~Chapter 10~

Why did we ever agree to this...?

Since the blue knight had been oddly stubborn at being left behind at the ship, Fumu and Kirby had no choice but to give, or be stuck in the argument for all eternity.

And, quite frankly, spending the rest of your life arguing sounds rather boring, doesn't it?

So the traid ventured cautiously from the Halberd. Both Kirby and Fumu stuck to Meta Knight's side, in case he needed aid. But the swordsman barely took notice of their prescense, and walked along with a cautious grip on Galaxia's hilt. Fumu was surprised to see how well he was managing. The knight's amber eyes were constantly shifting back and forth, catalouging every movement around them.

All around them, huge, dark trees soared to the skies, looming over them and plunging the ground world into perpetual shadow. It reminded them grimly of Cappy Town's new state, but at least this place seemed a bit more alive and less bloody.

"So...nothingness, darkness, and oh, trees." Kirby muttered dully, looking around in the shade. Fumu could only make out his pink outline. Meta Knight, next to her, was even less visible, being darking in color than Kirby, and the only thing that gave his appearance away was the skimpy sunlight reflecting off his mask.

They kept walking, and all along the way, Kirby kept peppering the air with his bored, pointless quips about nothing in paticular. Not to mention his nonstop jokes. Don't even ask why he thought those were appreciated, given the situation.

"Knock, knock."

Silence.

"Knock, knock!"

Fumu tried to block it out, but the pink puffball had popped up right next to her,

"Knoooock, knooooock...!"

Sighing loudly, she replied, "Who's there?" Dare I ask...

"Knock, knock!" he chirped, as if he hadn't heard her.

"I said, who's there?" Fumu growled, irritation sparking in her.

"Knock, knock!"

"Who. Is. There?" Fumu sighed, her annoyance showing profusely. She thought she heard Meta Knight chuckling from beside her.

"...Knock...knock...!"

Fumu looked at Kirby, and wondered how much effort it would take to chuck the irritating puffball into that bramble bush over there... "Kirby, I will squeeze you like a little, pink melon if you don't tell me who's there." she threatened light-heartedly, though still annoyed.

"Orange." Kirby poked her in the arm.

"Orange who, pray tell?" Fumu sighed, although she knew the joke already.

"Orange you glad I didn't say 'knock, knock' again?" Kirby snickered.

"Very." His mentor replied curtly. A brief scream was all that came out of Fumu.

Startled, Kirby and Meta Knight looked to Fumu, who was no longer in the place she was standing a moment ago. For a frantic second, they looked around for the missing girl, only to hear her call another second later, "Up here!"

There was Fumu, dangling by her feet, both of which were bound together by a rope. She hung upside down, her blonde hair pointing toward the ground in a blonde sheet. She wore the expression of someone who just had their eye stabbed with a spork, or foon, in a Wal-Mart.

No, not pain. Just extremely pissed. You'd be pissed too if someone called your spork a foon and stabbed you with it. In Wal-Mart.

Kirby and Meta Knight looked up, and Kirby called, "Hey, my jokes aren't that bad!" Fumu shook her fist at him in irritation, and the movement caused her tether to swing slightly. Meta Knight examined the rope that tied her and had hoisted her up above them,

"It looks like some sort of trap. But who...?" He never finished, for suddenly a leather mesh shot out from a large shrub, encasing the blue knight and his apprentice inside. While they struggled inside the net, a loud, warbling-like sound called.

Shadows passed over the dots of light speckling the ground, and with each passing second, more warbling and miscellanious bird sounds were heard.

Meta Knight withdrew Galaxia, and sheared the blade through the leather like a hot knife through butter. The puffballs lept free, only for assailants to drop from the sky and encircle them. Kirby stared at the natives, their features attracting his eye.

They were short, he assumed, for they looked scarcely taller than Fumu. Their feet were talons, long and hooked, supporting a compact body, feathery with down and fur. Their heads and faces were neatly shaped, round, and a few had large, feathery-furry ruffs around their necks. Some had hair on their heads, which was longer than shoulder-length, and Kirby assumed these to be females. The hair was decorated, he saw, with ribbons and beads, and some strands were braides or made into small pony tails. They all had tall, bat-like ears and a long tail, spiked with stiff, boldly-colored feathers. They had arms, with paws that had deadly claws equipped to them, and long, colorful wings that stretched from their backs. Their muzzles were pointed, like a wolf's, and upon close examination, Kirby could see they carried something in their mouths, though he could not tell what it was.

He and Meta Knight stood back-to-back, his mentor holding the sacred sword threateningly, prepared to strike if one of these bird-wolf hybrid things tried to act agressively.

For a while, no one moved, and Meta Knight hoped Kirby wouldn't blurt some random quirp about them, for he saw some were armed with simple-looking weapons, as well as their claws.

Finally, one broke rank, and the two puffballs whirled to face it cautiously. It must have been male, Kirby thought, since it lacked shoulder-length hair like some of the others. This one had a large scar stretching across his muzzle, and over one eye. His wings were the largest of any of the creatures here, and his tail had more feathers sticking up from it. Kirby assumed this must be some sort of leader, and measured him up. He tensed, in case this thing would show any signs of a threat. But he merely looked them over with his green eyes, as if there was nothing strange about two puffball visitors to his planet.

Then he spoke, "Who is you?"

Kirby blinked, "Don't you mean, 'who are you'?" he corrected.

The creature suddenly stood rigid, and fluffed out his feathers, "I is Brazeen, chief warrior. Why you ask, strangers? Who is you?" Kirby realized he was responding to the words, "who are you?" that Kirby had used when he had corrected his grammar,

"I'm a grammar Nazi, and I really think..."

But the creature named Brazeen stopped listening to him, and was staring intently at Meta Knight, "Is Nazi's friend?" He asked. Kirby shook his head,

"My name's not Nazi, it's Kirby." he said, "And yes, Meta Knight is a friend."

"Nazi-Kirby and Meta Knight know girl?" Brazeen asked, pointing a hooked claw at Fumu, whose face was starting to turn red from hanging upside down for some time. Kirby briefly wondered why the other five creatures still surrounding him weren't doing anything.

"Yes," Kirby answered, "That's Fumu. Can you, uh, get her down?" Kirby asked, hesitantly. But Brazeen was still staring at Meta Knight,

"Friend not healthy." he commented. And Kirby nodded,

"No, he's not. Can you get Fumu down?" he asked again. Brazeen, now responding, motioned to one of the creatures toward where Fumu was dangling. The warrior, with a startling agility, shot through the air and within a heartbeat, the rope was snapped by her claws. Fumu fell nearly ten feet and face-planted in the earth. She looked at the creature who had cut her down, wearing the expression of someone who was shanked by a spork/foon at a Wal-Mart, while wearing a mud-mask. Commence 'Lol'.

Brazeen's warriors quickly herded Fumu into the puffball's group, and surrounded them again. This time, another creature spoke, a female,

"You have no cause for alarm, newcomers. I sense you enter here unbidden, but without malice and evil intentions. Therefore I offer my most sincerest apology for this unjust hostility and welcome you as humble visitors to Aurastar." she said formally. Kirby's eye twitched. He had not expected such a sophisticated speech, when he was starting to get used to Brazeen's choppy, grammar-failed dialect.

"My name is Kinara, and we ask of your intentions." the female said calmly. She was looking at Kirby, as if she expected he was the leader of their group. Kirby looked at the surrounding creatures, and said,

"We landed here by accident. We were on our way to Gemstar after our home planet, Popstar was infected with a raging disease. Our ship was damaged andour food supply was depleated. We, uh...that's why." he said, feeling rather awkward in front of the green-feathered female. But before he had finished speaking, a nervous chatter rose up in the group of six, right after he had mentioned Gemstar.

When it quieted, Kinara looked at them, "We have decided to aid you, newcomers. We will allow you to stay for as long as you want." she offered kindly. But Kirby smiled politely and shook his head,

"D-Don't worry about that. We just need a few days to repair the ship, get some food, because, honestly, we are in a bit of a hurry." he confessed, wondering if it was wise to give away their weaknesses to these natives. But somehow, the words came freely, and he found himself directing the words to Kiana, instead of Brazeen, the leader of the group. Perhaps she just seemed to understand, and acted fairly toward them. Maybe a bond of trust was growing.

Kinara looked at him, "Oh? You are in a hurry to go to...Gemstar?" she seemed to have struggled to say the planet's name, for whatever reason. Kirby decided to ignore it,

"Uh, yeah. We need to find the hospital there because..."

"Because your friend has the Pestilence." Finished Kinara, to the trio's surprise. She was looking at Meta Knight as she spoke,

"How did you know?" Fumu asked in mild awe. The bird-wolf hybrid looked at her strangely as well, for some reason,

"We have sharp sensibilities, and scent. We scented sickness in your air, and blood, and identified it as the Pestilence." she answered logically.

"But why help us if you knew that...?" Kirby dared to ask, and instantly regretted it. Would Kinara change her mind about letting them stay now?

But the green-feathered lady shrugged, "It is my nature to be hospitable. And we have healing herbs at our camp." She smiled, "We may be able to heal your friend."

Kirby blinked, "But I thought the disease had no known cure." he said, "How can a bunch of plants..."

"It is not a cure." Kinara said, "It will help lessen the symptoms until he can fight the disease off by himself. It is not very potent, but sometimes it helps." she said,

"But," Fumu said, "How do you know it works? The Pestilence hasn't been around up until a few days ago."

The creatures were silent, and Kinara wore a troubled look, as if she was reluctant to reveal something, "We...are not sure..." she replied, a bit out of character, "Come, we will fly you to our camp." she offered. Meta Knight shook his head, though,

"I can fly myself, thank you." he said, and unleashed his wings. The group suddenly dispersed, running a distance from the knight. Cries of "demon beast!" echoes among them. Fumu and Kirby exchanged glances, nervous that Kinara would take back her services. But the female was the only one who had not moved away. She barely seemed bothered by the knight's wings,

"If you insist. We will help your flight anyway. Can you two fly as well?" she inquired to Fumu and Kirby. Fumu shook her head, and Kirby shrugged,

"I have wings. I can't fly them yet." he said. Kinara gestured to her warriors, who crept in cautiously. She made a series of warbling and chirping sounds, and Kirby saw in her mouth what appeared to be some kind of riverstone, full of holes. Then, a creature came up to him, smiled kindly, and took his paw, elevating into the sky. Behind him, another creature was carrying Fumu into the air. Meta Knight was flying, but his wing beats looked lethargic and weak, and his flight path uneven. Three warriors were flying under him, sending up drafts to support his flight. Kinara flew next to him, tensed to move quickly, if needed.

The creatures carried the trio higher, and higher above the forest, until even the clouds were below them. He saw the wispy vapors, ringing the treetops faintly and drifting slowly through the air. He looked ahead, and found himself being flown toward a great mountain. He saw several huge ridges and dents carved into the mountain face, and dens built into them.

It was a small civilization, that housed the hybrids. This was were they thrived.