Chapter Text
It was the morning of the third day. After a night of surges, Kirby’s wings expanded fully, and they were finally done growing. Kirby had passed out from the pain, and was peacefully resting nearby their mentor, Meta Knight. The other Star Warrior started to gently handle the other’s wings, using his fingers to brush the feathers. As he did so, the pink puffball started to shift awake.
“Ugh..huh? O-oh..good morning Meta.”
“Good morning. Did you rest well?”
“I guess. I do feel better though. I..don’t really feel any pain right now.”
“That’s good. I checked your wings, and they seem to have fully grown after last night.”
Kirby’s eyes sparkled at the thought of no more excruciating pain.
“That being said, we will have to leave the cave today, as we need to complete our mission. And I need to teach you how to fly.”
It took a moment for the puff to register what their mentor just said, and their eyes lightened up at the fact that they will learn how to fly, and not just float. They quickly jumped up, and just realized how..different they feel. The wings added a weight to their back, but it didn’t feel heavy. It was a weird feeling that they couldn’t describe, and Meta knew this feeling all too well.
“Don’t worry, it goes away. It takes some getting used to, but it will eventually feel lighter.”
“..How did you know that’s what I was feeling?”
“I had the same thing. Almost everyone in our species who grows wings gets that feeling, and you and I are no stranger to it.”
“Huh.”
“Now, we should start packing up.”
“Ok!”
The two put away their small camp, leaving only the ashes of the fire that went out. The cave was now empty, and Kirby looked back, remembering all of the pain that they went through these past couple days. They started to remember about how their wings felt, and tried to move them a little bit.
Flying. That’s.. going to be hard, isn’t its it?
“Admiring your wings?”
“Huh? O-oh yeah..I guess.” Kirby sounded unsure, and Meta caught on.
“Don’t worry. Like I said earlier, I’m going to teach you how to fly. Right now actually.”
“Really?!”
“Yes. You need to learn as fast as possible, as we don’t have enough time. We need to get to the king, and defend Dreamland.”
“Of course..that makes a lot of sense.”
“Ready?”
“Yeah.”
“Then, let’s fly.”
They left the cave, and set out in the snow. Kirby hadn’t been outside in the past 3 days, so they were not expecting it to be so cold. they were surrounded by the falling flakes, and started to shiver. Badly.
“Kirby? Are you okay?”
“I-its n-nothing. It’s just r-really c-cold out here!”
“Oh. If only you could turn your wings into a cape. Well, do you want to get a blanket? It might help, although you can’t wear it in the sky when we fly.”
“N-no. I can handle it! I j-just wasn’t expecting it!”
“Alright. Since it’s snowing pretty heavily right now, I need you to stick close. The ground here is super slippery, and I don’t want you falling all the way back down to Popstar.”
“That can happen?!”
“Yes. it almost happened to me, around two days ago.”
“You almost fell down?”
“Unfortunately. Thankfully, my wings saved me. And when I teach you, they’ll save you one day.”
“Huh.”
They started to make their way through the snow, and reached the Icy Cliffs. All around the pair, there were Waddle Dees, Waddle Doos, and many others of the kind skiing, and igloos full of Dees. Many others were creating giant snowballs, and rolling them down hills. It was treacherous, along with the ice slightly sliding them forwards when they walked.
The pair started to walk towards a nearby ledge, when Kirby stopped the other. They had never seen the view of the mountains from here, and they wanted to be able to enjoy it. Their bright, azure eyes sparkled like the ice nearby, and they watched the falling flakes in awe.
When was the last time I saw something this beautiful?
Kirby almost got carried away, but thankfully Meta intervened.
“The view really is stunning, isn’t it?” His voice was smooth, and calm, almost as if he was also getting lost in the snowfall.
“Yeah. Actually.. hey Meta?”
“Yes?”
“This might be a little bit of a.. weird question, or it’s something that I should already know..but why does rain and snow exist?”
“Well, first of all, that’s not a weird question, and second, I believe the a process or..at least the name of the event, is called precipitation. Basically, the water on the surface evaporates, or turns into steam, and it goes up into the sky. This creates clouds, and eventually, a lot of water can collect, and when it becomes too much, it rains. And when it’s super cold, it freezes, and it snows or hails. Does.. that make sense?”
“Yeah. I just..never got to learn that. Thanks Meta.”
“No problem. It’s actually an interesting concept, and if you want, when this is over.. we can study it together.”
“Sure! I’m up for that!”
“Good. We should get going.”
“Huh? Oh, yeah of course.”
They continue to walk through the ice and snow, and finally reach the actual icy cliffs. they carefully slip and slide through it, the elder Star Warrior occasionally flying the both of them out of a pit. Once they reach the end, a plant 3x the size of Kirby sprouted up, and grew a red fruit, with golden rings circling around it.
It was a hypernova fruit, one that made Kirby’s inhaling ability a lot stronger than it already is. Meta Knight was fascinated by these, and wondered what it was doing here.
“A hypernova fruit! That’s.. interesting. I thought the cold weather would make it so that it couldn’t grow. Turns out I was wrong.”
“Wow! Same here! I didn’t think that these could grow here.”
“I’ll have to investigate these plants later. For now, let’s just use it.”
“Alright!”
Kirby inhales the fruit, and goes hypernova. They change from their usual pink color, and constantly turn different colors of the rainbow. No matter how many times Kirby inhaled one, it always amazed Meta. He found it intriguing, and was slightly jealous. Since he wasn’t born with the inhale ability, he never had the chance to try these fruits.
If only I could do the same.
“Look at that! The snow’s letting up!” Kirby’s voice brought him back to reality, and he also noticed that the snow had lessened.
Would you look at that.
It’s lessened just enough for them to learn how to fly.
“..you know, I think its safe for you to start learning how to fly.”
“Really?!” The pink puffball’s voice was filled with excitement, and was jumping up and down, visibly showing their happiness.
“Yeah. are you ready?”
“As ready as I’ll ever be!”
“Alright, let’s go!”
The two Star Warriors set off to find a flat spot for them to start flying, and settled on a medium sized platform. There were spikes at the bottom of one side, and the other was just a small staircase. It seemed to be a good spot, and they settled down. Meta Knight double-checked the other’s wings, and started to teach the basics of flight.
“Alright, I need to tell you something important. Flying is.. very dangerous if you don’t fully understand it. It is also very dangerous when your wings are new, so I need you to first learn how to at least move them.”
“Okay!”
The young Star Warrior closed their eyes in concentration, and was able to slightly spread out their wings, expanding the space between the feathers. Closing their eyes tighter, they were able to sway their wings back and forth. Opening their eyes, they let their concentration go.
“Was that good?”
“Yes, it was. But you need to go faster. Imagine you’re falling, and you can’t float. Try to fly as much as you can, and don’t let go of your concentration.”
“Okay..”
Kirby closed their eyes again, and this time, they were able to move their wings a little bit faster. Wind started to form from how fast their wings were flapping, and they started to hover off of the ground. once they did that, they plopped back onto the floor, and opening their eyes again.
“D-did I just fly?”
“Almost. You hovered off of the ground, which is still very impressive, especially with how fast you learned.”
“Alright..so how long will it take for me to fly?”
“Not long, considering how fast of a learner you are.”
“Yay! I can’t wait!”
Meta smiled under his mask, happy to see his child’s happiness and excitement for the opportunity to fly. He patted them on their head and continued their lesson.
“Now, let’s proceed with the next lesson.”
You’re learning so fast.
If only I could’ve done that in my day.