Author's Notes: Oh goodie, another chapter posted within a short period of time. So, you guys ought to like this chapter. It's part filler, part action scene. You won't be sorry for reading this.
By the way, thanks for the recent reviews. I really do enjoy them, and more reviews would be nice. Pretty please? I'll give you all cookies!
Samus: My turn again! Captain Black Knight once again does not own SSBB. It belongs to Nintendo.
Chapter 21: Camps and Catfights
Meta Knight flew back to the site of the Halberd with Link and me in tow. He landed and set us down next to the makeshift camp that the others created a few hours ago. We saw Pit and Snake gathering the spare firewood into a neat pile as Will tended the fire. Kayla suspended a kettle over the flames in order to cook dinner. Candace and Samus brought out blankets and pillows for everyone, while Jim and Marth sat there, not having much of a job to do. Kirby and Mr. Game and Watch were nowhere to be seen, perhaps because they were still doing their job inside the Halberd.
"I shall gather Sir Kirby and Sir Game and Watch from the ship, and I will return soon," Meta Knight stated. "You two can go join the others around the fire." We nodded our thanks and made our way towards the group. As we approached, the others turned their heads towards us.
"You're alive!" Will confirmed with true concern, despite the fact that he sounded sarcastic. "You guys have been gone for a while. Where have you been?"
"Oh, we were out in the mountains, just dealing with some persistent scum," I commented in a carefree tone. Link nodded to add to my point. I then noticed that the night was still young, and hence the reason why everyone was still awake and awaiting dinner.
"Well, you're just in time for my incredible stew," Kayla cut in. "Did you guys get water?" Remembering our original task, Link and I brought out the bottles of water we collected and handed them to Kayla. "Dinner is served, guys!" Everyone gathered around the campfire, eager to get a taste of Kayla's amazing cooking skills. Even Meta Knight returned with Kirby and Mr. Game and Watch. Part of the group was absent when Kayla, Candace and I cooked last night, so they were in for a treat. Kayla divided the stew and distributed it to each person – or puffball – evenly.
"Wow, this is delicious!" Samus praised after she tasted the stew. "How did you learn to make such good stuff?" Kayla just laughed and rubbed the back of her head.
"If you think that's good, you should have tasted what the other girls made last night!" Pit commented cheerfully. The others ate their meals with mixed conversations and occasional laughter. Mr. Game and Watch didn't eat, since he never does, anyway. Then how come he throws bacon and stuff like that from a frying pan? Nonetheless, Kirby ate his portion of the stew along with his own share.
The night went on as everyone finished dinner and prepared to get some rest. Will continued to tend to the fire as Jim added more planks of wood to the flames. The group needed warmth in the open clearing, after all.
"If everyone would please direct their attention to my next statement," Meta Knight started as everyone turned their heads to look at him. "I need to note this: Two people should remain awake to keep guard over the camp. Every hour two others can take over, so on and so forth. Is that clear?" Everyone nodded and Meta Knight returned the gesture.
"Link and I will take the first watch tonight, Meta Knight," I said as the others chose their sleeping spots. "We'll be sure to wake you guys if any trouble occurs."
"Thank you," he replied. "As for the rest of you, I bid you good night." With that he crawled under his blanket and went to sleep. As the others wished each other a good night, they removed their gear and also covered themselves with their blankets and drifted off to a hopefully peaceful slumber.
Meanwhile, Link stood a few feet away, staring into space, apparently in deep thought about something. I sat by the fire, appreciating its warmth, as I looked around at the scene. Something about watching the others sleep made me feel a few different emotions – contentment, delight, curiosity, etc. – all at once.
Meta Knight slept in his own little spot by himself. Mr. Game and Watch lied flat against Kirby as a snooze bubble inflated and deflated from his nose, something that made me snicker. Snake also slept in his own personal spot, apparently clutching his 9mm gun even as he slept. I thought that was rather strange and uncomfortable, but nonetheless he did so, perhaps out of paranoia or self-comfort. Samus slept between Will and Jim for some reason, one that I will probably never understand. Pit and Candace lied next to each other, while one of his wings blanketed Candace's body. I thought that was cute. Marth and Kayla slept pretty close together, her head on his shoulder. It was as if they were cuddling each other.
I then looked back at the fire, hugging my legs and sighing. Staring into the dancing flames, I recalled the events that occurred today – the conversations, Wolf's departure, Samus' arrival, the torn sky, the Halberd landing, Candace and Pit getting into trouble, the battle with Galleom, the encounter with Dialga and Palkia, fighting off the Primids – all of it settled into a giant jumble of unanswered questions and almost unexplainable emotions that meshed in my brain.
I looked into the sky, noticing the unnatural tear in the sky that had dark colors and bright light swirling within the tear. It still confused the hell out of me, yet it gave me a mixed sense of hope and dread. As I contemplated its presence, something else caught my eye. Link lingered over to the side of the ship and sat down. As I looked over at him, he noticed me and motioned to me to join him.
I got up with an interested look on my face, and I walked over to him and took a seat next to him on his left side. I wasn't sure if he just wanted me to accompany him or if he actually had something to say, but nonetheless I eagerly awaited some words to come out of his mouth. He looked up at the night sky, and I watched him with a bit of curiosity. Shouldn't we be on guard duty? I asked myself. Whatever, I didn't really care at the moment, so I also looked up into the sky.
"Wow, the full moon is beautiful," I mused, noticing the moonlight casting its glow upon us. "The stars are beautiful, too."
"Indeed they are," Link agreed. "Just like you." I blinked and just stared at him, slightly taken aback by his comment. I wasn't used to such compliments from people of the opposite gender, so a comment like that had surprised me. Nonetheless, I appreciated it, giving Link a smile that he adored. I then looked back at the group of sleeping souls, just noticing something.
"I wonder how much my friends miss our home world," I muttered. Link looked at me, eager to hear my reason. I looked him in the eye and continued. "Believe it or not, most of my friends here have significant others waiting for them back home. I would assume that they would miss each other a lot, but it seems like some of my friends here have befriended the people in this world – perhaps even developed some sort of romance between them. Look at Kayla and Candace, for example, how they act and feel around Marth and Pit. It's like they have almost forgotten their boyfriends. I feel bad for all four men. Also, I can't tell if they want to go home or not."
Link remained silent for a long moment, not sure of how to respond to this. Later he decided to speak up.
"What about you? Do you have a significant other back home?" I shook my head.
"No, I don't," I answered. "In fact, I've been romantically alone all my life. I have always felt like I was doomed to be alone for all eternity. But then fate intervened and brought me to you. That's why I grew to love you and be happy around you. It's one reason why I thought of what I said a moment ago. I'm stuck with a dilemma of whether I should go home or stay here."
Another awkward silence followed my statement as Link stared at me again. He then slowly rested his arms at his sides as he took my right hand in his gloved left hand.
"I've wondered that as well," he spoke. "I've always thought about whether you would return home or not and how I would feel if you suddenly left. People have wondered why I've never had a love interest in women like Zelda or even Samus, and the reason is that I knew that someone like you would eventually come along. Now that you entered my life, I need you more than anything, and now more than ever. I don't want you to leave, but I feel that I can't stop you from returning to your real world if you do so." He sighed. "I guess neither of us knows what to do."
"Well, let's not worry about that for the time being," I suggested. "Right now we have each other, and that's what counts." I leaned towards Link and planted a soft kiss on his lips that made him blush and smile. "Besides, we have worlds to save, right?" He then chuckled at my last comment and nodded.
I was growing tired from the conversation and from being awake for so long. It occurred to me that only fifteen minutes passed by as we chatted, and yet the time seemed to fly quickly. Oh well, I wasn't complaining. I repositioned myself into a lying position, resting my head on Link's lap. I looked up at him with a small smile as he brushed one hand through my blonde hair, still holding my hand with his other hand. I was enjoying his company, no doubt.
"Shouldn't you be keeping watch?" Link asked with a chuckle. I just gave him a snide yet joking look.
"I know," I replied sarcastically. "You should be on guard, too, you know." I chuckled. "Besides, nothing's happened yet, has it?" Suddenly, as if on cue, a rustling sound echoed from the trees. I bolted upright and looked around frantically, and Link's hand moved from my hand and to the hilt of his blade. Damn, we're still on guard duty, aren't we? I asked myself. I was so enjoying the moment.
"What was that?" I asked no one in particular. "Did you hear that?" Despite the fact that I was relaxed a moment ago, my body suddenly tensed from the sound. I quickly got to my feet and reached for my Beam Sword, activating it.
"The source of the sound is over there," Link answered, pointing to a particular section of trees. I peered in the direction of Link's gesture and crept carefully towards the forest edge. The rustling sound occurred again, and I stopped in my tracks.
"Whatever it is, I hope it's friendly," I muttered, tightly clutching the hilt of my energy blade. An awkward silence fell over the clearing, and I tensed up even more. Suddenly out of nowhere a black object flew at top speed towards me. I couldn't dodge it in time, so it hit me square in the face.
"Ow, me and my big mouth!" I hissed through my clenched teeth, clutching my nose.
"Whoa, are you okay?" Link asked me as he approached me.
"Well, my nose is in great pain, and it might be bleeding or broken, but otherwise I'm peachy!" I looked down and glanced at the object that hit me a second ago. Said object confused me greatly.
A frying pan? I asked myself. But who would carry around something like that? My question was quickly answered as a figure stepped out of the shadows of the trees and slowly approached us. The second I got a better look at the figure, I knew who it was, but I couldn't believe my eyes.
"Peach?!" I exclaimed. Indeed Princess Peach appeared and threw her frying pan at my face. She bent down to pick up her frying pan and then backed off ever so slightly. Something was rather off about her, but I couldn't quite put my finger on it. "What is Peach doing here, and why did she deck me in the face with a cooking tool?" As I asked that, someone lightly tapped my shoulder. I turned, expecting to see Link's face, but instead I met the half-fatigued gaze of Solid Snake.
"That's not really Peach," he stated, glaring at her. "Notice the dark aura and the glowing eyes?" I nodded, just noticing that now. "She's merely a clone of the real Princess Peach. Make sense?" He then cocked his 9mm and aimed it at the Peach clone. It occurred to me that somehow Snake was the only one who noticed all the commotion and woke up from it, while the others slept through the noise.
"So, shall we clobber the fake princess?" Link asked boldly. Snake and I nodded as all of us assumed battle stances. False Peach also readied for battle opposite us.
The latter immediately charged at us with open hands, ready to strike. We all sidestepped, but the fake princess seemed too smart for that. She sidestepped towards me and delivered a clean bitch slap to my left cheek. I simply cursed loudly and thrust my knee into her stomach. She keeled over but then regained her composure – only to get a foot to the face from Snake. False Peach shook off the pain and backed off, regrouping herself. She then reached down into the ground and randomly plucked several large turnips from the dirt. I'm not sure how they got there or why they had faces on them, but I wasn't going to ask questions at the moment. False Peach threw the turnips at each of us, hoping to score a hit. Link blocked the joyful-looking turnip with his shield, while I ducked from the apathetic-looking turnip.
Snake wasn't so lucky, though. He got hit square in the face by the turnip with the zombified stitch-face on it. I knew that was trouble, for it caused so much damage to Snake that he was instantly knocked back. He was sent flying backwards and skidded across the ground to a stop. He muttered something inaudible and then blacked out.
"Well, that's one soldier down," Link muttered disappointedly. He then turned his attention back towards the fake princess, hoping to avenge the fallen mercenary. Whipping out the Gale Boomerang, Link threw it at Peach, causing her to spin around uncontrollably. He then followed up with several sword slashes, and I joined in, slicing her up with my energy blade. False Peach reacted by kicking Link in the chin, sending him upward and then back down, hitting the ground. I retaliated by dropkicking her, causing her to fall on her ass.
"Take that, you dumb broad!" I sneered. She quickly got up and slammed into me with her ass of steel, knocking me over. She looked down at me and waved a finger at me. I could tell she was taunting me, and I just had enough. I took a second to growl at her, but then I got up and lunged at her, tackling her to the ground. The two of us started a catfight.
We kicked and clawed and wrestled each other for a good five to ten minutes. Link could only look on in great confusion and awkwardness. Apparently he also tried to hold back a fit of laughter, despite the occasional snicker that escaped his mouth.
False Peach and I backed off each other, deciding to cease with the games and to continue truly battling each other. Again I brandished the Beam Sword, and I dashed at False Peach, raising the blade high above my head, ready to bring it down upon her. The fake princess, however, parried my blade with…a parasol? Regardless we engaged in a heated 'sword fight', scoring occasional strikes on each other. Eventually I managed to slice the parasol to bits. Link then led me off to the side and whispered something in my ear.
"Let's try a team attack to finish her off," he whispered. I nodded in agreement. We then surrounded False Peach on both sides. She assumed a defensive position, but it was no good, for I grabbed her from behind, kicked her a bit, and then threw her up into the air with as much strength as I could muster. Link then took over as he leaped up into the air towards False Peach, letting loose a long combination of sword slashes on her. She couldn't do anything about it since she was immobile. Link then slashed her one final time and slammed her into the ground. As a result, the fake princess reverted back into her trophy form. Link and I both looked down at it, satisfied with our victory. Link poked the trophy with his foot, and it dissolved into Shadows Bugs and disappeared.
"Well, that was fun," I commented with a heavy sigh. We took a minute to catch our breaths, but then a sudden voice broke the silence.
"You! Hold it right there!"