"To get to Star Peak, which is the home of the ancient Star Spirits, we will travel across Skyland. Shalom, What should we expect?" Geno turned to the Shy Guy butler standing next to him. It was late that evening, and they were inside the Clockwork Castle library, working out the last few details of the journey to Star Peak.
"Skyland is mostly wet moorland. There is the Ghostly Forest, the Silent Bluffs, and the Ravaged Ravine in the heart of Skyland. Star Peak is here in the Celestial Mountains. You will start here in Solarsky, and travel to Crescent Outpost here in the moorland, and from there, you will reach the Ravaged Ravine. Beware of the Earthquakes, as Skyland is famous for its 7.2 to 9.8 quakes on the Haley Scale. You will cross the ravine, and reach the Eerie Oasis on the edge of Silent Bluffs, which you will scale, and drop into the great Remina Fault, and enter the Ghostly Forest. Beware of the Wildboos. These boos are carnivores, and do not answer to King Boo. There are three kinds of Wildboos. Lets see, Vamprboo, Wolfboo, and Wailboo. A Vamprboo is colored light green, and has long fangs. These boos are bloodsuckers. Their eyes are red. Wolfboo live in packs, and are wolf like in nature. They look like floating balls of fluff, and have the characteristic snout of a wolf. They hate sunlight. Wailboos are pale blue, and they pass the time by singing. Its how they lure prey into traps to eat them. Star Peak is on the other side of a second stretch of moorland outside Ghostly Forest. This piece is the foggiest section of Skyland. It is called Anguish Way for a reason. Star Peak is right here, and you will have to climb up to its peak, where the ancient Stars reside." Shalom explained.
"Those Stars would be Flamar, Teachar, Stormar, Timar, Daydream, Nightmare, and Formar." Geno rattled off, "Daydream and Nightmare are the parents of Eldstar, Flamar is Klevar and Kalmar's Grandfather, Formar is their granduncle. Like them, Flamar and Formar were twins. Teachar is Skolars grandfather, Stormar is Misstars grandfather, and Timar is her grandmother."
"B-b-boos? W-w-wild boos?" Luigi asked, his voice shaking. Boos were his worst fear.
"Luigi, now is not the time to panic." Mallow said.
"No, I'm overly excited about walking through a forest full of wild boos! Yes, I'm panicking!" Luigi screamed.
"Luigi, what is so scary about a boo? They can't really hurt you." Solance asked.
"They are creepy looking!" Luigi didn't realize that he was making the rug everyone was standing on float.
"Luigi, calm down. Set us down gently-Oww!" Shalom cried, "He has Great Lord Brighton in him alright. Even Great Lord Brighton makes things float when he gets scared! Luigi! Drop me! Wait! Don't- Oww! You dropped me!"
"Luigi, breathe in and out deeply five times in a row." Solance said.
"I would if I weren't hyperventilating!" Luigi screamed, breathing. Books started flying off the shelves. Then it was calm.
"Luigi?" Geno asked. His answer was a book in the face, "Oof! Nope, still panicking."
"Luigi, you do want to save Daisy, right?" Mallow asked.
"Yeah," Luigi said.
"Then you need to calm down. When we get to the Ghostly Forest, we will worry about that fear of yours then." Mallow said.
"But I'm still scared of boos." Luigi said.
"Its late, and we need to leave at the crack of dawn tomorrow morning if we want to reach Crescent Outpost by dark.. Lets call it a night." Solance said.
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Waluigi sat in a dark room. The corner of the room lit up and took the shape of an eye.
"You still have not finished reviving me, Daybreaker. What is the delay?" the Hellhound whispered.
"I am working on reviving my world, Hellhound. We have a problem. The Great Lord has sent his son to travel to Star Peak." Waluigi said.
"We can't let him reach Star Peak. Daydream will ruin everything for us by giving him the you know what. Stop him in every way you can. Use Them, if you must." the Hellhound whispered, "and revive me already!"
"Yes, I'll send Them after him and finish reviving you, Hellhound." Waluigi nodded.
He stood, and left the room. Waluigi walked to the heart of the Blade, and tapped out a code with his foot. The floor slid open, revealing a set of stairs, which he walked down. He reached the door, opened it, and walked inside the hidden room. Waluigi raised his hands, and three lean figures slunk out of the shadows. One of them was a black winged lion with a flaming mane and tail tip, the other was a black and white tiger female with green eyes and black wings, the last one was a black winged panther with red eyes like the lion.
"Darksun, Darkmoon, and Darkstar, I have a mission for the three of you. You are to stop the son of the Great Lord at all costs. Understand?" Waluigi asked.
"Yesss, Master." Darkmoon, the tiger, purred.
"We will get him for you, master." Darksun, the lion, said.
"Lets go, then! I can't wait to try out my nightmare scream! Did I tell you? It makes you have a nightmare!" Darkstar, the panther, said, getting silenced by a growl from Darksun.
"Darkstar, control yourself." Darksun led the way out into the night.
"I can't help being so hyper! Did I tell you? I was-" Darkstar was interrupted.
"SHUT UP!" Darkmoon snarled.
"Okay." Darkstar said.
"Darkstar?" Darkmoon asked.
"Yea?" Darkstar asked
"Shut up!" Darkmoon cried.
"Okay." Darkstar said.
"Darkstar?" Darkmoon asked.
"Yea?" Darkstar said.
"Shut up!" Darkmoon cried.
"Okay." Darkstar said.
"Darkstar?" Darkmoon asked
"Yea?" Darkstar said.
"Shut up!" Darkmoon cried.
"Okay." Darkstar said.
"Would you both shut up?" Darksun growled.
"Yes, sir." Both the tigress and the panther said, following the lion.
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Luigi woke as sunlight hit his face. He had slept in the room that was his back before he and Mario had been separated from their brothers and their parents. Briefly, he wondered if he would be any different today if he had been raised by his parents. Luigi got up, and went to the window. Brightstar was doing his duty, shining in the sky. Luigi felt a pang of sadness as he remembered that it would be him shining up in the sky soon. He heard a soft knock at the door, and went to answer it. It was Mallow.
"We are leaving in fifteen minutes." Mallow said.
"Okay." Luigi said, watching as the Prince of Nimbus Land went to wake Geno next. He was dressed and ready to go in minutes. They left a short time later, on Yoshi back. Wario was given the task of driving the supplies wagon which was being pulled by a pair of chain chomps. Solance rode Spitfire, a solid red yoshi, which was his own yoshi, Luigi had Sunfire, a twilight purple winged female with dark red spikes running down her back, and a red saddle. Geno had borrowed Sandbar, another yellow yoshi. Sandbar had green boots and green spikes. His saddle was purple, showing he was the favored mount of Violet, guardian of Starworld. Mallow had Mel, his cloud. They soon left Solarsky, and entered the open moorland. Sunfire stopped.
"Lets go, Sunfire!" Luigi ordered, trying to nudge the female forward. She refused, tossing her head, and snorting.
"Translation, Ew! No! Its wet and muddy out there!" Sandbar translated.
Not all Yoshies could speak the human language. Spitfire and Sunfire both couldn't speak the human language. Sandbar was one of the few that could speak the human language.
"We don't have time for this, Sunfire! Move forward already! See, Sandbar and Spitfire are having no trouble with it." Luigi reasoned with the stubborn dino. Sunfire took two steps backward, and shook herself vigorously, nearly sending Luigi flying. Luigi managed to stay in the saddle by pure luck and skill. He dismounted, and walked the yoshi out into the infertile plains, and remounted.
"You want to fly?" Luigi asked.
Sunfire responded by taking a running leap into the air, and with a flap of her wings, began to fly. They caught up to the others. Solance was leading a limping Spitfire.
"There you are, Luigi! I was beginning to wonder where you were!" Wario called up, "Spitfire got bitten by Chomper in the leg. Its not too bad, but it will need to be looked at by a vet once we reach Crescent Outpost."
"Sunfire hates the mud!" Luigi couldn't help but scream as Sunfire dove down, and landed gracefully on the ground. They walked in silence.
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Overhead, in the clouds, the three big cats watched, and plotted.
"Here is the plan. Darkmoon, call in the fog. Darkstar, keep the others busy with your nightmare attacks, and I will take care of the green one with a special nightmare attack." Darksun said.
Darkmoon looked up at the sky, and opened her mouth. She let out a long, mournful wail, and the fog began to roll in. Darkmoon wailed louder, rising and falling with perfect pitch. The fog grew thicker. She smiled evilly. Both Darksun and Darkmoon disappeared into the thick fog.
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Luigi was riding along, enjoying the cool breeze on his face, when the fog rolled in. It had become so thick that Luigi pulled up Sunfire, unable to see more then a foot in front of himself. Sunfire gave a nervous snort.
"Its okay, Sunfire. Its okay, girl." Luigi soothed the yoshi.
He felt himself getting nervous. Then, he heard a low wail. Sunfire snorted, her light colored eyes rolling in fear. The wail grew louder, and more mournful. Luigi felt his heart pounding against his rib cage. He wished Mario were with him. Sunfire shivered. Luigi felt the yoshi's muscles tense up, and experience told him to brace himself. He felt Sunfire shaking herself, and it was all he could do to hold on.
"Easy, Sunfire!" Luigi cried, "Easy dose it, now."
(I scared, Master.)
Luigi jumped a mile and lost his stirrups as his mind registered the fact his Yoshi had used telepathy to talk to him.
"S-Sunfire, did y-you just u-use telepathy? P-please tell m-me it w-was you!" Luigi cried, panicking now.
(It me who talk, Master. I talk, only you hear. Telepathy?) Sunfire asked.
"Sunfire, yes, that is telepathy." Luigi said.
Suddenly, another fresh wail broke out. Luigi felt chills traveling up and down his spine, and Sunfire tossed her head, prancing nervously. She shook herself, surprising Luigi, who was midair before his brain registered the fact he was no longer sitting astride the yoshi. He hit the ground hard on his left shoulder, and heard a resounding crack as the bone snapped. He felt a sudden blast of pain seconds later, as his arm hung uselessly at his side, the shoulder no longer intact. Luigi looked up, a scream dying on his lips as a winged flaming lion crept up to him. The last thing he heard was the scream of a yoshi, and the roar of the lion as it came under attack by the yoshi. Warm darkness came down on him.
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Queen Sunstar: I know, not a cliff hanger. (Ducks behind wall as arrows start flying) My boss changed my shift to where I'm no longer getting a three hour break during naptime. Instead, my break is from three to five, after naptime. This take effect next week, on Monday. I will still be working on the story. My update times may be delayed a few days.
Twila: Review, please!