Where
shall I begin this tale? I cannot trace back to the start of
the war. I cannot trace back to the start of the Holy
Nightmare Empire, for time goes farther and farther back than
you can ever imagine. I only know one person who can tell the
entire story, and he no longer likes to be disturbed. Because
of that, I shall start my tale where I believe it began my
humble importance. I must say I do not always enjoy telling
this tale, but I cannot exclude anything, so listen closely,
because I may not utter it again…
It
seemed terribly late to be patrolling. It was what the King
wanted us to do though. At the moment they commanded us to
keep the outer rings safe, I knew that with every instant
Nightmare crept closer to the humble planet of Aetastar.
Aetastar was one of the oldest planets in the universe, and it
had many rings of land surrounding it. The Scroll of Time was
kept there. Written on the scroll were the past, the present
and the future. It could serve as a deadly weapon, so our
people were taught to be peaceful and content. My old long
eyes gazed upon the sky but there was no sign of Nightmare or
his minions. It had been 1048 years that I had walked this
world, and yet even my great mentor Sir Meta Knight suspected
something. My friends too could not trace him through our
thoughts; some were older than I was. I felt that it didn’t
matter that we patrolled the outer ring. It would only be a
matter of time that the Holy Nightmare Empire would soon
conquer Aetastar too. I always had a doubt that sending the
One Star Warrior to Popstar two days ago when he was born was
truly what would protect the Scroll and defeat Nightmare. I
sighed, sat down on the cool blue grass and looked up at the
stars. I began to rethink that day…
“Your
Honor!” A simple commoner of yellow skin burst through the
royal doors. His Honor, the 302nd King of Aetastar,
about twenty star warriors including Sir Meta Knight and I,
and many nobles were having a private meeting in the throne
room. We all turned our eyes on the young Batamon* who looked
like a stable boy from this palace. He looked overwhelmed with
urgent news. My slightly eccentric older brother, Isaac stood
up suddenly.
“How
dare you disturb His Honor and his royal council of Star
Warriors! Have you no shame?”
“Silence,” His Honor quietly said. “Sit down, Sir Isaac.” My
brother paused and looked towards Sir Meta Knight in modesty
and sat down next to me. Sir Meta Knight did not like to be
seen by commoners without his cape draped around him and
swiftly covered himself. And for the first time in 300 years
his eyes glowed a starry white. His Honor continued, “Go on,
young one. What news do you bring the council?”
“He has
been born!” the commoner panted. The nobles began murmuring to
each other, but the Star Warriors and
His Honor
remained very still. “Continue,” he replied.
“The
child, from the prophecy in the Scroll! His skin is pink!” The
talkative nobles fell silent. This time Sir Meta Knight spoke.
He stood up and took his place on the right side of the King.
“What
is the name of this newborn?” he simply asked, though his deep
voice sounded grim.
“He is
my little brother. My mother has named him Kirby.”
Although the commoner could not hear Sir Meta Knight whisper
to His Honor, I heard, “It is all correct according to
the Scroll, and I suggest we continue following its words.”
His Honor sighed quickly. He rose slowly, as he was very old.
“Very well. This is a highly serious matter. It is more
serious than you can imagine, my young batamon. We are all
aware of your family’s past. And I assume that you have told
no one, yes?”
“Not a
word,” the stable boy confirmed.
“Does
anyone know about, Kirby’s birth aside from your family and
us?”
“No.”
“Good.
We must leave it that way…what is your name, young one?”
“Marcus.”
“Marcus
then, when was your brother born?”
“This
morning, two hours ago.”
“Very
well then.” His Honor looked towards Sir Meta Knight and his
band behind him. He turned his attention to me. “Sir Leras,
accompany Marcus to his home to fetch his brother and bring
them back here, now.” I nodded and got up, assuring that I had
my two short swords with me. I, was of a pale green skin and
had a thick tuft of magenta-colored hair. I walked out towards
the door with Marcus next to me, our feet tapping making the
only sound in the room. I was a tad nervous to see Kirby I
admit for his birth was very unexpected.
When I
committed to be a Star Warrior, I was 28, it was difficult to
be able to work with Sir Meta Knight especially since I was of
green skin, the third lowest class. Red was the bottom, then
yellow, green, white, black/gray, brown, orange, and anyone
who had purple skin belonged in the royal family. We hardly
saw batamon with any shade of blue skin. I had a friend in a
faraway island who had a pale bluish gray skin, but other than
him, I only knew of Sir Meta Knight, whose skin was dark and
rich.
Sir Meta Knight’s family was of black skin. There’s not much
known about his past, even as one of his band, he remained
quite anonymous. Anyway, training and becoming a Star Warrior
was a lot of work. As a great privilege, I got to work with
Sir Meta Knight because I had proved myself worthy by once
saving the Scroll from one of the many Emperors of the Holy
Nightmare Empire. I was young and naïve then, but when I had
resisted Dark Mind’s trap, Sir Meta Knight noticed that my
heart was pure and worthy of being apart of the Royal Band.
“How
old were you when you became a Star Warrior?” Marcus
innocently asked. He was staring at my swords and at the Star
mark on my forehead that I had been given.
“I was
28. How old are you?”
“I am
but 14,” he sighed. I supposed he wanted to commit to become
one.
“If
that is what you truly want, there is no age limit. But at an
age like yours, you must prove yourself creditable.” His eyes
suddenly lit up.
“What
must I do?”
“There are many things you can do. But a Star Warrior’s main
priority is honor above everything else. Do you know how long
this war has gone on?” He blankly shook his head. “It started
four-thousand eight-hundred and seventy-two years ago, I
think. In this cruel time, there have been thousands of tasks
so intimidating that proved young Star Warriors worthy. I was
one of them. To apply normally, you must be at least 36.”
Marcus fell very silent and grew stiff. We walked in quiet for
a while until we reached his home. We had walked from the
center of the city to the far southwestern tip where a large
field and about ten country cottages lay. It was on the cliffs
and beyond those cliffs was the biggest ocean you could
imagine. It was getting cloudy when we reached Marcus’ home. I
sat on the small wooden porch as he went inside. I sighed.
I
should have used my Jet Star,
I thought. Every Star Warrior would receive a uniquely
designed air ride machine if they were in a high-class band.
So in all of Aetastar, there were probably forty thousand
other Star Warriors who were in high-class bands out of 2
million who had only achieved a low rank. I was very
happy/content with my machine although it wasn’t very fast on
ground compared to Meta Knight’s Warp Star or my brother’s
Swerve Star. But it was much faster than the other batamon
ground-vehicles; so being able to soar was a treat.
I could
hear Marcus’ mother protest about having Kirby leave the house
so soon. After a while, it began to drizzle and Marcus
reappeared in the doorway holding the small batamon in his
hands, wrapped in a blanket. He looked up at the rain-filled
clouds.
“This
can’t be good. We’ll have to wait, or use a vehicle, but we
don’t have one.” I looked at him, and simply pressed a small
gold button on my left sword handle. Marcus seemed confused.
After five short minutes though, my lovely green and black Jet
Star glided smoothly down and landed in front of the cottage.
Marcus gaped. I walked out and sat comfortably on the
conveyance and motioned the young batamon to take a seat
behind me. He did slowly, trembling. I could tell he was
frightened to take such a fast trip, soaring in the sky.
“Sit
near the engine, it’s quite warm.” Marcus did so, and once he
did, I headed towards the edge of the cliff and Marcus’ heart
began to beat very fast. I believe he screamed out, “What are
you doing?!” But I zoomed too fast to hear him correctly. As I
flew off the cliff, he began to scream, but my Jet Star took a
nice slick upward turn and we soared towards the center of the
city.
When we
returned, the nice cool drizzle turned into a dripping wet
downpour. Marcus looked very guilty because Kirby was
shivering. Nevertheless, he did not know of the Magic that His
Honor was capable of, and quickly warmed the baby up. Sir Meta
Knight took great interest and examined Kirby closely. This
made the young batamon very nervous and insecure that he
started to cry loudly. Our band and Marcus stood back
watching, calmly. Marcus did not like the idea that his baby
brother was uncomfortable and upset, but I told him to stay
back. We waited, while Sir Meta Knight surveyed Kirby, and he
stepped back and said, “He is the one.” The nobles gasped. His
Honor rose from his seat.
“Marcus, thank you for the news. You may return home now.”
“What?
That’s it?”
“We
must thoroughly discuss the fate of your brother, I suggest
that you, and the nobles leave this room.” The nobles left
without argument, but Marcus stayed put.
“But
he’s my baby brother! I have to stay!” he protested. Sir Meta
Knight took a step towards him quietly.
“I
understand how you feel,” he muttered darkly. “Anyhow
considering, I do not believe you know how serious this
situation is,” he spoke louder.
“I
know, but he’s an innocent baby! What will you do to him?!”
Sir Meta Knight’s voice rose.
“No
harm will come to him. You must understand, that the fate of a
whole universe cannot be sacrificed just so that your brother
can enjoy the first year of his life.”
“What’s
that supposed to mean?!” Sir Meta Knight grew irritated of
this boy’s contempt.
“Sir
Jared, escort this young batamon out to wait in the hall.” A
Star Warrior obeyed his command and dragged the worried boy
out of the throne room. We watched Marcus struggle, but when
the tall heavy doors closed, we turned and began the
discussion. Sir Meta Knight gently opened his cape and sat
down quietly next to me. The only sound we could hear was the
crying of Kirby. His Honor quickly put a spell on him and
Kirby stopped wailing. Oh, how I wished I could do magic like
the Royal Family, even though Sir Meta Knight, my great mentor
said it was not as impressive as it seems. His Honor started
the discussion,
“There
is no doubt that this is the one spoken of in the Scroll. I
have not seen the Scroll recently, so I do not believe I
remember what it said afterwards. But I also do not believe
that it said anything about what to do with him. It would seem
too simple. Sir Meta Knight?”
“What I
propose we do, because it is obvious that Nightmare sensed the
young one’s presence, is train him to become a Star Warrior,”
Sir Meta Knight paused, “as an infant.”
“Now?!”
my brother interrupted. “But he is much too young, naïve and
immature. Surely an infant cannot handle the responsibilities
that we carry!” It was my turn to speak.
“But we
can’t possibly delay the child for training at the proper age.
We must begin training now.” Sir Meta Knight nodded. He
continued,
“Nonetheless, Nightmare by now has probably sent his servants
to come and attack the city.” At this point, many of us began
murmuring to each other. “He is bold, and will not hesitate.
We must also get Kirby far away from Aetastar where Nightmare
can’t reach him easily, as he could here.”
“Sir
Meta Knight, do you think it safe for such a young child to
travel such a distance? And who will escort him?” my friend,
Sir Aaron (brown skin), asked.
“Well it
is quite clear, that this young one is not safe here,” His
Honor declared. “So where do you think we should take him?
There are many questions to ask. Let us answer this one first
before we overwhelm ourselves with more.” We sat, dumbfounded,
alas, we could not think of a safe planet. Many of us
mentioned countless places, but it was not wise, Nightmare
could still capture him. Finally Sir Meta Knight began,
“I’ve
realized that most of us have not journeyed far from Aetastar.
And I’ve realized that all your ideas are near this place. I
am aware that it might be a good idea to keep him close to
home, but I believe we should give him a whole new world, it
would help build resistance against the enemy.”
“And
what place is that?” His Honor inquired.
“It
should be at least halfway across the galaxy.” An uneasy
silence spread across the room.
“Sir
Meta Knight and I have been to the Reve Sector once,” I said,
“because we needed a safe refuge after the Battle over
Thanastar, we landed on Aquastar, and that planet was mainly
water, but there were a lot of other planets nearby, and there
must be one of them that will be perfect for Kirby. It is safe
too, I cannot think of any reason why a quiet sector far away
from his home would interest Nightmare.”
“Yes,”
Sir Meta Knight said slowly in agreement. I continued,
“I’ve
only been there once for that single purpose, but maybe Sir
Meta Knight knows of a place.” Sir Meta Knight stood up and
paced back and forth, thinking deeply. He stopped suddenly,
and the word the came out was,
“Popstar.”
His
Honor spoke, “Popstar…isn’t that the planet ruled by the evil
king?”
“Maybe
so,” Meta Knight replied. “But it will undoubtedly be the best
place to train him and the last place any of Nightmare’s
servants will find him.” His Honor sighed helplessly.
“Very
well. I approve. But he cannot maneuver one of our ships by
himself of course. And if one of us goes with him, Nightmare
will easily track you down.”
“Then he
will have stay in a ship by himself.”
“So what
you propose, my good knight, is that this infant should drive
a powerful and complex ship to the other side of the galaxy. I
am quite sure that there is at least one of us aside from me
who finds that absurd.” Sir Meta Knight stood still.
“But,” I
began, “what if we let Kirby stay by himself in an escape pod
of one of the ships? Then that way…” here, Sir Meta Knight’s
eyes lit up, “from the main ship, whoever goes with him can
control the pod from a distance. We’ll need a powerful ship to
do that, however.”
“That’s
a brilliant idea,” Sir Meta Knight commented. “But…”
“Hmm.
There are ships such as those in the industrial town north of
here. Surely we can get one of those for this situation,”
Aaron said. “Nouvatown, I believe it’s called.” The King
**slightly started to slump in his seat.] He just sat for a
while; I don’t think he liked the whole idea of sending a
newborn batamon away from home.
“Very
well. But we still have not solved the question of who shall
accompany him.” This simple statement caused a very eerie
stillness and conflict of which Star Warrior was more worthy.
My brother started,
“I am
willing to go. Surely, after having much experience in the
Royal Band there is few more fit than I,” he said boldly. But
another Star Warrior (yellow skin) from a small band
protested.
“Just
because you are in a Royal band does not mean you can hold so
much more honor than us. You think you’re all so much better
than smaller bands,” he stated bitterly. Many small shouts
came from behind him.
“What
would you have me do?” my brother replied back harshly.
“I would
have you stop acting superior when you are truly not. That
royal star mark of yours means nothing.” Others around me
gasped.
“Do you
think you are able to accompany the Prophecy’s son to a sector
only Sir Meta Knight himself has explored?”
“At
least I am more fit than you are. At least I don’t boast about
the city.” In the room, on His Honor’s left side, sat the Star
Warriors of small bands, and on his right side, our Royal Band
and Sir Meta Knight’s Elite Band sat. At this point, a fight
broke out and we were all shouting to each other, some stated
that their band was the best, and some stated that it really
didn’t matter. I have always hated to admit it, but I was
amongst the Star Warriors that claimed that their band was
better above all others. Only His Honor and Sir Meta Knight
were silent, standing at the side of the room. I think they
were whispering to each other about how none of us were able
to accompany Kirby. After a while, Kirby’s sharp and distinct
cry ended the racket. His Honor stepped up again to comfort
and quiet him. Meanwhile, Sir Meta Knight strode towards the
center of the room.
“None of
you are fit to go,” he scolded. “You can hardly control
yourselves; you are Star Warriors. Where is your honor?” We
all sat back down in our seats, ashamed.
“In that
case, I shall choose, because you apparently cannot handle the
choice yourselves,” His Honor said. “I will need Sir Meta
Knight’s counsel, but…” My stomach wrenched and grew tight, I
had a small idea what he would say next. “I believe he is the
only one who can go to Popstar with Kirby and properly give
him training.” My mentor bowed and sat down humbly.
“But
Your Honor, we will desperately need Sir Meta Knight. Even he
said that Nightmare himself would attack the planet any day
now. If there is anybody that we could send away, Sir Meta
Knight should ultimately be the last person to,” Aaron said.
“I am
aware, but we can trust him dearly, especially if he will be
across the galaxy.”
“Nevertheless,” Sir Meta Knight began, “I’m sure all of
you are capable of battling the enemy without me. Yes, perhaps
he will attack forcefully, but, he will not be able to defeat
the Star Warriors in all of Aetastar. I should have
known I would be the one to accompany him.”
“So
what is your plan, Sir Meta Knight?” His Honor asked.
“Firstly, a ship powerful enough to control its escape pods
will be only too easy to track and lock onto. That is the flaw
with Sir Leras’ plan. So I know how dangerous this sounds, but
I will send Kirby with my Warp Star. It will not falter, it
will have no trouble finding its way through outer space.
Kirby will take the quickest route. I will take a longer route
using a small ship that cannot be detected too easily. And
meanwhile, since there will be no way to contact you, I
suggest that my band patrol the outer rings every day.”
There was a long silence.
“Well, I assume no one has anything against that. Very well,
Sir Meta Knight, I grant you permission to carry out with this
plan. When will you leave?” His Honor asked.
“As
soon as possible, I suppose.”
“You
mean now?” another friend of mine, Sir Collin (orange skin)
said, shocked.
“Why
wait?” I replied quietly. Sir Meta Knight nodded, draped
himself and beckoned Aaron to bring Kirby with him. They both
left and that was the last time I saw Sir Meta Knight for a
long time. We did watch him during the sunset, when we saw the
Warp Star and his small ship depart Aetastar. I watched deeper
than most people, for as the vehicles grew smaller in the
distance, my stomach twisted in grave anxiety and at the back
of my mind, I slightly regretted that I suggested this idea.
*Special thanks
to Ivy! And no, this does NOT come from digimon-personally I
think that whole thing was/is lame. But please bear with me,
because I just needed a name for Kirby’s species.
