A/N: Remember I said there would be no further warning? Well, I take that back, you'll get a warning for... someone acting quite alarmingly in this chapter. Darkness ahead I'd say. ^^
11. Forest of Doom: Revenge
They walked in silence back through the vegetation to the clearing where they had last seen Bun; Fumu clearly sulking, Meta Knight still smirking.
"This is the Forest of Doom! Everything tries to eat us!" They didn't have to search long to find Bun again. He complained loudly to Lololo and Lalala and everything close by would be able to hear him. He wasn't in the same clearing anymore, but just in another part of the dense jungle. Meta Knight and Fumu watched him from a slightly higher position.
Now again concealed by some bushes, Meta Knight wondered if Bun didn't realize the dangers of attracting the attention of everything around them. He was also clearly exaggerating, so far there had only been the spider and the lizard, that was hardly everything. And it wasn't a forest but a jungle.
"We have to show ourselves and stop him from shouting any louder." Fumu was back to talking or in this case whispering to him, it seemed. Out of sheer necessity because there was no one else to talk to, but still...
"This is his fault, so he will be the one to fix it, alone." Meta Knight whispered back, but saw that Fumu didn't see it the same way.
"They will all get themselves killed if they continue like that!" Now Fumu hissed at him, furious at his attitude. Meta Knight didn't care.
"Why do you think I am here? To ensure they don't die!"
"Well done so far! That lizard almost ate Bun and then it almost ate us!" Neither of them even noticed dusk was slowly approaching and Bun, Lololo and Lalala had continued their quest to find the Pyukii Flower. They were too absorbed in their argument.
"It didn't eat us and I would have killed it if it had attacked again!"
"You say that, but I am not convinced that would have been the case!"
They had given up on hissing at each other and now shouted, doing exactly what they had criticized Bun for. But obviously he didn't hear them argue because then he would have appeared again.
"I kill demon beasts, that lizard would have been no problem!"
"And I am still not convinced! Do I have to remind you that you were lying on the ground with that thing above you?"
"And do I have to remind you whose fault that was?" They were staring furiously at each other, Meta Knight just barely keeping his eyes from turning red. Fumu clenched her teeth because she knew that had been partly her fault, but she would not take the blame.
"Yeah right, it was only my fault and you had nothing to do with it!"
"Of course it was your fault!"
"Meta Knight you-" Meta Knight would never know if Fumu would have insulted him (but he guessed she would have) because he suddenly jumped at her. Fumu looked alarmed at him shortly before he hit her, then they both fell down the sort of embankment they had been standing on.
Unfortunately it was a long way down or at least it seemed like it. Meta Knight had Fumu in something like an embrace and shielded her from most harm like this. He, however, felt the scratches the thorn bushes left on his arms.
And it didn't become any better when they reached the bottom. Meta Knight let go of Fumu, but he was a little too late with that.
"Ah!"
Both of them fell headlong into the pond at the bottom.
It certainly wasn't cold in the jungle, it was warm even. But the water was a little too cold in Meta Knight's opinion.
Disoriented as he was, it had taken him a few seconds to reach the surface again. When he reached it, he took a deep breath of fresh air and then looked around to see what had happened to Fumu.
She had already reached the shore and was just now climbing back out. She spat some water out, shook her head to get rid of the water in her face and then turned in Meta Knight's direction, her expression murderous.
At least he got rid of the blood...
He took his time, knowing full well she would shout at him - again. When he got out of the pond he shook his whole body to get rid of the water, but unfortunately Fumu was too close and got hit with that water. She wiped it off her face, still with that same murderous expression and then began shouting.
"Why did you do that?" Meta Knight would have liked to justify his actions, but Fumu wouldn't let him. "Are you mad? Was there any reason to make us both fall down from there and into the pond?" Fumu had to take a breath and Meta Knight took his chance to answer.
"Next time I will just let you die."
Fumu had been about to continue her shouting, but that left her speechless. She had her mouth opened, but no words came out. She just stared at Meta Knight, what was exactly what he had expected.
"Do you really think I jumped at you for fun? Of course there was a reason!"
"And what reason might that be?" Seemed like Fumu went with completely ignoring his remark after her initial shock.
"To save your life!" Fumu narrowed her eyes at him, not believing a word of what he said.
Meta Knight saw her look and interpreted it correctly. He also narrowed his eyes at her and then suddenly turned around and began walking away. "Don't believe me then, I couldn't care less."
He uncharacteristically wrapped his cape around himself because he was feeling slightly cold and instantly regretted it. He should have considered that not only he himself but also his cape was drenched. He grimaced slightly behind his mask, but gave no other outward sign of feeling uncomfortable and continued on his way. Fumu would either follow or she would not.
Predictably she did follow him, but Meta Knight was pretty sure she tried to burn holes into his back with her glare.
It was getting considerably darker now and soon Fumu wouldn't be able to see anything. Meta Knight wouldn't have quite as much trouble with that, but it would be really annoying to have Fumu trip over everything in her way. Not that she didn't deserve it, but they would never find Bun again like that.
"Fumu, hurry."
Telling Fumu to hurry up was surely no way to placate her, but Meta Knight had decided he wouldn't even try. It was her problem if she was angry at him and Meta Knight would not care.
Fumu had hurried and walked now beside him, giving him murderous looks every now and then, but there was a new problem: Fumu shivered with cold and Meta Knight couldn't say he didn't feel the cold, he only hid it better than Fumu.
He was forced to reconsider his plan; searching for Bun and watching him from afar didn't seem like a good idea anymore. Instead he had to find a way to get himself and Fumu dry again, else it wouldn't end well.
"It's no use." Fumu stopped and glared at him. "We can't continue like this. I am not happy with this, but we will have to stop. Unless you want to freeze that is."
The withering look Fumu sent him was answer enough.
An hour later Fumu could be found sleeping on the more or less soft ground, separated from Meta Knight by a fire. It had been necessary, now at least they were both dry and Fumu even slept, sparing Meta Knight her annoying glares.
The fact she slept also enabled him to do something else.
Meta Knight put some more wood on the fire (he had cut a whole tree for it) and then spread his wings and took flight. He had something to do.
It didn't take him long to reach his destination, a part of the jungle that looked just like any other part did; just the same green wall of trees and bushes.
But something about this part of the jungle was different. It was a part of the jungle where green wouldn't stay the sole color, one other color would be added soon, Meta Knight would make sure of that.
It was the place where the Noddies were. The Noddies Meta Knight still had a score to settle with. It had taken him a little over a week now, but he certainly hadn't forgotten that little incident from the last time he had been in Bababagahara.
They would pay, they would suffer and they would die. It was as simple as that.
But Meta Knight took his time, observing what all of them did or, in this case, didn't do.
Although they had acted terribly out of character last time and he had to admit grudgingly that they had surprised him, they were now acting like Noddies normally did. Not acting at all.
They were asleep, all of them, leaving them absolutely unprotected and making it almost too easy.
Meta Knight slowly approached them without making a sound, almost invisible in the darkness of night. The only things that would give him away were his eyes, now a blazing red and a stark contrast to the blackness all around him.
But it didn't matter. It didn't matter because in a flash he had drawn his sword, which materialized in a crackle of electricity and alerted the closest Noddies to his presence.
It made no difference. If they tried to attack him, tried to run away or didn't even notice him, nothing of it made a difference to him.
His sword came down on his first opponent - if it could even be called that - and after that one first hit, the first death had happened.
Many Noddies froze, others paid Meta Knight no mind and tried to get away as fast as possible. They had overcome their usual sleepiness once to attack him, but now they didn't. All of them still seemed tired and Meta Knight almost laughed because it was so easy.
He brandished his sword in front of his face once, got rid of the blood on it. Then he pointed it at the closest Noddy, a dangerous glint in his eyes.
He would dye the landscape blood-red.
There was no light. The moon was only barely able to illuminate the landscape, but now clouds obscured it and there was no light, leaving everything in darkness.
It was fitting in a way, something a creature of darkness like himself had done, hidden by darkness until the light of day revealed it for everyone to see.
It didn't matter to Meta Knight anyway. He had seen it, could still see it, could smell it. The death and destruction he had left behind, the blood. The blood, the color of which matched the color of his eyes right now.
He had gotten his revenge now, all of the Noddies dead on the ground around him and lying in their own blood. Dead and gone.
He should be feeling the rush, but instead he felt nothing of the sort. Coldness. A cold rage that all of them had died without as much as a fight. Rage that they had managed to catch him off guard. Rage that he had killed them.
It wasn't even revenge on Nightmare, he wouldn't care. Had never cared. It was his own revenge for their revenge; petty, irrelevant in the end.
There was no satisfaction, and after his cold rage only emptiness remained. Nothing. Darkness.
Pathetic.
He wasn't even sure why he stood in the darkness of the night, surrounded by the carnage he had caused himself, laughing madly.
When Meta Knight woke Fumu the next morning she was still angry at him. That was hardly unexpected, but there was now a new reason why she was angry even.
"Where did you go last night?" That didn't qualify as a question anymore, it was a demand. Meta Knight wondered how she had even noticed he had left and cursed himself for his carelessness. Though maybe it wasn't that bad she had noticed, although she wouldn't like the answer.
"I went... hunting."
"Hunting?" Meta Knight wondered how much effort it cost her to look at him with a deadpan expression and not one full of anger, but he guessed it was quite a bit.
"Yes, that is what I said." Her mask of inexpressiveness cracked and she scowled at him.
"Why would you go hunting? And in the middle of the night?"
He smirked at her, unseen. "Because I had a score to settle." Wisely Fumu didn't ask any other questions after that, at least for now. The honest answer would only have disturbed her anyway.
"Come on, we have to catch up to Bun."
Fumu was forced to hurry after Meta Knight if she didn't want to be left behind. She had no idea where they were even going, but Meta Knight seemed undeterred and walked in one direction through the dense jungle, completely ignoring the fact that Fumu had almost tripped over two roots and was muttering curses under her breath (one at the roots and one at Meta Knight).
After twenty minutes of wandering through the jungle and surprisingly only one attack by some oversized insect that Meta Knight had taken care of, they arrived at a cave that would certainly be their destination.
"That looks scary..." Meta Knight would have to agree, it did look far from welcoming. The entrance looked like a mouth, ready to devour anyone that was foolish enough to come too close. The fact it also looked like there were two eyes above that mouth didn't help to dispel the feeling of doom the cave exuded.
"You could always leave."
"And be eaten by one of the things that live here?" Fumu's reply was rather caustic.
"I am far more dangerous than anything that lives here." Whereas Meta Knight was deadly serious.
Fumu gave him a calculating look. "I'll take the risk of staying with you, after all you won't kill me, contrary to the other things here."
"If I were you I would not be so sure about that. Don't make the mistake of thinking that I wouldn't kill even you if you gave me enough reason." If Fumu was surprised or scared because of his statement, she hid it well.
They stared at each other until Meta Knight suddenly turned in direction of the cave, expression thoughtful. "Bun will arrive shortly. I will make sure he doesn't encounter a problem when he enters the cave. Stay here."
Before Fumu could answer he had left her behind, on his way to the cave. Fumu, however, didn't take kindly to that and ran after him, completely ignoring that obviously he didn't want her to come along.
"Wait!" She only reached him after he had already entered, a fact that was quite unfortunate. Meta Knight had seen the huge snake right away and had moved out of the way, whereas Fumu had not seen it and ran right into its range.
"Met-" The snake spotted her and didn't waste any time attacking. Its head shot forward, ready to sink its fangs into Fumu. She was too surprised to do much other than stand around and look fearfully at her attacker, but Meta Knight sprang into action as soon as he had seen her.
He managed to grab Fumu and jump out of reach with her in time, causing the snake to hit the wall of the cave instead and leaving it disoriented for some time. Meta Knight took the opportunity to drag Fumu along and further out of reach for the snake.
"Fumu you idiot!" Saying Meta Knight was angry was an understatement, he was furious. Not listening to him he could have expected, but she had put herself in danger because of it and had forced him to intervene.
Still in Meta Knight's grip, Fumu could do nothing to escape his wrath and was also far too close for comfort. The fact his eyes had turned a blazing red had escaped his notice and when the snake appeared, Meta Knight had finally enough.
The snake was already in the middle of attacking, but Meta Knight was faster. He had swung his golden sword and instead of hitting him, the snake's attack missed because its head had been severed before it had even come close enough to sink its fangs into Meta Knight or Fumu.
The head landed some distance away on the ground with a thud, accompanied by splashes of blood. Fumu beside him shrieked and backed away as soon as he let go of her.
Why she backed away was the next question. Because the beheaded snake lay directly in front of Meta Knight and leaked blood to the ground or because of the red eyes he had become aware of by now?
"Are you scared?" It was a pointless question, the answer was obvious.
Fumu backed further away, until her back hit a tree and she couldn't go on. Meta Knight had followed and stood directly in front of her, blocking all escape routes.
"Do you remember you told me I wasn't as ruthless as other demon beasts? You are wrong, I am far more dangerous and ruthless than anything else you ever met in your life." Fumu gulped. "And remember, I will kill you if you give me enough reason."
"Meta Knight..." She was scared, but not downright terrified as he would have expected. In fact something like determination soon replaced her fear and she bravely took a step forward. "Meta Knight you-"
Meta Knight would never know what Fumu wanted to tell him because he never asked her after that, though he would get an opinion about himself much later.
Meta Knight suddenly collapsed in agony, wondering why it had to happen now and how he could have been so stupid as to use that when it had not been necessary for something pathetic like the snake.
The last thing he heard was Fumu shouting his name before he lost consciousness.
"Whoa! How did that happen?"
"We have to be cautious. Whatever killed the snake might still be close by..."
"Yes, pay attention to the surroundings!"
Lying face down on the ground and hearing voices he couldn't place right now was not exactly how Meta Knight had imagined to awake. It didn't help that his head now hurt and he felt stupid because he had collapsed and that right before Fumu's eyes - after threatening her.
He tried to lift his head, but found that wasn't as easy as he had hoped it would be and fell right back down. That meant lying on the ground for a while then.
The voices of Bun, Lololo and Lalala had faded away, presumably because they had entered the cave and Meta Knight also couldn't hear Fumu. Considering she hadn't talked to the others she would have to either be somewhere close or inside the cave.
Meta Knight couldn't say he would care that much right now if she was inside the cave and had died, in fact that would solve a few problems or hinder them from ever appearing, but at the same time he didn't expect her to do something stupid again and he would somehow even miss her. Maybe...
But he didn't have to speculate on it for long. The rustling of some bushes announced Fumu's arrival only a few seconds later and she hadn't noticed Meta Knight was very much conscious.
"I have to follow them, but I can't just let him keep lying on the ground!" That would have been surprisingly touching if Meta Knight had actually cared. But he didn't really care for Fumu's concerns about himself and wondered why she even did care.
"Meta Knight?" He decided not to answer because he was interested what she would do then.
"Meta Knight!" Still no answer and he could hear Fumu muttering something under her breath, but didn't understand her words. She came closer to him and then stopped right beside him, obviously unsure what to do now.
What happened next was not what Meta Knight had expected because he had thought Fumu would never dare, but it was long overdue in a way.
"Arg!"
Fumu had kicked him where he wasn't protected by his mask or armor and that surprisingly hard. Meta Knight jumped away at once and shouted more in surprise than in pain, but Fumu had certainly reached her goal of getting a reaction from him.
"Serves you right." Meta Knight had to say that was pretty stupid of Fumu after the threats she had received, but he was also pretty surprised because that was far from what he had expected.
"Come on, Bun, Lololo and Lalala are already in the cave." She turned around without another word and went in direction of the cave, leaving Meta Knight to wonder about this unexpected turn of events. Whatever Fumu thought right now was beyond Meta Knight at the moment.
Meta Knight followed without commenting, still too perplexed because of what had happened.
Just as expected the inside of the cave was dark, but Meta Knight didn't care much for that fact. He was able to see well enough. Fumu, however, was not and Meta Knight wondered how she had managed until now. He wouldn't ask her, though. Something between them had obviously changed and not for the better.
He was aware of the fact that it was his own fault, but he had admittedly expected Fumu to react... differently. Her reaction consisted of something like defiance and anger right now when he had expected something like fear and terror.
After walking for a while Meta Knight could see light - sunlight. There had to be a hole in the ceiling and the flower Bun was searching for had to be there as well because every plant needed light.
"This is the Pyukii Flower!"
That settled it and both Fumu and Meta Knight went further in direction of the light.
But when they arrived they had to notice that Bun, Lololo and Lalala had managed to get into trouble again. The Pyukii Flower was far from harmless although it was pretty in a way.
It looked a little like a dark green cactus, but with leaves lighter in color than the rest at its base and weird pink balls of needles running up the petals. Inside those petals was a stigma resembling a pink cherry blossom flower on a tall stem and around it were eight neon green Venus flytrap-like heads whose stems were flexible and demonstrating that fact quite effectively.
Bun, Lololo and Lalala, and with them Kirby on Bun's back, had all been captured by one of the stems and were about to be eaten alive. Now Meta Knight had to ask himself the question of what to do about the situation. Helping them was the most obvious choice of course, but he could leave them to die just as well.
Fumu thought him heartless and cruel anyway, he himself had made sure of that, so if he let them die it would only prove to be the truth. But as he had told Fumu earlier already: Kirby was with them and he wouldn't let him die.
Meta Knight looked briefly at Fumu's face, illuminated not by the sunlight from above but the torch either Bun, Lololo or Lalala had left on the ground, and saw her angry expression. Seemed like she refused to speak to him now, but the message was clear: 'Save them or you'll regret it.'
He frowned because he was able to understand that expression for what it was and actually acted because of it.
In a flash he cut off the heads of the Venus flytraps that were holding the three and all of them fell to the ground, groaning in some pain from the fall.
"Bun! Are you alright?"
"Huh? Sis, what are you doing here?" Fumu came running over, now a clearly worried expression on her face. She spared Meta Knight, who was only a few meters away and eyed the Pyukii Flower carefully, not even a glance and focused solely on Bun and Kirby on his back.
"I was worried so I followed you." Bun wanted to answer something, but Meta Knight didn't feel like wasting any more time and interrupted.
"Obviously that thing is carnivorous." Now he had the undivided attention. "And if I had to make a guess, I would say that Dedede knew it's the only cure but dangerous."
Fumu frowned at him, the other three looked interested at him.
"Damn, so Dedede knew from the start?"
"I think so." Fumu still frowned at him and Meta Knight wondered if he would get another expression from her anytime soon. "I will take care of it."
"Like you so marvelously took care of everything else so far?" Meta Knight narrowed his eyes at Fumu, and Bun, Lololo and Lalala looked at them in confusion.
"What do you mean?"
"Remember that lizard for example? He got rid of it. Or better yet: do you remember the snake at the entrance? Meta Knight killed it, but collapsed for no apparent reason soon after." Meta Knight knew his eyes flashed red for a split second and he knew Fumu saw it, but he didn't care right now.
"Just because you don't comprehend the reason doesn't mean there was none."
"Then explain it."
Instead of explaining Meta Knight went closer to Fumu, stopping right beside her and whispered something so that the others couldn't hear him.
"I applaud you for the ability to take what I said not seriously or act like you do, but remember I was absolutely serious. And you are on the best way to see that for yourself." He left to fight the Puykii Flower without another word and Bun, Lololo and Lalala looked confused after him.
As soon as he was in reach the five remaining Venus flytrap heads attacked, tried to catch him, bite him to death.
The Pyukii Flower certainly only had a limited range, a fact that would have been good for Meta Knight because it meant he could just send Sword Beams and be done with it. Unfortunately though that was the problem. He couldn't just use Sword Beams and destroy it, that would be the worst thing he could do in fact.
Meta Knight needed the Pyukii Flower intact, more specifically Kirby did, needed one of the pollen and the only way to accomplish that was close combat. And he loathed to admit it, but that was a problem. Destroying would be no problem, but he couldn't risk it and evading all attacks and getting to the pollen proved to be near impossible.
He was able to dodge the Puykii Flower's attacks for now, but with five opponents attacking at random intervals and no real way to fight back, Meta Knight had to realize that approach wouldn't do him any good.
As soon as he saw an opportunity he jumped back and out of reach for the flower, but not without being grazed by one of the fangs on his right arm. He hissed more in anger than in pain as he landed beside Fumu and Bun and out of reach for the flower.
"You came here to save Kirby, didn't you?"
Obviously he had missed part of a conversation between Fumu and Bun because Bun was angry at Fumu for some reason. Fumu looked slightly disappointed, but that was at least something different from the frown he himself got all the time.
"Picnic... picnic..." Then Kirby spoke, although he was still asleep, and attracted all attention to himself. Obviously he looked really forward to a picnic. As if the fact he still held onto the chocolate for the picnic wasn't proof enough.
"You still look forward to the picnic... This is why I don't like little kids." Meta Knight would really have liked to comment because Bun was a kid himself, but before he could, Bun had run off in direction of the Pyukii Flower with a battle cry.
"Bun!"
"I told you he is an idiot." Meta Knight couldn't resist that before he ran after Bun to try and stop him before it was too late. But Bun had already reached the Puykii Flower and although he managed to evade the first few attacks through sheer dumb luck, he was captured in the end.
Meta Knight was on his way to save Bun because this time he would use his weapon, although it could mean the Pyukii Flower's destruction, but luck wasn't on his side. Before he was close enough to help Bun in any way, the four remaining heads had made him trip and he fell to the ground, at the same time losing the grip on his weapon.
Two of the heads came crashing down on him and Meta Knight couldn't get away in time. One head bit into his left arm and kept it in place, the other went for his back and pierced through the cape, both of them drawing blood and making Meta Knight cry out in pain.
At least his head didn't hurt anymore...
The other two heads couldn't really seem to decide what to do, until one decided to approach Bun and the other Meta Knight in the end.
Meta Knight would really have liked to save Bun, but right now he had enough problems himself. His right arm was free, but without his sword that didn't help him much and the head directly in front of him slowly approached and made ready to sink its fangs into Meta Knight.
He had the protection of his mask, but his eyes were unprotected and should one fang manage to hit an eye or any other part not protected between his eyes, Meta Knight was sure he would either die or at the very least experience excruciating pain.
He struggled to get free, but other than causing himself pain he accomplished nothing and the Venus flytrap head came ever closer. It took its time as if enjoying Meta Knight's struggle and, as far as Meta Knight could tell, the other head did as well because until now he had heard no screams of pain from Bun.
But Meta Knight had to get free, he wouldn't be killed by some stupid plant! Admittedly it was a little of last resort because of the situation he was in and he would certainly regret it, but he saw no other way right now.
Although one head pierced his cape, he transformed it into his pair of bat wings. With them he managed to throw off the two heads holding him down, but paid a heavy price for it. His right wing was torn and he left puddles of blood whenever he kept standing in one place for too long.
Now all five heads, even the one holding Bun, focused their attention on him. Before they could attack him, however, Meta Knight dashed for his sword in pain and as soon as he got it, threw it at the stem holding Bun.
He hit and Bun fell down - right onto the leaves and then into the inside of the flower.
"Ah!" That had been Fumu's scream and Meta Knight distantly wondered if she had been silent until now or if he just hadn't heard her.
The four remaining heads completely ignored Bun and attacked Meta Knight, who could do nothing without his weapon that now stuck out of the wall and was only barely able to escape the attacks.
The shrewd pain of his right wing didn't get any better and with every movement he spread more of his blood on the ground. Slowly but surely he was feeling dizzy because of the blood loss and when he hit the wall with his back and left a bloody trail on it, he was sure the next thing he would feel would be even more pain.
But that pain never came. The Puykii Flower tried, but Meta Knight was just out of reach for it. He took a deep breath and looked at it, trying to decide what to do now. He couldn't fight, not without his sword and not in the condition he was currently in.
He didn't have to. The Pyukii Flower suddenly stopped all movement and all four heads let out a terrible scream. Bun had, unnoticed or simply ignored by the Pyukii Flower, climbed up the stem and had taken some of the pollen.
"Sis! It's up to you!" He threw it at Fumu, who caught it and went to Kirby with it right away.
In the meantime the Venus flytrap heads had focused all their attention on Bun, giving Meta Knight the opportunity to stumble in direction of Kirby, Fumu, Lololo and Lalala. Out of the corner of his eye he saw Bun drop onto the leaves again when the heads tried to get him.
Bun ran away as fast as possible and was lucky to only be grazed on his shoulder by one of the attacks, but then he tripped and all seemed lost for him.
But at exactly that moment Kirby awakened and spit the Noddy he had swallowed back out. Instead of Bun the Pyukii Flower ate the Noddy and Bun used the opportunity to get back up and run away as fast as possible and out of reach.
Meanwhile Meta Knight had reached the others and, much to his chagrin, had collapsed beside Fumu. Blood seeped out of his torn wing and, something he had ignored until now, out of his left arm and soon he was lying in a pool of his own blood. If he didn't do something fast he would lose consciousness again.
"Seems like you will lose consciousness again, doesn't it?" The words were nasty in a way, but at least Fumu's expression wasn't a frown anymore. In fact she seemed clearly worried, something Meta Knight just couldn't understand.
"Thank you, I wouldn't have noticed myself!" It was absolutely unnecessary to snap at her, but Meta Knight wasn't sure how else to react to the situation. At least she frowned at him again.
"Sorry for worrying about you! I won't bother again!"
"Good, I don't understand why you worry anyway..." Meta Knight wasn't sure if he would have admitted that had it not been for the blood loss, but it didn't matter. The injuries took their toll and already for the second time this day Meta Knight lost consciousness. What a crappy day.
Idiot. Meta Knight really was an idiot at times and now he had passed out again. If it wasn't for the injuries Fumu would have kicked him again.
"Meta poyo?" Fumu had completely forgotten about the others because of Meta Knight. Kirby looked worriedly at Meta Knight as did Lololo and Lalala. Bun was panting heavily and just now Fumu realized that he wasn't in danger of being eaten by the Puykii Flower anymore.
"Don't worry, Kirby. He will be fine... I think." Maybe she should have left that last part unsaid. "Are you alright, Bun?" And that was why she chose to ask something else.
Bun was wheezing, but seemed fine except for the scratch on his shoulder. "Fine." He managed to force out that one word and then went back to simply breathing. One less problem at least.
That left only Meta Knight because the Pyukii Flower was negligible right now. It didn't seem happy that Meta Knight and Bun had escaped, but because all of them were quite some distance out of reach for it, there was no danger from it.
"Does anyone of you have an idea how to help him?"
Lololo and Lalala were the ones to answer. "He heals faster than other people."
"So he will be fine."
"How do you know that?" Fumu looked at them, surprised at their knowledge. Lololo and Lalala in turn looked uncomfortable at each other.
"Eh... the last injuries he had healed fast as well."
"So it is logical that these will also heal fast."
That did seem like something they had made up right now, but why? Had they known Meta Knight before? But that seemed unlikely, after all Meta Knight had never shown any sign of knowing them before like he had with Kirby. Though Fumu had to admit that what they said was true.
"But we still have to stop the bleeding. Bun, what about the equipment I took with me on the boat?"
Bun hadn't been paying any attention to them. He had glared at the Pyukii Flower and was a little startled when Fumu suddenly asked him a question.
"Huh? What?"
"The equipment, Bun."
"Oh... Behind that rock." He gestured at some rock, but turned back in direction of the Pyukii Flower and ignored them again.
Fumu went over to the rock and found the bag she had prepared herself. Thankfully Bun had taken it along. Just when she was on her way back, she saw Bun move.
She didn't know what he did at first, then she saw something fly through the air. One of the Pyukii Flower's heads snapped at it, but missed and it became clear what Bun had thrown when the Pyukii Flower caught fire. He had thrown the torch.
"Bun!"
"That is revenge for almost eating me." Fumu should really be worrying about this behavior, but couldn't bring herself to that. Now at least it wouldn't hurt anyone else.
She just sighed and went back to Meta Knight's side, hoping that her bag would help her. She had band-aids, though those wouldn't really help in this case, and she had duct tape. She wondered why she even had that with her, but it also wouldn't help her that much right now. Fixing those wounds with band-aids and duct tape would seriously hurt she guessed and she wasn't quite sure if that would even work. And if band-aids and duct tape couldn't fix it, there was a serious problem.
Thankfully she also had bandages, though she had yet to figure out how exactly to bandage the wing. She would have asked Meta Knight, but as he was a little indisposed right now, she would have to figure out something herself. On second thought, though, she wouldn't have asked him because he would have been seriously uncooperative.
"So..." Lololo and Lalala seemed a little overwhelmed now, Bun didn't seem to care and Kirby looked sadly at Meta Knight. Great.
A/N: Actually I planned for this chapter to end up differently, but I can't say I'm sad with the way it did turn out in the end.
So after some alarming things Meta Knight did here or there, now something more than alarming. I think (actually I know) some future chapters will end up quite dark, so you have been warned for the future. ;)