Author's Note: I apologize for the terribly long amount of time it has taken me to move this fanfic along. I finally have the time/inspiration/laptop computer to write whenever I want. I hope to finish or at least come close to finishing this fic by the end of the summer. Please review.

Chapter 4: Into the Forest

"Wauigi! Wake up!"

"Mmph?"

"WALUIGI!"

Waluigi sat up, holding his head with a pained expression on his face. His mind was racing and he could not focus on any of the random images going through his head. He opened his eyes and saw a blurry black figure. Waluigi opened his mouth to scream, but nothing came out. Suddenly, something came in contact with his left cheek and Daisy snapped into focus.

"Are you alright?" she asked

"Yea, super," Waluigi answered and tried to stand up. Without warning, the same images flashed in his mind's eye, only slower. He saw gnarled metal branches, a fiery mountain that seemed to touch the sky, and a cave that went on in infinite darkness. Then he heard a terrible, high pitched cackling. He covered his ears, which only made the cackling louder.

"Make it stop!" he screamed, and collapsed in a heap.

"Come on, Waluigi! You can't give up now." Waluigi came to again, this time instantly recognizing Daisy's face. He managed to sit up without much pain. "Here, eat this," Daisy continued, handing him a white mushroom with a red and white-spotted cap. "It will restore your strength."

Waluigi popped the fungus into his mouth, chewed slowly, and swallowed.

"Wh-where am I?"

"We're still in the pub, but we'd better get out of here before the Goombas wake up. Make sure you avoid the Fuzzies this time." Daisy held out her porcelain hand. "Come on."

Waluigi was surprised at her strength as she helped him to his feet. Daisy, Waluigi, and Luigi made their way back across the Fuzz Room, through the hallway, and out the door as quickly and quietly as they could.

"It's getting dark," Luigi said. "We'd better get back to the ferry. This way."

Luigi led the group back the way they had come, but instead of a path there lay a thick, tangled wall of metal branches.

"Nice move, genius," commented Waluigi.

"I could have sworn…It was right here, across from the entryway!"

Luigi ran to the other side of the building, desperately seeking a way out. He heard a creak, and a different path opened up before him. Luigi called to Daisy and Waluigi to show them the new way.

"We don't even know where it goes!" complained Waluigi.

"Well, we can't stay here," Luigi replied. "The only thing left to do is follow the trail."

Luigi led the way as the three adventurers stepped into darkness. As soon as they entered, the twisted vines closed around them with a creak. Luigi shrugged off his cloak, took off his backpack, and rummaged until he found a flashlight. As soon as the flashlight illuminated the path, something skittered away. Daisy shivered.

"Should we really be traveling in the dark like this? Isn't there a place where we can set up camp?"

Waluigi sniffed. "Let me know if you see one."

The three travelers pressed on. With each step, the forest seemed to grow darker until they came to a fork in the trail.

"Great, now what do we do?" complained Waluigi.

Luigi hesitated, trying to see any difference between the two possibilities. All he saw was the same tangle of metal that dominated the entire forest. Something rustled behind him. When he wheeled around, all he saw was forest.

"Daisy? Waluigi?" SuddenlyLuigi felt something wrap tightly around his torso.

"Well, what do we have here?" a voice hissed in his ear. "A tasty morsel perhaps? We've almost run out of Yoshis you know. And your friends are so skinny."

Luigi almost lost consciousness as the creature dragged him off the path and deeper into the forest. All he could see were the creature's many legs and red-shoed feet. Luigi tried to kick his legs and flail his arms, the metal branches scratching them, but the creature only held on tighter.

"If you struggle you will become stale!"

The creature stopped at a small, round hole embedded in the metal. He shoved Luigi through before crawling in. Luigi felt himself quickly sliding into its dark depths toward a faint glowing light.

Luigi hit the ground with a soft thud. He was in a vast cave, illuminated by what looked like fireflies trapped in glass jars. It smelled of earth and rot, and as his eyes adjusted he could see why. Bones littered the ground and were embedded in the ceiling and walls.

"Home, sweet home!" The creature grabbed Luigi again, and soon they were traveling down a long, pitch-black passageway. They turned left and soon were in a similar but smaller cave.

"Luigi!" cried Daisy.

He looked up to see Daisy and Waluigi trapped in two sticky webs plastered to a wall above him. The creature threw Luigi to the ground.

"Any last requests before I string you up with the rest?" the creature asked.

"Show yourself."

"As you wish."

The creature stepped away from Luigi and into the light. Luigi gasped. The creature's long, red, caterpillar-like body was divided into round sections. It had hundreds of legs, and it wore a shoe on each of its feet. Its eyes glowed with an intense brightness. The creature opened his mouth to reveal two rows of sharp fangs. Something about it seemed oddly familiar.

"You-you're…It can't be!"

"Yes! I am what you call a Wiggler. I'm not quite the cute little caterpillar everyone thinks I am, hm? But in this condition I am invincible! You see, before Kamek took over the Yoshis ruled the island. There were so many that we dare not come to the surface, for fear of annihilation. When the dark wizard began his rule he promised us invincibility and all the food we could eat. Unfortunately, he never delivered. We were forced to live in these same caves survive off of the Yoshis that escaped his grasp. In order to prevent collapse, we had to embed their bones into the walls and ceilings. You three are the tastiest morsels we've seen in months!"

"How many of you are there?"

"There are only three of us in this cave. Perhaps there are more, but we cannot travel very far from our homes."

An idea flashed into Luigi's head. "We can help you get revenge on Kamek, and…and find you all the food you could possibly eat!"

"What sort of food?"

Luigi took a mushroom from his pack and tossed it to the Wiggler, and he caught it in his jaws.

"Mmmm…" he rasped, "This is…the best thing I've ever tasted!"

"So you'll join us?"

"Sure. It beats wasting away in this hole." The Wiggler whistled and two Wigglers identical to the first turned the corner into the passage.

"Get these humans down!" he ordered. His cohorts climbed up the cavern wall and bit into the webs, loosening them. Waluigi and Daisy fell to the ground with a soft thud.

. "I am called Hunter. Those two are my brothers, Isaac and Marlow.

Luigi looked behind him. Waluigi was already talking to Isaac as if he had known him all his life, but Daisy was staring fearfully at Marlow as if he was still planning to eat her. The hungry look in his eyes did not help the situation. Daisy ran over to Luigi and whispered in his ear.

"How do we know we can trust them?"

"We don't," Luigi replied softly, leaning close to her, "but we need to make all the allies we can. They have agreed to help us, and that's all the convincing we can take right now. We can also prevent them from eating any more Yoshis, if there are even any left on this forsaken island."

Daisy nodded but didn't leave Luigi's side.

"I take it you're headed to Kamek's hideout, then?" Hunter asked. "Wish I knew where it was."

Something flashed in Waluigi's mind. "I know where it is! I saw it in my vision. It's inside the volcano!"

"Inside the volcano…" Luigi repeated, "That doesn't make any sense." He looked up at Hunter. "Does it?"

"There is a volcano at the end of the forest," he replied, "but it's a long trek. Perhaps you should rest here until morning."