Mushroom Kingdom Anew - Book 1

Chapter Nine

"Xavier!" Ace called out, stopping at the mouth of the cave. The small rocky interior started to fully collapse in on itself, making it difficult to see inside. Dust and sand was strewn about everywhere, making everyone cough and slam their eyes shut. Once everything settled, and the rocks stopped falling, silence rang throughout the air. Terry slowly made her way over to the rocks, shushing everybody nearby and listening in.

"Owww, fuck! Terry, Ace? You there?" A familiar voice sung through the rock pile. Terry chuckled, beginning to move all the boulders. Ace put a hand to his chest, sighing. He ran over and helped the blonde move some of the heavier obstacles.

"You okay?" The Yoshi asked, aiding Xavier out of the pile. He nodded and put his hands on his hips, looking down at what used to be the Death Caps lair. "Welp... that's over with."

"Thank god for that. Now then, let's get you guys back to your town." Terry said, which caused all the previous prisoners to cheer. They jumped up in the air, thanking the heroes for their help. After a moment of brief celebration, the group set off back to the small Koopa town, the prisoners happy and safe.

---

"Well, they sure were gracious." Ace hummed, hands behind his head. Terry chuckled and nodded in agreement. "Who knew they had chefs in the desert just as good as in the Castle?"

"Not me, but it was certainly a welcome surprise." Xavier added, patting his belly. "The mayor was pretty nice, too. For the brief few minutes he showed his face."

"You call that nice?" The Yoshi asked in astonishment, turning to his friend. "I mean," The blonde began. "He wasn't mean, but it seemed like he was trying to shoo us out of there as fast as possible. Almost like he was still skeptical about us."

"How? I mean, we stopped the single biggest threat to their village, and saved everybody the Death Caps captured... even if there were only three." The Yoshi complained.

"Achoo! Ah, sorry. But anyways, I dunno... maybe they're just tough love types, who often don't trust." Xavier added. "Are you catching a cold, Xavier...?" Ace asked, looking back at the teenager.

"I dunno, but it's suddenly getting kind of cold. It might just be me, though..." He inquires, rubbing his forearms. Terry nods in agreement, rubbing her hands together and blowing hot air into them. "Yeah... what the hell?"

Suddenly, all three heroes look up to the suddenly grey and cloudy sky. What used to be a blazing sun pressing itself as close as it could to the desert area, little white speckles of snow started to rain all over from the sky.

"Ah, that's where it came from." Xavier hummed. Terry just stared up at the snow. Ace shivered, rubbing his arms and blowing out hot air. "I hate winter... let's get to some shelter, and fast. I don't know how long I'll last out here..."

"Agreed. Let's head off. We'll try to keep you warm with our fire flowers." Xavier whistled, heading off deeper into the spontaneous snowy abyss. He stuck close to Ace, practically glowing a vibrant red. He was protruding heat from his body to warm the general area, much to Ace's comfort. The Yoshi looked back at the confused blonde. "Terry, c'mon. Let's go."

The teenager blinked, still staring up at the grey sky. Her head whipped from the desert to her left to the snowy wasteland to her right. She took a moment to mentally process what the hell was happening, rubbing her eyes and screaming "HOW?!"

---

Snow. Snow everywhere. The heroes had traveled farther and farther into the snow land ahead, the weather getting more and more intense as time went on. Ace's step had greatly faltered since the desert. The cold blooded creature was drained to the core, dragging his scaly feet through the white mess strewn about on the ground. His head wobbled, swaying all around him as his vision started to blur, and his arms hung limp and useless at his sides. Any speech the Yoshi tried to communicate would consist of slurs and moans. Both Xavier and Terry were doing all they could to keep him warm and conscious, but it didn't seem to amount to much. Now the teenagers were getting exhausted from all the excess energy they were leaving off. The journey was silent, everybody focused on channeling their energy to move on. Nobody, not even Terry with her usual sarcasm dared to say anything, lest they go crashing down into the snow. At this point, nothing could make things worse.