The Adventures of Starmonia

Introduction

One dazzling spring morning, in the little region of Spring Breeze, Dreamland, seven puppies were born to Springtime and Showerstorm. Springtime, her emerald-colored eyes shining as brightly as the morning sun, cleaned them well, nudging them gently with her nose as they uttered tiny whimpering noises and shoved each other aside to be the first to nurse from her.

Showerstorm, the proud father, beamed at his lovely children and his alluring wife. “Well, dear, you did it!” he declared. “Seven puppies!”

Springtime nodded, smiling. “Five boys and two girls,” she confirmed. “What should we name them?”

Showerstorm knit his brow. “Ah. . .well, I assumed you had already thought of names before they were born,” he confessed.

Springtime bit her lip and shook her head. “No. I guess I was so excited at the thought of having puppies that I forgot to think of names for them until now.”

“Then we’ll brainstorm and use our lively imaginations to come up with really creative and unusual names for them!” retorted Showerstorm, tossing his head, his brown eyes filled with determination. Springtime had to smile at the look on his face.

“Okay,” she said agreeably. “I think the oldest should be. . .” She glanced down at the eldest child, a boy, as he fought his sisters and brothers to get milk. He seemed so fiery and snippy, she thought. He liked to push the others around.

And then the perfect name came to mind. “His name shall be Sniper,” Springtime blurted out.

Showerstorm gazed down at Sniper for a minute, then burst into peals of laughter. “That’s the right name for him!” he chuckled. “What about the other boys?”

It took a few minutes to think of names for Sniper’s brothers, but in the end, Springtime managed to name them all. “The other boys—from the eldest to the youngest—will be named Sharkell, Yodi, Pancake, and Waffle.” She looked up at her husband. “Sound good?”

“It’s fantastic,” he assured her. “Now for the girls.”

The second-to-last puppy was a gray-and-white Siberian like Springtime’s sister, Summer. There was some debate about her. Springtime wanted to name her after Summer’s favorite flower, but Showerstorm wanted to name her after an object in space, such as a star or a galaxy. In the end, they decided to put both of their ideas together and named her Azalea-Star, but they agreed to call her Star for short.

Springtime then turned her attention to the final puppy, a black-and-white Malamute like herself. This one wasn’t fighting to get milk like the others but was instead patiently waiting her turn. Springtime has to smile at how calm the child was, unlike the other high-strung puppies. “To be honest, I’m stuck on this little girl,” Springtime admitted. “I can’t think of a proper name for her.”

“Oreo?” Showerstorm suggested.

Springtime’s eyes widened. “No way!” she objected. “That’s a terrible name.”

Showerstorm smothered a giggle. “Um, okay. How about Luna?”

Springtime vigorously shook her head. “Not Luna, either. It has to be absolutely perfect.”

“Why absolutely perfect?” Showerstorm asked.

Spriingtime never answered, for she was distracted by her youngest daughter. The puppy rolled over onto her back and yawned, and as she rolled, Springtime caught sight of something dark on the bottom of the puppy’s left-front paw. She bent down and peered more closely at it. It was a diamond mark surrounded by a circlet of ten tiny stars all merged together. Springtime gasped upon seeing it.

“What is it?” Showerstorm asked, and Springtime pointed to the mark with her paw. Showerstorm’s eyes opened wide.

“Well, what do you know!” he exclaimed.

“Showerstorm!” Springtime exclaimed. “Do you see? Do you see? This is the one! The Star Warrior we’ve been waiting for!”

“She’s the one who was prophesied to set Dreamland free from Nightmare’s grasp,” Showerstorm said wonderingly. “Photron, ancient ruler of the universe and the forger of the sacred sword, Galaxia, prophesied that a child born with this mark would be the sole rescuer of Dreamland!”

“Amazing!”

“Truly astounding, my dear!”

“And now the prophecy has been fulfilled!”

“Not quite,” Showerstorm reminded his wife. “The prophecy is only fulfilled when Nightmare dies.”

“But how can you even kill Nightmare?” Springtime inquired.

Showerstorm cast a puzzled glance at his wife. “What do you mean?”

“Nightmare is what his name tells—he’s a living nightmare,” she explained. “Dreams are only what you see in your mind—mirages of the mind, I call them.” Her eyes clouded. “In truth, I don’t think you could ever get rid of him. That demon’s got a lot of tricks up his sleeve!”

“Nothing our daughter can’t handle,” Showerstorm replied.

“You’re acting like she’s invincible,” Springtime snapped.

“I didn’t say that, but I’m not going to say I doubt her abilities, either. I believe she can take him down—with God’s help, that is.” He paused, then continued, “And as for Nightmare being killed, I’m sure he can be. But it would have to take a certain weapon.”

“What weapon is that?”

“I’m not sure. Perhaps she’ll be the one to find out the answer. Then again, she may not. There are other Star Warriors out there. And remember, the prophecy did not explicitly state that she was going to be the one to kill Nightmare. It just said she would free Dreamland from his rule.”

“But how can she free the citizens of Dreamland without first getting rid of him?”

Showerstorm shook his head. “The prophecy doesn’t say how she’ll free Dreamland. Perhaps she might have a backup crew who will assist her in her mission, but she’ll be the main, uh, hero, if that makes sense.”

Springtime nodded. “That actually makes sense. Yes, maybe that is how it will happen.”

Showerstorm smiled. “But we got off track,” he gently reminded her. “We were trying to think of what to name our special little girl.”

One word rolled of the tip of Springtime’s tongue: “Cloudburst.”

Showerstorm froze. “Cloudburst?” he repeated.

“Yes,” Springtime said. “A cloudburst is a sudden violent rainstorm,” she explained.

“I know that,” replied Showerstorm. “But why name her after a rainstorm?”

Springtime placed a paw around her daughter’s body and drew her close. “As a cloudburst is unexpected, so this little Star Warrior was unexpected.” She looked out the open parlor window at the blue sky dotted with only a few clouds. “And just as a rainstorm can cause dramatic effects on the earth, this girl will change the world in a big way.”

Showerstorm couldn’t forget the brightness in his wife’s eyes or the gentle smile she wore. Her happiness was contagious, and he caught it too. “If you desire to name her Cloudburst, then do so. I’m perfectly fine with it.”

“But let’s call her Cloudy,” Springtime told him. He nodded in agreement and both laughed, though neither knew why.

Cloudy yawned again and began to nurse from her mother. Springtime looked down at her little twin and nosed her, and she could have sworn that a smile flashed across Cloudy’s face. The wind blew gently around the house and the scent of the roses out front permeated the air with a sweet-smelling fragrance.

Note: For those who are not familiar with Kirby, Nightmare is a demon who appears in the Kirby: Right Back at Ya! anime. He also appears in many games, such as Kirby’s Adventure (1993), Kirby: Nightmare in Dream Land (2002), Kirby Mass Attack (2011), Super Smash Bros. for Nintendo 3DS / Wii U and Super Smash Bros.  Ultimate, and Kirby Air Riders (2005).

He is portrayed in fan-created lore as Meta Knight’s father or creator, but this is not canon.