The bright morning sun filtered through the half closed curtains, lighting up the hospital room in its warm rays. Lily sat in her bed, trying not to listen to the various beeps of the machines around her. She shifted her gaze to her visitor, a faint smile appearing on her once saddened face.
"You… you'll see the cherry blossoms at the festival with me…?"
"Of course I will, Lily!" Her guest smiled brightly, his azure eyes seeming to twinkle in the morning sun. "I'm sure you'll love to see them, they're beautiful. I know the exact time that they bloom, so you will definitely see them when they do!"
Lily's smile widened just a little, which seemed to make the rather dull room all the more brighter. "You promise?"
"You have my word. A Star Warrior never lies."
A Star Warrior never lies.
He was taught those words by Sir Meta Knight himself. It was one of the first full sentences he was able to speak without stuttering or saying 'poyo'. He was taught from a very young age what it took to be a true Star Warrior, and a knight of virtue.
He was able to completely understand as early as the age of five what being a Star Warrior meant. Throughout childhood, those words etched into his mind, and he would remember them.
As he grew older and the world had begun to make more sense around him, those words never left him. Lying would spread nothing but strife and discord, so Kirby vowed that he would never lie, for it was his duty as a Star Warrior to bring light upon those he protected, rather than ill intent and darkness. He vowed to never let any kind of darkness consume him, and that vow would forever be held true, so long as he held the correct state of mind. He just had to remember those words...
A Star Warrior never lies…
Five months had passed since Kirby's Winging. Autumn had passed and winter was slowly drawing to a close. As expected, his wings had grown stronger and were as beautiful as ever, with the snow white feathers growing strong and healthy. Kirby did his best to make sure his wings were fully prepared for flight once the winter was drawing to a close.
However, as the days dragged on…
"Hnnff… hah…!" Kirby, for perhaps the hundredth time that day, jumped in the air, his small wings flapping furiously as he tried to fly. "I… I can do this, I know I can…!"
Meta Knight frowned and sighed silently, watching his student fall on his face, once again. "Are you angling your wings in the correct position like I taught you?" He asked as the teen slowly got back up to his feet.
Kirby nodded, panting heavily. His face was scraped up and covered in dirt from the ground. "Yeah, I'm doing everything you told me to, Meta! Why isn't it working…?"
"Perhaps you need more time for your wings to grow."
"You've been saying that for months! Shouldn't they be done growing by now, right? I haven't felt them growing at all…"
Meta Knight didn't respond to that. "Try again. I assure you that you'll get it right eventually."
Kirby let out an exasperated groan. "Fine… I really wanna fly…"
Kirby had grown… quite obsessed with his flight practice. One couldn't blame him; it was the teen's aspiration to fly without the use of his copy ability or Warpstar for a long time. With Fumu busy teaching her students at the school, and Bun studying the ways of the ninja in a far off town for an unspecified length of time, Kirby didn't really have anyone to spend time with other than Meta Knight, and the elder was keen on aiding Kirby in his eventual flight.
"And you will, I promise." Meta Knight closed his eyes and had to bite back his concerns regarding his students' wings.
It was true, Kirby's wings were most definitely done growing. However, one thing that never grew in, was the feathers at the base of his wings. The base of his wings were still naked, with those little gray feathers sticking out of the skin like a sore thumb. And even though the wings had grown a little, they were still abnormally small. They flapped harshly against the wind as Kirby tried to get in the air, twisting in the correct angle that Meta Knight had taught him. So, what was Kirby doing wrong?
Absolutely nothing. Kirby's posture and wing position were perfect, but he just couldn't get off the ground.
But why? Meta Knight asked himself, scanning Kirby's ruffled wings once again. As the months dragged on, Meta Knight had come to notice many things wrong with his student's wings; the missing feathers, the smaller-than-normal size, but worst yet, they had grown ever so slightly twisted. The twisting wasn't obvious to the naked eye and not to Kirby, but Meta Knight could easily tell, especially when Kirby attempted to fold his wings. Due to the twisting, it was one of the main reasons he couldn't fold them completely, and perhaps, it was why he couldn't get off the ground.
These were concerns that should have been discussed with his student long ago, but the elder couldn't find it within himself to. He had made a promise to his student, and he had no intentions to break it.
But… How am I supposed to share my concerns with him? I couldn't bear to put any more stress on him, especially given how hard he's worked… I can't break this child's heart.
Meta Knight knew fully well he had to tell Kirby of his concerns at some point in time, but that time was not now. The last thing he wanted to do was to hurt his student. No. I will figure this out. I made a promise to Kirby, and I have no intent on breaking it.
"Sir Meta Knight!"
The knight looked up, seeing his squires, Sword and Blade, walking up to him and saluting. "Greetings, Sword and Blade."
"We were just heading out to our border patrol by the king's orders," Sword said after lowering his hand. "We just wanted to see how Kirby's training was going before we set off."
"Has he gotten off the ground yet?" Blade asked.
"Unfortunately not, though I have hopes that he will at some point." Meta Knight glanced over at Kirby as the child stood on one foot, raising his arms in the air and flapping his wings wildly.
"I-I almost got it, I know it!" Kirby called to the three, panting heavily as his wings drooped to the ground in exhaustion after a few moments of vigorous flapping.
"Kirby, perhaps you should take a break," Meta Knight suggested gently, getting up from his sitting position with a small grunt. He wrapped himself in his cape as Kirby's face twisted in frustration.
"But…"
"Yeah, how about you go on patrol with us? It'll probably do your wings good to have a break," Sword offered.
Kirby shook his head and closed his tired eyes, messily half-folding his wings back up. "I-I… that sounds nice, but-"
"Kirby, you need a break." Meta Knight gazed carefully at his student and frowned, taking note of how tired he was. It was obvious that Kirby was losing sleep in his attempts to fly. "Perhaps patrolling with Sword and Blade would be what's best for you."
"We'll be passing by Whispy Woods, I'm sure he wouldn't mind sharing some apples now that he's waking up from sleeping through the winter," Blade chuckled a bit. "I wouldn't mind having one or two, myself…"
Kirby pouted, his wings twitching as a rather harsh winter breeze blew past. "But I…" he paused, shifting his gaze towards the ground before sighing in defeat. "Fine. But I'm gonna go right back to this when I come back."
Meta Knight hesitated, narrowing his eyes for a moment before nodding. "Very well. Run along, now."
Kirby blinked, confused about his mentor's hesitation. Before he could ask about it, however, Meta Knight turned and began to walk away. Sighing gently, Kirby made sure his wings weren't sticking out anywhere before following Sword and Blade down the hill.
It was probably nothing, Kirby assured himself. His mentor probably had other things on his mind… but what?
Kirby decided not to let his mysterious mentor stick in his mind. Instead, as he walked along the road towards Pupu Village, he began to think of what he could do to assist in his flight when he came back from the border patrol.
"What did you see?" Chief Borun asked once again.
It had been just like any other night, he was getting ready to lock up the office and go to sleep, but then the one inmate, Doron, came running to him, screaming in fear. The officer was now trying to get all the information he could out of the terrified Cappy.
"You say it was… something dark?"
"Uh huh," the lowly criminal Cappy nodded his head, staring down at the floor. His body was still slightly shaken up from the ordeal.
"Did it look like anyone in the town? Did it have a face you could recognize?"
Doron shook his head, closing his eyes for a moment before responding. "It felt… it felt like I was being stared at… it was scary!"
"I'll ask again, Doron. Did it have a face?" Chief Borun was growing impatient. If there was someone, or something causing havoc in his town, he had to know what to look for!
"...it had one thing I remember, s-sir," Doron mumbled, fumbling with his hands.
"Well? What was it?"
"I-it… it had a single eye, sir… that's all I remember."
Chief Borun sighed tiredly, nodding his head. "We'll investigate this first thing in the morning. Whatever it was you saw, we won't let it get away that easily." He got up from his chair with a low grunt. The years were definitely starting to catch up on him, that was for sure... "Now, let's get you back to your cell. If it's gone, you should be fine. Try to rest easy..."
"Come on… come on…"
Kirby slowly spread his wings once again, angling them in the correct position that Meta Knight had taught him. It had to work! Surely he was doing everything correctly! The teen made sure he was perfectly balanced on the tree branch. He was standing on before jumping off of it, flapping his wings trying to gain altitude.
However, once again it failed, and Kirby was sent plummeting to the ground.
"Argh!" Kirby landed on the ground with a rather painful thud, bouncing slightly against the ground before going limp with a frustrated, exhausted groan.
Why couldn't he get off the damned ground?! Kirby didn't understand. He was doing everything Meta Knight had taught him, so why wasn't it working?!
Was Meta Knight keeping something important about his flight hidden?
Kirby lifted his head at that thought, juggling it around his mind for a few moments before eventually dismissing it. Meta Knight wasn't one to keep things like that secret. He kept plenty of things secret, but surely he wouldn't keep anything like this from him. Why would he? If Meta Knight wanted him to fly, he wouldn't keep anything from him. He had true faith in his mentor. With his help, Kirby knew he would eventually get off the ground. With a small sigh, Kirby got back to his feet to try again. He would stay up all night if he had to! He was going to get off the ground if it was the last thing he did!
Unbeknownst to the teen, his mentor was watching in the distance.
I knew he was staying up during the night to practice, the knight thought, tightening his grip on his cape.
Meta Knight was thoroughly impressed by Kirby's determination. His student was working to the bone trying to get off the ground. His efforts were admirable, to say the least.
However; Meta Knight had a feeling, deep down, that those efforts were in vain.
Kirby's wings, despite the healthy feathers growing out of them, there was clearly something wrong with them. As clear as it was to Meta Knight, Kirby was blissfully unaware of such issues. He loved his wings; he took good care of them, and it showed. Though the feathers were by now dusty from all the dirt he had thrown up by falling to the ground countless times, they still faintly shone in the pale moonlight that fell upon them. They were beautiful… from a distance.
Meta Knight feared the worst when he looked at Kirby's wings. If the damage is as severe as I'm afraid of… Kirby will never fly. His efforts will be fruitless. But how am I supposed to tell him…?
