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A howling wind gushed across the trees, stretching them and their barren branches. There were no Burts flapping in the air, no Cappies sticking out of the ground. It was much too cold to stay much longer, Kirby surmised. The little hero's legs swung back and forth, his gaze pointed blankly in the direction of the lake in front of him.
It was snowing very heavily. The water had turned into solid ice nearly a week ago, and the weather had just gotten more intense since. He was wearing a thick coat, which could barely keep himself warm, and the fog was too thick for him to see far.
His feet touched the frozen grass, left taking precedence over right. Then he pushed his hands against the wood of the stump he sat on, rising to a standing position. His arms swung back and forth as he started to move, head tilted down towards the crunchy, knee-deep snow so flakes wouldn't get into his blue eyes.
He had memorised the path from here to home, but sometimes he would be sidetracked by something close by that caught his interest. Not today, though. It was outright impossible to spot those. He pushed on, through the dim forest, by the river where the rocks had been pushed to the banks, and around the hills.
Eventually, his boots touched down onto stone. The white ground that spanned on into the fog lowered to his ankles, and he gazed towards a dim, yellowish light. Kirby kept walking, until he reached the quaint porcelain dome he called home. The front door's handle embraced the warmth of his gloves, giving way as the wind grazed his back.
The sound of ragged, half-hearted breath begun as he pulled down the covering over his mouth. Twirling into the cottage, he pushed the door shut, smashing his weight against it to make extra-sure the weather couldn't get inside.
"Ahhh... Little bit nippy outside, right?" He did not recognise that voice. It came from a figure sitting near the fireplace, obscured in light by the warmth. A thin raincoat had been laid on the top of a chair, but they were sitting on the carpet.
Kirby had never had something like this happen to him before. He knew it was common for people to let others come into their homes, but this was the first time for him. He then pointed his finger at them. "W-Who are you?"
"Huh?!" They looked back over their shoulder with a shocked expression, jumping from the floor. "You... You're Kirby!?! The guy who fought that shadow creature over in the Rainbow Islands?!"
"Yup!," he said proudly. He didn't go out and tell people about his adventures much, so it must have been one of his friends. The odd fellow who had came into his house for warmth seemed to resemble them...
Now that he could see them, he noted that they were rather tall, and wide as well. A thick layer of fur covered their arms, white mittens covering their hands. A few long whiskers spread out left and right from the sides of their face, and their eyes were mostly obscured by a fluffy, light-orange round hat with ears.
The stranger, now having settled after their initial shock, bowed with their arms at their sides to Kirby. "My name is Nago. Pleased to..." He stopped. "You look really cold. Really, really, cold."
"Well, it is snowing..."
"S-Snowing? That's a lot more than just snow coming down out there! That's a blizzard!" He took Kirby's hands and felt them inside the gloves. "It's even gotten through your clothes, too." Then he reached to the sash on his body that snugly clung onto him.
Nago started undoing it, letting the fabric slip loose, and only kept in the air by his grip. "So you don't have a coathanger, Kirby?"
He was confused. "No? What's a coathanger?" Despite having been in Dream Land for quite a while, many things were still unknown to him.
"You put coats on it... And stuff. But anyway, this won't work if you keep your coat on. The snow on it will melt and get this all soggy."
He pulled it off and curled it into a ball, tossing it over his shoulder. Nago stepped around and behind him and wrapped the majority of the length of his sash around Kirby's back. Then he started to pull it left and right, over and over.
"It feels really warm..."
"That's kind of the point, you know," Nago whispered. He moved upwards in the direction of his neck, letting the friction of the sash grind against the jumper. Then he stopped, tying it back around his waist. "Any better?"
"Ooh, I feel tingly..." Kirby stumbled towards the large, orange-ishly-haired fellow and hugged him tightly. He nuzzled his cheek on the belly, which was rather soft and squishy. Nago's eyes shot open with surprise.
"You're... Really touchy-feely... I h-haven't had one like this before..." Slowly, his arms reached down and held Kirby closer.
He was now certain they'd be great friends.