Toadette's Story

Chapter 21 - Not Going Barefoot, Princess

Returning to the desert without the sand in our eyes highlighted just how nice this barren land could look. Instead of boring yellow by itself, the orange and purple sunset gave some real life to this place. The silhouette of the ruins stood tall and proud at the horizon. But as we closed the distance, I caught a figure entering the structure.

“Hey!”

Disappearing into the black opening, at least he alerted us that these guys were here. But why would they be in the Dry Dry Ruins still? When I climbed the sixth or seventh step, I looked back to see Minh T. not budging an inch. Putting my hands on my hips gave her a jolt.

“What!? I didn’t think it’d be THAT dark!”

I sighed in disbelief. “All those years in those Toad Town Tunnels, and you’re still scared of a little blackness?”

The princess shoved Minh T. to the side, stopping just short of me. “The two of us’ll go in, then.”

“Don’t forget me!”

Penelope scrambled up the stairs with that bag still weighing her down. Jeez, just toss the thing at this point. But the princess held the kid by her forehead, chuckling.

“I love your bravery, but maybe you should stay with Flower Girl. Who knows? Might be ghost creepin’ in—”

A glass-shattering scream erupted through the desert. Soon, Minh T. finally shut her mouth. Her skin got so pale she practically looked half-Boo. Now onto Penelope, where was her bravery here? No screaming, sure, but her eyes darted everywhere. Not to mention her trembling legs. However, that could’ve been from the heavy weight of the bag as well.

I pet her on the head. “Make sure she doesn’t have a heart attack.”

Once Daisy and I broke into the ruins, sounds from the outside world went mute. Only the sound of light wind vibrated these walls. And boy, these halls could use a technician or something. Strangely lit torches stood as the only things to brighten this brown path. Oh, and they highlighted the grimy coffins that have been here for who knows how long.

Ew, speaking of grimy, this floor needed a good sweeping. Sand? Check. Dirt? Check. Bugs? Unfortunately, check. So focused on the pests crawling about, my heart nearly burst feeling the princess’s foot rub upon my thigh.

“Regrettin’ wearing those shoes yet?”

I smacked her foot away. “No. I like not having bugs taking refuge under my toes.”

“You gotta get less rigid than that.”

The deeper we got in this beige maze, the weaker the oxygen levels got. On top of that, we were both wiping waves of sweat off our bodies. My armpits burnt two visible stains into my T-shirt. The less we talk about my feet, the better. Without stockings being my protectors, my feet felt muckier than ever against those insoles.

In an emptier room, the princess brushed her sole. “My foot’s getting pretty caked in dirt. Might need a tongue to help with that, Toadette.”

“Good. How about asking the dudes in front of us?” I gave a little point to the doorway ahead.

Two bluish Pokeys were homing in on us. Ugh, I always hated these assholes and their demented faces. Springing into action, Daisy threw a punch at the head of one of the cacti. Ooh, poor decision. That fist came back just as fast as she threw it.

“Guess it’s my turn,” I said.

As the Pokeys focused on Daisy with her weakened hand, I gave one of them a flying roundhouse kick to the head. Incidentally, this kick sent my flat into the air. Just had to grab it to give this last Pokey a nice whack in all four of its segments.

After that stylish finish, my foot filled that flat back up. And Daisy just got a Pokey spine out of her hand, growling.

I lifted my leg. “See why I don’t regret wearing shoes here?”

“Alright, smarty, that’s a different context. Just walkin’ around is no big deal.”

“I think since I just saved ya again, you oughta give my feet a lick,” I said. “I mean, the tops got a smudge of grime on ‘em.”

The princess got down on her knees, rolling her eyes. While she slurped the tops of my feet, a weird tingle shot up my spine again. This may have been gross, it may have been weird, but something satisfied me about a lady of her status doing something so lowly. I didn’t even leave it there, instead pulling out my toes and letting the big one enter Daisy’s mouth.

Immediately, she got up, wiping her lips.

“Remember, if you were anyone other Toad, I wouldn’t have done that.”

Whoo, that brief encounter injected a dose of confidence in me. We cruised through the next hallways like they were nothing. Every later Pokey we’d see met their fate at my footwear. Finishing off one of these beasts, both my flats fell off as I hit the ground. The princess held one to her face.

“For someone obsessed with being clean, your insoles look about as dirty as my worst shoes.”

Panting, I muttered, “You’re rich…”

Daisy sniffed my shoe, hurling it at my head and covering her nose. “What’s that got to do with it?”

“Try needing to wear the same shoes for six years.”

“SIX years!? Dang, you’ve worn these into the ground.”

Keeping my flats fresh smelling always proved to be a challenge. And now with me wearing them more often these days, the worst qualities of them shone brighter than ever. Not even a rat would want to sleep in them. But, they’ve become a part of me in a way.

When I stepped forward, a voice blasted through the ruins. Deep, yes. Echoey, yes. Suspicious, yes. The leader of those hooded brutes. Who else could it be?

“Ladies, if you’re interested in having a discussion about your objects, no need for violence.”

“Quit the mind games and tell us where you are!” the princess yelled.

“You’re in the process of descending the ruins. We can discuss business at the pit. But don’t keep us waiting.”

Interesting. Only now did I notice we’d been descending the ruins all this time. We weren’t even using the stairs much now; the floors subtly sloped down.

PLAT!

And this made my balance a bitch. Dimly lit corridors with a stupid incline. Who designed this place? I brushed myself off, only to hit the ground again. And again. And again. The princess, on the other hand, breezed by here without issue. Lemme guess. Her bare feet?

“Y’know, a lot of the streets in Chai are slanted like this. Part of why we don’t really like wearing shoes.”

Enough of the negativity, Toadette. Say something positive. Don’t be like Mommy.

“I’ll give you one thing. For a land of barefooters, your feet aren’t the ugliest I’ve seen.”

Daisy chuckled, wiggling her toes in front of my face. “Duh. ‘Cause we don’t encourage imprisoning our feet like you guys.”

Her toes wiggling, was that an invitation to suck on them? Sick, but… Maybe if I sucked the dirt off them, it’d make me look less pathetic. Nothing makes you look worse than constantly tripping, believe me. Plus, the movement was so… rhythmic. So I closed my eyes and got three of her toes in my mouth.

“Oh! What are you doing!?”

Toes still in mouth, I said, “…Practising my skills?”

All went okay until I tried to get my tongue between her toes. Something, I don’t know what, crawled into my mouth. It got to the middle of my tongue when I spat into the air, groaning.

The princess got a laugh out of it, though. “If you’re eager to practise, maybe wait until we get back to that city.”

“Yeah, sorry.”

Really, I still couldn’t gain a grip on this walkway until we hit the next room. The sand-littered floor began to finally level out again. In this room stood five dry Chain Chomp statues, each with blank spots in their middles. Either they never had anything in them to begin with, or those bad guys stole something else.

“Where are these idiots? We’ve scoured this whole pyramid, ruin, whatever.” The princess leaned against a wall, catching her breath.

“They said the pit. Let’s keep going do—”

BOOM!!

Sand burst through the ceiling, and sizzling winds flooded the doorways. In a second, I went weightless as the floor broke beneath my feet. Then, along with the thunderous roaring, everything went pitch black.

Ow, my head…

Wait, where was the princess! The lack of light obscured any hint of her being here. Was I even in the same room? I prodded across the broken floor, touching the jagged edges of fallen debris.

Crying out for the princess hurt me with this salty air floating about. I repeated myself over and over, battling the pain.

“Right next to you.”

Another creak sounded, followed by another rainstorm of powder. Then that’s when I heard the crackling. Not the breaking of material, no. The soft yet intense crackling of flames. Sure enough, when I squinted up, there was a bright red fire about four metres above us.

Flickering through the cracked ceiling, its light allowed me to make out Daisy. She didn’t look too banged up, but her waist and below sat firmly in a pile of sand surrounded by other bits of rubble. A banged up column pushed up against her back.

“Think you can get out?” I tugged on her arm.

“I can barely wiggle my toes, Toadette.”

What was the use in struggling? Hold on, we had a hope. I pulled up my phone, turning up the brightness to get a nice look at that signal bar. No connection. Slamming the device on the built-up sand, I slumped against the princess. This was it.

“What’s your plan now?”

I said not a single word.

“You don’t know, huh?”

I shook my head. So caught up in this, I just realised how damaged my glasses were. They were not only covered in dust, but my right lens had a deep scratch from the fall.

…Damn it! How do you navigate a collapsed ruin!? No! How do you do it when there’s a fire above you, and probably below you!? How did the place even come down on itself?

Daisy poked my neck. “Look, I’m no Ms. Idea like you, but what about there?”

She guided my eyes to the large gash in a far wall. Maybe it was a way out. Or, more realistically, there was nothing but debris clogging it up. I didn’t move a muscle.

“I don’t think we’re getting out.”

“Don’t think. Confirm! That’s an order, Toadette!”

The princess just didn’t get it, did she? I sat exhausted. My arms ached, my feet were sore, and my brain was way too stimulated with the deteriorating structure and fire. Sinking further in my relaxed posture, my eyes shut. Just as pitch-black as this room was before the blazes.

Daisy rubbed along my braids, sighing. “You’re really not gonna try, huh?”

Minh T. and Penelope. One I grew up with, and the other was not only young but the daughter of the most significant figure in our kingdom. Maybe they got away in time, or perhaps they were in danger, too. And… Even this princess next to me hadn’t been nearly as cruel as she started off. If I were to just let everything play out…

“FUCK IT!”

I rocketed up and removed my shoes and glasses, leaving them beside Daisy. Running to the massive split in the wall, my feet gained an enormous boost of energy. Time to get us the hell out of here!