Disclaimer: Kirby belongs to Nintendo and HAL Laboratory.
It was only the first day of November and it would only be a couple more days until Capupu Village's harvest festival.
Kirby got invited to meet up with Rick, Coo, Kine, Nago, Pitch and Chuchu today, so Elfilin, Vesa and Fecto Elfilis would be accompanying him.
Kirby led the entourage along the dirt path while Elfilis kept a vigilant eye on their surroundings for any potential danger. While Vesa walked close behind her partner, Elfilin perched on her shoulder. Soon enough, they set foot into Whispy Woods. They continued to venture along the dirt path until they arrived in a clearing with a large tree stump in the middle. They settled at the tree stump and waited as the tall warrior mage observed the vast amount of trees. A few minutes later, Vesa spotted a cat half her size from the corner of her eye as he arrived from one of the paths. Next, Kirby tilted his gaze up as a small light green bird descended from the sky.
"Poyo!" Kirby happily waved his arms.
Elfilin perked up his ears as Coo flew in while carrying Kine in his talons. Elfilis watched the cat curiously, their feelers perking up.
"Hi, Kirby!" the bird greeted as soon as he landed on the tree stump.
Seconds later, Rick arrived with a pink adorabilis wearing a red bow in tow. The creature in question fixated her eyes on Kirby and squealed in delight, floating over to the pink puff and tackling him in a squeezing embrace.
"Kirby!" she chirped, "I missed you so much!"
Rick stopped just before the tree stump with a sigh while Coo deposited Kine.
"How are you doing, Rick?" Vesa asked.
Elfilin hopped off Vesa's shoulder and circled around the cat.
"I've been worse," Rick answered, "really, things have been pretty good lately overall. There are a lot more of them mousey fellas hangin' around now, though."
Kirby flailed his arms until the pink adorabilis blinked and released her grip, settling onto the tree stump.
"Ok, ok," she sighed, "I was just so excited!"
The bird and the cat gave Elfilin a puzzled look while Kine nodded at the small chinchilla.
"Are these also your friends?" Elfilin clamored.
"Yup," the cat nodded, patting his chest with his paw, "the name's Nago."
The bird flapped his wings.
"And I'm Pitch," he added.
Elfilis leaned in and examined the pink adorabilis, intrigued by the difference from different octopi they encountered. The adorabilis noticed the tall warrior mage was gazing upon her and she huffed.
"What are you staring at?" she snapped.
Coo fluttered his wing nervously.
"ChuChu," Coo chided, "be nice to our guest."
Elfilis was quick to note ChuChu's temperament, so they sat down with Vesa sitting next to them.
"I'm merely curious as to how you're floating," Elfilis said, "as that is not an ordinary biological process that most creatures of the Octopoda genus are capable of."
"That's a secret," ChuChu remarked with a wink.
Kirby turned to face Kine.
"Poyo?" Kirby asked, "poyo poyo?"
"Mine, you mean?" Kine clarified, "we finished building our shelter for the winter. It's quite roomy for when we spawn this upcoming spring."
Elfilin perked up his tail.
"Really?" Elfilin blurted.
Elfilis lowered their head with a soft sigh, even when they understood most mages liked to protect their personal magic. Pitch tilted sideways with his eyes fixating on Elfilin.
"So who's this newcomer?" Pitch asked.
"Just another alien from another planet," Coo answered, "we get enough of them that it's not a shock."
Elfilis could tell Coo was only making sure the other animals in the forest didn't get too paranoid about them in particular, even if most of the animals had some idea of who they were based on rumors.
Well, whenever said animals weren't busy helping Kirby, foraging or building nests, that is.
"Oh," was all Pitch could say.
"The name's Elfilin," Elfilin extended his paw.
"Nice to meet you, kid," Pitch extended his wing, shaking the small chinchilla's paw.
With introductions out of the way, everyone else gathered around the tree stump, with Kirby sitting between ChuChu and Elfilin. Elfilis created chairs for whoever wanted them.
"So," Kine asked, "what did you have in mind today, Kirby?"
Kirby took a moment to think as he rubbed his head. During a moment of silence, Vesa checked her pocket bangle and reached for a box full of 750 jigsaw puzzle pieces. When she pulled out the box, Kirby's eyes sparkled as he smiled with excitement.
"Poyo!" Kirby chirped, "poyo!"
"You said this was a get together, right?" Vesa mentioned, "I thought I'd bring along something for those who enjoy puzzles."
While Vesa set down the box, ChuChu gave Elfilin a death glare.
"He's mine," ChuChu hissed.
Elfilin felt a chill down his spine. He gave his sibling a worried expression, but they pointedly looked away as if they weren't involved. The small chinchilla and Kirby exchanged glances, the pink puff simply shrugging without a word. As soon as Vesa opened the box, she, Kirby, Elfilin, Rick, Nago, Coo, Kine, Pitch and ChuChu started grabbing at puzzle pieces. Elfilis simply sat back, comfortable with just observing the activity.
While the others were busy figuring out which puzzle pieces matched together, ChuChu was too distracted as she was constantly squinting at Elfilin. The pink adorabilis was also rubbing right up next to Kirby. The pink puff didn't seem to mind the attention as he mindlessly worked at the puzzle. Elfilin just floated above the tree stump, unsure of what to do. Vesa was busy matching whatever edge pieces she could find when she fixated her eyes on the small chinchilla.
"Hey," she called to Elfilin, "wanna help find some edge pieces?"
Elfilin blinked as he turned his gaze towards Vesa.
"Sure!" Elfilin chirped.
Elfilin floated over to Vesa and started hunting for edge pieces. The small chinchilla would pluck whatever edge piece he could find, even from others' piles of puzzle pieces. He then helped Vesa link up the edge pieces until they managed to assemble a makeshift frame for the puzzle half an hour later. Upon cue, Kirby, Rick, Coo, Kine, Nago and Pitch would maneuver pieces they assembled so far into the makeshift frame, trying to link with the edge pieces and relying on the picture on the lid for reference.
The peaceful moment was interrupted without warning when a yellow bird flew in and perched on top of Kirby's head, eliciting a puzzled look out of him.
"Poyo?"
ChuChu narrowed her eyes.
"Hey!" she snapped, "get away from him!"
ChuChu reached her arm out and swatted the yellow bird like a pest.
"Hands off, girly!" the bird argued.
The yellow bird flew off Kirby's head and started pecking at ChuChu. The pained squeal from the pink adorabilis caused Vesa to snap out of her thoughts and focus her gaze on the visitor.
"W-What's going on?" Vesa warbled.
Elfilis tilted their head sideways.
"Quit it!" ChuChu yelled.
The pink adorabilis swatted at the yellow bird some more, but he was undeterred. By then, Elfilin, Pitch, Coo, Rick, Nago and Kine paused what they were doing upon hearing the commotion escalate. The small chinchilla shivered nervously and tucked his tail beneath his feet. Pitch took a moment to examine the yellow bird tormenting ChuChu and his eyes seemed to twinkle.
"Tokkori?!" Pitch exclaimed.
Tokkori paused and glanced behind him.
"Pitch, you stay out of this!" he snapped.
While Tokkori floated down onto the tree stump, Pitch put down a puzzle piece he was holding before he flew over to stand before the yellow bird face to face.
"What are you staring at me for, huh?" Tokkori demanded, eyes narrowing at the smaller green bird.
Pitch spread his wings and pushed his chest outward.
"I thought you weren't going to show up," Pitch pointed out.
"Pfft, I changed my mind," Tokkori remarked, "felt like hanging out with Kirby anyways."
"Yeah, right!" ChuChu barked, "you were just here to harass Kirby!"
Tokkori snapped his head at ChuChu.
"You were the one that smacked me!" Tokkori squawked, "if anything, you should be the one getting a talkin' to!"
Elfilin tilted his head while ChuChu's face reddened in anger. Elfilis leaned closer to Vesa.
"He does have a point," they whispered to her.
"Ahem," ChuChu sneered, "you need to stay off of Kirby! Got it?"
Tokkori made a brief glance at ChuChu and laughed.
"Nice try, girly," Tokkori mocked, "but I ain't one for gettin' intimidated easy! Not unless they can follow through, that is! You don't got the guts to hurt a fly!"
Vesa sighed as she facepalmed. Pitch leaned forward, pressing his head on Tokkori's. His eyes flamed with irritation at his rival's audacity without needing to say anything. After a moment, the yellow bird hopped back once and glanced at the puzzle on the tree stump.
"What's this?" Tokkori remarked, "a lousy puzzle?"
"Mind your attitude, jerk!" Pitch snapped.
"You and that girl there started this mess!" Tokkori pointed at ChuChu.
The girly octopus glared at the yellow bird and stuck her tongue out at him. Kirby let out an exasperated sigh.
"Well, at least I don't escalate things and make 'em worse!" Pitch snapped back at Tokkori, "I get that she started it, but that doesn't give you an excuse to flaunt this brashness of yours!"
"Poyo," Kirby called out to Tokkori, waving his arm, "poyo!"
Tokkori snapped his head towards the pink puffball.
"What's everyone gangin' up on me for? It's not like I started it!" Tokkori demanded, hopping around in irritation, "I just showed up here and got attacked is what happened!"
Kirby and Vesa shared a brief glance.
"Nuh-uh," ChuChu remarked, eyes narrowing at Tokkori, "you were hurting Kirby!"
Vesa shook her head in disbelief.
"It doesn't matter who did what, ChuChu," Vesa scolded ChuChu, "that doesn't mean you can escalate it further. Remember?"
"That annoying yellow bird is the one escalating things around here!" ChuChu pointed at Tokkori, "not me!"
"I'm not! I'm arguin' my point! I didn't do nothin' but show up here!" Tokkori protested, "tell me what I did aside from defend myself verbally and be properly mad about the situation and I will apologize!"
"Good grief," Pitch grumbled.
Vesa locked eyes onto Elfilis as she scratched her head.
"If you want me to say something about what just happened," Elfilis shrugged, "you're probably going to be waiting a while."
By then, Tokkori and Pitch hopped around the tree stump while spewing insults at one another. It wasn't long before Coo groaned and hopped in between the bickering birds. He flicked at both of their heads with his wings lightly, which stopped them from what they were doing.
"You two need to stop and apologize," Coo scolded.
The owl fixated one eye on ChuChu.
"And you," Coo pointed his wing at the octopus, "need to apologize for agitating Tokkori here!"
"Sorry," Pitch mumbled.
"Sorry," Tokkori sighed, looking away while folding his wings.
"No!" ChuChu objected in a childish tone.
Vesa and Elfilin gave ChuChu confused looks.
"Why not?" Elfilin paused.
"Because he shouldn't have touched Kirby," ChuChu insisted.
Kirby sighed again and waved his arm at ChuChu.
"Poyo…"
"Maybe we should just move on?" Elfilis interjected politely.
ChuChu glared at Elfilis while Vesa twiddled her fingers nervously.
"Well, go on," Vesa persuaded, "it only takes a second or two."
ChuChu remained stubbornly silent. Kirby fidgeted nervously, torn about what to do. Silence continued on until Coo sighed in disappointment moments later. Still, the owl returned his focus onto Tokkori and Pitch.
"Now you two need to get along, ok?" Coo reasoned.
"I can try," Tokkori proclaimed, his anger slowly starting to cool off, "but if you guys decide to gang up on me again, all bets are off!"
"I will if he does," Pitch added.
Without saying anything, Tokkori flew off.
"Well," Elfilis commented with a deadpan tone, "I feel like that could've gone better."
Vesa took some time to check for some of the puzzle pieces scattered around the tree stump while Pitch and Coo returned to their spots. Vesa, Kirby, Elfilin, Rick, Coo, Kine, Nago and Pitch went back to working on the puzzle. ChuChu, on the other hand, didn't bother to reach for a single puzzle piece.
"Man," Nago mused, "you two sure fight a lot, don't you?"
"We just have conflicting personalities," Pitch replied after a moment of thought, "it's why we have a mutual clash."
No one else had anything to say. A minute later, Rick paused as his stomach growled. The hamster casually patted his stomach.
"Hey, Kirby?" Rick paused, "when's lunch?"
Kirby turned his gaze towards Vesa.
"Poyo?"
Vesa glanced back and blinked twice.
"Oh, right!" she blurted.
Vesa reached into her pocket bangle and pulled out a bento box. Kirby, Elfilin, Rick, Coo, Kine, Pitch, Nago and ChuChu stared in awe as the human opened the bento box, revealing delicious sandwiches.
"Thank you, Vesa!" Elfilin chirped, "you're the best!"
Vesa giggled as she placed her hand behind her head.
"Well, Kirby did help out a little," she mentioned, "right?"
"Poyo!" Kirby agreed, happily waving his arms.
Nago reached for the first sandwich and sniffed at the ham inside it. Pitch tore his sandwich up before he began pecking at the pieces. ChuChu took a sandwich for herself and munched on it, still huddling up next to Kirby. Rick grabbed his sandwich while Coo picked up two sandwiches, handing the other one to Kine. While Vesa served herself a sandwich, Kirby and Elfilin reached for the two remaining sandwiches.
Elfilis simply watched as everyone ate, relaxing with their legs crossed. Their eyes shut as they relished the silence of the forest and the gentle rustling of the leaves.
Back at Castle Dedede, Escargon watched in anticipation as the king pressed on a button on a remote. A TV screen emerged from the wall and began displaying the customer service salesman from Holy Nightmare Enterprises.
"How can I help you today Big D? Need another monster?" the salesman greeted with a big grin, "sounds like the last one we sent didn't go too well."
Dedede sighed softly.
"That problem I had a while ago resolved itself," Dedede clarified.
"Oh, really? Well, that's fortunate and I'm happy to hear your issues worked themselves out. It's a shame about Yamikage, but he had outlived his usefulness anyway," the salesman mused, "the bill for Yamikage's services has already been sent over. Since he perished working for you, we've taken some money off of the bill due to his inability to solve your problems. On a brighter note, what kind of monster are you looking for today?"
Dedede and Escargon exchanged glances in a moment of silence, the king giving the snail a wink. The salesman pulled out a piece of paper.
"Well," the salesman continued, "we have several deals going on right now for monsters you can get at a bargain. These are monsters that have certain requirements that must be met in order for them to properly do their jobs."
The salesman turned the paper around. Dedede and Escargon examined the images ranging from the familiar Kracko to a ghost-like creature. The king soon fixated his eye on a small red octopus.
"That red one looks pretty shrimpy compared to the other two," Dedede said, "why don't ya tell me about em'."
The salesman raised his eyebrows.
"Well," he explained, "this little creature is called Octagon—"
"Like the shape?" Escargon interrupted with a frown.
"Yes, it's a bit of a poor name," the salesman agreed, his grin turning sinister, "even the spelling is the same. Don't worry, the person responsible for naming it has been fired."
"Probably out of a cannon," Escargon muttered with furrowed brows.
"Is this the kind of Demon Beast you're looking for?" the salesman asked.
"I dunno," Dedede insisted, "why don't you describe it to me a bit?"
"This little critter is a grower," the salesman answered, "they will eat and eat, and when they are done they will grow to enormous size, even gaining pyrokinetic abilities in the process. I should warn you ahead of time that its size will likely be an issue if you plan to keep it long term. It could grow larger than your castle in record time, not to mention it can reproduce rapidly. I don't want to talk you out of a sale here, but I also want to do business with you long term, and that would be much harder if your planet was suddenly overrun with giant monsters. This Demon Beast was originally made for warfare purposes and planetary conquering. I'm not entirely sure it will fit your needs; but if you want it, I can give it to you for really cheap."
Dedede took a moment to think. He wasn't sure if it was worth putting his own people at risk just to select a Demon Beast to challenge Kirby.
"On second thought," Dedede proclaimed, "I'll settle for the Kracko."
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