AN: Well, it's that magical time of year again where we celebrate getting a year older for some reason. So my present to you, my dear readers, is a new chapter. Enjoy. :)
~Chapter Two: Friendly Encounter~
Mario couldn't sleep that night. Not only was his mind buzzing with thoughts of his new engagement, but he was also intrigued about whatever he'd seen in the woods. Was it an Anthro? Mario didn't know, but he wanted to find out. His eyes flicked over to the other occupant in the room and sighed in relief as he saw his brother's chest rise and fall with each breath he took. Quietly Mario tossed his covers aside and got out of bed, keeping his eyes trained on Luigi to make sure he wouldn't wake up and ask what he was doing. He crept across the floor and cracked open the door, slipping out into the hallway and closing the door behind him.
First obstacle down, now he actually needed to get out of the house without getting caught. What should have been a five second walk down the hallway turned into five minutes as Mario took long, exaggerated steps trying not to make any sort of sound. After ten minutes Mario made it to the front door, and quietly, oh so quietly, undid the lock and made his way outside, gently closing the door behind him. The cool air ruffled his nightclothes as he took a deep breath and approached the forest, mustering up as much courage as he could before he took a cautious step forward into the thicket.
The canopies from the trees were so thick that Mario couldn't even see the moon as he trekked forward into the darkness, wishing he'd brought a lantern with him to light his way. He shivered as another cold breeze blew past him and he crossed his arms over himself before he froze as he heard something in the distance. He thickly swallowed before he called out, "I... I know you're there. So... show yourself!"
Rustling. He heard rustling coming from all around him and he whipped his head around frantically trying to pinpoint where exactly the sound was coming from. He could have sworn he felt something tap on his shoulder, but when he turned around no one was there. His frantic breaths were the only thing he heard for a moment before someone whispered in his ear, "Hi."
Mario yelped and spun around so fast that he fell onto the ground below as he took in what stood in front of him. He instantly knew that it was an Anthro from the fur that covered its body, and as it stepped closer Mario realized that the Anthro was male and had the greenest eyes Mario had ever seen. Mario shook as the Anthro kept approaching before he finally blurted out, "Don't eat me!"
The Anthro paused before he broke out into a fit of laughs and extended his hand to Mario. "Eat ya? I'm not gonna eat ya! Unless ya taste like that soup with the meat an' beans an' tomatoes, I'm not interested."
He was still holding his hand out for Mario to take and after a moment Mario hesitantly grabbed the Anthro's hand and the Anthro pulled him up, widely grinning. "You're the human I saw earlier tonight!" he excitedly pointed out. "An' you almost saw me too, but then Shadow called me away 'cause we're not supposed to talk to humans. I'm Sonic by the way, it's nice to meet ya!"
Mario blinked before he awkwardly cleared his throat. "I'm Mario." he introduced.
"Mario..." Sonic repeated before he grinned. "So how old are ya? What's your favourite colour? What was happening in the palace? Why'd you look so upset?"
Mario's head spun with all the questions Sonic was throwing at him. "Uh... I'm thirteen, red is my favourite colour, a ball was happening at the palace and I'd just found out that I am to be married when I am twenty-one."
"Thirteen? Cool, you're the same age as me!" Sonic pointed out. "An' I like red, but blue's my favourite colour 'cause it's the same colour as my fur. I dunno what a ball is, but I remember Vanilla tellin' us what marriage is. It's when two people really in love with each other put rings on their fingers and spend their lives together, right?"
Mario nodded his head and Sonic frowned. "So why're you so upset about it then?"
"I'm not in love with my bride-to-be," Mario explained. "And she's not in love with me either. It's an arranged marriage."
"Oh." Sonic's face scrunched. "Can't you say somethin' 'bout it?"
"Unfortunately no," Mario muttered. "She's a Princess and I am set to be her husband. There's no getting out of it." he took a breath. "Now it's my turn to ask you some questions. What are you exactly?"
"I'm an Anthro!" Sonic replied cheerfully. Mario shook his head.
"No, I mean what kind of animal are you?" Mario asked. "Your ears look a little fox-like but your tail doesn't match and that also rules out you being a cat..."
"I'm a hedgehog!" Sonic grinned. "See my quills? They're super sharp an' can really hurt someone if they try an' hurt me! I'm also really fast an' can outrun anythin'!"
"A hedgehog..." Mario mumbled. "So... you don't crave the taste of human flesh?"
Sonic stuck his tongue out in disgust. "Why would I ever want to eat a human of all things? Gross. 'Sides, apples taste good an' there's plenty of them growin' in the trees 'round here!"
"And you live... here? In the forest?"
"Yep!" Sonic confirmed. "Me an' my camp live here in the forest stayin' as far away from the humans as possible since if they find us they'll kill us like what they did to Silver, Blaze, Big and Donkey Kong. Though that was 'cause Bowser was actually workin' with the humans despite him bein' a fire breathin' turtle."
Mario nodded, taking in the information that had just been dumped on him. So the Anthro's... weren't dangerous? "Are all of you this friendly?" he asked. Sonic cocked his head to the side as if he was thinking about it.
"Well... Shadow's not too friendly... but the rest of us are! Especially Cream, Vanilla's daughter, she's the youngest one in our camp an' she gets along great with Tails an' Amy. She used to get along with Blaze but..." Sonic's eyes lowered to the ground. "Well, I already told ya the humans got her. But you don't seem to be like the other humans! Wanna be friends?"
Mario was a bit caught of guard by Sonic's question. He, an Anthro, wanted to be friends with him, a human, even though it was common knowledge that the two were sworn enemies? "Um..."
"Aw, c'mon! It'll be fun! We can run around in the forest at night when everyone's asleep an' no one will hafta know! Whaddya say?"
Mario hesitated before his mouth formed a small smile. Sonic was right, no one had to know and if they were just going to play at night then no one would catch them. "Okay. We can be friends."
"Alright!" Sonic exclaimed. "I have a human friend an' he's not dangerous!"
Mario laughed before e realized he'd been outside for far too long at that point and he needed to get home before someone realized he was gone. "I have to go." he said and Sonic's ears drooped before he nodded.
"Okay," he sighed. As Mario stood Sonic grabbed his wrist and looked into Mario's eyes and for the first time looked serious. "Please don't tell anyone we're here. I'll get in big trouble with Vanilla an' I don't want any more of my friends to die."
Mario wasn't going to tell in the first place but he nodded anyway. "I promise."
"Come back an' visit me again soon?" Sonic asked hopefully and Mario smiled and nodded again.
"Of course."
/~/
"Bro? Where have you been?"
Mario winced as he stepped into his and his brother's shared room, shutting the door behind him as he thought of a response." I went to get a glass of water and then went to stargaze." he lied as he crept back into his bed. He could feel Luigi's gaze boring into him but Mario ignored it as he settled under the covers and closed his eyes hoping that Luigi wouldn't question him any further. Thankfully Luigi didn't and Mario gave a quiet sigh of relief, turning over to face the wall while thoughts of Sonic played in his mind.
/~/
"Alright Master Mario, in order to prepare you for your royal duties you must go through these courses to learn everything there is to know about being King!"
"Sorry." Peach whispered as she glared daggers at Toadsworth, her retainer. Toadsworth seemed completely oblivious however as he smiled and chuckled at the two teenagers.
"I'll leave you two to it then!" he declared before walking away, cane tapping on the floor with every step he took. Peach sighed and turned to Mario, a notebook in her hands.
"So firstly you'll be learning about politics," she said in a dry tone, opening the notebook and placing it in front of Mario. "And allow me to apologize again for having to go through this. I never wanted this for you."
"It's my duty now," Mario sighed. He began to study the notebook with Peach pointing things out every once in a while until they both heard Toadsworth's voice coming from the main hall.
"Oh yes, of course! Please, this way so you may have an audience with the King."
Mario and Peach exchanged a glance before Toadsworth led a man through the room they were in, the only way to get to the throne room. The man had a comically large mustache and a red coat with long tails. He quietly scoffed at Mario and Peach as he wandered past and entered the throne room, the doors closing behind him.
"I've never seen him around before." Peach observed with a frown. She made her way over to the door and rested her ear against it before beckoning Mario over. It wasn't the first time Peach had eavesdropped on her father's audiences and it certainly wouldn't be the last.
"So you say you can help with the Anthros that live in the forest?" the King asked. Mario's blood ran cold and his eyes widened. Sonic. They were planning on hurting Sonic in some way.
"Indeed I can," the strange man replied with a hint of arrogance in his tone. "My name is Ivo Robotnik and with my help I'll be able to track down those Anthro pests and eliminate every single one of them... for a price of course."
"We'll negotiate prices after I see what you are capable of. Now how do you plan on getting rid of the Anthro menace?"
"Awful..." Peach whispered. "I can't believe Father would want to get rid of the Anthros. There has never been any proof they they have done anything wrong."
Mario barely heard her, his heart was racing and he knew he needed to warn Sonic about what this 'Robotnik' was going to try and do. He knew he had to wait for night however as he couldn't let anyone know that he'd been talking with an Anthro.
"Mario? Are you alright?" Peach asked, her brow creasing in concern. Mario nodded though he felt his stomach churning.
"S-Sì, I'm just fine. Should we continue with the lessons?"
While Peach eyed Mario in confusion and concern, she eventually nodded. "Um, yes. I suppose we shall."
Replies
Silver1612: I'm glad you like the idea! It's something I've been working on in secret for awhile now. Literally so many things helped inspire this, I'd be here forever talking about all of them. Thank you for the review!
TheGameNguyener: Yeah, the whole arranged marriage thing strikes again. And Mario and Sonic's first meeting went pretty well I'd say. Thank you for the review!
