The Dryad's Loyalty

Chapter 6: Koopalings and Koopa Prince

The following morning, after getting some breakfast with the other minions, Hazel decided to roam around the castle a bit; not only so they could get accustomed to their surroundings, but because they wanted to find Bowser and try and reason with him once more... though they weren't feeling very confident it was going to accomplish anything.

Once they found their way back to the main entrance, they took the same path Bowser had taken the evening prior, hoping that would eventually lead them to his room. Up the stairs and then turning left, they wound up in another massive hallway, lit by torches and decorated with many paintings and portraits, mainly of Bowser himself, but also of what seemed to be his son... and seven other spiky koopas, who all looked rather important.
Are these the commanders in Bowser's army? Or maybe... could they all be his kids?
Hazel thought, staring at the paintings and not really noticing where they were going, until they bumped into someone, getting knocked back and onto the ground.

"Hey, watch where you're going!" a gruff voice growled.

Hazel looked up, rubbing their side, then they saw just who they bumped into and widened their eyes: it was a tall, wide koopa, with a pink head and a purple shell, and he was wearing... sunglasses? They recognized him as one of the koopas from the paintings, and immediately got back up. "I-I'm sorry! I just- I'm new here, and I got a bit lost" they explained.

"You're new here, huh?" the koopa muttered, his arms crossed and his chest puffed out "Wait... so YOU'RE the rookie everyone's been talking about?" he asked, furrowing his brows.

"I- well- yes?" the dryad replied, still unsure on how to feel regarding the whole 'being part of the troops' thing.

"Man... Bowser seriously lets anyone join these days" he grumbled "I might have to start taking matters into my own hands..." he soon smirked, cracking his knuckles. "I still need a little warm-up for today, and teaching you what standards we have for our troops will do just fine" he smirked, immediately attacking Hazel, who barely managed to dodge his punch, flying up and landing a few feet away from the aggressive koopa.

"H-hey hold on just a second! I'm not looking for a fight!" Hazel shouted, flinching and dodging yet another punch.

"Why? Are you scared it'll mess up your hair or something?!" he roared "Come on... fight back!!"

The dryad, however had no intention of doing so, not wanting to damage anything in the castle, especially those paintings which must've taken days to make. They decided to keep dodging and blocking his attacks instead.

The purple-shelled koopa was fuming. Why weren't they fighting back?! "Stop blocking my attacks-- punch me!!"

"WHAT'S GOING ON?!" a new voice resounded in the hallway, and soon, a huge ring came flying towards the two, hitting the purple-shelled koopa on the head, causing him to fall onto the ground.
"Roy- you can't fight in the hallways, are you dense or something?! Like- do you want to make Bowser angry at us again?" 

So his name is Roy...
Hazel thought to themselves, watching as two big koopas spun in the hallway, only to get out of their shells mid-air, both giving a sound punch to Roy's head just as he was starting to get back up.

The girl koopa, who had a big pink bow on her head, picked up the ring and put it back on her wrist, before looking at Hazel "So sorry about our brother... he has a bit of a temper you see" she said, grinning nervously "By the way... I'm Wendy O. Koopa, but- like-- you can just call me Wendy! And you must be Hazel, right? Bowser told us about you just this morning!" she cheerfully said, while a blue haired koopa kept scolding Roy in the background.

The dryad flinched a bit, trying to keep up with what was going on "Oh uh- yeah that's me... nice to meet you, Wendy! And... don't worry, no need to apologize" they said, shaking her hand.