Adeline was still frantic, desperate for anything that might resemble Bandana Dee, but nothing seemed to matter. Nothing mattered. Not only was he defenseless, but he had to be seriously injured. Dedede had launched him so far away to the point it'd be a miracle if he was still in Green Greens. Ribbon was still lagging behind her still trying to grasp the situation. Although she kept flying to match Adeline's speed her face told a completely different story. The type of story that was annoying to read. Adeline had rushed into Whispy Wood's desperately, hoping to find anything from him, part of a bandana, a footprint, -which would be hard to decipher since almost everyone had similar feet-, anything would be a hint and a helpful clue, but there was nothing she could do. As her adrenaline had run out and her hands started to hurt again, she leaned against one of the trees as she struggled to catch her breath. Ribbon was flying idly while looking at her with a dead expression on her face.
"Like I said before, what do we do? It's not like we can just find him that quickly-" Adeline swatted at Ribbon, the disturbance made her lose her balance and nearly fall onto the ground.
"I know what you said. Stop saying it. It's not like we can just give up that quickly, there's no way that Dee could just be gone." Ribbon patted herself and regained altitude while snarling at Adeline. "We just have to think of something is all."
"What can you even do? I can barely fight and you can't draw," Adeline ignored this and got her canvas out. As she began to draw, she started to lose her grip on the paintbrush, whatever she was drawing couldn't form because her lines were shaky. Ribbon huffed and flew up into one of the trees.
It was like this for a while. Adeline continued drawing till her hands bled while Ribbon looked at her futile attempts, eventually falling asleep in the process. It was starting to get late and there wasn't much they could do in terms of shelter. Whispy was probably still mad about the events that occurred earlier, and it was too much of a trek to make it to the Bronto Burts' meadows and town. Adeline especially didn't feel like going back because Dee was launched through Whispy's Woods. If Ribbon hadn't lagged behind so much, then his smoke trail could've led them straight to him. Her thoughts were interrupted by her canvas glowing brightly and popping out a small, crudely painted Bandana Dee. She was losing focus. She put the tiny painting in her lap as she continued to draw.
Adeline was beginning to get tired of all of the Bandana Dees on her lap. She couldn't even remember what she was trying to draw before. Any attempts turned into Bandana Dees, some with different colored bandanas, one with a parasol, another with a tiny Adeline, and them hugging. That one was her favorite. She was just glad Ribbon fell asleep before she could catch wind of her drawings. Her Waddle Deelights, she started calling them. All of the Dees -excluding the Adeline and Waddle Dee pair- all huddled against her to watch her draw. Her hand was starting to get more accustomed to holding the paintbrush. Her first serious attempt was the most common thing she drew. A few quick motions here and there and out came an apple. It was good enough to pop out the canvas and eat, but it wasn't enough in terms of real food. The apple that fell on the ground was a whole feast for the Deelights. Okay, maybe a Maxium Tomato? The movements were faster and she was starting to get the details down -she thanked her photographic memory- and out came a juicy, ripe, Maxium Tomato in all its glory. As she grabbed it and it plopped from the canvas, as she began to take a bite, the tomato melted in her hand and turned into wet paint. As she looked over at the Deelights, she saw most of them covered in that same icky paint that the apple left. This only confused her, because why didn't any of the Deelights turn into paint? She examined them closer and realized that all of them were crudely painted and had not as much effort put into them. Imperfections. So. If I try to draw something completely perfect, then it won't have enough energy to sustain itself, but on the other hand, if it's crude and has many mistakes it might hold up better. There goes chances of food for the night. Well, she couldn't hurt to try again.
Adeline spent the last hour trying to get the taste of paint out of her mouth. The Deelights followed her and made decent guards. Anything that would come near her, would be in for a ride. Their tiny attacks didn't hurt, but it did annoy whatever they could poke their tiny spears at. It was only a matter of time before she and Ribbon started her trek again. She had to make do with what she had, a couple of cute drawings, an annoying fairy, and a bruised hand. Though seeing the real Bandana Dee's bandana still filled her with strength. However, it was still late, and knowing Ribbon, she liked to get her rest, part of her doesn't even understand how Kirby could like someone like that, though he liked everyone. Even the people that tried to kill him. But his "like" was different with Ribbon. It made her sick seeing the two acting so happy together, but she never knew why, maybe she was jealous? Of course not. She reassured herself as she looked down at her Deelights pressed up against her. She looked at the slightly bloodied bandana and went back to her canvas. She was praying that out of all of her paintings that disappeared, this would be the one to stay. Out came a sewing needle.
Morning had come. She spent all night sewing the slightly torn bandana. All of her little Deelights gave her company and dissipated through the night, leaving her alone with her thoughts and intense sowing. She realized that sowing with a bruised hand was incredibly difficult, but she did it. After finishing the bandana and cleaning it up, she took off her beret and replaced it with the navy bandana. She drew bandages, which she used on her hand, now she was determined to look for Dee. Wherever he could be. Ribbon was still asleep, but she spent most of the early morning checking around Whispy's Woods for any sort of clues to his whereabouts. Unfortunately, nothing had come up and she was starting to grasp at straws. Anything she could do to find him, she would. But her main priority was defense. As much as she hated to admit it, Ribbon was right. Both girls were defenseless and neither knew how to wield weapons.
Luckily, she encountered a Parasol Waddle Doo in the middle of the night and she asked for some quick training. Adeline thought that using a parasol would be nothing, but she never realized how technical it was. Parasol Twirl, Drill Stab, Circus Throw? She never heard of any of these moves, half of them sound like they're from some video game. The Waddle Doo was pretty friendly though, despite him having a rather untrained student, he gave her the Parasol because "You might need it". The sun was now beginning to show its face and Ribbon still hadn't woke up yet. She was tempted to smack her in the face with the parasol so she'd wake up faster, but she didn't want to be too rude towards her.
"Ow!" Thud! "Hey, what the heck was that for?" It's safe to assume that she changed her mind.
"It's time to go, the world is in danger and you're here sleeping like nothing's happened!"
"Fine." She looked down at the ground and started smirking. "I see you were busy all night..." Adeline turned her head to where she was facing and saw one of the Deelights and tiny Adeline still sitting together, before quietly dissipating into wet paint. Red in the face, she grabbed Ribbon by the wings, grabbed her canvas, and left Whispy's Woods. Judging from where he was launched, he might've gone into the colder regions of Dream Land. Or so she hoped.
It was a day of fruitless walking, passing the massive Peach Ponds and Donut Dome, both Adeline, and Ribbon made their way to the outskirts of Dream Land. Leaving the meadows and fields behind for more ponds and rivers. If Popstar weren't in danger, she'd sit down and probably fish. Speaking of, as the girls did their traveling, a few Blippers had hopped out of the water and attempted to attack the two, but Adeline was able to block herself and Ribbon from their..."attacks". The Blippers nearly drowned, but Adeline was nice enough to plop them back in the water. She already had too many things on her conscious and seeing a fish suffocate would be a less than stellar sight.
It was starting to get late again so they decided to camp out again. It was still somewhat awkward for them to talk about what happened yesterday. Both of the girls were disturbed by seeing their friends either being manipulated or hurt. Both of them were still trying to recover. The small plips of the bays and lakes were calming, they might've just entered Flooded Figs, it's a decently well-known spot for many to vacation. It's where the Onion Oceans and Ripple Fields reside, so it wasn't too unfamiliar to Adeline, but she did have to keep a closer eye on Ribbon. She doesn't take kindly to water, so she might have to figure out how to keep her safe -as if she isn't doing that already-, but for now, the crackles and pops of the fire put Ribbon to sleep and Adeline to herself again. She kept wondering what made her so tired to just sleep like that. If anything, Ribbon was slowing her down, if it were just her she'd be traveling in the night and probably find Dee by now, but she couldn't just leave Ribbon behind, despite her uselessness. Adeline gotten her canvas out and began to paint, there were some more Deelights, but it seemed like her hand was starting to heal a little more. Her motions were getting faster, but food was still an issue. She'd leave Ribbon again and ventured more into the foresty area of the beaches. Figs were abundant and very ripe -now she knew how the area got its name- she grabbed handfuls of them and made her way back to the camp. They weren't the best, but it was better than eating paint. She saved three figs for Ribbon once she woke up. The night wasn't as eventful as she would've hoped though, her searching for food was also an excuse to search for Dee, but there was nothing she could find and the tiny Deelights she made had only dissipated quicker due to how humid it was. Though, through the whole night, the one thing that kept eating at her was what that Waddle Doo told her, "You might need it." It ate at her more than she'd like to admit and she was nowhere versed when it came to fighting; outside of her drawings the most she could do was swipe her brush around like a lunatic, but no one fell for it. Even Kirby could knock her back with a simple puff of wind. As she made this realization, she went back to her canvas and walked away some distance from the camp. She made one swipe here, another there, spikes here, and a tail. A crudely drawn Ice Dragon; it plopped from the canvas and instead of her wanting its aid, she wanted to fight.
The painted Dragon rushed at her with a cold dash, Adeline barely dodged the attack, roughly landing on the gritty sand. She already wasn't like the outcome of this fight. The Dragon turned and started cranking its tail up for another icy attack, this was more telegraphed and Adeline took advantage of this by blocking the ice breath with a Parasol Twirl, as the Ice Dragon was trying to catch its breath Adeline had bopped it on the head with her Parasol. This was progress, but she was celebrating too early as the blue behemoth landed on top of her head and whapped her feet with its tail. He hopped off of the squished Adeline who was struggling to get her bearings. He made another dive for her head but she was able to drill the Parasol through his feet, making him bounce back in the process. He was stunned. Now was her chance! With a few flicks of the Parasol, the Ice Dragon was beginning to look a little weaker, though he shook off the bruises and continued to charge up an attack. An attack Adeline hadn't seen before. He opened his mouth and out came a massive beam that froze the ground. Adeline had little time to react and tried prepping the Parasol again to block. Unfortunately, the Parasol's handle froze and Adeline was forced to drop it, leaving herself vulnerable in the icy beam. She froze into an ice block and the Ice Dragon had kicked her into a nearby tree, the block she was in shattered with impact and left her dazed. The sheer force of the kick caused the tree's figs to all fall onto her head with multiple thuds. We had a winner. The Dragon realized the damage he done and rushed to Adeline's aid, picking her up and making small grunts in the process. "It's okay. I needed to build resistance." He grunted sarcastically and dissipated in front of her.
She sighed heavily and looked at her bruised body while rubbing her head. Her skin was mostly blue and she had frostbite on her hands where she held the Parasol. Ironically, the cold stopped her bruised hand from hurting, but the other felt a sharp pain from frostbite. She had to walk some distance, before getting back to the camp. The Parasol she dropped was still freezing. She threw it next to the fire and waited patiently for it to melt. Not only was she upset about Dee being gone, but she was also now beginning to realize how useless she really was. Just the artist, not the helper. Looking at the many spars Dee and Kirby had with a real Ice Dragon they'd sweep one in a matter of seconds. Alone. But she struggled against her own drawing, which was nowhere near as strong as the real deal. The fire's crackling had gotten louder and the ice began to crack and slowly melt away. If she would've kept the Parasol in the ice for longer everything would've shattered and she'd be left defenseless. ... More defenseless. She just couldn't wrap her head around how both Dee and Kirby can fight with something so...so dainty! She continued to brood throughout the night. She couldn't paint any companions due to the humidity, so she was left with her thoughts. Her very judgmental, self-deprecating, thoughts. All she could think about was if Dee was okay.
"...y." Silence.
"..ake up." Silence.
"Hey. Wake up." There were groggy sounds coming from him as he heard the unfamiliar voice. His eyes were still closed, but it wasn't until he felt a soft poke on his head before he sprung awake. He looked around, he looked like he was in some sort of...igloo? Whatever it was it was cold as hell! Well...that statement doesn't make any sense, but you get the idea. He put a hand to his face and looked up to see what looked like another Waddle Dee. They appeared to be more feminine. He sat up from the bed and fully looked at his surrounding. It was an igloo, there was a small TV to the left of him, a wardrobe, and a window that was adjacent to it. He couldn't see out of it, but he assumed that it had to be night since there was no light peering from the windows. The door was closed and there was nothing else he could do. Actually, what could he do? He didn't know where he was. Wait- where was he?
"Where is this in Dream Land? I have to get back to Green Greens!"
The other Waddle Dee tilted her head (body?) and looked at him oddly. "Dream Land? We're in Turnip Tundra, darling. To get to Dream Land you need about 8 Warpstars." Dee started to panic and the other Waddle Dee sat him back down on the bed, "Whoa sugar, easy. You're not healed yet. It's not going to help either of us if you pass out again."
"What happened to me?" Dee said wearily as he put another hand to his head, hoping it would ease some of the pain.
"Well, I don't know darling. You showed up near my igloo and weren't moving. When I took you in a saw a large bump on ya noggin and thought a pack of Scarfies mauled you. I nursed you back to health with some Maxium Soup and Pep Brews. I hope you aren't allergic, but considering the fact you haven't puffed up like that Pink Puff at a buffet, I'd reckon you're alright," Dee shook her hand generously and nodded.
"Thank you very much! Uh, could you tell me your name? I never caught it."
"My name? It's Deelila. Yours?"
"My name...hm. Hm..." He'd realize that his name didn't make much sense, due to him not donning his Bandana. The more he realized this, the more he'd fear for Adeline's safety. "My name is Dee."
"Ah, I guess your parents weren't that creative then, huh?"
You're one to talk...
"Well, I gotta run some errands. I need to get some firewood, I might have to also go shopping."
"This late at night?"
"Yeah, just about everyone else is asleep, so the best thing to do is to go when no one can bother me." With a wink, she put on a tiny scarf and mitts and left the igloo leaving Dee to the TV. It wasn't anything he found interesting. Some anime or something, but he was barely paying attention to it. All he could hear was the name of some girl. It might've been Toff or Tipp or something like that before he started channel surfing. As he was idly surfing, he began to consider whatever options he had in terms of travel. Kirby was the most versed in riding Warpstars. The last time he used one on his own, he crashed into Dedede's castle -Dedede was not happy when he saw his castle destroyed-, he could try and grab a Wheelie, but the last time he drove one he crashed into Dedede's castle -Dedede was not happy that Dee destroyed his castle again-, if he had his spear, he could use it as a copter, but not only was it slow, but Dedede had forbidden him from using it, due to him crashing it into his castle once. (Man, maybe that Hammer Flip was well-deserved revenge?) Outside of that, Dee couldn't think of any way of going anywhere, he just always ran. But if he ran half the distance of Popstar, there'd be no way he could stop Kirby's reign in time.
He didn't even come to realize that he was defenseless. He shook his head in disbelief and made the attempt of going out, but it was way too cold for him to do that. And if that lady thought he was attacked by Scarfies, it's possible there's a whole pack. They do like to flock to colder areas after all. So he sat there. Bored. Tired...Sleepy.
...
Morning had come and he woke up to the sounds of chopping and grunting. Deelila was outside chopping logs for more firewood, she swung the axe with relative ease, but wasn't able to get clear cuts. She heard the door open and she looked over her shoulder. "Oh hi sweetie, don't mind me I'm just cutting up some wood for us."
"Us?"
"Well yeah, you don't expect me to let you go right now do you?" He gulped and sighed to himself, sitting on the snow, watching her cut more of the wood. As he got a closer look, he could tell she was straining herself.
"It looks like you're having trouble."
"Darling, I've been at this all morning. If you think you're strong enough to do this, be my guest!" She literally tossed him the axe and was surprised his foot wasn't cut off in the process. As he wielded the axe and saw the uncut log, he had the stupidest, yet brilliant idea to throw the axe like a Cutter boomerang. It chopped the wood in perfect two and he was able to catch it. Although it wasn't as light at Cutter boomerang, he could make it work. Deelila clapped and marveled at his feat. Dee was just more surprised that his impulse worked for once. "Are you one of those fancy servant Dees? Ah is that why you wanna go to Dream Land?
"You can think of it like that. Just something bad happened there and I gotta get back somehow..."
"Well, I don't know anything about the fastest route to Dream Land, but I bet if I were to use a Gaw Gaw Sled, we'd probably be able to make it to Flooded Figs."
"I know that place, that's not that far from Dream Land. If we go now, we might make it there before sundown!"
"We can do it tomorrow."
"What?! Why can't we go now?"
"You're still hurtin' sugar."
"I'm not! I'm perfectly fine!" Deelila bops him softly on the head. His whole body shakes and he goes tumbling to the ground with an unceremonious thud.
"See darling? I told ya." Dee was face-first into the snow with a loud groan, giving Deelila both satisfaction and a small giggle, "If I haven't killed ya, you can help me with the rest of this lumber. After we finish that, we can rest for the rest of the day, and then tomorrow morning, we can go into Flooded Figs."
"(muffled) Okay."
Thanks for reading! Reviews and Criticism are appreciated!
A/n: My headcanon was that all of the areas on Popstar in the different games were mostly universal, like how most of the time the second or third world in a Kirby game is beach-themed. All of the games have different names for those similar areas, but I always thought they were the same areas, but different regions. (Like how Cookie Country and Green Greens are still part of Dream Land.) It's also technically canon, that Dream Land is just the grassy fields, so not all of the lands on Popstar is Dream Land which is why I put so much emphasis on the non-grassy locations being different from Dream Land.
I also have a headcanon that Adeline is a somewhat nervous artist who often draws what's on her mind so the Deelights are like a coping mechanism. Another thing is that despite what this story might make you think, I really love Ribbon as a character. It's just always funny to read fanfictions where she's this comic relief or just this Navi-like fairy that's a bit of an airhead.
Enemy Index:
Waddle Doos are basically Waddle Dees, but they have a massive eye. They give Kirby the Beam Ability, they're a little more hostile than Waddle Dees but aren't considered threats. Both Waddle Dees and Doos can hold Parasols and use that to attack instead.
Blippers are the cute little fish with goggles that swim around and occasionally jump out of the water. When they're on land they kinda flail around and in some games, they just die if they're on land for too long.
Ice Dragon is a boss from Kirby's Dream Land 2. A boss that can shoot ice projectiles and freeze anything in sight. It's always been a running theme that Adeline draws him as a boss that attacks Kirby (when she's possessed.) So whenever she draws one and often uses it to attack or ride she treats it as a companion.
Scarfies are round orange little creatures that get angry when touched or inhaled. I thought it'd be funny that Deelila thought Bandana Dee was mauled by them since Scarfies are usually found in the snow levels.
Gaw Gaws are these dog-like creatures that are Kirby's Squeak Squad. They give Kirby the Animal Ability and are well known for digging through snow or large patches of ground. I decided to use them as a substitute for actual dogs because I don't think there are real dogs in the Kirbyverse.