Hey all! :D Yup, the next chapter is up FINALLY after nearly two whole months!
...I hope you're all still here! D: Anywho, I'm really kinda happy with how this chapter turned out! So, I hope that it's worth the wait!
Diclaimer: Don't own Kirby! What I do own is the growing plot of this story! ;D
Dark Battle in the Desert
It was quite a sight, really.
The stout penguin leader accompanied by a small creature walking slowly in front of the setting sun, reminiscent of two vagabonds meandering through their never ending journey – which was surprisingly close to the truth. The Penguin King, Dedede, had his hammer swung boldly over his right shoulder, daring any enemy that should cross their path to test his strength; his blue bird eyes were set stoic in front of him. The smaller creature, Waddle Dee, kept his paws up, flicking his bead eyes around conveying that he would rather not have to face a foe. His stance was less fierce.
The sun was now slowly getting closer to the growing horizon, spilling across the other colors that graced the skies of the vast desert and gave their hand to the clouds to share the spectrum. The desert itself was barren of such diversity, sands of white, dunes upon dunes.
Dedede suddenly stopped abruptly, holding a hand to shield the blinding sun from his eyes. Waddle Dee, looking elsewhere, bounced off of his back, walking into him; Dedede paid no heed to this.
"I think I see it!" he shouted, indicating the large astral diamond that stood amongst the never ending sand, a landmark for the lost. "At this rate, we should get there before night!" he laughed. Feeling a surge of energy, he began bounding across the desert, calling to Waddle Dee behind him.
Waddle Dee bounced up and ran after the Gung-Ho King, "Dwee~!"
Running across the the desert, they ran with new vigor, their destination getting closer by the passing moment. The diamond before them pulsed with light in a steady rhythm, beckoning them onward.
Arriving at the precipice that separated them from the landmark, Dedede slowed his step as he began walking over the bridge. Having a hard time keeping up before, Waddle Dee was thankful that the King had done so, now settling to a steady and relaxed trot.
Below them, rushing waters could be seen, turned a near sea green from the escaped light that had made it's journey from the bright sun. The waves weren't in a hurry, it appeared, as the water gently brushed upon the rock only a foot from where they began their leap. There appeared to be more vicious waves up ahead, though, that rushed forward, crashing upon everything that stood in their way coaxed out by the rocks from above that fell into the canyon.
Waddle Dee stopped, noticing this. Why would...?
Dedede was unaware of this until he noticed that his friend at remained behind, tugging at the ropes that held the bridge. The creature was perturbed, watching as rock upon rock fell into the water. His eyes were drawn away as Dedede patted him on the head.
"Hey," he reassured, "it's probably nothing that we should be worrying about. Besides, the diamond's just right up ahead," He waddled forward, passing off the occurrence as nothing of interest. Waddle Dee was unconvinced, puzzled; albeit. Sighing, he trotted after the King.
Stopping once more, Dedede suddenly gripped onto the ropes of the bridge. Waddle Dee stopped before running into the King once more and gazed at him questioningly. He soon got an answer to his unspoken question as he latched onto the nearest rope as well. The bridge swung about, the shaking ground passing into the once stable bridge.
Dedede, not at all thrilled with this, lunged out a hand for the stake drove into the ground that held the bridge. Getting a good grip on it, he thrust his other hand out for Waddle Dee to grab onto before he found that the creature had already jumped onto his head, clinging onto the pom-pom on his hat. The King rolled his eyes slightly before using the stake to give them a boost onto the other end.
Although they were now on safe ground, the desert rumbled and shook as the bridge did. They went back to back, looking for the source. Dedede instinctively brought his hammer up, flexing his gloved hands. Waddle Dee set up a brave face, scanning quickly the landscape. His eyes soon locked on a growing cloud of dust and sand before shouting to Dedede. The King's eyes widened as he rounded.
"What in the..." he trailed off, blinking to make sure this wasn't a desert mirage. He soon abandoned this thought, though, as he dryly thought mirages were usually good or helpful, enticing weary travelers to go toward them. This made him want to do the opposite.
He briefly thought of going into the diamond, but his curiosity and shaking – quite literally – feet kept him in place. Waddle Dee gulped as the growing cloud came out of the horizon, making a straight course toward them.
King Dedede did a quick double-take, recognizing the rampaging boars that made their home in the desert. He grimaced. "But why are there so many of them?!" he shouted to no one in particular.
The row of boars took up quite a bit of land, leaving little room to run. They kept on coming, having a death wish against the two, trampling over the land with little care of what they happened to step on on the way.
The King was frozen for this moment, staring into the setting sun with widened eyes. All he was focusing on the rampaging boars, their mad whites, and fierce tusks that stole the once gracing spectrum the sky had.
His hands twitched at their spot at his hammer; he should fight...he could take them. A few pounds here, a few there.
...couldn't he?
Waddle Dee managed to break his eyes from the spectacle and looked toward Dedede desperately, who was stone still. Panicking, Waddle Dee grabbed at his robe, screaming at the penguin to run with shrill cries of, "Dwee! Dwee~!"
The King wouldn't move.
As a final move of desperation, the creature hopped up to his shoulder, and taking a deep breath, shouted as loud as he could.
Dedede jumped, jolted out this state. Blinking quickly, he registered what his eyes saw, and grabbed a hold of the Waddle Dee, running toward the diamond, hopeful that the boars wouldn't shift course.
Arriving beneath the recesses of the giant astral landmark, King Dedede spun around quickly with Waddle Dee upon his shoulder.
He sighed with relief, tempted to collapse right then and there. The band of boars remained on their one-way track, soon to pass right by them.
Then something strange happened.
A flash of golden yellow, not unlike that the sun held, could be seen directly in front of the boars and the creatures suddenly set their heels up to stop...
Only to turn directly at the pair and continue their rampage.
Waddle Dee gasped, looking up at the King in hopes that he hadn't been touched with paralysis' bony hand once more.
Instead, King Dedede had a determined glint in his cerulean eyes and a tight grip on his hammer. He readied himself, setting his right foot behind him hard, kicking up a wave of sand. His hammer was set in a fighting position as he waited.
As if the confident aura of the King had been bestowed upon him, Waddle Dee took up a stance with a solid look in his eyes. He would fight with the King. His friend.
Now, they could feel the boar's hot breath, fuming from their nostrils along with the shining energy of the sun. Dedede bent slightly before bounding forward, Waddle Dee followed suit.
Bashing his hammer into the first one that lunged at him, he successfully flung it away from the scene, taking out a few others with it, falling like domino's from the first. He rounded upon another, flipping his hammer to make a side swing, taking out an arc of them.
Waddle Dee was doing surprisingly well for his size, managing to take out multiple ones at a time by jumping on the back of one and steering the crazed beast into the others. Stunning others with a kick of his shoes.
Soon, the hoard began to dwindle considerably. Dedede, becoming surrounded with the majority of the survivors that saw him as the strongest link, spun quickly in an attempt to spin a full three-sixty. However, whenever he did, one would leap at his blind spot and others would take the place of the fallen.
Dedede disdainfully rubbed at a scratch on his blue cheek from one of the boar's hooves. Glancing at his gloved hand, he only saw dapples of blood, proving the cuts to be not nearly as deep as they felt.
Panting heavily, he flicked his eyes around him as the boars began to scrape their sharp hooves against the ground in preparation to attack all at once. This done in synchronization, coaxed a small tremor from the rock landscape to bounce toward Dedede.
He snarled at this. They were taunting him. A tremor in the ground was what allured to their presence in the first place...
"Wait," Dedede whispered. He mentally slapped himself before taking upon a cocky grin on his beak. The boars looked momentarily confused before deciding that now was the time to attack. All of them, encircled around the King, leaped at the him with bared teeth.
Dedede only grinned before jumping up in the air as well with surprising speed, reaching heights above the boars. The beasts all crashed into one on another, knocked senseless as they were left to meander about with dizzying steps. The penguin wasn't done yet, however.
Residing in the air for only a moment before gravity took hold, he came crashing down faster than he went up, sending a devastating tremor to be released and knock the boars off of their feet to lay unconscious on the ground.
He shifted his hammer upon his shoulder triumphantly, "Let's see how you like it..." he scoffed.
Meanwhile, Waddle Dee managed to finish of the remaining two using his technique of riding on into another. Jumping off right before the boars collided, Waddle Dee bounded over to Dedede.
They both did a collective sigh of relief. The King gave a thumbs up to the brown creature, grinning, "Yup," he began, "I'd say we demolished them."
Waddle Dee nodded quickly, "Dwee!"
The King then looked toward the sun, squinting slightly; he leaned on his hammer with one hand, "And," he chuckled, "we even did it before night!" He then proceeded toward the diamond's entrance – a hovering piece of the bottom that emanated an urethral light.
Waddle Dee followed soon after, a pensive look on his face as he pondered the yellow flash they had seen earlier. Whatever it was, it had full control of the boars. He felt shiver go through him, unsure if it was from the coming night or the thought that came next. It was a frightening thought: to control a living creature's very motives and behavior.
King Dedede hopped aboard, Waddle Dee following suit as it magically floated upward, allowing them entrance to the diamond.
The sun's light that leaked aboard began to fade away as they rose higher. It's attempts at remaining with the two soon proved futile as they reached the boundaries of its limits.
Soon, it was pitch dark.
As the glowing lights took hold in the tower, King Dedede and Waddle Dee felt the new light bounce off of their features with little warmth as the neon colors lit their bodies with collages of red, blue, and purple.
King Dedede shifted about, his hammer resting on his shoulder, half expecting sparks of energy to come at them as they had before. He was mildly surprised to see not even one come flying at him with intent to burn; but, what he was truly surprised to see was that the guns themselves were gone from their places. He looked over to Waddle Dee, who had noticed as well, hopping about for even a sign of them.
Catching the King's look, her lifted his paws in a shrugging motion, passing it off as a pleasant surprise.
Arriving at the top of the area, Dedede and Waddle Dee raised their gazes upward to the even darker passage. The red, blue, and purple slowly faded off, returning to their homes of neon that laced the diamond's interior. The light, the colors, the glow...
Was gone as everything went black before their eyes.
...the chapter title has more than one meaning...