Chapter 2, Part 2
Meta Knight was pretty confident that he was lost. Well, in most people's definitions, he was. In his definitions, he was just creating a new map of a new area. If he ever ended up entirely disoriented, he could always head to the edge of the tents. But he could recall that rain barrel and the green ribbon.
…hopefully. The blue puffball cast a suspicious glance at the strikingly-similar barrel's ribbon. It looked a little more sea-green than regular green, now that he looked at it closer.
No, the rest of this looked familiar. This had to be the place; it was where he'd seen Kajinara yesterday, and where the last few Dees he'd asked told him Cody would be for the next half hour. As he glanced around, there was only a handful of Waddle Dees around. The majority of them were probably setting up the main areas. These few must have stayed behind to make sure nothing happened to their remaining housing and supplies.
Meta Knight suddenly started doubting his decision. Sure, he hadn't wanted Kajinara to recognize him, but…he had no idea which of these Dees Cody could be, or where she even was. He knew she was here, but a half hour wasn't too much time. What if she'd left? He tried to wander around the place, looking for any familiar spots to where he'd been yesterday while not drawing too much attention to himself, and then…almost magically, he noticed a Dee sitting outside a tent, placing a few last pieces of laundry into a crate. The blue puffball noted the presence of several crates, in and around several tents. He could only assume it was their common method of storage.
He was about to walk up to her, but she met his eyes before he even thought of anything to say. How she'd sensed him when he was being so quiet was beyond him.
Don't just stand there staring at her! Ask her where Cody is! The blue puffball squirmed a little, uncomfortable about having to ask for information instead of already knowing it, but he'd done this the last few times, so this should really be no problem. And…this Dee…there was something familiar about her. His black-hole tummy felt at ease about her, and he couldn't help but feel compelled to trust her. An odd feeling of possible respect for the Dee settled on him…though he dismissed it quickly; he had no idea why he should feel such a thing. Regardless, the feeling of trust was still there, and he couldn't ignore it, try as he may.
"Excuse me, do you know where Cody is?"
The Dee's eyes brightened. "That would be me. And who do I have the pleasure of meeting?"
Meta Knight's mind locked for a moment. Did he really just get the right Dee on his first—well, sixth, really—try? What should he tell her? His name, or his nickname? No, his nickname was going to have to be enough for now.
"Call me Meta." He offered her his paw.
"Oh, one of the newcomers. Hello Meta, I'm Cody," she restated, shaking his paw. "You're quite polite. Your parents must be proud."
"Actually, I don't really have any parents…I don't know where I came from." How awkward. They all have family members, and I have none.
True to his assumption, the Dee seemed surprised, and perhaps…sympathetic. "That's terrible. But whoever raised you, they must be happy, and you can certainly be. Now, you were looking for me?"
"Oh yes." His original mission snapped into his mind. "Can I talk with you privately, maybe? I don't want anyone else to hear us."
Cody thought about this for a moment. "Okay. Follow me."
-pagebreak-
"Here, sit down. I'm sorry for all the clutter, but when you you're staying in a tent, I suppose it's inevitable."
Meta Knight walked over and sat down on the bed she'd pointed to. There were two in the tent, each on one side. "I don't think it's very messy at all."
"Yes, but all these boxes bother me at times." She lifted a small crate up and stacked it on another. "Most of these are filled with toys…but my children's tents are full enough with boxes like these. I just keep these because letting them stash their tools in their tents means they get more work done."
Meta Knight gazed around at his side of the tent. It had three boxes, neatly stacked at the end of the bed. That seemed to be all there was on that side.
Is this Kajinara's half? Bandana Dee did say she lived with Cody…
"Well, this side is clean at least," he offered, hoping to get a reaction out of her that would affirm his guess.
Cody shoved the last box in a place to her satisfaction. With that, she brushed off her paws and walked over to her bed. "Oh, of course. That's my roommate's side. She doesn't have many belongings to speak of; it's just the way she lives."
That wasn't nearly as much information as Meta Knight had hoped. He hadn't even gotten a name out of her. "Is she your sister?"
"Hm? Oh no." Cody shook her fur off and climbed onto her bed. "She's…just a fellow Dee. Kinda like you; she doesn't have any family, really. So she's a dear friend. But, what did you want to speak about with me?"
Shoot. How am I supposed to get any information out of her when she keeps avoiding the question? I guess my only option is to ask straight-up…I hate to do that… "Um, I wanted to ask about someone, and my friend said you might know something…"
Cody cast him a questioning glance, but Meta Knight also caught a hint of suspicion. Clearly, information wouldn't come easily. He'd have to be careful. But how? Maybe if he just made a show of knowledge, he'd find out, but…that'd be way too obvious that he'd been snooping. What question could he ask that wouldn't look suspicious? He didn't really know anything about Kajinara…only what Bandana Dee told him. But what could he get out of that? The fact that she was a scout?
An idea hit him. He wouldn't ask directly about Kajinara; he couldn't do that if she was even avoiding that they shared a tent. He was a newcomer, and a swordfighter. Only the scouts were trained and allowed to fight without the chief's consent. If he asked generally about scouting and fighting, she might slip up and mention Kajinara.
"Well, I guess because I'm new, I just wondered…why are only some of you allowed to fight? Bandana Dee told me a little, but he didn't go into any detail." Bandana Dee had told him a bit more than that, but it would work for this sort of question tactic.
"Why, you ask?" The Dee suddenly got up again, appearing less on edge but more nervous. She moved back over to the shelf, moving some objects around, or out of the way. "For the same reasons that most people have armies instead of teaching their children how to fight. It scars fewer people, little kids aren't hurting each other, and less people have to go through strict training. There's no fighting over who has to fight, if you'll pardon the wording, and since we prefer to be very peaceful, teaching everyone only the basics of self-defense—instead of the whole boat—keeps everyone out of that sort of thing. Unless you're a wanderer, like Bandana is. Then you're allowed some training."
"So…" Meta Knight thought this over. "You all know how to fight if you need to, but the scouts are trained more rigorously?"
"That's right." She pushed her way to the back of the shelf, plucked a knit, orange cap off of it, and dropped it into the crate, along with a smaller item concealed in a leather pouch. Meta Knight strained to get a glimpse, a possible theory about Cody crossing his mind, but he failed to confirm it before she closed the box. "I don't like being too involved in the wars of our tribe, which luckily aren't many."
Meta Knight nodded, trying to think of his next point.
She turned around to face him, eyes narrowing. "But I don't think that's what you really wanted to ask, though. If Bandana referred you to me, and you're here talking about scouts, you wanted to ask about Kajinara, didn't you?"
A handful of curses flickered across Meta Knight's mind before he tried to figure out how he was going to deal with this new development.
"Eavesdropper, aren't you?" It didn't really sound like much of a question, with the tone of voice she had used. "I have more experience with that sort of thing than you would think, Meta. Everybody wants to know about Kajinara. Plus, I'm probably twice your age at the least and have dealt with more than enough people snooping around me for information on her. And…your presence feels a bit strange. I get this weird tingling sensation from the direction you're standing, so I recognized that it was you, from where you were listening to us and I felt you. Must be troublesome for you to manage that. But really, I was just waiting for you to say something."
Shoot! I forgot to keep the Dimensional Cape around me while I was listening! But it would have looked way too strange to any passerbys, so there's not really much choice… Meta Knight wasn't frustrated or upset with himself, but he couldn't help feeling a bit embarrassed. The one time he'd forgotten to hide his black-hole-magnified…energy signature? Not accurate, but it would do. The point of the matter was, whatever he wanted to call it, somebody had to go and sense it. But…Normal people didn't just outright sense that; she had to have some sort of cheating device…or she was just really well-trained in it.
But why would she need to know something like that—
She pushed the crate closed with a paw, still maintaining her eye contact with him. "But I'm not mad; not yet. Can you explain your curiosity, outside of purposeless snooping?"
"Hm? No. I just…" Well this was terrific. How did one go about explaining this sort of thing without looking awkward? But, he'd had to take several awkward conversations before, so one more shouldn't be any difference. "This will sound strange, but I think she's following my friends and me for some reason, and I was curious as to why. Bandana Dee said she doesn't come around at parties, so I suppose I got a little suspicious. It…I'm probably just being paranoid."
"Hm. I see… Kajinara did mention you…but as to what importance you hold, I have no idea. You're apparently of some value to her, though." She shoved another crate on top of the one she'd just closed, and then surrounded it.
"Me? Am I a value, or a threat?"
"Yes, you. She didn't mention the king, and I only heard Kirby's name once, so I figured you were the only one left. Don't worry; Kajinara won't hurt you unless she's certain you'll hurt one of us." She eyed him over again. "But she seemed more distressed over you than threatened. I have no idea why. She wouldn't tell me—although I'm pretty sure you already knew that."
"You've known her for a long time, and I've not even spoken to her properly…" Meta Knight played with his paws. "Don't you have any idea why?"
"I've done some thinking. But so far, they're all crazy, or too cloudy." She finished putting her mystery belongings away and sat down on her bed to face him. "I'd have to know more about you to make any more guesses."
Shoot. What does she want to know? If it's something too important, I'm not telling. "May we keep this private, perhaps? Just, before we go any further."
"If you keep everything you've learned a secret, I'll give you the same honor. In other words, let's leave this conversation and everything we've said before it a secret. How's that sound?"
She looked more than reliable and accepting of that, and since Meta Knight was just as eager, the agreement was barely held back for more than a few seconds. He wasn't particularly sure who he'd bring this up with anyway, but…he'd figure that out later. He was almost positive he could tell Bandana Dee anything general without breaking the deal—after all, what had he even learned here, anyway? Next to nothing, really; at this point, he could be the one spilling the beans if he wasn't careful.
"I promise," the puff affirmed.
"That makes two of us. I promise; you have my word."
The two sat there staring at each other before Meta Knight finally sighed. "Okay, now that everything's off-limits conversation-wise…What do you need to know about me?"
The Dee echoed his sigh. "Honestly, I have no idea where to start. If you don't know her, I can only guess off of what she knows about you. Is there anything especially noteworthy about you that another Dee would mention?"
"That another Dee would mention…" Meta Knight thought for a bit. "Well, I fight…"
"No problems with that," Cody dismissed. "Next."
The blue puff hesitated. "Okay. Well, I have a magic sword, and my cape is somewhat magical, I suppose…It does some dimensional tricks." He stopped to think, deciding it best not to reveal the cape's 'energy-signature'-masking properties. "I look like Kirby; we're a rare species…I dunno. I'm lost on what she'd think about me. Maybe I remind her of a family member or something."
Cody froze, and her eyes narrowed. "Do not talk about her family. Critical point. While that may be a logical case, she would've told me already if that was so. I repeat, don't talk about her family. If you do, I'll make sure you thoroughly regret it."
The mystery bundle she'd placed in the crate flashed into his mind. If it was what he thought it was, her threats were certainly valid. "I won't. I promise."
The Dee relaxed. "Good. If she comes to you and says something, that's perfectly fine, but I'd prefer if she rehashed the past as little as possible." She noticed him open his mouth to ask a question and quickly held her paw up. "No, you don't need to know why. I'm almost certain that you can theorize on your own and make those guesses. It's not something you need to pry into, and it's also information that you'll find impossible to get."
The lack of knowledge—or rather, lack of details—was annoying Meta Knight, but there was a limit as to how far he was willing to pry…well, for now. He'd made a promise, though, so he had to keep his word and hope that someone else would say something about Kajinara for him. With this in mind, he nodded politely to Cody. "I understand."
"Hm, I guess you're a pretty trustworthy person. You haven't proven me wrong, so I'll keep trusting you unless you prove not to be worthy of that. Be aware, though…" The Dee narrowed her eyes. "Kajinara is dangerous, both to you, and herself. If you say or do anything that causes her to make a reckless or dangerous decision, I will personally hunt you down, dismember you, and throw you in the ocean. The tribe will never have to know."
Meta Knight nodded mutely, wondering both how Kajinara could be...for lack of better words, suicidal, and how Cody could be so threatening. It didn't really seem to match their images…well, maybe it would, in their circumstances. But what were Kajinara's circumstances, anyway? He'd come for information about her, and he'd left with little more information than he'd come in with. Not to mention that now, Cody may or may not be added to their list of stalkers, and he had to keep this all a secret. Maybe he could just keep the information a secret, and still inform Bandana Dee about the general events…
Cody let herself lean back against the bed, perhaps as an attempt to relax. "Thank you. You know, I'm sorry for having to threaten you; I'm just…worried. Kajinara tells me everything that's troubling her, but…but she didn't tell me what's wrong now. She's always told me, except for once…" The Dee sighed. "I can only hope we aren't revisiting those times."
Meta Knight blinked, glancing up from his paws to Cody. "May I ask what happened then?"
"Hm?" She shifted from her back to her side, staring at his curious expression. "Oh, my bad. I guess I kinda threw that candy out there, and I don't really know anything…Since this is already a secret, I suppose it can't hurt to tell you it. A while back, Kajinara went out for an extremely long period of time. Not just 'a few days'. We're talking 'a few months'. I was so worried; I searched everywhere I could for her. She just left me a letter saying she would be back when my children would be born—see, I was expecting twins at the time; those were the next-to-last children I had. I had so many more places I wanted to search for her, but with my children coming, I was compromised outside of what my family would let me search over. Then, one day…she came back, and she wasn't hurt that bad physically. But something was different about her—really different. She seemed…I can't describe it; there were a few little things; minor details…For one, she always seemed to be thinking deeply about something, but supposedly, she could never recall what it was about. A few weeks after that, she completely devoted herself to scouting. She was into it before, but she had started to lighten up…and then when whatever event happened after those weeks…I guess that was when she made her mind up. She scouts all the time now."
Where could Kajinara have gone? And why? Meta Knight turned these thoughts over in his mind, but like Cody, quickly realized that there wasn't enough information to form any guesses. If only he had a location, or a—wait a minute, what about a time? "How long ago was that?"
Cody seemed somewhat surprised about this question. "Huh? Um, hm…I never thought about that…" She closed her eyes. "Nothing significant was happening, that I was aware of…"
"Maybe I know something," the puff hinted. "Can you tell me?"
"It was…" She hesitated, but then decided to tell him. "About two-and-a-half decades ago in our years, if memory serves. Give or take a little, since she was gone for a while. Ring any bells?"
There was one bell that rang quite clearly, but first, he made sure he searched through any events he knew of on Popstar or anything that could relate to it in interplanetary news. He came up with nothing. "Wellll…I can't think of any events, but I'm not a history expert, so there's probably still some possibility out there…"
Cody gave him a strange expression—one that seemed suspicious, disappointed, neutral, and perhaps another emotion, all at the same time. Should he continue? What he was thinking of might be a little self-centered…eh, he might as well; it made a little sense…although it still left a lot of doors open, and answered no real questions…
"Um, if it helps, I'm about that old…" he offered. "Maybe I'm someone's child that she knows. But, all I remember is growing up in an off-planet army base; I didn't know about this planet for a while. Maybe my parents died or something, and she knew them. But it's…yeah, it's probably just coincidence."
"It's definitely a factor to consider, but…that doesn't explain why she came back so differently…" Cody clenched her blanket. "If your parents died, she'd have to do something with you, and she doesn't have the capacity to do anything like sending you off-planet, since you'd have been an infant at that point…I know she's very secretive, but I don't think she had contact with anyone in particular with space access outside the tribe; nobody at all…This is so frustrating!"
Both of them were silent for a moment before she continued speaking.
"But…there is something about you that's important, or at least some quality of yours," Cody murmured. "And that's at least a start, for the both of us. Mainly myself. Kajinara is sneaky, so maybe…" She pushed herself up. "Meta, I know you can't help being curious, but Kajinara likes her privacy. I'm not sure if you've dealt with anything like this, but until I can figure something out, or unless she says something to you personally, could I ask you to leave her alone? Kajinara won't hurt you in any way; once she gets the information she wants, I'm sure you'll never hear from her again. I can't really tell her not to spy on you because you'll be given away, but…" She sighed. "If only you knew what she wanted to know about you; then this would all be over. But, do we have a deal?"
Meta Knight was curious, yes. But he could understand Cody's plight—he wasn't even sure of what he'd do about anything. His original purpose was to find out why Kajinara had been spying on them, right? And he'd found that out—it was because of him. Meta Knight had no problem pondering all the possibilities of what could happen. But as soon as he gave Bandana Dee that answer, the next phrase would immediately be 'What? Why you?', and he knew that well enough.
Well, too bad, Bandana…I'd rather bide my time and save my dignity than pester someone like a whiny, unknowledgeable kid. I don't mind hypothesizing until I find fact.
The sapphire puffball offered his paw to her. "Of course I accept the deal."
Cody looked genuinely happy again. "Thank you. But…" She paused for a moment. "…by our standards, you'd barely be an adult…and I'm here threatening you like one…I'm sorry." She looked as if she genuinely felt like it. "Even most of my children are older or old as you…do you really have no family?"
Meta Knight shook his head. "I…No, I do not. Have any other family, that is."
The Dee's face softened. "In that case…maybe it would be better if Kajinara knew you after all…I sort of hope so; it might make her happier, and you as well. Meta, I have to go now; sorry for rushing…" She turned toward the tent door, and Meta Knight moved to hold it open for her. The action merited a positive acknowledgement from the Dee, or a smile, if she could. "If you ever need me for anything, just come talk to me. But, please stay out of Kajinara's business until she asks you. And it would be nice if you didn't eavesdrop on our private conversations for a while. Good day, Meta." She shook his paw as they both left the tent. "You're a very sweet child."
Cody walked off toward a different section, with another Dee coming up from behind him to replace her to watch the tents. It took little time before Meta Knight was left standing there, in the middle of several pitched tents with a few Waddle Dees.
I completed my goal…time to see if Bandana Dee's succeeded in his…
"…so, thanks to Silva being the Distract-inator, I managed to keep Kajinara completely occupied without even having to ask. Luckily, Silva played her part pretty well; I didn't even have to tell her much info and she isn't letting anything slip. I guess that's the plus side of being an older sibling with a lot of respect on your shoulders." Bandana Dee leaned back against the sand.
The duo had returned to the beach, which had cleared up a bit since the campfires were being set up. Meta Knight merely glanced at him, unsure of how he wanted to tell his friend about his end of the trip. It almost sounded as if Bandana Dee's tougher job had been far more successful than his relatively easy task. Hm, maybe he could avoid his failure by getting a shocked reaction out of Bandana Dee. That tended to work a lot of times when he needed to avoid a messy situation, or simply wanted to get a reaction out of someone for kicks. Fortunately, he had a good idea, as Bandana Dee was just about finished talking.
"So…" Bandana Dee brightened up. "How was your talk with Cody? That probably went way easier than mine."
"Good, except she threatened to kill me," Meta Knight stated nonchalantly. "You neglected to tell me that part of the deal."
"What?!" Bandana Dee almost fell over backwards, reeling from this information. Meta Knight had to hide his grin. He loved doing that to people. "Cody is the sweetest person in the tribe! You sure you got her, and not someone else?"
"Positive. Though, how would I know?" Meta Knight shrugged, returning to his sober mood. "I don't know anybody around here too well besides your parents. I just asked a random Dee for Cody, and she said she was. She shares a tent with Kajinara, right?"
"Right…that's her tent…" Bandana Dee was thinking hard. "I don't think anybody else would pretend to be her…maybe I should ask—"
"Don't ask," Meta Knight interjected. "Then she'd know I told you, and I think that was part of the promise."
"What promise?" Bandana Dee perked up. "Tell me about what happened. How did you work her up to kill you?"
"We discussed some…sensitive information, potentially…" Meta Knight began.
"About who? Her, Kajinara, what?" Bandana Dee prompted.
"A little about Kajinara. Honestly, I don't think I know any more about her than I do when I went in. Cody wasn't going to give just anything out. I did get a few points on how to not send Kajinara off the deep end though, so at least that's something. It does not tell me anything about why she's stalking us; Cody said that she herself is still working on that. We're back where we started. Why is there just no information on her?" Meta Knight flopped back on the sand, irritated. Bandana Dee glanced over at him.
"I told you, she's just that sort of Dee. If the chief doesn't know, how—"
"Wait a minute." The gears in Meta Knight's mind suddenly started to move. "She isn't the oldest Dee in the tribe, right? Somebody has to know! I don't care how vague it is; they should at least be able to tell us something about—"
"About…?" Bandana Dee was confused as to why his friend suddenly dropped off.
"That's part of what Cody warned me about. She said not to ask about her family, or rehash the past. It must be a sensitive issue for her…"
"But still…" Bandana Dee tried to continue on his friend's previous train of thought. "A lot of the Dees around here would have grown up with her at the same time, or be a decade older, in Cody's case. I don't think my parents know anything, and I don't think the chief's told anyone. If he introduces a new Dee, it's practically law that we accept them as an equal. We don't pry unnecessarily if it bothers them. But yeah…the chief has to know about Kajinara; he and the elders are older than her by a significant amount. And, they're the ones who deal with all the issues of the tribe. If her parents died, the chief would know about that."
"Bandana, can we just drop this?" Meta Knight pushed impatiently. He was starting to become nervous from the idea of Bandana Dee poking too far and possibly giving them away. He wasn't even sure if he could trust himself, with a Dee or two stalking him. "I didn't come to your party to discuss why some girls are following me."
Bandana Dee gave him an odd look, which the sapphire puffball reciprocated when he realized what must have run through the Dee's head.
"Bandana, don't. Don't make any comments. And please, keep this under the table from Kirby and Dedede as well. I'm not in the mood for them to make jokes like that, either."
Meta Knight stood up, intending to walk away somewhere as a means of ending the conversation with Bandana Dee. He realized that he didn't know his way around, but at the very least, he hoped his friend would drop the subject if they came across the rest of the camp. "Let's get back to your family. I'm sure they would appreciate our help getting set up, you know."
The Dee moved to his feet, following him. "Um, Meta? You might wanna let me lead…"
"Of course." The puff slowed so that his friend could lead. "Did the others move enough wood so that—"
"Yup; they got plenty. I think they even helped everyone set up. Silva was really thrilled; she got Kirby to make her a little wooden carving of a…well, whatever you guys are. Dedede wasn't that happy, but he didn't say anything. She wanted to wear his hat, so…"
Meta Knight was only listening to half of what his friend said at this point, noting Cody standing on the edge of camp. Bandana Dee didn't notice, but Cody caught the puff's eye and winked. Meta Knight winked back, inwardly moaning.
Out of all the Dees who had to know me here…WHY do I get the mysterious one with the protective stalker?!
"Meta? You there?"
The puffball blinked. "Huh? Yeah, I'm still here. I was just thinking about the bonfires. It got dark really quickly…"
Bandana Dee smirked. "Really? I bet you were thinking about the s'mores and the food, just like you were that time we made a bonfire on our last adventure."
Meta Knight chose not to respond, mainly because he had no answer.
Ugh…at this point, what else could go wro—
"OOF!"
Bandana Dee turned around to see Meta Knight and Reggie sprawled on the ground, the chef quickly picking himself back up and re-adjusting his hat.
"Shoot!" he squeaked. "Sorry Meta!"
Reggie quickly took off before anybody could say anything. Bandana Dee walked back over to the puff, staring down at him. "Uh…Meta? You need any help?"
Meta Knight ignored the colors dancing on the edges of his vision and pushed himself into a sitting position.
Okay, forget that. At this point, it would have been better if he knocked me out and I was still lying on the ground.
C/N: I'd say that talk with Cody was really productive, wouldn't you? You know it was. By the way, you'll find later in the story that her threats have complete potential to be valid. There's hints along the way, but for now, just pretend that her experience is due to her raising five children at once and watching Kajinara to boot. I'm sure Meta and Bandana weren't the first to try and figure her out by using Cody...
I'll snap out a question here real quick! This IS a longer story; I currently have almost 90,000 in words for it (and I still have plenty left to fill in, particularly post-climax material). I've been trying to break it up so that each chapter is 2000-5000 words long, as the original chapter divisions all ended well over the 10,000+ word mark. Also, I have a lot of material written for this (I generally know everything that will happen), so the update rate may change depending on how slow the internet is, and whether I run into a white space in the document (basically, break in story).
I was really surprised to see how quick you guys read this! Thanks for the reviews, you all.~
-ooo-
Indigo Puff: Heheh, keep those in mind. If I was too specific, I might spoil something by accident...But in general, I don't like to include stuff unnecessarily if it's not useful later on; it's a general rule of writing for me. Or little details that mention past events; I'm a sucker for tying stuff up.
Meow: You're welcome! I try to reply to reviews as best as I can, but I don't usually go back and answer questions on oneshots. It's a combination of how the site manages documents, and the word counts on the stories growing infinitely larger as time went on. Chaptered fics are fair game, though. :)
I'm glad you like the details. I'm a very detail-oriented person, so I sometimes wonder if I've gone overboard. I'm still working on the warpstar theory, but yes, both Kirby and Meta collaborated. Also, the part with the Big Waddle Dees is something I hadn't thought of yet. For this story, they're a different species. (I haven't picked up a Kirby game outside the 3DS DLC in eons; wow, that brought back good GBA/DS memories...)
Ah, here's Cos Pengi's penguin research. :) (I hope it's not been outdated...) Dedede is a penguin pretty similar to how the penguins are organized in reality-they aren't rare, but they don't live just anywhere. Unlike reality, the penguins that live in warm climates (the ones in the...Falkland Islands, was it? Off the coast of South America) are called 'Penguins', like Dedede. Penguins that live in colder-weathered climates (like the few that live in Antarctica) are called 'Pengis'. It's sort of a size-reversal as well, as I believe the Emperor penguins are largest, and they live in colder weather (and the Pengis are smaller than Dedede's kind). Both kinds of penguins can use magic, but I've not decided on any species-wide powers yet. Dedede's parents (or potentially ancestors) came from off-planet and settled in Dream Land because of its warm temperature. So Dedede isn't of a species directly native to Popstar, but still well-known, since the Pengi variants live on the planet and are part of the same category.
I wasn't the one to notice this first, but something cute is that penguins share their food mouth-to-mouth with their young, and that's the food-sharing method in the Kirby games~ No silverware? No problem!
Ah yes; that rule does come in handy. I've revised chapter 11 at least six times by now; eep. I'll be mixing that cake batter in the background...any particular genre flavor you prefer? :)