Chapter 14 Steep Rocky Terrain

The royal siblings continued on their trek, with Peach constantly looking over her shoulder to check on the darkness. It seemed to get closer every time she turned her head like it was targeting her and Peasley specifically. Peach tried not to let the sight bother her (even though it very much did). She tried not to tremble, tried not to shiver. She told herself that it would all be okay, that she and her brother were going to get themselves out of this mess.

This mess that she created.

Shaking her head, Peach pushed that thought to the side. She shouldn't focus on the negative right now, as several positives deserved her attention. Being in her brother's presence, for example. The fact that the two of them were making excellent time. The fact that Hoohoo Mountain was getting closer and closer, with its mighty peak acting as the main symbol of hope Peach could see in this trying time. Just looking at it made her smile. It showed how much progress the two of them had made in such little time.

When they got to the base, Peasley let out a breath. "Well…" he looked up at the mountain, craning his neck to do so, before turning to Peach. "We're here."

"Yep! Now we have to climb it!" She grabbed hold of one of the rocks and started scaling the rocky mountainside. "We'll be in Stardust Fields in no time!"

"Uh, Peach…" Peasely said, his voice cautious.

"I've gotta say, I'm really happy with how smoothly this has gone so far." She put one foot into a crevice. "At the rate we're going, we're going to reach the Mushroom Kingdom in a matter of…"

Her foot slipped, and as a consequence, she fell. She screamed, landing right in her brother's arms. She tried to catch her breath, tried not to think about what would've happened if she had fallen from higher up. She looked into her brother's eyes, sparkling with concern as he frowned at her.

"S…sorry." She hoisted herself out of his arms. "I guess… I guess I have a long way to go if I want to mountain climb."

"Yeah, a little bit." Peasley pointed to the right. "But that's neither here nor there. There's a better way to get to the top."

Peach looked where he was pointing. When she saw what it was, her face grew warm and she shrunk back a little bit. "Oh. There's a path…"

"Yep." Peasley adjusted his backpack. "Come on; let's start making our way up."

Peach nodded, deciding that from now on, she was going to let Peasley decide their course of action on this journey. They made their way to the path, which Peach noticed had a sign posted in front of it. It said "Welcome to Hoohoo Mountain," and told about the mountain's history as well as the history of the people who lived among the slopes. They were called Hoohooligans, and their civilization pre-dated even the first Beanbeans. As such, the mountain was considered a sacred place, the land that belonged to these people and supported them throughout the hardest historical events. Peach recalled some of this stuff from her own history classes, how the Hoohooligans were the one type of people who were truly native to the Beanbean Kingdom. Peach remembered being particularly fascinated by that piece of information; the Beanbean people that she herself was a part of were essentially a hybrid species, and their ancestors discovered this place through pure serendipity…

"Peach, come on!"

The queen blushed again. "Sorry! Sorry." She rushed after her brother. "I was just…" she hung her head. "Sorry…"

"It's alright." Peasley took her hand. "Let's just stay close to each other from here on out, okay?"

Peach nodded. Again, that seemed like it would be the best course of action in these circumstances.

They started their trek up the mountain. As they grew higher, an interesting feeling came over Peach. It could only be described as both a shrinking and a growing feeling. It was a growing feeling in the sense that, the higher she climbed, the more of the Beanbean Kingdom she was able to see, and thus she felt taller. However, it was also a shrinking feeling because everything she knew, everything she had grown familiar with… it all looked miniscule. It looked so insignificant like ants had been the ones to construct it as opposed to actual people. These two feelings juxtaposed next to each other made Peach's stomach do flip-flops.

"Wow," she said out loud, with the intention of her brother hearing her. "Everything seems so different now."

Peasley chuckled. "That's adventuring for you. With the different places you go, you see more and more of the world. And as you see more, your own perspective on everything changes and morphs." He smiled at her. "I think this is a good thing. It humbles you, in a way. Makes you realize there's more to the world and to your life than just the tiny little corner you are familiar with. Now what I mean?"

Peach looked back down the path and nodded. "Yeah. Yeah, I think I do."

Peasley beamed. The two continued up the path, which allowed Peach to see more and more of the mountain. One time, she saw what looked like a watering hole. At another time, she and Peasley passed over a bridge, one that was situated right in front of a waterfall (which sent water droplets spraying onto her head). It was all beautiful in its own way. This was especially true for Peach because… well, she always had a strong appreciation for nature. Unfortunately, she never really got a chance to see much of it while growing up in a castle, but the parts she did see always fascinated her. She loved reading about natural phenomena, she adored getting the chance to see plants, animals, and pictures taken of the world's natural beauty. In some ways, thinking about that now made her relate even more to Peasley's words about getting a new perspective. Nature held so many secrets, so many amazing secrets that were just begging to be discovered. And once they were discovered, much like adventuring, they gave one a new perspective on life. It… it was amazing to think about. Doing so now actually made tears form in the queen's eyes.

"Peach, we need to be careful," Peasley said when they got to one particularly rocky part of the path.

Peach did a double take, drawing out of her head. "Because of the terrain?"

"Yes, that is one part of it." He turned back to her. "But that's not the only reason. This mountain has some enemies on it."

"Enemies?" Peach asked.

"Yeah. There are all sorts of them. Beanies, Goombas, Rexes… all sorts of baddies that are absolutely a pain to deal with." He faced forward. "We need to be careful that we don't run into any of them. Cause if we do… well, it'll make things increasingly more difficult."

A pit formed in Peach's stomach. She recalled some of the stuff she had heard about those enemies growing up, specifically the Beanies. Oh, Peasley was right; running into one of those baddies when they were so busy trying to get to the top of the mountain wouldn't be pleasant at all. At best, it would extend their journey. At worst, it would cause them to get hurt.

With this thought in mind, Peach inched a little closer to Peasley. As they continued on their trek, she didn't dare go ahead of or lag behind him. She stuck to him like glue, trusting that he knew what he was doing and that he would be able to protect her should push come to shove. In some ways, the walk became nerve-wracking as a consequence, as every time she heard a sound of any kind, she worried that it was an enemy. It thankfully wasn't, but… well, just the thought of it being so increased the queen's ever-growing paranoia.

"You alright?" Peasley asked after about twenty minutes.

Peach shook, despite the fact that she had been trying extra hard to make sure she didn't shake. "I'm… I'm just a little nervous, that's all." She didn't know if she should even be admitting this. Weren't queens supposed to be poised? Weren't they supposed to be calm and collected, despite the challenges that life through their way?

"Oh, Peachy." Peasley patted her on the shoulder. "It's going to be okay. I promise you it'll be okay."

Peach gulped. "How exactly can you promise that?"

"Because I will go out of my way to see that promise fulfilled." Peasley grinned, the expression oozing confidence. "I'll protect you. If any beanies come our way, I'll punch them hard in the face. If the darkness that's spreading across the kingdom reaches us, I'll shine a flashlight on it. And, if for whatever reason, that witch Cackletta finds us and tries to make life hard for you…" he chuckled. "Well, she'll be in for a world of pain." He flipped his hair. "She won't even know what hit hurt. She'll be so surprised by my swift and brutal beating that she won't even have time to react."

Peach laughed. "Well… thanks." She thought about this a little bit. "But… but Cackletta has magic. I don't know if you'll be able to beat her all on your own."

"Uh, if she's putting my sister in danger, then I'll definitely beat her all on my own." He faced with a serious expression. "I don't think I need to point out that NOBODY should hurt you. Nobody! Anyone who even attempts to do that to you, no matter the reason, deserves to face the consequences of their actions." Peasley smirked. "And in Cackletta's case, the consequences of her actions involve a very nasty butt-whooping."

Peach chuckled. "Can't really argue with that." She rubbed her arms. "Th… thanks, Peasley." She grinned. "You know, you haven't changed at all since leaving the castle. You're exactly the same person as before."

Peasley laughed. "That makes sense. I mean, why would I need to change when I'm already perfect?" This question got him a playful punch from Peach, and the two laughed as they continued on the path.

For the next ten minutes, things went really well. Peach still didn't see any enemies, which was a humongous relief. Unfortunately, her relief would prove to be short-lived. The duo reached a set of bushes, and as they walked past them, they rustled. Peach's eyes grew wide when she heard this, and Peasley turned toward the bushes with wide eyes.

"Stay back," he told Peach, putting his hand in front of her. He pulled out a fire flower from his bag and took a step forward. "Who are you? Show yourselves?"

The rustling of the bushes increased in both frequency and intensity. Peach's stomach churned so much that she felt like she was on the cusp of throwing up. She backed away, dreading what could possibly be causing such a commotion.

"I'm not kidding!" Peasley activated the fire flower. "Come on out and fight like a man!"

The rustling reached the fastest, loudest rate possible. Before Peach even knew what was happening, multiple flashes of bright green jumped out at her. She shrieked and jumped back, just barely avoiding being tackled to the ground.

"Beanies!" Peasley exclaimed.