peach feel as though her brain had rattled loose. Toadonelly and Toaddette cried out in shock as they landed, creating a wave of water that drenched them all from head to toe.  

"Everybody okay? Anybody hurt?" Perry asked, panicked. 

"I'm okay," Peach gasped, spitting water out of her mouth. Her voice was shaky. "Toaddette? Toadonelly?" 

"We're okay," Toaddette said. Tears were streaming out of her eyes. She must have been scared out of her wits. Peach wrapped her arm around her to support her. 

"Heads up!" Toadonelly cried, pointing above him. Peach followed his finger to see the owl hovering above, at the top of the waterfall, obviously looking for them. When she looked down, she spotted Peach and her group, folded in her wings, and dove down towards them. 

"Go, go, go, Perry!" Peach cried as Toaddette shrieked. It wasn't hard. The current carried them away. As the river narrowed down, their speed increased, and they jetted back into the woods as the river again flowed through the trees. The owl barreled in after them.  

As they bumped along, Peach caught sight of the owl extending her talons and then leaning in towards them. "Duck!" Peach screamed, pulling down Toadette. As they took cover, the owl's talons just missed their heads, and she crashed into the trees on the other side of the river. The river took a sharp turn, carrying them hopefully farther away from her. 

"Did we lose her?" Toadonelly asked. 

Before Peach could answer, the owl burst through the trees again, roaring in rage, talons extended. Peach and Toadette screamed as the owl screeched behind them, disappearing into the trees again.  

"Get us out of here!" Toaddette cried to Perry. 

"It's not like I can do much!" Perry snapped. "I'm serving as your boat. I can't control the river!" 

The river took a downhill slant, and Peach found them going faster than a rollercoaster - without the safety belts! She hung on to Perry's handle for dear life as the river took another wild curve that nearly shook Toadonelly out of the umbrella. They were going so fast that, with surprise, Peach found herself right alongside Toader and Toadkins and the twins, who were hanging onto the branches of their log for dear life. 

"Oh, so we have to have the logs, but you don't?" Montoad complained as he spotted them. He'd wrapped his whole body around a thick protruding branch on the log. "That's not fair!" 

"Enough jokes!" Toadonelly cried. "That confounded owl is right on our heels!" 

As if on cue, the mother bird exploded out of the trees again, swiping towards the group. Peach and Toaddette ducked again, but the owl managed to bump against Toader's log. It crashed against the side of the riverbank, making Toader and his group scream and struggle to keep a firm hold. The log rebounded off the riverbank and then barreled into Perry, making him spin wildly. The movement caused Toaddette to fall backwards and into the river.