The next few hours were difficult.
Meta Knight asked his knights to wake him if he were to ever fall asleep. Thankfully, the few times he managed to doze off weren't filled with the expected nightmares. Just a brief moment of nothing before he was shook back to attention. The time he awake wasn't particularly pleasant, though.
The pain in his wings was amplified the longer he stewed and he slowly went in circles around his head. What was going on in the castle? Was Sir Ardmann, Atticus, and their guards dealing with the division? Was Kyron handling everything okay? Were they all even still alive? The questions tumbled through his head endlessly.
The hours passed by in a haze. Gradually the shadows stretched and elongated as the sun steadily rose over Kabu Valley. Occasionally Meta Knight heard birds tweeting and wind rustling between leaves. Sword Knight and Blade Knight would chat occasionally and walk around the area as they kept watch.
Meta Knight's attention was caught when he heard new voices and unfamiliar steps approaching. There was some talking and shuffling before Sword Knight leaned into the entrance.
“King Kyron is here,” The soilder said.
Meta Knight couldn't help but let a tired smile spread across his weary face, “Let him in,”
It took Kyron a moment to squeeze in through the small window, but soon enough he was sitting across from Meta Knight on his nest of blankets.
“You look beat,” Kyron commented.
“So do you,” Meta Knight said.
There was no doubt that neither of them had much genuine rest for a while. Kyron hunched slightly and revealed that many of his feathers were ruffled up. Meta Knight thought he even saw a few small patches where feathers were missing all together. His robes were also disheveled and his crown was a little crooked.
"How is everything doing?” Meta Knight asked.
The King groaned and rubbed the palm of his hand into his eye, “Better, but not good. Kyron leaned back as he gathered his thoughts for a moment, “The fighting has died down. Atticus and Sir Ardmann have been able to convince most of the rebels to stand down or change sides. They're trying to talk diplomacy with the rebels, but progress is slow,”
Okay, those two were still alive, then.
“We're yet to find your sword, but Atticus hasn't stopped searching all night. We've also been trying to clean up the mess Miroarge left behind,” Kyron's voice cracked slightly and he closed his eyes. He took in a slow breath before continuing, “There are plans to make the remains of the library into a monument for those lost in the fight,”
“How is Mereli?” Meta Knight asked gently.
“Worse than before. Our wizards had to put her into a magic assisted coma due to her illness. Trylon and Toad Wizard were able to save some books in a trunk before the library collapsed, but we haven't really had time to look at them,” Kyron explained.
He was right. Things still weren't going well, but at least the conflict was dying down.
Kyron cleared his throat before speaking again, “How are you feeling?”
“Not good. I can't sleep or else,” He trailed off, “I will have horrible nightmares without my sword,”
Kyron raised a brow but did not question the matter, “Your wings don't look too good,”
“I haven't looked,” Meta Knight admitted.
“Well. The right one was torn, but Psyla managed to sew up the rips pretty well. But the left one was pretty damaged. The bones aren't right and there's really not much left there,” Kyron explained.
Meta Knight felt sick. He tightened his fists and took a slow breath, “I can't put my wings away,” He said.
Wordless, King Kyron leaned forward, reached behind Meta Knight and pressed a finger against the scar on his back. His wings instantly snapped into their cape form. The pain went away.
Of course.
When the cord snapped against Meta Knight's back, giving him his scar, he was unable to use his wings. When Miroarge had whipped her tail against the scar he was immobilized. Now that his wings were too mangled to use, pressing against the scar would cause his wings to morph back into a cape.
“How did you know that would happen?” Meta Knight asked.
“You were bleeding when you were first recovered, while trying to manage your wounds we found out. You kept opening your wings in your sleep, so,” He trailed off.
Meta Knight felt a bit sick at this. This was bad. Being suddenly immobilized and flightless by a press on his back was a weakness he couldn't defend. He couldn't keep an eye on his back at all times. But he would have to do that now. He would simply have to adapt.
Now that his wings were away he took a look at his cap, pulling it around himself. The left of his cape was relatively intact, though there were two long rips that had been neatly sewn shut. The right, however, was in complete tatters. The ragged edges were singed and a large section was just gone. That would take quite some time to heal and even then, there would be some lasting effects.
So he'd be here for a while.
Meta Knight jerked to attention as there were shouts outside. A sound of crackling and zapping grew closer before someone shot into the narrow opening and rammed into the upper wall of the small room before falling to the floor with a thump.
“Atticus?” Kyron exclaimed, surprised.
The bat groaned and rolled onto his back, revealing a bundle surrounded in a thick blanket. There were a few twitches of his fingers before he haphazardly kicked the bundle towards Meta Knight. His wings shuddered as aftershocks of electricity ran through them.
King Kyron reached for the bundle, but Meta knight stopped him short.
“No, don't,” Meta Knight urged. He struggled to his feet and carefully unwrapped the bundle to reveal Galaxia's golden blade and hilt. As he picked up the hilt, a soft, white glow emerged from the red gem and swirled around his arm, signifying the bond he had with his ancient sword.
Kyron kneeled next to Atticus, running a hand across his skull, “You got a lump, but I don't think you cracked your skull too bad,”
“You should not have done that, Atticus. Galaxia will fight off anyone who isn't meant to wield her,” Meta Knight said. He had become well aware with the sight of an unaware allie or antagonist grabbing for the sword and being met with a sharp shock.
Atticus was still jittering from the electricity that Galaxia sent through him as he sat up.
“Not just that, but you hit the wall pretty hard. You could have died,” Kyron said.
“He's too wretched to die,”
The three looked to the window to see Penelope peeking in.
“Does no one around here rest?” Kyron asked with a sigh.
“Hey, I'm only here because Atticus is,” Penelope defended.
“Meta Knight could not rest without his sword,” Atticus whined, rubbing his hands over his head.
“You need rest too, your majesty,” Meta Knight said, pointedly.
“Oh, no no,” Kyron said, standing up, “You, sleep,” He commanded, pointing at Meta Knight, “You two are coming with me and going to bed, even if I have to force guards to keep you down,”
King Kyron helped Atticus to his feet, continuing the scold him. Penelope laughed from the entrance until Kyron started to scold her too. Eventually Atticus got up the steps and bumped his head again as he clambered out of the entrance.
“I'll be back when I can. I'll try to find the time. Please, just get some rest. You can't for now. Not now," Kyron said.
“Not now,” Atticus echoed as Kyron.
“Take some more medicine and sleep. You won't get any better sittin’ around in your condition,” Kyron said as he peered down from the top landing. He looked so tired, the kind of tired that couldn't just be fixed by a night of rest. Meta Knight might as well make himself one less thing for Kyron to worry about.
Meta Knight rummaged through the bag the guards had been given earlier, retrieving the medicine. Kyron left as Meta Knight took a dose of painkiller, leaving him alone once again. He settled back once again and it wasn't long before everything became hazy. With Galaxia in his hilt to protect him from Nightmare's influence, Meta Knight finally managed to fall into a peaceful sleep. No dreams met him as he slept through the day.
When Meta Knight opened his eyes sgsin, he felt considerably better. The few scrapes he had gained from the fight were gone and the aching of his body had diminished. Now that his wings were in their cape form he could no longer feel the pain in them either.
Warm light filtered in though the entrance, highlighting the specks of dust that had been recently disturbed. Blade Knight slept next to him on the bed of blankets, without his helmet. Sword Knight was also in the stone room, though he was rustling through a new bag. He turned and perked up a bit when he noticed Meta Knight was awake.
“Good Evening!” Sword Knight chirped.
“What time?” Meta Knight mumbled blearily.
“Don't worry, it's not even been a day yet. Blade and I have been taking shifts sleeping now,” He rummaged through the bag before extracting a glass bottle of water, “We just got new supplies,”
Meta Knight took the cool bottle from Sword Knight, relieved another week hadn't passed, “Any news?” He asked before taking a sip of water.
“Things have calmed down from what I was told,” Sword Knight said.
Meta Knight hummed and squinted at the room entrance. From what he could see of the light filtering through, the sun was starting to set. Though he had slept for what would normally be a full night's rest, he was still a bit tired.
Sword Knight woke up their sleeping companion and the three began to eat. Meta Knight didn't really taste while he ate, distracted by his thoughts yet again. Afterwards, Blade Knight put his helmet back on and stepped out of the stone room, going on guard while Sword Knight and Meta Knight rested.
Through the rest of the night and into the following morning Meta Knight slept. He woke up once when the two knights switched watch, but for the most part he slept soundly. No dreams or dead warriors pestered him, just a heavy sleep that held him tight.
When Meta Knight fully woke up again he finally felt rested. He still felt the repercussions of the battle, but for once he felt like he was filled with energy again. Neither Sword, nor Blade Knight were inside of Kabu's safe room, but he could hear them talking outside. Soft yellow light lit the room, though it was broken up when the two knights came into the room.
“Breakfast,” Sword Knight said, holding up a new bag.
As they spread out the food the trio were met with a pleasant surprise. There was bread as usual, but also fresh fruit. Some were lightly bruised, but no one particularly minded a bit of damage.
“This must be for you,” Blade Knight said. He held out something that was small and wrapped in a cloth.
Meta Knight unwrapped the cloth to reveal a bread roll with little black flecks. He smelled it and realized the bread was filled with raisins. Inside the bundle was also a small slip of paper with “Thank you Metal Knight :]” scrawled on it. Well that was new. Most of the people here referred to him as Sir Knight or just Warrior. Well, it wasn't a big deal, even if his name was misspelled.
Despite how tempting the bread smelled he wrapped it back up and set it aside.
“Not hungry?” Sword Knight asked.
“No,” He said, picking up an apple instead, “I want to save it for when I can enjoy it,”
Meta Knight also picked up a bottle of water before pulling himself up the stairs. He sat on the top landing inside of Kabu and took in a breath of fresh air. The sunlight was welcomed after his days of hiding away in recovery and the cool gusts of air brushed against his face. If it was any other day he would spread his wings and take a lovely little fly around before he started his day.
The apple was rather bitter, unlike the apples from Kyron's royal garden. At one point there was a piece of tough apple skin in his mouth. As he chewed the skin he listened intently to the forest surrounding Kabu. Meta Knight only heard rustling leaves as winds disturbed them. During his stay he had become so used to the sounds of birds chirping and calling to each other. There weren't even crickets or cicadas out anymore, it seemed.
Something interesting he had learned long ago is that animals tended to only be quiet when danger or predators were around.
With a sigh Meta Knight shifted to his right and let an arrow zing past him. Meta Knight looked behind him as what was meant to be a killing shot embedded itself between two stone bricks behind him. The two knights bellow him jumped to their feet as the cracking sound echoed through the chamber
Meta Knoght spit out the piece of apple skin.
“Time to get going,” Meta Knight said, getting to his feet and drawing Galaxia, “We're under attack,”