Chapter 2, Part 3
Meta Knight knew the general objective of having a bonfire—or, he at least had an educated guess. The purpose, he believed, was just a social tradition so that people could sit around and cook while they all talked, and there were multiple people to tell the cook that the food was burning. With the Dees, however, each person got to cook their food over the fire—simple foods, of course, like meat sticks or fruit—and determine how burnt or undercooked they each wanted it.
Meta Knight, being somewhat of a perfectionist, wanted his meat cooked like he would normally eat it, and he wasn't interested in roasting his fruit at all. This earned him a comment about being close-minded from Dedede, who almost always blackened all his campfire food on any fire, bonfire, or grill that he stumbled across. The king said that it made the food taste more real, or that the fire brought out the flavor, or that the 'black' part of the food tasted delicious. Meta Knight did not agree with this viewpoint at all; he argued that burning the food was a waste and that he'd scrape the blackened parts off even a piece of toast any day of the week.
Kirby was relatively easy to please with his food—as long as there was no poison in it (that he couldn't digest), it was almost invariably a good dish. Perhaps it was because he'd eaten a vast amount of food as a child, compared to Meta Knight's diet of 'whatever's on the quick store's shelves'. The sapphire puffball preferred fruity candy over fruit, and had even turned down certain fruits from Kirby. This had earned him objections about finicky eating, but in Meta Knight's incredibly-stubborn mind, you weren't a finicky eater if your meals consisted of discount foods. There were some disagreements about his viewpoints, needless to say.
All food differences aside, Meta Knight realized that his traveling companions and himself did make up a well-balanced team. Kirby was the adaptable one who could fight all-around, Dedede was the stronger, heavy-lifter type, Bandana Dee could snipe and do melee as well, but…hm, what did he himself do? Though he specialized with his sword, there was no denying that, however short the time had been, he'd used copy abilities just like Kirby…
It had been fun. If it hadn't been for the fact that he had a reputation at stake now, he'd probably still use them, just for fun. But he quite enjoyed Galaxia; it could use a lot of magical snipery and be used for close combat. Meta Knight enjoyed a balanced attack set as well, but he much preferred to get hit as little as possible. After seeing one of Dedede's pranks on Kirby, where the puff hadn't swallowed a fake food properly, Meta Knight was even less keen on using his natural powers. There may be a time where he could use them; he acknowledged that…but he'd been cut across the cheek once with a sword, and it had hurt. He had honestly expected it would have left a scar—at the very least, it could detract from his 'cute' look, but…he wasn't interested in going through that again. His species' bodies may not age very much, but they definitely weren't immune to injury, and Meta Knight didn't want to carry a critical injury through the rest of his possibly-infinite lifespan.
That was something he respected about Kirby. It wouldn't be a lie to say that a deep, dark part of him looked up to the pink puff, even though he was smarter and more responsible (or so he thought) than him. Kirby didn't hesitate to help a friend, or set off on an adventure…and he managed to avoid making several stupid decisions, even without the knowledge that his sapphire friend had. The pink puffball didn't even carry a weapon, most of the time, and he wore no protective gear, and he rarely had a bad dream, and he mastered pretty much anything almost as soon as he got it, fighting-oriented or not. Not to mention that he was incredibly optimistic, making his way through times that Meta Knight would have internally sulked through. He wasn't invincible, of course; Kirby had his weaknesses…But everybody did, and it wasn't his weaknesses that Meta Knight envied—it was his strengths.
…Being honest, Kirby was a really great source of motivation for the blue puffball. Particularly when it came time to go on an adventure after lazing around for half a year. But even taking that secret respect for Kirby into account, puffballs were still highly competitive by nature. Therefore, the Dees and the king should have taken notice when both puffballs had their eye on the last chocolate bar left by the bonfire. Food could turn adorable, friendly puffs of sunshine-y happiness into violent weapons of mass destruction, and their violence didn't exclude fellow members of their species.
"I never realized it, but you two really complement each other. His eyes are blue—" Leaf pointed to Kirby. "—and Meta's the same shade of blue, almost. And Kirby is light pink, and Meta's eyes are white. Isn't that odd? You could be twins; Meta's just a little taller."
"It wasn't always like that. Kirby used to be really short." Meta Knight smirked, jumping off his seat and seizing the opportunity to get closer to the chocolate bar. He was confident that Kirby wouldn't notice his strategic edge until it was too late. "When Kirby first landed here, he was only three inches tall!"
"Nah-ah!" Kirby leapt up as well. "I was at least half your height; maybe ever two-thirds! Your feet were just bigger, and you always stand on tiptoe. I bet it's because you didn't want me to think you were short." The puff grinned. Unfortunately, Meta Knight took actual insult to the comment. Height accusations, no matter how well-meant they happened to be, never set off a good chord with the puff. And to add that, both of them had a shot at that chocolate now, and they knew that. Things weren't going to end well.
"I deny that. I—"
"Guys, guys…" Bandana Dee waved his hands, suddenly noticing the candy bar. "You're both unreasonable! First, there's no way Kirby could be three inches tall; he'd be practically nonexistent! I thought he was a little smaller than a Waddle Dee, and you were a little taller when you stood up right!"
His point went unheard to the puffballs, who had already started wrestling each other. The height issue was still carried as the excuse for the dispute, but the real reason the duo had went down was because Meta Knight had swiped the candy bar. Of course, Meta Knight was still upset over the teasing, so letting Kirby just have the chocolate and quitting the argument was out of the question at this point.
"You can't get out of this just 'cause your mom had time-warping abilities," Meta Knight gasped, tugging on the likely-melted candy bar. Apparently, neither of them had noticed that Silven had left to get a full box of them, and puffballs weren't fans of giving up food to potential competitors—Meta Knight especially, considering he'd taken on a member of his species who was more than a century older than him solely so he could kill a monster on their territory. The injuries he'd sustained just to get to a draw hadn't been worth killing the monster for. "Sword-elements have that advantage, you know! For all we know, you could've just warped your body to adulthood; you're sword-elemental yourself!"
"I don't cheat like that! And I don't tell people that I'm older than I am just because I got the title of 'knight'!"
"It's a cultural custom, Kirby! Any time you become a knight, you're instantly promoted to adulthood! I was a strategist at the age of ten, Kirby; who cares how old I was then?"
"Meta, can we eat no—"
In a second, the two puffballs were separated from each other, a paw gripping each of their backs. Their holder placed Meta Knight back next to Bandana Dee, and Kirby between his parents. Meta Knight quickly searched for who could possibly break the two strongest star warriors apart with no effor—
Oh shoot…It's Cody! I knew there was a reason why I didn't underestimate her. She just yanked us apart like it was nothing and she only had a paw on each of us!ONE PAW!
"Let's not get violent, you two," she suggested calmly. "Unless it was something more than a petty argument?"
Both puffballs shook their heads, cheeks heating up at seeing the full box of chocolate bars and other goodies that Silva was dancing around with her father. Feeling more than a little guilty about the childish dispute, Meta Knight picked up the discarded chocolate bar and walked back over to Kirby, hoping that the others wouldn't notice the childish gesture.
Kirby squealed, let out a happy 'poyo!', dumped the unwrapped bar in his mouth, and pulled the wrapper out. Meta Knight nodded sheepishly and walked back to his spot. Fortunately, nobody was sitting next to him…except perhaps Silva, in a little while.
"Hello, you all." A twinge of worry nested itself in Meta Knight's stomach upon seeing who sat down on the log next to him, which felt rather unpleasant considering his stomach was a black hole. At this closer distance, he noticed that Cody was wearing a yellow knit cap. She handed a similar cap to Silva, except it was ice blue. "Hello, Silva. I'm sorry I couldn't find any sapphire."
"That's okay." Silva seemed only slightly disappointed. "My brother and the puffy are here; they'll do!"
"Ah, I see." Cody cast her glance to Meta Knight. Her face gave no clues as to whether this action was good or bad—perhaps she was just observing him. "Yes, the puffies are very nice, aren't they?"
"Mmmhm!" Silva nodded very forcefully. "I love puffies; they're so cool! And they're so soft; have you felt them? It's like touching a cloud, but even softer…" She jumped up suddenly and started bouncing up and down. "Mmm, I LOVE PUFFIES!"
"Ah, I see…" Cody paused, waiting for the child to stop jumping. Meta Knight could only wonder what she was going to ask nex— "…Did you take any research notes on them?"
Meta Knight sincerely hoped his face hadn't paled any.
"I don't know that much about the puffies now, so it would be unfair practice to show my notes to you. But if I ever finalize them, maybe I'll let you see them! The puffies are super cool. Did you know they're magic, like big brother's spear? They can eat stuff, even stupid stuff, and they can make magic out of it! And everyone says they look like us, but more colorful! And they don't have any fur. Isn't that weird? I…"
At this, the two puffballs felt an odd twinge in their stomachs. The duo glanced at each other briefly, knowing they were thinking the same thing.
'They're like us'…But there's none of our species left. The Waddle Dees would be the closest thing we had to family…
Meta Knight noticed Kirby's face falling, and he quickly tried to think of something to cheer the pink puff back up. He tried smiling at him, but Kirby wasn't really paying attention to anyone anymore.
Wow…it…it hit him harder than I thought…
No…maybe he's just thinking like I did…He knows his parents are dead, probably because they were trying to protect him, and he doesn't even remember them. In a way, isn't that…kind of worse than not knowing where you came from at all?I'd feel pretty guilty if that was—
"Meta?"
The sapphire puffball—and Kirby, too—snapped out of his thoughts and turned toward Bandana Dee. "Yes?"
"See, they're white again." Bandana Dee stared him in the eyes. "Were you thinking about something?"
Huh? Oh, yeah… "Let me guess—did my eyes change color?" They did feel a bit weird…He was never quite sure why they did that.
"See, they always turn green when he's thinking. Well, not all the time though…" Bandana Dee rubbed the side of his head. "…but at least it's a helpful giveaway. I think blue means he ate something sugary."
"Why bother asking me?" Meta Knight had been about to reach for a chocolate bar, but stopped at the thought. "It's not like I can see what color they turn or when."
Silva had an extra notepad that she was scratching on…Hopefully Cody wouldn't ask to see it. But at least if she thought blue meant 'sugar', she might give him some cookies. "That's cool, puffy! Do the pink puffy's eyes change?"
"I've seen them turn blue, but they could just be lighting up," Meta Knight commented. "I know our species' eyes can light up, maybe from adrenaline or something. I'm not a biologist."
He could have smacked himself upon hearing the words come out of his mouth. Of all the things to say, Meta…
"But I am!" Silva cheered ecstatically. "Oh boy, puffy; I'm gonna solve a biology mystery!"
Metaaaa, why did you SAY that?!
"Silva! You left your hot dog stick in those rocks? I told you to be careful with it!" Leaf quickly moved over to the fire and plucked Silva's skewer out of the stones around the bonfire. "There, now it's safe. Do you want me to cook it a little longer, or is this good?"
"Mama cook it all around?" Silva requested.
Leaf would have smiled if she could have. "Certainly, Silva. You've done a good job on it so far."
"Thank you, mama! I love my family!" Silva's expression made up for the fact that she couldn't grin, and she turned to the quartet. "What are you guys' families like?"
Bandana Dee and his family had no way to predict that she would say this, and therefore, no real way to reprimand her before the king and the puffballs heard these trigger words. Their reactions were almost instantaneous—all of them slackened, Dedede sighed, Kirby frowned, and the gears in Meta Knight's mind started to turn as to how he would phrase his answer.
"M-Maybe that was a bad question, Silva…" Bandana Dee started nervously. Even Cody looked uneasy, but nobody else said anything. Talking about loss of a family member was a hard subject; to the Dees, it was equivalent to a 'special maturity talk'. If it came up here…hopefully Silva wouldn't get a bad idea. "You know, my friends—"
"It's okay, Bandana Dee." Meta Knight held up a paw. "She didn't know."
Dedede's expression genuinely fell after a few extra seconds, a rare occasion for the stubborn king. He stared into the fire as he answered. "Yeah. My parents…well…They're gone. They died from a highly-contagious illness when I was young. They sent me away to some other castle near Prism Plains, and I didn't know what happened until after they were gone. I was so mad…that they never bothered saying goodbye me, but I still really missed them, you know? It took a while to hit me that they were really gone." He straightened up and stared at Silva, a small smirk on his face. "You Waddle Dees take care of me now. The ones that worked with me in the later years were pretty quiet, though. I'll never get that. But hey, at least since I was an only child, I never had to worry about anyone else taking the crown from me. Not that I'd let them win, of course." He glanced at Kirby, who was sticking a marshmallow on his pole. "Eh, my story time's done. Your turn."
Kirby blinked, face blank. "I…I don't remember my parents besides a few cloudy memories. But I know…I went back to my planet once; you guys went with me. We only stopped for a little, but…I found something about my mom, thanks to some magic…She was a really good soldier; she was on the Strato Patrol, which was this super-elite fighting group that protected the planet." He grinned happily. "Ever since I found that out, I made it my mission to be just as cool and mature as she was! I don't know anything about my dad, though; I guess I'll find out about him eventually."
The pink puff turned to Meta Knight, sticking the marshmallow in his mouth. He hummed in delight. "O'hay, yo' turn."
"Um…well…huh…" The blue puff crossed his arms and closed his eyes, thinking harder. All memories related to this subject were incredibly hazy; he couldn't remember anything besides the GSA—wait, something… "I…might remember something blue? But they weren't my parents; I know that much. I don't know anything else about…well, me. Where I came from, or who my family is; it's a complete blank." He opened his eyes again. "I remember being able to work when I was about six; nobody would let me fight any younger than that. Then a bunch of stuff happened, and it doesn't relate to family at all. So…I guess I don't have any…"
Silva appeared to be quite a bit shocked, but…still able to handle what she was hearing. "Puffies…Pengi…" She turned to her parents, and then to Cody. "Mama, Papa, you've gotta know where their parents are, right?"
Clearly, she knew that they didn't; her face said as much. But the little Dee couldn't help but want some theory or explanation to believe, with such gaping holes in—to her—an almost unbreakable structure for life.
"Silva…" The Dee's mother placed her paw on her shoulder. "It's very rare, but not everybody gets to live in a family like we do. That's what happens when people get involved in wars, or when wars target things. That's why we chose to stay peaceful, remember? War isn't good."
"But…the puffies' families…" The child was clearly upset. "Who will be the puffies' mama and papa? Where will they get brother and sister puffies from?"
"Silva…" Cody spoke up, her tone of voice changing to her more maternal one. "The puffies may not have any family like we do, but sometimes, people will take in children who don't have any family, even if they aren't the same species. Then, those children become their children, and if they had any kids before then, they'd be brothers and sisters. Like if your mama and papa took them in, or if I did. Then they'd be your brothers, or brothers to Canto and Kyoji and Sara and all of them."
Silva thought about this for a long moment. "…But they weren't their family."
"A family is the people who love and care about you." Cody kept her peaceful expression. "That's why we are all family in this tribe, because we love each other. If somebody loves the puffies like you love your mama and papa and Bandana Dee, then they could be their family, too."
Silva tilted her head. "That sounds kinda like a friend. What's the difference, then?"
"They're very similar." Cody began to pet the little Dee's head. "But usually, family are the people who are related to you, or took someone in because they wanted them to be family. Friends could be so close they're family, sometimes."
Silva looked incredibly confused. "How do you tell which is which?"
"You'll learn eventually, Silva." Cody patted the Dee's head. "But most of the time, family are related to each other, except like in the puffies' case."
"I think…I understand…" The Dee child had grasped at least part of it. "I'm still confused."
"Don't think too hard on it tonight," Cody laughed. "We need some s'mores now!"
"S'mores?" Instantly, the quartet members perked up, Bandana Dee being less affected than the others. Kirby and Dedede's eyes met in a staring contest. Clearly, the duo's food rivalry was not to be forgotten.
Bandana Dee picked up on this quickly. "Guys, let's settle this peacefully; you both get the same!"
"As long as he doesn't get more than me," Dedede grumbled. Kirby merely cheered.
Meta Knight pondered his answer. S'mores…three layers of various kinds of sugar, all of which he savored…Eating more than three supposedly made normal people sick; that was how many he'd have—just to be safe. "I guess I'll have a few…"
"A few?" Bandana Dee whipped around to face the blue puffball. "A few? Are you kidding me? You're gonna have as many as you want, Meta, or I'll…I'll force-feed you, or something. I can tell you want way more than a few."
The blue puffball was clearly annoyed. "What—oh, I see. Just because I look like Kirby, you think I'm gonna eat the same as him. This is why I don't tell anybody I look like him. I have self-control."
"But do you still want more than a few?" Bandana Dee pressed.
Meta Knight crossed his arms and looked off to the side. "Duh, who wouldn't want more than a few?"
"Not me," Dedede answered. "Have too many s'mores and you get this weird feeling in your stomach, and then—"
"Yes, yes, we know," Bandana Dee cut him off.
Kirby turned toward the king. "Are you sure it's not just you who feels weird? Nobody I've talked to ever mentions that, poyo."
"Can it, puff-n-stuff!" Dedede roared. "You can't doubt your king!"
Meta Knight sighed. "Let's eat, guys."
When neither party listened, he kicked Kirby's foot. The pink puff quieted, and when Dedede realized that nobody was bothering to argue with him, he quickly dropped the subject.
Hm, I guess I was right about what a bonfire was… The sapphire puffball mainly listened to the adults chatting, with Silva or one of his friends jumping in at times. True to his guesses, Dedede blacked most of his food. It's not that bad. Silva gets to talk some with Bandana Dee, at least…and holy NOVA, at least Cody's leaving soon…
The sapphire puffball reached into the bag of marshmallows and made himself another s'more. Silva had attempted to count how many everybody had eaten, but eventually gave up. Meta Knight was fairly certain he'd made more than thirty at this point, but he didn't particularly care. At least Dedede and Kirby were still eating; that way he didn't have to worry about being the only one still snacking.
He did have to confess—he was eating too many s'mores. It really did nothing to revitalize his tired brain or his body, much to his dismay, because it did have some effect on him—
Bandana Dee nearly choked on his graham cracker. "What the heck, Meta? Are you okay? It's like your whole body twitched or something!"
"It isn't the sugar—" The sapphire puffball yawned before eating another s'more, hoping to keep himself awake. "…otherwise I'd be more awake than I am…"
"If you say so…" Bandana Dee shrugged. "I think you've had too much of a good thing."
Kirby and Dedede snickered.
Despite his restraint, Meta Knight couldn't help but shudder—or, as Bandana Dee put it, twitched—as he reached for another candy bar and some marshmallows. To his surprise, the graham crackers had vanished. He glanced up in confusion, wondering who could have possibly taken them.
Silva was shoving graham crackers in her invisible mouth, despite having filled up a while ago.
Oh yes. Little kids love graham crackers.
It briefly crossed his mind that he liked graham crackers, as well. And also some adults who like the nicely-cooked, possibly-cinnamon-sprinkled ones, too.
"Hey…Meta…"
The sapphire puffball turned to Bandana Dee, half asleep. He had no idea what time it was, but Silva had already been led off to bed, and Cody had left a while ago to meet with her own family—but not without winking at him again, which just made him more likely to cast a glance over his shoulder for her. This was certainly earlier than he'd normally feel tired, but there had been a lot more involved in the past two days to wear him out. He wondered if maybe the Dees wouldn't mind him sleeping next to the fire…He didn't stand heat well, but at this distance away, it was tolerably warm.
Also, if he was attacked, maybe he could throw the person into the fire.
"Yeah, Bandana…?" The puff rubbed at his eyes. "What is it?"
"Um…well…" The Dee looked somewhat guilty. "You know, I'm sorry about Silva asking personal questions…I never saw that question coming, and I wanted to be sure that you weren't upset or anything. She doesn't mean to be—"
"Don't worry, Bandana." Meta Knight held up his paw. "She's a kid. A smart kid, but still a kid. She was just curious, and besides…all you guys have family; how was she supposed to know any better?"
"I guess you're right, but still, that must have been awkward…" Bandana Dee shifted uncomfortably. "I know…Well, I didn't know that you don't know anything about your family…"
"Well, no, not really." The puff leaned back slightly. "Maybe I'm just overlooking something I know anyway. But I've never been told about my family—well, before I took the name 'Meta Knight', anyway. The point is, when I asked as myself, I didn't get very useful answers. Nobody knew anything, or they did, but they just left vague suggestions. But really, doesn't Kirby have it worse than me? I mean, for all I know, I could be some sort of orphan, yes…But, I could also be some sort of experiment from somewhere, or somebody's pet, maybe. I hope not for that last one. Maybe I was just a demon beast, but I don't remember from injury or something…" Though his voice held a normal, logical tone, his face clearly showed that he was upset over the matter. "Anyway, it doesn't matter what I am; I'm me. That's enough for me to get by in life. I have no need to pity myself over it—like I said, Kirby knows his parents could have died in front of him…isn't that kind of a worse fate, in some ways?"
Bandana Dee blinked, unsure of whether there was any correct answer to this at all. "Well, I don't really care whose story is more tragic; both of you know next to nothing on what happened to your parents. Did Kirby's parents really die protecting him?"
Meta Knight shrugged. "There's no way of knowing. Anybody who would know is almost guaranteed to be dead. I was just speculating."
"Then you can't diss your parents just because of a speculation. I may be wrong, but I think you're saying that your parents weren't as good as Kirby because his parents—or, one of them—was an elite fighter and time traveler, and you respect her, so you think that she died heroically protecting Kirby, so his parents were better than yours." The Dee's eyes narrowed. "I really don't think you're an experiment. There's just no way. I—"
"Hey guys…" Kirby appeared from around a tent, and the duo quickly dropped their conversation. The pink puffball yawned. "You guys got any marshmallows…?"
Meta Knight cast a glance at the empty marshmallow bag. "I think you ate them all…"
"Awwww…" Kirby frowned playfully. "There's gotta be more, Meta!"
"Don't—Be careful that you don't call me that when we leave here." The sapphire puffball crossed his arms. "I do have a title, and I had to work to get it."
"Don't worry, Meta!" Kirby chirped, not realizing his own irony. "I'll make sure to remember that!"
Well, at least that wouldn't be the most of your problems…That would only make Kirby look immature, luckily enough.
"Hey, Bandana…" Meta Knight ventured. "Where are we going to sleep tonight?"
The Dee blinked. "Oh shoot! Thank you, Meta! Okay, I've got an empty tent or two for tonight for you guys…" He turned to the pink puffball. "Kirby, do you want to go on to bed? You could sleep with Silva and me, if you wanted; we have some extra room."
Kirby's eyes literally lit up. "Sure! That sounds fun, as long as I get to make a nest!" The puffball grabbed his friend's paw. "Can we go, Bandana? Can we go; can we go?"
"Um, Meta, do you mind…?" The Dee tried his best to put on a pitiful expression. "I'll be right back."
"Sure, go ahead."
Bandana Dee returned relatively quickly from escorting Kirby to (a very thrilled) Silva, only to find the puff snacking on an extra, hidden bag of marshmallows. "Hmmmmmm, looks like there WAS another bag of marshmallows…"
"Not anymore." Meta Knight moved the now-empty bag to the side. "I was saving these, you know…"
"Haha." Bandana Dee would have smirked if he could have. "Naughty. But, anyway…" He sat down next to the puffball, trying to be serious again. "I don't think you're an experiment or anything, Meta…Like you said at the beginning, you don't know what happened. Don't blame yourself or think your parents didn't want you. There are species out there that die after they give birth to their offspring. I know you guys probably don't have a species like that, but you know, things could be a lot worse…"
"Yeah, I know," the puff murmured, before opening his eyes all the way and sitting up straight. "I just…I've always been envious of people with full families, or at least, people who knew their parents and what they were like. Dedede, and even Kirby—they know more than I do, and I've traveled far more places than they have. They both really respect their parents and look up to them—and you Dees are all about family members. I'd…I'd really like to know where I came from, or what happened to my parents or creators. I'm not getting any answers, or even any hints. I dunno…Maybe it's not all that important to know about my parents if they're dead anyway."
Bandana Dee had no idea what he should say. "Meta…"
The sapphire puffball jumped onto his feet. "Oh, but I'm not a big fan of being whiny. I'm just a little…frustrated, I suppose you could say. I'd really like to find out where I came from, so I know what exactly to tell people. Right now on my papers, I just have to mark myself as a space orphan." The puff smirked. "Isn't that just ironic? I suppose all those papers will be wrong, if I turn out to be an experiment…Maybe I shouldn't look for an answer after all!"
"Um, Meta—"
"Nope." The puff shook his head. "Let's not discuss this tonight. Did you get Dedede set up yet?"
"Uh, no, but…I…You seemed really unhappy about your family…" The Dee shifted on his feet nervously.
Meta Knight offered his paw to the wanderer. "Well, Bandana…thanks for worrying about me. Thank you. Do you need any help finding Dedede?"
The question was more out of politeness than out of necessity—Dedede easily towered over the Dees, even lying down. Bandana Dee shook his head. "No thanks, Meta. But once I come back, I'll get you set up, okay? Or you can go scope around and see if there are any extra tents, while you're waiting."
"Sounds great." He took a seat by the fire despite this. "I may do that in a little while…"
Meta Knight yawned as Bandana Dee walked off. This place was more fun than he thought it would be, and he even got to eat some good food instead of the stash of fake cheese crackers he had in his closet. Plus, all the Dees were so kind to him that he almost forgot how many people hated his species. Tomorrow he'd get to go down to the beach or the forest and wander around for a while—with some snacks, if he was lucky, which was pretty likely. The only thing he'd have to worry about would be who he'd have to share his tent with, and that didn't really matter much as long as he had enough room for his sleeping mat. The puff let a smile flicker across his face, staring into the fire. It was nice and quiet out here by himself…
…Perhaps he could pick up anything around the fire? There had to be something he could do to help while he was waiting. Meta Knight got up, slowly circling around the fire while he smoothed the sand out and pushed rocks or logs back into place.
"Excuse me, do you have a moment?" a voice called softly, yet with a clear tone of authority.
Meta Knight turned around. "Ye—s…"
Uh oh.
C/N: (Edited) Cos WILL reply later, after her humongous, worrisome calculus exam. Ouch; I feel sick over it...Things have just been stressful lately, so things may be a little late...
But anyway! Credit to I'mWishingforaStarRod for unintentionally inspiring Dedede's backstory! I didn't really think about it until I was writing this, but...y'know, since he's KING when we see him, his parents being dead at that time is pretty much a given (unless he ran away or something and they never could find him). Also explains why he doesn't have any siblings. Another interesting piece along those lines is that we only see him wearing his red cap; I don't believe we ever see him with a proper crown or anything. I like playing with that; you may see it later.
MORE trivia; Meta's eyes flash white when he asks for his wish in KSSU, and Kirby's eyes flash blue occasionally on the map screen for Mass Attack. So for convenience, it's a species-wide thing for puffs' eyes to glow or change, depending on mental/environmental stimulus or atmospheric conditions. Not very important in-story, but I like trivia~
I can't offer any cookies for this, but guess who Meta just ran into.