Chapter Six: Set Backs

I set back on the trail again with more caution than the first time. My provisions were still with me along with my backpack in the case that Bowser's goons were here on the prowl. I had mixed emotions when I arrived at the same place that I helped the two toads. The burnt enemies were no longer in sight, and that could mean either good or bad things for me later. It could mean that King Goomba will stop harassing the visitors to this area, but that's not likely.

"He'll probably get upset like the usual baddies and send out more minions to attack me. That is, if they see me again anyways." I ran into the occasional enemies here and there until I made it out into an open area. I calmly walked through the beautiful area, and I was surprised that no one else was around, enemy or otherwise. The answer to that question was soon answered as I stopped in front of a steep cliff. A giant chasm lies before me where a sturdy bridge once stood.

"This complicates things a bit." I muttered to myself in irritation before sitting down on a nearby rock. I contemplated on what this could mean as I took a break from my traveling. "Goompapa never mentioned that the bridge was down." I glanced over at the other side of the chasm and spotted a stone building that sported a tall tower sitting on the other side. "He never mentioned anything about that either. He did say that he hasn't been outside his yard as of yet, so it's likely a recent development. I'm not sure how anyone could construct a stone building in such a short time though."

I sat on the rock for around five minutes before I began to make my way back home. It was too early for me to check on Taylor and Belle yet, and I wanted to get some answers on a few things. I arrived in front of my hidden warp pipe, and easily traveled through the dense bushes that surrounded it. I noticed Toadsworth was sitting on the porch as I popped out of the pipe. I waved at him as I came closer to the house.

"I'm guessing that your travels didn't run as smoothly as you planned?" I was about to ask him how he knew, but he answered before I could speak. "You're body language says it all Luigi. You look tense, your hands are still slightly clenched together as if in anger, and you have a pinched look on your face. So what exactly happened out there?"

I sighed and began to explain what happened today. "I never even made it to Goompa's house with all that happened so far. I ran into some of Bowser's underlings early on when I saw that they were attacking two toads on the path. They were actually working for some guy called King Goomba and said that this was their 'turf' now. Anyways, I beat up the bad guys and safely escorted the toads back to the Toad House. The second time I went on the trail I made it to the river before I had to turn back. The bridge was completely gone so I had no way of crossing the chasm."

"Well that certainly poses a problem. How is the goomba family going to be able to buy food if the path is completely cut off?" I shook my head and told him, "Yeah, it's not like they can last on Goomnuts forever. There has to be some way of reaching them…" We both decided to continue discussing the issues surrounding the kingdom in the kitchen since it was about time to eat lunch.

It was around three in the afternoon when I set off to meet the two toads in the Toad House like I promised. I entered the building, waved at the Medic toad as a greeting, and slipped inside the curtained off area that surrounded their bed. I saw that Belle looked to be almost fully awake, while Taylor still seemed a little out of it. He perked up a lot more once he noticed that I got here. "Hey Luigi." Taylor began to sit up in the bed, and thankfully it looked like it didn't hurt him as much as before.

"Hey you two. How are you both feeling?" Belle sprang up into a seated position before she began speaking. "I feel fine, but I'm worried about my brother. I don't know if the bed healed him all the way, and we still need to get some food…" She trailed off at the end, as if she was thinking about something that was troubling her.

"You were both looking for food in the woods?" I tilted my head as I spoke the question, and I noticed that Taylor looked off to the side in what looked to be embarrassment. He answered my question rather than his sister. "Yeah, we ran out of food at our house yesterday so we were hoping the goomba family would be willing to give us some goomnuts. They have plenty of goomnut trees, and they let us have some a while back, so I thought it was worth a shot."

"Why would you need to get food from someone…? Oh…" Taylor grimaced at my statement while Belle frowned and looked to the floor. She spoke up again to explain what Taylor was getting to. "Our Daddy went to the party a few days ago and didn't come back." Taylor chimed in to say, "He was one of the cooks for the event, so he had to be there. We figure that he was kidnapped along with the rest of the staff at the castle. Honestly, we were doing okay on our own until recently."

"I tried to ration our food to last us a few days. We actually planned on shopping for food two days ago, but all of this crap had to happen before we could. Now we don't have any food left, and any money that we have is impossible to access. Our dad usually keeps a decent amount of coins with him, and our savings requires a key to open the safe. If we had the key then we wouldn't be in this mess, but our dad keeps it on him for safe keeping as well."

He looked to the ground and clenched his fists. "If I had just listened to you earlier, then I wouldn't have put you in danger." Belle looked up at her brother and gained a fire in her eyes. "Don't blame yourself for what those jerks did! Your idea was good and you know that! If I was just a little older, then maybe I could've actually helped you back there…"

He hugged Belle tightly to him after that and said, "No, you did good sis. I'm the one that needs to be better. I should've listened to you when you said to ask someone to walk with us. It's not safe to go out on our own, but I didn't think that there would have been people patrolling the area so soon. We didn't even have any battle items to bring with us. I was just so desperate to get some food and not resort to stealing… "

They sat on the bed and held each other in silence for a while. I didn't want to interrupt their moment, so I sat at the edge of their bed and remained quiet until they were more emotionally stable. After a short time of waiting they broke apart and sat side by side again, but kept an arm around each other for comfort. "So now I know your story. I'm sorry that you both went through that. I'm also sad to say that you wouldn't have been able to reach the goomba family even if you made it to the river."

They both frowned, but didn't interrupt my explanation. "I was also trying to reach their house, so I attempted to go there again after I escorted the two of you here. Once I reached the river I was disappointed to find out that the bridge was gone. I don't have a clue as to how it mysteriously vanished, but that doesn't bode well if they can't make it back here to buy food and other essentials." The siblings looked surprised at my speech for a moment before Taylor began to look depressed.

"So all of that was for nothing… I put both of us in danger and nothing could've even come from it?!" He slammed his fist onto the covers in front of him before he hugged his knees to his chest. He laid his head upon his knees with a ragged sigh while Belle's eyes became misty, most likely from stress. "Well it wasn't exactly all for nothing now…"

They looked up at my statement in confusion. Taylor softly asked, "How so?" I grinned and said, "Well you met me. Now your life is complete." Belle snickered while Taylor cracked a smile. "On a more serious note, meeting me did and will help you." They both perked up as I continued to speak. "I saved you from Bowser's, or should I say King Goomba's, thugs earlier. Then I took you back here to heal, and now I'm going to treat you both to some food."

Their eyes practically glittered with their happiness as they asked if I was kidding. "No I'm not kidding. I would never lie about giving food to people who are starving. Now are you both ready to leave this Toad House?" They both nodded vigorously as grins broke out on their faces.

Author Note: Yes! I finally uploaded a new chapter for this story. It has been a while now, hasn't it? I decided to at least start on a chapter in the evening yesterday, which led to me finishing it all early this morning. I didn't actually plan on creating such a detailed back story for Taylor and Belle, but it just happened. I'm really happy with the way it turned out now.