Chapter 1, Part 5
"Oof!"
Meta Knight suddenly found himself knocked face-forward into the ground, his train of thought lost once again. He tried to catch himself, but didn't succeed in time. Whoever slammed into him moaned, apparently as stunned as he was. Despite the nerves in his back screaming otherwise, Meta Knight quickly picked himself up and whipped around, trying to be polite and offer his assistance. To his surprise, it was a Dee with a chef's hat. A messy chef's hat.
Oh, great… Meta Knight would have rolled his eyes if he could have. It's that idiot from the kitchen…
Still, he had manners, so he offered his paw. Reggie blinked, not fully comprehending who had helped him up—he was too busy rubbing his forehead. Meta Knight once again had to resist his irritation; had the Dee even been hit on his forehead?
"Ohhhh…thanks…" The Dee buried his face in his paws. "I'm okay."
"Um…okay…" As per usual, Meta Knight had no clue as to what to say. Instead, he walked over to pick up the chef's hat, and handed it back to him. The Dee took it without even looking—maybe this was a common occurrence for him. Meta Knight noticed a shiny, black rock lying on the ground a foot or two away from Reggie, and moved to pick it up—but the rock suddenly vanished, and the chef stood wobbling in front of him, clutching it. The Dee looked as if he'd been physically dragged into his current position, and he moaned softly. Meta Knight would have rolled his eyes…if that odd feeling of mistrust hadn't buried itself back in him, even stronger than before. He offered a paw to the chef in hopes to catch him off guard, but Reggie slipped the stone under his hat before blinking himself back into awareness.
Upon realizing who it was, his reaction was nothing short of a very startled jump.
"M-M-Meta! I uh…geez, I keep being an idiot in front of you today…" He rubbed the back of his head. "Hey, did you see that lady with the blue headdress? Do you remember which direction she went?"
"What were you doing?" the puffball asked suspiciously, though he made sure his tone of voice portrayed curiosity instead of mistrust. "Do you need me to find her? I can give her or tell her something for you if you need to; I move quickly…"
"Oh! Uh…It sorta has to do with…well, Meta, can I…ask you for any advice on girls?" Reggie asked timidly, clutching his paws together.
Meta Knight blinked, reeling at the first answer that popped into his mind. "Wait! Were you stalking a girl? That's gonna make her hate you; I shouldn't even have to tell you that!"
"Oh, uh, I…I dunno; I've been meaning to propose, but I just can't get up the courage!" He grabbed the knight's paws desperately. "Help a fellow guy out; how do I tell her?!"
Oh, they've been dating. They must already know each other. Now it was his turn to look stupid. "Oh…Apologies; I…didn't realize you two had been dating…"
"Huh? Dating?" The chef blinked. "No, not us. I've barely spoken a few lines to her; I can't ever get close enough without her blowing me off…"
The puff's expression once again fell flat, though he tried to hide it. He wasn't female, but he was fairly certain that whoever the Dee—female Dee—was, she wouldn't exactly be thrilled with a stalker. Especially if that stalker happened to be the aforementioned 'idiot from the kitchen'. "Okay. Ummmm…I hate to say it, but maybe she doesn't really want to make a commitment with you…Is she already married?"
"I didn't ask you that!" Reggie exclaimed. "I asked you how I should confess!"
Meta Knight was quickly becoming annoyed. He had no experience with…romantic issues, and it seemed the chef had selective hearing. Of course, he was Meta Knight, and not getting smacked with a logic block of common sense was inevitable when an issue was pushed. "Okay, listen, Reggie. I don't have any romantic advice, but you should see whether or not she's interested in you before you start following her around, or you'll look like a creep! You're all in the same tribe, but that would be irritating to anybody, wouldn't you think?"
"…uh…" Reggie appeared at a loss for words.
"Hey, I…I don't mean to be harsh or cold or anything, but…" Meta Knight rubbed his cheek. "…It's just something you've got to think about, you know? I didn't mean any offense."
The chef pondered his words, and both of them stood there in silence. Meta Knight shifted awkwardly on his feet, wondering whether the Dee—
"I got it! So I tell her I've been stalking her and I love her, and she'll accept me! Meta, you're a genius!" the Dee shouted, shoving the puffball before dashing off in a frenzy. "I'm a geniiiiiius!"
Meta Knight gaped slightly, glancing around to see how many other people saw what had just transpired. Fortunately, there were none, so he just continued wandering throughout the tents.
Oh boy… He rolled his eyes. I hope he doesn't credit me with that scheme, whoever he's running after. If they say anything to me about it, I'll just ask them if he's normally like…well, I'll just tell them what happened and ask if it's normal. NOVA, I hope it isn't…
The sun was starting to set by this point, and Meta Knight couldn't help but wonder what the others were doing. He'd been out wandering the camp longer than he'd anticipated, and who knows how long he'd been with Bandana Dee's father? He didn't want the others to think he was lost…that would be so embarrassing. It also felt like he'd be a bad guest, because the Dees had let them arrive an extra day early, and he'd be taking up valuable setup time that they could be using to—
"…and he…noticing me! …I can't…that; it's…"
Meta Knight perked up, pushing his thoughts into a corner. Whoever was speaking was off toward the edge of camp. He wasn't close enough to hear everything that was being said, but the speaker was almost in a panic.
Wait…Who's saying that? None of the other Dees sound distressed like that…
Curiosity overtook him, and he couldn't help but want to know what was happening, even if it was nothing. As quietly as he could, Meta Knight slipped closer toward the tent, while still trying to look like an innocent bystander. He took some papers out of his mouth and pretended to be studying them intently, a good façade considering they were all math-related.
"…I just have to wonder how he would respond…" Whoever said this was female, and clearly upset over something.
An older, calmer voice spoke, trying to comfort the other person. This speaker was also female. "Don't worry about it, Kaji. I'm sure things couldn't possibly go as bad as you're imagining them to be. If he doesn't, will it even matter? You're so worried about this already that you need some sort of resolution…"
"Yeah Kaji," a third, peppier voice added. It sounded familiar…was it one of the people he'd met? It…Miki, maybe; perhaps it was her. He certainly remembered her voice after the experience with Reggie. "You don't even know these new people; why are you so worried about them seeing you?"
"I'd like to talk to one of them in particular. It's somewhat important that I do so, provided they want to listen. It isn't the sort of information people would like to hear, but I'd at least like to talk to him briefly."
"It isn't like you to want to impress people…" The older voice seemed a bit surprised.
"I don't want to impress him." The first person sighed. "But it would just look incredibly odd for me-of-all-people to approach those newcomers. I need to tell him this; I need to see him so badly, but…I can't; I shouldn't…oh…"
"Kaji, I don't know what sort of information you want to give him, or why you're so frenzied over it…" Miki was apparently staying silent throughout the others' discussion. 'Kaji' didn't sound like she was calming down any. "…Can't you please tell us about it?"
There was silence for a moment. Meta Knight could hear shuffling, and he dearly hoped his hiding place wasn't found out. Finally, the first Dee continued.
"…No. I can't." Her voice was quiet, and possibly nervous. "I would prefer not to discuss it right now."
"Kaji—" The older Dee began.
"I can't—say anything. It's—no, I can't; I can't…!"
"Kaji." Had the older Dee grabbed Kaji? It sounded like she had, and they were struggling… "What's wrong? Please, you know you can tell us; don't do this to yourself!"
"Kaji…" Miki whined. "We're worried about you…"
"I don't…" Kaji was speaking again. "You can't fix this! No one can!"
"Kaji, calm down! Please, don't worry about this; if you're so worried about him hearing whatever this is about, just tell him!" From the sounds of things, Miki was just a spectator in this argument. But who were the other two Dees? Did 'Kaji' work for the other one? Was she their child?
"I could never tell him…" Her voice sounded strained, as if she was trying to fight back and escape. "…the truth about this!"
Meta Knight quickly started studying his papers as he heard something scuffle, and then footsteps. Not too far in front of him, a Dee dashed out from between two tents on his right. Upon seeing him standing there, she stopped abruptly, studying him. Meta Knight glanced up from his papers, trying to do the same to her.
The Dee's face had lost much of its emotional intensity, which was surprising considering how worked-up she'd sounded. Her fur was slightly darker than the other Dees', and her face was a bit paler. The most obvious detail about her was her headdress. It was a long piece of…cloth, perhaps, attached to a sapphire headband of unknown—but definitely solid-looking—material. The cloth seemed almost transparent, and it was an irregular ice-blue. Meta Knight couldn't help but study it—he'd never seen anything like it.
It only took two seconds for the Dee to pause and continue running. Meta Knight stared after her, but despite the odd headgear, he quickly lost sight of her. The sapphire puff started wandering back to Bandana Dee and his friends, already starting to process what he'd heard.
Whoever that was…or, 'Kaji', they called her…We're 'newcomers'. What does she want with us…and what problem relates to it?
She was the one watching me earlier…maybe. If that's truly what she was doing…how long had she been watching us, and why? Is she…a danger to us, or a villain?I'm here for a week with her, and the other Dees, so…I guess I'll find out eventually.
He glanced down at the papers briefly, wondering what had been on them—and almost lost his lunch. He quickly shoved them back in his mouth, trying to forget about what he'd seen, using the excuse that he should focus on the odd Dee, and what he was about to do next.
Trigonometry… His face had paled slightly upon seeing roughly twenty-two trigonometric functions shoved into a single equation, filled with all sorts of other letters and symbols to boot. He hoped his calculator still had batteries; trigonometry was easy, but his downfall was that it was almost too easy. No, calm down, Meta…It's no big deal. Do a relaxation chant, get out your Unity Circle, and go…to dinner…
Silva was sitting around the back of her house, sketching butterflies while her mother got the bonfire supplies together. Despite her age, she was quite skillful at drawing and writing—when it came to science, that is. Her letters may have been huge, and her drawings may not have been to scale…but they were surprisingly good, for a seven-year-old.
The Dee child couldn't help but slump a little when the butterfly she was observing moved on from the clover patch. She should have known—butterflies went to bed when it got closer to dinner; after that was just moths. Silva didn't like the moths as much; most of them were common and brown, and she'd used up a lot of her browns. She still had a lot of other colors, like the ones in the rainbow, however…which sparked an idea back in her mind.
She really wished that blue puffy and his friend were here. They'd let her draw them, and they'd give her rides, too! Granted, the pink one wasn't as blue as the other one, but his eyes were blue, so she supposed that made up for it. It was so odd. Waddle Dees had brown or orange or yellow eyes. These creatures looked similar—well, her parents thought so—but had way different eye colors. She'd never seen a creature with white eyes that had the ability to talk to her; she'd seen creatures with colorless eyes (they had no irises, for certain environmental reasons), but no white eyes until the puffy had come. And he had skin; maybe they lived underwater or in a swamp. They certainly wouldn't live in an icy-cold climate, but…perhaps they lived in a very warm one, as well? Maybe they lived in a cave—ooooh, with bats, too! The Dee child felt like jumping up and down. Imagine living in a cave with bats!
If only she could study the puffies closer! They might even be better than bats, if such a thing was possible! And…maybe they were an undocumented species! …No; there were two puffies; surely somebody had already discovered their species before her. But were they well-documented? She'd never read about them, so perhaps there was still hope! They certainly weren't native to this planet at the least, so she could be the first to research them for Popstar.
And they were so cute! They were such adorable-looking creatures; they looked just like her mother and father and brother…but they weren't like them—not as much as everyone else thought! Waddle Dees had fur, where the puffies didn't. And the puffies' faces were flat; they didn't have the white area that distinctly signified their faces. Their eye colors were different as well, and they came in very absurd colors. Not to mention that they could apparently wield magic powers, if everything her brother told her had been true. It was hard to believe that they were sentient like her; they looked more like stuffed animals than—
"Silva?"
The Dee child blinked, glancing up from the flower. She would have grinned if she could have.
Standing under the tree in front of her was the blue puffy! How lucky! Maybe she could study him now…
"Puffy!" Silva greeted excitedly. Then she stopped, noticing that he hadn't said anything back. The sapphire puffball shifted on his feet nervously. "…Puffy?"
Meta Knight glanced around an extra time before sighing, sitting down, and opening his wings. For a moment, the little Dee's mind went blank.
Puffy…bat…Puffybat? No, Puffy-bat.
"Wh…What are you, puffy?" she asked, an odd feeling creeping over her. "Are you a rare species? I haven't read about you…"
"I'm…I'm called a Pikonyan. There…aren't many of us left, so I guess we're sort of rare." He frowned. "A lot of people…don't like us, either, so some books don't document us on purpose. We're supposed to eat a lot when we're younger, so…those who don't like us try to call us pests to get rid of us. I'm not sure what that makes me to you…or what animal kingdom that puts me in, or how you classify that..."
Silva stood there, apparently still stunned. Hopefully he hadn't given her a bad impression…Or maybe—
"Puffy, if you eat a lot when you're younger, do you get a cocoon for your wings? Or are you born with them?"
Meta Knight was slightly caught off guard by this. She was quicker at thinking of things than he'd assumed. "Um, yeah. We are supposed to get a cocoon; I…I didn't exactly…I wasn't the most normal case of how our species does things. How did you know that?"
"There are only two options, puffy." How did she sound so formal? Then again, explanation and commonplace questions were two different things. "Either you're a hatchling, and you came from an egg with your wings, or you grew them along like a butterfly. It does…meta…meta…" She narrowed her eyes, trying to think of the right word.
"Metamorphosis?" the puffball supplied. Silva's eyes lit up.
"Yeah, metamorphosis! Your name was Meta, right?" she asked. Her eyes lit up when the puff nodded. "I knew it, puffy! Um, hope you don't mind me calling you that; it's easier. That's why I thought of it; 'cause your name sounded like metamorphosis!"
"I didn't think 'meta' by itself meant anything special…" Meta Knight rubbed his cheek. "Does it?"
Silva picked up one of her books and flipped through it. The sapphire puffball tried to catch a glimpse, but all he could pick out were several lists of words that he didn't think a child as young as Silva would be able to read. Had this been what he would have looked like, if he hadn't worn his armor as a child? Considering the size of her book, the scene would have been almost surreal. Who would believe that a young child could do so much?
But Silva is so happy…compared to the pressure I was under. It was the only thing I could focus on at the time; learning months of math in mere days… I took my position because it would be helpful, and I thought I had a gift for it. I guess I'll never know whether I was good at it now; I've had too much practice to be able to tell. Meta Knight smacked himself mentally. Stop being depressing! You're here to have fun, so quit whining!
"Oh! 'Meta' is a prefix. It can mean 'change', or 'change in form', or 'change from a child to an adult'. They're mainly all used in biology and animals." Silva dog-eared the page and closed the book. "Hey, blue puffy…since you're an abnormality, do you mind me taking notes on you? I won't share them unless you want me to write a book on you. Mama already told me about that, and I don't want to make you mad at me…" She rubbed her foot in the dirt. "But, I really wanna write about a rare species, and I might never see one of you again! Could you pleeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeeease?"
Oh boy…But wait, doesn't she just want to know about your species? Meta Knight rubbed his cheek a little harder. That's not about you then; it's about…ugh, it's about your anatomy…hopefully she hasn't had any Talks yet, or read about them…Maybe her mom told her to ignore that; that'd be nice if she did…
"My species would probably be scientifically impossible, in a way…" He placed his paws in his lap. "But sure; as long as it's nothing personal, I can help you…Just ask me if you reuse anything later around other people."
He highly doubted he'd have to worry about this; she was only a child…but he knew himself that intelligence knew no boundaries, and as long as she could read and memorize, Silva could be as good as any other biologist in the field. The little Dee pulled out a separate notebook and wrote something on the top of a blank page. Then she pulled out a pencil, staring at his wings critically. "I will, blue puffy…But before I do that, do you mind if I make a sketch of your wings?"
What an odd request…but she does like bats, and that's why you came here, remember? So she doesn't have to capture a live bat by herself. Admit it, Meta; you did want to help her out…She's kinda like you were as a child...
A smile flickered across the puff's face. "Okay, sure."
The Dee's eyes lit up. "Thank you, puffy! Okay, now just hold still…lean in a little bit, and I'll try to sketch them. Your wings don't look like fruit gliders' wings, you know that?"
"What are fruit gliders?"
Silva carefully analyzed the curve she'd sketched so far, twirling her pencil a bit before glancing back up at him and continuing her drawing. "Fruit gliders are a type of glider bat. They don't have flapping wings; they glide around like kites instead, so they don't have any bones in their wings. I see you might have bones in some parts of yours, or at least some thick muscle tendons, but they're a different structure than a fruit glider. Did you know that a fruit glider…"
In the trees above the duo, another Dee was watching them. This was one of the Dees that Bandana Dee had not yet introduced to them, and hadn't intended to. She observed the sapphire puffball, analyzing his specific traits and qualities.
It could be possible…it could be him…But no…don't get your hopes up; you know that it's practically impossible to believe something like that…could come true. You accepted long ago that they were both gone.
It's him. I know it is. And if he isn't, he'll still know more than I do now, and even if you turn up nothing but dead puffballs…it's better than not having tried at all, isn't it? But it wouldn't do to freak him out—not now, at least. Confirming his identity will be everything. Telling this to the wrong person may kill both them and you.
The Dee leaned back against the tree, observing the Dee and the puffball for almost an hour, at which they were called to dinner and to bed. Neither of them even noticed her presence—unsurprising, considering her experiences. When she felt the time was right, the Dee gracefully leapt down through the tree branches and landed perfectly on the ground, her headdress rippling down to surround her. She quickly slipped into the shadows, leaving no trace that she had been spying on them. It was about time she got to bed herself…but from what she'd gathered that day, one more conversation would be enough to confirm her suspicions.
'Meta Knight'…how odd that that should be your nickname. If you're who I believe you to be, that will certainly make things interesting…
C/N: Meta Knight is willing to indulge Silva because he knows how it feels to work hard (academically, too) as a child, and wants to be sure Silva feels acknowledged for her work. I feel I kinda rushed the scene a little, and I wasn't sure if that point was obvious enough...if you're up to answering, whaddya think? I know it needs a bit of revision, but as for how much, I'm uncertain.
That Dee at the end is nobody important. Don't pay attention to her. Instead, watch Reggie and Dedede do the hula.
Dedede: Wait! I haven't sewn my luau pants back up yet!
Edit: Hey there, Indigo Puff! You reviewed while I was editing these chapters to publish, so I'll reply properly next chapter. Sorry!