I'm just gonna say that school destroyed most of my free time. It didn't help that I had writer's block too. Also... other games got me hooked whenever I DID have free time... cough Pokemon cough...

Happy New Year everyone. I hope 2017 will be a much better year than 2016 for all of us. It's been a while since I last updated the story but I'm here to continue. Enjoy!

Chapter 11: A Tour through the Jungle

In a dark hallway in a remote fortress, Claycia is using her magic on the golden star fragment causing it to glow rapidly and slowly illuminate more of the area. But as she continues her ritual, her grip on the star seems to be loosening more and more for some reason.

"Almost there…" she thought.

The star began to rotate at a very fast rate while spewing out heavy winds from its core. The effect of this damaged the marble walls and colorless cotta statues nearby. Claycia's spell is continuing to decline the more it drags out.

"Argh… Ego iam pars… audite sermonos meos…!"

The gold star blasted a wind force directly at her in response. Claycia easily withstood it but at the cost of her concentration. She dropped her hands in exhaustion and nearly collapsed onto the ground. The star's light faded away, ceased its spin and the winds calmed.

Claycia gathered her breath for a moment before sighing in anger "I was so close… yet so far. This color… if I could just annex this power into my own, I can finally be able to create true clay… all without that fairy pest…"

She glanced at the golden star. "Elline…" she whispered in a much softer voice.

Orange Woodland is mainly composed of a jungle that's blanketed by the orange sky. There is currently no wildlife present in the area and the tall trees cover much of the sky.

"The air is so... fresh and the trees give off a true sense of nature!" Bandana Dee beamed. "It feels like it's been ages since I've last been in a jungle. I can't wait for the thrilling adventure we'll have here!"

"Right…" Elline said in an unamused manner. "Our 'thrilling adventure; will be a jungle scavenger hunt..."

Bandana Dee's happy attitude quickly turned to sorrow. "Oh right, the star shard and we don't have a single idea where it could be at huh."

"Poyo…" Kirby sighed sadly.

Elline crossed her arms and closed her eyes to think. Then she suddenly remembered something from before. "Kirby, can't you just bury out the star like you did before?"

Kirby's eyes widened up. He shook his head twice and shrugged in response causing Elline to sigh.

"This won't be as easy as I thought… unless…" She pulled out the cyan star from hammerspace. The star levitated on Elline's left hand with a faint cyan glow.

"What are you going to do with that?" Bandana Dee questioned.

"Remember, I can detect where a lost color originally came from. If I tap into this, I might be able pinpoint the location of the sister one." She winked.

"That makes things a lot more convenient." Bandana Dee said. "But you don't sound very sure about this."

"Hehheh..." Her charming face turned into a sheepish smile. "I've never done this before. Who knows what will happen? Hopefully it will lead us to the area where that star may be at."

"That's still better than searching through this whole jungle." Bandana Dee shrugged.

"Now then, let's see how this goes." The fairy focused her hands on the cyan star and concentrated. The star glowed in a bright color after a moment. Kirby and Bandana Dee watched in awe as it began spinning around rapidly.

"Notam fac mihi viam vobis!" She commanded. The star fired a bright white light towards the south. The light shot through the trees and disappeared out of sight.

The trio were wide-eyed at what just happened. The star dimmed its light and stopped spinning.

"That's… it?" Bandana Dee questioned. "Also, what in the world were you saying!? I've never heard you spoke like that before, Elline."

"I knew this would happen. I…I think I messed that up." She stuck out her tongue in a playful and embarrassing manner. "And I can't use my power on this right away. The star has to recharge."

"You didn't answer my question." The waddle dee grumbled in his thoughts.

Kirby rolled towards the direction of where the light was fired to. "Poyo!" he signaled the pair to follow him.

"Looks like we have to follow the leader again." Elline said.

"I… I hope you don't mean him as a 'leader'." Bandana Dee spoke suddenly.

"Oh, no, no, we all worked together to get this far. Now let's go before he'll leave us behind." She flew on ahead.

Bandana Dee looked towards the trees in slight sadness. "I'm lucky that I'm noticeable this time."

They journeyed through the jungle, admiring the quiet and non-hostile surroundings. The only sounds that could be heard were their movement through the woodland nature. A few minutes of walking, felt like hours of dragging through dirt, twigs, branches etc.

The area appeared not to be changing. Many of the trees look the same as the neighboring ones.

Elline was the first to notice this. She spun around to get a good look around her. "Have we been walking in a circle? Nothing seems to be changing."

"Nope, we're right on track." Bandana Dee said. "Take a look at the ground. There's a ton of grass growing around us and I don't remember seeing a single patch of grass growing when we arrived. We should be on the right track."

His knowledge on nature caught her by surprise. It makes her wonder how much does he know.

"You seem to know a lot about forest layouts. How did you get all that knowledge?"

Bandana Dee got excited but he kept his neutral composure. "As a waddle dee, you go anywhere the king tells you to go. And because of that, I was able to pick up a thing or two about landscapes and other interesting stuff."

"Ooh, what kind of interesting stuff?" she continued.

"Well, there's…" Bandana Dee bumped right into Kirby right before he would finish the question.

Kirby was looking around rapidly as if he was searching for something. He paid no mind to being bumped into.

Bandana Dee spoke up. "Umm, Kirby, is there…?"

"Poyoo…" he drooled. He then rolled away from the group into the bushes.

"Hey, what are you doing!?" Elline yelled and pursued him.

"Don't let him run off again!"

Kirby was plowing through bushes with his rolling dash, leaving a clear path for his friends to follow. Bandana Dee and Elline were able to catch up to him this time because he was slowing himself down with the thick bushes. Bandana Dee grabbed him and held him in place. Kirby tried to squeeze forward absentmindedly. Elline flew in front of them.

"T-try to hold him steady?" she said nervously.

"I can't hold him back forever!" Bandana Dee was feeling Kirby slip off his grip.

Elline took a close look at him. Kirby seemed to be in a hypnotic trace as food was being rouletted on his eyes several times.

"Maybe this will work just like last time…" She bonked him on the head in the same manner as their first encounter in Dreamland, returning the puffball to normal.

"Poyo? Poyo!" he said angrily after realizing what happened.

"Sorry Kirby. I didn't know what else I could do." She replied sadly.

"Hey, at least it worked." Bandana Dee said. "I'm gonna assume that a random scent of delicious food was luring you somewhere. And that means one thing…"

"We… meet again… pests." A certain distorted voice echoed in the distance.

"Journey… ends… now." Another familiar voice echoed.

Bandana Dee sighed. "That's the one thing… or should I say they are the two things I was going to talk about…"

"Not them again. They're so persistent." Elline shivered.

The trio looked in separate directions. The Grab Hands could hiding be anywhere in the proximity.

"This isn't good…" Bandana Dee whispered.

"Poyo…"

As if on cue, the left hand lunged for Kirby from the side. He saw it in time and jumped out of the way reflexively, but he didn't see the right hand coming from behind him.

"Kirby, look out!" Bandana Dee stepped in and attacked the right hand with his spear.

"Why you…!" it yelled. "I'll... smash you!"

Elline used the opportunity to hide behind a bush and watched them fight.

"Those hands scare me too much…" she whimpered. "But I can't just hide here. They helped me so many times, now I have to help them." Elline looked around and saw a trail that's partially obscured by bushes.

She flew above the bushes and came across a river that seems to be flowing in the southern direction. Alongside the river, there are three blue gondolas attached to a rope that's hanging on the multitude of tree branches. Each seat was enough to fit a small being inside.

"This may help us..."

Kirby and Bandana Dee were backed into a tree. The Grab Hands are in fact clumsy yet they are formidable foes, even for the fighting duo. They lurked closer and closer. The heroes braced themselves for any attacks they would go for.

"Now… we've got you…" they yelled simultaneously.

"Kirby!" Elline yelled. She flew in from above and created a wall of rainbow rope in an instant that separated them and the hands.

"Where have you been?" Bandana Dee asked in an annoyed manner.

"No time to explain. Just follow me." Elline drew a rainbow rope that leads into the river she saw.

Seconds later, the Grab Hands tore apart the rope with their bare hands and saw that the trio was gone.

"They're… gone…!" the right hand yelled.

"Not… for… long…!" The left hand replied.

The trio appeared at the river in a flash.

"Gondolas? Good thinking, Elline. But we have to be careful. These things go really fast." Bandana Dee warned.

"Poyo!?" Kirby said in surprise.

Elline's second thoughts picked in. "Maybe we shouldn't get in after all…"

"But it's our fastest way of escape. We don't have a choice." He assured.

Elline sighed in defeat. "Okay then."

They all hoped into the three seats with Kirby in front, Elline in the middle seat and Bandana Dee in the back seat. Once they were all settled, the gondolas automatically locked them in with seat beats that nobody noticed.

"I-It's hard to move!" Elline yelled. "Why are these gondolas designed in the way they are!?"

"This must be a roller coaster."

The gondolas began moving on their own. They slowly picked up speed as they coursed down the river.

"This might be something exciting to write about in my diary but not something exciting to endure." Elline mumbled while shaking.

"Wait a second… my bandana… I forgot to take off my bandana! If we fall, it'll get wet! I don't want it to be wet!" Bandana Dee cried.

Kirby and Elline turned to him then at each other in confusion.

"T-t-this is a special bandana made by the great king. It took forever to dry this off safely from last time and the time before that!"

The Grab Hands appeared through the bushes at the river. They saw the trio riding on gondolas down the river.

"There… they… are..." the left hand yelled.

"Riding on… some weird… thing…?" the right questioned.

"Those fools… haven't seen... us..." the left said.

"…Sneak up... on... them..." the right suggested.

The gondolas continued to cruise down the river at a constant speed. The river water was starting to get more rough. The Grab Hands were stealthy flying out of sight from the trio.

"The forest surroundings are pretty. Maybe I could even paint my own portrait of nature." Elline mumbled.

"I think you can admire that tree branch that's in the way of our course." Bandana Dee pointed ahead.

A large tree branch was hanging around the gondola rope in the middle of the river. If they don't do anything, their river tour would end at the spot.

"D-d-does anyone have any ideas on what to do!?" Elline panicked.

Both Kirby and Bandana Dee were silent, although Kirby wasn't worried at all in the slightest for some reason.

The Grab hands were closing in the unsuspecting Bandana Dee. But they didn't notice the obstacle that's looming closer and closer.

"This is gonna hurt a lot." Bandana Dee shook with fear.

Both Elline and Bandana Dee screamed and braced for impact but Kirby remained silent. He was looking at his seat in interest. Specifically, he was looking at two levers that went unnoticed by the other two. The smaller one was in front and the slightly larger one was behind it.

"Poyo…" He pulled the small lever to see what would happen. A jolt of movement occurred to the gondolas causing the rope to shift towards the right end that's completely out of the way of the dangling tree branch. Kirby did this act not a moment too soon. A second later and it would have been a nasty collision for the trio.

However, the Grab Hands weren't paying attention. The left hand got caught in the branch and the right hand collided into him at full speed. After being stuck in the air momentarily, they both collapsed in the water.

Elline and Bandana Dee opened their eyes in confusion. They both turned around and saw that they were past the branch.

"How did…" Bandana Dee began.

"…we get through..?" Elline finished.

"Poyo?" Kirby spoke out innocently.

"Ohh…" Bandana Dee and Elline said simultaneously.

"Kirby, you saved us again!" she squealed with joy. "I wanna give you another hug!"

"So the front seat has a lever huh?" Bandana Dee tilted his head to the side. "How did we not see that?"

"I don't know. All that matters is that we're safe."

The random curse of jinxing has been brought upon them the moment she said that. The gondolas suddenly picked up speed for no reason. Now they are approaching…

"…An intersection is up ahead!" Bandana Dee warned.

"Which way do we go? Right or left?" Elline said.

"Hmm... I'm pretty sure skyguys says left." He assumed. "Right seems to full of rough waters."

"You heard him, Kirby. Switch to left."

"Poyo!" he agreed. Without much effort, Kirby moved his hand over the lever... which broke off for no reason, permanently trapping them in one track.

"Don't tell me…" Elline said with a horrified face.

"It broke didn't it? That thing must be rusty or something." Bandana Dee shrugged, already knowing what would happen next.

"Poyo…" Kirby smiled sheepishly and scratched his head.

That gave everyone a reason to scream. How would they escape an old, broken, and runaway gondola ride that may have a collision course somewhere?

Meanwhile, the Grab Hands just became woke up from from that nasty collision with a sturdy tree branch.

"Those pests… will not… get away…!" the left hand yelled.

"Uhhh… wait..." the right hand realized something.

"What is… oh… but why… now!? Doesn't Claycia… want us… to catch those… pests…!?"

"Must… follow… orders…" the right said.

"But... they may reach... the fortress... unless... we stop them... now...!"

"Claycia... may have... alternatives..."

They both knew Claycia had some sort of a backup plan. But she has yet to tell even them.

"grumble… Fine… Let's go…" the left said while flying towards the sky.

The waters were as a rough as the ride. The trio was zooming through the area at fast speeds. Fortunatly, they are able to move the gondolas side-to-side themselves to avoid obstacles coming their way.

"There's another dangling tree branch!" Elline warned.

Kirby quickly swerved right, unbalancing the whole rope. Elline narrowly avoided the collision but Bandana Dee wasn't so lucky...

There was one more intersection ahead. Straight ahead contains calmer waters that lead into a strangely empty horizon while the right turn is the end of the ride.

Without saying anything, they made that right turn and were soon thrown off into the ground. The gondolas automatically reverted back on the river trail and disappeared out of sight.

Kirby stood up energetically and quickly rolled to Elline who was face down in the ground.

"Poyo?" he shook her to awaken her.

Elline opened her eyes quickly and saw his face. "I'm okay, Kirby." She said while flying back to her usual levitating height. "But… that was… surprisingly fun." She beamed.

"Poyo!" Kirby agreed after a moment.

"I wanna ride that gondola again. Maybe it'll take me to… I don't know… a magical mall?" she giggled. "So, Bandana Dee you… um…" Elline glanced around and found that the familar waddle dee was no where to be found.

"Poyo?" Kirby was also confused at Bandana Dee's disappearance.

"Bandana Dee? Where did you go!" Elline yelled slightly panicky.

"Poyo!" Kirby called out.

They walked around the area calling his name for some time. After a while, neither of them were able to find a trace.

"You… you think he wasn't able to get off the gondola!?" she screamed.

There was one more gondola went straight ahead instead of turning. As it approaches the horizon, sounds of water falling could be heard…

Oh look, a cliffhanger. Everything will be revealed next chapter assuming I don't take another 3000 years to submit the next chapter. Again, I'm sorry for being really inconsistent.