A/N: I have a habit of updating on the first of the month, don't I? ;) So here it is, the next chapter and the chapter that increases the number of words to more than 60,000... That's much...

10. Forest of Doom: First Blood

"I will stay here, but I wonder why you would ask me to do that. Normally you try your hardest to either ignore me or get away from me."

"Change of heart."

Fumu did not frown at him. No, of course she did not frown because that answer was absolutely not typically of Meta Knight.

"That answer really did not convince me."

"That is really too bad."

Her nonexistent frown threatened to deepen and Fumu had to battle against it. She won and her attention returned to Meta Knight.

"What exactly happened to you anyway?"

"I fell down."

This time her nonexistent frown did deepen. She couldn't help it, she just had to be angry at Meta Knight because he was being difficult again. But she could also play this game.

"That is really too bad." She was sure he noticed she used the exact same words he had used only moments ago. "If you'd excuse me, I have something better to do."

His suffering sigh told her Meta Knight wasn't quite as alright as he had pretended to be for the last three minutes (normally Meta Knight wouldn't sigh like that or care if she left or lie around on the ground) and she had won this round.

"Alright, what do you want to know?" That question was far too tempting to ignore.

"Why did you almost kill Dedede?"

"Because he attacked me and because we hate each other." Meta Knight groaned right after answering (still out of character) and Fumu was pretty sure he had just realized that it would have been better not to tell her that.

Fumu allowed herself a smile at her success (a part of her realized it was absolutely evil of her to take advantage of the fact that Meta Knight was not alright, but she managed to silence that part), but then her expression turned serious.

"I know you are not alright, so stop pretending. What exactly is wrong?"

"Everything."

A beautiful and sunny day found Bun, Kirby, Lololo and Lalala not outside and playing, but in the local shop. They had decided to have a picnic for once and had to make the difficult decision of what to buy.

"Do you want chocolate, Kirby?"

"Poyo!" Before Lalala had even finished her sentence, Kirby had already snatched the chocolate away and held it with a big smile on his face. Until Lololo took it from him right after he had taken it from Lalala.

"You can't have it now."

"It's for the picnic."

Several minutes later all four finally left the shop and Kirby clutched the chocolate yet again, after he had taken it from Lololo. He had a contented smile on his face and almost nothing would be able to ruin that now.

Almost nothing.

Screeching tires and a shout of "Kirby!" did not ruin his mood in any way, but Dedede wouldn't give up that easily and he had only just started.

"Today will be the day of your death!" Maybe that was a little overdramatic, especially if one considered what followed. "Go demon beast, Noddy!" Dedede had either captured one of the Noddies from earlier or ordered a new one from Holy Nightmare. Either way it didn't look threatening at all and Bun made his opinion rather clear when Lololo and Lalala made motions to help Kirby defend himself.

"Don't bother. Let's just leave this to Kirby." He pushed them out of the way to give Kirby all the space he needed. "Just inhale it and be done with it." Bun had a rather arrogant expression on his face and it didn't bother him in the slightest that Dedede looked eagerly at Kirby when Bun told him to inhale, and he completely ignored the subtle signs Escargon gave him to stop.

Escargon could only watch as Bun led Kirby to his doom.

The Noddy, more or less forgotten, had plans of its own. What plans exactly was hard to tell because in the few seconds all other people present did one thing or another, the Noddy did absolutely nothing. It just stood there, looked somewhere past Kirby and into the nothing and waited for something to happen.

When nothing did happen (everyone else had stopped doing anything a few seconds earlier), the Noddy did something itself. It now looked at Kirby or, to be correct, the chocolate he held in front of his face and then slowly walked closer until, even less than a foot away, it stopped.

They stayed in this position for a few seconds, until Kirby's formerly curious expression turned into a frown and he held the chocolate above his head and effectively out of reach for the Noddy.

It was questionable if the Noddy even wanted to have the chocolate. Kirby, however, felt threatened and started to run around in circles. The Noddy followed, not because of the chocolate but because of sheer curiosity, and what Dedede had hoped for, Escargon had dreaded and Bun had ordered, followed.

Kirby inhaled, the Noddy had no chance and Kirby swallowed.

"He did it!"

"Didn't I tell you he'd do it?"

Only did Bun, Lololo and Lalala not notice that Dedede was laughing to himself and Escargon tried to show no reaction (he failed spectacularly, but was lucky Dedede didn't notice him sigh).

They only noticed something was wrong when Kirby suddenly fell to the ground (still clutching the chocolate).

"What's wrong, Kirby?"

He didn't answer and soft snoring could be heard.

"This is the end for Kirby!" Dedede's words drowned Escargon's suffering sigh out and he still didn't notice that Escargon wasn't quite on his side right now. He made Escargon drive his tank back to the castle and would just be happy for the rest of the day because something had gone right.

Bun, Lololo and Lalala had other problems.

"Kirby?"

"You are being way too overdramatic now to be Meta Knight."

"How do you expect me to act? That thing hit me, then I almost drowned and now everything hurts!" At least he was able to shout at her. He was wincing, presumably in pain, but at least he acted more like he normally did.

"Oh..." Eloquently put, but Fumu couldn't think of much else to say.

Running through the streets of the village near panic was not how Fumu had envisioned her day. But when Lalala had appeared and told her something was wrong with Kirby, she couldn't help it. Now she was running to the place where Kirby was, to Dr. Yabui's.

"Dr. Yabui! How is Kirby?"

"Ah Fumu." Yabui acted far too calm in Fumu's opinion. And even worse: she couldn't even tell his expression because of his opaque glasses and his beard.

"He doesn't look hurt..." Indeed Kirby looked fine. He simply lay on a cot and slept, the chocolate still clutched in his hands.

"It doesn't matter how much we try to wake him."

"He won't wake up."

"Eh?" That was bad. "Kirby! Kirby!" And it didn't matter how often Fumu said his name or shook him, he wouldn't wake up. "Dr. Yabui, what is going on?"

"It seems he inhaled a certain kind of demon beast and contracted sleeping sickness."

"Sleeping sickness?"

"It was a special demon beast that causes its opponent to sleep. At this rate Kirby will continue sleeping for 100, even 1000 years."

"What?" Shock was written all over Fumu's face. What would she do if Kirby slept for this long? Thoughts about Meta Knight's reaction when he found out made her shudder and she forced herself to think about something else.

"If only we'd helped him then!"

"It's Bun's fault for leaving him alone!"

"Be quiet." Bun had been silent so far and now Fumu knew exactly why. He had his arms crossed and after his answer looked at the wall again, like he had done before, and tried to ignore the rest.

"Didn't you stop us when we wanted to help him?"

"What? Is that true, Bun?" Fumu couldn't believe it. How could Bun do that?

"I just figured that Kirby would inhale it and that would be the end of it." He still had his arms crossed and refused to look anywhere but the wall opposite of where Fumu stood.

"I can't believe you! You are the worst!"

"Isn't this Dedede's fault?" Bun didn't see himself at fault and shouted right back at Fumu.

"That's enough. This isn't going to wake Kirby either." Bun snorted and turned to the wall again, Fumu looked questioning at Dr. Yabui.

"Well, isn't there a way to wake him?"

Dr. Yabui looked thoughtful for a moment (at least Fumu assumed he did) and then picked up a book. "There's one possibility that could save him. The Puykii Flower."

"Puykii Flower?" Fumu had never heard of that one and neither had the others.

"This legendary flower blooms inside a cave deep in Bababagahara. It is said that if a sleeping person smells the sweet fragrance said person will instantly awaken."

"So if we have Kirby smell that he will awaken?"

"Probably." Maybe not the most reassuring answer, but it gave hope at least.

"It's impossible. No one ever got out of there. I wouldn't even make it if I had a million lives." Bun had briefly looked at Fumu, but turned back to the wall even before he had finished his sentence.

"But you can't leave him like that! This is your fault! This is your responsibility!" Fumu was shouting again and this time Bun did look at her. But he wasn't the only one at fault. "Lololo and Lalala too. Go find the Puykii Flower right now!"

All of them looked away and Fumu narrowed her eyes at them. "Fine! I get it! Just forget it!" She stalked out of the room, seething.

Fumu had been sitting beside Meta Knight in silence for some time now and she couldn't say it was a comfortable silence in any way. Maybe he had fallen asleep (unlikely) or had lost consciousness? Fumu wouldn't know, after all he didn't even move and for all Fumu knew he could also have died. Not that Fumu assumed exactly that, but it was a possibility.

But just as Fumu was about to say something, anything, Meta Knight moved. He got up again, even slower than last time. Fumu eyed him carefully and went closer, wondering what he would do if she tried to help him. Because obviously he was in need of help; he staggered alarmingly again and only still stood because he held onto the rocks he had hit earlier.

"Do you need my help?"

"No, I don't n..." He didn't even finish his sentence for whatever reason.

"Of course you don't." Fumu's dry answer was not to his liking, but his glare was only halfhearted.

"Come on, let me help you." Meta Knight only sighed in defeat.

Fumu more or less forced him to let her support part of his weight, but she clearly noticed Meta Knight wasn't thrilled about that. "I can't leave you alone when you are like this and you asked me to stay."

Meta Knight sighed again. "You know what Fumu, there is something I really like about you. You are intelligent enough to see that I was pretending."

Fumu stared dumbfounded at him. "Huh?" Then she got angry. "You are mocking me, aren't you?"

"There was some truth in that statement." What exactly was truth was left unmentioned, but Fumu was amazed there even was some. And she didn't exactly know how to respond.

They had made very little progress in their endeavor to get somewhere else and Meta Knight did his best to hinder them further. Fumu didn't think that was on purpose , after all he was the one to object her very help but knew she wouldn't leave him now. But the fact that he fell and took Fumu with him to the ground made Fumu think if maybe, just maybe he did that on purpose after all.

The fact that Fumu landed on top of him and that was just as awkward for her as for him somehow disproved that thought, however.

"Just great." The fact they spoke those words at the same time made it all the more awkward.

"Fumu, isn't this a bit too much for a picnic?"

"You'll be home before dinner, won't you?"

Her parents' concern was touching, but right now she just wanted to get away, get to Bababagahara and help Kirby. If Bun didn't do it, she would.

"Don't worry. I'm thoroughly equipped."

"Kirby is soundly asleep. And why isn't Bun with you?" An unfortunate observation and the critical question. Indeed Kirby was asleep and in a basket on the same boat Fumu was currently on. Hopefully her father wouldn't ask why Kirby was asleep next.

"You'll have to ask him yourself." Fumu used her paddle to get away from the landing stage and effectively stopped any more questions. "Well, I'm going."

She paddled and soon, after a turn, her parents couldn't see her anymore. But that didn't stop others from seeing her because unfortunately there was a road right beside the river she was on.

"You're on your way to Bababagahara, huh?" Dedede made Escargon drive his tank beside Fumu and had nothing better to do than laugh at her situation.

"Try not to die when you're there!" Escargon's expression told something completely different from what his tone suggested. But because Dedede couldn't see his expression from where he sat, Escargon could look apologetic at Fumu. Sometimes she really wondered what exactly was up with Escargon.

She frowned at them both nonetheless, but continued without commenting.

The next problem arose soon after. Bun had come to a decision and Fumu was not part of that. He stood on a tree branch and jumped down just as Fumu and her boat were right under him.

Fumu, who had not noticed him, was too surprised to defend herself against that surprise attack. She fell out of the boat and into the water and could only watch as Bun kidnapped Kirby from right under her nose.

"Bun! Wait!"

"You said it was my responsibility. So I'm going." Bun was faster with the boat than Fumu was with swimming and she knew she wouldn't catch up to him if he decided not to take her along.

"We're going with you. We're responsible, too." At least Bun wouldn't be alone because Lololo and Lalala joined him. That didn't help Fumu because neither of them made an attempt to help her, but better those three than Bun alone.

"You can follow me, just don't get in my way." Fumu wanted to shout at him because how would she do that if Bun left her behind in the water?

"Bun!" Then she swallowed water, stopped swimming and the current dragged her along.

But surprisingly Fumu was saved. Suddenly a rope appeared in front of her and she grabbed it. When she looked up she saw just who had saved her and she was surprised again. Meta Knight stood on a tree branch, the other end of the rope in hand.

"Meta Knight!" She hadn't expected Meta Knight to help her, she had rather expected him to let her drown and laugh evilly while he watched. Well, maybe not exactly like that, but she hadn't expected that he helped her.

When she finally got out of the river, Meta Knight jumped down from the tree and listened to her complaining about Bun, the river and Dedede. He didn't seem bothered, but he hadn't been in her focus, yet. That, however, changed.

"Why did you help me?" She was instantly suspicious and Meta Knight shouldn't fault her for that, after all he had refused to help Fumu in the past and that more than once. But when Fumu actually expected him to be any nicer than other times, she would be severely disappointed.

"Who says I helped you and not myself?"

Fumu could only gape at him because that was just so typical of him. He had flat out refused to answer her question and instead had asked her a question himself. Not that he really expected an answer because there was none to that question, but he always enjoyed it to leave Fumu speechless. But it didn't stay this way for long. Fumu sighed in annoyance and then gave him a hard stare.

"You know what? I don't care why you did it. If you would excuse me, I have to follow Bun and stop him from being reckless." Fumu resolutely turned and went after Bun, but Meta Knight's next comment made her falter.

"Try not to die." His nonchalant comment certainly made impact and Fumu wasn't too sure anymore if she really wanted to follow Bun into Bababagahara. She hadn't really thought about the place she had to go and obviously neither had Bun, but now Meta Knight had reminded her just how dangerous it was. But she couldn't back down now.

"I won't." She thought of it as success that her voice didn't tremble quite as much as she had thought. But Meta Knight didn't quite react as expected. Of course he had noticed, Fumu should have known, and it shouldn't surprise her that he was laughing at her.

"That is brave, Fumu. Going into the jungle although you know you very well may die. Brave but foolish. I thought you were smarter than that." Fumu wasn't exactly sure if she should be insulted or not. He had called her foolish, certainly not a compliment, but he had also said he thought she was smart. Then again that could only be one of his mind games, wouldn't be the first time he did something like that.

She wasn't sure what he tried to accomplish with that, but now Fumu was sure she did not want to go into that jungle. Which was quite unfortunate because Bun was there and he could certainly use her help. Lololo and Lalala were with him, but Fumu seriously doubted those three were really able to defend themselves in case of emergency. If she went alone into the jungle she would have the same problem, only did she not have someone who could at least theoretically help her.

"And what would you say I should do?" She had decided to be angry at Meta Knight because that really only was his fault. She wouldn't hesitate if he hadn't said she might die. Maybe she shouldn't have grabbed the rope, then she would at least not be in this mess.

"I would say give up on them." Fumu stared incredulously at him. He couldn't really mean that, could he? But it was Meta Knight and by now Fumu knew he was a heartless bastard. He had almost killed Dedede and he killed all demon beasts without caring in the least. Surely he wouldn't care if her brother, Lololo, Lalala and Kirby died.

"But Kirby is with them and I would really hate it if he died."

Fumu blinked. He was still a bastard, but at least he seemed to care a little for Kirby. It didn't escape her notice, however, that he had only said he would hate it if Kirby died. Obviously he didn't care for the others then.

"So... you will help me?" Fumu wasn't too thrilled, but better with Meta Knight than without him. Him at least she knew and he would be enough to protect her from the things inside Bababagahara. If only he wasn't becoming more and more unpredictable and scary...

"Call it what you like." He was already walking in direction of the jungle. "I advise you to stay close if you don't want to be left behind."

She had a bad feeling about all of this.

Fumu tried to get up as fast as possible, but unfortunately her foot got entangled in Meta Knight's cape and she fell right down again - once more on top of Meta Knight.

This caused her to almost jump away from him as soon as she was certain she would get up without falling down again. Meta Knight took more time and only sat up, and while he looked at her, Fumu tried her best to look anywhere but him.

"You could have simply told me you liked me and didn't have to fall on top of me."

Fumu turned beet-red, partly in embarrassment and partly in anger because he knew full well it hadn't been on purpose.

"You fell and took me with you to the ground!"

"And the second time?"

"I tripped!"

Meta Knight looked thoughtful (not that she could be absolutely sure about that) at her for a moment.

"Tell yourself that." Fumu only gaped at him, unable to find a response to that before he made it even worse.

"I fear you won't hear the words 'I love you' from me anytime soon, though."

That had been the most awkward conversation with Meta Knight by far and Fumu hoped he would never ever be hit in the head again if that was what happened then.

It didn't take long for them to catch up with Bun, Lololo, Lalala and Kirby.

"Well, let's go. Stay close to me."

Bun had just left the boat when Meta Knight and Fumu had already caught up to him. They stayed out of sight at Meta Knight's insistence and were watching from behind some bushes. But Bun didn't pay any attention to his surroundings anyway and it was likely he wouldn't even notice them if they didn't hide.

"I wonder what will attack them first."

"Meta Knight, stop being so heartless!" But Meta Knight most certainly wouldn't stop. He was doing this on purpose and Fumu would have to suffer this for quite some time to come.

"I would call it realistic and not heartless. It would be heartless if I killed them myself." Meta Knight closely watched Fumu's reaction. She paled and took a step away from him, clearly shocked by what he had said right now. Good.

"Believe me, everything can attack you here." He ignored his earlier remark and Fumu's reaction to it and was really interested how she would react to the whole situation now. He wouldn't kill them, but Fumu certainly remembered the Noddy-incident (the one she had been present at least) and what had almost happened after that. Would she think he would kill them all?

It didn't become clear what she thought about all that right away. Her expression rapidly changed from shock to something he would call surprise and then to something he would call doubt. It was really entertaining to watch her.

"How- Would that include Kirby?" Now that question was certainly unexpected. If he killed them would that include Kirby? Meta Knight was a little displeased by that question and wondered why Fumu had asked that particular question. Obviously she thought he was more heartless than he had expected and that bothered him more than it should.

And he was at a loss for words. He hadn't expected that question at all when maybe he should have. He had said to abandon them and only that he would hate it if Kirby died. He had never said anything about the others and the conclusion that Fumu seemed to have come to was that he didn't care if they lived or died.

He admitted he didn't really know them and he would certainly not cry if any of them died, but for Fumu to think he would actually kill them... He had done more damage than he had expected.

And he still didn't know how to answer her. He wouldn't kill Kirby, wouldn't kill the other three, but if he answered 'no' Fumu would assume he would kill the other three if he got the chance and would spare Kirby. If he answered 'yes' it would be even worse.

There was no way he could change Fumu's opinion, either answer was wrong. He just couldn't answer Fumu's question and he knew it. The only way to get out of this was to do what he had done in the past already, answering her question without answering it. Good thing he had said something else before Fumu's question.

"No, that doesn't include Kirby. He wouldn't attack you." He had answered her question, only not in the right context. Fumu's expression wasn't that easy to read anymore. She bit her lip and didn't look at him. That had not been such a good idea, but there was no helping it and he wouldn't bother with it. She could have whatever opinion she liked of him.

"Follow me." He just ignored her for now and followed Bun.

She followed him (with some distance between them he noticed) and soon they could see and hear Bun again.

The jungle around them was becoming denser with every step they took and Meta Knight wondered how Bun even knew in which direction he had to go. Everywhere around them were trees and the ground was covered with grass; green was all around them. Good thing Meta Knight at least knew where to go.

"I'm fine." Whatever part of the conversation they had missed, obviously something was going on. Bun, with Kirby on his back, was walking past Lololo and Lalala, who looked at each other and then followed him.

But they didn't follow him for a long time. Soon they had passed him and instead of continuing on his way Bun suddenly stopped.

"Stop being stubborn and let us carry him." Lololo and Lalala had noticed and came floating back at him.

"Yeah, we'll do it."

"I'm fine." Bun tried to continue on his way, but Lololo wouldn't let him.

"Let me have him."

"No!"

Predictably the whole argument ended with neither of them carrying Kirby because he was tumbling down a slope and out of sight.

"Geez... Just great." Bun promptly jumped after Kirby and Lololo and Lalala followed him, searching for Kirby.

"Kirby! Where are you?" The chances of Kirby answering were nonexistent because he was still asleep and wouldn't awake any time soon. Bun was searching for him in one direction, while Lololo and Lalala searched in another. Fumu and Meta Knight, hidden behind a tree, already knew that Kirby was in a bit of trouble. Not that he himself noticed.

Kirby had - unfortunately - landed inside a spider's cobweb. Not just any spider's cobweb, that wouldn't have been a problem, but a giant one. The spider wouldn't be too far away and if it appeared, Kirby would be in even more trouble.

Meta Knight and Fumu also realized that, but Meta Knight stopped Fumu's attempt to help Kirby. That was Bun's fault so he should be the one to save Kirby. Meta Knight really hoped Bun would manage that.

By now Bun had noticed where Kirby was, but so had the huge, orange spider with weird black cross stripes. And just as Meta Knight had feared Bun was absolutely no use. Granted, Meta Knight didn't think Bun could do much, but something would have been good already. Instead he was gesturing around frantically and shouting at Kirby, which was really no use.

The spider had almost reached Kirby when Bun decided to at least try to help Kirby. That pathetic stick he threw would admittedly not really help, the stone Meta Knight threw at the same time all the more. The stick didn't even reach the spider, but it was of no consequence because the stone was thrown with so much force it made the spider retreat.

Bun cheered, thinking it had been his stick to drive the spider away and Meta Knight could only watch in disbelief. He actually thought that had been him?

"Hey Lololo, Lalala!"

"He is an idiot." Meta Knight was sure Fumu had similar thoughts, her staring earlier had made that obvious, but she saw the need to defend Bun against Meta Knight now. Interesting.

"Don't insult him. At least he tried to get the spider away from Kirby." Meta Knight smirked behind his mask. Interesting indeed.

"I admit that. But it was obvious his pathetic little stick didn't even reach the spider. And it was also obvious the spider was hit from its right side and not from the front." Fumu crossed her arms and gave him a glare.

"You just have to make him look bad, don't you?" Meta Knight continued smirking, unseen behind his mask. He was sure Fumu knew he was smirking despite the mask, what made the whole situation all the more fun.

"If you say so." Meta Knight shrugged uncaringly and continued walking as to not lose the other three. This was exactly what Fumu hated, her next exclamation made that quite clear.

"Gah!"

It was just becoming more and more fun and he was sure Fumu knew that. Still she could do nothing about it. The only one that could really ruin his mood right now was Bun and he really did his best to accomplish just that.

Meta Knight was sure Bun hadn't done it on purpose, that would have been really stupid, but somehow he had managed to get in trouble again in less then five minutes. That was certainly an accomplishment, but not only did it endanger himself, it also endangered Kirby, Lololo and Lalala. And left Meta Knight to figure a way out to somehow save them.

He could still hope the giant lizard-like creature before Bun was herbivorous and would ignore him, but chances of that weren't too high. Meta Knight had to notice that everything here seemed to be carnivorous - even the plants. With that in mind it was even more unlikely that something dangerous-looking like that creature would not try to eat them.

And just as expected the black lizard-like creature with a weird yellow pattern all over its body flickered its tongue and looked hungrily down at Bun and Kirby. Lololo and Lalala got the cue and hurried away, Bun, however, seemed rather unimpressed.

"Oh? That's a huge lizard."

Meta Knight would have liked to smack him right then because he was acting really stupid right now. Fumu could say what she liked, but Bun was definitely being an idiot.

But even he got the message when the lizard snatched at him.

"Whoa!"

Miraculously Bun had not been hit, what angered the lizard and surprised Bun. At least he was smart enough to actually run away now - screaming and thus possibly attracting more dangerous creatures.

"Shit!" Meta Knight cursed and ran after him, Fumu hot on his heels. She was panting quite hard, but that didn't stop her from throwing accusations at him.

"If we had shown... ourselves that wouldn't... be happening... right now!" She could be really annoying if she wanted to and right now Meta Knight didn't exactly have the time to deal with that.

"Of course you are right. We would all be running from that lizard now and not after it!" Meta Knight couldn't see Fumu's reaction because she was behind him, though he could imagine the glare she was sending in his direction.

Then they caught up to Bun and the lizard because Bun had started to run in circles in a clearing and the lizard was chasing right after him. But Meta Knight was unsure what to do, he couldn't attack because he might hit Bun and Kirby.

"What are you waiting for? Help them!" Meta Knight whirled in Fumu's direction and glared at her.

"I can't!"

"Why?"

"I would kill them if I attacked!" Both noticed they were wasting precious time, but didn't know how to help Bun and Kirby.

"Then do something else! Distract it!"

"And how?"

"I don't know! Throw your oh so mighty stones at it!" Fumu hadn't been serious, it was sarcasm more than anything else because Meta Knight had complained about Bun's stick earlier. But it didn't matter because Meta Knight did exactly that.

Bun hadn't even noticed Meta Knight and Fumu were arguing. He had simply run away and tried to stay alive, but when he had tripped, everything seemed lost. He closed his eyes and crossed his arms in front of his face, but the pain of being bitten by a giant lizard never came.

The stone had hit the lizard and had effectively distracted it from Bun. The only problem that created was that now Meta Knight and Fumu were its new targets.

"What do we do now?" Meta Knight looked pointedly at Fumu.

"Run." For a second Fumu stared incredulously at him, then she took his advice and ran as fast as she could, Meta Knight right behind her.

"Just great! Now... we are the ones... that are going to be eaten!" Fumu was again panting hard and Meta Knight wondered how she even managed to say anything like that. And her lack of faith was really insulting. Did she really think he would let that stupid thing kill them?

Meta Knight suddenly stopped, his sword materializing with crackling energy. He would kill that thing. But he thought better of it and didn't face it head-on. Instead he jumped out of the way at the last possible moment and at the same time swung his sword at it.

He hit its right foreleg and the lizard crashed to the ground, the three other legs unable to hold its weight while it ran. But as expected that wasn't the end. It stood angrily again and if looks could kill, Meta Knight would be dead by now. It glared hatefully at him and Meta Knight glared right back.

"Go, Meta Knight!" However, Meta Knight was a little distracted by Fumu. He turned in her direction and was about to shout at her to shut up, when he more sensed than saw the lizard's attack. He dropped flat to the ground and the lizard missed him, but instead tore bits out of the ground.

Angrily it spat the grass it now had in its mouth back out and made another attempt to bite Meta Knight. Still on the ground he didn't get the chance to get away, but got his weapon up in time.

The strike from a weapon he would simply have blocked. The lizard, however, bit right into the sword and its six spikes. Immediately it let go, the spikes cutting deeply into its flesh and causing it pain. Blood dripped from its mouth, much blood and right onto Meta Knight, hitting his mask and left eye through the visor.

Meta Knight hissed at the burning sensation of getting blood in his eye and scrambled to his feet and away from the lizard. He held his sword in a defensive position and waited for his opponent to attack again.

But the lizard had enough; it eyed Meta Knight hatefully but decided it wasn't worth it and slowly backed off without taking its eyes off Meta Knight. When it finally disappeared Meta Knight sheathed his sword and turned around.

Fumu had been silent after her cheering had distracted Meta Knight, but when he turned to her, she had been about to say something. Only Meta Knight never got to know what it was because she stopped dead.

Fumu had opened her mouth, but closed it again without saying anything. She only stared at Meta Knight, obviously shocked because of something. Meta Knight wondered why exactly, he had killed demon beasts before her eyes after all and that lizard had lived.

Then he remembered that he would be covered in blood because some of the blood dripped in his eye again and he saw partly red. How ridiculous. She would have seen him covered in blood already before. But thinking back he noticed that no, not only had he never been covered in blood before her eyes, there also hadn't been much blood before in any of his fights.

He guessed it wasn't a pretty sight for her, most likely that blood covered most of his left side and parts of his right side, he wasn't sure. Adding the crack in his mask that looked pretty much like his own blood. He wasn't too sure if that thought would upset her at all, but he was pretty sure the blood itself was reason enough to upset her.

"Fumu?"

Coming closer to her might not have been the smartest idea, but Meta Knight was... not worried, maybe slightly concerned?

Fumu blinked a few times and her previously unfocused gaze focused again. She had been staring blankly into the nothing, right at the spot were Meta Knight had been only moments before. Now, however, she was back to awareness and noticed Meta Knight was actually right beside her.

"Do me and yourself a favor and don't pass out." Fumu looked startled at him. Clearly that had not been what she had expected.

"I won't."

Meta Knight simply shrugged in response and walked past her, back in the direction they had come from. Soon Fumu was walking beside him, but not for long because there was something that apparently bothered her.

"Can't you get rid of that blood?"

"Gladly. And how may I ask am I going to get rid of it?" Meta Knight didn't even turn in her direction. Did she really think he liked being covered in the blood of some lizard?

"How about using water?" Now he did stop and turned in her direction.

"Great idea, Fumu, why didn't I think of that? Oh right, because there is no water here."

"There certainly is water somewhere here."

"Yes, there is a river. But you might notice that it is not here." Fumu frowned, clearly defeated by Meta Knight's arguments. "If it helps to distract you from the fact you just lost another battle of words against me we could play a round of I Spy. After all with red there now is one more color except for the ever-present green." Meta Knight gestured at the jungle all around them and indeed there was only green.

Although it was hardly possible Fumu managed to frown even more at him and then walked past him, seething. "You are insufferable! You know that, don't you?" Meta Knight could only smirk in response.

A/N: Obviously that's not everything there is to this chapter. It was split and that right inside a part. That means I will continue right where I left off next chapter.

So next chapter will just be part two, but I'll see what I'll do about the name. Maybe it'll stay like it is now or maybe I'll change the title of this later on, I don't know yet... Though most likely I will change it because it doesn't fit that well to this part... So don't be surprised if the title suddenly changes. ;)