Heroes of Dreamland Rewritten, Book 1: Stars Amidst Lightning

Chapter 2

Kirby|カービィー

It's just another normal night, and I'm wandering around the castle looking for Maxim Tomatoes and strawberry shortcake, my favorite foods. I'm happy and thinking that aside from the storm all is well, but then I suddenly notice that all the Waddle Dees are urgently jumping up and down around something, looking really upset. So I amble toward them, happily singing "poyo, poyo," in my chipper little-boy voice, not really noticing right away that they all run away from me. What are they so worried about? I'm not gonna eat them; I'm not trying to find anything or save Dreamland from anybody right now. Besides which, they really don't taste that good, so I only eat them if I really have to. Blech.

Anyway, my name's Kirby, and I'm what's known as a Star Warrior. To tell you the truth, I've never completely understood what that means, but according to Meta Knight, it's something really important. To understand why, you'd have to ask Meta Knight. He's the only other Star Warrior I know, and he's apparently also the very last one other than me and maybe a few others. It's kinda hard to tell if that's true for sure, 'cause he's always got his face covered with a round metal mask and I've only ever seen it for a few seconds at a time.

Star Warriors like me are small, round people. I actually look a lot like a Waddle Dee, except I'm light pink all over; I have sapphire blue eyes; smaller, rounder, dark pink feet; and the blush spots on my cheeks are medium pink. Unlike Waddle Dees, I also have a mouth. And that's a lucky thing, because I use it a lot, both for eating and for something awesome that you're about to get to learn about.

A bolt of lightning comes down from the sky, which I narrowly miss. Still happy anyway, I inhale it instead, sucking it into my mouth while making a noise like a vacuum cleaner. When you're a Star Warrior like me, you don't really have to worry about a lot of things that others find dangerous. I can just eat them right up! Of course, they don't taste very good... But more than just being able to eat them, I can also copy their unique powers and use them as special abilities of my own. Like right now, I give a joyful "Hai-yah!" and become Spark Kirby. Now that I have the powers of the lightning I just swallowed, I won't get hurt if more lightning comes down. I still look like myself, but now I've got a hat made out of light blue electricity sparking around on my head.

When I get to the spot where the Waddle Dees were a minute ago, all that's there is a great big rock. That's not scary or upsetting, why were they all hopping around it like that? Oh well, they're Waddles. They don't really make sense to me.

With a huff of mild annoyance (no strawberry shortcake here) I turn around and begin to walk away. But then I see a Waddle Dee's foot sticking out from under the rock, barely twitching. With a start of surprise, I use my Copy Ability to blow the rock apart. ('Copy Ability' is the name for the powers I just got and all the other different powers I can copy from things. They're called that because I copied the lightning's ability, and because it's my ability to be able to copy things. I only know this because Meta Knight told me so when I was really, really little.)

Carefully dodging all the lightning from the sky, I hurry, fill myself up with air so I float around above ground, and then carry the poor Waddle Dee (which is quite a bit bigger than my one-foot height) to safety under an overhang. All of the other Waddle Dees look out from around a corner to try and see what's happening while still staying far away from me.

Poking at the Waddle Dee, trying to get it to wake up, I start to get a bit worried when it no longer twitches or anything. I sit down and think for a moment until a light bulb appears over my head. Then, I rub my hands together, creating a large surge of electricity. It's actually really pretty to watch, although I really wouldn't want to be on the receiving end of it like this poor Waddle is gonna be. After first looking around myself to make sure no one else is in the way, I shout "Clear, poyo!" and touch the Waddle Dee, who's shocked back to life right away.

As soon as it sees who I am, it starts to shake in fear. Then, it does something I've never seen or heard a Waddle Dee do. It lets out a squeak. And then it runs off, just as fast as its too-big, clownish, yellow-orange feet can carry it.

Confused, I frown and call out, "Poyo, wait, poyo!" When it doesn't (really, why are they so scared of me? I don't eat that many of them...) I suck up a bunch of air again and begin to float silently and quickly through the air just like I did a few moments ago. Moments later, I catch up to the frightened Waddle Dee, float down to it, and scoop it gently up into my arms.

Apparently, though, gentleness isn't enough to keep it calm. The Waddle Dee struggles uselessly in my hands for a minute, but pretty quickly, it realizes that getting out is impossible.

"Put me down, bozo!!!" it suddenly shrieks in anger, even though it doesn't have a mouth and shouldn't be able to talk.

Dropping it in amazement, I squawk, "POYO?!?"

The Waddle Dee somehow inhales (through its face!) a nearby feather that's been flying through the gusts of wind, getting the Wing Copy Ability. Waddle Dees can't copy abilities, only Star Warriors can. So how did it do it? I don't know, but as I stare in confusion, it flaps its new-found lighter-than-me-pink wings that have appeared on its paws and lands gracefully not far from me in the dark green, thick grass that covers the whole castle courtyard. Both of us are completely soaked by the pouring rain now, and it's really kinda funny to watch her feathers all getting stuck together and turning into a mat of fuzz.

"H-how did I do that?" it gasps in awe, sounding completely lost and confused. Her voice makes me think that she's a girl, although any Waddle Dee would probably sound kinda squeaky and girl-like. She's not squeaky though, just... girly. That's the best way to put it, I think. Her voice is kinda quiet and warm now, although it really wasn't a minute ago. My ears still hurt from her shout of scared anger.

As she remembers me and goes on to nervously hold up a wing, ready to strike, I waddle over to her. "No. No fight, poyo," I say in what I hope is a kind tone, shaking my head. Then I tap her curiously on the tip of her feathery wing. "Girl, poyo? Talk, poyo? How, poyo?"

She frowns deeper, then looks surprised. "You can hear me? Um, yeah, I'm a girl. And yes, I can talk, apparently. And no, I have no idea how any of this is happening. I know I've never been able to talk before, not that I can remember anyway."

After shaking my head in wonder, I suddenly think of the place I can go to find the answer to pretty much every question I could ever come up with: "Meta Knight, poyo."

The Waddle Dee rolls her eyes. "I really don't think Meta Knight has anything to do with it." She runs back under the overhang, really quickly for a Waddle Dee. Kicking out the Copy Ability, she loses the powers she copied from the feather and returns to looking like normal, only her eyes seem much smarter-looking than they did just a few minutes ago.

Just a second later, I catch up to her and clarify, "No. Talk Meta Knight, poyo." I've tried talking before, but words just don't really cooperate with me for some reason. They sound right in my head, but then I can't quite get them to come out right. According to most people, that's normal for really little kids like me, but it's still kinda annoying.

The Waddle Dee shudders in reply to what I said. "Talk to Meta Knight? So he can chop me up with that magic sword of his? No way. I happen to like being all in one piece, thank you just the same!"

Rolling my little blue eyes, I inhale her before she can fight me anymore. Struggling to keep her in my mouth without swallowing, ('cause that'd be kinda bad,) I run through the castle to Meta Knight's training room. Throwing open the door, I come face-to-face with Meta Knight, whose narrow pointy-oval eyes are glowing a rippling, irritated orange color that's much more threatening-looking than their normal golden-yellow.

Great, he's in a bad mood... Well, one thing's for sure. This is gonna be interesting.