steamboat-promises

Fear and surprise can do wonders to the rational mind. Looking outside of the situation, one would think the obvious thing to do when seeing a maniacal rapidly growing Oni is run in the opposite direction and never look back. To be entirely fair, several of the villagers did exactly that. But the majority of the kingdom, especially those who had previously been inside the palace, could do little more than gawk at who had been one of their most trusted guards. “I quit,” Marsupilami said while raising his hand and tail. “How could this have happened?!” Clarabelle was close to having her legs give way, her arms tightly

Given how impressively tall and expansive the palace was, finding a spare room for Donald and Daisy was as easy as turning the corner. They thanked the Princess profusely for her kindness, but once they were alone, husband and wife could feel themselves molting from stress. They sat opposite from each other on the floor, backs to one another, their bodies heavy with the words Mickey had thrust at them. Donald had, at least, expected Mickey to return for his mother's sake, but he hadn't realized the depth of Mickey's anger and feelings of betrayal. Now he was starting to wonder if Mickey ever would come home, and what kind of life they'd have

Bright and early the next morning, it was clear that a few changes had taken place. Pete wasn't seen barking orders or shoving around the new guards – in fact, no one could recall seeing him for quite some time. Marsupilami and Maurice hadn't returned until late that night, and now that the sun had risen, they decided to take on the day with vigor knowing the information they held. They knew Mickey would be making his routine patrols around the palace, no doubt still angry and upset over his frustrations. That would be no more! No,  Marsupilami would not let his friend wallow any further! So with sunlight basking over the capital, Marsu

Precisely one day after Pete invited Panchito into his unique plan, Marsupilami was more than tempted to ditch his “newfound resolve”, but an equal balance of guilt-slinging and threats from Maurice convinced him otherwise. He was placed on “patrol” - walking all around the capitol to make sure everything was peaceful and taking out any danger. But in a city that was continuously peaceful, it really felt more like he was just stretching his legs. It would have been easy to merely walk and do nothing, as Marsupilami and Maurice had done most of their lives – grabbing what they could to eat, sleeping wherever a fla

Within a day, armor and swords were provided to the new team of guards, all perfectly crafted to suit the wearer's needs – except for Mickey. The blacksmith had taken one look at Mickey... and vowed to give up drinking. It took fifteen long minutes to convince him Mickey was real. The old man said creating something so small yet accurate would take a long time, and Mickey understood this with a calm smile on his face. In fact, he tried to face all his new challenges with a smile on his face, since he thought if he looked confident, confidence would flow through him. And Pete was trying to make it challenging. Each day was filled with r

“Guards?” Everyone repeated – save for Panchito, who was suffering from another one of Maurice's wake-up specials – after Mickey had finished his request, each person giving the word their own level of shock. As such - “Guards?” Princess Minnie's fan was being used to hide her eager smile, recalling that Sir Sakura and his own love interest had met by him being her bodyguard. “Guards?” Clarabelle could guess what Minnie was thinking in seconds and panicked, trying to think of how to put a stop to her illicit daydreaming. “Guards?” Pete was incredulous – now he had even more

Mickey and his traveling companions would have loved to stop and gawk at the impressive interior of the palace, but they didn't come here to sight-see. (That and they had an unconscious rooster to carry.) They were taken to an elaborate guest room that could have fit twenty, but also didn't appear to have been used in ages, judging from a cobweb in the corner and a few hints of dust here and there. Mickey was surprised as it dawned on him that the Princess didn't have guests. “Of course she doesn't!” Pete groused as he was forced to drag in extra futons. “She's a Princess, ya dope! She doesn't have time for tea parties or s

It took several long days and nights to reach the capital, with Mickey learning all he could from Panchito during every waking hour. While Panchito was very enthusiastic about having a student, the lessons were limited – without an opponent Mickey's size, they couldn't truly measure Mickey's abilities. Yet neither of them said this out loud (and Maurice smacked Marsupilami every time he tried to bring it up) and the training was met with vigorous determination. At the very least he could feel his stamina building and some small muscles beginning to grow – it felt amazing to get real exercise after years of being cooped up in his h

With food and friends with him, Mickey felt even more confident on the way to the Princess and the Lucky Hammer. They had left the small town far behind them, and now walked on a dirt road underneath the hot, unforgiving sun. The heat was relentless, and there were no trees nearby to shade them. Mickey made an effort to distract his allies by weaving them tales of his glorious father and his battles against the deadly Oni. Maurice ate up every word, even applauding at grand victories, but Marsupilami was less than impressed, continuously toying with the end of his long tail. “...and with that,” Mickey finished, trying to mime the

Mickey and his new friend were very happy together as they traveled through the forests and plains. Mickey found he had plenty to say, and Pluto was an excellent listener so Mickey would regale him with tales of his amazing father. While Mickey was glad to have a companion, and his first real friend to boot, there were two big issues that needed to be solved. The first was that while now Mickey could see where he was going, he still couldn't be sure if it was in the right direction of the Princess. The second was that now that he had a traveling ally, he needed to expand his resources – he'd already devoured his bread and cheese, and he