Heroes of Dreamland, Book 7: Kirby and the Battle for Dreamland (OLD)

The Darkness May Fall

Meta Knight's POV:

As a warrior, you learn to enter a certain mindset immediately before battle. You clear your head of all thoughts, worries, and distractions beyond keeping yourself and your allies alive while simultaneously dealing as much harm as possible to the enemy. You shove any fear you feel off to the side, leaving only enough to keep you alert, aware, and intelligent. You focus on letting your sword become a part of you, an extension of yourself, not just a sharp stick you hold in your hand, and you direct your adrenaline to making you run faster, strike harder, react quicker, and sense sharper.

As someone who was once a warrior like this, but who has since allowed some of their stoic demeanor to fall and permitted themselves to have friends and loved ones instead of just allies, you still try to do all this, but find it hard to get rid of any worries you have about your companions.

Unfortunately, I do believe that I have become one of the latter class of soldiers. While it certainly is not unfortunate that I have allowed others to become closer to me than I would have even just a handful of years ago, it doesn't help anything that I can't help but wonder what in Dreamland I'm going to do with myself if any one of my allies here falls.

Kirby is one of my most trusted allies, Dreamland's greatest hero, and for quite awhile, I thought he was the only other one of my kind who still drew breath. Even now that I know better, he is still one of the closest things to a dear friend I have, especially as he has aged and grown wiser (and easier to understand, speech-wise.)

Bandana Dee has become such an integral part of the team over the past few years that I simply can't imagine any of us attempting to go on a quest without him. It seems like more recently, especially, he follows Kirby around on all of his adventures, assisting from a distance, not unlike what I did sometimes when Kirby first started visiting Dreamland. Bandana Dee started out as a lackey of the king's when Dedede saw that I had 'stolen' one of his more self-aware Waddle Dees and added him to my crew (i.e., Sailor Dee). The king decided he also wanted a particular Waddle Dee servant who was somehow more important than the others, and since Bandana was one of the few Waddle Dees who exhibited signs of individualism and mischief, he was 'given' the job and thereafter served as a sort of 'captain of the guard' and personal servant to the king for several years, even though he was just a small child, until he grew tired of it and essentially just abandoned the king to go his own way after we defeated Magolor a few years ago, much to Dedede's annoyance. Point being, Bandana has a mind much sharper and more focused than the average Waddle Dee's, and is certainly always a great asset to have on one's side- not to mention that while he can be grumpy, he tends to have a healthy dose of Waddle Dee optimism, and is always ready to help out anyone he finds in need, even if he can't expect any sort of a reward in return for his services.

Shadow Kirby... He's so young, just a small child. He can't read yet, he barely knows how to fly a Warp Star, he still often uses his vocal tic, even if he has learned more recently not to use it as much, and he looks at the world so optimistically for one who was supposedly born from the dark side of someone's heart. He trusts and loves everyone unless they give him a good reason not to, and he is always quick to share anything he has with those around him. So much like Kirby, he's such a gentle, pure soul, even more gentle in some ways than his mirror twin. For him to be lost... it would be a travesty. No one that young should ever have to leave the world behind.

Magolor, I suppose I could care less about- meaning, if he were lost, I doubt I'd find it worth weeping over, but I know how much it would pain the others, who are all fond of him. Besides which, while I can't stand him and certainly wouldn't mind not having to put up with him anymore, I'd much prefer it if he just simply flew away and never bothered me again, rather than actually dying.