Chapter Text
You were running as fast as your small legs could carry you, stumbling and tripping over the mountainous terrain. An enraged voice rang out from somewhere far behind you, and you pushed on, hoping that their adult frame would become hopelessly entangled in the brambles and low branches below. Tiny feet slipped and slid over gravel as you burst into a clearing.
“You brat!” the man’s voice was closer now, and you turned to glance back at him as you continued forward. Suddenly, your foot slid out, and you could only glance at the yawning abyss below before you fell deep into its depths.
You awoke suddenly from your strange dream and sat up. Your head was faintly throbbing. Velvety petals brushed against your fingers, and you looked around at the place you’d fallen into. You sat up as you took in the massive cavern, following the soft shaft of light back up to its source with your gaze. An opening in the rock was located at the very apex of the tall cavern. How had you survived this? You stood and looked down at what had cushioned your fall.
A thick carpet of thornless red roses blanketed a small section of the rocky floor, and you spent a few short moments running your fingers over the soft petals. They filled the air with a faint fragrance that mixed with the smell of damp rock and stagnant air. Your wandering eyes then fell onto a stone arch that stood behind you. You approached it, and it towered over your small form. An almost bunny-like rune adorned the top of the structure, and signs of decay were evident in the chips and cracks dotting the surface. With no other way to go, you slipped through the doorway into the next room.
Another patch of light was in the center of the hall-like room, and a large, thick-stemmed rose was illuminated beneath it. You approached the patch and blinked as you realized the large rose had a cutesy face on its dark center. The flower bounced cheerily as it caught sight of you, and you cautiously continued forward until you were standing in front of the strange plant.
“Hey hey hey! I’m Rosely, Rosely the rose! Welcome to the Great Cave!” he chirped, flaring out two large leaves at the base of its stem in an imitation of jazz-hands. You smiled, happy to have met a seemingly friendly face even in the depths of the cavern.
“Hi! I’m Kirby!” you sang, waving your hands at the plant. You felt like it would be rude to point out that he was a flower, and you figured he probably already knew. Rosely tilted his head, bringing a leaf up to his petals in a pondering gesture.
“You’re new here, ain’t ya?” he asked.
“Yeah. I sorta fell,” you said sheepishly. A flash of what almost seemed like recognition crossed the flower’s face, but it was gone quickly enough to make you doubt having seen it.
“Well, we can’t have you just stumbling around with no direction! Say, why don’t I teach you about how things go around here?” Rosely responded.
“Oh, is this like a hidden magic flower village?” you asked excitedly. Rosely chuckled, but there was something off about the noise.
“Not quite. Actually, it would be far easier to just show you!” The plant flared out his leaves, and the sensation of something leaving your chest almost overwhelmed you as the world went black-and-white. You steadied yourself, and were startled to see a pink, star shaped symbol floating a few inches in front of your chest. “That pink thing is your soul, the culmination of your being. Basically, it’s what makes you tick,” Rosely explained. You went to touch it but drew back as the contact caused an indescribable sensation.
“Wow! It’s pretty…” you breathed, hypnotized. You looked up as Rosely cleared his non-existent throat.
“Now, to grow strong, your soul needs a whole bunch of LOVE! Down here, we share LOVE…” a multitude of little white pill-like objects materialized in a ring around Rosely, “…with little white friendliness pellets!”
“I want my soul to be super strong! So I can eat anything I want!” you cheered, hopping in place a little.
“That’s not- uh, yeah, sure! So make sure you gather all of them!” Rosely said, causing the pellets to float gently towards you. You eagerly stepped forward, and one of the little white objects impacted the center of your soul. Instantly, a searing pain surged through your whole body, and you fell to your knees. You looked up at Rosely in shock, barely able to even speak through the pain.
“What…?” you whimpered. Rosely’s face started to twist into a frightening black-eyed sneer as it cackled at your misery.
“You aren’t very bright, are you? Trusting a strange creature you found in a cave?” the flower laughed, its voice distorting. You tried to run, but a circle of the same pellets materialized around you. “Around here, it’s kill or be killed!” Rosely began to laugh madly as the circle closed in, and you braced yourself for the worst. “Now DIE!”
The pellets impacted you, but instead of the same searing pain, nothing happened. You looked at Rosely in confusion, and then smiled.
“Oh, so you were pranking me! How silly!” you chirped. Rosely looked at you with a comically shocked expression.
“No, you were supposed to die!” he snarled, conjuring a few more pellets and causing you to recoil. Suddenly, a metal-tipped spear flew from a distant part of the room and smashed into Rosely, sending the flower flying out of sight. Hurried footsteps could be heard as the unknown figure approached, slowly becoming clearer.
“What an awful weed, torturing an innocent kid,” the figure said, walking up to his spear and wrenching it out of the ground. He stood a head taller than you and had vibrant orange skin aside from the cream-colored patch covering the front of his face. He wore an open-sided cloak with a faded emblem that matched the one you’d seen on the door earlier, with casual clothing underneath and a cobalt bandanna tied around his head. There was no visible mouth on his face, yet he spoke normally. “Um, hey there.”
“Hi! I’m Kirby! Do you think the flower guy is OK?” you chirped.
“Hey Kirby, my name is Bandanna Dee. I take care of the Radish Ruins. And uh…” he glanced off in the direction Rosely had been flung, “…I’m sure he’s fine.”
“He was funny,” you quipped. Dee only blinked in response.
“Right. Anyway, I check around here sometimes to see if anyone’s fallen. You’re the first human to come through here in a while. Here, I’ll guide you through the ruins,” he said, as the color suddenly returned to the world. You looked around curiously as your newfound guide turned and took a step forward. “Follow me.”
“OK!” you chirped, following Dee as the two of you entered through another door into an expansive room. It was awash in earthen colors aside from the colorful flowers adorning the succulent plants and vines scattered about. Two large staircases sat opposite one another at the end of the room, leading up to another stone doorway. A small enclave sat between the staircases, and a strange golden object floated above the scrub and sand. Dee continued past you as you took in the sight.
“Feel free to poke around,” he said, walking up one of the staircases, “Just head through this door when you’re ready, I’ll be waiting right on the other side.”
“Alrighty!” you responded, approaching the golden object. Dee nodded and slipped through the door, leaving you to closely inspect the strange object. It glowed a soft yellow hue, and constantly changed shape, though it retained a star-like appearance. You touched it, and a feeling of strength and calm washed over you.
The idea of finding a new friend even deep underground, it fills you with…
determination.