Ness had made his way downstairs. The halls were mostly empty on the upper two floors. He rubbed his head, trying to stay positive to looking forward to meeting new people. But he had no idea where to begin, let alone where to find the newcomers. His thought process was broken when he bumped into someone. Before him was a woman in a bright pink dress, her blonde hair being a light color that practically glowed. "Oh, Ness! What timing. Can I ask you of a favour?" she asked the young boy. "Yeah, Princess Peach. What is it?" Ness nodded. She was Princess Peach of the Mushroom Kingdom. She enjoyed meeting all the people at these events. It was a great experience to her on top of learning how to fight better, he always enjoyed the food she baked.
"I asked one of the newcomers to get a box of utensils from the basement. But he's been away for a good while now. Can you go check on him?" the princess requested. She was assisting a lot in setting up the party. He knew the friendly ruler was probably worried for him, mostly hoping him heading for his room upon receiving those letters was just to rest. "Yeah. Can't wait for the party," Ness nodded before heading off down the hall, not minding any task that could get his mind off his current train of thought.
It didn't take long for him to find the basement. The door was wide open, and through it was just a staircase down to a big storage area, but nothing seemed out of the ordinary. Downwards, he saw a boy with brown hair in a red shirt that had the number #1 symbol on the front of it. He was casually running around with a net, smacking it against the floor in various places. "Uh… hi. Are you okay?" Ness got the boy's attention, assuming him to be one of the newcomers.
The boy pointed to nearby. An oversized spider was creeping about, its size at least big enough to creep out anyone in the mansion. "You're trying to catch it?" Ness asked. The boy in red nodded before running over in an attempt to grab it in his net. He missed, and as result it skittered away toward the stairs. Ness, being quick, pulled his hat off and slammed it on top of it, trapping it. "Whew… got that," he sighed in relief, letting the newcomer come over ness lifted up his hat and let him immediately place a jar on top of the spider to entrap it.
"I'm Ness. It's nice to meet you…" Ness introduced himself, shaking hands with him. But no response came out of the newcomer's practically sealed mouth. He was active and responsive. Just not talkative. The psionic teen assumed he was a mute. He scratched his head, trying to think of how to talk. It had been a while since the last cleaning, so the walls were moderately dusty. He pointed to it, his associate nodding and beginning to write by drawing the letters through the dust. "I'm Villager…" Ness mumbled out. The boy was indeed named Villager. But it seemed like it was oddly just Villager. Ness saw the box of utensils that Peach had sent the villager to acquire. He picked it up at one side, the newcomer helping him by holding the other side of the box. The whole box itself was sort of heavy.
While they carried the box to the kitchen, Ness decided it was time to strike up solo conversation with the Villager. "So… what did you do back at your home?" he attempted to query the Villager. The Villager used one hand to dig around in his pocket, and he showed a small star-shaped medal that had a short sentence attached on the bottom of it; "Congrats to one year of Mayorship." It was some award he had received shortly before accepting the invitation. "Oh…! A mayor. Usually anyone in power is a prince or princess…" Ness chuckled half-heartedly. At least he was getting responses, but he was making a mental note to find some pen and paper for the Villager. They were relieved to reach the kitchen, plopping the heavy box down on one the counter.
"Thanks for helping out, Ness," Princess Peach spoke to the two. Villager stepped in front of Peach, and showed the spider in a jar that made her back up a step, but fearfully giggle. "Oh… that's a… big catch. Why don't you two go do something while we finish setting things up," she suggested, not wanting the spider to be anywhere near her. Seeing it alone just sent a fear through her. "Okay," Ness accepted. He didn't mind spending more time with the mute. He left the kitchen area, Villager following behind him, but leaving the spider in its jar back at the kitchen for the princess to deal with, much to her fear.
Ness had wandered outside the back of the mansion alongside his cohort. "So what do you like to do?" he questioned, hoping he wasn't annoying the newcomer Villager in any way, aware he enjoyed catching bugs at least. The Villager dug around in his pocket for a second before suddenly producing a fishing rod from it. The raven haired boy did his best to keep a straight face. "…you have deep pockets," he commented before being handed the rod that had a red paint job. He watched the Villager produce a second fishing rod with a yellow paint from his other pocket. It was obvious what the Villager wanted to do. "There is a small pond a little ways out," Ness claimed, pointing to the nearby path that could lead them into an area, which was heavily infested with trees certainly, but at the time of day it was a nice hike in nature. Anything to take his mind off his missing friends was grandly appreciated, even if it meant practically talking to himself.
Villager gave a thumbs up, so far glad to have made a friend already. The two set off so they could kill some time fishing.