Flower Power

* 2 *

When Daisy finally managed to pull herself out of the dojo floor (which was thirty embarrassing minutes of huffing and pulling later), Toadobuki had already finished breakfast and cleared away Daisy's uneaten food. He completely ignored her glare when she marched into the expansive kitchen. 

"I'm not going to be able to have any students until that floor gets fixed," Toadobuki said while sipping on a cup of tea. "It's going to have to be fixed immediately." He nodded towards the table, where there was a piece of notebook paper with writing on it. "There are the materials that I'll need. Foot it down to the village and bring the supplies back before noon and I'll show you how to fix the floor." 

Daisy very nearly tore the note to shreds right in front of him. How dare he order her about like a slave! 

" - or I might just leave your lunch out for the seagulls," Toadobuki warned, seeing the look in Daisy's eye. In a huff, Daisy whipped around and stomped out the door. She may have had a short temper, but that was nothing compared to her appetite. She could wring Toadobuki's neck later. 

Toadobuki's dojo sat atop a relatively flat plateau, compared with the rest of the island's geography. It was surrounded by thick jungle, where the hoots of monkeys and calls of birds rang out day and night.  

When she'd first arrived a week ago, the old toad had told Daisy that besides a couple of swamps teeming with alligators and a few hostile cats, the forest was harmless. Still, Daisy carried a long rod - which Toadobuki called a bo staff - just in case. The rod was heavy, but it was nothing compared to the training Daisy had gone through when she'd been in gymnastics: her instructor had taught all of her students how to successfully wield up to fifteen clubs at once! 

As proof, Daisy twirled the bo staff with ease as she headed down the hill. She peeked at Toadobuki's supply list: 

1 hammer 

5 pieces of wood 

1 bag of nails 

When Daisy got to the bottom of the hill, the jungle cleared out, and a tiny village nested against the island's coastal bluffs appeared. There were around ten houses all clustered around a dirt track that served as the main road. The houses were all made out of bamboo and had roofs made out of a lattice of branches and large leaves.  

Even though it was super early, there were a lot of people out. Toads dressed in green tunics dusted the paths up to their houses. Koopas hung out laundry. Goombas carried bails of water on their heads back to their houses for cleaning or for their morning baths. Several residents from Delfino Isle were opening up their little shops for the day, selling fresh fruits, toiletries, or hunting supplies. 

Daisy headed there, towards the circle of shops at the end of the thoroughfare. A large, bright blue Delfino woman sat back behind the wooden counter, dusting off her little stand. She looked up when Daisy approached. "Well, haven't seen you around before. Whatch're name, sweetums?" 

"Daisy," Daisy said, laying her list out on the counter. The Delfino woman paused for a second, studying Daisy's brown bob, blue eyes, and sweaty orange gi. Then, she snapped her fingers. 

"Oh, yeah!" she said. "You're staying with the Buki Master, aren'tcha?" 

Daisy raised an eyebrow. "The 'Buki Master'?" 

"Toadobuki. Just my nickname for 'im. But you are the one, ain'tcha?" 

Daisy nodded reluctantly. "Yeah. Can I get all the things on this list?" She pushed the paper forward. 

"Sure." The Delfino woman retreated behind the counter of her stand, rummaging through stacks of goods. "The name's Delly, by the way. And FYI, you're the fifth person Toadobuki's mentored."