“-I look to the sea,
Reflections in the waves spike my
memory…
Some happy, some sad…
I think of childhood friends, and
the dreams we had.
We lived happy forever,
So the story goes,
But somehow we missed out
On the pots of gold,
But we’ll try best that we can
To carry on-“
“Come Sail Away”- Styxx
The phone rang, a strange sound amidst the burning purplish black flames with their defiant evanescent black hues. Someone was heard padding down the stairs with a rush that almost seemed eager. His shades fell off his face as he caught them within his hands, his smile broadening in the most sincere manner as he practically dove towards the ringing device.
“Hello?!” His voice sounded unsure as he answered it, his heard pounding in his chest, sweat beginning to form on his brow.
“Is this Royale Koopa…?” The unsure answer sent his eyes wide as he placed his shades on, perhaps a seeming mask for his emotions, and made his smile blossom even wider than what it originally was in his hope.
“Yah’s, ‘dis Roy,” he replied, his voice almost squeaking in its eagerness. “Lemme guess who ‘dis is… a little girly named Cassie?”
Very eagerly, the Koopa boy shuffled and pulled the chair that was by the table nearest to the phone closer to him, sitting in it with a heavy ‘PLOP’ of his weight.
“Heh Roy. What’s up?”
Roy remembered his previous moments of boredom; before the phone had rung, he had been sitting within his bedroom in silence. No music seemed to quell his almost sorrowful mood, and the fact that he was and had been so reclusive lately seemed too odd. The boy knew thought he knew himself well, but lately his attitude towards things seemed different.
“Nawthin much, Cass-a-frass, yous?” he stated, voice still eager though his form was calming down as he leaned against the chair, one claw holding the phone, the other attached to his arm, which was swung over the back of the chair leisurely.
“Oh, nothing much. Just got done with chores and stuff…”
“I ain’t done no chores since DAD knows when…” Roy chuckled, his tone one of almost arrogance.
“Oh, well I don’t have to do chores. My dad usually wants to do everything or my mom, but I get awfully bored… then I got nothing better to do so it’s like ‘what the hey’, ya know?”
“… Don’t you got no friends?” Roy questioned, playing with the edge of the table, fingering it with the edge of his claw.
It had been only two days since he’d met Cassie, and still he didn’t know the girl terribly well. He knew that she was perhaps the only ‘real’ person he had met, real meaning the fact, in short, that she was someone who listened and spoke without yelling or complaining. She was someone, he had already identified these facts, who was ‘real’, had ‘real’ problems, and was someone who ‘real’-ly cared.
“Eh, yeah, I got lots of friends, just a lot of ‘em are busy. You got a lot of friends, Royale?” At first Roy was a bit taken back by the question, but as he mulled the question over in his head, he figured that no, he suppose he didn’t have a lot of ‘real’ friends. There were people who were afraid of him, sure, and there were those who would serve his every whim, but he supposed that if he were the one in trouble not too many of them would ‘real’-ly care.
“Yaws, I got lots ‘o friends, friends up my sleeves galore!” he lied, gritting his teeth as he suddenly felt something that hadn’t usually affected him- guilt. Normally, he could lie to people in their faces and laugh about it later, but he knew that Cassie was his friend; he understood Cassie cared, and it seemed to Roy that she was the first of anyone to ever really reach out to him.
“That’s-“
“Wait… No, Cassie, I don’t want to lie to ya. I don’t have a lot ‘o friends and stuff. I am scary to a lot of people.” Annoyance dug at him; in all generality he liked being a bully, but he didn’t want her to know this side of him
That’s all I am thoughs… I mean, I am rough ‘n tough… If I ain’t, I’s goan… get pushed around.
His mind began to become unfocused, though instantly he pushed all his thoughts away; he just wanted to enjoy his phone conversation, as lately there were few things that he seemed to really enjoy.
“Well that’s ok, Royale-“
“Cass, please, call me’s Roy,” he corrected, looking at his hand absently, positioning the phone between his shoulder and his head, holding his other hand and looking to it in an almost curious manner.
“Right, Roy, I was going to say that it’s ok… my friends are your friends.”
This seemed to Roy alien at first, but he realized on a more subconscious level that this was an act and statement of kindness. This was one of the perhaps first kind things Roy had heard from anyone in a very long time… It may have even been the first. Such a simple phrase it was, but Roy felt a wave of sweeping warmth pass over him; it was obvious it was emotion- emotions he didn’t quite understand, and thus he quickly ignored them.
“Really?” he asked.
“Yeah! I could introduce you to all my friends if you want. Just don’t be scary and be nice to them, then they’ll like ya.” Cassie wasn’t saying he couldn’t make friends, wasn’t laughing or even scoffing at him, but rather she was offering, in a non-straightforward manner, to help him. This touched Roy briefly, but then he remembered-
I’s supposed to be TOUGH… Really tough… I’s don’t need no friends. Yet the deeper part of him instantly asserted its, in his humble opinion, dark and traitorous nature- Yeah, but do you want to look like a fool in front of her?
“I’s can do dat. Sounds like a piece ‘o cake, Cass-a-frass.”
“Thanks for the nickname; where’d ya come up with that one?”
“Ohuh?” Roy asked, his inquisitive look one that Cassie was unable to see given their distance apart.
“The nickname… Where’d you come up with it? It’s cute. You give all your friends… erm… the people you know nicknames?”
“Ya, I think so. My brothers ‘an sister all gots nicknames… I guess I just tend to give people nicknames now. I’s dunno; your name just kinda rhymes with it ‘an stuffs,” Roy clarified, grinning and feeling happy for another (though rare!) moment.
“I had a question, Roy.”
“Yeah?”
“Wanna come over to my town for a picnic?”
“Really?” To Roy the question had an obvious anything; anything to get out of this wretched castle.
“Yeah! I like to invite the people I just met and stuff to picnics… Ya know, since you said you’re gonna be my friend and everything, I figured I should get to know you.”
“Sure, I ain’t doin' nothin' today. ‘Cept ‘hangin with this girly I know.”
“Who?” Cassie replied, tone a bit taken back in surprise.
“You’s, of course,” the boy replied, grinning with his ability to surprise her. He heard her giggle and smiled even wider- this was a new feeling as well, and he couldn’t quite explain it, but he loved it when she giggled like that. He had received a feeling that he had done something good, something that pleased her, and though he didn’t understand why it mattered, he did understand the pleasure of it and thus appreciated it.
“Ok, come over at one. It’s eleven here… what time is it there?”
“Dunno, don’t care, I’ll be there in about a half an hour.”
“Oh, ok!” Cassie agreed, her cheery tone making Roy fidget with glee himself. “See ya soon.”
“See yas… Cass-a-frass.” Another small giggle, making Roy swell with warmth on the inside, and then the click symbolizing that the other line had been cut. Roy quickly hung the phone up as well, getting up and getting ready to go…
****
The sun moored over the horizon; it stood frozen, almost seeming to be a photograph. The clouds drifted over scarcely, creating scattered patches of shade upon the ground below; the trees swayed, yielding to the force. The air wasn’t chilly, though it wasn’t quite still at all. Currently, all stood perfectly mild; in the distance, gray clouds loomed.
“It may rain.” Roy’s voice was harsh, though it was still calm enough.
“That’s ok; that is for later, and this is now.” Cassie’s reply was light, melodic to some extent, though overall relaxed-sounding.
Roy stood; he readjusted his sunglasses, scratching his hairless pink head. His shell gleamed in the sunlight, its spikes white and precarious. Sweat lined his forearms; their muscles bulged slightly, though curving over his bones neatly; he was a strong, though noble-looking from the side, creature. He bent, legs tight but flexible, helping up Cassie, who lay upon the ground staring at the sky.
Cassie’s brown hair swished; it matched her brown eyes fittingly. Her purple shell was scuffled and seemed a bit battered, but as she smiled everything about her seemed beautiful. She wasn’t near as muscular as the first figure, though more of a heavy-built sort of girl, shoulders broad as well as hips. She was slightly pudgy, though that didn’t seem to detract from her shining and glorious eyes. She stood, nodding to the boy with the sunglasses in thanks.
“Thanks Roy.” She beamed continuously, Roy smiling back, though his smile was not graceful and seemed to get caught at the edges of his mouth and sag.
“Noes problem, Cassie,” he replied, Cassie bending to pick up a backpack upon the ground. “How about that picnic nows?”
The Koopa girl nodded, reaching into the backpack and pulling out several small containers.
The meadow around them was whispering softly, wind still breezing steadily and the sun still shining in all its full glory. Though the rain clouds were looming (still) in the distance, neither of the children seemed to pay them any mind.
“How’s it been, singin' on the stage?” Roy’s New York punk accent elaborated each word in its precise and fine manner, Cassie sorting through some of the containers and examining their contents.
“Eh, it’s got its perks, got its quirks. How’s the castle?” At this Roy seemed to shift uneasily; why was she asking him about his home life?
“Perks and quirks.” This was accompanied by a shrug. “It’s been awhile since I’s seen ya, girl… I’s the only one you hanging out with todays?”
“Yeah, it has been awhile since we met. I made some more of those steaks.” Cassie smirked, Roy giggling as he sat, hands in his lap and his expression almost regretful. “Something wrong?”
“Naw, Cass… just I ain’t seen ya in awhile. This is only the second time we been hangin', ya know? I ain’t seen yas in two days, and phone calls can only tell ya so much, ‘choo know?”
“Oh.” Cassie’s reply was flat, as well followed by a shrug; to her it didn’t seem like that long, and truthfully she thought Roy was lying. Roy only watched as she pulled out two paper plates and began to place assortments of food on each. “So things haven’t been going well?”
“Things have been going… as well as they can get.”
In all truth, Roy had opened his eyes since he had met Cassie. The very day they had met, speaking before they had met of course, the boy had felt a strange and foreboding feeling within the pit of his stomach and somewhere in the back of his mind. Things seemed to move slowly from that point on; it used to be that instead of looking at things, he’d go romping through them, pertaining to most all situations. Now, however, he would doubletake and actually look at a situation before taking action.
Perhaps I’m just… growing up… The boy tried to rationalize himself, but this logical conclusion seemed to be rejected by something else within the back of his mind; another, perhaps more powerful question seemed to dawn: Who am I anyways?
In a way, that had just given Roy a headache; he hated to be deep and questioning about anything, but it seemed like there was something deep inside of him (deeper than the punk he knew himself as) that took more control. Things had become much more difficult to understand; he hence then stopped asking himself, as much as possible, about himself. The answers he got bothered him, because they were always things he didn’t seem to know himself to think about, and when he thought this, the question always came pounding back: Who am I oh Who am I oh Who…
“As well as they can get? Family life getting hard?”
“Eh, I dunno… How’s your family?” At this, Cassie seemed to pause, looking up to Roy with almost vacant eyes.
“As good as it can get.” A vague reply, but Roy would press no further; his own thoughts were like flies upon a windshield.
Roy’s plate had steak upon it, surprisingly still warm; some sort of strange-looking pasta, which he found was quite delicious; and an array of other side dishes he had never had before. When he had finished with that, he asked for a second plate of everything.
“You sure are hungry,” Cassie remarked, giggling as Roy shook his head.
“Nawp, this is just good… What is everything but the steak? I’s never had any of dis…”
“Just some stuff I put together… Easy to find in any cookbook.” Cassie shrugged, looking at Roy with a ginger look.
“Cassie…” Roy looked at her eyes; normally they gleamed when she smiled, and normally he seemed to feel her happiness, but at that very moment, he saw some sort of almost veil behind them, a feeling that wasn’t happiness but rather quite the opposite. She seemed to house sorrow, and Roy’s sudden hatred for this look surprised him. “You don’t… Something isn’t right with you. What’s wrong?”
“Huh… ?” Cassie seemed distant; he was surprised he hadn’t noticed her sorrow sooner.
“Something’s wrong, and I want you to tell me what it is,” Roy gently demanded as Cassie looked up to him, Roy standing up and crossing his arms.
“It’s nothing,” she replied, attempting a smile though obviously failing.
“Don’t ‘it’s nothing’ me, Cassie… I can see it, I really can… It scares me.” The last part seemed to simply fall out of his mouth; since when was he at all sensitive like that? Since WHEN did he care? His mind screamed to know these things, seemed to beat him up, but again the deeper part came through and shut his thoughts up with a snapping statement: Who CARES when and why you care?! She seems scared, you fool… she seems upset herself… You do want to know? He did indeed want to know… the curiosity dug at him with its insane claws of raving need, insane hunger that needed to be filled.
“I’m sorry… It’s just that my dad is annoying. My family life ain’t been so great lately. It’s just that my dad is always so pushy, and my mom doesn’t mind, but my dad keeps trying to control my life… Ever since my brother died, my dad is overprotective… I hate it, I really do,” Cassie admitted, Roy sitting down closer to her and watching as she shrugged.
“That’s not all, I can see it… Really, Cassie, you act like you’re afraid to tell me sumthin'.” Roy’s accent had faded into his now serious attitude.
“I just used to always talk to my brother. I haven’t talked to anyone… about how I feel and stuff in awhile. I’m nervous, is all; I don’t want to be laughed at. I don’t know you that well, you realize.” The girl looked to Roy with large eyes; he saw the sorrow increasing within them, and the more he saw, the more he loathed it; her pretty face didn’t deserve to seem to be gray.
“Cassie, I says I was goan be yo’s friend… And I don’t know much about bein' a friend, but I do know that I do like to laugh at people. At the same time, I also know that I don’t ever want to hurt you… I do feel like I can tell yo ‘dis and stuffs… I don’t ever tell anyone ANYTHING, Cassie… I beat people up, is what I meant when I said scary. I’m scared to tell you about myself only ‘cause I’m afraid you’ll think I’m another pathetic jerk and you’ll leave.”
“You’re real serious all of a sudden… I’m sorry, Roy… I don’t need to dump my troubles on you.” She turned away from him, crossing her arms and shuffling in discomfort.
“Oh come on… Son’t say that! Please… you’re not dumping your troubles on me; I care, Cassie, that’s… it… I don’t ever want to tell anyone I care, because then I feel like a moron, but you need to know that I care, and that’s why you’re not dumping your troubles on me, because I want to… I want to help, but I can’t help you if you don’t tell me what’s wrong!” Roy insisted, moving so that he now faced Cassie, purposely poking her forehead to get her to look up at him. “You know what my nickname is at home, Cass-a-frass?”
“What?” Cassie asked, eyeing him in a more or less wary manner.
“Bully; that’s what my nickname is. I am the rough ‘n tumble guy… and you know what? Lately I think…. Lately I think I hate that; it doesn’t feel right… I just wonder what the purpose is? Everyone believes I’m some sort of guy who’ll… well, it sort of is true, punch you in the face for no reason! I’m sick of it, Cassie… That’s why I got no friends, because I always thought having friends was pointless. Then I met you, and realized, SAW how distant you seemed… You missed your brother, you were upset, and I could just see that you were a lot like me…”
“I don’t beat people up!” Cassie claimed, her face twisting in an almost horrified sort of shock.
“I know that… that’s the thing. When life came an' beat ya’s up, you didn’t try to beat everyone else up for it… You took it. I’s didn’t… I gots beat up when I was real small, ‘cause my dad went and destroyed some island. I got beat up for something someone else did. It wasn’t my fault, but it happened to me anyways, Cassie… and ever since then, I beat everyone up. I been thinkin' about you lately… you just sorta opened my eyes, and made me see that I’m not who I want to be… I mean, I do want to punch people in the face, steal lunch money.. but then I look at you. Your problem… is worse than mine. You lost someone, but still you kept it to yourself… You did the right thing. You’re strong, mentally, and I only act strong mentally…”
“Roy, you’re really deep…”
“Thaz the first time I ever hear that.” Roy laughed, smiling as he watched Cassie’s expression lighten, but just a little. “So tell me… What’s wrong? You can tell me anything, all right? I want to listen.”
“Ok… Well it’s just that it’s pretty stupid.”
“I didn’t say that. Tell me,” Roy demanded once more, Cassie looking away and shuffling.
“It sounds so stupid… I mean, compared to that deep speech you just kinda gave, this is just pathetic…”
“What makes you sad obviously isn’t pathetic.”
“I get picked on a lot.” Cassie admitted, Roy staring and waiting for her to continue. “I’m a big hit with music and everything… You’ve heard me sing, and a lot of other people think I’m real good, but then I go to school… and a lot of people pick on me. It makes me feel awful, and yeah I do have a lot of friends, but none of them are ever… close enough. I always feel like even my friends are only… I don’t know what they want from me, but it always seems like they wouldn’t really care, like they always seem distant… Ray used to always protect me from stuff like that. He’d go and make the other kids stop… He’s been gone for awhile, and people just won’t leave me alone.”
Cassie’s body seemed to go cold as she finished her explanation; her mind swam in its own emotions, the regret still there, but in an odd way she felt relieved, felt that something had gotten out… Her mind seemed to feel much lighter.
“They’re jealous.” The two-worded statement didn’t need much elaboration, yet Cassie looked stupefied as she looked to Roy with her large and beautiful brown eyes with inquisition. “You see… You’re a big hit. People know you- you have friends. There are those who support you… and those who don’t because they’re jealous. You’re a star, ya know? They want to be a star too, but they’d never admit that. Misery is like a disease… everyone wants to spread it around. They want to take your happiness, you see? Just ‘cause they can’t stand to be miserable.” Roy smirked; he had to admit he liked the way he was talking. He knew what he was talking about, sounded smart, but best of all was that he could see Cassie beginning to smile too.
“That… makes sense,” she admitted. “It sounds so true… You sound like you really know…”
“I do know.” Roy emphasized, grinning his regular sincere, though terribly eerie, smirk that made Cassie smile brightly.
“You know, for a Bully, you sure are nice,” Cassie commented, Roy shrugging.
“Don’t say that again, or I’ll knock ya one.” He watched Cassie roll her eyes, beginning to pack up the containers and garbage, packing them neatly within the basket they had originated out of.
“What now?” Cassie asked, watching Roy shrug. In truth, the girl didn’t want her friend to leave; she found she appreciated his company, much more than most people. He had a certain air about him, a certain feel that made her feel safe. She didn’t know him much, but with what she was seeing so far, she figured they would make great friends, and she appreciated that fact greatly.
“Ya know… I’s got some new CD’s a few days ago…” Roy originally didn’t want to stay at Castle Koopa, didn’t want to be anywhere near it, but he now had a distinct confidence that she could make anything fun. He hadn't thought the picnic would be all that great, but the girl had a way of making him feel light as air, warm as fire; he liked having her around. “And I know you like to dance and sing an' stuffs.”
“I dunno, I got to be back by the time it gets dark…”
“I’s live in Dark Land, Cass… You know Bowser? That’s…” Roy shuffled uneasily, looking to Cassie with frightened, though she couldn’t see them behind his sunglasses, eyes, “my dad.”
“Really? Wow, I never knew. He’s against the Mario Bros, like I am. They killed my brother…” She clenched her fists, Roy watching without much thought.
“Well it’s always dark there, is what I’s waz trying ta say. What time it get dark here?”
“Six.”
“Oh, we’ve got all day.” Roy smiled; for the first time in awhile he might actually have a good day. Cassie was resuming her usual optimism as well; Roy saw her eyes glinting in the brightest of manners.
“Great.” Perhaps, Cassie secretly hoped, she may have something new in her life; Roy had an odd way of making things interesting and painting her world with bright and vivid colors.
****
The two Koopa-children looked at the warp pipes as Cassie stuck her head over them with confusion.
“I’ve never… been through a warp pipe before.” She looked away, cheeks flushing in embarrassment. She felt a tinge of fear of the green and red pipes before her; she’d heard many rumors in the past about how if you go too low in a warp pipe, being as the lower ones are right above the sewer, they could break from being rotten and dump you right into the darkness.
“Wow, really? I thought everyone knew how to use them… Well listen up, ‘cause I’s only goan explain once.” Roy watched with a tinge of amusement at how she suddenly became so attentive. “All you gots to do is sit on the top, and slide down into it. They’re wider underground than what they seem to be at the entrance… You can stick close to me if ya’s want, but all you’s gotta do is run real fast and just keep yo’s hands on the walls of the pipes so ya’s have some sort of balance, but you’s ain’t gotta do ‘dat, but I’s would if I’s were you’s, 'cause you might fall flat on yo face if ya’s don’t. Yo’s can see under there, surprisingly, too; they’re all’s kinda coated with somethin'… I’s dunno, but I’s know that yo can see.”
“Uh… uhm…. Ok…” Cassie felt like she was being dumped into cold water without being given time to adjust. She watched as Roy began to lift himself up and into the pipe, looking to Cassie and holding out his hand.
“Cummon, girly, I guess I gotta hold your hand…” Roy didn’t really care, but Cassie felt it was best if she did so. They were just friends, after all, and he was just trying to help. She felt awkward; it’d been awhile since she held any boy’s hand, and it made her feel even more discomforted being as he was just her friend. He’s just trying to be nice… He doesn’t want me to get lost is... all… He’s just my friend. She was hopeful that her mind wouldn’t retaliate with any sort of smart comment, and thankfully it didn’t.
As she slipped into the dimness of the pipe world, she was thankful for Roy’s hand. It was quite cold down here, and the echoing of water off in the distance made her seem a bit unsure. At first they just stood there, Cassie already being able to tell it was damp, Roy looking to her for a sign that she was ready.
“Ok… Let’s go.” Hesitant still, Roy began to run, Cassie following beside him. She felt her legs pump as she began to speed up, Roy doing so and almost struggling to be in the lead.
“Slow down,” he commanded, Cassie heeding this and slowing down a bit at first. Moments later, though, Roy saw her snide grin and she began to speed up.
“Race ya.”
“Ok, but just until we come to the drop, ok? I’ll tell ya when,” he replied, liking the idea of making traveling through the warp pipe some sort of game, and as most games were, fun.
Cassie immediately sped forward; Roy normally would have grabbed his opponents or even pushed them, but given who this was, he refrained and merely burst forward as forcefully as he could manage. Both of them were side by side for some time, Cassie noticed, and she realized this was a race, friend or no friend; she could never let him win! Instantly she began to speed up.
Neither of the two noticed that their surroundings were getting more and more dim, and that ahead was an almost sort of tunnel of darkness.
“Cassie-“ Roy was panting heavily, becoming tired as he attempted to make himself go faster. He propelled forward now, though he knew they needed to stop soon and make a turn, being as he never went down the dark tunnel, not knowing where it led. “Get ready to stop…”
He didn’t think she heard him, however, as she only sped forward. Roy attempted to do so as well, though failed, and for someone who was a little on the heavy side, he realized the girl was terribly fast. He then attempted to yell, but his throat was taking in air and his lungs throbbed with pain, his tongue dry and head pounding. He couldn’t whisper, let alone yell at that moment.
Cassie pounded forward, looking back for Roy; she had raced into the darkness, however, and couldn’t seem to locate him behind her. With that sudden realization she paused and strained her eyes to see- there came a shuffling sound, a low moaning of something or another. She didn’t realize it, but the very floor beneath her was giving its eerie warning of weakness; the water, she also didn’t seem to notice, had increased, so the culprit of the weak pipe ‘flooring’ was obvious; these warp pipes weren’t built as well as the recent ones.
“Royale, I-“ Instantly she heard another moan; before she could manage any sort of reaction, the ground beneath her creaked and gave way. She felt the very air of nothingness for what seemed forever, opening her mouth and bellowing a most terrifying and ear-piercing, glass-shattering scream.
Roy felt the ground begin to crack, but his mind reeled and was lost in Cassie’s screams. His eyes couldn’t seem to see anything through the darkness; it was like ink had been dumped into his retinas, his corneas; and his entire eyes felt black. The ground, he felt, got weaker, and instantly he was dumped into the air of darkness and nothingness, falling but unable to scream due to the situation happening too fast for him to really concentrate on any one thing…
Cassie’s screams echoed throughout the entire air around them, her heart racing and beating within her ears and throat. She felt her body grow limp and numb with her thought and acceptance that she was reaching her demise, and yet her screams still issued. It was faster than listed, but to the girl it felt like forever before she hit the ground with a heavy thud… A similar thud landed hear her, a moan following.
“OUCH… OUCH… OH DAD…” After the moan, the growls came from Roy as he began to whimper before shutting up completely, lost in his pain.
“Roy? Royale, are you all right?” Cassie had landed in a position that hadn’t caused too much pain; she had landed on her stomach, suffering only wind loss and discombobulating of the mind, but what she heard of Roy seemed much worse a situation. “You didn’t go and die on me, now did you?”
“No….” he replied, his voice gruff and shallow. He attempted to get up, but his leg simply didn’t seem to want to move. He didn’t want to confirm his horrors, didn’t want to believe it, but he was guessing it was broken. “I’s think… I’s broke something…”
For a few moments, Cassie was speechless. Her thoughts began to gather once more as she felt the ground; it was slimy, and the smells, she realized suddenly, were ripping through her nostrils, a sickly smell that made her stomach lurch terribly.
"Where are you?” Cassie called, her head dizzy from the smells, but she forcing herself to stay focused.
“Here… near you…” Roy was barely able to speak; the pain his leg was issuing was making his mind swim, and he struggled to remember to even breathe, being as the pain was so great. This was unlike anything he had ever felt before, and it took nearly all his strength to bite back the tears and screams.
“Roy… You’re not all right,” she stated the obvious, stumbling upon Roy and placing her hand on his face, feeling his lips as he replied.
“I’m not.” She could tell he was all of a sudden terribly weak; their surroundings yielded no sight, and she could hear the nearby rushing of water, and if her hearing was correct, said water was running very quickly. Nothing seemed to be looking very good for them right about then…
“I’m scared… and it’s cold down here…” Cassie wasn’t whimpering nor complaining, though Roy did realize she was stating true facts.
“Same,” he replied, instantly pulling himself closer and hugging her. “I’s don’t want ta die…”
“We ain’t gonna die, Royale Koopa… I ain’t gonna let myself die in a place that smells like… guano. I ain’t going to let you die down here either. We’ll get… we’ll get through this.” Her sudden optimism touched Roy as he attempted to move his leg once again; all he got was another distant-seeming shot of pain.
“I can’t move my leg… and I’s know you’s can’t carry me.”
Cassie began to analyze the situation, and already she knew their options were limited. They couldn’t move too far, she realized, for they might fall into the water, and she already knew…
“I can’t swim,” Cassie admitted aloud, Roy looking puzzled in the dark; the comment seemed so random.
“I’s woulnd’t want to swim in ‘dat filthy water... Thanks for given me a choice, tho’s,” Roy replied, his tone stale and humorous.
“I was just trying to think of our options here… We want to get out of here, when we can’t see, and it smells like a… well, a sewer… I’m gonna guess your leg is broken, so you can’t even walk OR swim, if we had no choice…”
“We’re shelled.”
“No we’re not… We’re not…” Cassie mumbled, and Roy could feel her fist clench; she was sitting close enough that she was almost sitting on top of him. “I refuse… We’re not… When we didn’t have a DJ at this concert I once did… I improvised, and people said it was one of my better performances! I won’t let us… Roy, if you want to give up, I’ll leave you here. If you can’t be hopeful, maybe you ought to be here.”
“HUH?!” Roy blurted, his heart instantly beginning to beat wildly, feeling like it had leapt into his throat. “You can’t leave me here!”
“We’re going to need all the hope we can manage, Roy… we really do. We have to be positive. If we give up now, we may as well… Well we can at least try! I’d rather… I’d rather…”
“Die trying? How noble…” Cassie took note that Roy had seemed to become hopelessly sarcastic.
“ROY…” Instantly, Cassie’s hand shot forward and she slapped him. It wasn’t hard, but it did seem to knock some realization into him.
“Sorry…”he muttered, glaring through the dark though wishing he could cry. “The pain is just getting to me…”
“I think I need you to be scary, Roy… What if there’s something here?”
“Weren’t you the one who just told me to be… hopeful?” Roy replied; silence followed for the moments afterwards.
Cassie began to attempt to dream up some sort of plan… How could they get out of here? Roy couldn’t possibly crawl if his leg was broken, much less walk.
“Why can’t I carry you?” Cassie asked, an idea suddenly sparking into her head.
“What do you mean why? I just know you can’t.”
“You probably didn’t think I could run so fast either,” she replied, Roy glowering, Cassie giggling and making him smile quietly to himself. She was kinda cute, even if they were deep within the heart of darkness.
“You think you could carry me?”
“We’ll have to try it…” And with that, she stood up and bent to attempt to lift him by his waist. She stopped there, already knowing he was much heavier than what he looked to begin with. “Ok… That won’t work… I already know I can’t.”
Roy made no reply as he attempted to think something up himself; no ideas would come, and the more he attempted to strain his mind, the worse his headache became.
Cassie sat back down beside Roy, as close as she could get without sitting on him, and placed an elbow on his head. At first Roy was going to tell her to get her arm off of him, but he didn’t mind, being as she wasn’t hurting him. He could obviously tell she was thinking.
In Cassie’s mind, there had to be some way out of here… She found that she understood and knew every situation had a least one solution, just as every math problem had its answer, real or not; all problems had an answer. She began to dissect the situation; Roy’s leg was broken, so she first had to find a way to get him to be able to be mobile without carrying him.
The girl’s free hand scraped gently upon the ground, the slime smooth though unnerving in its silky feeling. The thought, at first, seemed like a definite out of the question sort of thing, but as she mulled it over within her mind she realized that it may be the only way…
“Roy… I’ve got an idea.” Her voice was quiet, smug in a distant sort of manner, but still Roy heard her clearly.
“What is it?” He sounded like a child who had asked the magician where the rabbit in the hat originated from; that is, his excitement was apparent with his tone of voice.
“Well… You see, if you feel the ground, it's real smooth… and my shell is real smooth.” She hoped Roy would understand the rest, and as she thought about it, Cassie did figure it was quite out of the question, but what else was there?
“You…” Roy seemed to think it over, and he didn’t want to find the audacity to say it, but he supposed now that if he did understand what she was saying, that might be the only way. “You sayin' you goan take off yo shell an' push me ‘round in it?”
“That’s what I think ‘bout, sure,” Cassie replied, her tone absent and stricken seeming.
“You WEARIN' anything in ‘dat shell?” Roy’s cheeks flushed in the dark; he was definitely not interested in anything that some sick-minded creature could muster to think up.
“Yeah, some shorts and a tank top.” Cassie’s lie rolled over her tongue easily, and she almost believed it too (wanted to in fact). She could tell her friend was terribly uncomfortable, as was she, and if lying would make this whole thing easier to accept, then so be it that she committed and accepted her actions.
“All right… Hope yas won’t be too cold ‘den.”
“Oh I won’t.” She was lying like crazy now, but if only she could convince herself of this one, then maybe she really wouldn’t be so cold… Maybe.
With that, the girl stood up, backing away from Roy, and began to remove her shell. She pulled it off over her head, careful to make sure her small possessions were still inside of it. She tested how well it slid upon the ground, and found it slipped and slid quite nicely. Yeah, Roy and I are gonna be real good friends now… It was almost a relentless thought, but in a sense it humored her slightly.
She then proceeded to pry open the bottom of the shell, although it didn’t take much force, and make room for Roy to sit in. She found that it opened almost like a door; she could allow Roy to sit in the shell itself, and push it by the part of the shelling that was supposed to cover the front of her body; the idea seemed like it would work well enough.
“M’kay, sit inside the shell, and I’ll push it,” Cassie commanded, Roy feeling for the shell as he pulled himself into the opening the shell. “And careful of my bag of stuff in there.”
Cassie didn’t quite feel exposed within the darkness; she could see nothing to start with. It would be much easier to transport Roy now.
Roy had to manually pull his leg into the shell; he felt the searing pain shoot up into his knee and then thrust up through his got, making him double over for a mere moment. He did, however, retain his focus and continued to situate himself within the warmth of the shell that had now become his sort of strange wheelchair. He thought to himself that if he ever lived to get out of here, which he would, this would be one thing he would not be doing again, if he had a choice.
“We’re going then.” Cassie felt no more movement within the shell other than Roy grabbing onto its edges and getting ready to be pushed about.
“Be careful… We’s can’t sees nothin'… don’t yous fall into da water, ‘cause I ain’t in no condition to swim,” Roy cautioned, Cassie nodding, even if he couldn’t see it. They they began through the maze of darkness and dripping pipes…
There were several times where Cassie found a dead end, but every wall within this whole mess of caverns seemed to be misleading with the fact that each of them led into another corner, and if she ran into a dead end, there was always another passage to the left or right. It seemed to her, at least from her sense of touch, that this place wasn’t a maze at all, but rather a mess of wide corridors.
Roy could only sit there mindlessly, and even though he wasn’t in the least cold, he trembled. At any minute, and he pictured this constantly, they could fall into the water of wastes, or they could even actually fall into some strange pit. He didn’t know how they were going to get out of here, and didn’t have the faintest idea of any place TO lead to a place to get them out of the underground.
Cassie felt her way along the wall, gingerly touching each stone and cautious of each step. She was aware that the dark could yield any obstacle to her, and yet she had run into nothing terribly difficult; her only real task seemed to be the constant figuring if the walls ended or merged- even that wasn’t too difficult.
Her finger suddenly lost contact with the wall; she realized it ended, and as she tried to figure it together, she figured that it opened up into some sort of larger cavern. She figured it didn’t run into any sort of water, being as the sounds of the rushing water were to the left of her, and she had been walking along a single wall that seemed to be most of the time always luring her to the right, turn, then further right.
“Ok, shell boy… I think we just came upon a room or something.”
“Huh?” Roy seemed to come out of his thoughts, sticking one hand out and feeling nothing; there were several times when the shell had bumped the wall, though he said nothing, but he was able to reason that Cassie was following said wall. “Just turn right… where the wall curves? I’s ain’t no architect, but I’s know that whenever a wall turns, there’s always another wall that meets it, ya know?”
Roy felt the shell start to turn, though faintly, in the distance he heard a scratching noise, and it wasn’t either of them. He thought about saying something about it, though the fact of the matter was that he knew his mind was a bit edgy right then, so he dismissed it as his imagination going active.
Cassie felt the ground beneath her change; it no longer seemed smooth and sickly, but rather it became more stony and almost grassy, thus she was now more or less pushing Roy with more force than just the shell gliding along. To Cassie it felt like hours they had been down here, and time seemed to be moving quickly… though she wasn’t having fun. This whole ordeal seemed too great for her to really understand; all she knew and truthfully grasped were the concepts that they needed to get out of here, and her mind seemed truthfully numb to how bad things really were- Either that or she was in denial about it.
The scratching noise seemed to get greater, and scarcely Cassie believed she heard something moving, not too close, but not too far either. Instantly, she classified the noises as her imagination’s doing, just as Roy had done.
“Roy… I think something… I smell something weird,” she admitted, a small giggle heard.
“Probably more ‘guano’,” the boy replied, though as they rounded another corner, their hearts almost leapt into their eyes. The glowing phosphorus glow of the figure illuminated its hallow being; it almost looked like a Dry Bones without the shell. It had one long tailbone with a saddle upon it, the skin (or perhaps it was slime) clung to its head in an almost matted and swollen manner, and its small arms compared to the rest of its body seemed to finalize it. It was something neither of the two Koopa children had never seen- a Yoshi Bones. It was scratching away at the wall for some reason or another that they didn’t look like they cared for; it turned to face them, its glowing eyes sunken into its bony skull.
Cassie’s heart froze in her chest, as she stood frozen for a few seconds before she realized what she was saying.
“ROY, PUT YOUR HANDS ON THE GROUND! I’M RUNNING!” The girl felt her friend lean forward, Roy placing his hands on the ground, and instantly she began to dash to her left. She couldn’t see whatever it was, but whatever it was sounded large and that was all she needed to know; all details omitted please!
Royale’s thought ran like ice cream under the sun, he not even feeling his claws as he set them upon the ground; his hands and entire body had gone cold. He knew he was supposed to know if he felt water, but the entire plan was haphazard being as by the time he felt water, he’d be in it. The boy instantly attempted to give up, but in that same instant, his very heart seemed to rush forward, every fiber in him refusing to give up.
You give up, I’ll leave you here… Have some optimism! To Roy, there seemed like a sudden shift in his whole mind, in his whole being- he would do something about this, because he was tired of sitting around, just as he was quite tired (almost!) of being a bully.
“I’s gonna go into my’s shell and shell dat thing!” Roy yelled, his mind reeling crazily; he had no idea what he was going to do and was even more unsure what it would do to the walking skeleton.
“Then I’ll do that too,” Cassie added, her own thoughts and words being spoken so quickly that she hardly had time to understand them, let alone reject them.
Roy had already began to duck, sending horrible plumes of pain throughout his body and causing black and purple splotches to appear before his eyes, into his shell with a ferocious forcing sort of manner. He heard Cassie gathering into her shell, however, much quicker.
The creature walked, rather seemed to limp, towards them slowly, each step it took bringing an eerie sound of cracking and settling; the sounds themselves were misleading, as with each step, one would have assumed it’d break by such noises, but still it persisted.
“Take my hands,” Roy said, an idea being tossed upon him as though it were a computer stating You’ve Got Mail. Cassie obeyed, obviously getting to what Roy was trying to state; the two then began to spin rapidly, then falling into sync, slowing down but at the same time gathering much speed. Wind began to pick up around them, Cassie struggling to breathe though still holding on tightly, as their shells began to create an almost magnetic force that drew the two closer.
Roy didn’t understand what was happening, but the friction being built up between the two and the ground had begun to pull them together, and the wind they were creating managed to suddenly grow. Cassie’s shell, being more battered as it was, had managed to pick up more of the glowing substance that was upon the ground; Roy saw the sparks beginning to fly around his friend, but he refused to let go.
Both of them collided with the Yoshi Bones, racketing and reverberating, making it seem like there was more than one; Roy saw, only in a glimpse however, that the sparks from Cassie’s shell jumped from it to the creature, its hollow blackened eyes wide and, Roy could have sworn, its eyes seeming to melt into it. It was a terrifying sight that, in order to save his sanity, he classified as imaginary…
Moments later the bone (strangely it reminded Cassie of bells) died down, and Roy lay on the ground, attempting to pull his legs out from his shell, the pain still seeming to only get worse. Cassie crawled over to help him; her shell continued to glow with irregular light.
“You all right?” Cassie looked to where the bones now lay; steam rose from it as though it had been electrified. Behind the pile, however, was a pipe that clung to the ceiling. Both of the Koopa children already realized what this meant- it led above ground.
“Eh… No pain no gain?” Roy questioned, his head swimming in pain now, entire body beginning to throb along with his leg. Cassie bent to help him off the ground; Roy leaned upon her, face scrunched up, and it was obvious he was in terrible pain.
Both began to walk around the bones, heading for the pipe; both watched the bones carefully. When they finally reached the pipe (it was a slow walk, Cassie patient and helping Roy walk in the least painful of manners), Cassie hoisted Roy up and he pulled himself up just using his arms, for once thankful for all the pull-ups he’d trained himself to accomplish. Inside the warp pipe were rungs of a ladder, Cassie crawling up after Roy.
****
Cassie’s shell glowed with an odd, though dim, illuminating light (later they would be told it was phosphorus) that was enough for them to see a few inches ahead of them. The warp pipe seemed to get a bit lighter, though it was hard to tell being as they had their own light to begin with.
Cassie began to sing to him softly, Roy noticed, and he gradually began to hum along with the tune as he picked up on her repeating it.
“What song is that?” he finally asked, Cassie shrugging.
Dunno… I know the words though.”
Please, will yo’s sing ‘em?”
Sure….” With that, she took a deep breath and began, her voice melodic and beautiful, even without the accompaniment of an instrument. “As you go through life you’ll see… There is so much that we… don’t understand. And the only thing we know… Is that things don’t always go… the way we plan. But you’ll see, everyday that we’ll never turn away, when it seems all you dreams come undone, we will stand by your side filled with hope and filled with pride, we more than we are… we are one.”
“There more?” Roy asked, Cassie nodding but only smiling.
“I don’t sing that song too often. It was one my brother and I did together a lot.”
“Well as yo friend… I’ll sing it wit ya sometime,” Roy promised, giving her one of his smiles that was only an attempt of a smile; it would get caught at the edges of his cheeks, and sag, creating more of a sneer.
“That’d be nice.”
“You’s sing good… you’s know dat? I should pick on yo’s 'cause you’s sing so good,” Roy complimented, Cassie shrugging. “I’s can’t sing, but I’s can rap. Not very well that one eithah.”
“Thanks for helping me get out of there,” Cassie replied, as they reached the top of the warp pipe, emerging into another one, though obviously closer to the ground, and sat down for a rest.
“No problem… Thank you.” His reply was sincere; Roy sighed, his leg burning, sweat beads falling down his forehead despite his cool surroundings.
“You poor thing…” Cassie sighed, looking at how pale Roy had become. She leaned over and hugged Roy, and as Roy looked up, he saw there were tears welling up within her eyes.
“Cass? You ok?” Roy asked, Cassie nodding.
“I don’t understand… This should be so eeassy, to just reach out my hand… and know the world is free… but nothing’s as it seems, and I can tell you freely, touching’s not the only way to feel… When the rain falls, it’s like heaven’s crying… In the middle, the difference that there is, is that tears are the same when they are trying… To grow something good out of all the pain… There’s no difference between the tear drops and the rain.” The words touched Roy, and he had to admit that he was close to tears himself; he realized she was scared, but happy that they had gotten out alive; that had been a close call. He now told himself, admitted in some sense that he had been scared numb, and his thoughts hadn’t managed to sort themselves out. They were sorting now; instantly he realized that they were lucky to get out alive, and that the situation had been much more serious than what he was giving credit for.
“Well we better get going…” Roy began, though finding that Cassie had hugged him again.
“Thanks again, Roy. You’re a good friend.” And before he realized it, she leaned forward and kissed his cheek, smiling as Roy’s smile blossomed- first his muscles ran upwards, almost beginning to sag, though this time they didn’t. His smile was, for once, complete and whole, and it seemed to light up his entire face, the sunglasses failing to mask this emotion.
“Well you’re a great friend,” he stated, leaning forward and kissing her on her lips. Cassie was a bit shocked at this, but instantly she accepted it. “So be happy.”
They began to crawl towards the light at the end of the tunnel, Roy feeling his pain, but feeling the love of a friend much more.
****
The sunlight beat down upon the two Koopalings, their skin dirt-covered and feet covered in crusted substances that they knocked off hastily.
“I never want to do that again…” Cassie declared, Roy looking around. Cape Koopster, Cassie’s town, wasn’t that far away.
What, the sewer thing, or-“
”The sewer thing,” Cassie replied, smiling
because she knew what he was going to say next. “Hey
Roy?”
“Yah?” Roy asked, looking to the girl as she looked to him with serious eyes.
"Thanks… for you know, keeping my happy and all… I wasn’t scared thanks to you.”
"Well I’s didn’t give up thanks to you,” Roy replied, smiling his attempt smile. “Cassie?”
“Hm?”
“I love you’s… as a friend.” Roy looked shyly away, Cassie instantly leaping forward, careful of his leg, and hugging him furiously.
“I love you too, as a friend, Roy. You’re one of the best friends I’ve got, I think.”
“Heh… yeah.” Roy’s cheeks burned with
warmth as he hugged Cassie in return. “I’s better get
to… you got a hospital in dat town
‘o yours, right?”
“Yeah. Come on, I’ll help you there,”
Cassie helped the boy up from off of the grass, Roy leaning
on her and hopping along on his good
leg.
The sun was high in the day, and even if the pain both of them suffered had previously been their darkness, their friendship had given birth to their light. With that they had gotten through, together; they both, however, left something in the darkness, a piece of them that they both shared- their friendship.
The End
Author’s Note:
Aww… How cute. Originally I thought
this story might be much longer… but this story is one of the few that
write themselves, and now I can at least tell my artist (Fried Rooster)
what happens instead of telling her ‘I don’t know.’ Usually I don’t know
the endings to my stories… I just happen to be the first to find them.
Well I suppose that’s all I’ve to say for now, aside from the fact to expect
another Roy + Cassie story sometime in the near future. This story was
started 10/17/06 (though planning has lasted… including all my delay, and
everything else, about seven months or more). This story was finished 10/22/06.
Credits:
I used several songs that I did not
write, and they are in the order as they appear in the story:
“Come Sail Away”- Styxx
“We Are One” – From the Lion King
“When the Rain Falls” – Unknown
Credits and much thanks to the artist
of the artwork in this story-
Fried Rooster, co-owner of Cassie as
well as original creator
Credits and much thanks to the Editor-
Bluewind, the amazing- there are not
enough words to describe your brilliance.
Credits and thanks to the support of:
Ninja-Z – Your friendship, to me, is
valued greatly; there isn’t much more I could say to express everything.
Yoshihart – Sometimes I wonder if I’d
be writing without you – an Email a day kept the hopelessness away.
Tami Boo – Keep shining in your own
unique way; thanks for listening to me ramble on about writing.
Lemmy Koopa – My first editor, a friend,
and the guy who puts the stuff I write on his site; thanks Lemster.
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