A/N: I know, I'm actually updated this fic! How long has it been, exactly...? I had…rather little motivation for this chapter but, thanks to my li'l break from the computer, I managed to get few ideas and how to arrange them :) So now, it's one step closer to the one you're waiting for, whatever that may be!
I have to say, I really don't like this - there's far too much dialogue! But I really needed to cram in a lot, and the number of words was getting rather ridiculous, even for me.
Yet again, this is another attempt of humour, so sorry if it sucks since I can't write humour particularly well. Regardless, enjoy the chapter and sorry for the wait!
/\/\/\/\ Episode 9: Lololo and Lalala, Melody of Love /\/\/\/\
Another clutter outside and a few more shouts was enough for Sword to raise his head.
"I don't think this is normal, Sir," the taller knight commented, eying the door cautiously. Whatever was out there was dangerous, and if it managed to burst through the door, it would cause a few problems. Getting up slowly, he rested a hand on his sword's hilt as a precaution.
Meta Knight, at the table with Blade, didn't have to look up to see his subordinate's uneasiness. "Relax, we're not called for today." He turned another page of the book they were reading together.
"But still, how do you know the demon beast Dedede bought isn't dangerous?" Sword removed his hand from his defensive stance, but still remained standing.
"I didn't say it wasn't dangerous," the puffball told the troubled knight simply.
Sword, even though Meta Knight didn't really answer his question, took it as a sign to sit back and leave Kirby to do it. He had no choice but to trust Meta Knight and believe in his decision. Trusting in him had grown to be a second nature, and if he said they should do nothing, they will do nothing. Reluctantly, he took his place back down next to Blade.
"What are you two reading anyway?" he questioned, leaning over to peek at a few words on the page. It proved to be a difficult task, since the text was extremely small, and Blade had his hand on the majority of the closer page anyway.
The said warrior didn't raise his head. "The Power of Courage, apparently. I don't see why we're reading this though." He lifted his hand to see the rest of what the book had to say.
"That's the strangest book I've ever seen," Sword directed to his superior, leaning his head onto the wooden table as if that was the way to talk to him. The puffball on the opposite side stopped reading his sentence and lifted his head.
"No matter how strange you think it is, I want you to at least give it a try."
Sword took this as an order and, without taking his eyes off his leader, he sat down. "What kind of people would actually write about courage? Look how thick this thing is!" He lifted a few sheets, letting them seep through his fingers to make his point. The paper fluttered down with a slight whisper, the sound almost comforting as Meta Knight and the green armoured knight watched them pile up.
The last knight was evidently annoyed at this, since he slammed a hand down onto the right side before the last few pages had left Sword's hand.
"There was no need to do that!" he yelped, nursing the hand which was unfortunately in Blade's path. He was expecting either of the two to apologise, or even show some form of sympathy, but they remained silent.
Meta Knight's eyes were firm on Blade's hand, still on top of the pages. As if he had silently requested for it, Blade obediently slid his hand off the book. The corners where his hand was were folded from the sudden pressure, the little triangles pointing to the wall.
The knight recoiled slightly as his leader eyed the folded corner. "I'm sorry Sir," Blade mumbled hurriedly, taking each sheet of paper and folding the triangle backwards so that it evened out. Before he managed to get all of the triangles levelled out, a gloved hand suddenly found its way onto his.
"It's an old book anyway. Don't worry about it," Meta Knight said calmly as he pried Blade's hand away from the corner.
The knight's mouth opened in shock, for the sudden act of dismissal was something which didn't come often. Usually, he would have said something along the lines of how much disrespect it was, or how careless he was. He chose to remain silent.
Meta Knight felt a smile creep up, but he didn't let the emotion rise into his eyes. "Let's continue." The both looked down at the pages, gathering information from the words which seemed to spout perplexing meanings.
However neither of the two complained, and they continued to sit together, silently reading. The only sounds in the room were the steady breathing and the occasional crinkling as Sword turned the page. It was almost a content atmosphere, the way they shared one book, one purpose. The spell lingered as each person only thought of the text, losing track of time and everything around them.
Another clatter rang out, much closer than the previous ones.
"…Maybe we should see what's going on." The puffball brought the book closer to him without waiting for the pair to finish their sentence and closed it with care. The words on its cover were so faded it was difficult to tell where the title was, and the spine was almost broken on one side. It was apparent it had been used many times before today.
The pair watched their leader get to his feet, holding the book in both of his hands. He stood there for a while, in deep thought about something, before passing it wordlessly over Blade's head to the other knight.
Sword grinned under his helmet, taking the item from the puffball. "Who do you think is making the noise – the demon beast or Kirby?"
Even though the question wasn't directed at him, Blade replied, "The demon beast, of course." Resting one hand on the table, he got up steadily with his eyes downcast. "Kirby normally gets thrashed around at first. To be honest, it hurts to see him like that."
"No one's asking you to come along," Meta Knight reasoned, already at the door.
Blade hesitated. He found his selfish request as something Meta Knight should have been angry about, but his reaction was completely different. As if he was let down. "It's all right, I'll come along."
Once they were outside the comforts of their room, they could tell the commotion was a lot closer than they thought.
The level tiling had several small dents in it, as if something found it worthwhile to stomp up and down the corridor. Several of the lamps hanging on the walls were shattered and the jagged lines formed made the impression that someone had cut it with a blade. The glass was now strewn across the ground like confetti, evidently waiting for the Waddle Dees to sweep up the remains.
They only admired the view for a short while. Meta Knight looked up and down the corridor swiftly, before heading down one end without a backwards glance. No sooner had he taken a few steps, he came face to face with a flying blue puffball.
The wide eyes just stared back, seemingly at a loss of what to say. His small tail remained rigid, his eyes growing wider by the second. A green puffball, similar in size was in his grasp, swinging happily as if he served as a small reminder time was passing.
"What's the problem, Lololo?" Sword questioned as he and Bl;ade approached the frozen pair.
The hovering puffball looked away, thankful to tear his eyes from Meta Knight's stony gaze. "Sorry, I don't have much time." He tried to push past the masked puffball, but a simple glare made him stop in his tracks. There was something about the way they remained still, as if they knew the situation was a dangerous one.
"Do you have enough time to say who you're holding?"
Lololo swayed uneasily, as if he was struggling to find the right words. After a long stretch of silence, he finally replied, "It's…half of Kirby."
Sword and Blade exchanged glances, but the final knight was unfazed by the answer, almost as if he had expected it. "And his other half's with Lalala?"
Lololo gave a sound to confirm his statement, but it was drowned slightly as footsteps were heard round the corner. Without waiting any longer, the two small puffballs soared past and left the two subordinates still confused.
"Your guess is as good as mine," Sword whispered, curiously not annoyed at Blade any more.
He only had time to say that, for Dedede suddenly rounded the corner, appearing to be out of breath. A metallic monster trooped after him, its four legs flailing as it tried to steady itself on the slabs. Catching sight of the trio, Dedede brought a hand onto the wall, leaning over in exhaustion.
"Meta Knight! Get them, now!"
To everyone's surprise, the puffball shook his head. "Chasing them is not going to make the job easy." He was choosing his words carefully, both to seem helpful to Dedede and to give time for Kirby and Lololo to get a head start.
"What do you suggest, hmmm?" fumed the king, annoyed about the smarmy comment. "I want an explanation!" He removed his hand from the wall and brought his face close to his subordinate, who was eyeing him evenly. It was an interesting sight for Sword and Blade to see, how their leader was in a way higher than the king.
Meta Knight didn't answer immediately. "It would be better if you could somehow corner them. I'll go this way, your Majesty." Without waiting for Dedede's confirmation, he brushed past as if to say he wasn't taking any other questions.
His two subordinates took this as a sign to leave, following after the puffball once they had nodded briefly to the penguin. The machine, seemingly ignored though the whole encounter, brought one of his staffs between the two and Meta Knight, who was still walking away.
"Splitting up and cornering?" he asked in a surprisingly gentle voice. He tapped the staff with a moon on its end lightly on the tiles, the sounds brief and near silent. "Perhaps I should split you with this…"
It seemed to click for Blade, for he grabbed the other knight's hand and ran down the one side of the corridor the staff bearer wasn't blocking. The moon seemed to home in on them, angled in such a way that they were running straight towards the oncoming blade.
Its path was suddenly blocked before it could reach the two. The taller knight nodded, his sword set in the inside curve of the moon. They ducked under the blade and pushed past the demon beast, the sword slipping under the metal like the chain of a swing. The demon beast whirled round, clearly furious with them getting away.
"Kittari Hattari! We're not after them! This way!" For once, Dedede was doing something right as he headed down the opposite side of the corridor. The demon beast rubbed the back of his head for a while, before following the king and continuing their pursuit.
Sword and Blade sighed in enormous relief.
"Somehow, I don't want to do that again," the green armoured one commented, panting heavily as he sheaved his sword. Blade was on his hands and knees, clearly still in shock. It was their first real fight, where they had to battle for survival. That hadn't happened to them since before that day…
Meta Knight stood in front of one wall had obviously watched the scene from there, for he said, "Good job" soon after. He ambled towards the pair, careful not to stand in any of the grooves caused by Kittari Hattari.
The knight on the floor looked up slightly. "He wanted to slice us in two like what he did to Kirby, right?"
Meta Knight nodded solemnly, seemingly oblivious to Sword's bewilderment. "You handled the situation well, even if the motive was slightly different." He looked past his subordinates to where everyone had disappeared to. There was no crashing or shouting, so it was safe to assume Lololo and Kirby hadn't been found yet.
"If that demon beast sliced you, would you be the same size as Lololo and Lalala?" Sword suddenly asked, now that he understood everything. He pondered his own question for a while before snorting. "You'd be even shorter!"
The puffball glared at him, silencing the laughter only a little. He didn't even need to say he was annoyed. "We're going back to silent reading now." He gave him a pointed look, as if daring him to come up with a protest. It was Blade who answered though.
"That book's stupid." He got up, dusting his armour free from debris. "I mean, courage is something you're supposed to do, not read about!" Adjusting his strap, he eyed his superior as he waited for a response.
Meta Knight laughed. "Very well, you may both train outside. I'll observe from the roof."
He watched the pair walk down the corridor side by side as they made their way to the garden, not complaining about the sudden change of plan. For in fact, he was hoping one of them would understand the true meaning of the book, how words weren't important. How actions and learning through personal experience was much more important. And their display today made him feel proud as their leader.
"Hey," he heard Blade say as they continued down the corridor, away from him.
"What is it?"
"…I have a stone in my shoe."
/\/\/\/\ End /\/\/\/\
A/N: There, the longest chapter ever! Hope you understood where the whole book thing came from, otherwise I'm a seriously bad writer.
So, hope to hear your thoughts of my writing soon! And next chapter will be 'Episode 12: The Ghost of Castle Dedede', as requested by LazloTitan (what is it with the 3 times table?!).