After a loooooooonnnnnngggg talk with Kenrai & Co I have decided to- oops! Out of room! Anyhoo next chappy!

Chapter 4- The Arrival

Mushroom Kingdom

Mario and Yoshi advanced down the valley, grunting already under the rather large weight of their packs and sweating buckets. They had already argued about the best way to Mushroom City. Unfortunately, due to the fact that Yoshi had the map the wrong way round, they ended up going the opposite way, straight into Mushroom Forest. As a result talk was sparse and both of them were short-tempered and more than once they had to stop and rest. After little more than an hour of walking, Mario finally saw a light through the trees. Excited, he alerted the ready-to-drop Yoshi, who suddenly turned into an egg (pack and all) and rolled away towards it, leaving the slightly chubbier Mario behind. He didn't bother to attempt to outrun Yoshi. One- Because, in egg form, Yoshi were the fastest creatures in then world. And two- Mario had no chance.

"I can see some problems will arise from him." Mario gave a tired, mirthless chuckle. He sat on a fallen tree, thankful that the minuscule green dinosaur had gone, and thankful to have gained a rest. Not long after ten minutes Yoshi reappeared. Using a log as a ramp he drove straight of it, smashed out of his egg in midair and landed right in front of Mario, somersaulting and landing on his feet.

"Ta-da!" He said, looking pleased with himself. Mario just frowned at him.

"Did you see what's up ahead?" He queried, adjusting his pack.

"As a matter of fact I did." Said Yoshi, throwing his pack to the ground and joining Mario on the log. "There's a town up ahead, but it's not Mushroom City." He watched as Mario got to his feet.

"To hell with that! Let's stop in the town. No way am I dragging this lot all the way back there! Besides," he said, checking his little watch and chain, "It's only 7. What the name of the town?" Mario asked, sliding the watch into his pocket.

"I don't know. Something like….Toadstool Town or something." replied Yoshi. Mario stopped, and Yoshi felt a touch of panic.

"When we get there," Mario explained, "do not, I repeat, DO NOT, tell anyone we're from the Mushroom Kingdom. The Toadstoolians aren't exactly friendly with us, as The Bandits have a hobby of robbing Toadstoolians of their possessions." He started to walk up the path Yoshi's egg-rolling stunt had worn into the ground, but then stopped and said:

"On second a- thought… you lead the way. I don't know the way you went." Yoshi ran up beside him.

"Okie- dokie!" he exclaimed, rolling past Mario in yet another egg, this one being speckled with light blue dots.

"Hey! That's a- my catchphrase!" He yelled, running after the fast disappearing egg.

After fifteen minutes of running and rolling, the weary duo finally reached Toadstool Town, and what a sorry state it was. Filthy, blackened buildings, all cramped together, gave the place a dark, creepy atmosphere. The adult's faces were grim, haunted, and every one of them showed fear and anger. Children played in the streets, their faces gaunt from lack of food, their stomachs bloated from hunger and disease. In more than one occasion Mario or Yoshi would see rats nibbling at dead peoples corpses. Deformed beggars lay in their own filth, crying desperately for money, their echoing pleas sounding more and more like a chorus of the damned.

We don't treat animals this bad, thought Mario. The town seemed to get better the closer to the centre they got. By the time they got to the centre the buildings were gleaming, mainly because they were made of marble. A feeling of shock came over Yoshi when he saw the building right at the heart of the town. It was prison. What the hells a prison doing in amongst these? Yoshi wondered. He asked Mario.

"The rich said they preferred to have a prison here so that may here the sentence of the criminal who stole, killed and assaulted them be carried out." Yoshi went a bit greener than usual. They found a decent hotel to spend the night after asking a street boy, after which Mario handed him ten coins. After turning and walking away, he heard a small thump behind him. It turned out the boy had fainted. The took a brief glance at the hotel pointed out.

"The Sleeping Dragon… wonderful." Mario muttered under his breath sarcastically. The hotel was actually pretty upper-class, despite it's outside appearance. The only disadvantage was the beds, which, clearly visible to both occupants of the room, were crawling with bugs. Mario took one look at the bed and said to Yoshi:

"You can sleep on that, Yoshi. I'm on the floor." He said, opening his pack for his blankets. Yoshi shrugged.

"It's your loss." Nothing more was said as they went to sleep, with the money pouch tucked away in Mario's hat.

"Rise and shine, lazy ass!" Those were the words that brought Mario out of his sleep, which he deeply regretted. He opened his eyes; only to promptly shut them again as he saw Yoshi had opened the black curtains.

"Ohhhh…" moaned Mario, rubbing his eyes and sitting up straight. "Couldn't you have left me alone?"

"I could've, but since its 10:45 am I thought 'na.' Besides," He motioned for Mario to come to the window, "Take a look at the beau- Oh my God!" Yoshi suddenly screamed, pointing down at the town below. Mario grabbed his cap and thrust it on his head, forgetting the bag of coins in it, which led to him bruising his head. Owch, he thought, rushing to Yoshi's side. Then he saw it. A figure garbed in black, hovering above the city, sending jets of black magic in all directions. The city's outer section was in flames. Mario cursed.

"What the hell is THAT!" Mario yelled, pointing his gloved finger at the floating thing.

"I'm standing around asking It." replied Yoshi, already shouldering his pack. "Let's get outta here!" He said, motioning for Mario to hurry.

"Not a chance! I'm gonna fight!"

"This thing has set half a town up if flames, Mario! We'll be decimated!" Yoshi yelled.

"Go if you want! I'm fighting!" Mario ran, smashing through the glass door that separated the balcony. He stood on the edge, preparing to jump off. He heard a soft thump and was surprised to see Yoshi standing beside him.

"Hell I came for adventure. Let's see if it was worth it!" He shouted.

"HERE WE GO!" They bellowed together. And with that, they jumped of.

They landed right in the middle of Toadstool Square. When Mario looked up he saw that the black forbidding figure was descending upon them like a vulture circling a dying animal. Mario felt a chill crawl up his spine as the figure's clawed feet reached the ground with a soft click. Mario and Yoshi got to their feet. The creature grasped something in his robe and pulled it out. It was a staff with a sword end on each side. The blades were coloured red with thick veins of blue hammered into the blades. The staff was black and, in the middle, held the skull of some sort of animal. Mario glared at the creature. Yoshi did the same, hating the being because of the people it had killed. The creature grasped the sword-staff with both hands, one taloned and one human and, with blinding speed, rushed towards Mario. Mario barely had time to dodge and, due to him being unprepared, led to him receiving a gash on his right hand. Yoshi transformed into an egg and flew towards the thing with amazing speed. The creature rolled out of the way and, when Yoshi sped around, smashed its human hand in to the egg, sending Yoshi flying through a building wall, leaving a big hole. Mario rushed at the creature and fired ten fireballs at it, the last being enormous. The creature dodged most of them but the last one smacked him in the face, sending him into the air and crashing through a window.

"Oh yeah!" Mario yelled, raising his fist in the air. Then he saw Yoshi crawling from the rubble of what once was a wall, standing on his feet and collapsing on his face.

"Yoshi!" Mario cried, hurrying to his side. He pulled Yoshi of the ground and examined his face. He was breathing but unconscious. The little dinosaur's nose was dribbling blood. The sight enraged Mario. Suddenly an enormous explosion came from the building Mario had slammed the unknown creature through was blown into pieces, with the creature itself flying straight towards him. It smashed its fist into Mario and he fell beside Yoshi, spluttering blood. The creature advanced upon him, prepared to kill himself and Yoshi. Just then a wing emerged from its back, spanning 12 foot in total. Just as the thing was laying the death blow the point of an enormous sword stuck through the creature's leg. It screamed in pain and vanished. Mario saw a blonde haired man walk towards him… then everything went black….

Mario awoke sharply, thinking in his mind that he would be still in the town. But instead, he was in a massive wood, with the same blonde haired man who had saved himself and Yoshi from that… thing was sitting on a miniature boulder, a massive sword beside him. He stared at Mario with stony eyes.

"Who…who are you?" Mario dared to ask.

"Cloud. Cloud Strife." replied the man, sliding of the rock, sword in hand.

"Thanks err…Cloud." Said Mario, getting his tongue around the name. Cloud nodded.

"So Cloud. Why are you here?" Mario asked. Cloud looked at him.

"I'm looking for someone." He replied simply.

"Ahh." Mario said. "Anyone I know?"

"I rather not say who he is. Let's just say it's repaying a debt long overdue." He remarked cryptically. Beside him Yoshi awoke.

"Owch. Yoshi's head…" He said, rubbing his bruised head. Mario felt a wave off relief wash over him.

"Are you Ok?" he asked Yoshi.

"Yoshi is fine, Mario." Yoshi replied. Mario was taken aback.

"Say 'I' please, Yoshi."

"Umm… Yoshi?" Yoshi said, sitting upright.

"I'm afraid," Cloud said, walking over to Yoshi. "That blows done a lot to your friend here. Sorry." Mario's rage returned like a crimson tide; he would avenge Yoshi.

"Well Cloud… where you going?" Mario asked as Cloud walked by.

He hesitated then said: "To Hyrule."

"We're going there as well! Let's go together." Mario proposed. Cloud stuck the sword back in his belt.

"Sure, why not? Just don't expect me to wait on you."

Together Mario, Yoshi and Cloud wandered through the woods until the trees parted and they were out on Hyrule field. Cloud was first to notice Hyrule Town.

"Ok were…here…" He said, his voice getting quieter. Mario and Yoshi soon joined him.

"Cloud what the…mat…ter…?" Mario asked before seeing it. Hyrule Towns drawbridge and walls were smashed into the ground, and most of the homes had been burned to the ground. Yoshi opened his mouth in shock.

"Wha…what happened here?" Cloud asked.