Chapter 2: Making Friends

Ledo sat on the ledge of the castle wall with Chamber behind him. While he did have some area to move around, it wasn't much. Part of it was blocked off by the creatures that the blue orb was commanding earlier, likely his subordinates if his and his AI's observations are correct. Obviously, they were meant to be standing guard over him. The ensign just sat there drinking his rations in silence. It took Chamber's voice to break the silence.

"Ensign Ledo, I fail to see the logic in your actions. Please explain why we are prolonging this stalemate. This machine has more than enough weapons to overpower them."

"This is our best option." He replied.

"Reasonable course of action: overpower the armed and subdue them. Then attack their nerve center and subdue any resistance."

"Our priority is establishing contact and determining our exact location. Since you said this is an entirely new planet, we have no other choice but to rely on them." Ledo played with his pistol.

"Agreed, but with reservations."

He then turned to the landscape. "This place is abundant in water and air. It's the ideal land that the Alliance was searching for. It could replace Avalon as our new hub."

"I believe that judgement goes beyond the limitations of your post."

Ledo chuckled, taking out one of the objects he discovered upon leaving Chamber's cockpit out of his pocket. It was a Hideauze claw, which had likely broken off when they were attacked. He had made a habit of putting holes into it.

"Have you made contact yet?" he asked.

"I am continuously broadcasting a distress signal but have received no reply. If you continue to operate independently, you will not be able to obtain necessary supplies and will then cause metabolic issues. Reasonable course of action: escape these surroundings and return to cryostasis." The only thing the ensign could respond with was a sigh before continuing work on the claw.

"I dunno what you were thinking when you decided to bring them back here, Bandana." The king grumbled as he peeled an orange.

"They said they wanted to speak with the commander, so I thought you would be more able to talk with them in a scenery you were comfortable with." The Dee replied. His liege sighed, not wanting to talk to the person who had used him as a hostage for a reason unknown to him.

"You know you two didn't have to come back with me, right? I know at least Meta Knight tends to be busy and stuff." The king turned his attention to his two puff friends. Kirby had been making work of the tea and scones on the table while Meta Knight was polishing his sword.

"Oh, it's fine. I didn't have anything else to do today." The blue puff subtly raised his mask enough to sip his tea.

"Yeah, sorry it ain't coffee. I know how much you seem to love it." The monarch replied only to get a glare in response.

"Oh? Did he want coffee? I could easily whip some up in a few minutes! I make a killer brew!" Magolor chirped from the other side of the room where he and Taranza were playing chess.

"No thank you."

Dedede didn't like to admit it, but he enjoyed having the master and student over, if only to watch their teatime interactions. While they were usually the same, they had details changed to them. It would start out with Meta Knight reading or polishing his sword, while Kirby told the group about this cool or interesting thing he did, like a child excitedly telling their parent about their day. During this, Taranza would bring the tea, which the knight or Bandana would serve. He would then take another tray to his own table where he would play checkers or chess with Simirror or another of Dedede's subordinates unless Magolor or Marx came over (Though he doesn't like playing with Marx, since he usually cheats). When the scones came, Dedede and Kirby would eat them up, with the other two grabbing one occasionally. Sometimes he would give Meta Knight a chocolate one, which he would take, eyes briefly flickering magenta with embarrassment. Things were different today, though. Everyone but Kirby was on edge from the encounter with the strange visitor who identified himself as Ledo and his robot Chamber. The fact that barely anyone but Kirby was eating the scones made that obvious.

"So…uh…how was everyone's day?" Kirby tried to converse with the others.

"We all had the same experience today, we met someone who came from the sky." The Waddle Dee drank his tea.

"How was my day? HOW WAS MY DAY!? I GOT FLIPPED OVER A GIANT ROBOT, HELD HOSTAGE, AND DRAGGED ALL THE WAY TO THE EDGE OF THE SEA, HOW WAS YOUR DAY!?" Dedede slammed his fist on the table and started grumbling about how he's going to give this stranger who threatened him a life sentence as Kirby and Bandanna Dee slowly looked at each other.

Meta Knight slipped a scone under his mask and spoke up "All of that was your own fault, if I recall correctly. You were the one who decided to try to remove my mask and go to the robot with no one but Taranza to protect you. No offense, Taranza."

"None taken." The spider mage replied.

"Oh…uh…I did some maintenance on the Lor and then Dedede called me and that's it." Magolor said, as if he was vaguely recalling the events of his morning.

"I did nothing really interesting. Most was that I tried to start a new hobby of sewing." Taranza sighed. It was common knowledge within this group of friends that Taranza had tried to take up multiple hobbies in attempt to help him move on from Sectonia.

"Outside of this incident, my day was quite pleasant. I woke up, had breakfast, and did some training before you contacted me." Meta Knight never really went into detail about his day.

"Didja oversleep again?"

"Can it, Dedede."

"I slept." Kirby said.

"Of course, you did…" his mentor sighed.

"Yo, Taranza, can you bring some more scones?" the monarch asked, stuffing one into his mouth.

"I'd rather you not spoil your appetite before dinner, your highness." The young mage replied.

"Ugh… it's that late already?" the king sighed and continued "Yeah…uh…you guys want to stay over for dinner?" Kirby nodded happily, as expected.

"I shall accept your offer and consider it an apology for attempting to remove my mask earlier today." The knight replied.

"HEY! BE GRATEFUL I DIDN'T THROW YOU IN THE DUNGEON WHEN WE GOT HERE, OKAY?!" he slammed his hand on the table again.

"Even if you did, you'd have my crew to answer to." by his tone of voice, the pink puff could tell that Meta Knight was smirking under his mask.

While the two of them began their bickering, Kirby noticed some Waddle Dees carting in apples through the hall outside. Those apples were likely for tonight's dinner, courtesy of Whispy Woods, but seeing them gave Kirby an idea. If Dedede wasn't going to talk to Ledo…

The sun was slowly beginning to set. Sitting around had given Ledo enough time to carve out more of the bone-flute he was making. It was extremely minor, but at least it felt like he was doing something. If Chamber knew about it, he might have questioned why the ensign was wasting time on such a minor thing. Well, all he can really do right now is sit and wait for someone in the Alliance to contact him. Even if he wasn't so focused on making contact with one of his fellow soldiers, it didn't seem like the four guards before him would easily have a conversation with him.

"Someone is approaching."

Ledo quickly put away the flute and turned his head to see what it was. It was the pink ball creature he had seen when he awakened. He carried something big and red in his stubby hands. Behind him was the metal-faced blue creature that cornered him to Chamber earlier that day when they were on the cliff overlooking the sea. However, it no longer had the wing-like appendages that Ledo had seen it with at that time, but some kind of cloth wrapped around its body.

"Mee, shitah me." The blue one said to the four guards who served as his "ledge mates".

The four guards stepped back, widening the field that the young man could walk in. But this wasn't supposed to allow him to move about more, this was apparently for the pink creature to enter. The pink creature stepped forward and stood firmly.

"You really think that this is a good idea, Bandana?" Dedede asked, watching the events from behind a pillar.

"Well, you refused to speak to him, so what else were we going to do?" Bandana replied.

"We coulda just left him alone, y'know. Not provoke him an' that?"

"I agree that we shouldn't provoke him. But we can't exactly leave him alone, your highness." Taranza commented.

"Okay, okay, I get it, we can't leave him alone. But did we have to send that pink lump to do it?"

"Must I remind you that the reason for this is because you refused to speak to him?" the spider mage replied.

"He. Held. Me. Hostage." Dedede whispered sharply.

"You know, this is probably why Kirby was the best candidate to do this…other than the fact that no one else volunteered. He's very forgiving and loves to make new friends." Magolor observed.

"I know, but are you sure he's gonna be fine?" the king asked, gripping the pillar he was behind.

"You know he will be. He's gotten himself out of worse. Besides, he has 'that'." Bandana Dee pointed to the crystal-like crown Kirby was carrying on a belt Meta Knight let him borrow.

It was an Ability Item, specifically for the Ice Copy Ability. If Kirby was in any sort of danger, all he would have to do is swallow that item and freeze Ledo and Chamber. Well, they were at least hoping that he would be able to freeze Chamber, since that was a safer option than the more guaranteed and dangerous Microphone.

Ledo remained on guard, not knowing what this pink ball would do next.

"Hypothesis: The threat level is minimal. It is possible that they have been sent as an envoy." Chamber finally said. "An envoy?" the ensign turned towards the creature.

"Shall I intercept him?"

"Not necessary."

"Roger."

The young man stood up and walked a few paces closer, kneeling down again so he could be more on his level. Ledo looked at the item it was carrying.

"It appears to be a piece of fruit."

"A…piece of fruit?"

The pink creature continued to keep eye contact with him as it broke the fruit it was carrying in half. There was silence until it ate one of the halves, seemingly chewing and swallowing in one gulp. It broke the other half into a quarter and offered it to the ensign.

"…what does it want?"

"Hypothesis: it is edible."

"So, it wants me to eat it?"

"Hypothesis: it is a friendship ritual."

Ledo groaned "But…are we supposed to eat the whole thing in one gulp like that?"

"I leave the decision up to you, ensign." He only exhaled sharply.

"Chamber, ask them what its objective is." he rather know what all of this was about before eating this fruit.

"Nede zo tah shibiizo?"

The pink ball blinked in surprise and responded, "Zo zobii shi de zotah tah!".

"He seeks conversation."

"He?"

"The side conversations from the others in the crowd seem to identify him as male." Male? Based on this creature's mannerisms, his high-pitched voice, and his gender...they sent a child as an envoy?!

The ball then spoke up again "Zo deshi tahtahbo tah tah bii bika! Denebii detah bi, shi Zo tahtahbo tah tah zobii tee!"

"He said that he also thought that you were hungry and thought you would like apples because they taste good."

"Very well." Ledo took the apple from the puff and devoured it. It was sweet and crispy, not like anything he had tasted before. He now understood why the creature downed it quickly, it was that good. He didn't even notice the seeds! The crowd around them seemed to react with surprise when he finished.

The pink ball's eyes lit up and he began to speak excitedly "Zo' Kabii! Zo' zobii shi la tah!" Ledo looked over to Chamber.

"He says his name is Kirby and that it's nice to meet you." The ensign nodded.

He noticed the blue creature lean towards the pink ball named Kirby and whisper something. The puff nodded and then began to speak again. "Ze ta roka ro kaze meebii tee la, me kotaze re ro biize meebii?"

"He is asking about where you came from. He knows that you came from the sky, but he wants to know more." The AI translated.

"So, you're soldiers at war with these things called the Hideauze?" Kirby asked.

"Correct." Chamber replied.

Kirby had sat down on the balcony in front of Ledo to better engage in conversation.

"Are you guys strong?"

"Super…strong…"

"Oh…"

Kirby turned to Meta Knight, who was continuing to stand behind him, cape wrapped around himself. "Meta-sensei, you should fight them if you want to do some training to get stronger!" he laughed.

"I think I'll pass this time, Kirby." His mentor chuckled inwardly.

The young man tilted his head in confusion as he read the translated text that had appeared on the holographic screen beside him. He'll likely learn about that at another point.

The person began to speak again, followed by the robot "This planet is completely new to us. We would like you to tell us about it." The pink puff seemed amazed that the AI was picking up their language so quickly. "Oh…I can tell you about that, but first…you're an AI, right?"

"That is correct. I am an Autonomous Support Enlightenment Interface System."

"That's what I thought." Kirby seemed to sigh. Ledo spoke again while Chamber translated

"Chamber is an artificial intelligence that assists in battle and maintaining life support.". The puff nodded.

"You asked about Popstar, right?"

"Pop... star...?" the machine questioned.

"Yeah! Popstar! That's the name of the planet you're on! And the place that you're in right now is Dreamland!" the pink puff said happily.

"Dreamland?"

"It's the biggest place on Popstar! At least that's what people tell me; I don't really care about the details. Dreamland to me is just home to me and my friends. We also tend to get attacked by a lot of things, so I have to defend it." He smiled.

"So, these things that attack Dreamland are your enemies?" Chamber asked.

"Yeah, I guess you could say that…" the pink boy sighed "They put people in danger and cause them trouble. Some people say it's a bad habit, but I can't leave people alone if they need help or are in danger."

"Do you believe that it's a bad habit?" the mech asked.

"No, not at all. That's just how I am." He turned to the people behind him. "Oh, do you want something to eat, Ledo? I haven't eaten dinner yet, and you'll probably need something to eat if I'm gonna tell you more about Dreamland."

Ledo finished reading the translation and spoke up, Chamber following "I do not mind if you eat. I am not that hungry right now."

Alright, let's have a picnic here then!" Kirby smiled. A Waddle Dee brought over a picnic blanket, which Kirby laid on the ground and sat on. His mentor's eyes flickered white while he stood behind him while Ledo stared, dumbfounded at what was going on. It seems that the puff's energetic nature was something he wasn't expecting. "You can sit on the blanket as well!" The young man complied with the puff's offer, but still a little hesitant.

Upon sitting down, a few of the Dees entered carrying food and placed it on the blanket. There was a lot of food such as chicken, some fruits, vegetables, and a bowl of mashed potatoes. One of the Dees gave Ledo a spoon and plate. Even though he had said that he wasn't hungry, they likely rather that he take it. It's better to have it and not need it than to need it and not have it, so to say. There was also a pitcher of ice water and two glasses, likely since they would be talking.

"There's a lot of yummy food in Dreamland and we use the Sparkling Stars in the sky to help find it." He pointed to the sky. Ledo looked up to see several stars in the sky, but there were five or four that were bigger than others. The pink envoy continued "Without them, people have a hard time finding food."

"You sound like this has happened before. Has it?" Chamber asked.

The pink ball looked back to his mentor with a look of concern on his face. His mentor gave a nod before Kirby began to speak "It happened when I first came here several years ago. It was spring when it happened. The ruler of Dreamland, King Dedede stole ALLLLLL the food in Dreamland and ALLLLLL the Sparkling Stars!" he raised his stubs at that to emphasize how big the event was. Dedede groaned as he hit his head against the pillar. Nobody was ever going to let him live that incident down, it seems.

"He gave each of the Sparkling Stars to his minions, so I had to take them down to get them back! Then I had to take him down to get all the food in Dreamland back!" He spun at "all" to emphasize.

"Did you destroy this Dedede king?" Chamber translated for Ledo.

"No! Not at all! I just sent him flying out of the castle!"

"If he is your enemy, why didn't you destroy him?" the AI questioned.

"Because I believed he's a good person at heart." Kirby responded.

"Please explain."

"Dedede can be selfish sometimes, but he never really did it out of pure malice. He's gotten a lot better over the years as well. Like, every other time where I fought him, it was because he was possessed by something!" He leaned close to Ledo. "Between you and me, he really cares about his subordinates and friends, but he tends to have too much pride to say it." The young man nodded in understanding. "There was another time I fought him outside of those reasons, but that was a moment of impulsivity…and a bit because he didn't tell me anything." he seemed a bit embarrassed.

Ledo suddenly began to speak again "Would you care to go into detail about this incident?" Kirby looked back to Meta Knight, who gave him a nod, before he began again.

"You'll find this out when you go to sleep tonight, but Dreamland is one of the best places to get sleep ever! You see, all our dreams come from this place called the Fountain of Dreams. When you sleep, dreams flow from the fountain and give you good dreams and a good night's rest."

"I fail to understand how that works but continue on."

Kirby poured a glass of water and drank it. After following up with a bowl of peas, he continued "But a few months or a year after the incident with the food, people couldn't dream because Dedede broke the Star Rod that powered the fountain. I got angry at him for that and for also bathing in the waters of the fountain."

Ledo spoke again, with Chamber translating "I'm sure anyone would be angry because of that.".

Kirby nodded "Well, I was! So, I went out and fought the people Dedede gave the Star Rod pieces to! It took me ALLLLLL over Dreamland!" he raised his stubs for emphasis again. "Then, it turns out that the reason Dedede had broken the Star Rod in the first place was because this being called Nightmare was trying to invade the Fountain! He wanted to spread his bad dreams through the fountain! Then I had to go up into the sky and destroy Nightmare so the Fountain of Dreams can return to normal!" The young man nodded, then paused as if thinking.

After a few minutes, he began to speak, with the AI following "You brought up that you're the one who protects Dreamland in times of crisis. How are you able to do that without weapons?" It might not have been the best question, since Ledo remembered seeing him using a bow earlier, even though he also had a hat on at the time. That was most curious.

"Oh? Didn't I tell you about my Copy Ability?" Kirby asked. Seeing the ensign shaking his head, the puff detached the Ability Item from the belt and ate it. Ledo could only watch in shock as he saw Kirby turn blue and gain the ice-crystal crown on his head. "I have the ability to inhale enemies and things and copy their abilities! That's what my Copy Ability is!" he then threw off the ice crown, turning it back into an Ability Item.

"Is everyone in Dreamland able to perform this 'Copy Ability'?" Chamber asked.

"No, I'm the only one that can use it from what I know…". The puff looked back to the blue knight, who nodded.

"I see."

Kirby then began to stretch "Well, it's getting late now, and I'm starting to get tired. Do you two want to stay at my house tonight?" Ledo looked at Chamber and began speaking. The two seemed to be having a conversation with each other.

"Are you sure you will be fine with that?" the translation came.

"Of course! We're friends now, aren't we?" the pink puff exclaimed. Ledo's eyes widened when he read those words. This ball of pink was nothing like he had ever met before. Just several hours of talking to someone and he considers them his friend? He dropped back into conversation with Chamber.

"Felle na afre so?" he turned to the robot.

"Defil mo damo yoka, sine. Jo ka fulle afru nalre mii kan." There was a nod before Ledo began to speak to Kirby.

"We will accept your offer. However, we will remain cautious."

The pink puff smiled and nodded. "I'm sure you guys wouldn't want to be stuck here on this ledge all night anyway!" The young man nodded. "Hey, Bandana, is it fine if he comes home with me?" the puff asked.

"Uh…there's a problem with that, Kirby." Bandana responded.

"What's that?"

"The two of them are still under 'ledge-arrest'." The Waddle Dee sighed.

"Please explain." The AI said.

"The reason why you two have been stuck on the ledge of this castle the past few hours with the Meta-Knights guarding you is because you're under ledge-arrest. Normally, it'd be called house-arrest, but because you're not in a house, we called it ledge-arrest."

Ledo sighed heavily and began to speak with Chamber following "For what reason are we under ledge-arrest?"

"You took the king hostage." That was when Kirby got an idea.

He went to the pillar and grabbed King Dedede, dragging him back over. The two stared at each other in silence before Ledo narrowed his eyes, acknowledging that this indeed was the hostage.

"Are you King Dedede?" Chamber's translation of Ledo's words started again.

"Yup! I'm the mighty and powerful King Dedede!" the monarch grinned.

The ensign spoke again, and his words translated "I am greatly sorry for holding you hostage earlier today, your highness." He lowered his head, as he remembered hearing this action would increase the chances of someone accepting an apology.

"Oh…uh…Geez...I...uh...I guess I'll accept your apology. I'd be a massive jerk if I didn't at this point, sooooo..." he turned around "You and the guy in the mech take care."

He was about to walk off when Kirby said "Hey, Dedede, you do know that Chamber is an AI, right? Were you listening to that conversation?"

The king turned back around. "Yeah, but I kinda doubt that, ya know?"

"Oh? Well, then let's have Ledo show you!" the young man shook his head, thinking of how strange these people are.

The robot hoisted the king and pilot up to the cockpit and showed that it was empty. "By Nova, you were right! There's nothing inside of here!" he said in surprise.

"I told you so." Kirby smiled.

It was late at night when Kirby, Ledo, and Chamber returned to Kirby's small domed house. Chamber, of course, had to stay outside due to his side while the other two stayed in the house. Kirby had asked Ledo to wait in the doorway while he got out an extra futon for him to sleep on. This gave the two time to talk.

"Ensign Ledo, is there a problem?"

The young man turned to the mech. "Chamber…we learned a lot today, but I feel I just have more questions than answers."

"I recommend resting tonight, ensign. Lack of sleep will lead to decrease in performance." The AI responded.

"I guess I'll see if what Kirby said about dreams was true then. Good night, Chamber."

"Good night, ensign."

New chapter, now with a cover! I drew it myself, since I actually do art in my spare time. It's one of my best works. It's quite an experience to go from doing art to writing stories, though writing is creating art with words. I chose Ice as Kirby's defensive ability because it was the first ability I thought of that could be used to stop movement off the top of my head. I could've also used Spider maybe, but I like Ice more. Not much to put here other than I hope everyone reading this is enjoying the story.

GundamBailey- Thanks for your review and helping read over this! I'm glad you're enjoying it!