Meta Knight kept his eyes fixed on his comrades in front of him. Their special team was on target for Shazi. Sir Jecra and Yamikage sat in star-ships and led their group, while he and Galacta Knight flew side by side using their Warpstars. Meta Knight tried not to look down and stood on his star rather stiffly; he had never used this way of traveling before. He had an uneasy feeling about it, even though Galacta Knight had promised it was perfectly safe.
'Yeah...Safe like riding Wolfwrath...', he thought bitterly. The blue Star Warrior glanced at Shazi which they approached rapidly. It was encased in a cloud of dust and sand; Shazi was a desert-planet, mainly consisting of sand, dunes and rocks. In the only oasis lived a small tribe of inhabitants which were known as peaceful and defenseless, refusing any contact with other planets.
Finally they reached Shazi's atmosphere which was filled with sand. As soon as they entered it, Meta Knight lost sight of his comrades as sand blocked his view. Meta Knight squeezed his eyes shut as grains of sand hit his face painfully. Instantly, he lost his balance, tried to regain it for a few seconds, but failed and dropped off the Warpstar.
'Darn it!,' he thought as he fell toward the ground. His cape flapped around him and he fought the temptation to unfold his wings and stop his fall. Then, all of sudden, he connected with golden metal painfully. He gasped as the impact knocked the breath out of him, but instinctively he grabbed hold. He opened his eyes a crack and immediately had to close them again, but he had had enough time to see what had happened: His Warpstar had turned around and flown under him to catch him.
However, said Warpstar seemed to have trouble itself. It shook beneath him before simply falling down. Meta Knight landed face first in a dune, the Warpstar crashing down close to him which caused a small wave of sand to bury the blue puffball. Although the mask protected the Star Warrior from most of the grit, some of it got into his eyes and mouth. Coughing, he dug his way out of the hot, dry sand and rubbed his eyes clean.
When he had successfully freed himself, he paused for a second or two, then looked around. His belly tightened. The desert stretched out around him to the horizon. Sand, dunes, rocks. Bathed in the dim light that somehow managed to get through the sand surrounding the planet like a shell. Although there was very little light, it was hot. The heat was so intense Meta Knight was almost knocked back into the hole in the sand. None of his comrades were in sight.
'Great, I crash-landed on some unknown planet, I'm alone and,' he threw his damaged looking Warpstar a look, 'I don't have anything to escape from here.' He picked himself up and staggered over to his damaged aircraft, inspecting the harm it had taken. A deep crack ran across the golden metal and a piece was missing from a tine. Meta Knight carefully reached out for it, but jerked back when the damaged star started to glow faintly. The light grew more intense and the blue Star Warrior turned his gaze away.
A bright beam of light shot into the sand-filled sky, cutting through the twilight that lied upon the planet. 'What the-?,' he thought, backing away from the brightness. He looked around uneasily, unsure who might be allured by the light. On the other hand... Neither demon beasts nor the GSA would harm him if they found him and the inhabitants were known as defenseless and weak.
'And at least I might be found before I'm roasted,' he tried to see the positive side. He decided that he could as well sit down and hope for someone to find him. Sighing, he let himself drop onto the warm ground.
Meanwhile, the rest of his team landed safely on Shazi. Sir Jecra climbed out of his star-ship and beckoned to Yamikage to get out as well. The ninja nodded curtly and stood beside Jecra a heartbeat later. The soldier had grown used to Yamikage's ability to move unseen and fast, so he wasn't surprised. A mere second later, Galacta Knight landed his Warpstar beside the two ships easily and jumped off.
The golden object glowed slightly, shrunk and was attached to Galacta Knight's shoulder-plate by the pink warrior.
Jecra's brow furrowed with worry: "Where is Meta Knight?"
Galacta Knight ruffled his feathers: "I lost sight of him, but I saw his Warpstar... on its own. He must have crash-landed." Sir Jecra nodded, then scanned their surroundings. The oasis and the village inside weren't too far away, the only green spot on the otherwise bare planet.
"What are we going to do, Sir Jecra?," Galacta Knight asked impatiently as if he was itching to get into the battle with the demons.
But Jecra had different plans: "We will search for Meta Knight. A comrade comes first." The last thing was added with a warning glance toward Galacta Knight who looked like he wanted to object.
"Fine," the white-winged warrior growled, "But how-" He stopped and pointed into the distance. Yamikage and Sir Jecra turned and looked in the direction he was staring. A pillar of light rose into the sky, glowing brightly in the half-light.
"There he is," Yamikage's dark voice sounded, "His Warpstar is sending an emergency call." Sir Jecra was silent for a while and watched the blinding light.
"Lets go and collect our lost member," he said finally and started walking.
Meta Knight had grown rather bored by now. 'What if they don't come at all?,' he asked himself more than once.
His mind slowly started to wander in an attempt to distract himself. This was probably the reason he didn't notice the shaking ground. Grains of sand slowly started to stir and a deep, quiet rumble was heard. Meta Knight was jerked out of his thoughts when the ground shook so hard the Star Warrior slid down the dune he had been sitting on. He unsheathed his sword and got to his feet. For a few heartbeats, the shaking stopped and everything went silent.
Then, a giant worm shot out from the sand in a giant cloud of dust. The shock wave threw Meta Knight backwards. The huge creature rocked back and forth, only its upper half visible.
'It's not a demon beast!,' Meta Knight realized. His heart bet faster with fear and his grip around the hilt tightened. The worm swung its scaly head around and faced him. The Star Warrior gasped in disgust. The worm's face had two huge, black eyes, a pair of sharp-looking pincers that dripped with saliva and a giant mouth that was lined with two rows of yellow teeth. Meta Knight took a step back.
He knew what he was capable of and this worm was beyond his strength. The creature swayed back and forth, then it seemed to have located his prey. With an earsplitting screech, it jerked forward and snapped for Meta Knight. Just in time, the blue warrior rolled to the side and the worm got a mouth full of sand. Meta Knight took this opportunity and shot forward. His blade made a deep cut in the worm's body; black blood welled out and soaked the sand. The animal howled with pain and twisted around sharply.
Before Meta Knight could react, the worm struck. Burning pain exploded in his arm, when the animal dug its teeth in it. His sword fell to the ground as the worm threw him through the air. It let go and opened its ugly mouth, ready to swallow the puffball. Meta Knight could see every one of the pointy, broken teeth and felt the hot, stinking breath.
'So this is my end...,' he thought, almost ready to accept his fate. A flash of gold in the corner of his eye caught his attention – the Warpstar! It had mostly regenerated itself, dived into the air and caught Meta Knight. The warrior clung to the golden metal, his heart still beating fast with panic. The Warpstar carried him away from the worm, just in time before it closed its jaws.
"Did you hear that?," Galacta Knight asked.
Sir Jecra stopped and listened: "What?"
"A... rumble...," Galacta Knight murmured. They stood silent for a while; another rumble was heard.
Yamikage unsheathed his thin, silver blade: "Something isn't right."
Suddenly, Jecra gasped: "Look!" They followed his outstretched finger and saw... nothing. The pillar of light was gone. A high-pitched screech was heard.
"Meta Knight is in trouble," Jecra growled, "We have to move a bit faster or he's done for."
Galacta Knight unfolded his wings: "I'll help him." Without waiting for Jecra's approval, he took off, leaving Yamikage and Sir Jecra to follow.
Meta Knight was indeed in trouble. His sword lied somewhere in the sand, out of his reach and the Warpstar was still weak. Furthermore, his arm was injured badly and the worm grew angrier and angrier. The Warpstar juddered and tilted over, almost flinging off the injured Star Warrior.
'Don't let me down now...,' he pleaded silently. Suddenly, the worm twisted its head and although the golden star tried to dodge, it hit the golden metal. Meta Knight tried to grab hold on the Warpstar, but his injured arm was too weak and he landed on the ground. The worm howled triumphantly and prepared to strike.
'I'm done for...,' the Star Warrior thought.
I don't own anything :)
This was a rather long chapter for my standards, wasn't it? Almost two sheets in LibreOffice^^
Anyways, please, please, please review!
Found a word that doesn't sound right? Any kind of error? TELL ME! Please...