Kin-Yarn: Fishe Amore

There are some moments in life where something shifts your understanding of reality, and inflicts some amount of psionic metaphysical harm to your conscience. Perhaps it’s a realization of memories and experiences of your younger self that comes with age, or a fact you read that has your mind wrapping around it for years to come such as marshmallows not being vegetarian, but it surely happens to everyone at least once.
In fact, I personally will make sure this essay does at least 30 points of psychic damage to everyone who may read it and grasp the understanding of Kine (Kirby’s Dream Land 2 - 1995) x Yin-Yarn (Kirby’s Epic Yarn - 2010).

I. THE TWO INTERPRETATIONS:

The Kin-Yarn fandom has historically been divided in two factions, but do not let that wording fool you, for the Kin-Yarn shippers know nothing but compassion, kinship and undying comradery with each other[¹], as it is natural for yarn and sunfish oriented brains to be friendly individuals. There has never been a ship war recorded amongst Kin-Yarn shippers, and There Never Will Be.

1. Yin & Yarn x Kine:

Many people will remember than Yin-Yarn is actually two needles, whom are confirmed as brothers in the japanese cast descriptions in Patch Plaza (”A pair of knitting needle brothers,”), and thus, a common Kin-Yarn characterization is to ship either both brothers with Kine (as a V shape relationship), or just one of the brothers with Kine (more often than not, Yarn, or the brother with two horns, as the general consensus is that Yarn is a catboy[²] and thus, naturally has an attachment to fish.)
This interpretation has many specific tropes, such as sibling rivalry and Twilight-esque love triangle, but it has one extremely interesting idea that is unique to it:

THE CATFISH THEORY:

In the spirit of Kirby’s Epic Yarn’s final battle (in which the needle brothers reveal their yarn appearance to be a disguise), it has been theorized that something similar could apply to Kin-Yarn, in which the brothers would catfish (the act of creating a false identity in order to lure people into relationships [online]) Kine, either on purpose or on accident.

2. Yin-Yarn x Kine:

The other interpretation sees the yarn body previously mentioned as a third entity (either because they were possessed by the needles, made and developed another personality, or just because), which is referred as Yin-Yarn separate from the needle brothers. This characterization idea arises from the fact Yin-Yarn is referred as a singular character for most of the game, and even refers to himself in singular person[³], leading some Kin-Yarn shippers to consider him a whole different person.
This approach has the tropes of needles as wingmen to Kin-Yarn, as well as post-possession redemption, which will be further explained and explored later in the essay.

II. CHAD X CHAD:

Regardless of the interpretation, it is agreed unanimously that Kin-Yarn is the perfect example of a Chad X Chad archetype of relationship.
Kine is known for being irresistible to many people, as it’s been implied that he has had multiple relationships in the past, and even managed to have a wife at one point. Kine shows not only great physical attractiveness natural just like his distant fish relatives the Zora from the Legend of Zelda franchise, but also is very well versed in the skill of romanticism when writing and speaking.
Fans had speculated that Yin-Yarn’s chad beauty was intentional for many years (oldest recorded discussion of this dates back to a few years after Kirby’s Epic Yarn release), but it wasn’t confirmed until recently in a now deleted tweet interview[⁴] via Kirby_JP in twitter, Kentaro Sei stated that “[Yin-Yarn] was modeled after paintings of working class men from the XIX century. We were so moved by their aesthetic value that we decided to make the main villain resemble them, as it was a great visual contrast between his villainous intentions and handsome looks.”

III. VILLAIN X HERO:

Yin-Yarn’s main and sole important appearance so far in any game was as the main antagonist in Kirby’s Epic Yarn in which he turned Dream Land into yarn, establishing him as a villain in the franchise.
Kine has had many more appearance, but has always been portrayed as a hero part of the Animal Friends. It is very well known that Kine is an heroic character, who, despite his nature as a fish, has ventured onto land to keep his friends and world safe from all danger, no matter how big or small.
This, of course, would put them at odds clearly. Heroes and villains are made to complement each other’s journeys, and at the end of the day, good must win.

ENEMIES TO LOVERS & REDEMPTION:

That is exactly why the timeless trope of enemies to lovers works so well within the context of Kin-Yarn, as well aids towards the redemption aspect. The idea of an underdog hero who does all he can despite the odds, managing to change a directionless all-powerful villain’s heart through the power of love is an extremely emotionally charged story, as it illustrates that no matter that you’ve tried to turn a planet into yarn in the past, there always will be someone willing to give you a second chance.

IV. STAR-CROSSED LOVERS:

However, as it often is in the Kirby’s franchise, the lives of these two people are full of adversity and extremely relatable personal issues.
Kine and Yin-Yarn are both very complex characters with intricate established lore, as they’ve been staples in the franchise for 26 and 11 years respectively, and the amount of development they have seen since their introduction would require a different paper to make a comprehensible character analysis, so in this essay I will be focusing on a few of the most notable aspects:

Like a fish out of water:

Kine is a sunfish at the end of the day, it does not matter what he does. His longing for exploring the land becomes even more so painful when you consider he lives in Dream Land. His life for many years was nothing but a cruel cosmic joke, deprived of something he needed to live his life at the fullest.

Mine divorce theory:

AKirby_JP via twitter has implied towards this theory, which so far hasn’t been confirmed in any games (but many fans speculate that a future spin-off visual-novel style installment in the Kirby franchise may explore this further), but the theory goes as follows:
King Dedede talks about Kine (date unknown), mentioned he heard Kine had a wife. Mine’s whereabouts are unknown at the moment, but given the next image, it is safe to assume Kine is having a rough time about it:
An independent publisher and well-known Kin-Yarn researcher posted this image, sourced from Kirby_JP as well, from a trailer for Super Kirby Clash in which Kine is shown laying on a bench. Some people believe this is Kine dying, while others believe he is now a homeless fish after he lost his house in the divorce with Mine. The latter is by far the most likely, as Kine has kept on making appearances in Kirby_JP, and it would be kinda weird to use a dead man’s face like that, y’know.
It is very well known that divorces in Dream Land often end up very badly for one party (see the Whispy Woods and Kracko divorce case), so it is safe to assume Kine got screwed over by the legal system.

Yin-Yarn’s lack of purpose:

During the events of Kirby’s Epic Yarn, it is established that Yin-Yarn took over Dream Land with no clear plans. Later on, this was expanded upon and we got the revelation that Yin-Yarn is a wandering soul, trying to find a place in the world, but unsure of where to go, what he should do, or why.
The sheer emotional weight of a powerful wizard having enough power to do whatever he wants, but not knowing what he wants, makes Yin-Yarn one of the most human characters in the Kirby franchise. The premise of “The needle brothers love to sing and dance, but should they only do that, when they have unlimited bounds of power?” is one of the greatest concepts in modern literature.

Amore:

Yin-Yarn’s japanese is Amibo Amore, which is a really interesting play on words. Knitting needles and love in french. It exemplifies exactly what his character is all about.
Love is a centerpiece of Yin-Yarn’s psyche, as it was the brothers love for singing and dancing what kept them together, and it’s the love in his heart that was not directed at anything what drove him to seek something greater.
Romantic love isn’t present nor necessary in everyone, but the fact one character was named after it really shows where his development was geared towards.

V. THE POWER OF LOVE, AND CONTEXT OF LOVE IN THE KIRBY FRANCHISE:

Love, in all forms, from platonic, to familial, to romantic, to even a lack of it and the relationships outside the mainstream idea of love, towards people, towards ideas, towards thoughts, toward life and towards death, are really important to the Kirby franchise as a whole.
Many characters come to experience one of the above, and it influences their whole character, as well their arc and the people around them.
This exact thing is what happens to Kine and Yin-Yarn, as their love makes both of them evolve as people, no matter the adversities they may face together.

VI. CLOSING THOUGHTS:

VII. SOURCES:

[¹] “Dude trust me" - me (Kin-Yarn researcher)
[²] Nyarn theory: Laughter as “Nyahaha”, and the fact the two horns look like two cat ears.
[³] “Soon, Dream Land will be wrapped around my knitting needles!”/“Only one more step and Dream Land will be mine!”/“Mind if I sock it to ya?” (Yin-Yarn dialogue in the english version of Kirby’s Epic Yarn)
[⁴] This is not real. None of this ever happened. I made it up.

YIRACLE:
It was a dark and sad day in Dream Land. Looking out through the window, all Kine saw were dark rainy skies, grey clouds spanning over the horizon and hills. The rain droplets hit the glass over and over, at an alarming speed. He didn't worry about Dream Land flooding as he was a fish and would be fine, but it made it hard to listen to the music he was blasting to distract himself from his sorrowful thoughts, and from the other customers in the bar he was in.

He looked back at his glass, full of apple juice as he had given up drinking years ago. It was why Mine left him after all.

He sighed, slumping a bit more in his seat, thinking back at his unlucky love life. Everything always went wrong. He knew he had a great amount of people who would give up anything to be with him, a great and popular hero of the planet, but his heart had only known two loves in all his life.

It was hard for himself to accept it, but Mine was over him. He truly had loved her, but he was no fool. He saw the writing on the wall, she couldn't stand his popularity and bad habits, and it was for the best that they got a divorce.

Knowing it was for the best and that had happened many years ago did not help his sour mood at all, and he continued to stare at the rain, thinking about the tragic past.

His other lover, Yin-Yarn, was long gone.

He covered his face with one of his fins, not wanting to cry in public, and turned off the music as really sad songs had started playing. The memory still was painful. Their short lived romance in 2010 had been the happiest Kine had ever been, he still could remember the wonders of a world of yarn, brought to everyone by the most handsome man he had ever known.

All the beads, buttons and threads, he didn't even care about them. If a world of fabric was what was needed for them to be together, he didn't even care. He would have given up anything for the sorcerer, and he knew he would have too.

They had shared walks on the beach, fin and yand (yarn hand) together, as they stared out to the sea and talked about their lives to each other. They had sat by side eating picnics in the castle courtyard, as Yin-Yarn talked about making Kine his king and ruling the universe alongside him, and Kine was ready to throw out his past heroism for a chance at happiness. Deep down, his heart knew it was selfish to want to be happy over everyone else's happiness, but after all, you can't spell selfish without fish.

And after saving the world so many times without any thanks, he had been ready to throw the towel. Nowadays, he was back at being a hero as a full-time job, but back then, he felt so lost in the world, and Yin-Yarn offered him the only happy ending he ever wanted.

But alas, their story ended in tragedy.

He didn't even get the chance to say good-bye.

Tears streamed down his fish face as he thought about it. Yin-Yarn's heart was evil despite loving him, and Kine couldn't do anything as he got defeated by other heroes and banished away.

Never to be seen again.

"Yin-Yarn, I miss you," kine said sadly, mostly to himself. He was sure no one else in the bar would hear him over the rain, although by that point it has started to get weaker.

"Yin-Yarn?" A voice next to him asked, and Kine turned around as fast as he could to see a small figure with a very suspicious cloak with a hood, "Yin-Yarn you say?"

He stared at the figure, unsure of who it was. He didn't recognize the voice, and he knew to not trust strangers. They could be after his apple juice. So he didn't answer and slowly turned back to his drink.

"Wait, no, listen," The figure whispered to him, "Listen. Follow me, I can tell you something really important."

Still with a lot of doubts, Kine glanced at the figure, who waited a few seconds before getting up and floating out of the building. With all the apprehension in the world, Kine followed not long after, sparing a quick look to the sky once he was outside.

The rain had stopped, but everything still looked gloomy and there were puddles everywhere, and the figure was still floating away.

For a moment he thought of going back to the bar, but something gave him the feeling that this...this was a chance. At what, he didn't know, but it willed him to follow the figure. Perhaps it also was a bit of hope...just, hoping anything would change from whatever the figure told him.

He didn't know for how long he followed the mysterious character for, but he could recognize the route they had gone through. For some reason, the figure was taking him up the Dream Stalk, a strange flower that has appeared years ago, although he wasn't sure of any further details. The only one involved that he knew was a puffball named Kirby, but he had learnt that the puffball rarely talked about his past adventures, so he didn't know much.

What he did know was that climbing a giant plant with fins was quite difficult, but he managed to follow the strange person until they were up in the clouds, above the grey clouds of rain, and instead, finding sunlight, which illuminated the cloud layer brightly and gave everything a glow unlike anything Kine had ever seen before. He got distracted a moment as he looked around to the islands in the sky, and spotted butterflies flying up ahead in the higher leaves of the stalk.

He was about to ask what was that all about when the figure threw their cloak away to the wind, revealing a pair of wings and a yellow round face, as well a strange spiral thing he couldn't describe because it was 1 am for the person writing this.

"My name is Angie," The yellow creature said, "I'm from the World of Yarn. I'm in charge of the dead."

Kine's eyes went wide open as the realization hit him like a sock full of butter, "Wait-Patch Land!?"

"I'm in charge of a bit more than that, but yes," Angie nodded, "That is what concerns us right now, yes?"

"Yes! I-you know Yin-Yarn then…" Kine gasped, "Can you bring him back to life!?"

"I cannot," Angie said, and Kine felt his hopes crash to the ground, "because he is not dead."

"HE ISN'T!?" Kine gasped again, "But-then why hasn't he...why has he never come back to see me…"

"It's a long story with plot holes I don't care to fix, but he does not have a magic sock to come back to Dream Land," Angie looked sad, "But I heard rumors that he had a lover in this dimension and I decided to help. I think this love story must be patched once more."

Kine smiled tearfully, "Thank you, Angie...but why?"

Angie looked away to the horizon, her eyes fixing looking up to the butterflies.

"Once, I had a lover in this dimension...but we cannot be together," They looked back at Kine, "I don't want anyone else to suffer our fate."

"Damn, that sucks," Kine said, "I'm so sorry for your loss."

"Oh, they aren't dead, it's just-" Angie shook their head, "No time for my romantic backstory, I will help you get to Patch Land to find your love and be together once again."

"Yes! I'm ready to go whenever."

Angie smiled, "Okay! Please don't freak out, I just need to do something to carry you there."

"I don't care what it is, let's just go!"

Angie then pushed Kine off the Dream Stalk.

After the near dead experience, Kine had half a feeling as to why Angie's past relationship didn't work out.

However somehow, after blacking out from shock at thinking he was going to fall to his death, he had woken up in Patch Land, laying on the soft fabric grass somewhere he had no idea where it was.

"Yin-Yarn is in Quilty Square, in the castle to be specific" Angie said when he woke up, cutting him off before he could get a chance to call them a lot of insults to their face, "You must hurry. Go north"

"Could you take me there?"

"I could, but I won't, I like the tension. You have to get there before it's too late," Angie started glowing and disappeared into thin air.

Kine gasped and wasted no time starting to run north, doing his best to flop over rocks and grass as he went at the fastest speed he could, eyes set on the faint outline of a castle in the distance.

His eyes slowly widened as he realized what he was going to do. He was in Patch Land. And he was going to see Yin-Yarn again. He almost stopped in his tracks once the realization fully hit him, the feelings of joy and fear mixing to leave his mind a racing disaster. So many things could go wrong, he could get there not in time, or Yin-Yarn could've moved on, or Angie could've been wrong and Yin-Yarn really didn't care about him anymore...

He shook his head and let the feelings of hope fuel him instead. He had gotten that far, he wasn't going to give up now.

--------

It had taken Yin-Yarn a long time to get the courage to go to the Patch Castle, especially after everything he had done. Perhaps it could be said that he was nothing but bold showing up one day to the castle, ready to ask for something, but truth be told, it was out of desperation.

The sorcerer had tried all methods he knew of to try to get back to Dream Land, and he had been trying all of them alone. At first, he wanted to go back and enact his revenge, but the more time passed, the more he realized he could live without that. He didn't need any world wrapped around his hands, or magical yarn bits, or anything under his control, his life wouldn't feel whole with any of those things.

All he truly needed was a fish called Kine by his side.

And all his attempts to get back to him had been unsuccessful, the last choice he had was to try the magic sock, which Patch Land's prince was guarding in the aforementioned Patch Castle.

He had considered trying to steal them, but he remembered Kine's sad expression whenever he talked about taking over the universe. He would side with him no matter what, but Yin-Yarn didn't want things to be that way. And besides Kine, a hero, did not deserve to be with an evil-doer.

He had to be better.

So he walked into the Patch Castle after ripping a hole in a wall, hoping to ask to be allowed to leave Patch Land, forever, to go find his true love.

He was trying to be better-

"Stop right there, Yin-Yarn!" Prince Fluff wasted no time in standing in Yin-Yarn's way, despite not being intimidating at all, "What are you doing here!?"

"Your highness," Yin-Yarn lowered his head, "I need your help. I swear I will never cause problems for Patch Land ever again, if you help me this one time."

The yarn ball narrowed his eyes, "...Hm..."

"I just need to use the magic sock to go to Dream Land. Then I will never return."

"Why do you want to go to Dream Land?"

Yin-Yarn sighed, "I made a huge mistake."

"I think taking over two planets is a bit more than a 'huge mistake'."

"I don't mean that," Yin-Yarn said, "I mean. I guess. That's not the point. The point is that I made a mistake, doing all that broke someone's heart-"

"-it broke the law-"

"-and I regret it deeply because I love him more than anything, your majesty," Yin-Yarn rubbed his eye, trying not to cry, "Please. I must see him again. I need to apologize and make things right with him."

"...shouldn't it be 'making things right with everyone'?"

"No, only with Kine."

"Who the f-" Fluff sighed and shook his head, "I can't allow you to go to Dream Land, Yin-Yarn."

"This is unfair! Cruel! Unjust! You cannot treat your subjects like this! You are a tyrant!"

Before Prince Fluff could reponsd, the castle's doors swung right open, and Kine ran in shouting.

"WAIT, YIN-YARN!!"

Yin-Yarn gasped, not believing his eye. Not even when Kine jumped into his arms, he still was in shock at seeing him.

"Yin-Yarn!" Kine's voice was breaking, "You're here! You were trying to go back to me! I knew you still cared!"

"Kine..." Yin-Yarn started crying, holding Kine like a sack of expensive potatoes, "How did you get here!?"

"Long story, I met an angel and they took me here!," Kine said happily, "They said our love had to go on. We can be together again, forever."

"What a coincidence...a butterfly told me the same thing," Yin-Yarn said, "I guess...maybe the universe wants us to be together."

Kine nodded, "We are meant to be."

"Yes! Now, we can have our house by the beach and live on a tropical island together. Let's go to Water Land," Yin-Yarn ripped another hole in the wall, and started floating away towards the horizon, under the sunset.

Kine smiled, all was good, "I thought you would never ask."

The End. Prince Fluff had to fix the damage done to his castle himself.

This is a short short fic that references my own headcanons for Kinyarn:
The needle brothers Yin & Yarn are 'posessing'/using a body for the Yin-Yarn persona, this body used to be an adventurer Waddle Doo, the first Dream Land citizen to stumble upon the interdimensional sock in a long, long time.
This Waddle Doo used to be Bandana Waddle Dee older brother, whom Kine was pining for.
This fanfic is mostly about Bandee and Kine talking, and referencing the disappearance of Bandee's brother.

With a quiet sigh, Bandana Waddle Dee threw the end of his makeshift fishing rod back to the water. Although it was slightly disappointing that he hadn't caught anything in hours, it wasn't too surprising. All he had was his spear with some string and a not-very-fresh bait, and he didn't even know if the spot he chose was a good one.

The water, at least, was very reflective, almost like a mirror. It was so calm even the ripples from his fishing rod eventually faded out, and he could see his hands and spear reflected on the water. If he peered closer to the edge, he could see his face and his blue bandana striking a very clear contrast against the sky. So many hours he had spent sitting near the water's edge that the day had passed, from the top of the morning to noon, and then afternoon. And the sky kept getting redder and redder, and he knew the sun would set soon.

It would be too dangerous to stay past night-time out in the green fields, even if everything was calm all day. Pop Star could be very…unpredictable, and it was better to take no chances. Besides, his friends would wonder where he was if he didn't show his face around Dream Land in all day.

So he made up his mind, that was the last time he was going to throw the bait for the day. Maybe he would sit down and try again in a month or two.

But he would stare at the lake for a few more minutes, he also decided. The grass patch he was sitting on was very comfortable anyways. Despite his lack of success, it was a nice place to just hang out.

He shifted the rod from one paw to the other, and watched the ripples spread through the water.

While it was nice…He wished he weren't alone.

Truth be told, Bandee wasn't too interested in actually fishing. At all. He barely knew what he was doing. He didn't even want to fish anything, as he would toss any fish he caught back in, if he ever caught one.

His attachments to it was more so on the memories it brought. Memories of sitting next to someone on grass patches, fishing together, while they talked. Long days under the sun, and sometimes under the rain, holding handmade fishing rods and telling tales.

It was something he really missed, something he told himself he would do anything to relive, and something he wished he had appreciated more when he had it.

Sure, he had a lot of friends who he could ask, and they would happily join him, and make it a thing he loved again. They could even teach him how to fish properly!

But that wasn't what he wanted.

He didn't want his new friends to replace his old memories with new ones. As happy as it would make him, those memories were all he had left about someone, and he didn't know if he would ever get another chance to make more.

He looked back at the water, trying to focus on something besides that. What good would it make anyways-

Ripples caught his eyes, they weren't coming from his bait, but rather from something swimming next to it. Bandee took a sharp breath and stood up as quietly as possible. Maybe that was it.

When something big tugged the rod, he knew it was it. He would've been grinning widely if he had a mouth, and he pulled the rod upwards as hard as he could.

That was not the right choice at all, as he heard a snap before he fell right onto his back, hitting the ground with a loud noise.

"You've got to be kidding me," Bandee pushed himself up with a groan, quickly checking his spear to see the damage.

He was still holding onto the wood, or rather half of it. The spearhead was gone, alongside with the upper part of the stick, and he saw the string floating in the lake before it disappeared below the water, most likely sinking with the rest of the spear.

Bandee let go of the rest of the stick and sighed, he definitely was not going to go fishing for a while.

He was about to turn around and head home when he saw a yellow fin, of all things, peeking out from under the water. After waiting a few seconds, more of the fish emerged, and his eyes went wide.

"Mister Kine!?" The waddle dee couldn't hold back his surprise at seeing the blue fish. No wonder why his spear snapped.

Kine's eyes went wide as well, "Bandee!? What are you doing!?" He saw closer to the edge and squinted his eyes, "You were fishing?" Bandana nodded slowly, "Alone?"

Sighing, he nodded again, and he saw as Kine's expression fell a little. He was sure his own face also had deflated a bit.

When the fish didn't leave, Bandee chose to sit down on the grass again, getting a small sense of nostalgia as memories washed over him. Memories of him being a much younger waddle dee, hearing a younger Kine talk, sitting on grass, near lakes and rivers.

But it wasn't the same at all. Because all those memories had a very important part missing in the present.

A waddle doo, older than Bandee, but around Kine's age, who would talk with the fish for what seemed hours. A waddle doo who had enough patience to sit next to him and tell him all about fishing, even if nothing ever stuck on Bandee's mind. He felt his stomach twist as he wished he had paid more attention when his brother spoke.

And from the look on Kine's face, Bandee guessed he was thinking about him too.

The silence had been comforting before, but the lack of words between him and his brother's old friend was driving him up the wall. So he said he first thing he could think of:

"I still haven't heard from him," Immediately he regretted talking at all, as his voice broke in a few of the words, and Kine's expression fell even more.

"Me neither…"

Silence fell between them again, and Bandee couldn't even look at the water. It was too orange by then, too much like him. Not to mention, Kine's mood was like a bucket of cold water on his soul. He shouldn't have brought him up at all.

"...I think he would be really happy you're fishing, Bandee."

His head snapped up so fast that his bandana got misplaced, again. With one paw he pulled it back into place.

"...you think so?"

"Yeah, kid," Kine let out a laugh, "He'd always say you would be a mini-him."

Bandee laughed too, "Oh, c'mon. I have a better taste in hats. I'll never be like him."

With his other paw, he rubbed his eyes to keep the tears out of them. Not much he could do about his still breaking voice however. It was slightly relieving to hear that Kine's voice had a wobble, and to see his eyes shiny.

If he was going to cry, at least there was someone who would too.

If fish could even cry-

"Yeah, maybe," Kine said, his eyes diverting to something else.

Again, they grew quiet, but Bandee was more thankful for it this time. He wanted a second to calm himself.

He couldn't explain why just trying to talk about his brother made him close to tears. Thinking about him was fine, but the moment he tried to say anything out loud, it was as if he was ready to cry. Maybe he didn't want to acknowledge it. Maybe he wasn't ready to talk about it.

But he would try to shake himself, there was no reason to be sad! For all he knew, his brother could be fine. He had no reason to believe otherwise.

Except the fact he hadn't been home in years…But his parents said it wasn't surprising. Everyone left the nest at one point, they insisted.

And they were right, Bandee himself was at an age in which he was staying away from home for months, going on grand adventures all across Pop Star with his friends, sometimes even to other planets and universes! One day, he knew he would find a new permanent home and go years without seeing his family.

But…the way his brother left still felt off to him. Just left one day, saying he'd be back in a few weeks, and then he never did. No one had even seen him, and Bandee had asked in all corners of the planet.

It was as if he had just vanished one day. And no one heard from him ever again.

...but that didn't mean he couldn't show up again. Bandee wanted to cling to the hope of seeing a familiar orange waddle doo again.

"...do you think he's okay?" Bandee broke the silence, the thoughts getting to him.

Kine blinked a few times, before looking away.

"Yeah," The fish said, and the lack of confidence in his voice was not what Bandee wanted to hear, "He has to. He always w-is. He's always fine whenever he goes on his adventures, kid."

He almost couldn't believe his brother's old friend had given up on him, and that despite that, he was lying about what he thought.

But Bandee had too. And he knew it. Even if he wanted his hope to be truthful, he /knew/. No one left home for that many years and intended to return.

He wasn't the little kid who really believed that his brother would come back home and tell a great tale about where he had travelled to. Not anymore.

Bandee forced out a laugh, "Yeah, you're right...He's probably fine. M-maybe he's yelling at some poor kid for ringing a bell right now."

Kine laughed, genuinely, but not as happy as Bandee would've wanted, "Oh, definitely. I can almost hear him."

"Me too…"

"He was so loud," Kine said, leaning against the edge of the lake, his slightly sad tone making Bandee's shoulders drop, "And his puns were the worst."

"But you always laughed at them," Bandee furrowed his brow, "...A lot, actually. You laughed like they were the funniest things ever and wouldn't stop smiling."

Kine's reaction would puzzle Bandee for a long, long time. The fish's eyes went wide and he looked to one of his fins, turning his face away from the waddle dee.

"Oh, uh, I was just pity laughing."

That didn't sound…right. All memories Bandee had were contradicting that...but he was rather young back then. Maybe he just misremembered things, or just didn't understand how they actually interacted.

Although that reaction reminded him of…

He brushed the thoughts off, it was so long ago that it probably didn't matter.

"The stories were pretty alright though," Kine still didn't look at Bandee, "Even if most of them were made up."

"What!?" Bandee's voice came out higher than he expected, and he had to clear his throat before talking again, "I mean-what?"

Kine slowly looked at him and blinked.

"...Bandee, one time he said he fought 4 bonkers at once. He wasn't too truthful sometimes."

Bandana blinked, then rubbed his own cheek with one paw. Yeah, that sounded like something his brother had said, but the specific story wasn't clear in his mind. There were so many, he wasn't surprised some were blurred out by time.

"I…forgot that one," Bandee sighed, "But I...yeah, he lied sometimes."

"Yeah…" Kine looked away again, "...maybe he'll…have a really good real story to tell when he gets back…"

By the way Kine's voice trailed off, he was trying to sound optimistic without really believing what he was saying. But that was fine. Bandee really preferred to hear that than any other more realistic alternative.

"I hope so," Bandee decided to take a quick look up to the sky. Still red, but with hints of purple, "...But...I would tell him about my adventures first."

"I'm sure he would love that."

He nodded, careful not to get his bandana out of place again, "He wouldn't even believe I'm working for the Great King."

"There's many, many things he wouldn't believe, Bandee," Kine laughed, "He wouldn't believe I helped Kirby save Dream Land. Twice."

"Hey," The waddle dee got up on his feet, and hit his chest softly, "I did that too! Once!"

Kine nodded, "So I've heard. Good job, kid."

Bandee blinked a few times in surprise, that wasn't usually what people said whenever they learnt about that. Most waddle dees seemed impressed, others thanked him, and some were overjoyed, or hugged him.

But that? It felt as if an older brother patted him in the back after getting a new spear trick down. Not bad, just…a bit underwhelming. Bland even.

...He really didn't know why his brother often told him that Kine's personality was nice, nor why he liked hanging out with him every chance he got. Maybe the fish had gotten boring with age. Or maybe his brother was boring too. Whatever the case may be.

"...thanks."

"Anytime," Kine looked at him, "Wait, are you leaving now?"

Bandee was about to respond, when a cold breeze made him shiver.

"Yeah...it's too dangerous out at night."

"Oh, I agree! And your spear broke too…You should hurry home, kid," Kine said, and Bandee looked down at the broken wooden handle, "And I should too. My wife must be wondering why I'm late."

Bandee nodded, holding back from asking about the fish's wife. He had no idea he had gotten married- But again, no surprise really. They hadn't talked much over the years. A shame he had missed it, with his brother and Kine being so good friends, they probably would've been invited.

"Of course! Goodbye and good evening, mister Kine."

'Likewise, Bandee," The fish replied before diving under the water.

Bandee waited a few seconds until the ripples stopped breaking the lake's surface, getting distracted by the sky's reflection for a moment, before walking off, dragging his feet over the grass and dirt.

Getting to the castle would take a while, even with the best of conditions, but that was okay. He was okay. It gave him time to think, and to try to recall every tale his brother had told him.

Maybe he would go fishing tomorrow again. Because maybe Kine remembered a few stories more than him.