Heroes of Dreamland, Book 7: Kirby and the Battle for Dreamland (OLD)

Heroes Out of Time

Sakura's POV:

Another giant ball of several shades of Light and five minutes later, we've broken our way out of the cloud box and started our way back toward something on the horizon, which we hope are the stairs that brought us to Fancy Free yesterday. So much has happened in the past day... Who am I kidding, so much has happened in the past week, too. In all honesty, I'm still kind of reeling. It wasn't that long ago in this calendar stream that I went home to Dreamland with the others, declaring that dealing with our copies was going to be a piece of shortcake, and now, here I am, twenty-plus years and a lot of lessons learned later, having done my part to defeat the villain I was born to help defeat. Even though he's gone, though, things seem to have gotten even worse than they were already.

Swallowing nervously, I look around at the others as we run across the cloudy ground, so tense that I barely even stop to reflect on the fact that it's not often we're seen all running like this. Having your magical cape shredded up will do that to a person. The others who were at the Dreamspring on Dream Day night, minus Meta, have all told me their dreams. Not wanting to tell them something that might seem scary, I haven't told them that I didn't dream at all that night. I dozed off lightly, woke up just enough to realize that Meta Knight had put a wing over me like a blanket and snuggle close to him, and then went back to sleep. Not a single dream all night. For some reason, I get a feeling that really isn't a good thing.

A moment later, Meta Knight gives yet another grunt of frustration as he discovers for the fifth time in as many minutes that his cape has yet to repair itself enough to grant him wings again. To no one in particular, he grumps, "What I wouldn't give to stop being stuck running around at a snail's pace..."

Giving him a sympathetic glance, I murmur, "I'd suggest getting out our Warp Stars, those of us who have them, but they're kinda all in our capes."

"Which really is a problem," he sighs, shaking his head as he pulls his tattered cape around himself again. He told me awhile back that most of the time, he was good at keeping his cape and wings uninjured during the war, but that occasionally, he'd be stuck grounded, completely unable to fly to get away from danger or to help others to do so. I have to agree with him... Having your wings taken away at a time like this really isn't fun.

A moment later, I find myself unable to move as another time-travel flicker goes through me like they have been lately. Oddly, though, it doesn't feel like any of the others that have happened so far. Each one, time either sped up or slowed down, or I was taken somewhere else for a few seconds and brought back in what was less than a fraction of a second on this end. This time, neither of those anomalies happened. Instead, it felt more like I had quit existing, a weird, still emptiness.

Thankfully, while it lasts almost thirty seconds on my end, when I return to the real world, it seems like no time has passed. Meta Knight, however, has paused in his running to look back at me where I fell behind. Since the circumstances are what they are, the others continued to run, and I'm glad they did.

"Are you all right?" he inquires, his eyes gleaming brown in worry and stress.

Shuddering, I nod slightly, once, but then shake my head instead, being truthful. "I honestly have no idea. If we don't get the Pedestal fixed one way or another... Well, Nightmare might succeed in driving one more class of beings into extinction before the universe quits feeling the effects of his old reign."

He frowns and beckons me to run after him again, seeming nervous. Clearing his throat, he glances over at me and asks, "This might not be the best time to ask, but what was your first dream on Dream Day night?"

Glancing away as I try to run harder so we can catch up with the others, I admit, "I didn't have any. That's why I haven't told anyone."

When he gives a worried sigh, I look over at him again. "I didn't dream that night, either. Nothing, all night; at least, nothing that I can remember."