There is a distant forest, where not too many live in. Gabriella has been swept away and into these woods.
Injured and cold, she wakes up after 4 hours of being unconscious. She gets up and looks around. "Hello," she calls out. "Anyone here?" She tries to stand up, but she quickly realizes her right foot is injured, and she cannot even stand on it. She looks around once again, and she realizes the day has turned into dusk. She stands on her good foot and hobbles forward.
She is able to walk a mile this way. However, the snow picks up, and she cannot walk any further. She falls to the ground, not able to move anymore.
After a minute or two, someone pokes her with a stick. "Hello? Are you alive, child?"
She looks up and sees a puffball with a brown, hooded cloak and a stick to walk with. "Who are you," she asks the stranger.
He pulls back the hood, revealing a purple puffball with lavender feet and eyes like Kirby's, only red instead of blue. "Xolus," he says to her. "Who might you be?"
"Gabriella." She looks back at her foot.
"Can you stand up?"
She shakes her head. "It hurts really badly."
"I see." He then says to her, "I'll take you to my home, and I'll take care of you there."
"Thank you."
He lifts the young puffball and carries her. "You're welcome, my child." He takes her back to his home.
In a matter of minutes, they reach Xolus's home, and he takes her inside. "Your skin is as cold as ice. How long were you out there?"
"I have no idea."
He seats her on his couch in the candle-lit living room and goes to get the first aid kit.
Just after he leaves, two other hooded strangers come with a bowl of soup and several slices of bread. "Who might you be," asks one of the hooded strangers.
Gabriella picks up the bowl of soup and takes a sip. "Gabriella. Who are you?"
They pull back their hoods as well, and one is a dark teal-colored puffball with green eyes and dark red feet, and the other is an orange puffball with turquoise eyes and brown feet. "Asula," says the dark teal puffball. "Terca," says the orange puffball. Asula is male, and Terca is female. Terca hands Gabriella a slice of bread, which she takes immediately. "You seem to be very hungry."
Gabriella nods. She puts the empty bowl down and begins to eat the bread. "I haven't had anything since this afternoon."
"How come?"
"Overslept."
"I see."
Xolus comes back into the room with the first aid kit. He sets it down on the table and says to Gabriella, "On a scale of 1 to 10, how bad does your foot hurt?"
"About a 7 or 8."
"I see." His eyes start to glow blue, and he closes them. He is able to see the fractured bone in her foot, and he opens his eyes. "There's a fractured bone. Though, it doesn't look like it needs any major help. It will heal on its own within time." He grabs some bandages from the first aid kit and carefully wraps them around her foot. "There. In a few weeks, your foot should be completely healed."
"Thank you."
"It's not a problem." He puts the kit away, and he asks Gabriella another question. "Who are you parents?"
She responds, "I only have a father, but he adopted me. Both of my real parents are dead."
"So, who is this adoptive father of yours?"
"Meta Knight."
Xolus smiles. "Ah, yes. I've heard of Meta Knight before. Is he nice to you?"
She nods. "Very."
Terca then looks at the clock on the wall. "It's nearly 10 at night. I think we should get some rest."
"Indeed, Terca."
Terca takes Gabriella back into the guest bedroom and tucks her in. "Sweet dreams, Gabriella. I hope you have a good night."
"You, too, Terca."
She pats Gabriella on the head and goes out of the room. Terca goes to Xolus and says, "She's asleep."
"Excellent," responds Xolus. "Hopefully she'll have a good night's rest."
Asula then comes into the scene and says, "Someone's here to see us. It's Meta Knight."
"Tell him Gabriella isn't here," says Terca. "He'll never suspect anything."
"All right." Asula goes to the door. "Hello, Sir."
Meta Knight is standing at the door. "Have you seen a girl named Gabriella anywhere?"
"No, we haven't seen her. What does she look like?"
"Blue-gray with orange eyes, purple hair tied back in a ponytail, and pink feet. Does that description sound familiar?"
"We haven't seen anyone of that description."
"I'm sorry for the inconvenience, then."
"It's not a problem."
Meta Knight then steps away, says goodbye, and leaves. Asula closes the door with a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness he's gone." He then goes back into Terca and Xolus.
"Is he gone," asks Terca.
"Yes, he is," says Asula. "Without a spark of suspicion."
"Thank goodness," says Xolus. "All right, then. We all need to get some sleep."
All three of them go to bed and sleep until the morning.
The next day, Gabriella wakes up the latest of the four, at 10 AM. She gets up, and she sees all three are enjoying breakfast.
"Our guest is awake," Terca says.
"Gabriella," says Xolus, "would you like breakfast?"
Still sleepy-eyed, she says, "Yes, I would."
Asula gets up as she sits in a chair, fixes her a plate, and places it on the table in front of her. "I hope you enjoy it. It took about an hour to make."
Gabriella picks up a piece of toast and dips it into her sunny-side egg, breaking open the yellow yolk. She takes a bite of the toast.
"Where did you come from," asks Terca.
She swallows the bite she took. "Dreamland. It's very nice there." She dips her toast in the egg again and takes another bite.
"How nice?"
"It almost never rains, the people there are nice, and I get no nightmares."
"That sounds like a nice place."
"Well," says Xolus, "I'm done. Is anyone else done?"
"Take my plate, too, Xolus," says Terca as she hands her plate to Xolus. He takes her plate and puts both plates on the counter next to the sink.
Gabriella eats her breakfast and heads to her room.
In another room, Xolus is with Terca, and he is explaining to her, "I can't take this any longer, Terca. Soon, Meta Knight will find out we have her."
"I doubt he'll find out. Asula explained it to him very well that we don't have her."
"But that's a lie! Terca, I hope you have some tricks up your sleeve to make sure Gabriella is ours."
"Oh, believe me, Xolus. I have more tricks than I can count."
"I hope so, Terca, I hope so."