The night was dark, and all animals of Forever Forest were hiding in there dens, caves and other hiding places.
It was midnight, and as usual, a cold wind was blowing through the thicket.
Suddenly, a bright light appeared in the distance. It hovered a short distance over the floor and drove away the forest's darkness. It zoomed around the old trees, sometimes going left, sometimes going right, as if it didn't know where to go.
But the strangest thing was not the flying, gleaming star itself, but the pink-colored creature sitting on its top side. It was as round as a ball, had stubby arms and feet, and a cute face on the middle of its spherical body.
It was an inhabitant of faraway Dream Land, and his name was Kirby! And he was, indeed, lost.
He had left many miles behind with his trusty Warp Star. He had travelled a long distance just to reach a certain place… but now, he was worried that he would never reach that place.
"What shall I do?" he murmured in a squeaky voice. "If this forest wouldn't be so dark and gloomy… I wonder if I'm actually right here. I knew I should have taken the route along the coast…"
Just as he considered flying up to the treetops, to see if he could find any outstanding landmarks, he saw something else shining through the darkness of the woods… it was the light of a burning fire.
But it was no forest fire, it looked more like a campfire. Hope swelled up in Kirby's little body. If there was a fireplace, there had to be people there. And if there were people, they could show him the right way.
So he quickly steered his Warp Star towards the fire, until he reached a small clearing in the midddle of the woods. He stopped his star in mid-air and jumped down to the ground.
Sitting around the campfire, he could see three figures of different sizes. Of VERY different sizes.
There was a giant sitting on the ground, who looked like a massive piece of rock. Still, it was a living being, and he could see the enormous muscles of the creature, especially along his powerful arms.
This was a Goron, a member of the rock-eating people from Death Mountain. Death Mountain was even farther away from here than Dream Land, and Kirby wondered why this Goron had come here in the first place.
The next person was a cute-looking human girl with purple hair. She was wearing a blue jacket over a white shirt and white pants. She also wore a strange-looking, blue helmet.
Kirby couldn't quite say where the girl was coming from, as there were humans living all over this world. But he immediately recognized the animal that was sitting behind her, without any doubt her mount. It was a huge bird with metallic-looking skin and blade-like feathers. Kirby recognized it as a flying Pokémon, a so-called Skarmory. The girl must be its trainer. Kirby knew that in certain parts of the world, humans were training Pokémon to fight and do other jobs for them.
The last being in the round was so tiny that Kirby almost didn't see it at first. It was a very small figure, not bigger than a mouse, and it wore what looked like some sort of space suit, with a gleaming antenna on its round helmet. All he could see from the tiny man (he assumed it was male) were his pointed ears, his squinted eyes and his round nose.
Behind the tiny man in the space suit, he could see a big amount of strange creatures, as they were scurrying around a weird vehicle. It almost looked like a tiny spaceship, but it was clearly a mobile plant. Kirby then recognized the strange creatures as Pikmin, unusual life forms that were half animal, half plant. They were so tiny that most people didn't even know that they existed. They had small bodies that were either colored red, blue or yellow and had stems on their head, with either small leaves, buds or flower petals on the end. A few races used Pikmin to carry out various tasks for them, and the Pikmin are usually very cooperative, as they know that everyone who helped them could also protect them from the bigger, more dangerous creatures that are seeing them as their prey.
At first, Kirby hesitated, as he didn't know if these people were dangerous or not. But he could see that the girl was unarmed, and he also believed them to be messengers, such as he was himself, as there was no other reason why members of such different races would come all this way into these woods.
So he gathered up his courage, cleared his throat and stepped out onto the clearing.
The Goron was the first to notice him. "Quite a busy night we have," he said in his grumbly voice. "There's another one!"
The girl smiled. "Oh, and from the looks of it, he's from Dream Land. Is that right?"
"That's correct," Kirby said. "I've come a long way and I was afraid I might have lost my way… I'm looking for the Palace in the Sky!"
"Oh, the residence of our queen?" the tiny astronaut squeaked. "You must tell us more… please, have a seat!"
"Thank you!" Kirby said as he approached them. "Oh, and by the way: My name's Kirby!"
"Nice to meet you!" the small man nodded. "I am Olimar!"
The girl shook hands with Kirby. "You can call me Winona!"
"I am called Darbus," the Goron grumbled.
Kirby cleared his throat. "W-well, I have come all this way from Dream Land because something terrible happened in my home country…"
"What do you mean?" Olimar asked.
"You know, in Dream Land, we have a nice area with wide, open plains and beautiful woods… we call it the 'Green Greens'."
"I've heard of that place," Winona said. "A really beautiful piece of Earth!"
Kirby smiled dreamily. "Yes, isn't it?"
"Is that all?" Darbus asked. "What's so horrible that happened?"
"Well, one day, a strange veil of darkness started to spread across our lands… and with it, scary-looking, black monsters appeared! The darkness first appeared in Green Greens, but it started to spread across the land. Everyone who stepped into it became a restless spirit, not being able to leave the shadows. We tried to stop it somehow, but to no avail…" He shuddered. "Somehow, when I get close to that strange darkness, I have the feeling as if… SOMETHING… is watching every of my steps. And there's nothing we can do about it… So they sent me to the Palace in the Sky, so I could ask the Queen for help."
The other messengers looked at each other.
"That's the same thing that happened in my home country," Winona said in a quiet voice. "The darkness appeared and has trapped some of my best friends… turning them into restless spirits… I came here because I was hoping the Queen would know what's going on."
"We all have the same mission," Darbus growled. "And that means that the strange darkness doesn't just appear in one part of our world, but everywhere!"
"And that means… all of Nintendopia is in danger!" Olimar realized.
Kirby jumped to his feet. "B-but if that is true, then… then we have to time to waste! Let's go!"
"We didn't want to rest for very long," Olimar explained. "The darkness of Forever Forest just hindered us. But now that you joined us, dear Kirby, your bright star might light our way."
But Kirby shook his head. "No way! I can't wait for anyone who's travelling in a flying onion!"
"But it's a very special onion…" Olimar said in an offended tone of voice.
"Besides, I thought you didn't know the way…" Winona started.
"Who are you talking to?" Darbus grumbled, as Kirby had already left. He jumped on his Warp Star, and they could see him zooming through the trees, vanishing in the distance.
"Well, maybe that star of his wouldn't have been the best source of light…" Olimar murmured.
Winona stood up and mounted her Skarmory. "Well, maybe it's best if all of us travel by ourselves… my Skarmory doesn't like to wait for others either." And with a screech, her Skarmory flew up into the night sky.
Darbus put out the fire by stepping on it with his huge feet. "Fine with me," he grumbled in the darkness. "Then I don't have to watch out for little guys I might squash by accident…"
And Olimar could hear how he was rolling up into his rock form, and how he rolled away, sometimes noisily colliding with a tree or bush.
He sighed. "Oh well, let's see who will get there first…" He looked at his Pikmin. "Well, back into the onion, guys!"