Meta Knight | メタナイト
It's been over a week since the Waddle Dees began their march to the sea and started repairing their long-forgotten ships. Just like that day, the beach is currently a huge bustle of activity. Unlike that day, however, there's currently a veritable cacophony of voices piling over each other.
Over on one side of the beach, the sole local restauranteur, Chef Kawasaki, is hawking boxed lunches from atop a crate the Waddle Dees left there. "Bento boxes! Get ya bento boxes! Who knows where the next place to get food is? Ya gonna be hungry, lil Waddles~!" Everyone knows how bad his food is, including the Waddle Dees, so no one is buying anything from the starfish-like creature with the chef's hat and apron.
All over the beach are a bunch of Cappies from the nearby village, most of which are taking commemorative photos, for some reason. The leader of the potato-sack-like people, Mayor Blustergas, is giving some sort of a speech by himself in the middle of the sandy shore. No one seems to be listening, least of all the Waddle Dees, who are busily loading a last few stacks of food and other supplies.
By the gangplank of the loudest ship, blowing his stack off, is King Dedede, who has spent the entire last week telling every single Waddle Dee he sees that this activity is "stickly forbadeified." Though I can't hear his exact words, I can still hear him ranting at the Waddle Dees who busily march past him onto the ship with their cargo, entirely ignoring his every word.
I would be lying if I said I didn't hope he gives himself an aneurysm and keels over dead by the end of the day.
Here on the grassy edge of the sand stands a smaller group apart from all of the hustle and bustle. An antsy Bandanna Dee paces back and forth not far from me, his paws behind his back. Due to his Outcast status, he's not allowed to take this momentous trip, he informed Sakura several days ago. Yet every fiber of his being is telling him he needs to be on one of those ships. Honestly, his tense posture reminds me very much of another young Waddle Dee I once met down on this beach, years ago.
The both have a yearning for the sea written into their very eyes, even if Bandanna's seems to have come out of nowhere just recently.
Next to me, Sakura sighs and shifts the small, blue-eyed Waddle Dee she holds at her side. I glance over at her. She's not really a Waddle Dee, so she can't go along, either—and doesn't feel nearly the same urge to do so that Bandanna does. The little one does want to go along, but even more, he wants to stay constantly attached to Sakura. In other words, he's not going. Going by the way he's bouncing in Sakura's gloves, though, he also wishes he was.
And just behind them stands Dweebert, silently watching over them both.
I exhale in mild annoyance through my nose and turn my eyes back to the madness on the beach. Between the little Waddle Dee and Dweebert, it feels almost like Sakura's got three heads these days. Neither of them ever really leaves her alone. And any time they're not fully taking up all of her attention, Falspar is instead.
Isn't it ironic that right when I quit avoiding her, first I end up driven to kill her, and then three other people show up and take up all her time? At least their constant presence has kept her away from Arthur, Nonsurat, and Dragato. Small mercies, I suppose.
Falspar strolls up beside us from off the path from the castle, and further on in that direction, Cappy Town. "So they'll be settin' off today, looks like?"
"Mm," Sakura agrees noncommittally. She glances over as the unmasked Falspar stops on her other side, gloves thrown behind his head. "It's sort of amazing how quickly they got the ships seaworthy. I wonder how long it'll take them to get where they're going..."
I close my eyes in brief thought. "Given the amount of supplies they've been loading, I'm guessing it's going to take them a few weeks to sail to their destination, maybe even a month. Of course, they might be overstocking in case of low winds or something. Then again, though, I suppose they have enough hands to row some if nothing else." I pause for a moment and add another thought. "Who knows how long they'll stay at their destination once they've arrived."
Our group falls silent for a long moment. I can hear Dedede's ranting reaching a higher pitch now; I open my eyes and see that he's jumping up and down now with his fists in the air. Nearby, a frenzied Escargoon and Waddle Doo seem to be trying their best to calm him down. I can barely hear Escargoon's placating whine from here.
Falspar gives a low whistle as he surveys the scene. "They're really all going, aren't they?"
"It certainly appears like it," I agree in a flat tone. "I'm assuming that's why Dedede's having this much of a conniption fit."
Sakura shrugs. "Let's be honest; Dedede would throw a conniption fit even if only three Waddle Dees were going, or even just one. He doesn't like losing any of his waitstaff, which is ironic considering he has absolutely no value for their health or lives."
"I hate to admit it, but you're right," I say.
Our group falls silent again for a moment. Dedede seems to be screaming without using actual words at this point. I'm not sure why his mallet hasn't made an appearance. Maybe he forgot it at the castle in his rage.
"If they're all goin'," Falspar suddenly pipes up, "let's 'ope they don't 'it any bad weather that would cause the ships to capsize in the middle of the ocean."
"Forest!" Sakura gasps. Of course, Bandanna and the little one both heard him too, so now they're all three staring at him in horror (though Dweebert is still gazing somewhere out into space). "Don't even joke like that."
"I didn't mean nothin' by it—awh shoot, now the little guy looks like 'e's crying," Falspar sputters back.
I roll my eyes and make sure to keep my gaze directed away. Sure enough, I can hear tiny sniffles a moment later.
"Don't worry; I'm sure nothin'll 'appen," Falspar assures the little one in a sheepish voice.
Sakura's arm bumps into me as she gently bounces the child in her arms. It's probably a very good thing that Arthur hasn't seen her like this. If he saw her maternal tendencies on display, she'd probably be in an even-more precarious situation than she already is.
Suddenly, a great grinding sound rises up from the shoreline. The sniffles freeze, and all of our eyes are drawn back to the ships.
The last few Waddle Dees are hurriedly boarding two of the ships, while smaller boats at sea begin dragging one of them into the water. I'm not sure if that's how one is actually supposed to get a ship into deep water—it seems like a good way to risk breaking the hull—but it seems to be how they're going about it. The gangplank of another ship goes up a moment later, and like the first, the boats begin tugging it out to sea.
Dedede's fury grows even more clamorous now. He makes a mad dash for the last gangplank, only to just miss it as it gets swung up into the air, slamming into the bottom of his beak on the way and knocking him flat on his back, where he starts sobbing. Mayor Blustergas makes a grandiose bow to his audience of none and turns to dramatically wave a handkerchief at the slowly-departing ships. The Cappies all give a great cheer.
The Waddle Dees onboard the ships, of course, completely ignore all of the previously stated.
Sakura begins walking towards the shoreline, and all of us silently follow her, including Dweebert. We get close enough to Dedede to hear him start complaining in heaving gasps through his ugly crying.