A/N: Alright, alright, I know I said that I might not work on this story until my others are finished, but with an update on the Kirby Star Allies news channel, I figured I should write something at least...

Responses (since I forgot to write them in the last chapter, please forgive me!):

GaoGod: I actually depict Hyness and Magolor to be two unrelated species that just look somewhat similar, but that's a very interesting thought! I should probably look more into that...

Elininjakat: Aw, thank you! And I feel bad for him too (poor kid...)

Chapter 4

A Land of His Own

Several moons have passed since Hyness' incident with the older children. He was now a little less fearful, but nowhere near brave enough to show his face to anyone besides his parents. He would wear the hood his mother made him at all times wherever he went, not wanting to even be playfully teased about his face. And although he seemed to recover from the awful experience, his left ear did not. The bad cut on it from the rock-throwing never fully healed, and the ear drooped a bit as if a muscle in it was torn. It made Hyness wonder if what hit him even was just a rock…

But over the previous weeks, Hyness made himself get over his fears at least a little bit, for he recently started magic school. From the first day, several of his classmates, and even his teacher, questioned the hood over his head. Hyness, too timid to tell the truth, told them that he felt more comfortable wearing it. In some ways that was true, but far from the real reason. Despite this, he really enjoyed school and proved himself to be a very fast learner. And now, after a long day of learning, he was on his way home with a bit of reading to do.

"Hello, Hyness! How was school today?" his father greeted him as he walked through the door.

"It was pretty good, papa." Hyness responded. "I got a perfect score on my reading test today."

"Very good, son!" his papa congratulated him. "I must say, you seem to be learning a lot very quickly. I'm proud of you!"

Right after he said that, the sound of breaking ceramic came from the kitchen. Hyness' papa rose from his seat to inspect the scene, while Hyness sat down on the floor and opened one of his books for a bit of studying.

"What happened, Tyama? Are you hurt?" he heard his papa say.

"No, I'm fine, honey. Just failing at levitation magic, I guess…" his mama replied.

"Levitation? Since when did you know about that kind of magic?"

"Oh, um…I wanted to see if I could teach myself to use it."

"Well that's just great, because now we have a broken dinner plate!"

"So what? It was just a small mistake I made."

"You call something like that a mistake?!"

"Phoenyx, what has gotten into you?!"

Hyness' parents continued arguing, quickly getting under his skin. How was he supposed to read when his parents were being so loud? In the following minutes, he was fed up with hearing their quarrelling, so he took his books with him to his room and shut the door. Unfortunately, it wasn't enough for him; even when he sat in the corner farthest from the door, he could still hear them. After a while longer of trying to tune out his parents' argument, he completely gave up on trying to study, climbed into his bed and pulled the blanket over his covered head, not even caring if he fell asleep on an empty stomach.

Hyness awoke very late that night, ears sweating under his hood. Realizing this, along with the fact that he was safe in his own home, he took the hood off and rubbed his head sleepily, trying to remember the dream he had. It was a very good one, where he had a little place to call his own all to himself; there were no other children or Galaxy Mages to threaten him. There was only him and his peaceful land- a kingdom of his very own. It was something he could only wish for…or was it?

He looked to his side and saw a bit of leftovers from dinner on his bedside table, making him realize how much his body was aching from hunger. It wasn't much of a surprise to him; he slept through dinner after all. Despite how hungry he was, he didn't eat it immediately; he was busy gazing out his window, up at the full moon. He couldn't tell exactly what it was, but something about it was so…intriguing. It was almost as if it was calling to him. And then out of nowhere, as he kept staring at it, a glowing blue streak soared across it, suddenly reminding him of his astrology class earlier that day; his teacher told him that, for an unknown reason, a colored streak of light would appear in the night sky on very rare occasions…

…Perhaps that was what called to him. So he quickly ate his dinner, grabbed his book, put his hood back on and quietly headed out the door, hoping he wouldn't wake his parents.

Hyness couldn't recall ever seeing his village so quiet; practically silent, aside from the quiet voice of the cool breeze. He found this place rather peaceful but couldn't stay; this was not the place of which he dreamt. That place was still calling to him with the light of the moon, and he had to keep following it.

He then found himself leaving the safety of the village to an area unknown to him: the forbidden lands, where no wizard was allowed to wander. He was once aware of this but didn't care at the moment. All he wanted was to know where the moonlight, the memory of the dream and the voice of that special place in the breeze would take him.

After an endless period of time practically standing still as Hyness walked these forbidden wonders in the cold of the night, he came across a small spring glowing with the moon's rays. Hyness' good ear perked up in wonder as he gazed at it, watching the stars glimmer in its waters. To him it was breathtaking; he couldn't recall ever seeing something so beautiful in his life. Was this hiding just outside his home the whole time, all waiting for him to discover it? If that was the case, this moment was truly a special one.

He then realized that the moonlit spring was surrounded by cove-like rocks, some of which held caverns that could probably fit him inside of it. Carefully, he floated around the spring to one that looked a bit larger than the others. Upon close glance, he saw that these caverns were much larger than he thought. Unable to contain himself from the sensation, he entered this cavern and found himself a quiet spot to sit and rest. Back at home, he felt stressed whenever his parents argued over the silliest things. Although he loved them, he couldn't stand when that happened. Now, what a relief it was to get away from all of that. Such a peaceful place with no one else here, just like in his dream. It was so beautiful…he almost wanted to stay here forever. He even felt safe enough to take his hood off. When he did that, he felt the cold breeze stroking the back of his head, whispering into his ear that he found the place from his dreams. It was all such a living reverie. He quickly found himself falling asleep in the cavern, the moon's candlelight shining down on his uncovered head.

An hour into his slumber, it turned out that Hyness was never alone, although he was completely unaware of that. And although three of the four companions were undeniably powerful, they did not seek harm.

"So someone came after all..." the youngest companion's voice thought aloud, "Is he asleep, Guardians?"

"Fast asleep, Amber," another, younger-sounding voice replied, "and showing no signs of waking."

"He is kitsune-tired." a similar-sounding voice added, "What a long did it's been for him!"

"But his face..." the youngest creature's voice realized, "He has no hair or fur! His skin is blue and he has such a big nose! Is there a reason for that, Chenoa?"

"Absolutely, feathered friend," nodded the final voice, "He is the great-grandson of the skin-cursed princess, Alorphyna. Her genetic curse must've been passed down to him over those generations."

"But her legend is so widely ignored in meaning...and he fears to be caught with his face exposed to the sunlight."

"Why is that, Aurora?"

"He's been bullied by older children five moons ago, and may have received long-lasting damage from a blow to the ear from them. See how his left ear wilts?"

"However, he may be a sign of hope to the universe, being a descendant of one who banished the destroyer of worlds. If only he had someone else alongside him..."

The three sprites and their bird companion gazed at the Eastern horizon, where a dim glow began waking upon it. At this point, the four nodded in silent agreement that it was time to take the young wizard back home. Using a telekinetic power, the sprites painlessly lifted Hyness off the ground while the adolescent bird summoned a portal to his bedroom and grabbed his book.

Hyness was clueless to how he woke up in his own bedroom the next morning. All he really knew was that he kept coming back to this place, mainly after magic school. With each visit, he learned a little more about these forbidden lands. And this all became a bit of a pattern: he would leave school when the day was over, come to the forbidden lands, study in peace or simply rest, and then head home for dinner. And he was never caught in the act by any wizard, nor did he dare to breathe a word about this place to any soul.

Hyness enjoyed having this small land of his own; in some ways, it made him feel like a prince, just like what his parents named him after. But although he loved having this place all to himself, something about it didn't feel quite complete to him, as if something from his dream was absent from reality. And having this place all to himself…over time, it made him feel a bit lonely. But at the same time, he couldn't trust anyone to keep this place a secret. Especially his parents; to find out that he was spending much of his time in an area strictly forbidden to the Galaxy Wizards…what would they think?

Despite all this, Hyness felt happy deep down to have such a land of his own where no wizard, mage or soldier could disturb his studying. Very little did he know that he was never alone in these forbidden lands, for he was completely blind and deaf to a deadly essence of hatred, waking in dark flames…

A/N: Just to say, if you're wondering why these characters aren't speaking in the "Jamba language," the reason will be cleared up later on.

Also, for those of you who celebrate it...have a very safe and happy Halloween!