Kirby vs. Tulok
Kirby / Tulok
"I wanna fight you."
Kirby, standing there finishing off the last of his triple chocolate milkshake, stares.
"Uhh. No?"
Tulok's face goes red as a cherry, and while Kirby wouldn't tell him, his cheeks look like apples with the cutest pout ever that made him think back to the days when Tulok was still a toddler unhappy with not getting his way. He's a teenager now, not as big as himself but far bigger than his baby days, but Kirby can still see the resemblance.
"Yes! I've been training for at least a year now, Kirby. I can take you!" Of that, Tulok is sure. He'd been obsessed with getting stronger since his return from South Nova, a hairy situation that Kirby had only gotten wind of awhile after the fact. Frustration with his limitations, a resolve to do and be better than what he had, and then training. Training every day with their father and mother, as much as he could handle and more.
He's learned a lot in that time. Dodging, attacking, using his ice to form projectile weapons, few as there are, using his wings for maneuverability. He's no wimp that gets blown over by a gust of wind anymore, Tulok thinks. And that Kirby, in all of that time, hasn't seen fit to even draw his blade to him let alone spar, stings. Star Warrior or not, he thinks he can handle him. He can handle their dad just fine.
Kirby licks at the chocolate on his mouth to get rid of the residue and tosses the shake over to a nearby bin. They're outside, not far from the park, the sun dancing without heat over their skin in the late afternoon. Most people are home, it's far enough from their place to not draw any complaints, the weather is decent... Tulok had planned this, huh.
"Listen, buddy," Kirby tries, giving an awkward grin to a Tulok who seems anything but happy. "maybe you should try, uhh. Someone else? I'm really proud of how far you've come, don't get me wrong! But, I can be pretty busy, aaaand." How does he tell him that he's out of Tulok's league without hurting his feelings? Oh, no. He doesn't want to /hurt/ him...!
"We've got an hour before mom wants me home and you /agreed/ to hang out with me today. You said you were free! You're not busy right now and you know it."
"Geez..."
Tulok stares him down, already getting into position. Kirby isn't guarded at all. His wings are relaxed, Galaxia is comfortably against his back, he looks like he's ready to eat more ice cream than fight as he's /supposed/ to. What? Is Tulok not good enough? Is he not worthy after all this time?
He says as much and is rewarded with a strangled noise. "Tulok, come on. Really, it's not that big of a deal, it's just--- I'm just..."
Tulok watches as Kirby flounders for the words. He's not taking this seriously. He's not even paying attention and his guard is open.
Fine. If Kirby isn't going to listen, then...
Tulok hikes his wings and /jumps/. Faster than he's ever done with his father, the trees blurring by, he strikes where the opportunity is given, his form a blur of grey blues as he swings with the momentum, leg stretching out for a kick-
And Kirby isn't there.
Tulok lets out a gasp just before he goes knocking into the ground, wings flapping frantically to keep him held aloft or to at least cushion his landing. Where'd he go. Where did he go?
"Uhh. Didn't dad teach you that a full frontal assault isn't really the best idea?"
His head turns, taking in the sight of Kirby who looks completely unruffled, if a bit puzzled by the look on his face. Tulok glances from one spot to another, trying to piece it out, because there's no way. How did he-- What did he just-?
Tulok shakes his head and hops back up. Fine, if that's how he wants to play it...
Kirby says something, but he doesn't listen. Now that he's got Kirby's attention, it'll be harder to take him head on. Good thing he isn't intending on it.
He charges forward again and vaults into the air, wings turning and tucking into his back to give him the speed he needs to dive down. His hand comes out for a punch and he doesn't dodge the outstretched arm that Kirby puts forward to block the blow, turning his body just so for another kick that should come from above. A feint is what this is, and if he times this just right then-
A hand grabs his leg.
"Huh-?"
And flings him up.
Not hard, but Tulok's never experienced getting tossed some seven feet in the air, so he goes with a squawk and a flap of the wings that struggles to reorient him, the landscape turning dizzily around him such that he has to swallow back a bit of nausea. It's hard, harder than he'd like it to be, and by the end he feels just the fainted bit winded.
"There's a lot of Demon Beasts that like to fight up close and personal," Kirby calls from below, untouched and infuriatingly nonchalant. "They do a lot of those attacks, trying to catch someone off guard. Speed and power are their big staples, should've seen me the first time I fought one, ha! Had bruises for a week..."
"Stop joking, Kirby!" He tries again, and again, diving in like some bird of prey and dodging to the side so he can land on the ground and feint left, going for another attack, and another, trying to figure out the other's blind spots. Blind spots that Kirby doesn't seem to have because each attack is dodged without so much as a blink. Kirby is barely even moving and Tulok can't even graze his feathers!
"I'm not. I wasn't that much younger than you when I first ran into them, honestly. Tulok, seriously, we shouldn't be doing this, dad's gonna worry sick!"
"Just /FIGHT ME!!!/"
It's possibly the most aggressive he's ever been to his brother. His brother who hangs the moon and sun and stars in the sky, who could do anything Tulok could imagine. And he won't /fight/ him.
"Is it cause I'm weak! Am I not good enough?" He doesn't care how he sounds, how mean it comes out, doesn't care about the way Kirby's expression twitches and closes off. "I can fight you, Kirby! Stop telling me I can't!"
He lands on the ground with a soft noise, glaring at him and panting, whether from exertion or frustration he doesn't know. There's a lot that goes unsaid in that instant, a lot that Tulok thinks Kirby wants to say by the way his expression twitches, and he can't find it in himself to care.
"You're really asking for it, huh."
Flat. In a way that sends Tulok's hair standing on edge, Kirby's voice is flat, and Tulok can't tell what he's thinking. He's not stiff, he's not defensive, he doesn't look like he's fighting at all, but the expression on his face...
And then Kirby sighs, a great gust of air that leaves him in a rush. He reaches back behind him to grip Galaxia's hilt and Tulok thinks with a mixture of anticipation and excitement that he's actually going to be able to /fight/ him full on. But then he sees Kirby set the sword gently up against a tree, not far but still within sight and deflates. It's disappointing.
"The first one to land a hit wins. You can use whatever you want. I'm going to stay like this. Those are the rules, got it?"
Tulok's expression twitches, glancing over at the gleaming sword settled against the tree. "But-"
"Trust me, Tulok, it's really not an issue. We can fight like this or not at all. Take it or leave it baby bro." And Tulok's expression twitches. He's not a /baby/ anymore.
He wants to argue. That it isn't fair if they aren't fighting on equal ground. Tulok can use everything he's got but Kirby can't? Where's the fairness in that? He can handle himself without a handicap.
But Kirby isn't budging, and Tulok had been trying so hard just to get him to say /yes/ that he winds up nodding and gritting his teeth to keep the complaints from spilling. Fine. If he wants to get his butt kicked because he thought he was too high and mighty, that'll be his fault. It'd show him.
"Alright. Your move, squirt."
Tulok doesn't even pause to question the opening. He just moves, fueled by excitement, anticipation, a hammering in his chest as he takes a deep breath and forms ice in the air that he throws with precision in Kirby's direction, using the projectile to dart for an opening.
And Kirby dodges it, just as he dodges Tulok's own swing, twisting out of the way. "Not bad," He calls from the side. "Had one demon beast try that on me when I was younger, have a scar on my chin from it!"
Tulok dives in again, a flurry of kicks and punches in his wake. Trying to search for an opening where Kirby won't give him one, backing off, ducking to the side, the back, keeping away. Even if Tulok tries to predict his patterns, Kirby winds up dodging that too, and he feels a burning in his chest. Stop moving--!
"Everything you've done has worked on me at one point or another, years ago. That flying technique earlier, a Buggzy did that. About crammed me into the ground! And this here, I ran into someone who managed to get the jump on me, about fractured my jaw. I learn from my mistakes, squirt! That's what every good warrior does."
Is it supposed to be inspiring? Encouragement? Because it just makes Tulok angry. And he's not even trying to fight back. He's just standing there and moving, blocking and dodging, he's just--
"Stop being /stupid/, Kirby!"
"That isn't very nice, Tulok!" Kirby grabs a wing when Tulok throws himself at him, throwing him off to the side where he lands and skids into the dirt. "You used to be so sweet! Where'd that go?"
"I'm not a baby anymore!" A shriek if there ever was one, one that makes Kirby give pause. "I'm not a little ice cube, a toddler, or-- or anything! I'm almost an adult! I can take you, Kirby! Just /fight/ me!"
There's. A pause. As if the forest is holding its breath, still but for the rough panting coming from Tulok's mouth and lungs. He can feel the cold weighing on him, can feel his lungs starting to struggle. Not much, given his training, but. A bit. And Kirby doesn't even look like he'd done anything.
His older brother gives him a long, considering look. Tulok's wings are hiked and his teeth are bared, and in that instance he seems more a feral animal than someone Kirby's used to calling brother.
He loves his brother dearly. Tulok has always been his best buddy and he doesn't know what he would do without him. He couldn't ever imagine hurting him. But.
"...Maybe you're right. I /have/ been kind of babying you, huh." Kirby takes a breath. "But don't say I didn't try to warn you, alright? I only do this because you asked."
Tulok has maybe a second to look confused before Kirby moves. Moves and Tulok is suddenly overshadowed by a figure with wings that towers over him in his entirety, a figure who Tulok can only barely recognize and whose fist is flying for him faster than he has a chance to think.
In that instance, something stalls. Something freezes in his gut and makes his skin crawl, far worse than any frostbite he has ever experienced. Because this isn't his father. This isn't his practiced movements, thoughtful and calculating. This is...
He panics. He rolls. It isn't graceful. It's a flurry of feathers and wings and hair as he scrambles to get away, and the air swishes past him as the fist comes flying down where he had been only moments before, and without thinking he ducks his head and /freezes/.
He feels something give. The crack of the ground beneath, just to his side, and the resulting tremors that climb up from toe to head in a bodily shudder. It's all he can do to keep himself curled up for a reason he can't quite name, too primal to be put to words, and it's only long after silence has come and there's no other sign of attack that he lets his eyes peek open.
Tulok's blood runs cold.
A crater. There's a crater that sits right beside him. A good foot in the ground, it's larger than he is tall, and it takes him a minute to just process it. There had been grass, flowers, roots there. And now there just, wasn't. There wasn't anything at all.
Kirby looks at him without any sign of hostility, and wordlessly Tulok's gaze skims down to his hand. His hand which doesn't look hurt at all but has the scuff marks of something which had dug its way into the ground with a massive amount of force.
And Tulok realizes now, why Kirby never wanted to fight him. Not because he pitied him, or thought lower of him. But because they were genuinely in two different playing fields. And Tulok had always thought his brother was strong - he'd heard the stories, he knew what he could do - but he'd never known /how/ strong.
A chill runs down his spine.
That could've been him. That /could've been him./
"Let's get home, yeah?" Kirby's voice is just a little bit soft, dusting off the dirt from his glove before offering it to Tulok to take. "You did really well, squirt. I know it doesn't seem like it, but you did, and I'm proud of you! I've just. Been fighting a lot. For a long time. That I don't wanna fight you isn't because I think you're weak or anything. I'm just."
Tulok wordlessly takes his hand.
He gets it now.
------------
For someone who's an absolute beast at fighting, well, beasts? It sure is funny to watch Kirby flounder and beg for their father's forgiveness.
It's late when they come home, later than expected, and to say that neither of their parents are happy is an understatement. They are /livid/ when they find out exactly what happened, and neither of the boys are getting off easy.
Tulok for trying to goad his brother into fighting in the first place. How could he try that? Doesn't he know his brother has fought and defeated countless beasts? He could have gotten killed, no matter how much Kirby begs to differ, that he never would have done that.
And Kirby, for agreeing to fight him, for going along with it. Nevermind that Tulok had been the one to practically goad him into it, he's the adult, he should know better by now. Meta gives him the worst verbal thrashing that Tulok's seen in months and Kirby acts like he's being persecuted for all that he's bowing and apologizing. If it weren't for Kes who has Tulok practically by the ear, he would've gone to his brother's defense.
Funny that Kirby even needs defending, but Tulok is his brother. He could be the greatest warrior in the universe - and he probably is - and Tulok wouldn't hesitate to protect him if the need arose.
Kirby could be the most powerful being that exists, but he's still his brother. And Tulok carries that close.
-The End-
Artist Comment:
August 9th, 2021
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Yeeee! I love how this illustration turned out!!! 8D It was so much fun to draw the background!
So Tulok, thinking he's a total bigshot just caused he trained for a bit, thinks he can take on the all powerful big bro Kirby. XD It ended as one expected, there's only a small handful that can match, and even surpass Kirby's power. (Two who I will be revealing in an illustration later this month...maybe?) Once it's revealed, you'll likely know the others, but we'll get there when I post it! ^o^
The one-shot for this illustration was commissioned by my good friend, Dogblog. (dA- Shadowrealmprincess)
August 9th, 2021
-----------------
Yeeee! I love how this illustration turned out!!! 8D It was so much fun to draw the background!
So Tulok, thinking he's a total bigshot just caused he trained for a bit, thinks he can take on the all powerful big bro Kirby. XD It ended as one expected, there's only a small handful that can match, and even surpass Kirby's power. (Two who I will be revealing in an illustration later this month...maybe?) Once it's revealed, you'll likely know the others, but we'll get there when I post it! ^o^
The one-shot for this illustration was commissioned by my good friend, Dogblog. (dA- Shadowrealmprincess)
Species © Nintendo/ HAL Laboratory
Interpreted characters created from said species © Rhylem
Interpreted characters created from said species © Rhylem