Wings of Fortitude.

CHAPTER 1: Signs

It was a rather cold morning Kirby had noticed. Winds blew rougher than usual while the clouds above threatened to swirl in disagreement with each other. It was clear to the puff on this particular morning that a storm would not be very far off as the day progressed. Or at least that was what he'd assumed if the windy current banging on his window glass wasn't hinting at it enough.

"Mm… Good Morning…" The pink puff had mumbled to himself before slowly slumping up from his sheets and warm blankets. He fumbled his way across the room and to the cabinets in his small house in search of something to quench his pitless hunger and soon settled with a few apples he'd picked from Whispy not long ago. How the apples hadn't been eaten over the time they'd been in his cabinets was beyond Kirby.

However, he did notice that recently he hadn't been eating as much as he normally would. His lungs were normally like a vacuum while his stomach was a bottomless pit, and yet despite that fact, he simply hadn't felt the constant need for food as usual. Despite this, the puff had simply shrugged the feeling aside several times. Perhaps it was due to his growth? It'd been a long while since he'd first landed on Dreamland after all, and it was most plausible that his appetite wouldn't stay the same forever.

"Hmm... Time sure does fly." Kirby breathed to himself as he sat at his small table, taking a bite of one of the few apples he'd grabbed. His gaze seemed to meet his window glass which the wind outside continued to patter away at. The Star Warrior wondered why it was that the wind was so harsh.

Yesterday had been such a lovely calm day. He'd got some good training done, and after Fumu had been so nice as to take him to lunch. In contrast, though, it didn't seem that the weather would change anytime soon, in fact, it was more likely to get worst. Kirby couldn't recall ever seeing an incoming storm so strong.

Perhaps he had all those years ago when he'd first crashed on Dreamland and had to fight all those Demon Beasts, and then eventually Nightmare. but well… he couldn't remember what had happened at all during that time, having to be explained the events by Fumu and Meta Knight. Still, that didn't help Kirby to remember. It was all very fuzzy in his mind, and he simply tried his best to not think about it...

"...I suppose I ought to head out." Kirby then said aloud, looking at the door and making his way over to it. He'd gone to open it, though struggled to do so due to the vicious winds. "O-oh wow, It's really windy." The puff stated plainly to himself while closing the door behind him.

Kirby slowly progressed through the brisk wind. He was on his way to the Library in Cappy Town, as he regularly took lessons with Fumu to learn how to read and write. For whatever reason, Kirby wasn't able to read, write or even speak when he'd crashed on Dreamland. Everyone had chalked it up to him being too young to do those things, and while that seemed to make enough sense… It hadn't sat well with Kirby.

However, despite that. He'd become quite fluent in English over the years. Though sadly his writing was still in need of dire attention…

"Hmmm… almost there," Kirby said to himself as he walked, though it was far from the truth. In honesty, Kirby's small dome was quite far from Cappy Town. He wondered why that was, and why it'd been built so far from all his friends. Maybe he'd ask Fumu if he could move his house closer. He was sure that she or the other Cappies wouldn't mind, as Kirby believed he was close with many of the Cappies. He'd saved them all from monsters countless times, and he was sure they wouldn't mind such a small request.

Kirby was much too lost in his own thoughts to notice the wind had picked up slightly, and before the pink puff could realise what was to happen, a sudden burst of wind current pushed from behind him. The wind had apparently switched direction. Instead of it pushing heavily against the puff, it sped fast from behind him, flinging him up into the air from its pressure.

"Ahhh!" Kirby yelped, immediately attempting to float to stabilise himself. He sucked in a mouthful of air, trying his best to float down to the ground. However, he didn't last very long, as there was a small twitching feeling on the puff's back, it didn't particularly hurt at that given moment, however, it did cause him to exhale and fall down towards the ground. With a swift smack and a face full of dirt, Kirby groaned to himself as he lay on the ground, worried that standing up would cause the wind to uplift him yet again.

"W-What on Planet Popstar was that?" Was the only question he'd managed to say, not knowing why his well-known, and somewhat gimmicky ability to float around had not worked. It was odd but he had this indescribable feeling not to try and float again. It was like if he did try, he'd only fall flat on his face again. Er, well… maybe he was just overthinking things.

It would be better to stay low and out of the way of the crushing pressure Kirby thought. So pushing the weird twitching feeling he'd gotten aside, deciding that it would be better not to linger on. He slowly yet surely fumbled his way across the ground and towards the town.

He would be late for sure and would get an earful from Fumu he bet. Kirby could now say proudly that he really didn't like bad weather...

Something was definitely off. Fumu noticed. Kirby was nowhere to be seen at the Library. Her lessons with the puff had long since started, but with no Kirby there, how could she do any teaching? Fumu simply couldn't understand what it was that had kept the puff from coming. After all, a little rain had never hurt anyone. He was always very on time for an event, err... Most of the time.

In all honestly, Fumu couldn't help but sigh. She liked to think Kirby was good at time management, but no matter which way she looked at it, he could get distracted so easily and usually did things according to his own schedule, which wasn't usually very full. Kirby always had been carefree. Especially when he'd first crash-landed on Dreamland. He was a baby after all. Or well… That's what they've always believed. It could never be confirmed, though Meta Knight had been confident in the puff being on the younger side, and Fumu knew to trust the knight's words. She only wished Kirby would grow up a little more than he had...

"He just hasn't changed at all..." She mumbled to herself, rather annoyed. In reality, Fumu wasn't the same kid from when Kirby first landed. She'd long since become an adult and as an adult. Didnt, have time for Kirby's antics. She, after all, had better things to do.

But still, she waited, and there was no Star Warrior to be seen. Fumu groaned to herself, having wasted her precious time for the sake of Kirby. Sure, Fumu did care for the puff, as she'd be lying if she said she hated him, although, she couldn't help but get impatient with Kirby. These days, instead of a friend, Kirby was turning into more of a hindrance to her... Speaking of hindrances, it was then that the library door flung open, revealing a very dirty Kirby.

"I-I'm... here Fumu..." The puff groaned aloud as he stumbled through the door, nearly head to foot in dust and dirt. What on Planet Popstar had the little pink devil done to get so dirty!? Fumu immediately rushed towards the child in hopes of sparing the clean carpet from his dusty wrath, sacrificing her cleaned hands by picking up the puff before he could track dirt everywhere

"What on Planet Popstar have you done now!? You're so dirty!" The shout came as a shock to the pink puff, who struggled to get free of the woman's grip. The way she was holding him wasn't very gentle, in all honesty, it was rather rough. Just what had he done to deserve such treatment? He'd come only slightly later than usual, so her manhandling really was not called for... Although it wasn't exactly her grip that seemed to hurt, it was something else...

"Ah! F-Fumu! Let me go! I'm sorry ok!? I j-just had a hard time getting through the wind outside. I had to crawl the whole way here o-ok!? I'm t-tired so please put me down!" He tried to be polite during his shouts and struggles. Fumu didn't seem to believe him though, if her deathly glare was any indication.

"Oh come on Kirby! Do you really expect me to believe that? You've got to learn to be more punctual…" Fumu then let go of Kirby, who fell to the ground in a rather tired manner. Geez... He'd gone through the effort to come all the way here despite the weather, and she really wasn't holding back her frustration…

"Er well… I guess I kind of expected you to believe that, yes…" Kirby then tried as he procrastinated standing up, only to receive a bitter look from Fumu. What was her deal? Maybe she was just annoyed because Bun had ruined her paperwork again from one of his so-called 'experiments'... Kirby hoped that he was simply the first person she'd seen since then, and was lashing out not exactly at him, but to him in replacement of who should be Bun getting this scolding.

"Then, maybe you should expect me to be a little more realistic, Kirby. You've dealt with far worse things than wind and rain, after all." As the women continued to fume off at the puff, Kirby struggled to get up from the ground. His body ached more than it should, he noticed. Weird.

"S-Sorry Fumu..." The puff mumbled quietly. He hadn't meant to upset his friend by being late. Especially when there hadn't been much he could have done to quicken the time it had taken. He had thought to fly several times, but Kirby had continued to have the lingering thought to not do so. He didn't know why he had that feeling, but he listened to it.

Perhaps Meta Knight would know, as the old knight seemed to have knowledge of just about everything. Kirby was about to continue his apology, but Fumu had dropped something on the ground. It was a towel. Quickly grabbing the given linen, Kirby cleaned his face, trying to rub off as much dust from his pink skin as possible. He looked up at Fumu slowly, who towered over him, giving him a rather distasteful look. The puff couldn't help but feel a little disheartened by the way she was treating him, as she'd never done such a thing before. He really did hope he had caught her on a wrong day. Surely she would be fine tomorrow...

"Oh, Kirby..." Fumu gave a sigh that Kirby could hear quite clearly, only feeling more sombre at her reaction to his apology. He knew that a storm would come, and he most likely should have stayed home, however, he didn't want to let Fumu down. He cared about his lessons and wanted to get better at writing. But... It was hard to want to do anything with the way she was treating him… "Y'know...Kirby, it's been hard as of late for you to come to these lessons… And I'm getting buiser and buiser too. Let's just stop them already, you speak just fine and that's enough." Kirby's eyes widened at her statement.

"W-wah…?" Kirby muttered quietly to himself. Fumu hadn't heard him, instead, continuing to explain why she didn't have time for Kirby's lessons. The puff couldn't understand why Fumu was being like this. He... He hadn't done anything bad. Had he? He'd always tried to be his very best. Always fighting to protect the town, and always trying to be friends with everyone. He continued to train to get stronger and even tried to be a little more mature.

If he had been trying so hard to be a better puff, then... Why was this what he was receiving in exchange? The only time he ever saw Fumu was during his lessons with her. She was always so busy, and he really did cherish the time they spent together. She was one of his best friends, or at least that's what he always thought. Was she not…? He didn't want her to fade away... But, with those words. It seemed there was no denying it. But she had changed.

"...And so please Kirby, just fly back home… I just don't have the time anymore." Kirby managed to zone back into her final sentence, which wasn't at all something he'd wanted to hear. She didn't have time for him. Her work was more important. That is what she implied, if not flatly said.

His mind flicked through her sentence over and over again, until it settled on a certain phrase. 'Just fly back home,' Kirby wasn't sure why these words in particular stuck out to him, but they definitely hit him hard. Fly. He could fly. Right? But earlier, it wasn't the wind that had stopped him from floating down to the ground. There was a feeling again. It was coming back like before. A small shiver gently ran across the puff back. It was almost as if the shiver was a beacon of sudden realisation that had hit him.

He... Couldn't float.

Stress suddenly came in a big wave. It washed over the puff, who jerked forwards and leapt into the air, disregarding everyone around him. Fumu was startled by Kirby's sudden action, wondering what he was trying to do.

"Kirby?" She questioned. However, the puff didn't listen. He gave a large inhale in an attempt to float up as he usually would and flapped his small pink nubs, but realised that the more he attempted to float, the more intense the shiver down his back became. He felt that if he tried any longer, it would start to sting. He was barely off the ground though! How could he be putting so much effort into such a simple task!?

Kirby flailed in the air a while longer, before exhaling and dropping down onto the carpet with a plonk. His breathing wavered, unsure what it was he'd just experienced. He couldn't float. He couldn't float. He couldn't... However, before his mind could continue its repeat of that phrase, Kirby was snapped from his thoughts when Fumu, looking more concerned rather than annoyed like before, placed a hand on his small shoulder.

"Kirby... Are you ok? Were you just trying to float? Why? And why did you fall?" Her questions were too overwhelming at that moment, and Kirby pushed her hand away in reflex.

"No!" He shouted out the first word that had come to mind. He really didn't mean to shout, having startled Fumu and many other Cappies in the room, however, there really wasn't anything else Kirby felt he could do. He couldn't float. He couldn't... It was too much to take in. He'd been able to perform such an ability ever since crashing on Dreamland. It was a part of him, and more so a pure trait that described him. He was known for his rather amusing floating abilities…

Why now? Why couldn't he do it? It just didn't make sense. Fumu was about to reach out to Kirby again, however, the puff had jerked forwards once more, this time turning swiftly around and tailing out the front door into the much-worsened weather. Fumu had tried to stop the Star Warrior but her attempt was in vain, as he was long gone within a matter of seconds. Kirby could hear Fumu's shouts as he ran but ignored them all.

"KIRBY!?... Kirby! ... Kir ... by! ..." Fumu's words vanished behind the puff. The rain, which was much stronger than before, shoved Kirby forward in an uproar. Kirby was at this point, barely capable of keeping his footing. Too much was going through his mind, and he didn't at all know where to go. Could he go see Bun? Surely, but... He would be working... He wouldn't have time either... Dedede? Definitely not. He wouldn't at all care and would probably tease the pink puff. He couldn't go see any Cappies, as none would understand.

What about Meta Knight? The idea was almost very plausible, however, Kirby resorted to the thought of not wanting to disturb his mentor. Who could he turn to... There was no one. Where would he even go? Back home? It was his only choice. Kirby desperately wanted someone at this moment, but he was alone. He had to deal with this himself. It was just like how Meta would push him to his limits in training. He... could get over this. It's like training. Very...real and disheartening training.

It was among Kirby's many jumbled thoughts, that he'd made the same mistake of not focusing on the area around him. The winds and rain picked up their pace immensely, and a strong gust blew past the pink blur. This one was much stronger than the one from this morning and sent Kirby much higher into the sky to his surprise.

"Ahhhh!" He shouted as he was uplifted. It was an all too familiar feeling from this morning. The wind blew rapidly and sped past Kirby, who was more or less not processing what he was seeing. Everything was happening too fast, and despite his sudden epiphany from earlier, he did still try to float his way to safety. He flailed his arms and took an inhale, which did not treat him nicely in return. Instead, causing the warning pain he'd received several times that day, to spike. The pain shot out much more than it previously had, and Kirby exhaled in pain, struggling to keep his breathing firm.

"F-float..." He mumbled to himself through breaths. The wind was pushing him left and right, and as he felt the altitude around him heighten, being well above surface level, it was then at that moment that the wind stopped. It was suddenly as if it was never there, to begin with. The was a moment of stillness, and Kirby barely managed to process the thought, he was far far above the surface and the ground would not take kindly to his presence when he landed. If he could even manage that.

Gravity soon played its role, and Kirby was sent hurdling towards the ground below. He attempted to flail his arms, wanting to save himself from the impact which would most likely hurt him severely, but he didn't have the strength or will to try. The puff let his arms fall limb. He looked towards the grass below, rapidly coming closer, and accepted that there was nothing he could do to stop his fall. The thought of going headfirst into the ground below terrified him, and Kirby hadn't even hit the ground before he'd lost consciousness.

The unconscious pink body continued to fall towards the surface, unaware of bright yellow eyes that had been gazing from afar. The eye's shifted to a sudden white before two demon-like wings had extended from somewhere, and at an unimaginable speed, had flown out towards the falling figure.

The rain beat against the midnight-coloured blur, who swooped down and retrieved the child before he could make an impact with the ground. A handful of worlds mumbled from the figure before they disappeared into the heavy rain, towards Castle Dedede.

Author's Note: I'm editing all the old chapters now, it's for the better