A/N: I'm not dead! I just got absorbed into the world of indie games for a few months (And I still kinda am, lol). I want to say thank you to those who have left reviews on the fic, your words give me life! :)
On the story itself: things have turned out a bit more graphic than originally planned, so I bumped up the rating from K plus to T. Things get quite bloody, so if you're squeamish, read at your own risk.
Rain
Not even the trees with their full heads of leaves could stop the rain from beating down on Kirby. His red feet and lower half of his body were absolutely filthy from stomping through puddles of mud, but that didn't matter right now. It was cold, too cold, and he oh so desperately wanted to get home so he could warm himself up to a more comfortable temperature. Even cuddling with his annoying roommate Tokkori sounded better than staying outside and freezing…
Something massive slammed in front of Kirby, but his speed and the slippery mud beneath his soles all but prevented him from being able to stop and he rammed into the giant thing, bouncing off of it like a beach ball. He rubbed his little bottom tenderly, having fallen onto it, a moan coming from his throat.
Then Kirby heard something that made his blood run cold.
A shaking, a rattling, backed-up by a guttural hiss. In front of him, Kirby noticed that the thing was moving in a slow, almost entrancing pace. His heart leaped into his throat, as he stood up and backed away from it—and into something else that brushed against his back and sent chills through his small body. It did not feel pleasant, as if someone had taken sandpaper and brushed it against his back.
Kirby turned around to look at his offender—a long, scabrous something colored with crimsons and dark oranges. He tried turning around and running away again—it was on both sides, blocking him in; he was trapped between the scaly thing and the trees.
Rattling again, the thing reared what appeared to be its hideous head, an oblong oval with a slender, forking line flicking out the tip of its shapely snout. In the darkness Kirby couldn't make out the silhouette's profound features, and that made it all the more terrifying—the first bolt of lightning struck the sky behind the beast, its form stark and atrocious in the temporary light. The monster approached as another bolt flashed behind the two, finally bringing the creature's details into light.
Two bulging green eyes that blazed like an angry sun, forked tongue flicking like a whip, and gigantic maws opened wide to reveal a set of huge, curled fangs, dripping with venom, ready to strike—this wasn't any normal snake. This was a Demon Beast.
And yet something—the beast's menacing appearance, the bone-chilling hissing, the flashing lighting glossing it with a blinding white hue, or perhaps a combination of the three, glued Kirby to the ground, filling him with an inexplicable fright that no Demon Beast had ever done before, and for the first time in his life Kirby felt truly terrified.
The serpent charged, and Kirby curled into himself with his paws over his eyes, waiting for the end.
"Hyaaaah!" came the battle cry, followed by a sickening shing that rattled Kirby to his core.
The sound was followed by the ophidian shrieking in pain, its heavy head falling to the ground with a thud. A pleasantly hot arm wrapped around Kirby's back, the gloved mitt at the end gripping tightly under his stubby hand. He heard what sounded akin to a flag flapping in the breeze, and suddenly the wind was blowing ten times stronger against his face.
But as quickly as it started, everything stopped. No more wind, no more rain, just whatever rainfall that had clung to Kirby slicking down his shivering body, and the one who had saved him enveloping him in a comforting warmth. He opened his eyes to see a familiar visage, softly glowing eyes peeking from underneath.
"Kirby, I did not wish that it would come to this, but we do not have a choice," whispered the voice of Meta Knight. He quickly glanced out the end of the large log he had smuggled Kirby into, to make sure that the beast had not followed them in. Thankfully the snake still hadn't recovered from his surprise attack and was still writhing on the ground like a worm on concrete.
"I need you to run; run as fast as you can, to Castle Dedede. Do not stop for anything or for anyone, no matter the circumstances. You will be safe in the castle… do you understand?"
Immediately, Kirby shook his head, tears brewing in his eyes. He didn't want to leave his friend and mentor alone to fight this… this monster.
"I'll be okay Kirby," Meta Knight confirmed, as if he could read the little one's mind. "I've fought many more battles than you, I assure you that I can handle this myself." He gave Kirby a firm pat on the head before backing away from him… but something was off.
Are those wings on Meta Knight's back?!
"Run now, Kirby, to the castle! Go!" And with that, Meta Knight flapped his wings with a mighty swoosh, his sword raised upwards as he smashed through the brittle surface of the log. He hovered in midair for a brief second, sword glowing hopefully amidst the gray darkness.
The warmth was still there, and it was then that Kirby discovered that Meta Knight had left him his cape.
At some point, he had started running, disinclined to see how things would play out in the clash of knight versus beast. He wasn't really paying attention to where he was going either, blinded by the tears in his eyes and the pain that had accumulated in his muscles from the constant sprinting.
Kirby held his mentor's beloved cape close, wrapping himself with it in the same manner he had seen Meta Knight do countless times. It wasn't hard to see why the knight did it so often; the cloth was very adept at keeping his face warm. Kirby was also quick to discover it carried his mentor's scent like a strong perfume.
It smelled of dirt and steel, perhaps a hint of blood. It was all Kirby was using to hold himself together, to remind himself that his mentor was strong and that he would come out okay.
If the cape could talk, it could tell enough stories to back that idea up.
This serpent was among the most resilient things Meta Knight had ever fought.
The beast was quick, lashing out at him like the cornered animal it was, but Meta Knight was quicker, precisely timing his wing strokes to avoid its poisonous bite. Every now and then the viper would grow tired and pause shortly in its attacks, leaving Meta Knight a chance to divebomb it and land a solid blow in the creature's back.
Oozing lacerations covered the snake's body like the stripes of a zebra, but somehow the blasted thing still had energy to keep springing at the airborne warrior. Meta Knight knew that he wouldn't last much longer keeping up this routine, and so he allowed the whipping winds to lift him higher into the air, buying him some time to figure out a different course of action.
Seeing this, the ophidian also stopped its onslaught and fled in the direction Kirby had left.
Meta Knight swore under his breath and pulled his wings in, making his form slim so he could glide along with the winds blowing northward towards Castle Dedede. He underestimated the intelligence of the serpent; he didn't think it was any more than a mindless automaton that was set on killing everything around it. The fact that it knew who to go for proved him wrong.
The beast traversed the land swiftly, the blood leaking from its wounds dripping into the dirt beneath but quickly washed away by the rain. Meta Knight did little more than a flap of his wings every other minute, as the winds were on his side and did most of the work for him.
The tension filled minutes felt like hours to Meta Knight, but he finally reached the snake and dived, plunging his sword into its rattling tail. It let out a shrill hiss and immediately recoiled, reaching to bite the annoyance at its opposite end.
Meta Knight had just enough time to pierce the roof of its mouth and dig his armored toes into the bottom, the flesh making a squelching noise as he forced the ophidian to keep it jaws from closing.
Out of the corner of his eye, he saw Kirby witnessing the brawl, fighting against the whirlwinds to keep his feet on the ground. Met Knight knew that if he was a moment late in stopping the serpent's pursuit, Kirby would have been fatally wounded.
"Kirby—!" he yelled, voice strained, "Keep going, don't worry yourself about me!"
He couldn't make out what Kirby had said over the howling winds, but the poor boy sounded terribly upset. He didn't appear willing to leave, obstinately gluing himself to where he stood.
At this point Meta Knight knew he couldn't convince Kirby to get to safety; no doubt the sight of him in danger set off the child's Star Warrior instincts, to the point where he refused to leave without helping out in some way. Besides that, Kirby was exceedingly stubborn, to the point that if he had his heart set on something, he would not stop until he had achieved it.
Meta Knight couldn't blame him; if someone he dearly loved was in great trouble, he would not leave until they were safe and secure.
If Kirby was going to stay and help, then darn it if Meta Knight wasn't going to make sure the kid had the proper Copy Ability to do so.
With fluid movements Meta Knight tore his sword out of the snake's fleshy mouth, stuck his hand in the fresh wound, then used his bloodied weapon to knock one of the beast's fangs out. It reeled in pain with a shriek, its wild movements causing Meta Knight to lose his grip and go sailing through the air.
Kirby got the message and sucked in the tooth before it hit the ground. His head glowed a blinding white as his transformation proceeded, a colorful crown adorned with a skull settling on his head, a cocktail of bubbling indigo liquid sprouting from the top.
Poison. With a large enough dose, it could boil the creature from the inside out, but that same amount would liquidize his mentor instantly. Kirby knew he now possessed a dangerous ability and had to be acutely aware of where he aimed his attacks, lest he scalded Meta Knight.
Kirby puffed himself up, feeling the deadly liquids bubbling inside of him, and retched a large glob of poison onto the a particularly maimed portion of the snake's body, the acid sizzling as it bore through the flesh.
The serpent was practically tangling itself as it tried to withstand the pain, making the ground around it rumble as its large body twitched and thrashed around. It didn't do this for too long however and turned to Kirby, a lust for revenge in its eyes.
It hissed and launched itself at Kirby, who rolled out of the way just in time. The slippery mud made it quite hard for him to stop, though, and he ended up farther away from the beast than he'd like. The ophidian made to pursue him but failed to notice the puddle of toxins Kirby had left in his wake, its snout getting soaked by the bluish goop.
Meta Knight came in from behind and sliced into the snake's head, finally breaking the snake's threshold for pain. It couldn't help but fall to the ground with a screech as loud as the thunder echoing around them.
"Now, Kirby!"
Kirby took in a huge breath, lips puckered, moving his body from side to side as he let the foggy poisons out. Carried by the wind, the fogs tore into the ophidian's gashes, steam unfurling from them and blowing away in the breeze.
The serpent let out a final cry before succumbing to the toxins, taking in its final breath and falling to the ground like a wet noodle.
It was when the snake disappeared in a large, forceful explosion as Demon Beasts tend to do that Kirby realized his mistake.
Meta Knight lay shaking on his side, panting in shallow breaths as he gripped the wet grass with an iron grip.
Alarmed, Kirby dismissed his Copy Ability and ran to his mentor, struggling to help him into a sitting position. Meta Knight coughed harshly, blood dripping from the rim of his mask.
"Meta..." Kirby sobbed, burying his face into Meta Knight's side, trying his hardest to apologize with what little capability he possessed in the speech department. They had come out of the battle relatively unscathed, but Meta Knight had been poisoned… and it was all Kirby's fault.
"Kirby, Kirby it's—" Meta Knight quickly lifted his masked and whipped to the side, coughing out fresh crimson blood from his stinging lungs. The poor child whimpered at the sight and huddled closer to him, trying his hardest to cover his eyes from the unsightly scene.
After his coughing fit passed, Meta Knight's chest heaved as he fought to take in air. "Shhh, little one, it's alright..." he assured in a hoarse voice. He hugged little Kirby close, rubbing his back in a comforting manner. "I know, you didn't mean to. I have an antidote for this condition back at the castle, but we have to hurry. I don't know how much I inhaled."
Kirby lifted his head from Meta Knight's chest at this, looking at him as if he was seeking some form of confirmation. "I'll be okay."
He grunted as he stood up, Kirby fidgeting nervously beside him. Meta Knight knew that Kirby would stay by his side to aid him in just about anything, and that thought alone warmed his heart to an immeasurable degree.
Suddenly, the rain stopped, and the whirlwinds slowed to a tame breeze. They looked above them.
The thick clouds swirled in a perfect circle above their heads, the friendly blue sky of a bright summer day greeting them. To think that just seconds ago, the rain was beating down on them like no tomorrow.
"The eye of the storm, Kirby. This is a good chance to get a head start. C'mere," he said, holding his arms out. The child climbed into them cautiously. In his position he lacked anything to hold on to, but he trusted his mentor would not let him go.
With Kirby secure in his arms, Meta Knight unfurled his wings, coughed one more time, then pumped his muscles mightily, soaring into the air.
Just as quickly as he was airborne, he was struck down, a burning hot pain in his side making itself known. He screamed in agony but fought the urge to cover his injured side in favor of not dropping Kirby at this height. He took the brute of the fall, his back getting bruised and scraped as he skidded across the mud.
He rolled over, settling Kirby under one arm, using his free hand to pull out a shuriken from his side. His eyes widened as he recognized the symbol emblazoned on the tiny weapon.
Suddenly Kirby was forcefully swiped from his arms, the kid crying out in shock.
"Kirby!" Meta Knight shouted, willing himself to his feet. He held his head, staving off an abrupt dizzy spell that threatened to plunge him into unconsciousness. Through his blurring vision he saw a large dark figure holding a ball of pink in one hand.
"This is the pink one? The one who has defeated the mighty Yamikage? Hah, he is no more than a weakling so foolish that he has poisoned his own ally."