Chapter 37: Prince Fluff

Kirby, the young hero of Dreamland, was currently bored out of his mind. As far as he knew, all of his friends in Dreamland were unavailable, whether due to prior engagements or something else entirely. Sure, he could find something to do by himself, but he really wanted to hang out with someone. That's when he was hit with an idea.

"Hey, if my friends here are busy, then how about a friend from somewhere else!?" He nodded, happily accepting his own idea. "Ok then!"

He hopped to his feet and skipped over to the sock he had hanging on his wall.

"Let's see what Prince Fluff's doing now!"

He took down the sock and allowed himself to be sucked inside it to be transported to Patch Land. As he had expected, his body became one made out of yarn, becoming even softer than he already was. After this transformation, he popped out of the other end of the sock, landing in Patch Castle.

"Wow, it looks just like how I remember it! It's been so long! ...How long has it been again?"

"A few years, I think." A familiar voice replied.

Kirby turned around to see a blue shape that looked very familiar to him.

"Prince Fluff!" He shouted happy as he tacked his friend with a big hug.

"Woah! Careful buddy, we don't want to unravel now do we?" Fluff said while laughing at Kirby's action.

The pink puff giggled timidly. "Eh he he, sorry! I'm just so excited to see you after so long!"

"Don't worry about it! It's good to see you again! So, what's up?"

"Oh, I just wanted to visit you because it's been a while!"

"Well, you're in luck, I've already finished my princely duties for the day, so I'm free to hangout."

"Really? That's great!" The puff then tilted his head. "Hey, what exactly are your princely duties? I don't think anyone's ever told me about what they are."

"Well, it's not exactly a duty, but I take it upon myself to make sure everything in Patch Land is peaceful. For an actual duty... paperwork. lots and lots of paperwork."

Almost immediately, Kirby understood. His mentor also tended to do a lot of paperwork and that was one of the reasons he was so busy today.

"Well, since you're done, let's go do something fun!" The puff said.

"Sure, but don't take off on your own. This is my turf, so I'll lead the way. Sound fair?"

"Yup! Lead the way!"

"Good. Though question is, where do you want to go?"

The puff tilted his head. "I dunno, where do you wanna go?"

"How about Snow Land? It's probably hot in Dreamland, right?"

Kirby nodded. "Yeah, it's summertime and it's been a bit hotter than normal."

"Then let's go."

While some may believe that beings made of yarn can't possibly feel either heat or cold, that was further from the truth. The denizens of the Yarn Kingdom were very similar to those of Dreamland, not counting the obvious part of them being made of yarn. Well, the denizens of this world also had the ability to change their forms to better move around, but that was something Kirby quickly was able to adapt him as well. The only thing Kirby wasn't accustomed to, was that those of the Yarn Kingdom don't get hungry, but they can still eat. A true paradox for someone like Kirby. In fact, it was the only thing that majorly confused him during his first visit years ago. That did however give Kirby something to think about.


"Hey Fluff? What would happen if you entered Dreamland? Would you stay yarn or would become like me?" Kirby asked while they were on their trip to Snow Land.

"Hm... I dunno. Maybe we should try it at some point." The prince replied.

"Oh, that makes me think! Are there other planets in this world? Or is the only planet here?"

Fluff blinked in slight confusion. "What do you mean?"

"What? Do you not have a galaxy or a solar system?"

"Oh! Well, yeah! Sometimes, if I look really closely in the sky, I can see a big star-shaped planet!"

"A star shaped planet? My planet is a star shaped planet!"

"Really?! You think that could be your planet then!?"

"Um, I dunno. It could be, but I always that that Patch Land was in another universe, not part of mine. Unless I was just mistaken." Prince Fluff scratched his head. "Well, I guess that's something we can find out some day."

"How about later today?"

"Great idea! We'll just need to pick up a rocket Metamortex from Space Land!"

"Sure! But if it is my planet, will I return to normal when I get there or will I still be yarn?"

"...I dunno."

"Hmm, well I guess we'll learn when we get there!"

The prince nodded as the puff ran off.

"Hey, why are you running? When we could be doing this!" Fluff yelled, transforming his body into the shape of a car.

"That's right!" Kirby nodded as he also turned into a car, following after his friend.

"Hey Fluff, I'm guessing Patch Land has been pretty peaceful ever since we beat Yin Yarn?"

"Yup! There was something about a black heart at one point, but that wasn't nearly too bad."

"Black heart? Oh, yeah. The Jamba Heart. To think that came here."

The prince blinked. "Oh, so that's what it was called. I guess you were the one who took care of that, huh?"

"Yeah, more or less. So, nothing bad happened when the heart landed, right?"

"Fangoria went on a bit of a rampage, but he was easy to take down."

"Fangoria? Oh, the funny looking dragon! Yeah, I'm sure you had no problem with him."

"Yup. Other than that, no problems."

"That's a relief!"

"What about Dreamland. Has there been a lot of problems?"

"Nothing I can't handle!"

"I don't doubt that at all!" His friend exclaimed with a smile.

"Though I guess it's been pretty boring around here, huh?"

"As much as I hate to say it, yeah." The prince sighed.

"Why is that a bad thing?"

"Oh, last time I complained about how it was pretty boring around here, Dom Woole was like "your highness, this is the peace that heroes strive for"!"

"Well, peace is a good thing, isn't it?"

"Of course it is! Just it can sometimes get boring, if you know what I mean."

"Yeah, I suppose so. So, why don't you explore space? That's something fun to do."

"...you know, I don't know why I didn't ever think of that."

"Well, now you have!"

"So how about we do that then?"

"Well, technically isn't that what we're already planning to do?"

"Hmm... good point. To Space Land we go!" With a nod in response, they continued forward.


After what was really only a few minutes, they arrived at the futuristic area known as Space Land.

"Well, let's look for a Metamortex then." Fluff said, already beginning to search the area.

"Aren't they usually in open spaces?"

"Yeah, so let's look in open spaces."

"Well, I am, but I haven't seen one."

"Then get looking!"

"I am! That's the problem! There aren't any around here."

Fluff then stopped walking. "Wait, why don't we try that one area we went to back when we were fighting Yin-Yarn. That had a Rocket Metamortex, right?"

"Sure! But uh, where is that again?"

"...uh... not too far from Starry Way, I think."

"Ok, let's get going then!"

With a nod in response, the duo headed to the area in Space Land. However, while they were walking through Stellar Way, they came across a familiar patch.

"Oh... I think that's it!" Fluff cried.

"I think you're right! Let's grab it!"

With a nod, the prince used his yarn whip to pull off the patch, which activated as soon as the duo jumped into it, transforming the duo into rockets.

"This transformation should last us awhile, right, Fluff?"

"As long as we don't hit a reel gate, yeah."

"Are there any of those in space? Though I guess you wouldn't know if you haven't been to space, huh?"

"There shouldn't be."

"Awesome! But if there is? Eh, it should be fine, I guess. I can always summon my warp star if we need help."

"Sounds like a plan." His friend replied.

"Then, time to blast off!" Kirby said, flying off into the great beyond.

Immediately, Fluff followed after him.


As soon as they were about to leave the atmosphere however, they saw one of the reel gates Fluff mentioned waiting for them.

"Fluff, can we fly around it?" Kirby asked.

"No, it looks like it's surrounding the entire planet!"

"What should we do then?"

"Uhh... well let's just go for it! What's the worst that can happen?"

"Got it!" Kirby exclaimed as he sped up.

As expected, when they hit the gate, the transformation ended and both of them were left floating around before beginning to fall towards the ground.

"Kirby, do something!"

"Oh yeah, Warp Star!"

Almost immediately, the Warp Star came flying in and picked up the duo.

"Well, this confirms it, we do live in the same universe!" Kirby cheered.

"That's amazing!" The prince added happily.

"Well, let's go, Fluff! Time for you to explore the universe!"

"Lead the way, Kirby!"

"Hmm, nope! This is your journey, you decide how we get there!"

Fluff blinked for a moment. "Well... um... where should we go then?" He asked, slightly unsure of what to do now that he was off his home planet.

"Wherever you want! Any place is a new adventure for you! There're no wrong turns, no getting lost! The universe is your oyster!"

The prince scratched his head. "...um... how about... I choose to go where you wanna go."

Kirby sighed and nodded. "Fine, let's go to Dreamland."

"Ok!" Fluff nodded happily.

"Though all I'm doing is taking us there. It's up to you to explore and find things to do. You know what they say, the fun is with the journey, not the destination."

"I understand. Can we go to your house first then? I'd like to see what it's like."

"Sure!"

In a blink of an eye, the warp star brought them to planet Popstar. Like magic, Kirby's body turned back to normal. He then turned to Fluff, waiting to see if his body would change back, too. Though nothing happened, Fluff's body was still as fluffy as always.

"Huh. What do you know? It seems I don't change depending on the environment." The prince said.

"Well, I guess it's because you were born in Patch Land." Kirby uttered, scratching his head.

"Well, that's fine by me! I like being yarn, I can do this!" Fluff said, turning his legs into wheels.

"Alright, now where do you wanna go?"

"What do you mean? We haven't gone to your house yet."

"Right. Then follow me!"

Fluff followed along, but was easily distracted by everything around him. The grass, the trees, even the clouds. Everything he could see, and touch was...different to him. He had no other way to describe it, and it fascinated him. Kirby couldn't help but smile at this, enjoying how excited his friend was by everything.

"Are you having fun, Fluff?"

"Huh? Oh, yeah! Yeah! I am!" His friend replied, sounding clearly distracted by his surroundings.

"Well, I'm not surprised. This is your first time in Dreamland...well, first time in a non yarnified Dreamland."

"Yeah. It's the first time I'm able to see it in this much detail. Y'know, because I kinda had to rush back to Patch Land to start rebuilding."

"Yeah, how long did rebuilding take anyway?"

"The actual rebuilding took about a month. It took about five months for everything to get back to normal."

"And what about Yin Yarn? Has he caused any more trouble?"

"Nope! I think we managed to get his knitting needles far enough apart from each other so they can't make anything."

"Where are they anyway?"

"One is somewhere in the local volcano and the other is up on a frozen mountain. I don't think they're going anywhere."

"Well, that's good!"

"Yup!" Fluff then scratched his head. "Though I've also taken a bit of precautions to make sure they don't find the other. Because you can't knit anything with a single needle, you know."

"Well, I guess you could, but it'd be really difficult."

"Exactly. That's why I've been making sure they stay apart."

"Well, that's good. We don't need another maniac trying to turn the world into yarn."

"Your world, anyway. Our world is already yarn." Fluff laughed.

"Yeah, I know." Kirby laughed as well. They continued to for a few minutes until the prince went back to looking around again. "Wow, I never thought there'd be someone with less of an attention span than me. Besides Dedede anyway."

Fluff pouted at him. "I have a long attention span! I've just never been in yarnified Dreamland before!"

"I'm just teasing you. But come on, let's get moving." His friend nodded and then followed along. "So, what do you think of Dreamland?" "It really looks like a great place to live!"

"Oh, it is! You should stay here, though I guess you can't because of being the prince and all."

"Yeah, Patch Land still needs me. But that doesn't mean I can't visit from time to time."

"You should! It's always fun here!"

"From how you always talk about it, yeah!"

"Yeah! Though Patch Land is also really fun!"

"Of course it is!" His friend replied proudly.

"So, Fluff, speaking of Patch Land. When are you going to become king?"

His friend took a moment to think. "...hmm... I don't know."

"You don't? Why's that?"

"Because the king has to die or step down first for the prince to succeed them, right?"

"I wouldn't know anything about that, that's why I asked. The only king I know is self-proclaimed."

"Oh, right." Fluff blinked. "Well, generally, a king has to die or step down for the prince to succeed them."

"And what about your dad? Do you think he'll step down anytime soon?"

"Honestly? Doesn't seem like it. He's still very active in ruling the country. Like, the only time he didn't was when he and mom were kidnapped."

"Kidnapped! I'm guessing this was before Yin Yarn got up to no good?"

"Oh no, it was when Yin Yarn was doing his thing."

"Oh, but they are both safe now, right?"

"Of course! We took care of Yin Yarn, didn't we?"

"Well yeah, but I was worried they were tortured or something."

"Surprisingly, they weren't."

"Well, that's a relief! I was afraid he would make them fight you like puppets!"

"Honestly, I was afraid of that, too, but he probably assumed they weren't strong like your friends."

"Well, are they strong?"

"Yeah, but not as strong as me."

"Well regardless, at least they are safe." Kirby then took on a distant expression. "Hey, what's it like?"

"What do you mean?"

"Having parents? What's it like?"

"Oh... well... um... it's nice cuz you have someone who really loves and cares for you." Fluff replied, sounding somewhat awkward due to explaining something that was, in his mind, so natural.

"Well, what else can you tell me?"

"Um... hm... even if they get busy because of work, they remind you that they love you a lot. It can be annoying, but it's nice."

"Do you love them?" Kirby asked a little bluntly.

"Of course I do!"

"That's good! I'm guessing that's why you're homesick." Kirby claimed, confusing Fluff.

"What do you mean?"

"Oh, don't be silly. You're having fun here, but I can tell by your eyes you're starting to miss home."

The prince took a moment to think. "...yeah, you're probably right."

"I'm better at reading people than I look."

Kirby chuckled. "You're right, you are."

"Yup, besides, I always feel homesick during my adventures at some point."

"How do you deal with it then?"

"By going home when you're done with your journey. Just keep thinking about how happy you'll be when you get back."

"I think I know what you mean. Man, Kirby, you're very smart at times."

"Hee hee... thanks!" The puff replied timidly.

"Well, I guess should go home, but there's one place I want to see. Can you show me the Fountain of Dreams?"

"Sure thing! Let's take the Warp Star!" The puff exclaimed as he summoned it to his side before hopping on. The prince nodded and joined him.


While flying through the sky, Kirby asked his friend a question. "So, why do you want to see the fountain? Do you have a wish you want to come true?"

"Oh... uh... I just wanted to see the fountain." Fluff replied.

"You have a wish, you don't need to be shy about it."

"I honestly don't have any!"

"You're gonna wish to be a good king, right?"

"H-how did you know that!?" Fluff asked in complete shock.

"I told you, I'm good at reading my friends!"

"How did you get so good at that?!"

"You learn a lot after years of helping people."

"Huh. I guess I have more years of helping people I need."

"You'll get used to it!"

"Oh, I'm sure I will!"

"Though, Fluff, I don't you need to wish for that." Kirby said seriously.

"Huh? I don't?"

"Nope. If you become a great king, it should be because of your own hard work, not because you wished for it."

There was a moment of silence, as if Fluff was processing what he said, but then he gave a nod.

"You're right. I don't need a wish to be a good king. I just need to be myself, don't I?"

"Exactly! Shortcuts are nice, and sometimes a short cut is the best option. But if I've learned anything from my friends, people are more likely to respect you if you are true to yourself."

The prince nodded. "Thanks, Kirby."

"No problem. As Meta Knight once told me, "sometimes the best teachers aren't the strongest, but the ones who've traveled the world." I'm not sure if I'm really all that smart, but I do know a lot about how people think."

"Meta Knight seems right, and you are smarter than you probably think."

"I dunno. There's plenty of things I'm clueless about. But that's fine! People like us, we don't need to be the best at everything. We just need to do our best at what we're good at! Anything I lack, I know my friends will make up for it. And anything you lack, you have loyal soldiers who are there to help you!"

"You're right! Thanks for the advice, Kirby!" Fluff smiled.

"You're welcome! Now let's get you to that fountain. You might not need a wish, but it's still a beautiful place."

"Yeah!"

The two flew off towards the Fountain of Dreams at top speeds, arriving in just under a minute.

"Well, that was fast." Fluff uttered as he hopped off.

"Well, it is the Warp Star, not the Slow Star." Kirby joked, pointing at the fountain. "Now, go take a look!"

His friend nodded and hopped off, taking in the beautiful sight of the Fountain of Dreams. "Woah, this is incredible. I know I've been saying that a lot since coming here, but this is...something else entirely!"

Kirby giggled. "There's a reason why the Fountain of Dreams is probably my favorite place in all of Dreamland, and that's why! It's just so pretty and peaceful here!"

"Yeah, this is incredible!" Fluff smiled softly and shook Kirby's hand. "Thank you for taking me here. I loved every second, but I think I'm ready to go home. My folks are probably starting to get worried about me."

The puff smiled back. "I'm glad that you enjoyed your time here! Let's meet up again sometime, ok?"

"Of Course! Friends to the end!"

"Yeah!" Kirby exclaimed as the duo high-fived.


Been a while, hasn't it?

I took a long break to try and not get burnt out. I hope you all don't mind and enjoyed this chapter.