Part 2
Kirby headed towards his personal favorite area of the cave, the Crystal Area.
"I knew the captain said that this cave had rare minerals, but this is quite the sight." Risotto said as he looked all around him.
"Yeah, that's why this is my favorite area! It's so pretty, isn't it?"
Everyone nodded.
"Just be careful, we might get attacked by a computer virus."
This caught the resident hacker's attention. "Computer virus?" Minestrone asked, very interested in the sound of that.
"Computer Virus is the thing that guards this area. You can only attack him at certain points during the fight."
"Oh, we'll see about that." Minestrone said with a grin as he pushed up his glasses. "I didn't think there'd be anything I could do in this cave. I don't know how a computer virus can exist outside of a computer, but if it's digital, then I can handle it."
"Well, that's great! Now we definitely don't have anything to worry about!" The puff said with a smile. That's when he noticed someone was missing. "Where's Bicerin? It's not a good idea to be separated in this area."
"Typical... don't worry, Kirby. Bicerin just loves to analyze his surroundings." Minestrone then turned and shouted out. "Yo, Bicerin! Make a giant thumb!"
After a moment, the group saw a giant thumb.
"See? There he is. Thanks, pal!"
Kirby nodded happily. "Well, as long as we know where he is, I guess it's not a problem."
He then looked at Risotto expectingly. "Sooo, could you show off more animals, please?"
The man smiled. "Very well. My friend wishes to see you, so please reveal yourself!" He called out while clapping his hands together. A large cloud of smoke appeared and from it came out a three headed wolf.
"Woah! She has six ears!" Kirby pointed out, much to Risotto's amusement and confusion.
"Usually, people comment on the heads, but you went straight for the ears."
"Yeah, because you don't normally see animals with six ears!"
"I suppose I can't argue with that. Kirby, something tells me you are good with animals."
"What makes you think that?"
"For starters, you immediately knew she was female. Most assume she's male because of her appearance. Secondly, she's rolling around on her back. She only does that if she likes someone."
Kirby rubbed his head, embarrassed by the compliment. "So, what is her name?"
"Hikaru."
"Hikaru. That's a good name! Hello Hikaru!"
The wolf gave a friendly bark.
"So, does she have three brains or does each head share the same brain?"
"That's a good question."
"Hmm? Not even you know?"
"I merely summon and take care of them. As much as I wish I knew everything about animals, I simply don't."
Kirby nodded in understanding. "I wish I knew everything about them as well." A light bulb went off in his head. "Maybe I can ask Magolor! He's smart."
"Magolor? Wasn't that the name of a notorious Halcandrian criminal?" Granita tiredly asked, already attempting to use Hikaru's fur as a bed.
"Former criminal, you mean! He's good nowadays!"
"Reformed or not, we should probably turn him in." Risotto stated.
"Wait! Magolor died, so shouldn't his past crimes be dead, too?"
The others gave each other curious glances, unsure what to say. That's when Bicerin came back to the group and wrote out something with his fingers to Kirby. "Galactic law article 80472, in the unlikely event a criminal is resurrected, they are to be observed for a whole month. If they haven't committed any crimes in that time, they are free to go."
"Does it count if Meta Knight was the one observing him?" The puff nervously asked.
Bicerin nodded and wrote out. "As long as he reports to a superior. In other words, have him tell mommy Kurabe about it."
The child gave a slight giggle. "Well, I'm sure that he's already talked with her about it once, so it should be fine!"
Bicerin and discreetly gave Kirby a piece of paper which said. "There's no actual article that says that. I just believe in second chances. Just don't mention this to anyone else, okay?"
The puff gave a nod in understanding.
"Bicerin, if you're gonna make up fake rules, don't do it around the guy who has studied our laws for decades." Minestrone sighed. "Not that it really matters. Just keep an eye on Magolor and none of us will do anything about him." He then said to Kirby.
The puff smiled. "Well, don't worry! He's not gonna do anything bad ever again while I'm here!"
"Well, considering you kicked his ass before, I can trust you. Now as for you, Bicerin. What do you have to write for yourself?" He asked sternly.
"Next time I won't get caught." The masked man wrote out.
It was at that point that Risotto flicked Minestrone on the forehead. "Mind your language around the child, Minestrone."
"Oh please, as if ass is that bad. I could be saying duck but with an f instead."
"Minestrone." Risotto uttered again, his voice becoming dark.
"Yes?" He replied, unthreatened. "I've literally done nothing wrong, so I don't get why you're acting all grumpy. But fine I'll watch my language. It's not like I was the one who stopped Bicerin from making a huge mistake or anything. But noooo, I'm the bad guy 'cuz I said one mildly bad word."
"No, I'm quite sure Meta would be the same way."
"Don't deflect this, Risotto. You had no reason to flick me. Yes, I shouldn't have cursed but that was an honest mistake. There's no reason for you to be acting like a jerk towards me."
"Please stop, both of you." A very upset Kirby said. "Minestrone was just being nice to me, there's no need for any fighting..."
Almost immediately, both men felt horrible.
"You're right. I shouldn't have flicked you Minestrone. I just don't want you cursing around Kirby."
"You could have done that without the flick. You always forget how strong you are, ugh... I feel a migraine coming."
"Then we'll take a short break for you to recover."
"I don't need a break. I just want an actual apology. And you guys wonder why I'm so irritable sometimes."
"PLEASE STOP FIGHTING!" The puff shouted, now with tears in his eyes. Both men now felt even worse.
"Minestrone, I apologize."
"Apology accepted."
"Will you two get along now?" Kirby asked.
"I have no problems getting along with the others. As long as I'm treated with respect, I'll treat them with respect." Minestrone said in irritation as he pushed up his glasses.
"Oh please, will you two just kiss already? I'm getting tired of all this..." Granita grumbled in clear annoyance as she sunk further into the wolf fur. Kirby giggled at the offhand comment.
"Alright, I'll drop the subject." Minestrone said.
"No, you have every right to be upset, Minestrone. I shouldn't have hurt you nor should I have interrupted your conversation with Bicerin and Kirby. I apologize for this."
"Dude, it's fine. Let's just forget what happened, alright?"
Risotto silently nodded.
"So, you're friends again?" The child asked.
"We never stopped being friends. Even friends make mistakes." The large man replied.
"Good! Now let's keep going!" Kirby cheerfully said, no longer upset.
Everyone was surprised at how fast the puff got over what just happened but decided to just go along with it. However, they definitely didn't want to upset him again. Not only because of how kind this child was, but also because they knew they'd have to face the wrath of Meta if he found out.
The group kept walking, occasionally contributing to small talk, though it was obvious that two of the members were feeling awkward at the moment.
"So, Kirby, how'd you find this cave in the first place?" Granita asked.
The puff gave a timid giggle. "I fell down the hole we entered..."
"Eh, I've heard dumber explanations for stuff."
"Yeah, but it's still a bit embarrassing..."
"A lot of discoveries are embarrassing in nature. Heck, I didn't discover my sleeping problem until someone pointed out to me that I'd been awake for three hundred hours."
"That sounds awful..." The puff uttered. He couldn't imagine staying awake for more than 48 hours, let alone 300!
"Meh... it sounds worse than it actually is. Anyway, my point is, everyone has things they are embarrassed about."
"Yeah, I know."
"Then don't be embarrassed about talking about it. You made a huge discovery, even if it was by accident."
"Ah. Ok."
Granita patted him on the head. "You're a good kid, Kirby. I'd never seen anyone bring an argument to a stop before it could get heated like that."
"Oh...it's nothing. I just really don't like it when my friends fight."
"Yeah, but there's something you should know. They weren't fighting. They were arguing. They might seem like the same thing, but there's an important difference. With an argument, it can easily end peacefully. The argument they had was about to come to an end. You didn't need to stop them, but because you did you prevented further problems from happening. You did good, Kirby."
The puff took a moment to process everything he was told. "Well... um... thank you."
"Now I'm not saying arguments are a good thing and stopping them is always the right thing to do. Sometimes some situations just need to naturally come to a conclusion. Though again, you did a good thing."
Kirby only blushed, slightly unsure how to respond to so many compliments. "So, they weren't actually mad at each other?"
"Well, Minestrone was, but I can't really blame him. Sometimes he feels like he's underappreciated, but we don't intend to make him feel like that."
"Then act like it!" The man in question shouted.
"If only it were that easy." She replied.
"It is that easy! Your brain is being stupid and making you think it's hard!"
She laughed. "Well, I guess my mind isn't the most reliable. Still, you're right. That's probably why Minestrone and Bicerin are best friends. They are near inseparable."
"Well, I'm glad he has at least one person that never over looks him, but all of you should still be better about it. He wasn't even doing anything wrong, so I don't know why Risotto was being mean to him. And Risotto seems like such a nice man, too..."
"Oh, that's because he's protective of kids. A bit too protective sometimes."
"Oh, so he's nice, but goes a bit far in being nice. I can understand that."
"Exactly. Sometimes arguments happen because two people both believe they are in the right. In this case, Minestrone was more in the right, but that doesn't mean Risotto is bad. Just rough around the edges."
The puff nodded in understanding as Granita plopped herself back on the wolf.
"Strange that we aren't finding anything yet..." he then uttered absentmindedly.
"Finding what? Treasures or monsters?" Bicerin asked with his hands.
"Treasures, of course!"
"Well, that's the problem with treasure hunting. Sometimes the hunting takes forever."
"Oh no, it usually doesn't take this long in the great cave!"
Minestrone chuckled. "There's an exception for everything. Wait, what's that shining in the distance?"
"Oh, that's probably a treasure chest! Let's go see!" Kirby exclaimed as he ran off. Bicerin and Granita, riding on Hikaru, ran after him. This left Risotto and Minestrone alone with each other.
"Minestrone, are you sure you accept my apology?" Risotto asked, using the time alone to ask what was on his mind.
"Yes, yes, I'm sure. I thought I told you to drop it!" The man replied, pushing up his glasses.
"Yes, you did, but I feel bad about it."
"Look, I get it. You just didn't want Kirby to hear any cursing. That's admirable. You could have done things differently, but you didn't. That was then, this is now. Quit beating yourself up over it."
Risotto gave a sigh then. "Very well."
"Look if you really want to make it up to me, even though you don't need to. Just promise to keep looking after Kirby without being violent about it."
"Alright then."
"Good. Now come on, of they encounter the virus without me, I'll be miffed."
The larger man nodded and followed after him.
While they kept walking, Kirby and the others arrived at the chest.
"So, who should open it?" The tired woman asked.
"Well, how about you decide between yourselves! Just remember that whoever opens it gets to name it!"
"Well, Bicerin, what do you think?"
"We should wait for those two slowpokes to catch up." He wrote out.
In a few minutes, Minestrone and Risotto caught up to them.
"Let me guess, we have to decide who opens it?" Minestrone asked. Upon receiving a nod, he immediately looked at Risotto. "You do it."
"Why me? Would you not like to do it?" The large Limet asked.
"One, there'll be other opportunities. Two, I can practically hear you begging to be the one to do it. It's written on your face."
"Yup! Everyone will have an opportunity to find treasure, so don't worry about it!" Kirby exclaimed.
"Alright. But what do you mean it's written on my face?"
"Your left eye is slightly bigger than the right. You only do that when you're excited."
"Oh... so it is." The man uttered, as if realizing this for the first time.
"I'm a hacker and programmer. Noticing small details is a necessity."
"That makes quite a lot of sense..." Risotto uttered as he stepped towards the chest and opened it up.
"Oooo, what is it? What is it?" Kirby asked in excitement.
"It's some kind of orb." Risotto said, pulling out a red and white ball with a button in the middle.
"Hm... I wonder what it was used for... oh well! That doesn't matter! What matters is that because you found it, you get to name it and decide what to do with it!" The child exclaimed.
Risotto was about to name it when a wild bat came out of nowhere at dashed at him. Without thinking, Risotto threw the orb at the bat, and, to everyone's surprise, the ball opened up and absorbed the bat into itself.
"...whoa! How did you do that!?"
"I didn't do anything..."
"It's the ball. Must be equipped with some kind of capture functionality." Minestrone said, immediately hit with the urge to analyze it.
"Let Risotto decide what happens to it! He's the one who found it! Also, he has to name it!"
The tall man shook his head. "He can look at it. With my magic, the ability to capture creatures is irrelevant. Though I suppose I should name it... the Capture Orb."
"Great name!"
Risotto nodded and tossed the ball at Minestrone, who was barely able to catch it.
"So shall we get moving?" Kirby asked.
"Sure, I wanna find that dang virus anyway."
As if tempting fate itself, a large box appeared in front of them. Inside that box was a somewhat silly looking dragon.
"I assume that's the Computer Virus thing you kept mentioning?"
"Yup."
Minestrone smirked while pushing up his glasses. "Leave this to me. Finally, it's been a long time since I got to use my talents on the field."
He then grew two extra arms and started typing away on both of his wrist computers. While this was happening the dragon a blast of fire at the man.
"I don't think so, buster..."
With a tap of a button the fireball froze in place and disappeared. The same then happened with the dragon, leaving a frozen box behind.
"Truly fascinating. You guys go on ahead, I'm going to pick apart this virus piece by piece."
"Are you sure?"
"Don't worry, I have a tracking device on Bicerin. I'll find you guys later."
"Wait, you put a tracking device on your friend?" Kirby asked.
"With his permission yeah." Minestrone responded with Bicerin holding a thumbs up.
"Oh... ok." The puff replied as he began to move on with the rest of the group.
As the group continued, Kirby spoke up once more.
"So, why did you let him put a tracking device on you?" He asked Bicerin.
The man handed him a piece of paper.
"I'm a stealth expert. My job is to sneak around while Minestrone gives me commands from the ship. Because of this he needs to know where I am in order to assist me the best he can." was what it said.
"Oh, that makes sense!" Then, another thought came to his mind. "I'm sorry if this is rude, but how do you talk over a communication device if you can't talk?"
"I don't." Was what was written on another piece of paper the masked man held up.
"Then how does he know that you got his advice?"
"I trust him, and he trusts me. Nothing more to it than that."
Kirby didn't say anything, but it was clear he understood what he was told. Admittedly, he was like that with many of his friends, too.
"Again, sorry if this is rude, but is it difficult being mute?"
Bicerin patted him on the head and wrote out "You have nothing to be sorry for. You're just a curious kid so I'll be happy to answer your question."
The puff nodded. "Ok, so is it hard being mute?"
"It was at first. Different cultures and species have different forms of sign language. Well, different languages in general, so it took awhile to learn all of it. But once I did, communicating became easier. My inability to talk was an obstacle at first but overtime it became a minor inconvenience. Especially thanks to Minestrone. We've been friends for years and he's always had my back. With him around, I never had anything to worry about."
Kirby gave a smile. "That makes me really happy to hear!"
Then he became nervously silent. "Um... I'm sorry if this is insensitive, but were you always mute?"
"Since I was born yeah."
"Do you know why?" Kirby couldn't see his face, but he got the feeling Bicerin was given him a strange look.
"I was born mute. That's all there is to it."
This made the puff feel bad for asking about it. "I'm sorry for asking..."
"Stop that. I know you can sense emotions, so you should know I'm not bothered by it."
"Yeah, but I still feel bad about asking it..."
"Well, you shouldn't. You asked a silly, harmless question. You didn't mean any harm. I wasn't offended. There's nothing to feel bad about."
This just made Kirby feel embarrassed. "So, um... why do you wear that mask?"
"It makes me feel comfortable. Why? Does it bother you?" He wrote out after letting out a breath of as if chuckling. "No! Of course not! I was just curious. I was wondering if you wear a mask for the same reason Meta Knight does."
Bicerin paused for a moment before writing out another answer. "That's at least one of the reasons. Another is that it makes me harder to identify."
Kirby nodded in understanding.
"But someday I may show you what my face looks like."
The puff smiled. "Well, I'll look forward to that day! So why did you want to be a spy?"
"I've always been good with sneaking around. I'm not much of a fighter, so I decided to focus on the skills I know I have in order to help my team and the organization."
"Well, that's good." The puff smiled. "What talents do you have Granita?"
Upon hearing her name, the woman let out a deep yawn, but didn't move from laying on Hikaru. "I guess staying up for several hours would count..."
"That's not the kind of talent Kirby meant." Risotto said.
"Well then what did he mean...?"
"Something like my magecraft or Minestrone's hacking."
"Oh, practical talents. I'm basically the navigator for missions. It's like how Minestrone assists Bicerin from the ship, except I do it for everyone. I'm basically responsible for keeping everyone on task."
"Ohhh... is it a hard job?"
"Depends on the group of people, but it can definitely be difficult at times."
"What was the hardest mission you've navigated for?"
Granita frowned, trying to think. "There was one mission involving a monster that sapped the intelligence from its victims. It affected everyone except for me and Minestrone. Directing people with no brains was certainly an... experience."
Kirby let out a laugh. "That sounds like it'd be hilarious!"
"It was after the fact. Captain Reedy accidentally shot himself in the foot with his own arrow. Thankfully his body naturally repaired itself."
"I can imagine he was pretty embarrassed when he found out later."
"He shut himself in his office for three days."
"Oh... was he ok though?"
"Yeah. He just didn't want anyone to see his embarrassed look."
"...how does he look when he's embarrassed?"
"I don't know. Every time someone tried to see his face he'd put on a mask."
"Then we'll have to ask Raita later!"
She laughed at that. "Good luck with that. She's very protective of him."
"I'll try!"
"I wouldn't waste my breath if I were you, but you do whatever you want Kirby."
The puff only shrugged. "But I'm curious. I'm sure she'll tell me if I ask nicely!"
"I'm not quite sure about that, Kirby. She only tells us things her husband wants us to know."
Upon hearing that, the puff silently nodded in acceptance. "I'm still curious though..."
"You can be curious while still respecting his privacy like the rest of us."
"I know that!" He replied with a pout.
"Then stop saying how curious you are."
His pout got even bigger.
"Kirby, if you don't want people to treat you like a kid, you need to stop pouting at something that doesn't warrant it." Risotto told the young puff.
"It's not that I have an exact problem with. It's more when people think I'm dumb because of it..."
"And no one thinks you're dumb. It's quite obvious you're extremely talented and smart in a few areas. No one thinks you're dumb when they treat you like a kid. They treat you like a kid because you are one. It's an adult's job to teach children, even if it's something a child already knows."
"But have you met some of the baddies that invade Dreamland? They thought that before I defeated them."
"That's because fools who desire to dominate always underestimate their foes. They see a young child and they assume the child is harmless because of overconfidence. It has nothing to do with your intelligence."
Kirby took a moment to think. "So, what you said earlier with it being an adult's job to teach kids, is that why Meta Knight sometimes treats me like that?"
"Precisely. He doesn't treat you like a kid because he doubts your skills or thinks negatively of you. It's the opposite, in fact. He values you immensely and that's why he treats you like a kid. Meta never had the chance to have a normal childhood, so he wants you to enjoy something he never had."
The puff nodded in understanding. It made sense to him based on the snippets that he had heard about his mentor's life.
"Whenever he scolds you, it's not because he believes you to be dumb or inadequate. He simply wants you to learn from your mistakes and grow as a person. From what I can tell, he's done a good job of teaching you."
The child looked at him. "You should tell that to Meta Knight. He doesn't exactly say it, but he sometimes seems to think he's not a good mentor."
"Any good mentor will always doubt themselves at points. Knowing him, I'm saddened but not surprised."
Kirby then blinked in surprise. "Is that something he always did?"
"He's always been hard on himself. He's conditioned himself to believe that everything rests on his shoulders, that everything is his responsibility."
The puff gazed at them with a sad expression. "But not everything is his fault!"
"You're exactly right. So, you should tell him that every time he starts to act that way."
"I already do that!"
"And it's been working. I can tell that's he much happier now than he ever was. You are a big reason for that, so it's your responsibility to make sure Meta Knight stays happy."
Kirby gave a smile in reply. "Well, then I'll continue to do my best with it!"
Risotto smiled. "Always remember, Kirby, the people who show concern for you don't do it because they look down on you. It's because they love you."
The puff nodded happily. "Alright."
"That's not to say you should be happy to be scolded. Just that it comes from a place of concern."
"Yeah, I'm never really happy when I'm scolded." He then gave a sigh. "Especially with how harsh Meta Knight can be with it at times."
"He can be a tad extreme, but it's only because he has high hopes for you."
"I know that, but his words can hurt a bit at times..."
"They can. But do you wish to know something Kirby?"
The puff looked at him curiously. "What?"
"Are you familiar with the phrase "this hurts me more than this hurts you"? I can tell that Meta hates making you upset and he hates hurting you. Surely you've noticed this for yourself, haven't you?"
Kirby couldn't deny that at all. Every time his mentor had to fight him while under brainwashing, and especially after the whole incident with Buddy Fighters Tower, he could feel an intense amount of guilt welling up inside him.
"So, whenever he does scold you, remember that it's only because he loves you. Even if he won't openly admit it."
The puff smiled but was then curious. "Was Ms. Kurabe the same way with him?"
"Yes, she was and still is. Even after surpassing her, Kurabe had never stopped caring for and looking after him."
"Oh, I already know that! I was asking if she said hurtful things to him because she cared for him like Meta Knight does for me."
"The answer is still yes, Kirby."
The puff nodded in understanding. "Well, I guess we should just continue through the cave then."
"Yeah, maybe we'll find something that will help me sleep." Granita added.
For her sake, Kirby hoped, too.
"Hey Risotto, do you have any animals that can detect treasure?"
"Give me a moment..." Risotto said as he began to think deeply. He then clapped his hands and a group of small mice appeared in front of him. "See if you can find any treasure." He ordered as the mice ran off.
"You can command Squeakers?"
"No, but I can command mice."
"Yeah, Squeakers."
"...oh, you mean that band of thieves."
"What else would I mean?"
"No, I can't control them. I control different types of mice."
"Oohhhh." The puff nodded in understanding.
Soon, they heard running coming up from behind them and turned around to see an exhausted Minestrone.
"So, you beat the computer virus?"
"I beat it the moment I saw it." He said with a laugh. "No, I was busy studying it. And now I have a new way of fighting." He added proudly.
"That's great! Though I'm sure you'd easily be able to beat it once you saw it!" The puff exclaimed.
"Yup. Anyway, why are you guys standing around here?"
"We're waiting for Risotto's mice to come back."
"So, we're cheesing things now, huh?" He asked with a cheeky grin.
"Yup!" Kirby said, completely oblivious to the joke.
"You turned the computer virus into a weapon, didn't you?" Bicerin asked with his hands.
"That's completely right. Now the Computer Virus fights for me. As such I renamed it into the Computer Anti-Virus."
"Wow? Really? I've never seen someone do that before!" The puff exclaimed in amazement.
"That's cause you've never seen a hacker before. Like I said, I beat that thing the moment I laid my eyes on it. Taking it apart and reprogramming it was the hard part."
"That's so cool!" The child's eyes sparkled in amazement.
"It was definitely the most interesting virus I've dealt with. Especially since this one wasn't attached to any kind of terminal. It's data that wasn't connected to anything, no way I wasn't going to get my hands on it!" He said, sounding even more excited with each laugh.
"I don't know what that means, but good for you!"
"What it means is that I made the discovery of ten lifetimes!"
"Well, that's great!"
Before Minestrone could keep rambling about viruses, the mice came back carrying a single treasure chest.
"Ah! Look! They found something!"
Shortly after that, they placed it in front of the group.
"Who'd like to open it?"
Bicerin raised his hands, signifying his desire to be the one.
"Ok, go ahead then!"
Nodding in reply, Bicerin walked over and opened up the chest. Inside the chest was a small, blue instrument.
"Looks like an ocarina. One of those old timey instruments." Minestrone told his friend.
The masked man nodded.
"It's very pretty! What are you going to name it?" Kirby asked.
"The Great Ocarina." He said with his hands.
"Perfect name! Well let's keep going!"
The group nodded and continued to trek through the cave. As they walked Bicerin slightly adjusted his mask in a way that would let him play his new ocarina. A beautiful melody came that made everyone happy just hearing it and surprisingly, put Granita to sleep.
"...well, what do you know! We found something that could put Granita to sleep!"
"It's a good thing she was so insistent about riding on Hikaru."
The puff nodded happily. "I'm just glad she won't have to hit her head to go to sleep anymore!"
"Yeah, hopefully this remains a permanent solution. Good thing you decided to learn how to play wind instruments lately."
Bicerin nodded in agreement.
"The ocarina must be magical in nature. I'm curious, the treasures here clearly come from other worlds. I wonder if we could travel to other worlds with this cave?" Risotto asked his companions.
The child gave a shrug. "If you could, I've never tried it."
"I wouldn't bother with it. While it would be cool to travel to different dimensions, there's always a chance that it's a one-way trip. It's too risky." Minestrone said.
Bicerin nodded in agreement.
"Yeah, that's why I haven't bothered with it, either." The puff replied. "That and not even I understand how the cave's magic works. All I know is that treasures from all over just randomly appear every day!"
"I assume that means you come here often?" Risotto asked.
"Yup! I come here basically once a month! It's so much fun to just explore!"
"I see. I can understand why you would."
"Yup! This place is wonderful! It's why I call it the Great Cave!"
"That sounds like quite an appropriate name, I think."
"Keep it down..." Granita mumbled in her sleep. The group looked up at her and collectively smiled, noting that she was still sleeping comfortably.
"I suppose I should send out more mice." Risotto whispered.
Kirby nodded as he casted another spell and sent out more mice.
"Well, I guess I'll open the next chest when it gets here." Minestrone said.
"Shouldn't we wait for Granita to wake up first?" Kirby quickly asked, not wanting the woman to be left out.
Minestrone looked up at the woman. "She really looks conked out right now. I don't think she'll be waking up for a while."
"Yeah but..."
"Besides, I think she already found her own treasure." The man added with a smile as he gestured towards the ocarina.
Kirby then smiled. "I think you're right."
"Which means I'm the last one to find any treasures."
"Wouldn't the virus be a treasure to you?" His silent friend asked.
"No, because the virus found me. That's completely different."
The masked man let out a puff of air, as if to laugh.
"Kirby, would you say this cave has the most amount of magic of any location in this planet?" Risotto asked, wishing to change topics.
"Hmm...probably, but I think the Fountain of Dreams feels a bit more magical."
"The location of the Star Rod, correct? Yes, that might be a more powerful location. Now tell me, what location has the most animals?"
Kirby took a moment to think. "Probably any of the forests. Especially ones that Whispy Woods lives in, but he seems to migrate a lot."
"Who is Whispy Woods? The name sounds like it would belong to a tree."
"That's because he is a tree! He's a talking tree that makes lots of yummy apples!" Kirby then took an apple out of his backpack. "They're one of the things Dreamland is famous for!"
"I suppose a living tree isn't that out of the ordinary. But how does he migrate?" Risotto asked, taking the offered apple.
"Uh... no one knows. I guess he just gets up and walks somewhere else."
"He probably uses his roots as legs. It's no different from how a squid uses tentacles to move around."
"That's exactly what I was thinking!" Risotto bit down on the apple, his eyes widening upon impact. "I see why these apples are famous."
"Yup! And one of the best chefs in Dreamland, Kawasaki loves using them in his recipes! Like the apple pies he makes using these are the best!"
"Then we'll have to convince the captain to let us all go to this Kawasaki later."
"Definitely! He makes the best food in Dreamland!"
Granita's body moved around at that, prompting them to start whispering to each other.
"Ah, we should probably keep it down." Kirby whispered.
"Don't worry I'll be as quiet as possible."
Bicerin joked. The child giggled in response.
After a bit more comfortable walking, Kirby spoke up once more.
"So, why did you all want to join Reedy in the Organization?"
There was a moment of silence, as if all of them needed to process what to tell the child.
"...to put things simply, one major reason is that Reedy's division is the most welcoming for Limets."
Kirby nodded. "I already know that people dislike Limets for stupid reasons." He said, remembering his meetings with Mercury and Reedy. "I'm asking about your personal reasons for joining him."
The group seemed to take even longer to think.
"The intelligence division... is the only place I'm good in..." Granita seemed to mumble in her sleep.
"I'm the same really. The intelligence division is really the only place where my talents are needed. I'm not a great fighter, I'm not a mage, I'm a tech guy." Minestrone said after thinking for a bit.
"Well, that makes sense. What about Risotto and Bicerin?"
"Wherever Minestrone goes, I go with him. I could have joined the stealth division, but the intelligence division also has use for spies. Seemed like an obvious choice." Bicerin replied with his hands.
"Then what about you, Risotto?"
"Yeah, I think we never did hear your reason. You could've easily been part of the Magecraft Division." Minestrone added.
Risotto remained quiet for a solid minute. "Originally, I was going to join the Magecraft Division. However, during a mission I was separated from my own team. I was low on magic and wounded by a poisoned arrow. I was slowly dying but I was found and saved by the captain. From that very moment I wished to follow him, even if I wasn't that useful in an intelligence division."
Honestly, it somewhat surprised Kirby to hear that, based on his admittedly short experience with Reedy. While the man did have his moments of kindness, he was more often too prideful for his own good.
"I don't blame you for being surprised. The captain is rough around the edges, easily upset, and has the tendency to be rude towards others. But in spite of his shortcomings, he's fiercely dedicated to those he views as his responsibility. He didn't know who I was, just that I was a dying soldier. That was enough reason for him to help me."
"I know he's not a bad person. I just wish he could be that nice all the time."
"While that is understandable, that is simply how he is. There's no point in trying to make him change."
"Yeah, but doesn't that just make him miserable?"
"No? He's quite happy with himself and his life. Everyone has different ideas of what it means to be happy."
Kirby pouted. "But he could be happier if he didn't act so miserable."
"What is miserable to you is normal for him. I understand you want everyone to be happy and that is very admirable. But you need to understand that not everyone thinks the same way you do, and you need to respect that. The captain looks out for everyone in his own way. While he may come off as rude, he isn't miserable. He loves his life and those in it. There's nothing miserable about him."
"Then he could sound a bit more appreciative and not like he secretly hates everyone that isn't his family..."
"Kirby, you barely know him. It's unfair to treat a man you've had little time with like a monster."
"I'm not! I just don't understand why he hates Ms. Kurabe and why he keeps sounding like he hates Meta-sensei!" Kirby shouted, tears of frustration starting to appear in his eyes.
"He doesn't hate any of them. Reedy and Kurabe are rivals. They get in arguments and have problems with each other, but they don't hate each other either. Nor does he hate Meta. He was even one of the first people to comfort Meta after he saw a few comrades die. Having a few issues with people is not the same thing as hate." Granita said, now fully awake.
The child became unusually silent outside of a few quiet sobs, as if he was ashamed of his own words. Upon seeing that, the woman hopped down from the wolf she had been laying on.
"Listen, Kirby, we know you just want everyone to be happy. I agree that the captain could stand to be more honest about himself and I wish he'd drop his attitude sometimes. You aren't wrong for thinking that he's miserable, because he certainly acts that way sometimes. But he's still a good man deep down. Tell me, do you know anyone who acts mean but really isn't?" Granita asked, hugging Kirby in an attempt to calm him down.
Kirby's crying slowly stopped as he nodded. "Yeah. King Dedede acts like he hates me and constantly calls me his rival and is always wanting to fight me or challenge me to something. But I know that he actually does care about me even if he always denies it."
"Yeah, that honestly sounds like how the captain is with Kurabe. He calls her his rival and acts like he doesn't care about her. Then when he shows he does, he just denies it."
"...So he doesn't hate her or Meta Knight?"
"Oh, he never hated Meta. Period. As for Kurabe, he may tell you otherwise and say he puts up with her only because she's Mercury's best friend, but it's clear that he'd feel a bit lonely if she wasn't around."
"But I still think he should act a bit more like he cares..."
"And that's ok. We understand that. As I said, we're no stranger to how the captain acts and he tends to get on our nerves at times, isn't that right?" Granita asked as she turned to the others.
"Yeah, he can be a real jerk. Everyone has gotten frustrated with him on more than one occasion." Minestrone quickly added.
"Even his own wife has gotten frustrated with him at times." Bicerin added through his finger texts.
"We all wish he would relax and drop his rough persona. But we also understand why he acts like that. We don't agree with it or support it, but we understand why. At the end of the day though, there's very few people more trustworthy than he is." Risotto ended their shared thoughts.
Kirby wanted to ask why he acted so rough, but the reason was obvious. He had met people like that, in fact, this mentor was arguably the same way: he was afraid of showing weakness.
"Okay. I don't like it, but I should just accept that's who he is, shouldn't I?"
"Yup."
Kirby smiled. "Well, I'm glad he's not actually a mean monster. I'm still sorry for saying that though..."
"You can apologize to him if it makes you feel better."
The puff nodded.
"Listen, Kirby, you've done nothing wrong. Just promise you'll be more open minded regarding Reedy from now on." Granita told him, slowly letting go of the hug.
"Ok, I'll try."
"And you'll succeed. You're a good kid, and trust me, every single person who has met Reedy for an extended period of time understands how you feel."
The child gave a small smile. Then, the group heard squeaking sounds and turned to see the mice returning with a treasure chest.
"Alright, it's treasures time! Come here, little ones." Minestrone called out to the mice. The mice dropped the chest in front of the man and returned to Risotto. "Do you mind if open it, Granita?"
"All I want is to go back to sleep." She said with a chuckle.
"Alright then, you lay on Hikaru and Bicerin will play the ocarina again."
The woman gave a nod and did so as the masked man began to play. Almost instantly, she fell asleep. Minestrone nodded and happily opened up the chest.
"Helloo, what do we have here?" He said as he pulled out a piece of machinery that looked like an arm sized cannon.
"Hm... it looks like some kind of weapon." Kirby said.
"Oh, it is. I've heard of bounty hunters from other galaxies using these things. Though this one is a lot bulkier than those. And man, that's a bright shade of blue on it..."
"Well, what are you going to name it? You found it, so you get to name it!"
Minestrone put the cannon on his arm. "Let me test thing out first. Let's see, seems like there's buttons on the inside where my hand is." He said as he pointed at a nearby block. "Aim and fire!" He shouted, shooting a small, yellow blast that completely obliterated the block.
"Wow! That was amazing!"
"Man, I'm mega glad I came to this cave! Mega... I'll call this the Mega Cannon."
"Sounds like a good name to me!" The puff exclaimed.
After a bit of walking, another question came.
"Now where do we go too?" Kirby asked when suddenly Risotto's phone began to ring.
"Ah, it's Reedy." He answered it. "Hello?"
After a few minutes, he gave a nod.
"Understood."
"What's up? Something bad happen?" Minestrone asked.
"Not at all. He wants us to meet up and rotate leaders."
Kirby looked at him curiously. "Does that mean I'll be leading a different group?"
"Yes. The captain thought it would be beneficial to rotate groups after a set period of time."
The puff nodded but was a little conflicted. One on hand, he was sad about leaving his new friends, but on the other hand this was an opportunity to befriend even more people. That's when he felt Risotto pat his head.
"Don't worry. I'm sure the captain will give us all extra time to talk with each other when we're done with this exercise."
Kirby smiled and nodded. "So where are we meeting up with the others?"
"He said to meet up where we first started. So let's begin heading back there."
"Well, it's a good thing we have a fast wolf." Minestrone said absent mindedly, focusing more on his new weapon. After he said that, Hikaru picked him up with one of her mouths and tossed him onto her back.
"Let's go that way! It's a shortcut!" Kirby yelled, pointing where to go.
The group collectively nodded and followed after him.
And that's the end of chapter two.
I should be getting another chapter out of one of my other stories soon. Just please be patient with me, ok? It's near the end of the semester and a lot is going on.
Hope you're all enjoying it!