C/N: That quip about not having much backstory in this chapter? I lied.
The forest next to the Dees' camp was relatively quiet, excluding Meta Knight and Kajinara's footsteps. Meta Knight walked slightly behind the older Dee, but still close enough next to her that conversing wasn't difficult.
"So…you're a fighter, correct?"
Meta Knight stiffened upon hearing the statement, but tried not to show it. Was she challenging him? It was a good thing he'd brought Galaxia. "…Yes. Yes, I am."
The Dee cast him a knowing glance. "I assumed so. If what I've heard is true, you have some impressive skills. Were you taught by someone? Or did you learn some from others, and mainly by yourself?"
"I learned mainly on my own." The puff frowned, recalling his childhood memories. "Of course I had some instruction. But my main purpose in life was to fight, or so I believe. I had no other purpose…" He hesitated about going any further; he really shouldn't, but…he felt like he could say more to her. She did appear quite secretive, after all… "My—I had no family. No friends, or any real cause to fight for. I just fought because I was a star warrior, and…it was the right thing to do. I didn't have any other purpose, after all…I didn't know where I came from, or if I even had a home, so…there wasn't anything to do but fight. Because that's what I was supposed to do as a star warrior. If I had any parents, they must not have cared enough to come get me…unless they abandoned me, or they died…"
The duo was quiet after he said that, walking in silence.
"You know, you're wrong about some of what you've said," Kajinara murmured.
At this point, Meta Knight noticed that they had trailed off the beaten path and off into a little nook in some large tree roots. Far enough away from the path to be out of earshot, but not enough to get lost…but juuuust far enough away that if she stabbed him, nobody would notice for—
Stop thinking about that, Meta! Stop being such a paranoid idiot!
"What…part am I wrong about?" the puff ventured, unsure of where she was going. This didn't support his theory about being an experiment or a demon beast at all…Maybe she just knew some secret about how star warriors were created? Or what their purpose was? Or—
"I…I missed you a lot, Mikaru." She placed her paws on his shoulders and looked him straight in the eyes. Meta Knight hoped his surprise wasn't showing, but it probably was—she'd said his real name. Even Kirby didn't know his name. Nobody knew his name. "I missed you so much when your father took you back into space with him. I always expected him to come back, but he was killed, and I thought you were, too…"
Meta Knight's mind began to race, eliminating the theories about his past that didn't involve having parents. He started to feel sick, wondering what sort of horrible thing he'd done to make them abandon him, or hate him, or…wait, she'd just said his father was killed, but where was his mother? "You knew my parents…?"
His mind couldn't really focus enough to make any better answer than that; it was busy reforming his entire view of how he'd thought of his past, and—secretly—how he thought of himself.
"Of course, Mikaru." She moved her paws to take his. "Actually, wait. I won't say. I was going to show you a picture of them."
She reached into the cloth on her headdress and pulled an old photo from seemingly nowhere. She hesitated a few seconds, staring at it with an unreadable expression, before handing it to the puffball.
And that was where Meta Knight's mind completely locked up. A few thoughts managed to escape, but they were all rather short and fragmented. Staring at the image…
He didn't have much difficulty acknowledging that it was himself in the picture—although normally he would have winced at how frail and sickly he looked. The baby puffball in the picture was sleeping soundly with a huge beanie cap on his head, completely oblivious to anything going on. The puff's skin was sapphire, but it was a bit pale compared to the shade of his skin now. He briefly acknowledged that there was an ocean-colored puffball in the photo with a Water ability hat…but he couldn't focus on that as much as he could for the creature holding him.
For whom would it happen to be but the Dee standing in front of him, looking almost exactly like she had in the picture?
Meta Knight tried his best to piece together a decent question to confirm that it really was her. His mind felt like somebody stuck a numbing solution in his head, but…
"I'm…assuming that's you in the picture, right?" he ventured cautiously.
The Dee stiffened, but nodded. "Yes. You're correct."
The sapphire puffball felt as if he could faint.
Quick Meta, don't just stand there gawking! Say something polite!
Ask her about your family…
Look at the headdress! Holy popsicles, it looks just like my cape; how'd you miss—
I don't…feel dizzy or anything…
She's a relative—
NO! My parents hate me!
I was wrong…
Could this be possible? How would she—?
What should I do…?!
And…she said she's my mother…
Maybe she cares about me…
It was, honestly, a lot for him to take in at the moment. Five seconds felt like five minutes.
"Tell…Tell me everything. Do I want to know?" he asked. He couldn't describe how he felt at this moment. He never knew an emotion like this existed.
And his mind may as well have been on another planet…
The Dee's expression and posture didn't change that much, if at all. "I don't know. Do you want to know?"
Meta Knight wasn't particularly sure if he did. But if he didn't say yes, she may never tell him if he wanted to know later. "…Yes. I think I do."
"You're being surprisingly calm for finding out you're a cross-species child…" He couldn't help but notice that she looked slightly suspicious as she said this. "…Are you sure you're not more upset by this all?"
The sapphire puffball blinked in confusion. "What? I wasn't thinking of that part, to be honest…Actually, what do you mean by that term?"
"You don't know." It was the Dee's turn to look surprised, and…perhaps a bit relieved? "Nobody ever told you about such things?"
"I've…heard the term before, but…I'm afraid I don't know much about what it means; maybe just a guess…" Inwardly, he flinched. He hated being out of the loop on things.
"Well, Mikaru…" Kajinara shifted on her feet, her headdress barely moving despite this. "…perhaps…you'd like to sit down, for the few minutes we have left? I hate to rush, but…I didn't want to postpone this, and not have the chance to say anything, if you really wanted to know…"
The sapphire puffball still felt a bit dizzy, so he was more than happy to join her in the tree roots. He couldn't help but sneak another peek at the photo—and then the thought crossed his mind that she would probably want it back. Once they'd both sat down, he offered it back politely. She refused, patting the paw that he held the photo in.
"That's very kind of you, but you can keep it. I brought it knowing I could lose it, depending on how you took things."
Meta Knight slowly withdrew his paw, catching another quick glimpse at the photo.
Kajinara nodded. "Thank you…Thank you for being so nice about this, Mikaru. I was expecting a lot worse. But anyway. Let me begin."
Meta Knight shifted to lean against the tree root with her, though he couldn't catch a good view of her face now.
"Well, I won't bother saying much about myself, but I stumbled into this tribe when I was young. My family is dead; I had no one. Since I held a fighting position from my—oh…erm, I held a fighting position since a young age, so I volunteered to be a scout for the tribe. From there, I was happy—happy as I could be, from losing everyone I knew and dealing with reality. I met a friend or two, and Cody, whom I deeply respect…and I know everyone here; I'm just not too social with them. I don't want them to get too attached to me in case I die, you know? I mean, it's unlikely, but since I had you, things have changed."
"When…did you have me?" Meta Knight asked. "Or did you adopt me?"
The Dee sighed. "If you were adopted, you'd still have been here today. But, your birth…That was about twenty-five years ago, seven days before the longest night. Winter Solstice is the same for Popstar every year; not sure how long you've lived here. I…I hope someone at least told you your birthday. But, anyway, back in the past…I had been living my normal life, until a star warrior on a surveying job tumbled into my laundry. He was so nice to me, and he made me feel really happy. He was really optimistic, but he was still anchored in reality enough to be practical, and…and I liked that. I'd been that way, when I was a little kid, and being around him made me feel wonderful like that again. My childhood was pretty much dead, haha."
Meta Knight could tell that even though she laughed shortly, she didn't find it very funny.
"Your father…his name was Tidal. He was a Pikonyan—your species—but of course, you can see that I'm a Waddle Dee. It was from him that I found out most of what I know about the outside world, like the Nightmare wizard. Our tribe keeps up on the news well enough, but it wasn't of much concern to anyone, since Popstar wasn't in the news that much at the time. But back to you. I was hesitant about…accepting my feelings for your father, because I know not everyone approves of cross-species relationships…but I really loved him, and I was ready to carry that commitment…" She cast a glance toward him. "…Mikaru."
The puff blinked. "Yes?"
"That term…some people in the universe believe that creatures of different species shouldn't be allowed to love each other, even if science has proven that certain groups of creatures can raise families…without their children having any problems as a result." She sounded a little embarrassed talking about this sort of topic. "So…I knew that if I kept you, and one of my tribemates happened to disapprove of my relationship with you and your father…they might try to take it out on you, even though you can't control how you were brought into this world. I was nervous. I didn't want anyone to know. This is a horrible thing to think of the people who live with you, but…I wasn't sure if I'd come back one night, and somebody would have killed you. I didn't want you to have to live that sort of life."
She placed her paw on his.
"Please understand, Mikaru…I really cared about you and your father. But I didn't want either of you to have to suffer when we could have avoided it. So when I found out that you might not be born as a Waddle Dee, and on top of that, that you might be born as a star warrior, I ran away from camp until you were born. I was going to go with your father to fight with him, once he and his colleagues had finished their work here…I do have skill in fighting myself, being a scout. I figured that if we were among hundreds of creatures who were lucky if they knew what species I was, your father could just say I was your caretaker, and nobody would have to know anything more about us. Plus, the two of you would be among other star warriors, or at least creatures who knew who to fight. I'd give my life fighting to protect someone, but my tribemates aren't trained in any more than basic techniques. If a group of monsters ever came after you while you were still a newborn, I don't know whether I'd be able to fight them off without my tribemates noticing, or them catching you while I was fighting alone. And I always felt like someone was watching me when I'd meet with your father…so…"
She grasped the sides of her headdress and pulled it around herself, much like Meta Knight did himself. The Dee turned toward him, trying to see how he was taking all this, but not trying to be too obvious about it. When she saw that he mainly seemed surprised, and not angry, she continued…though she didn't meet his eyes.
"That's…where…I made my mistake. I knew your father was a really extraordinary fighter. He was a star warrior, and he had a lot of experience. And around the time you were born, I was…supposed to be helping Cody, with her children. Keep in mind, Cody's family is huge. I don't know if you've met her, but if you haven't, she has five children, and…she does have other responsibilities in the tribe that she sometimes has to take on top of that. I owe a lot to Cody. Correction; I owe her my life. Literally. And, I missed my tribemates while I was gone, so…I screwed up.
I asked your father to take you for a few weeks until I could catch up with Cody, and see everybody one last time. I felt guilty about bailing out on Cody, and...I didn't think anything would happen to someone who was as talented as Tidal was. I just figured that he could get you set up with some medical care to see if you were okay, and that he could come get me once everything was set up, and nobody would ever think twice when I showed up to take care of you. They'd already know he was your dad, and they'd never think that I'd be your mother…just a refugee, maybe, or someone interested in helping the organization. But, of course…things are never that easy."
She let the cape drop to her sides, and she leaned back against the tree, this time a bit more relaxed. "I went back home, perfectly fine—though, Cody was quite worried—and I checked up on him from this radio he'd given me. It was just one-way, but hey, I wasn't going to be picky. He just snatched it for me; I didn't want him to get in trouble. The days were passing, and it got closer to when he was going to come back…and then, I happened to hear a radio broadcast about him. That's how I knew how died…and since I didn't have any way to get in contact with anyone to ask, I thought…you had died, too. So I just moved on…because that choice was really, really stupid. I never let myself live that down, until I saw you again…"
The Dee stood up, shaking the wood chips off her headdress. "So. Whoever was supposedly spying on us must not have told on me, and nobody found out I went behind their backs to meet someone in secret. They just noticed that I stayed away from everyone like crazy, and I got a little colder than usual. The end. …unless you had any questions."
Meta Knight placed a paw against his cheek in thought. "Um…"
What should he say? What should he ask? That was a lot to take in; it wasn't anything like he'd ever imagined about himself. His entire view of how he thought of himself had changed in a few minutes…and he had no idea what to think of all this—
"I know you just met me…so I honestly don't blame you if you don't want to talk to me, or if you want to be angry at me for what I chose to do. If you hate me, that's fine; I've already been through thinking you were dead. I understand your reasoning no matter how you might end up feeling about this. I just thought I'd tell you what I knew about you, since you seemed to be curious."
"I don't hate you for what you've done." He couldn't think of much, but he knew he didn't want the Dee to feel bad when he hadn't even come close to figuring out how he felt. "You had your reasons to make the choices you did. That's not your fault."
"So you don't feel bad about what you've been through?" she countered, the slightest edge of bitterness cutting into her voice.
Meta Knight hadn't expected that sort of response. "Well, yes, but—that—You had no impact on any of that. None of that was your fault."
The scout remained completely still for a few moments.
Then she relaxed, looking quite peaceful. "You're so nice. I…expected a lot worse out of this conversation, so I apologize if I ever came off as upset, or if it sounded like I was just talking about problems. You're a good listener."
"I…no, you don't have to worry about that." This would have been a good time for the puff to have his mask, as his expression looked quite innocent at the moment. "I should be thanking you for your time, and telling me all this…but, I do have a question."
"Sure. Go ahead."
The sapphire puffball hesitated, unsure of how she'd react to this question…but decided that he wanted to know the answer. "…If you assumed I would hate you…and you seem so worried that I'll reject you…why would you bother telling me all this? Why wouldn't you play it safe and just…I dunno. Why did you tell me?"
The Dee tensed slightly, but not too much. "…I…I thought you deserved to know, and…I still care about you. I always have. I couldn't take just having to stand to the side…not saying anything…"
Then, she straightened up.
"Mikaru. I hate to cut you off, but I have to be leaving presently. If you need me, I'll be…around camp. I just…need to go now. Like, literally 'now'. G…Goodbye."
With that, Kajinara spun around, her headdress billowing as she turned toward the path. The sapphire puffball internally panicked, though he couldn't identify why. He just knew that he didn't want her to leave. He held out a paw to her.
"Wait!"
The Dee turned around, and the puff relaxed a bit.
"Yes, Mikaru?"
"Um…" Meta Knight let out his breath in relief. "…You will be back, right? You'll come back to see me later?"
Kajinara closed her eyes, her expression becoming peaceful and satisfied. "Yes, Mikaru. I'll always come back for you."
The puff smiled. "Thank you. You don't need to guard me, but I…I wanted to talk more…Maybe we could talk later on this evening?"
"Of course. I have no obligations then." She didn't look in as much of a hurry as she had when he asked her that question about him hating her…Maybe he shouldn't have said anything. "Don't worry about meeting me anywhere; I can find you on my own. Your species has a very strong energy signature, after all…"
Then, her posture and expression changed very quickly. If she'd had a mouth, she'd probably be smirking.
"By the way, Mikaru…do you know where that cape came from? It's not Pikonyan custom to have one unless you're an elite fighting member…Do you remember how long you've had yours, and what it does?"
Meta Knight blinked, completely surprised at her shift in seriousness. "Um, I've…I've had it since I was born, I think, and…it does dimensional tricks, and a bit of warping and distortion. Is that what you were thinking of?"
"Yes, you have the right answer. Now…can you guess who you got it from?"
He pondered this for approximately three seconds before a slight guess came to mind. It caused his mouth to fall open slightly. Kajinara chuckled upon seeing this, before pulling a sword out of her headdress, twirling it around, and flinging it back into the cloth, causing it to dissolve into nothingness again. "Not only are you nice, you're smart, too. Teleportation cloth is somewhat of an old trick-tradition with Waddle Dees, but it's not really used a lot, except to sell to others or carry some tools temporarily…in which case, most Dees just have a strip of cloth they tie on their wrist or as an anklet. Of course, it doesn't hold much then…so for me and you, I figured we could go all out. Hope it's been useful."
With that, she twirled around and kept walking, laughing to herself.
C/N: …Aaaaaand now I should make a Star Wars reference!
Now that I've uploaded this chapter, I can say that I also have a deviantArt account where you can read this as well, if you're on there more. However, until I replace it, this version of this chapter is VERY different; I completely rewrote it. I use the journal feature there sometimes, so if I'm just randomly gone, you can go there and see if I'm having problems. I was going to reference this on my last update gap, but because this chapter was actually on dA at the time, I didn't say anything because only two people ever looked there, and I wanted to redo this. I should also mention that I'll be rewriting what I had for the future chapters, because I've really changed the story up from when I first wrote it. Mainly I'm changing timing of events, and Meta's characterization, as I've really thought about my portrayal of him since I first started this story (where I didn't have that good of an idea how I characterized him). Once I finish this story, I'll go back and redo the first chapters, but for now, I'm gonna keep updating.
I could say some stuff on the story here, but I don't want to make this too long, so I'm just going to say that a buddy over on deviantART (DreamPuppeteer) actually doodled a picture of Kajinara for me…but I just haven't gotten around to actually sorting through my notifications enough to fav/comment on it. ^^; I'll try to remember and post the link next time I update. I did do a proper C/N on deviantArt though, if you were looking for hints…
Review Responses:
APleadingFAN: Yesh! Hope this has satisfied that curiousity~
Indigo Puff: Oh, I'm sure you see that you were very correct…VERY. Applaud yourself!
I actually got Robobot on launch day! I've almost completed it, and actually have a fic or two for it…I just haven't completed them yet…
Meow: Oh yes, that sort of idea sharing would be nice…Let me know if you find a way to do that! Aw, and thank you! (Actually, if you wanted, I could have a little stash document on dA if you wanted my replies to be off this page, like I would reply if you had an account and I replied. It wouldn't help headcanon sharing, but it's a step up since only you would know the link to my responses…I don't mind, since I tend to ramble on in my responses, and I could have some more space)
Hadn't thought about that question before…The female Dees' feet would be more pointed at the front, and the males' would be rounded. There are other small traits among Dees that aren't gender-specific that help identify each other in a crowd. Like, the shade of their fur (as you mentioned), how thick their fur is, how 'blended' their face-fur is with the rest of their fur (I mean, if it's just straight peach to orange, or if there's some light orange fur on the edges of their face), and the shading on their cheeks. And yes, Meta Knight is like that in most of my work. He doesn't cope well with being embarrassed, which usually leads him to start sulking or get angry and do things that make the situation worse…where Dedede would just brush the paint off his face, or pick himself up off the ground, and throw a paint sponge back at whoever hit him.
Aw, that's neat! I haven't even gotten to play those games yet; I've been too busy making money to enjoy what I bought. ^^; I don't have a physical copy of Crystal Shards, though. Robobot is sorta different from the previous games (or, it feels that way)…I've just had a hard time comparing it. Then again, I can't even pick my favorite Kirby game…I agree on the Drum Dash sequel! I'd totally buy it if they made a full-fledged game out of it!
It's funny you mentioned that specific group (excluding Dark Matter; the Zero Two fangirls are…ugh), because I actually had several oneshots planned for them back in the day (Adeleine in particular), but they ended up mostly plotless messes that I never finished. I did have one for Magolor up here a while back, but I deleted it because I was always nervous that the Magolor fans would murder me for it. And there's one I finished with Adeleine…but I didn't post it here. It wasn't that good, but it's posted somewhere else. If you want to look for it, type in 'Kirby It's Her Choice'…but it's not really that good.
I do plan interaction with past characters, but I can't guarantee all of them seeing that that would be sorta hard to do (like Dark Mind…still haven't decided on what his deal is…and maybe Susie, too…) The ones I favor are a bit…forgotten among the fandom though, I feel.
I actually wanted to write a specific story about the Dedede and Kirby relations, but I want to make sure the scenario is perfect, so…keep a look out for it! There's actually a lot that I put behind the quartet's relations with each other, but I just struggle putting it all in one story. As for the events about Nightmare, my base is that the anime ended, and they defeated him, but Meta ended up moving away a month or two afterwards, without anyone, and Dedede relocated to the Dedede castle in Kirby's Dream Land (still finalizing their reasoning…) When the game plot of Kirby's Dream Land took place, Kirby just ended up hanging around in the country with some of the friends he'd made on his adventure. As for Nightmare returning, I view him as a monster based on negative emotion…sorta like Bogmire in Luigi's Mansion. So he ends up gaining power again at the point of Adventure, but at this point, the king has had a bit of character development, and tries to do what he can, and…the game does the rest. I left out a lot, but only because this has gotten so long.
I certainly will, and thank you. : ) Yes, I finally feel like this chapter is perfect!