(ON HOLD) Heroes of Dreamland Rewritten, Book 5: Stars in the New World

Chapter 6

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..."