Heroes of Dreamland Rewritten, Book 1: Stars Amidst Lightning

Chapter 8

Kirby Dee | カービィディー

Huffing and puffing, I glare at Meta Knight and grunt, "It was so much easier last night. Why can't I do it now?!"

"Nothing worth doing is ever easy," he replies sagely, eyes beginning to narrow at me in impatience.

I know he's had years of practice, but still. He makes this all look so unfairly easy.

Anything he can do, you can do too. You have to be able to. You're the Kirby Dee, I order myself mentally, and then concentrate for all I'm worth. Listen to what Meta Knight said. It's just like a chore. You can lift a tub of laundry... with help, anyway... But never mind that. You can pick this up by yourself. Find your balance, and-

Suddenly I find strength I didn't know I had, just like he said I would, and I somehow heave the sword off the ground and over my head. Swinging up, I manage to parry his next strike. "Good," he nods. He swings again, and, now that I'm actually fighting, he begins to truly fight back. With his next attack, he easily knocks my sword out of my hand. "But not good enough."

With a sigh of exasperation, I order, "Again."

"Indeed," he agrees, something almost resembling pride in his voice. Well, at least I'm doing something right now.

He prepares to attack again while I lunge for my sword down where it fell on the floor. This time, I actually succeed in picking my sword up right away. Then I actually manage to hold my own for several seconds and even parry a few times, but he quickly knocks my sword away again.

"Better," he nods once. "Again."

Taking a deep breath, I narrow my eyes at him in determination. "Yes, sir." There's some great monster coming, and I'm the only one who can help to stop him. No matter how hard it is, I'm going to learn how to use this sword and how to use it well.

It just might take a really long time to do that. Well... Here goes nothing.

Holding the hilt of my sword tight, I give a shout and launch myself back into the fray.

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We keep on with my training for hours every day, and I slowly but surely do get better. After a couple of weeks' worth of practice, we begin leaping all over the training room as we duel rather than just standing in one little space all the time.

The more time I spend with my simple aluminum practice blade in my hand, the more it grows to really feel right. The feeling of jumping around the room, the satisfying sound of my sword clanging against my teacher's that tells me that I've managed to fight him back for another swing, the feeling of power I have whenever I manage to get the better of him even for just one swing... I enjoy all of it very much.

Kirby continues to observe every day until I'm done practicing, and then he and I usually spend the evening hanging out together. It's so great to have a friend, someone to spend my free time with. Honestly, it's great to even just have free time instead of just working all day.

Time passes, and eventually Meta Knight announces that I'm ready to try fighting outside now. It's hard to concentrate out here, though, what with all of the fresh grass and leafy trees that I really want to go play in. Even so, I manage to keep my mind on the duel enough to keep from irritating my teacher too badly. Together, we leap around the castle courtyard, him pulling all sorts of fancy jumps and tricks while I occasionally manage to do something somewhat impressive like jumping over a swing of his sword.

Suddenly, Kirby's little voice giggles, "Dance, poyo, dance!"

We both stop and stare at the little pink puffball. He continues to giggle, then inhales an extra sword lying around we brought outside in case I was to lose my sword in the courtyard fountain or something. The little Star Warrior begins to mimic what we were doing a minute ago, spinning and dodging an imaginary opponent's attacks with an awesome gracefulness that certainly beats mine. Sure, this way I don't have to have a hat in my way all the time, but I'd definitely be a lot better with my sword if I could just use a Copy Ability like Kirby always does.

Even though I'm a bit jealous, I can't help but begin to giggle, which quickly turns to laughter. "He's right, Sir Knight. It does sort of look like a dance."

Meta Knight's eyes glow a faint pink for just a second as he nods. "Perhaps so. Now, you are obviously having trouble paying attention, and you are starting to seem rather tired. I suppose I can let you out of training early today. After all, everyone needs a break every once in a while."

Dropping my sword to the ground and lying face-down in the tall grass, I sigh in happy agreement, "All right. Thanks."

He stifles a chuckle before continuing, "As I was saying, take the rest of the day off. Tomorrow, I will begin to teach you a new skill even as we continue your sword training." He spins around and leaves, and I soon fall asleep in the warm sun.

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I wake up, startled, sometime around sunset. Trying to discover what awakened me, I frown a little bit. But I don't see anything strange or out of the ordinary, so I begin to settle back down, eager to continue napping. But then, I hear a strange rustle nearby. Leaping up, I grab my sword and then look around myself nervously.

Something's definitely not right...