Chapter 11: Continuing the Trials

The large log clunked as it was split in two by Link's wooden axe. He had managed to build quite the impressive wood pile. He took a moment to rest, wiping the sweat from his brow with a sigh of relief. The smell of freshly cut timber hung in the dimly lit chamber. Rosalina had managed to find a tiny frog. She was watching it contently as it hopped along the riverside. She sat with her arms wrapped around her knees, her legs pale in contrast to the surrounding darkness. Mario was lying down on his back where he had fallen. His palms faced skyward, fingers curled weakly. His eyes were peacefully closed. That attack must have taken a lot out of him Link had gathered, so he decided to let him rest and not ask for his help. Link enjoyed the work though, and he could tell that Mario was the type who did too. The large rocks from the Stone Talus had landed all around them, but besides some flint that Link had managed to gather from them, they were of no value.

"I think that's just about what we can salvage from here." Link spoke aloud, the first voice to break the silence in quite some time. "This should prove useful for the upcoming trials."

"I'm hungry..." Rosalina complained, with a frown on her face.

"Is that so? If you can catch that frog there for me, I'll make you some delicious frog eyeballs." Link joked, failing to hide a slight grin.

"Ahh?" Rosalina gasped, her eyes widened in terror. She did what she could to hide the unaware frog with her hands from Link. "You monster! There's no way I could eat my friend!"

"What a shame..." Link sighed. He then spread his arms with a glistening sound effect, the background a sparkling yellow with multiple green frogs flowing in an out of frame. Link was wearing a chefs hat and apron, a beaming smile on his face with an animated blush of pride. "There are all sorts of people in Hyrule who would pay a lot of money for 'Chef Link's Famous Frog Eyeballs'!"

"Just what kind of weirdos live in Hyrule anyway?" Rosalina scolded, pointing a demeaning finger which shattered the illusion.

"Oh ho ho..." Mario laughed, still lying on his back.

"Ahh, so you're up!" Link calmly noted, seeming somewhat relieved.

"That nearly knocked me out..." Mario admitted, sitting up with a hand on his forehead. Some grass was stuck to his bare back.

"Hmm... Maybe you shouldn't do that attack anymore?" Rosalina tentatively suggested, scratching her head weakly while looking slightly downward. Her speech was slow as usual.

"On the contrary. I think it would be of great benefit if you learned how to control an attack like that." Link calmly argued. "Once mastered, it would be a devastating power."

"I just can't believe I can inflate like that..." Mario shrugged, shaking his head.

"*snort* Hehe." Rosalina giggled, laughing into her hands, almost how a little child does. "Oh yeah. That was super funny."

"As for you, Princess." Link continued, shifting his attention to her. The wooden axe was now resting against his back. "That was quite the impressive ability you demonstrated."

"Huh?" Rosalina slowly started, taking some time to think. "Oh, you mean the barrier? Yeah, I didn't know I could do that. But now I remember that I can."

"Interesting." Link noted, his eyes closed and bare arms folded. "I wonder what other abilities lie dormant?"

"Probably nothing." Rosalina frowned, apparently pessimistic.

"Hey! It's me again!"

Once again, the androgynous youthful voice had appeared. Almost instinctively, the three of them looked upwards into the darkness.

"Congratulations on passing the first trial! You guys really demonstrated some awesome teamwork. Nice job!"

"You tried to kill us." Link declined, his tone serious.

"Huh?"

"Just what kind of crap are we supposed to go through, here?" Mario demanded. "I'm not willing to stake my life on these trials, you know!"

"Yeah, can't we just do a few puzzles or something?" Rosalina suggested, failing to hold back a yawn.

"Look, if you guys expect to have any chance of defeating all of our enemies, you're gonna need to go through pretty vigorous training!"

"I don't recall "death" being a part of training..." Link declined. "In fact, I'm pretty sure that's the key difference between training and the real thing."

"There has never truly been a risk of death. If you guys had of "died", you would have just failed the trail and then you would have been transported back to your world, safely. You won't actually die."

"Then why didn't you just tell us that?" Mario sighed, shaking his head. "I thought we were in serious danger back there."

The youthful voice almost squeaked. "Because I want you guys to take this seriously! Because if you can't pass my trials, chances are you really might die because you won't stand a chance against what's to come!"

The three of them remained silent, unimpressed.

"Alright. I'm sorry, okay? I just want you guys to pass the trials. And for us to be friends. So that we can do great things together."

"Then why aren't you doing these trials with us?" Link challenged, raising an excellent point.

"Well, umm... I actually... don't have a body yet..."

"What? You don't have a body?" Mario gawked. "How exactly are you supposed to help us, again?"

"I said YET, okay! I'm just waiting for a... vessel to inhabit."

"A vessel?" Rosalina inquired, a blue question mark appearing over her head. It wobbled weakly until it faded out of existence. "You mean like, a ship?"

"No, I mean some sort of body. I have wicked awesome skills, just no physical form to use them with... But I'm working on it, okay!"

"You certainly are strange." Link shrugged, unsure of what to say.

"I'll take that as a compliment. Now hurry up and enter this portal, okay? The next trial is harder than the last. It's crucial that you pass with flying colours, okay? Don't let me down, now!"

"Not like we have much choice anyway." Link sighed, looking downward with folded arms.

"Another trial?" Rosalina sighed, her expression somber. "Gee, what a pain..."

"I'm pumped!" Mario cheered, with clenched fists. "I love testing my skills!"

"At least one of you has the right idea! Try and take this seriously, alright? I'll be waiting for you guys!"

With that, a light blue portal with mystic, unknown insignias appeared on a flat section of grass. The voice had disappeared. The light was peaceful and inviting.

"Well, let's press onward." Link mildly encouraged. "After we pass these trials, we can reunite with the others."

"Hey, do you think they went to the mall without us?" Rosalina mildly fret, looking off with a finger on her chin in dopey eyed thought. "I really wanted to go to the game store..."

"I'm not sure, but right now we gotta give this next trial everything we've got!" Mario encouraged, his fists clenched and spirits high.

"*sigh* okay..." Rosalina sighed, practically defeated already. "What a pain."

(Why is someone who is so deeply connected to the Goddess, so low in spirit?) Link thought to himself, his blue eyes glistening. His pensive expression bore some concern.

With that, the three of them stepped into the portal. Their forms had immediately started to glow with an eerie blue light. With mild expressions of awe, they watched as they themselves transformed into balls of light, which then rose skyward within the confines of a cylindrical pillar of blue light.

/

Meanwhile, back in Mushroom City, Princess Peach, Daisy, and Luigi were cruising through the southern district of Mushroom City on uniquely coloured vespas. It was a beautiful and sunny afternoon in the early spring. The southern district of Mushroom City housed much of the major modes of transportation.

There was the Princess Peach Airport, which was used widely (but not exclusively) for international travelling. Usually, many flights a day were heading to and from Sarasaland, but ever since Grodus has been in power, these flights have been discontinued.

There was also the city train, the Mushroom Express, which was a luxurious sleek white and red train that brought one to various locations all over the Mushroom Kingdom. This was achieved via a five day journey around the Mushroom Kingdom, with various stops at different locations. Ticket prices were based on the distance of your destination, but were incredibly expensive regardless. The Mushroom Express was located at Mushroom City Station, which wasn't too far from Mushroom City Harbour. Mushroom City Harbour used to run the Daisy Cruiser for trips to Rogueport, but this has also been discontinued since Grodus acquired power. The Daisy Cruiser currently remains docked safely in Mushroom Harbour.

Peach, Daisy, and Luigi arrived at the parking lot for Mushroom City Mall. They each parked their orange, green, and pink vespas, and in that order.

"You think they'll be mad at us for going to the mall without them?" Luigi worried, unclipping his helmet strap.

"Nah..." Daisy declined, shaking her head and adjusting her now free hair. "Mario's not the kind of guy to care about something like that. As for Rosalina and Link, well, I can't say. Good thing Navi opted to stay back at the Castle and wait for them, though."

"I suppose. Although truthfully, I am a tad guilty we are not waiting there with her." Peach admitted, already wearing her sunhat once again. "But I think Katan T. raised a good point about the cell phones. I believe it is of utmost importance that we get them as soon as possible."

"I think you just wanna be able to text Mario when he's not around." Daisy sniped, failing to hide a grin as she leaned slightly forward with her fists against her hips.

"W-Well, I suppose I would be lying if that was not partially the case..." Peach shyly admitted, as the three of them walked towards the entrance. It was very busy at the mall today. Peach continued to speak her mind. "I really do hope they are alright. That... portal? It was some strange, wasn't it? I can't help be worried."

"They'll be fine. I'm sure it's just more of Rosalina's hoodoo." Daisy assured, clearly deciding not to worry about it.

"Yeah, besides, they got Mario with them anyway. He always pulls through." Luigi encouraged.

"I suppose that is true..." Peach softly admitted. She started to feel a bit better.

"Hey, what's this?" Luigi spotted, a green exclamation mark appearing over his head. He walked towards what appeared to be a poster for some sort of an event.

The poster featured two moustachioed men, one rather short and fat and the other one tall, thin, and lanky. The short and fat man had yellow clothes and purple overalls, whereas the lanky man wore purple clothes with black overalls. The fat man had a big open-mouth smile while pointing a gloved finger, whereas the tall and skinny man was rubbing his rather twiggy moustache between his fingers with an apparent sense of pride. The poster read:

"THE WARIO BROS. PRESENT: THE BOMBASTIC CARNIVAL! It'll be a BLAST!"

"The Wario Bros? Ugh, I know them from Sarasaland." Daisy informed, almost with a sneer. She seemed to disapprove of them. "They're conmen. This can't be any good."

"Really? Apparently they are gonna be holding this Bombastic Carnival right here in Mushroom City tomorrow." Luigi explained, rubbing his chin as he continued to look at the poster.

"Oooh, a carnival!" Peach awed, unable to resist bearing a childlike closed eyed smile as the background changed to hearts. Her hands were then against her cheeks with a blush, her eyes glistening as she fantasized about riding a ferris wheel with Mario. "Oh, what fun! We should all go together!"

"Didn't you hear what I just said?" Daisy countered, her fists against her hips.

"Oh, it can't be too bad." Peach assured. "They needed permission from Pauline in order to do this, right? I trust her completely."

"That's true. Mayor Pauline must have agreed to let them go through with it." Luigi concluded, exiting his lean toward the poster. "It's official."

"Even Pauline is on board? Gee, what was she thinking?" Daisy shrugged, seeming skeptical. "This all seems fishy to me."

"Oh, stop that." Peach kindly dismissed. "We're all going tomorrow and that's that. It'll be fun!"

"Yeah!" Luigi cheered, jumping high with a clenched fist.

"Whatever..." Daisy sighed, looking off to the right with folded arms.

"Anyway, let us begin shopping, shall we?" Peach chimed, her head slightly tilted with a soft toothless smile and closed eyes.

/

Back in the trials, the blue portal was waiting for them, only this time it was in a patch of snow. The orbs of light twirled downward within the confides of a blue pillar of light, reforming the three heroes upon arriving at the bottom and making contact with the portals base. By the time the three of them stood up tall, the portal had disappeared.

"B-Brr..." Rosalina shivered, rubbing her arms vigorously to keep warm. Her breath was icy, and her skin was already turning quite red.

Link was shivering as well, his arms tight to his sides and eyes widened as his teeth chattered. His breath was icy. The air was unbelievably cold.

"Ah-wa-wa-ah-wa-wa-ah-wa-wa!" Mario relentlessly chattered, his eyes widened as he stood in place rubbing his arms and shivering. He then realized that he actually wasn't cold at all. He examined his hands in calm surprise. "Oh?"

"Hey, I'm not cold!" Mario awed, rather amazed.

"Y-Y-You're n-n-not?" Link awed, apparently intrigued despite his own circumstance.

"I'm g-g-g-gonna d-d-die." Rosalina fret, her body temperature rapidly decreasing.

"Not at all, I'm totally fine!" Mario gawked. "I think it's because of the Fire Star!"

He then ran forward a distance, clenching his fists at his sides. "Fire!"

A moderate burst of flame extended outward in a small radius, almost like a mini atomic bomb. It completely melted the snow in the surrounding area, and warmed the surrounding air for a short period. Rosalina and Link were quick to run into it, already feeling better as their bare feet escaped the snow and arrived on steamy warm grass. Link revealed a bundle of wood, as well as a piece of flint.

"I can get that." Mario offered, turning with his bare palm facing the wood pile. He launched a single fire ball, which immediately transformed the wood bundle into a functioning fireplace.

Rosalina and Link didn't even take the time to thank him, diving onto their knees and holding their hands before the burning flame.

"Hey, take a good look at this place!" Mario awed, fists on his bare hips in excitement as he examined the snowy world.

It had not occurred to Rosalina or Link to survey their surroundings, as they had been preoccupied with getting warm. Now that they were safely by the fireplace, they took the time to take a good look around. It was a beautiful scene. It felt as if they were back in their world. To Link, it looked like the Hebra Mountains of Hyrule. To Mario, it reminded him of the Mushroom Kingdoms Shiver region. To Rosalina, it simply looked cold.

The night sky above was filled with billions upon billions of stars. Link was more accustomed to the starry night sky compared to Mario, who has lived almost all of his life living in or near a light polluted city. He spent a few minutes explaining some star positions to the two of them, and Mario wondered if Rosalina had ever flown near any of them. Rosalina explained that even though she was travelling for one thousand years, she wouldn't have gotten near hardly any of them as they were all just that far away. Mario didn't understand, and Rosalina decided that it would be too much of a pain to clarify it for him.

There were also large evergreen trees with piles of snow rested upon their branches. The area was spacious with lots of plain. This, combined with the bordering mountain and endless stars, one felt completely minimized.

"There are very few mountains like this in the Mushroom kingdom." Mario thought to himself.

"Is that so?" Link inquired, raising an eyebrow with a wrist on his knee as he sat in front of the fire. Rosalina had her hands to it, the flame flickering in her eyes. "Come to Hyrule. They are commonplace."

"Definitely." Mario promised, with a nod. "I'm excited to go, I've never been there before."

"You actually have already been to Hyrule." Rosalina corrected. "We both have. That's where we met."

"I really don't know what you're talking about." Mario shrugged, with a polite grin of refusal. "In fact, I'm pretty sure that's impossible."

"I do sense a strong connection to the Goddess within the two of you. Maybe this is what you are feeling, Rosalina?" Link suggested.

There was a brief period of silence. Link eventually had summoned Rosalina.

"Hm?" Rosalina softly barked.

"Perhaps you could explain to me your story, while Mario goes and gathers some supplies for us?" Link suggested. "Seeing how he can keep warm and all."

"Supplies? What kind of supplies?" Mario asked, scratching the back of his tilted head.

"Warm clothes, for one." Link answered. "I'll bet there will be something around here somewhere we could use. Otherwise we won't be able to help you with this trial. Some meat, and any kind of spices you can find. I could then cook a dish that would help keep us warm. Hot peppers can grow in certain mountain regions because of the altitude, so keep an eye out."

"Hot peppers grow on mountains? How?" Rosalina questioned, a blue question mark wobbling over her head before fading out of existence.

"Birds." Link answered, his arms folded and expression informative. "When birds eat peppers, they don't break up the seeds. They poop them out whole, and the seeds then land in all sorts of different places, sometimes quite high up. Some plants can even be spread to other regions this way."

"Oh, wow!" Rosalina smiled, her expression full of glee. Bold yellow lines accented her glee. "That's so funny. You're smart!"

"Just some tricks of the wild." Link nodded.

"Alright, I'll go and gather some stuff. You guys just sit tight, okay?" Mario waved, running away in the snow nearly naked. "Don't freeze on me!"

"We have plenty of wood and flint, so we should be able to hold off until he gets back..." Link answered, more so just thinking out loud rather than replying, since Mario was already so far away. He turned to Rosalina, who kept looking at the fire. "Now then. I suppose we should talk."

With that, Mario began his adventure in this mysterious, snowy world. The next part of the trial was about to begin.