ArtistTale: Ink and Adeleine

Act I: Chapter 1

My name's Adeleine. I'm a 17-year-old human girl living on Planet Popstar. I was born with a very special gift. Anything I paint can come to life. I found out I had this power when I was just 3 years old. My mom had bought me a special set of paint, and I fell in love with it right away. My first picture I painted was a picture of a cat. When I finished it, it magically became real. That's how I got a pet cat back on Earth. But, this power I had could be a big problem. I had to learn to control it. So, when I was nine, I moved to Planet Popstar to study art. There, I met many new friends, like Kirby, Meta Knight, King Dedede and Ribbon. In fact, I was actually having a picnic with them that day, with me painting the food.

"Thanks for the picnic," Dedede said, "As usual, the food is delicious." I smiled brightly.

"What can I say?" I replied, "I'm a great artist."

"It is nice to have a picnic after that rainstorm we had last night," Meta Knight remarked.

"I couldn't agree more," I said.

"Yeah, that rainstorm last knight was terrible," Ribbon added, "I heard that some of the crows went crazy in Whispy Woods."

"I heard about that on Channel DDD," I said, "I wonder what they were going for. Food maybe?" I looked at the woods nearby, and saw a little bottle with blue paint in it. I walked over to it.

"What could this be?" I asked myself, "Is this paint?" Ribbon flew over to me.

"Do you think you dropped it?" Ribbon asked.

"I've never seen this type of bottle in my life," I answered, "Someone else must've dropped. And this paint seems awfully suspicious." I put my finger into the paint, and then I started to feel a bit of sadness.

"Why do I feel sad all of the sudden?" I said to myself, "I was feeling fine earlier. Wait, maybe it's the paint. Ribbon, put your finger into this paint."

"Why?" Ribbon asked.

"Just do it," I said. Ribbon put her finger into the paint.

"You're right," she said, "It does make me feel a little sad."

"Impressive," I said, "A paint that can change your emotions. But why would someone need this? We all have SOULs to help us feel, right? Unless, someone didn't have a SOUL." I walked a bit further into the woods, with Ribbon following me. I saw footsteps and blue paint. I followed them, and it led me to a skeleton with a satchel of paint capsules. He appeared to have passed out. I gasped and ran over to him. I tried to see if I could feel a heartbeat. Nothing was heard. I was worried at first, but then I realized skeletons don't have hearts. He was still breathing, but he had a slight fever.

"Ribbon, go get the others," I instructed, "I need to find a way to get him out of here. He needs a doctor."

"Yes mam," Ribbon said. She flew back to get the others. I stayed to examine the skeleton. One thing I wonder was how his eyes were closed, despite being a skeleton, and not having eyelids. Actually, I had a bunch of questions. What was he doing here? How did he get here? The list goes on. Suddenly, some crows came swooping down to me. I quickly pulled out my magic paintbrush, and smacked each one with it. They all flew away after that. I found out what he was doing here. He was attacked, and they must've gotten him hard. Then, Ribbon and the others came back.

"Poyo?" Kirby said when he saw the skeleton.

"My thoughts exactly," I said, "I just found him lying here. King Dedede, do you think you could carry him back into town? He needs a doctor."

"Anything for you, my lady," Dedede responded. If it hasn't been made clear by now, the citizens here highly respect me, because I'm a pretty girl. Even the king looks up to me, and he's the king! King Dedede picked up the skeleton, and carried him on his shoulder. I looked around to see if he left anything behind. I spotted this giant paintbrush nearby. I went over to it and tried to carry it, but it was too heavy.

"How does anyone carry this?" I said, "Meta Knight, Kirby, and Ribbon? We're going to try to carry this massive paintbrush."

"Okay," all three of them said. Even with their help, we were not able to get the paintbrush off the ground. King Dedede had a better idea.

"Adeleine, how about if you carry the skeleton?" he proposed, "I'm pretty strong, so I think I'll be able to carry the paintbrush." He handed me the skeleton, and then grabbed the paintbrush. This was a better idea, because he was light enough to carry, and Dedede was strong enough to carry the paintbrush.

After a long walk, we made it to Cappy Town, where most of the residents of Dreamland live. Like the name says, most of the citizens here are cappies, but there are a few non-cappies, such as myself. We walked around town and found Dr. Yabui's office. He was only the doctor in Cappy Town. I wasn't sure if he was good with skeletons, but he was our only hope for helping the skeleton. I knocked on the door.

"Hello?" I said, "Dr. Yabui? We need your help." Yabui opened the door.

"What is it?" he asked.

"We found this skeleton in the woods," I explained, "He doesn't appear to be in good condition."

"Well then," he responded, "Come on in. I'll see what I can do." We walked inside, closing the door behind us.

"Normally, people just come here because they have a cold," Yabui said, "But you guys seem to have found something very interesting. Lay him down on the table, if you would." I placed the skeleton on the table.

"Now if you would excuse me," Yabui continued, "I have to run a few tests. I should have the results ready in about 15 minutes, so wait here please.

"Alright then," I said, "We'll wait here." We waited in the lobby.

"I sure hope he's alright," I said.

"Why?" Ribbon asked, "You don't even know him."

"Yes, but I know he's not from here," I told her, "Did you see what he was wearing? No citizen here wears clothes like that. He could be frightened, lost, confused."

"Good," Dedede joked.

"I understand your concern," Meta Knight said, "But remember you have one thing that we all don't. Determination. That is a trait only humans have."

"You're right," I said, "No matter what, I will stay determined!"

"That's the spirit," Dedede said.

About 15 later, Dr. Yabui walked out.

"I have the results," he told us, "You might want to take a look at this." We walked inside the office.

"Good news," Yabui said, "He will be alright. But I have also made some curious observations. For one, he doesn't have a SOUL."

"That would explain why he has the paint bottles," I added.

"Precisely," Yabui continued, "Due to not having a SOUL, it appears that he gets his emotions from these paint bottles. I also gave him some medicine for his fever. He should be fine after a while. It also appears that despite not having internal organs, he can still breathe, eat, and sleep."

"Interesting," I responded, "Anything else?"

"Oh yes," Yabui answered, "He's going to wake up in 10 seconds."

"What?!" I said in a panic. 10 seconds later, I saw the skeleton open his eyes, and sit up.

"Where am I?" he asked. He then looked directly at me, and then there was an awkward silence.