Mario put his hands on his hips as he took in the sight before him. "Looks like a giant painted lake," he remarked. "Or a pool of paint."
Giggling, a toadstool with a white-and-purple-spotted head and a casual purple throwover vest to match came to stop beside him. "Actually, I think it kinda looks like a face," he said.
Mario tilted his head. "With a lot of paint on it," he agreed. Then the two shared a chuckle.
The toadstool was Oscar, one of the castle toadstools from Princess Peach's court. Like his other four comrades, he had been riding in the back section of the Toad Express during the flight to the island. Now that the plane had landed, he and all his companions had gotten out to jump around, released like butterflies from a cage. Their high-pitched chattering filled the sea air all over the runway, not unlike the circling gulls overhead.
"...So the plane is in good condition?" Toadsworth was saying in the background. Next to him, the red-spotted pilot toadstool nodded and adjusted his blue jacket.
"Right as rain," he confirmed. "It'll be fine here. We're just lucky we were able to stop in time! Why don't you go see what all this mess is about?"
With a nod, Toadsworth hurried off to where Mario and Oscar were standing under the nose of the plane. From there, they looked out over a lake of red: yards and yards of white concrete were covered with a slippery substance, shimmering orange and yellow in the baking sun. It wasn't paint, exactly; or if it was, it was most unusual. Certain areas seemed to fluctuate up and down in waves, and in the center, where it was deepest, the ground couldn't even be seen underneath. In the heat, it almost gave off the impression that it was lava.
This was the problem that had brought their pilot so jarringly screeching to a halt: a major case of pollution right in the middle of the runway. The instant the startled passengers had got off, it became the issue of prominence.
The Toad Express was still parked where it had skidded to a stop, just mere feet away from the enormous safety hazard plastered all over the runway. For the past couple of minutes, the disembarked passengers had been standing about in a kind of clueless confusion. What else were they supposed to do?
Two toadstools from the princess' train, one red and one yellow, had scampered right up to the pool's edge to look closer.
"What's this icky paint-like goop?" The red one had asked right away, voicing the question on everyone's minds.
His counterpart stared for a moment at its wavering surface, then exclaimed, "It's... moving!"
"Now now, boys, don't touch that stuff!" Toadsworth had commanded loudly from where he was standing. Dangerous or no, it was his job to see that everyone kept out of trouble on this trip – and these toadstools were a frisky bunch.
Princess Peach, who had been standing by quietly looking around since they got off, didn't say anything. While the boys all argued and chattered over what the mystery mess might be, she had become too enraptured for a moment by the enormous ocean of blue that surrounded them; it went off into the distance forever, until the sea met the sky. It seemed as if it could swallow you up if you weren't careful; the colorful hills of the Mushroom Kingdom were rendered a distant memory out here.
"The pilot says the plane is fine," she heard Toadsworth tell Mario nearby. "We'd better go see what the idea is with all this, though - talk about dangerous! And they haven't even a single person in charge."
"I think that's the airport right there," Mario responded, gesturing to the small building on the opposite side of the goop. "Must be."
Glancing up, Princess Peach could see the rest of the runway beyond, across the colorful lake. It wasn't very big or fancy; it was only designed to receive one plane at a time. Built across a small L-shaped stretch of islands, the ocean water came lapping up to the edges only a few feet below. The rest of the island, or the 'mainland', was accessed from here by ferry.
On the opposite end, a small building stood beside a dock, where numerous large crates were piled. Presumably that was where shipments and cargo were sent and received.
She was just about to suggest that they try to catch a boat to the island when something caught the corner of her eye: a small flash of movement, on top of one of the big water tanks at the end of the airstrip. When she paused to look closer, at first she didn't trust her eyes: there was a person standing at the very top!
Perhaps it was a cause for alarm and perhaps it wasn't. It certainly wasn't any of her business, anyway. Normally she would have just moved along, or perhaps expressed some surprise, but for some reason she didn't. For a moment she was completely still as she stared, as if held by some odd force; and after a moment it became evident that the strange figure seemed to stare back. Several long seconds passed, and neither moved. It was too far away, and the sun's heat was radiating almost overbearingly off the ground, so that she couldn't make out any real details. All she knew was that it was a shadowy figure; he didn't look very tall - assuming it was a he - and definitely dressed in blue. Was he actually staring at her?
A sudden uncomfortable feeling crept over her as she got the subtle feeling that they were being watched. What is that guy doing...? Finally, when her fears were at last substantial enough to express concern, Peach broke away and reached out a hand towards Toadsworth, where he was talking with Mario.
"Um... excuse me, but..."
Huh? Turning back to look again at the mystery person, she paused and all but forgot what she was going to say. The figure was gone.
The two men were in the middle of some random conversation now and she couldn't seem to get their attention anyway. Still frowning in confusion, Peach turned away and held silent. She couldn't have imagined that - could she have? Maybe it was just the sun's heat, playing tricks on her eyes. She squinted and watched, but nothing appeared again.
"I imagine you'll be spending a fair amount of time at the princess' side," Toadsworth was saying as he and Mario surveyed the mess.
Perhaps just the tiniest bit shy, Mario didn't look at him. "Oh, yeah," he assured. He knew that Toadsworth likely didn't mean it the way it sounded. It was a request: a request for protection.
Princess Peach wasn't necessarily trouble-prone, but it did seem to follow her around – as many of her subjects and servants could testify to. Toadsworth, who basically took it upon himself to constantly worry about her safety, felt himself too old and insufficient to properly protect her. In fact, most toadstools by nature were just too small and weak for that sort of thing. That was where Mario came in.
Humans were scarce in the Mushroom Kingdom. Aside from the princess herself, Mario was one of only a few other human residents; short as he was, he was still larger than most of the population. It was basically accepted by now that Mario could better protect the princess, as he had proved numerous times in the past. It was just what the toadstools had come to expect; Mario was a strong human, and he could keep the princess safe better than her own guard ever could.
Toadsworth chuckled aloud. "I do declare, old chap, you could make a living off being a bodyguard," he commented. He knew Mario's physical prowess to be worthy of much boasting. True, he may not have looked like much – but he was not to be underestimated.
Mario turned to him and grinned. "Hm. Looks like Mario's gonna have to find a job," he said jokingly.
Toadsworth raised his eyebrows. "Trying to start a new career?" he asked curiously. "Or you mean something temporary?"
