Kirby Dee|カービィディー

After that, life settles into a routine for me. Mornings are for training with Meta Knight, afternoons are for exploring secret passages and making (or at least eating) food in the castle kitchen with Kirby and Bandanna Dee, and evenings are for continuing to learn how to read. Things seem to be going well, and as time goes on, I forget more and more about the coming monster and having to be afraid. My training continues to grow more and more difficult, but I continue to grow stronger and better with my sword. Meta Knight seems to be growing more and more impressed with my abilities, as well.

Days quickly turn into weeks, and weeks into months. Before I know it, it's late Earlwinter. Now that the Christmas festivities have already ended, there's hardly anything to look forward to until the chilly, rainy tropical winter ends and warmth returns sometime in Earlspring. You can feel a sense of post-holiday depression throughout the whole castle, and I can feel the other Waddle Dees' sadness as well, even if I can't hear their thoughts. Sure, we Waddle Dees love winter as much as any other season, but post-Christmas rainy-season depression means an extra-grumpy, extra-mean Dedede and Escargoon.

Even I feel a little bit sad. All of the Christmas cookies I made over the past weeks are gone; the last dozen disappeared off to who-knows-where sometime yesterday. There's really not anything happy or exciting going on, and who knows when that lightning monster bozo is going to show up? Yeesh, do I have a lot on my plate right now... At least I don't have to get up really early in the morning anymore.

Most mornings, that is.

Today, I'm up pretty early in the morning. And by early in the morning, I mean that it's like four o'clock in the morning at the moment. Meta Knight ordered me to be in the training room fifteen minutes ago, but I accidentally slept a bit too late. Here's hoping that he's not mad at me for it... Even he's seemed a bit grumpier, a bit more serious lately, especially during training. The rest of the time until a couple of days ago, he's seemed fine, but during training, he's been growing quieter and quieter and more and more serious and distant even than usual. I wonder what's up with that. At times he's seemed almost.... dreading. Like yesterday, when I showed up for training, he told me to take the day off but show up to the training room no later than 4 o'clock in the morning today, which, as stated above, I've missed by about fifteen minutes. But anyway... he just seemed so, well, dreading. That's the only word I can think of to describe it. It makes me anxious. I hope he's okay...

Hopefully, today will explain everything. Maybe there's a test I have to take or something? Well, his tests are never too hard, so whatever-it-is can't be all that bad.

Right now, as I walk alone to the training room through the night, the hallways are still and empty. The only thing moving around besides me is a couple of Waddle Dees lighting some of the torches that blew out in the overnight drafts. Dedede hammered a hole through a wall when he didn't get enough Christmas presents for his liking, so it's kind of chilly in this part of the castle these days. Maybe that's Meta Knight's problem; maybe he's just getting sick of the cold. Can't say that I'd blame him if he was. Brr.

Even though I'm already really late, I find myself stopping at one of the half-circle windows in the outer hall that leads to Sir Knight's training room and resting my gloves on the edge while I blink up at the stars above. I've always enjoyed the stars, much more even than most people. All of the other Waddle Dees have always thought it's just one of my crazy 'girl' quirks, but... I don't know. Whenever I look up at the stars, it feels almost like they're... talking to me. No, not talking. Singing. Is that crazy of me? Does no one else hear the song of the stars? Well, I guess it's already obvious that I'm not normal. A talking Waddle Dee isn't exactly something you meet every day, am I right?

"Kirby Dee. I had a feeling I might find you daydreaming somewhere."

Jumping in surprise, I whip around to see Meta Knight, his cloak drawn around himself and his eyes orange in irritation. "I explicitly ordered you to be in the training room at four o'clock."

Blushing, I rub my head and apologize, "Y-yes, Sir. I'm sorry; I overslept, and then the stars' singing-"

"The stars'... singing?" he interrupts. His eyes were narrowed, unimpressed with my excuses, but now he seems confused, causing his eyes to fade back to golden. "Kirby Dee, stars do not sing to Waddle Dees; at least, not as far as I know."

Tilting my head to one side the way I do when I'm curious or confused, I question, "Do they sing to some people, then?"

"Some," he agrees, and leaves it at that. "Well, you are the Kirby Dee; I suppose you are the exception to nearly every Waddle Dee rule that exists." His golden-yellow eyes change back to orange, and he beckons me to follow him. "Come. We are wasting time."

Trying to lighten the mood, I remind him, "Hey, at least we aren't wasting daylight. There's not even daylight to waste yet!" But my wittiness only results in a classic Meta Knight glare. Well then... I really just wish I knew what was bothering him and could make him feel better...

I mean, after all, he's always distant and closed off to a large extent, but this is kinda overkill, even for him. At least most of the time, I can cheer him up or get him to chuckle or something. I feel bad knowing that whatever is bothering him isn't something I seem to be able to help him with. I know I don't know him that well, but he's still my teacher and someone I look up to a lot. It'd be nice to be able to help him feel better.

Silently, but quickly, Meta Knight leads me to the training room. Several minutes later, we arrive. Meta Knight waits for me to enter, and then releases his cloak, gesturing to the rack of swords that leans against the wall. It's the same rack I got this sword from, on the day my training began. In a flat voice, he commands, "Put your practice sword away."

"S-Sir!" I stutter in reply, eyes wide. He can't be serious. I don't care how mad he is at me or what he's mad about (I can't think of anything, honestly), he can't expect me to hang my sword up now. The monster that I'm supposed to help fight hasn't even gotten here yet. "I can't—"

Eyes narrowed again, he repeats, "Do as you are told and put your practice sword away."

Hesitantly, I do so, giving the sword an affectionate pat as I set it down. The two of us have been through quite a lot together, when it comes to training and dueling and all. Well, being a Kirby Dee was nice while it lasted. Back to servitude for me, I guess.

Turning back to Meta Knight, I wait to be released and sent away, dreading, but he instead goes over to a cabinet on one side of the room and opens it. I've never seen the inside of this cabinet; I've never been allowed to see it, but I've always had a feeling that that's where he keeps his real weapons. After all, while all of the ones on display are duller practice weapons or have rounded points, he must have the real deal somewhere, right?

Sure enough, as I step to the side just enough to see over his shoulder, I see that there are few weapons inside: a whip hanging on a nail on the wall, a bag of shuriken (ninja stars,) and several swords.

It's funny; the swords seem to grow in size. There's a full-size one at the bottom, and they steadily get smaller as they go up, ending with a small sword at the top that looks like it's made out of some cheap, thin metal. It looks almost like a child's play sword, only somewhat more dangerous.

"Why do you have all of these?" I wonder out loud, but then blush at myself. I shouldn't have said anything. Meta Knight never shares anything about his past, and he's already in a bad mood. No doubt, I've just made it even worse.

The masked knight is still for a second, and then points to the bottom blade. "This one served me from the time I was a teenager up until the very moment I obtained Galaxia. It has probably tasted blood nearly as many times as Galaxia has, in all honesty. Now, though, it rests, which is as it deserves after giving many decades of good service." After another second, he gestures to the rest of them, minus a few farther up. "These are the swords I used growing up, as I learned the sword from my teacher." Lastly, he points to the one at the top. "That was my first sword. It was given to me when I was very young. It, and the next two after it, are all three merely practice swords."

"Cool," I nod, while making a face to myself. For some reason, I really can't imagine Meta Knight as a kid. I don't know; he's just one of those people who seems like they've always been this stoic and mature. Even as a kid, I bet he was just a quiet grump-bucket. Sometimes, I actually wonder if he just somehow appeared into the universe, already fully grown-up. Yeah, I know, I'm a bit silly. Me and my imagination, I guess.

After a long moment, Meta Knight takes the fifth sword off of the wall, the one just above the biggest one. It's a good few inches longer than my practice sword, and much sharper-looking. The blade is a simple, straight, streamlined steel, and the hilt is a plain, brown, leather-bound affair. My teacher draws it, turning it back and forth for a minute in the dim light of the one lamp that's on in the room while he inspects it. The blade catches the light on its reflective surface and bends it in beautiful, yet jarring ways, seeming to flash whenever the light catches it just right. Meta Knight mutters something under his breath, as if in rememberance of some long-past event, and then runs his glove carefully along the flat side of the sword before sheathing it and turning to me. Silently, he holds the blade out towards me lengthwise, holding it in both gloves.

Hesitantly, I accept it, looking at him in wordless confusion. What on Popstar does he want me to do with this? "It is yours now. Use it well," he explains simply, flatly, and then shuts the cabinet, draws his cloak around himself, and moves to the training room door. "Come. We have much ground to cover today."

Surprised, I exclaim, "Why didn't you tell me we were going on our first real quest today? I would've packed some food or something, and—"

Shaking his head, he assures me, "We will most likely be back by this afternoon, perhaps even sooner. However, our exact time of return depends heavily on your actions and whether you do well with this test."

So it is a test after all. Nodding once, I put the sword in its place on my back, having to adjust it a bit from where I carried my old sword to make up for the longer length. "I'm ready, Sir," I tell him a moment later. "Where are we going? What's the goal of this quest?"

Without answering, he opens the door and leads me out. Out of the castle, out of the gates, out of the Cappy Town area, towards the Whispy Woods we walk. The world around us is silent, still, not awake yet. Dawn seems so far off; the sky seems even darker than it does most nights. The moon is new, and it's mostly cloudy, so there's very little light out here. I can barely see Meta Knight just a couple of feet ahead of me, so I make sure to stay close and keep a close ear on him to keep from getting myself lost.

Long before we reach the Woods, I begin to shiver. It's cold out tonight; during the days it's just nippy, but tonight, it's downright frigid. Somehow, Meta Knight notices without looking at me or my saying anything, and comments a bit tersely, "You should have thought to bring a cloak."

Chattering, gloves hugged to myself, I protest, "Yeah, well, in my defense, I don't exactly have a cloak collection or anything."

Without replying, he pulls something out of his Dimensional Cape and tosses it back at me without slowing down or turning around. I pause just long enough to realize that it's a plain cloak made of some rough material, but it seems like it'll be warm enough. Hurrying to catch up to him, I hug the cloak around myself. While I'm sure I look much less cool than Meta Knight, at least now I'm warm.

Eventually, we move from the Cappy Town area into Whispy Woods. The deafening silence turns into quiet murmurings and stirrings everywhere around us, which make me shudder. To tell the truth, the Woods make me nervous. Always have. Everyone knows that they're full of monsters, monsters that would love to eat a little Waddle Dee like me right up. Because of that, I've never actually been out in them. Even as a servant, I refused to help with any task that involved going into the Woods to fight Kirby or build something for the King or anything else. Of course, I always tried to avoid any task that involved messing with Kirby... those tasks always seemed to have a high mortality rate for us Waddle Dees.

My teacher and I continue walking until we're very deep in the Woods. Nothing's bothered us so far, but I can hear all sorts of things moving towards us through the trees. None of them sound particularly friendly. Gulping, I walk even closer behind Meta Knight. "Wh-what are we doing here, and why are we here so early in the morning? Are we trying to find something? Like an artifact, or something?"

Shaking his head, he glances at me for only an instant, his eyes mostly their normal golden-yellow but deep blue at the very edges. It makes me freeze in place. Why is he sad? What's going on? "Meta Knight? Are you okay?" I question, frowning deeply to myself. If he's this upset, then this— whatever 'this' is— can't be good.

The deep blue disappears as quickly as it shimmered into existence, and he nods once. "I am fine," he assures me, although he hardly sounds like it. Cautious, he looks around the Woods critically, as if there's something out of place about them that he doesn't like the looks of. "Keep moving," he suddenly orders without any warning, starting to walk again with a jerk and turning onto another path, one more overgrown. "We should not lollygag."

Nodding, I hug my cloak closer to myself and hurry after him, shuddering to myself, more from worry than from the cold. Whatever happens today, I know that it's not going to be good.