The rest of Saturday and Sunday were still days off for Kirby, so he didn't worry when Meta didn't come back for the rest of that weekend. He had looked for him around Cappy Village with Tiff and Tuff though, hoping to run into him. So, it troubled him when he didn't appear on Monday morning.
In the past, Meta Knight had been rather furtive, showing up when he felt like it and vanishing when everyone least expected it. That was all before he and Kirby had been meeting for their special lessons and playdates together. Now, they were friends and he was never, ever a second late until now.
Kirby stood a distance from the castle, fiddling with the blades of grass, so that, when he did show up, Meta would see that he was following his advice. He did not have a strong sense of time, but it felt like a long time that he had been sitting there. He hoped he hadn't gotten busy or forgotten about him. Kirby couldn't help but look around him, and wonder if he was waiting to jump out and surprise him, maybe as part of a practice duel. Meta liked to be sneaky like that. But he had been sitting here for a long time and hadn't seen anything
Tired of standing on his feet, Kirby lay in the grass, watching the clouds. Their slow crawl across the sky began to remind him of the time passing and he decided to start looking for shapes in them. There was a boot, a sword, a star, a strawberry, and a round mask like Meta's. He'd always told him to have patience and wait for that which was meant to come, but Kirby was getting very bored, even a bit worried. He wished he knew what to do.
He wasn't supposed to go inside and bother the King… But if he and Meta didn't get started soon, they may not have enough time. Waiting in such a comfortable spot had made him quite sleepy and he had to shake it out of his system. He stood up, stretched, and considered the castle over the little hill of grass. Maybe Meta Knight had gotten tired too and he'd fallen asleep?
Kirby considered this. Meta was very busy after all, making their lessons, helping Dedede protect Dream Land, and also doing stuff with Sword and Blade. It wouldn't surprise him if he had needed a nap and just lost track of the time. If that was the case, Kirby really needed to go find him. He was sure that a busy guy like Meta wouldn't want to spend the day sleeping if he could help it.
He hurried through the grass. He would just be quick, he would just not talk to Dedede if he saw him, just a nice wave and nothing else. He didn't get lost in the castle as much anymore so he was pretty sure he could find Meta's quarters without help.
He went to the secret entrance right away, having learned better from his first attempt. He also took the time to check for the waddle guards down the corridors.
He ran down the halls, only getting mixed up a few times, before coming upon the Knight's suite door. It had been oddly quiet the whole way and he had not encountered any guards yet. Maybe Meta really was busy? Maybe something important was going on in the castle. He knocked on the door but there was no answer. That was very unlike Meta. He jumped up and took the handle. He wasn't expecting the door to be open, but the knob gave. The door creaked open onto a dark room. It was wrong to look into other people's rooms without their permission, so he only peeked a little. Sword and Blade's old weapons were still hung on the wall, but their swords were gone. Everything looked and felt emptier than usual. Worst of all, Meta's metal sabatons were not by the wall next to the door. That meant he was gone. To where though?
He thought he might look for someone who knew and started for the Ebrum's apartment, but was stopped short by a group of waddle guards trooping down the hall intersecting his. He gave a cry of alarm when they glanced across at him but they made no move to apprehend him, only marching on forwards. Kirby watched their procession, confused, until the crowd began to thin out revealing Dedede at their tail.
He couldn't but squeak in surprise, "poyo!"
Dedede looked at him sharply. For a moment he looked just as shocked as Kirby, then his expression curdled, grimacing and hardening his eyes. Normally when the King was mad, he would make a funny face where Kirby would almost be sure that he was pretending. Kirby had never seen him look so serious, he took a step back without thinking.
"Well, well, well. You come by here everyday now or what?"
Kirby wasn't sure how to respond. He blinked at him.
Dedede grinned, but it wasn't a happy smile. It was a mean, teasing smile and it made Kirby feel uneasy. "Oh, you lookin' for your babysitter ain't ya? Meta Knight."
"Mehda!" Dedede knew, Kirby thought, and he looked back at the procession of Waddle Dees, but saw no blue cape amongst them.
Dedede sighed. "Sad, that. Yep, it's a real shame."
"Poyo?" Something in his tone made Kirby begin to feel very worried. He wished he could ask where Meta Knight was. "Whuh. Muh.. Meytah…"
Dedede ignored him. "I gave him plenty of warnings, he was a good knight, after all, but I got my responsibilities and I come down the same on everyone. No special treatment, that's what I told him."
"Poyo!?" Kirby was not supposed to use a demanding tone, but he couldn't stop himself, he had to know what was going on.
"Well," Dedede leered at him, "I caught that tin can slackin' off behind my back for the last time, I did! That's treason as far as I'm concerned, with how many times he's been caught. Treason! And my policy is always the same." He drove his fist into his palm. "Banished! Exiled! Tossed out! I bet he sure is sorry now, having to fend for himself out there without a strong King like me to protect him."
"No! Poyo po!" He couldn't believe what he was hearing. Surely there was a mistake, Meta worked hard. Now he was all alone out there? "No! No baness!"
"Too bad!" Dedede cut in as soon as the words left him, swinging his balled hands down at his sides. Kirby flinched back. "I'm the King around here and what I say goes. If he gets eaten up by some creature out there I say that's what he deserve! And you!" He thrust a finger into Kirby's face, who looked up at him in shock. "If you try and bring him back here, you even so much as you send a postcard to that scheming swordfish…" He withdrew his finger slowly, emphatically, and drew it across his neck. "I execute him for crossing my borders as a criminal!"
"P-poyo?" Kirby drew his hands to his face automatically. He felt a tremble run through them where they met his face.
Executed. He got the feeling that he knew what that word meant. But what if he got hurt out there all by himself? Meta was very strong but if nobody could even go and find him- make sure that he was ok. Were his knights even with him? What if he never came back? What if Kirby never saw him again?
"Whuh.. wh… pyo." Meta Knight had told him that one of the keys to conversation was speaking at a volume that others could easily hear. His voice was stuck in his throat like he'd inhaled it and he wished quietly that Meta was not, somehow, disappointed, even now that he had been banished so far away.
Dedede glared at him, cold smile falling. "Well? What you standin' around for? He ain't comin' back- alive, anyways. So go on back home." Dedede shoved past him with that, Kirby tumbling over and onto the floor like he'd forgotten how to stand up. Not coming back alive? Never? Never ever? Had Dedede already-?
"No!" Kirby shouted, the sudden sound made the guards halt in their tracks and look between each other. Even Dedede looked surprised for the tiniest moment.
"Fine then! If you ain't gonna move- Dees! Get 'im outta here!"
No one moved.
"You listenin'?! I said get him out!"
Finally, a few guards approached. Kirby didn't see them take his paws in theirs, he was too focused on Dedede, trying to look in his face for something, a clue as to what had happened to Meta, why he'd gotten in trouble, where he was. Dedede looked back at him, his hard eyes gave nothing. Then, after a moment, his eyes looked away, and he made a frown like he was shy or nervous. Kirby realized he was making a mad face at the King, then was dragged out the doors.
They deposited him outside, let him go, and started to hurry away. The cool grass on his skin snapped him out of the hot, angry feeling in his head. The waddles were acting like they were afraid of him, he realized, but he didn't want to be left alone. He sat up out of his daze with a confused cry and fell forward onto his belly, whimpering at them. He tried to reach out and tug at one of their feet, but they began to run as soon as his paw almost grazed them. All of them fled back inside, leaving him there.
He babbled quietly, tears falling onto the grass. Just a little while ago, he'd been relaxing here, watching the clouds.
He remembered a feeling that he wasn't used to having.
He'd felt it when the baby from his egg had gotten hurt, when he fought a monster called Wolfwrath who'd hurt Meta Knight very badly, when Dedede was hitting Phan Phan with his mallet. When Nightmare was carrying Tiff away in their claws.
All Meta had ever done was protect everyone, even Dedede. It wasn't right for him to be treated like this. First Kirby was sad, very sad and scared. Now he was angry. The kind of angry he had only felt towards monsters. He felt the pull deep in his heart to do something, to stand up for what he knew was right. When he got this feeling before, the solution had always been very simple: fight the monster, save his friends, and win. This time was different and he was finding it hard to think of an idea when he was so mad and sad and worried.
Meta told him that he had a noble spirit, that he was brave and good. He would've wanted him to do something. So Kirby decided to do something.
