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kuramirocket · 5 hours

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This was so cute and funny! It made my day! I definitely look forward to more. Mario is so sweet and poor Kamek xD

Tiny Adventure

Chapter 1

Rating: General Audiences Relationship: Mario & Kamek Tags: Humor, Shrunken Character, Nonverbal Mario

Summary: “Either that spell I’d cast was more powerful than I’d realized,” Kamek slowly said, “Or I somehow managed to shrink myself, instead.” “…” “I’d shrunken myself, didn't I.” Word Count: 2,269 words

[AO3 Link]

~~~

This particular afternoon found Kamek trapped in a tree hollow in the middle of a forest.

Now, a forest wasn't the first place Kamek would have chosen to find himself in, given the copious amount of pollen usually found in such biomes that would wreak havoc on his sinuses. Unfortunately, Lord Bowser’s latest scheme had necessitated his presence in this area; in these first few stages of said scheme, Kamek’s magic proved to be critical in making sure everything went smoothly. Which stoked Kamek’s ego something fierce — though that warmth was little compared to the cold reality of the crushing amount of overwork he was enduring. More so than usual, too, which was quite the feat considering his usual amount of work. But it had been a while since the overwork was of the magical variety, and Kamek couldn't help but appreciate the challenge.

However, casting spells day in and day out in the name of Lord Bowser still cast him dangerously close to magical exhaustion, and as a result he hardly had the reserves to cast much else. For instance, he couldn't cast anything to scare off this bird that had been trying to eat him for a while now.

And, well, normally that wouldn't be a problem, because it was a bird. But sometime this morning he received a report that Mario had been spotted skulking about in the forest, no doubt drawn in by rumors of their presence. That had been...unfortunate. All those delays caused by inexperienced minions had finally added up. So, since he could hardly trust anyone else to do it properly, Kamek had gone to stall him for long enough so they could finish harvesting the resources they needed. And the chosen method of stalling him? It was hardly original, but...he had been rather fond of those size-changing spells he’d gotten to use ages ago. Although, with how tired he’d been lately, he couldn't exert as fine control over them he would have liked.

Hence him hiding in a giant tree, being pecked at by a giant bird.

How embarrassing.

The bird lunged for Kamek again. Kamek pressed his back against the mossy wood behind him — he was very much running out of room, here. The next try brought it closer; with a curse, Kamek swiped at it with his broom — the broom that had barely stayed airborne during his flight to escape the bird in the first place, crashed him into this tree hollow, and refused to start flying again no matter how much magic Kamek tried to pour into it. The broom that was then grabbed by the bird, and that Kamek had to fight to keep, because that was his broom, damn it, and sure it wasn't working right now but he’d spent a whole month enchanting it in the first place and he was not losing it now!

Just as Kamek was starting to lose his grip, the bird let go with a squawk. Falling backwards from the sudden lack of force, Kamek watched the bird flap its wings and fly away from the hollow’s opening in a hurry. Kamek crawled out at a much more sedate pace, brushing dirt off his robes as he stood. Now with that inconvenience dealt with, he could finally get back to work. He needed to figure out where exactly he was, how to get out of this forest and back to the base, what progress the other minions had made while he was gone, all the incompetencies and mistakes he’d have to clean up, and on top of that he still had to deal with Mario —

Mario waved.

— running around causing trouble and threatening to ruin their hard work, and he still needed to figure out how to tell Bowser about Mario’s presence, or whether he should in the first place considering Bowser’s likely reaction to that news, and he hadn't eaten since breakfast despite it now being past noon, and he’d been meaning to go back to that backwater town at the end of the river and steal all the allergy medicine he could get his hands on, and —

Kamek shrieked, almost falling back into the hole he’d just crawled out of. “Wh-when did you get here?”

Mario shrugged. It was a larger gesture than usual, as was the rest of him. Was larger than usual, that is. Kamek blinked at Mario’s way-too-big mustache, and his eyes narrowed. When he’d fired that last spell, Mario had been nowhere near in range of it.

“Either that spell I’d cast was more powerful than I realized,” Kamek slowly said, “Or I somehow managed to shrink myself, instead.”

“...”

“I’d shrunken myself, didn't I.”

Mario’s mustache curled up in amusement. Kamek ground his teeth and fumed. Of all the stupid mistakes to make...!

Despite his magic reserves being low, Kamek reached into his sleeve for his wand; whether to put himself back to normal or knock the amusement off Mario’s face, he couldn't say. Either way, his hand came out empty. As it did the second time Kamek rummaged for it, and the third, and the fourth, and the —

Absolutely not panicking, Kamek dove back into the tree hollow to overturn every dead leaf and stick pile and moss clump in search of his wand. He didn't find it, of course, and he spared a moment or two to stand there, head in hands. With how today was going, he’d probably dropped it somewhere after miscasting his spell. On the very dim bright side, though, at least he knew why his broom wasn't working; those enchantments weren't designed to play nice with these sort of shrinking spells. Kamek sighed. Curse Lord Bowser and his incessant, near-impossible demands...

Kamek lifted his head to find Mario peering through the opening of the tree hollow, considering Kamek’s misfortune with a furrowed brow. He backed up to allow Kamek to leave, and once Kamek stood upright, he extended a hand to him.

“I don't need your help,” Kamek snapped. Ignoring Mario’s hand, he turned on his heel, marched a few steps, tripped over a protruding bit of exposed bark, and lost his balance. His next step was on empty air, at a height borderline unsurvivable, with little but a nonfunctional broom to break his fall.

So he fell. And he hit the ground. Sooner than he’d expected, considering. Kamek unscrewed his eyes and found the surface he’d landed on was whiter than he’d expected, as well. And then it moved, and Kamek lost the little balance he’d been barely holding on to. Mario’s worried face filled Kamek’s vision, and he realized he wasn't dead because Mario had caught him.

“...I suppose I should thank you,” Kamek eventually said, with no intention of thanking Mario. Mario huffed, but still watched him, lips pursed in thought. He was being quieter than usual, and that combined with the sudden awareness of just how vulnerable he was — many fractions his size, unable to cast any spells, and sitting in his archenemy’s palms — had Kamek swallowing nervously.

“You can put me down now,” Kamek hesitantly said, because Mario was a good guy, and he would do as he asked. For sure. Hopefully.

Except Mario didn't. Instead, he transferred Kamek to one hand, opened the front pocket of his overalls with the other, and dumped Kamek in there as if he was some common —

Kamek struggled to right himself in the small, mostly enclosed space. “Wh — You —!” he sputtered. “How dare you — !”

Mario chuckled at Kamek’s indignation. The vibrations of it rumbled through Kamek’s body, and the whole ‘you’re very tiny and powerless and more-or-less at your archenemy’s mercies right now’ dilemma screeched back to the forefront of Kamek’s mind. So he shut his mouth with a clack, thinking better of poking his head out of the pocket to give Mario a piece of his mind. Through the meager opening above him he saw Mario give him one last look before starting to move; the way the world shifted probably meant he was at a brisk walk, down the forest path to who-knew-where.

Kamek sighed, making himself comfortable the best he could given the circumstances. Well... at least Mario wasn't likely to let Kamek get accosted by wildlife again. And besides, all Kamek had to do was wait until he could scrounge up enough magic to cast spells again; though he was still without his wand, he’d be free to ditch Mario and make his own way back to the base for his spare wand and broom. And then he could come back and make Mario pay for this indignity ten-fold.

---

Kamek blinked, roused from a nap he hadn't realized he’d taken by a shift in movement different from the steady sway of Mario walking around. He reached for the top of the pocket and pulled himself up. They were in a clearing lit by the waning light of the sun, and Mario was leaning over a burgeoning campfire.

Mario grinned down at Kamek when he noticed he was awake. Kamek scowled back at him, because he’d been hoping the earlier events of the afternoon had been a terrible dream. In the face of the contrary, and with the dregs of near-magical exhaustion and the nap he just took still clinging to him, the colorful commentary floating through his head didn't make it to the twilit air.

Meanwhile, Mario finished arranging the wood he’d gathered. He raised a hand to Kamek.

“I can get down on my own,” Kamek said, surly, and then he pulled himself out, misjudged the force necessary to do so, and tumbled end-over-end into Mario’s still-raised hand.

Mario had the grace to refrain from laughing this time, setting him down on a nearby log and lighting the campfire with an errant fireball. He sat down on the ground next to him with a sigh, shoulders slumped in clear exhaustion. Sensing Kamek was watching him, though, he straightened, rummaging through his pockets and pulling out a lunchbox. He opened it, and the smell reminded Kamek that he hadn't eaten since that brief pastry at sunrise. He supposed a blessing of being this small was that the grumbling of his stomach was harder to hear.

Busy regretting skipping lunch, the tray placed next to him completely startled him. That tray was actually the lid to the lunchbox, with some of Mario’s food placed upon it. A look to Mario had Mario pointing to his food and shaping his fingers into an ‘L’ shape with an easy smile. Ah. Well, at least Kamek could be sure the food was edible.

The two of them ate their dinners in relative silence. As they polished off some roasted mushrooms to end their meal, Mario’s focus was on a letter clutched in his other hand. Kamek read it over Mario’s shoulder. It appeared to be a letter from the Princess.

Mario saw him looking and tilted the letter towards him, pointing at a passage that spoke of the troubles the nearby town had been going through recently.

“I don't know anything about that,” Kamek lied. At Mario’s unimpressed look, Kamek rolled his eyes. “So what if they’re having water problems? If they're not going to use their river to its full potential, then they can't start complaining when someone else swoops in and does so.”

Mario’s face turned contemplative. He flipped to the second page of Peach’s letter, and as he glanced between it and Kamek, Kamek realized he might have said a little too much. Whoops. He’ll blame it on how tired he was. Even still, no matter how Mario needled him further, he didn't say anything else on the subject. Absolutely nothing. Besides, if the minions were being even halfway competent in his absence, then it didn't matter at this point how quickly Mario cottoned on to what they were doing.

Mario raised an eyebrow in challenge, and Kamek really needed to stop talking now, didn't he?

The hour grew late, and soon both Mario and Kamek were stifling yawns. Mario was surely used to laying down on the wilderness’ floor for a rest, but where was Kamek supposed to sleep?

Mario thought about it, looking around for a suitable surface. He couldn't find one, and Kamek was all set to resign himself to an aching back tomorrow morning until Mario’s eyes lit up with an idea. He took his hat off his head. He held it out to Kamek.

“Wh —? In that?” Kamek hissed. Mario shrugged. Was there anything better?

Kamek grumbled. Mario put the hat on the ground below him, near the cooling fire, leaning back against the log as Kamek slid off his seat to land in it. It was soft. Not quite soft enough, though. Luckily, there was plenty of moss nearby, and Kamek unrepentantly padded his new temporary bed with it. Mario looked pained. Served him right.

Mario forced himself to ignore the nearby travesty as best he could; he shimmied into a more comfortable position, ending with an aborted motion to pull his hat over his eyes. He rested that hand on his stomach instead, the other behind his head. One leg crossed over the other, Mario cast his gaze to the stars peeking between the leaves and branches above them, the picture of evening relaxation.

Kamek pulled a relatively clean leaf he’d found amongst the moss earlier over himself. Though he still hoped he'd wake up tomorrow morning to find this had all been a terrible nightmare, he knew he’d probably end up disappointed. But that was a problem for his future self to deal with.

#mario franchise #mario fanfiction #fanfiction

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