Peach awoke with a slap to the face. 

In shock and surprise, Peach rolled over just as the tip of a spear impaled itself in the spot Peach had been lying a split second before. Looking up, Peach saw a native man glaring down at her, struggling to rip his spear out of ground.  

"Toadonelly! Toaddette! Toader! Perry! Incoming!" Peach cried. When no one answered, she looked wildly around the tent and saw that it was empty except for her and the native man. Where in the world was her party? 

Scrambling to her feet, Peach struck the man with a roundhouse kick that sent him toppling to the ground. She grabbed up his spear and rushed outside. 

The scene was confusing. There were lots of natives running around, sifting through bags and rummaging through backpacks. Peach's eyes widened in shock when she saw Toaddette and Toadonelly and Toader sitting in a tiny circle guarded by two natives. They were all tied up tightly. Perry had a small rope wrapped around him, and he couldn't do anything but wriggle. 

"Princess!" Toader cried as Peach reached for her necklace. "Don't! They'll - " He gasped as someone struck Peach in the neck from behind. Her body seemed to shut down, and she collapsed to the ground, pain radiating in her neck. Before she passed out, the last thing she heard was the triumphant cries of the natives and her party of toads crying out her name.

******************************* 

When Peach groggily awoke an hour later, she found that she and her party were trapped inside of a wooden cage.  

"Princess!" Toaddette squeaked as Peach groaned in pain. 

"Sh!" Toader snapped. "Not a sound!" He motioned to the side of the cage, where two natives were steadily walking. Peach realized that the cage was mounted on two sticks, and that the men were carrying them towards their destination. 

"What - " Peach started, but she fell to the floor of the cage again. Toaddette whimpered as Peach struggled to right herself and finally moved into a satisfying sitting position. Her hands were tied tightly behind her back, as were her legs and torso. The only thing left free was her mouth. "What's going on?" 

"I don't know," Toadonelly said, sounding frightened. "The natives captured us and threw us into this cage. They're carrying us somewhere now." 

"Princess, you're injured!" Toaddette blurted.  

Toader glared at her, but said, "Yeah, she's right. You're bleeding from the base of your neck." 

Peach slowly turned her neck and winced with pain. Her face fell as she saw that her blonde hair was stained with blood. Her heart began to race. "Am I still bleeding?" she asked Toaddette, turning slightly. 

"Yes!" 

Peach's heart plummeted. She was sure that her blood pressure had just shot up a couple of levels. "Okay, let's calm down," she said softly, closing her eyes and concentrating hard. The Calm Stone of the Vibe Necklace began to glow a faint green, and its power flowed out in a warm wave and wrapped Peach's party in soft green bubbles. Toaddette stopped shaking, Toadonelly ceased biting on his fingernails, and even Toader stopped nibbling his lip. Peach's heartbeat stopped its erratic dance. "We're in the worst possible situation right now. We're all scared, and I've been injured. But let's all know that as long as we stay together, we'll be safe." As the Calm Stone's power enveloped Peach, she felt the wound on the back of her neck scab over and seal, almost like a zipper. 

Everyone's breathing became more relaxed as they were carried deeper into the region. The air grew warmer and warmer as they strayed nearer to the deadly volcano that loomed in the distance. 

At noon, they were carried over a hill and a village appeared before them. It was a very tiny village, with only about a dozen houses that were made out of clay and rock. The villagers all looked the same, be it man or woman, adult or child - tanned skin marred with white paste or paint and strong, muscular limbs. As the party was carried through the village, a few of the natives looked up at them in curiosity. A little girl with no hair pointed up at Peach's golden, tangled locks in incredulity, as if she couldn't believe that someone could have such long hair. A few others pointed at the toads' mushroom growths and laughed. 

"They must think we have big heads," Toader grumbled - he obviously wasn't taking the fact well. 

"Or they might think that you're the wisest in the land," Perry contradicted. "Because of the big heads, you know?" When Toader glared at him, he said, "Sheesh, sorry. Just looking at both sides of the coin, here." 

Peach noticed something else, though. There was a lot of hustle and bustle going on. Many villagers were loading trays of meat and vegetables into their houses, where smoke was steadily rising. Others were cooking their foods on outdoor grills that were made of sanded stone and burning wood. Many of the children were decorating their houses with shells and shiny stones strung on strings. Everyone looked like they were preparing for something.  

They reached the end of the village quickly. There was a conglomerate of stands at the end, and many people milled about, some trading skins and furs for gold and others trading their possessions for guns and knives. Others were simply buying food that looked like beans and meat and paste. 

"A market," Toadonelly concluded. 

"Boy, would I like to get my mouth on that ham," Toader said as they watched a man trade a huge pig for two sacks of gold. "I'm sick of those stupid pucker buds. I don't even remember what meat tastes like, and you can forget about sweets." 

Peach frowned - his statement had disturbed her.  

Their hosts finally stopped near the middle of the market, before a huge stand run by a formidable merchant. He raised his nose at the natives as they approached him and pointed back at Peach and company in their cage. They began to speak quickly in their strange language, and the merchant responded with a couple of gruff phrases. 

"What are they doing?" Peach asked. 

"Bargaining," Perry said grimly from where he lay in a corner of the cage. "Folks, we're being traded like livestock." 

Toadonelly groaned. "Great. But I guess it's okay if we're being sold - just as long as we're not butchered like cows." 

"Unbelievable," Toaddette whispered as the merchant finally nodded. Quickly, the four natives rushed over to the cage and, with a lot of effort, raised it once more and hauled it over to where the merchant was by his stand. After dropping it behind the stand, the merchant handed the natives a huge sack of gold, which they instantly began to fight over. Peach watched as they ran off. 

The merchant then turned to the cage. He walked around the bars and inspected each party member. When he reached Peach, he looked quite curious, and he reached inside the cage and grabbed a strand of her hair, inspecting the blindingly-blonde locks. Peach winced. 

"Hey! Hands off!" Perry shouted, leaping from the corner of the cage. He batted the man's hand, and he pulled his hand out, groaning in pain. He glared at Perry and then back at Peach, but he didn't reach in again. 

They stayed there the whole day. Peach felt herself sweating in waves, but she couldn't do anything about it: they were still tied up tightly. Her party of toads huddled around her. Toaddette had gotten tired and leaned her head against Peach's shoulder, falling asleep a little while later. 

Finally, at sunset, the merchant closed his stand. He brought a cart and a mule around to where Peach and her friends were sitting, and with a lot of effort, managed to haul the cage up onto the cart. Peach glared at him as he walked around to the front, taking up the reigns of the mules. "Where are you taking us?" she shouted. 

The man laughed as he whipped at the donkeys. They neighed and began to trot out of the village. "Uwifi," he said. 

"What?" Peach asked. "I said, where are you taking us?" 

"Uwifi." 

"What does that mean?" 

The man turned back and smiled, yellow, crooked teeth marring his mouth. "Oh, you no speak Wigglish?" he chuckled. "Uwifi - mean 'volcano'." 

Peach felt her stomach plummet.

 *********************************

For the next hour or so, they traveled towards the majestic volcano. The farther they traveled the blacker and unhealthier the ground looked. They air also became considerably hotter - Peach could feel her tongue baking in her mouth, and craved a drop of water.  

Unfortunately, their bags and canteens of water had been seized by the people that spoke "Wigglish". Plus, their weapons and food were gone. In fact, the only protection they had now was Perry, the hawkgrass, and the Vibe Necklace. Peach considered using the hawkgrass several times as they continued to bump along, but she rationalized that they weren't in any immediate danger. Yet. 

The land began to slope upward and curve into the mountain that was joined with Fury Volcano. As they were carried steadily higher, Peach wondered what in the world these people were going to do with them. And why in the world were they going up into the volcano? Were...were these people going to kill them by pushing them in the lava? 

"Uwifi," the man said suddenly, and Peach looked up. She gasped. 

As they rounded the side of the mountain, a huge entrance suddenly opened up into the volcano's side. It was like an awning mouth, rimmed with protective spikes and guarded by a hundred different natives of Fury Volcano. 

Peach nudged Toaddette awake. "Hey, look at that." 

Toadonelly said, "Are they...taking us inside the volcano?" 

Nobody disagreed with him. 

The guards stepped aside and let the merchant pass as he said something quick and soft to them. As they rode past, Peach saw some of the people point and stare at her, whispering, "Wafi. Wafi." 

The inside of the volcano was surprisingly wide and spacious. The main hall had a cavernous ceiling and branched in two directions. The merchant kept riding forward, however, into the next chamber. 

The next cavern was even more enormous, and the ceiling was so high that Peach couldn't see the top. In front of them, the ground stopped as a sudden cliff that fell into a huge pool of boiling lava below. Peach gasped as they continued to ride forward, but breathed out in relief when she saw that there was a long, rickety bridge ahead. Everyone held their breath as they rode across. When they reached the other side, everyone sighed in relief. 

"PO QUIQUI!" a voice boomed. Peach almost jumped. She craned her neck around the cart to see who'd been talking - and almost gasped. A huge Wiggler was sitting near the back of the ledge on a throne made of wood and stone. He was wearing a crown and was looking down on the merchant, speaking Wigglish. The merchant replied, and the Wiggler raised an eyebrow, craning his neck to take a look at the merchant's luggage. Then, he got down from his throne and walked over. Peach bent down as much as she could and grabbed the Vibe Necklace with her mouth and hid it inside her dress. 

As the Wiggler came into view, he smiled. It wasn't a friendly smile. 

"Welcome Princess Peach Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom," he grinned. Peach was relieved that he was speaking English. "We're honored to have you visit our humble region of Fury Volcano. Unfortunately, you've caught us right in the middle of the preparation for the Eruption Festival. And since you've been brought as victims to us, we have another title for you other than a guest." 

"What are you going to do to us?" Peach demanded. She longed to activate the Rage Stone and bust right out of that volcano, but something held her back. 

The Wiggler smiled even more widely. "You'll be the sacrifices for the festival, of course. Our volcano will not erupt without sacrifices. And the Wigglites have brought me the best sacrifice of all - the Witch." Peach scowled at him. "Ah, so you know that you are considered a criminal then? Well, criminals are most valuable for the Eruption Festival." 

Peach was just about to turn on the Rage Stone when the Wiggler said, "Throw them in the prison, with the rest of the toads." 

Peach's jaw snapped open.