Chapter 43 Moley Moles

The Society's laughter rolled over the Koopa Kingdom hills. The voices blended together in one happy, uplifting chorus. Well, uplifting to them. To Celia, the sound of their laughter made her nervous. This was solely due to the activity that they were going to partake in; Monty mole hunting. She did not know what that entailed. If it was actual hunting, that meant that the society was probably taking them off to kill the animals. Which...yeah, Celia was more than a little uncomfortable doing. Sure, she had done things such as ransack people's houses in the past. However, her stomach squirmed every time she did it. She was someone who just did not like doing horrible things, and killing innocent little moles was one of them.

She tried to push those thoughts to the side though. She did not know how Kamark would react if she questioned his ways in front of him. Because right now, as Celia looked at the navy cloaked magikoopa, she felt shudders run up and down her spine. If what Lei told her was true, Kamark was someone who could severely punish her if she got on his bad side.

"Keep your eyes peeled," Marcus said to Celia and Roy. "We're almost at the sight."

Celia swallowed a lump and exchanged a look with Roy. He too looked nervous, as if he and Celia were on the same wavelength. She looked out at the rest of the society. They had a carefree, almost blaise attitude. They nonchalantly travelled across the landscape, talking to one another and telling all sorts of jokes.

"The Society seems happy," she said, more to Roy than anyone else.

"Hmm?" Roy asked. "Oh, yeah. They certainly look….comfortable. I guess this is an activity that they do often."

Celia looked over her shoulder at Kamark before motioning for Roy to come in close. "I don't like the sound of 'Monty Mole hunting.'"

Roy breathed a sigh of relief. "Oh good, me neither. I mean, what kind of sicko does one have to be to kill monty moles?"

"Exactly what I was thinking; they're completely harmless!" She looked back over at Marcus and Kamark. Marcus raised an eyebrow at them and approached.

"Do you two have weapons?"

Roy blinked. "Pardon?"

"Weapons. This can be dangerous under the right circumstances."

This made Celia even more nervous. Dangerous? This was a dangerous activity? Despite her growing nerves, she still did not question Marcus. All she did was shaking her head.

"No. We...we don't have weapons."

Marcus sighed and punched his brow. "We should have gotten you some," he muttered. "You're new recruits, we should have gotten you some." He turned around. "Kamark!"

Celia and Roy followed Marcus over to the magikoopa who was technically now their boss. Kamark let out a grumpy sigh and raised an eyebrow.

"What?" he spat out. This caused Celia to recoil, but thankfully, Marcus wasn't nearly as affected. Probably used to it considering he's Kamark's right hand man.

"Celia and Roy need weapons."

Kamark grumbled and waved his wand. A bullet bill blaster and a fire flower appeared right in their hands. Roy gawked at the massive blaster and laughed giddily.

"Awesome! I haven't used one of these in forever!" He hoisted it over his shoulder. "Thanks!"

"Of course," Kamark said icily. He picked up the pace, clearly trying to walk away. However, Celia wouldn't allow that. She had a question plaguing her mind.

"Woah woah, wait. A fire flower? Power ups don't work on koopas."

Kamark narrowed his eyes at her. "You're half human, right?"

Celia blinked. "Uh...um….yeah, I am."

"You'll be fine." He turned on his heel and resumed walking away. Celia looked down at the fire flower in her hands, still feeling a little apprehensive. She had never tried these before. She didn't even know if it would work. After taking sometime to consider it though, she put it in her pocket. Who knows? Maybe the power up would turn out to be useful somehow.

The Society continued on with their trek. Roy stroked his bill blaster like it was a long lost pet, seeming to completely forget about his nervousness from before. Celia, however, was so nervous she felt as if her stomach was eating her alive. It was gnawing at her, tearing her apart. She wanted desperately to see what Monty Mole hunting entailed, but at the same time, she wanted to see anything but. She followed after the society, her nausea growing a hundred fold.

Finally, the Society stopped, and all eyes turned toward Kamark. He walked up to the front of the group, his face as serious as a storm. The silence was unbearable; the only sound that was audible was the crunch of dirt underneath Kamark's feet. Celia followed him with her eyes like everyone else. When he finally stopped a the front of the group, he faced everyone and cleared his throat.

"Let the hunt commence."

With that, the society scattered. Celia notices that they used spades and shovels to dig into to ground. That made sense; moles typically lived underground. Celia looked over at Roy, Marcus, and Kamark as the approached her. Kamark wore the same scowl that at this point he was becoming famous for.

"Well, don't just stand around," he said.

"Yes sir." Marcus looked at Roy and Celia and handed them gardening tools he had pulled from his hammerspace. "Start digging buckos."

Roy nodded, got down on his hands and knees, and started digging. Celia did the same thing after getting a prompting look from Kamark. Seriously, his glare was so strong that it made poison seem desirable.

"The first rule of the Starbite Society," said Kamark as he and Marcus dug together, "is that teamwork will produce a greater quantity and a greater quality of fruit than one would all by their lonesome." He dug deeper, getting the dirt all over his robe. "That is the first rule because it is the most important."

"I see," said Celia. She supposed this was Kamark teaching her the ways of the organization like he promised would happen. She leaned over the dirt mound, digging up soil, rocks, bugs, everything under the sun (or in this case under the Earth).

Once they finished, they moved onto the next spot. The sun beat down on Celia's back the longer that she worked. She wiped sweat from her brow and saw that her accomplices were doing the digging without much trouble. Even Roy, who had gone into the is apprehensively, was doing the task enthusiastically. So, she sucked it.

"Kamark?"

"Yes?"

"What connection do you have with my dad?"

That question got an audible gasp from Marcus. Kamark glared at Celia, sending shivers down her spine. Roy even held onto her hand, as if nonverbally saying that he would protect her at all costs.

"Rule number two about the Starbite Society," he growled, "is that we do not open up old wounds that our star-bitten brethren have accumulated."

Celia blinked. "Old...wounds? What did my dad…"

"SHUT UP!" Kamark shouted. Celia shrieked and backed away. Once she did, Kamark let out a sigh. "I am not in the mood to talk about this."

Roy raised an eyebrow. "Okay? Will there come a time when you are?"

Kamark sniffed. "Perhaps." He leaned over the mound. "If you two gain my trust."

Celia felt confused. Trust? What did trust have to do with any of this? This was her father, for Pete's sake! She needed to know what his life was like, what this magikoopa's connection to him was! Was that so much to ask?

Apparently so, as Kamark refused to make eye contact with her. She dug in silence, feeling a form of anger overtake her. She wanted to know! She wanted to know, damn it!

"Kamark! Marcus! I found one!"

Kamark perked up. He and Marcus ran over to the person who had called out, leaving Celia and Roy gulping. They did it; they actually found a monty mole. Now what would happen? Would they kill it?

Oh good gracious, please don't let them kill it! Celia thought. She ran over to the magikoopa, who know cradled a tan furred, baby monty mole in his arms. It was asleep; dirty, but asleep. It's little chest rose and fell in a steady rhythm. Celia felt that the creature was adorable.

Kamark turned toward Marcus. "Marcus, my friend?"

"Yes sir?"

Celia sucked in a breath. Here it comes. He was going to tell Marcus that they needed to kill this monty mole. Celia closed her eyes, bracing and mentally preparing herself.

"Get a blanket and a milk bottle. We're taking this mole back to the hideout."

Celia opened her eyes and blinked. She turned toward Roy, who gave her a shrug.

"For how long?" Marcus asked.

"For as long as it takes to nurse them back to health."

Marcus nodded and ran off. Celia and Roy approached Kamark, who was now stroking the baby under the chin.

"I'm sorry," Roy said. "Did you say we're taking this mole back to the hideout?"

"Yes. These moles are on the endangered species list. We want to help them get back to full health before they are put back into the wild." Kamark faced them. "That's rule number three of the Starbite Society; the environment of this world is one worth taking care of."

Marcus returned with the blanket and milk bottle. He gave both of them to Kamark, who wrapped the monty mole up in the blanket. He didn't take the milk bottle though, as the baby was still asleep. After he swaddled the baby, he rocked it from side to side in a gentle rhythm.

"Man," said Roy. "That thing is cute."

"Indeed." Kamark face him. "Would you like to hold it?"

Roy blinked. "Really?" When Kamark nodded, he grinned. "Uh, yeah!" He took the baby and cradled it in in his arms, all while smiling like a proud parent. "They're so soft too."

Kamark nodded. "Enjoy holding it now. We need to get back to work l, as there could be more montys."

Roy nodded. Celia did too; now that she knew the moles were in no danger, she could so her job with a sense of happiness leather than dread. The Society resumed with digging through the dirt. By noon time, they had found twenty different monty mole babies.

"We done did good boss!" Lei said with a laugh.

Kamark nodded. "Yes. We did," he said as he observed the animals. He sighed and turned toward the Society. "Great job today team. Pick up a baby and let's carry these down to the hideout's nursery."

The society did just that. Just as they were about to head back to the hideout, however, the ground started to rumble. Celia's fear went through the roof; was this an earthquake?

"What's happening?" she shouted.

Kamark's eyes filled with fear. "EVERYONE, RUN! RUN NOW!"

A crack formed in the ground, and out of that crack sprung thorny green vines. Before long, the society was staring straight into the gaping maw of a giant, drooling, hungry piranha plant.