The sun reflecting on the water's surface made it sparkle, and its temperature was pleasantly lukewarm as Kirby's feet touched the edge of it on the beach. A few Blippers came up to the surface to peek at their company, and down below, the seaweed could still be seen peacefully swaying with big clams hiding amongst it. A few sea birds nested on the slate cliffs in the distance, and though they weren't easy to make out from afar, some other sea creatures could be seen stirring. It was a fine day to be out hunting dragons and dragon eggs, or so it certainly seemed.

"How many are we looking at?" Bandana Waddle Dee inquired, stealing a glance at Kirby's radar.

"Three, including the big one," Kirby answered, giving it a glance too before jumping in the water and floating on the surface. "But that shouldn't be a problem for us!"

Bandana Waddle Dee jumped in too, but Magolor couldn't help but to put up a barrier to keep himself from getting wet when Nem made waves as she jumped in. The armored lass disappeared below the surface for a moment but reappeared shortly, while Magolor simply floated in the air close to the water. Kirby started swimming away happily towards a set of slate cliffs with smallish sandy banks rising out of the water, his feet puttering behind him, and Bandana Waddle Dee, his spear in both hands in front of him, wasn't too far off. Nem stayed close to them as well, her wings flapping to carry her along, albeit with the bottom half of her body submerged.

"How was the night watch, Nem?" Magolor inquired, glancing at the armored lass. "You didn't have to fight anything off, did you?"

"Nope," Nem answered, her free hand going to her hat for just a moment. "Either we had no company or they knew better than to taunt me.~ I had to yell at this jerk a few times, but that's nothing new."

Suddenly, she dipped under the surface, catching her company by surprise for a few moments, but they soon figured out why. The ones swimming got hapless looks as steam bubbles came up and waves rocked them around from Nem's wild gestures and unintelligible hollering under the water, undoubtedly nasty words directed at her hat, and Magolor apparently found the entire ordeal quite entertaining from the way he started to giggle. The armored lass nonetheless re-emerged shortly, looking perfectly content as they kept on.

She flipped onto her back and used one hand to paddle along (the other holding her hat in place) with her feet lightly kicking, studying their flying comrade as she asked, "I never asked… you're a magician, aren't you?"

"I am!" Magolor easily replied. "A pretty good one, if I do say so myself! Why do you ask?"

Nem's pearl-filled eye narrowed slightly as she replied with a slight smirk, "I just had to be sure.~ You seemed like one, but I've never had a magician offer to fix me up. Digi, I got why, but I wasn't sure about you."

The one she addressed chuckled some more. "Then that just means I'm extra qualified!"

She blinked, her eyeless socket narrowing some more before she flipped back over.

At that moment, though, a dismayed cry of "Wah-!" came from Bandana Waddle Dee before he grabbed his spear, the pointed tip towards the sky instead of the water, and jabbed it downwards a few times. A quick glance revealed the culprit- a big Blipper, getting a little too inquisitive for comfort.

"Oh, goodness!" Kirby exclaimed, getting rocked around a bit from the waves created. "Are you okay, Waddle Dee?"

The Blipper got the message and quickly swam away, letting the bandana-clad one calm down. "Yeah," he replied. "It just scared me, brushing up against me like that! I mean, that could've been a Barbar or a Barracu or a Flotzo!"

Thankfully, no other Blippers decided to startle anyone before they made it to the sandy surroundings of the cliffs, where the waves lapped a bit more aggressively, but not too aggressively, and left the sand damp all around the tiny shore. The sound of birds was more easily heard, even more than on the beach by the trees, and that coupled with a few feathers dotting the ground indicated that some of them were probably using the cliffs as a nesting site. Cool grey cliffs rose up around them in varying heights, some much shorter than others, making them more or less climbable even to those without the ability to fly, and rather narrow passageways that could only fit two figures at most ran between gaps in some of them. The lower areas of the outer cliffs were damp too, the water having splashed them, but in the narrow passageways, it seemed only slightly drier. The area seemed peaceful, if somewhat more secluded, even if the beach (particularly the ships on the beach) was still visible a bit further away.

However, something instantly caught their attention when a red tentacled creature- a Flotzo- peered down at them with a flat expression from the edge of a shorter cliff and jumped right off, tentacles out in front like it intended to latch onto whoever it could touch. Luckily, Magolor noticed it fairly quickly, and a ball of dark energy formed between his hands that he fired off at their disgruntled company. The Flotzo pretty quickly regretted its decision, flying off with the attack and plopping someplace in the ocean.

"Nice try," the magician said sarcastically.

"Are those organisms hostile?" Nem inquired, glancing at where it had fallen in the water.

"No, that's just Flotzo for you," Kirby answered. "They just don't like to be bothered. I guess if I was an old fart and four strangers came running across my lawn, I'd be upset too." He took a look at his radar again, then turned to the cliffs. "There should be an egg up ahead, so let's get to looking! Waddle Dee, you come with me!"

At that, the pink one was darting off into one of the narrow passageways, and his bandana-wearing friend was running along behind him.

"Leave the cliffs to us!" Magolor called back, flying after Nem as she darted up them.

"Give a holler if you find anything!" Bandana Waddle Dee shouted, giving a glance back.

Nem had already vanished into the rocky heights overhead, and Magolor was quick to follow suit.

"Hey, Kirby," the bandana-wearing one mused, scurrying along after his pink friend.

"Hm?" Kirby replied, jumping over a rock that jutted out of the ground.

"You're not worried about leaving Daroach to guard the ships, are you?"

Kirby gave him a glance, expression bright as always. "No, why?"

"I mean…" Bandana Waddle Dee's voice trailed off as they turned a corner, "… the Lor is a treasure when you think about it. You don't think he'd try to steal it? Or try to steal its part or something?"

Kirby giggled. "Why would he do that~? If he stole Magolor's ship while we're all after the same thing, that'd just be stupid! Besides, King Dedede wouldn't let him, and the Lor has a mind of its own too!"

At that, the spear-toting one perked up. "You're right! His Majesty would put a stop to it! I should have more faith in our king, and in our allies too!"

"That's right!"

However, at that moment, the two of them couldn't help but to notice the sand that all of a sudden fell on them from above, making them pause with some shouts of discomfort.

"Wah-!" Bandana Waddle Dee cried, shielding his face. "It's in my eyes!"

"Mine too!" Kirby exclaimed, rubbing one. "And in my mouth! Ewww!"

The two of them rubbed their eyes and blinked in rapid succession, while Kirby haplessly spit out a gritty mouthful of the tiny rock particles. They looked upwards to see if there was a source, maybe a mound of sand that had been blown around in the breeze or an errant sandcastle in a precarious position that had collapsed, but saw neither of those things. Two grey eyes did, however, look down at them, situated in a yellow scaled body with a green frill down its back- a Sandran, one that spit another mouthful of sand at them. More shouts of protest happened, the two on the ground below shielding their faces and looking away as it fell.

"What was that for?!" Bandana Waddle Dee exclaimed.

"I've got this one!" Kirby exclaimed.

In moments, the pink one was inhaling a big gulp of air and flying up to where the Sandran was, the sandy creature looking like it regretted its choices. Another mouthful of sand was directed at Kirby, but he grabbed one rock to hang onto while he opened his mouth and inhaled, sucking in the sand along with the Sandran, who gave a surprised jolt. With a poof, their sandy annoyance was out cold on its cliff, and Kirby instead had sandy scales cascading down his back as he jumped back down.

"Ta-da!" the pink one exclaimed playfully. "Sand!"

Bandana Waddle Dee dropped his spear for a moment and clapped excitedly, exclaiming, "That one will come in handy!"

With a happy nod, Kirby was setting off again and his friend was easily following, but quickly they found an obstacle in their way when a black ball with golden spikes floated between the cliffs- a Gordo. His big eyes blankly watched them, but Kirby didn't slow down and instead gave a jump while inhaling a puff of air to fly over their company… which he would have, had the Gordo stayed in place. Rather, the spiked one moved upwards, poking Kirby with one of his spikes and making him let out his gulp of air.

"Owwww!" Kirby exclaimed as he dropped back onto the ground, Bandana Waddle Dee coming to an abrupt halt too.

"Gordo!" the bandana-wearing one exclaimed. "Can't you let us by? We're here on important business!"

The one he addressed simply stared at them, blinking his eyes in silence. Bandana Waddle Dee instead tried to slide under him, but down moved their spiked company, to which Kirby reached out and pulled him back before the Gordo could poke him too.

"He can't get both of us!" Kirby declared. "Let's both go!"

At that, Bandana Waddle Dee gave a jump, using his spear as something of a vault, while Kirby slid underneath their spiked company. The Gordo initially moved upwards, but on seeing Kirby move underneath him, went back downwards, but it was too late- Bandana Waddle Dee had cleared his spikes and Kirby had too. The two of them shared a high five as they met on the other side, and the Gordo simply turned around to stare at them some more but didn't give chase.

"Tag is fun and all, but I don't think the Gordos realize that being tagged with their spikes hurts," Kirby mused, strolling along the passageway.

"You think that's what it is?" Bandana Waddle Dee replied, falling behind him as the gap narrowed slightly. "I always figured they were just tricksters that like getting in your way."

"Maybe you're right!"

There was still enough room for them to walk, but the cliffs on either side of them got closer together so that walking side by side was impossible. Bandana Waddle Dee stuck close behind Kirby, and the pink puffball lead the way, skipping along contentedly. There seemed to be more cawing and honking of birds up ahead, for the sounds got more noticeable as they went along, but surely they were likely nesting in the cliffs overhead, even if there sure didn't seem to be that many flying around.

However, Kirby paused for just a moment when another set of big blue eyes blinked back at him as he turned a corner, belonging to a plump avian figure, mostly black but possessing a white belly and white face, a red bandana tied around his head and one flipper-like wing holding a cutlass. The bird too paused, clearly taken aback by an unfamiliar figure, then opened his beak and let out a squawk as he turned to run off.

"What's that?!" Bandana Waddle Dee exclaimed.

"A bird!" Kirby replied, ducking down so his friend could see. "He must be shy!"

Sure enough, the bird was scurrying away as fast as he could, squawking and honking as he did so.

"Have you seen a bird like that before?" Bandana Waddle Dee inquired as Kirby straightened back out and scurried after him.

"Nope!" Kirby replied. "But he looks like a pirate, like a buccaneer! We should call him Buccie!"

"Buccie!" the spear-toting one exclaimed. "We ran into Buccie!"

However, as they turned another corner, the passageway widened into something of a clearing between the high rocks on either side of them, and they were running into a dozen or so Buccies. The original one was still squawking and honking, waving his cutlass wildly in the air, but the other ones snapped to attention the moment they saw Kirby and his friend enter their territory, and the one they'd run into turned around too.

"Um…" Bandana Waddle Dee's voice trailed off.

"That's a lot of Buccies," Kirby mused simply.

The birds blinked in unison, quiet as could be, followed by a single one raising his cutlass up and letting out a squawk. A cacophony of squawks, caws, and honks followed, the others immediately waving their cutlasses in the air too. Kirby's face fell, and Bandana Waddle Dee wasn't too far off- it was the start of a Buccie riot.

"Um, Kirby…!" the spear-toting one exclaimed, pointing his spear out in front. "That's a lot of Buccies!"

The pink puffball, however, only got a determined look and replied, "It is!"

One swiped at Bandana Waddle Dee with his cutlass, but the tip of his spear parried the hit, and a giant fist of sand from Kirby smashing down in front of them left a few sprawled out and dazed. Two more got close, swinging their blades wildly and fussing all the while, but a wave of sand kicked into their eyes derailed their movements rather quickly. Bandana Waddle Dee thrust his spear twice in quick succession, knocking their cutlasses from their hands, and Kirby punching out with another sandy fist knocked them flying. Still, four more came darting close behind.

"Waddle Dee! Get behind me!" Kirby exclaimed, focusing for a moment.

"Getting behind you!" his friend called back, scurrying out of the way.

Four Buccies jumped, clearly intending to slash their visitors, but Kirby mustered up a dust devil that swallowed them up and flew off, carrying their assailants with them. An uproar of squawking and honking followed, but got faint as they disappeared into the cliffs above.

After a second, Bandana Waddle Dee darted back out, and the two of them shared a glance while letting out a sigh of relief.

"Whew!" the spear-toting one said. "I was worried for a second!"

Kirby giggled, still content as could be. "Well, that was a lot of Buccies!"

Off they went, leaving the dazed Buccies in a heap behind them.

. . . . .

There wasn't sight of any golden eggs or eggshells yet, but in the cliffs overhead, Nem and Magolor were certainly looking. There were noticeably more feathers strewn about on the rocky surfaces, for clearly, a bird would probably feel perfectly comfortable amongst them while anything or anyone without the ability to fly would find navigating them precarious. Some of the rocky tops were flat and easily walked upon, others were jagged with varying heights and drop-offs. It wasn't exactly hospitable, but the terrain had a charm to it- seeing the waves below was oddly relaxing, and the cool greys of the rocks were calming.

… At least, they were to Magolor, for Nem didn't seem to care at all, traipsing along with her axe in hand and a smirk on her face.

"I just have to ask," Nem piped up, clanking along on the rocks, "how the hell did you end up with that warship? You didn't just conjure that out of thin air."

"Oh, the Lor? I excavated it," Magolor replied easily. "It was buried in this really far-off world in another dimension! I couldn't just leave something like that lying in ruin- I just had to dig it out and give it some upgrades!"

The armored lass perked up, giving him an intent look as she replied, "'Excavated?' You had to dig it out?"

"Yeah," the magician replied. "It had been left alone for a long time."

At that, Nem started to laugh, traipsing right up to a jagged piece of rock in her way but not bothering to go around or over it. Instead, she gave a hard swing of her axe, scattering embers from its golden edges as she obliterated it and stepped through where it used to be. "That civilization must've been fucked."

Magolor couldn't help but to study her and her forceful antics as she turned the rock to rubble instead of just moving around it, but nonetheless replied, "Well, they're not here anymore, so that tells you something must've happened to make them fall."

Nem snickered. "Sucks to suck.~"

However, the magician couldn't help but to edge closer to her, studying the weapon she carried, albeit staying cautious in case she decided to try cleaving him apart next. "And that axe of yours… Honestly, it kinda looks like it could pass for an ancient relic too."

Its sturdy build, its shiny blue crystalline and gold parts, and its wickedly sharp edge that burned if she so willed it all lent nicely to it being a fantastical piece of weaponry. Most of all, however, the golden gear that floated around the top of its staff, just above where the blades were set in… It looked something like an Energy Sphere, what he would power the Lor Starcutter with, albeit much smaller and compact.

The one carrying it, though, gave him a pointed look, still smirking but with her eyeless socket narrowed, and said, "And just like me, you aren't studying it. Don't even think about it."

Magolor floated backwards, eyeing her as if she just might take a swing at him with it. "Oh, don't give me that look," he said quizzically. "You can't read those runes in the eggs without me and I get a crazy robot as an ally. We're on the same side."

Her pearl-filled socket narrowed some more, but she eased up nonetheless in a few moments, and the magician likewise relaxed.

"Well, I can't argue with that," Nem remarked, strolling on.

Magolor simply giggled, albeit eyeing her in his peripheral vision for a second, but the two of them shortly had their attention grabbed by a commotion of squawking and honking. Their gazes both quickly snapped aside, where it appeared a dust devil was flying through the cliffs… a dust devil that carried four fussing rotund avians with red bandanas around their heads. Both of them gave a jolt, Nem clutching her axe tightly while Magolor was on guard. Shortly, the Buccies were deposited on the cliff too, brushing themselves off and looking around at each other, but one turned to look straight at the two odd ones out with a panicked expression. A slight honk escaped him and he pointed his cutlass their way while the others picked theirs up.

"Are those natives?" Nem inquired softly, her intact eye narrowed on their new company. "Maybe we should explain ourselves and see if they know anything…"

"I don't think I speak their language, but I can turn up the charm and try," Magolor replied. He cleared his throat, instantly drawing the attention of the rest of the Buccies. "Hello, beautiful birds!" he said cheerfully, giving a big wave with both hands.

The plump birds blinked, standing still as statues with their eyes glued to him, and Nem too watched inquisitively.

"I'm Magolor, and this is Nem!" the magician kept on, gesturing at himself and the armored one at his side. "We mean no harm!" He winked and made a heart-shaped gesture with his hands. "We're looking for big shiny eggs! Monsters hatch from them that want to eat everything, and that puts us all in danger!" He drew a round shape in the air, his hands glowing for a moment and leaving trails of light so the picture was easily seen, then pulled his hood further over his face and held his hands to his head to imitate the horns of a devilish creature. Moments later, he was winking and making a heart gesture again as he said, "Can we call each other friends~?"

Not wanting to mess anything up, Nem placed her axe on her back and made the same gesture as the magician, awkward though it may have been. Their avian company was silent and unmoving, thus maybe it had worked… at least, they had hoped. One Buccie raised up his cutlass and let out a squawk, and the other three followed suit, the cacophony of squawks and honks resuming. Nem's face fell and her hands went for her axe again while Magolor went back on guard.

"On second thought," the magician said hurriedly, "let's try a different strategy!"

"Just give me one swing and-! What the hell!"

After a moment of concentration and as the Buccies started to run for them with slicing blades, a miniature black hole opened behind them that sucked all four of the birds in. The squawks and honks continued as the birds were pulled backwards by the force, then came to an abrupt halt as the black hole closed, leaving only Nem and Magolor on the cliff. Nem blinked, and Magolor eased up again.

"Whew!" the magician said, playfully wiping his brow. "There we go! Problem solved!"

Nem blinked, staring at where the Buccies had vanished. "Did you just… banish them to the dark realm or something?"

Magolor laughed. "Hee hee! I just sent 'em somewhere else! Don't worry about them- they'll be fine!"

The armored lass studied him for a second, then eased up, getting a slight smirk. "You're a pain in the ass!" she said, laughing. "And that ain't bad!"

Some more mischievous giggling followed, but Magolor was having to follow after Nem as she bolted off again. He had to shield himself a few times as Nem busted apart rocks, the debris clanging off of her and flying everywhere, for she certainly didn't seem interested in taking the easier route of just going around them.

"You just really like to break things, don't you?" Magolor remarked.

"I do," Nem easily answered.

However, before she could break a bigger rocky pillar, she gave a quick glance up, for a pair of eyes stared back down from a chiseled brown body with a blue and white headband- a Rocky. Magolor noticed too, pausing with a ball of dark energy forming between his hands, and in moments, the Rocky was falling over the edge.

"I got this one," Nem said simply, her axe's edges starting to glow.

The magician wasn't going to get in her way, and he was quickly glad he didn't when she toppled the entire tall rocky mass with a hard swing. The edge of her blade slammed into the Rocky too, and the poor stony creature's eyes shot wide as he went flying off into the distance, over the cliff range and into the sea. Nem snickered while her company simply watched the Rocky fly, and a big splash could be seen further off in the ocean.

"… Wow," Magolor said, a hint of amusement creeping into his voice. "That little guy didn't stand a chance!"

The armored lass started to smirk some more, musing, "Kirby scolded me the last time I hit that hard. I get it, this world is apparently a peaceful place with no enemy infiltrations and no wars going on, but c'mon."

Magolor giggled, his eyes full of mischief as he said, "There's nothing wrong with having some fun every once in a while, is there~? Maybe I don't have to bust out the needles and cannons and all that, but it sure does spice things up!"

Nem's smirk grew and her eyes widened a bit as she replied, "You understand.~" The next moment, though, she was grabbing the brim of her hat and shouting, "Oh, go to hell! I'm having a good time, dammit! You wouldn't understand, you unholy hellspawn!"

Nonetheless, the magician gave a playful wink and replied, "I do understand, Nem.~"

She got a grip after a second and laughed again, nestling her hat down snugly with one hand and playfully twirling her axe with the other. "Then let's have some fun.~"

Off they went again, giggling and cackling all the while.

. . . . .

Back at the beach, though, things were fairly calm. The Blippers were swimming, a Walf or two scurried or swam past, a Squishy played out in the shallows, and the sun was warm but not oppressive. No stray meteor-eggs came crashing down, no dragons crawled out of the trees or the sea to attack… It was simply a peaceful day on the beach. King Dedede had dawned a pair of sunglasses and sprawled out on the Lor's deck to sunbathe, and though Daroach had no trouble admiring his treasure collection and polishing each sparkling piece of jewelry, each shining metallic object, each precious gemstone… he had other ideas.

"Where would he keep them…?" the head Squeak muttered to himself, stalking around the interior of the Lor.

The ship was big and absurdly valuable in its own right, but stealing an entire starship from an ally was simply a bad idea, tempting though it may have been. What he searched for was something inside the ship, something small and sparkly that Spinni had mentioned seeing and the rest of them had eaten, sliced up and covered with caramelized sugar, the night before- the Gem Apples. They tasted delicious like ordinary ripe apples, they had the same texture, just a shiny crystalline peel and carved shape, but if they were indeed apples, they could grow like ordinary apples. It was a surefire way to have an infinite amount of shiny, sparkly objects… He just needed to find one first.

And with all the rooms in the Lor, all the doors that opened to seemingly random things- rooms made of colorful blocks, a few test dummies, a library full of thick tomes and grimoires, comfy living quarters fancier than those of the airship- it wasn't exactly easy. He knew King Dedede would surely question his motives if he were to be found stalking around a ship that wasn't his, thus he moved with the utmost stealth and carefulness, opting to fly instead of walk just in case his footsteps could be heard. There wasn't much to be done about the mechanical doors that opened on their own when he got near, but with any luck, the king simply wouldn't hear them (or feel any vibrations from them) over the sound of the gentle waves and chirping birds.

Nonetheless, after some searching, the head Squeak finally found the kitchen area, and sure enough, there were a few of those beautiful sparkling apples sitting on a shelf in a cabinet. His face lit up and he was awestruck for a moment, feasting his eyes on their fanciful forms.

"Yes…!" he breathed to himself, reaching out and delicately grabbing one. "You are perfection…!"

However, at that moment, he heard footsteps approaching outside the door which could only reasonably belong to a certain hammer-toting king. His mind raced for a second before he ducked into the cabinet and pulled the door shut. The king would see no one there and disregard whatever noises he'd heard, at least, the head Squeak hoped.

The footsteps got closer and Daroach could hear a voice outside, undoubtedly belonging to the king, musing without a care, "Well, I know he must have good snacks around here…"

The head Squeak's heart dropped, for the footsteps came right up to the cabinet door, and quickly he was face-to-face with King Dedede as he yanked it open.

A holler soon followed from the king. "What-!"

"Greetings," Daroach said nonchalantly.

King Dedede eyed him with a funny expression, clearly not sure what to make of him. "Were you looking for a snack too?"

"I was," Daroach lied. "I won't lie… Those interdimensional goodies were far too delicious to ignore. I got worried for a moment that you were someone else, so I hid."

At that, King Dedede eased up and let out a hearty laugh. "No need to hide- I was thinking the exact same! As big as this ship is and with as much stuff as he has it loaded with, he won't notice!"

The head Squeak laughed too, coming out of the cabinet. "Oh, what a relief!"

King Dedede reached in and grabbed a Gem Apple too, promptly taking a bite out of it as he shut the cabinet. "I was wondering, though," he said, chewing and swallowing his bite, "what are those birds moving things around in your ship? Did you make some new friends?"

At that, Daroach got an alarmed look, giving a panicked jolt as he inquired, "The… what…?!"

"The birds," King Dedede replied, taking another bite. "Plump little things with black bodies, white faces and bellies, carrying cutlasses? There were like four of them that came strolling out of the airship, and they're piling up some of your sparkly things outside. I figured you had-!"

The head Squeak, however, was instantly tearing out of the room, down the hall, and out the Lor, King Dedede hurrying along after him at seeing such a reaction.

"How?!" Daroach thundered. "I have security systems in place! An honest-to-goodness black hole would have to open and drop them inside to get around it!"

"We got intruders?!" King Dedede exclaimed, taking up his hammer as he ran after him.

"Yes!" was the unamused affirmation.

The moment the two of them set foot on the beach, they were met with four sets of eyes staring back at them, four Buccies with cutlasses in one flipper and the other toting sparkling necklaces, golden goblets, and bejeweled decorations. One raised his blade and squawked, and the others quickly followed suit.

"Unhand my treasure, you knaves!" Daroach hollered, busting the Triple Star cane out of his cloak.

"Put it down!" King Dedede likewise yelled, giving a swing of his hammer.

The Buccies certainly weren't inclined to put their findings down, but Daroach and the king too certainly weren't shy about 'convincing' them.

. . . . .

The Buccies away from the beach were likewise fussing and having a fit whenever one laid eyes on Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee, but a hit from a sandy fist or a thrust of a spear disarming them was enough to make them scatter or fall in a heap. There were still irritated Flotzos clinging to the cliff sides that occasionally jumped off in an attempt to ensnare whoever was touched first, and the Sandrans apparently took great fun in scattering sand whenever they visitors strolled past. The Gordos were still something of a pain, getting in their way and being a silent nuisance, but with just a bit of maneuvering, they could be avoided. However, what was easily noticeable were the occasional loud thuds that came from further away overhead, like a large collision or something breaking.

WHAM!

This one sounded closer and louder, and the two of them perked up at hearing it.

"You don't think that's a dragon, do you?" Bandana Waddle Dee inquired, nervously glancing overhead. "That last one was pretty rambunctious, and those are some loud crashing sounds…"

"Digi did say there was a bigger egg out here," Kirby acknowledged, glancing down at the radar for a second. "And we're supposed to be close to one! Maybe it's-…"

He turned a corner, and was promptly met with a rocky wall with no other passageway through- a dead end. Upwards his eyes went, for apparently there was no other way to comb the sandy ground for traces of celestial meteor-eggs.

However, another uproar of squawking and cawing assaulted their senses, and a quick glance backwards revealed several dozen Buccies running towards them through the passage with angry expressions and cutlasses waving overhead. Both Kirby and his friend got wide eyes, the latter giving a jolt of fright at the angry mob approaching them.

"Oh, no…!" Bandana Waddle Dee breathed, clutching his spear tightly.

"Let's run!" Kirby declared, glancing backwards then up the cliff.

His friend certainly wasn't going to protest, the puffball inhaling a big gulp of air and flying while Bandana Waddle Dee held his spear overhead and twirled it rapidly like a helicopter's blades. The two of them left the ground before the Buccies could reach them, but the birds were a determined bunch, for they started to get into formations to lift each other up in chase.

"Will you all lay off?!" Bandana Waddle Dee cried. "We're not here to upset you!"

WHAM!

Another loud crashing sound graced their senses the moment they set foot atop the cliffs, and the cause was immediately apparent- none other than Nem. There was plenty of rocky rubble to be seen laying around, but she took her axe to a particularly big rocky pillar, the top of which was flattened out and surrounded by moving Gordos. It was a hard swing, one that easily would've caused some serious damage had a sentient being been on the receiving end, but the fact that it was a rock put Kirby at ease. Magolor was giggling not far away, his back turned from them, and they darted over while the rock cracked apart and Nem flew backwards.

"Magolor!" Kirby cried. "What have you guys been up to?"

"Just having some fun!" the magician replied. "We had a lot of little birdies sneak up on us, but I whisked 'em away!"

"Little birdies?" Bandana Waddle Dee replied. "You guys must've gotten ambushed by Buccies too!"

At that moment, the squawking and honking got louder, and quite a few of those avian forms started to crawl up the edge of the cliff, staring at their visitors angrily. Kirby and Bandana Waddle Dee got looks of concern, but Magolor gave a jolt of fright while Nem simply landed next to them without a care.

"They really caught up that fast?!" Magolor exclaimed.

"You didn't send 'em far enough away," Nem remarked, smirking.

However, the top of the cliff crashed onto the ground, and with it, something else- a gigantic nest, one that all four of the cliffs' visitors could've sat in with no trouble, made primarily of straw and feathers but decorated with sparkly and golden objects. Pieces of jewelry were draped over the edges, golden coins were nestled among the straw, pretty shells peeked out among the feathers, all probably commandeered from nearby visitors… but more importantly, two large hollow golden meteorite halves were situated among its adornments too, just like Nem's meteorite but smaller.

… A bit more attention-grabbing was the giant bird that sat atop the nest. She too was rotund like the Buccies, albeit taller and wider, standing around the height of five Kirbies stacked atop each other. On her head was a black three-cornered hat with red feathers adorning its left side, and around her neck was a tattered red scarf that had clearly seen better days. A black belt across her midsection held the red scabbard of a sabre, the hilt of which was already held in one of her flippers, and on her other flipper was mounted a miniature wooden cannon. The look on her face was enough to convey it- she was angry.

"That's a big Buccie…" Kirby's voice trailed off.

"Call that one 'Capp'n,' because she clearly runs the roost," Bandana Waddle Dee remarked under his breath.

"And she's got one of our eggs," Magolor noted.

Nem simply giggled, a wild smirk crossing her face.

The Buccies themselves looked a bit uncertain, but when Capp'n opened her beak and let out a massive screech, the entire lot of them were scattering. The cliff's visitors stood their ground, and shortly, the bigger bird was getting up and stepping out of the nest, taking a few steps towards them. There were three eggs underneath her, but the golden eggshell within her nest was the true target of her company, though she had no way of knowing such.

"We found one egg, but you guys didn't have to break her nesting rock, did you?" Kirby said, eyeing Nem and Magolor.

"It made it easier to get to," Nem replied.

"Both of you can fly and one of you can open black holes," Bandana Waddle Dee pointed out flatly.

"You wouldn't understand," Magolor nonchalantly brushed him off.

Nonetheless, when Capp'n was pointing her cannon at them and brandishing her blade, they were all getting ready for a fight, for whether they could easily whisk the dragon egg away or not, she was not going to let them off so easily.

"We're doing this, aren't we?" Nem inquired, clutching her axe and glancing at the others.

"We've got to," Kirby answered. "Get ready, everyone! Let's get that egg!"

Author's note: My friend, TheDragonSaver, came up with the idea for the Buccies and their boss. I can't recall the conversation, but I do recall we were at a taco joint whilst having it and it was something along the lines of me being surprised we didn't have an axe-wielding Kirby when we had a sword-wielding and, for heaven's sake, gun-wielding Kirby already. From there we started coming up with new abilities that would be fun to have, those being a woodsman and pirate Kirby, and he came up with the little pirate penguins. (Admittedly, the ability name 'Woodsman' was him too, a better ring than 'Lumberjack' as I would've been apt to call it, but the Slashies of previous chapters were mine.)