Chapter 33: Rick, Coo, Kine
It was a calm, quiet day in Dreamland. The sun was shining, the wind was pleasant, and the weather was perfect. A great day to go camping and Kirby was excited. However, he wasn't excited just because he was going camping. No, he was also excited because he was meeting up with a few old friends of his, being Rick, Coo, and Kine.
"It's been so long since we've hung out. I can't wait!" He excitedly said as he walked to where they agreed to meet up at.
This area was, of course, deep in the forest. There were just enough trees to provide some shading, but not too much that it would block out the moonlight at night. It was also next to a river, so Kine would have a good source of water. Thinking about all the fun they were going to have caused the child to pick up his pace and run.
As expected, Kirby was the first to show up, thanks to his excitement and natural speed.
"Well, I guess I'll start setting up the tent!" He said as he took off his backpack.
Kirby was actually really skilled when it came to setting up the tent, having done countless of times. It was because of this that the tent was set up in no time at all.
"And done! Now I should probably get some firewood."
"That won't be necessary mate." A familiar voice said, catching Kirby's attention. It was Rick, carrying a bag full of wood on his back.
"Hi Rick!" The puff waved happily as he ran over to help his friend with the wood.
"G'day Kirby! I guess I shouldn't be surprised you would be the first to arrive."
"Yeah, I was really excited for this trip, and I couldn't wait!" He replied with a timid giggle.
"You ain't the only one mate. Now we just need to wait for those two slow pokes."
"Yeah!" He smiled as he ran back to the campsite with the wood. "So, how have you been Rick?" Kirby asked his friend.
"I've been just peachy, mate. Pick and I just moved into a new home and we're still getting set up. Coming along great."
"Really? Where is it? I need to know so that I can visit you."
"Oh, it's a nice place not too far from the forest on Grass Land. Has a nice view of the sea, actually."
"That sounds nice!" Kirby smiled, happy that his friend was also happy.
"It's really nice, mate!"
"So, have you fully moved in? If you need any help, I can do anything."
"We're fully moved in, but we can use a bit of help unpacking. It's a lot of work, you know."
"Well, you know me, I'm great at helping!"
"Yup! Especially with that Cleaning Ability of yours!"
"Then it's decided. I'll help you out later."
"Thanks mate!"
The two high fived.
"What are you two being so peppy about?" A bird like voice said from the skies above.
"Oh, hi Coo!" Kirby waved to him.
"Hello Kirby, Rick."
"G'day, Coo! How's it going?"
"Things are going well with me, thanks for asking. I would have been here sooner, but the wind suddenly picked up on me."
"I see. I'm glad that you seem to be safe." The child replied, happy to see his friend arrive without a problem.
"I see Kine still ain't here yet. I wonder what's taking him?"
"Perhaps it's because he has to swim upstream." Coo said.
"Or maybe he's still sleeping?" Kirby offered.
"Maybe it's both!" Rick added.
"I would question how he could swim while sleeping, but this is Kine we're talking about." The owl mentioned.
"Yeah, he's done that a few times before!"
"I have?" An oblivious sounding voice said from the river.
"Oh, hi Kine! Glad to see that you made it!" Kirby exclaimed happily.
"Yup. Let me just flop on up real quick." Kine said, flipping his body up into the air and onto the ground safely.
"So how was your trip?" The puff then asked.
"Cold. The river is very cold today."
Kirby tilted his head in slight worry at that. "Is that why it took you so long?"
"No. I slept in." The blunt reply made the child giggle.
"Oh... I've done that a few times myself!"
"What? You?" Rick said sarcastically.
"Yes, me!"
"Kirby, that was sarcasm." Coo replied.
"I knew that!"
"Sure, you did, mate."
The puff then pouted.
"Well, we're all here now. What do we do first?" Coo asked.
"How about we build the fire so Kine can get warm?" Rick suggested.
"Ok! That'll be a breeze thanks to my Copy Abilities!"
"Alright, we'll leave it to you then."
"Ok!" Kirby walked over to his backpack and began to rummage through it. At first, it was a bit slow, but then it became a bit frantic. "Huh? Oh, I guess I forgot to bring some copy essences with me...Oh well! We'll just have to do it the old-fashioned way!"
"Leave it to me, then!" Rick said as he pulled out two sticks and began to rub them together.
"Hey, I can do that too!" The child then began rubbing two different sticks as well.
"Great idea! This will go a lot quicker now!"
"Can I rub sticks, too?" Kine asked.
"Kine, you don't have hands." Coo reminded him.
"I can find a way to do it, thought!"
"With fins?"
"No. With my mouth." Before Coo could question that, Kine began rubbing the sticks.
"How are you doing that?"
"I just do it!"
"That defies all logic."
"But isn't defying logic normal in Dreamland?"
"Good point."
Before logic could be smacked around even more, the fire erupted.
"Well, Kine, this fire should keep you warm."
"Thanks so much, guys!" The fish smiled.
"No problem, mate. Just don't go accidentally flopping into the fire." Rick joked.
"We don't need a repeat of the last time that happened." Coo sighed.
"Don't worry, I'm not that silly."
"Well, what do we do now?" Kirby asked.
"I have an idea." Rick said, grabbing onto a tree. "Let's race to see who gets to the top first!"
"You're on!" The child quickly joined him on the opposite side.
"I'll be the referee I suppose." Coo said, flying up to the top. "On your marks, get set. Go!"
Instantly, the duo quickly began to climb the tree.
"You should give up now Kirby. I'm the master of climbing!"
"I was told to never give up, so that's what I'll do!"
"Don't say I didn't warn you then!"
Both of them seemed to speed up their climbing. Then Kirby kicked off of the tree to gain more height, putting him in the lead.
"Hey, no fair mate! My feet are stubbier than yours!"
"It's not cheating if I'm using my own abilities!"
"I didn't say you were cheating, I said it's not fair! Totally different!" Rick said, climbing even faster.
"It's pretty much the same thing!"
"No, it ain't! Cheating would be if you had a jet pack!"
"The more you complain, the more likely I'm gonna win~!" The puff replied in a playful voice.
"Oh no, you won't!"
The both of them seemed to speed up.
Soon they both reached the top at seemingly at the same time.
"Hey, Coo, who won?!" Kirby panted.
"It was me, right, mate?"
"No, I'm pretty sure it was me."
"You're both wrong. It was a tie." Coo announced.
They both stared in shock. "Who was it?!"
"A tie. You two got up here at the same time."
"Huuuuh!?" Both people exclaimed in shock, only to fall off the tree.
"I mean, if we're being technical, I got up here first." Coo joked to himself, flying back down to the ground.
Thankfully, it seemed Kirby and Rick were able to land safely.
"Are you two hurt anywhere?
"Nope, I'm perfectly fine! What about you, Rick?"
"Just peachy, mate. My fur makes a mighty fine cushion."
"I'm glad you're all right!"
Suddenly Kirby's stomach growled, an average occurrence in a honesty.
"Eh heh... I think I'm hungry!" He gave a timid giggle.
"Well, it was bound to happen sooner or later." Kine said.
The other two friends nodded in agreement.
"Well, what do you say we start preparing for dinner?" Rick asked.
"Sure! But should we eat?"
"Smores!"
"That's for dessert, Kine."
"Oh. Well, what about a fruit salad?"
"I got an idea! Grilled fruit!" Kirby suddenly exclaimed.
"Sure, I do love a good grillin'!" Rick exclaimed happily.
"Ok! Then let's go look for some fruit to grill!" The puff exclaimed, putting on his backpack.
"I'll stay here to keep an eye on the fire. Don't want it going out on us. Or worse. " Stated Coo.
The group nodded, fully understanding what he meant by "or worse".
"Alright! Let's go Kine." Kirby said, picking the fish up to carry him. The fish wanted to question this action, but quickly gave up.
"So, what kind of fruit would be good? And don't just say all fruit, Kirby."
"Oh, I heard grilled pineapple is really good!"
"Not sure if we'll find pineapple in this neck of the woods, but why not? Let's go find some pineapple, mates."
"Yup! Or any other fruits or veggies that would taste good grilled like corn or zucchini!"
"One thing at a time mate. I do gotta admit, that does sound mighty tasty."
"It just gives us more things to look out for!" The child exclaimed, now visibly drooling.
"True, I guess. Kine, you see anything?"
"Mushrooms, but I don't know if they're edible or not."
"Then let's just keep searching for something of the edible variety."
"Or we can take them back to Coo, maybe? I think grilled shiitake is also good!" The puff suggested quickly.
"Sure, I guess. But if they turn out to be poisonous, we're pitching them."
"Okaaayyy!" Kirby quickly put them in a bag, fighting back the desire to eat them right now. "Alright, let's go on!" He then ran off, Kine still stuck inside his backpack.
"Oi, mate, slow down! I got stubby feet!" Rick shouted as he ran after the duo.
Soon, they arrived at a place deep in the forest.
"Well, mates, I see a bunch of apples in that tree right in front of us."
"Hm... I never had a grilled apple before. I'm sure it'll be yummy!" Kirby exclaimed. The puff then started to climb, but was stopped by Rick.
"Careful mate, there's a wasps nest up there."
"Ah! Got it!"
The child carefully maneuvered himself around the tree and managed to grab a few of the apples. without disturbing the wasp nest.
"Alright, I'll float back do-"
Before he could finish that sentence, a brown, worm-like thing popped out of one of the apples, startling him.
"AHHHHH! EW EW EW EW EW!"
"Kirby, calm down, you're gonna alert the wasps!" Kine, still strapped to his back, said.
The child froze and shuddered with a slight whimper. He honestly didn't know what to do. Kine, however, did and quickly ate the caterpillar.
"Fish eat worms after all. You're safe now, Kirby."
"Thank you, Kine!" The child smiled as he then floated down to the ground carefully.
"Geez mate, you had me worried for a moment. What had you so spooked?"
"He saw a caterpillar." Kine replied bluntly.
Rick slowly turned to look at his pink friend deep in the eyes. "Kirby, out of respect I'm not going to laugh at that. I will however find it really funny."
The child pouted.
"But seriously, glad you're not hurt, mate."
"Yeah, I'm glad none of us are hurt, too."
"Yeah, now let's skedaddle before the wasps decided they want to get up in our business."
In a couple of minutes, the group returned to the campsite.
"Hello, you three, did the fruit hunt go well?" Coo asked, drinking some tea.
"Yup! We brought back mushrooms, apples, and corn!"
"Mushrooms? Let me have a look. I'm good at picking out what's safe and what's not."
Kirby nodded and took them out to show him. Coo observed them with a bird's eye view and after a few minutes, determined they were safe to eat.
"Ah, you want me to cook them then?" The puff then asked.
"Yes, go ahead."
The puff went into his bag and pulled out a frying pan, inhaling it to gain the Cook Ability. "Alright, let's cook!"
After about fifteen minutes, dinner was ready and served.
"Man, Kirby, that looks like a serving for forty people instead of four. Let's dig in!"
The child nodded and inhaled his own portion, which was the biggest of them. Surprisingly, Kine was also scarfing down his meal just as quickly.
"Oi, Kine, you're gonna choke if you eat that fast!" Rick exclaimed.
"Yeah, you don't have my mouth!" Kirby added with a smile.
"I can eat as fast as I want!"
"Please refrain from talking with food in your mouth." Coo said.
The fish then seemed to slow down.
"Thank you. Kirby, you did a great job with cooking like always." The wise bird complimented.
"Ehehe... thanks!" The child giggled timidly.
"Yeah mate, you oughta teach me a few things sometimes." Rick said, playfully elbowing Kirby.
"I'd love to!"
"I don't have a kitchen, or a house for that matter. But I'd love to learn how to cook too." Kine chimed in.
"I'm sure you can find a way to cook somehow. I'd love to teach you!"
"I'm a decent chef myself, but i must admit that I'm curious to see Kirby teach." Coo said.
"Well, that's another thing we can do some day!" The puff happily smiled. The child was always excited and happy about the prospect of hanging out with his friends, especially three of his oldest ones. "Oh! When we're done with dinner, let's make smores then!"
"Yes! Smores!" Kine cheered, flopping in excitement.
"Shouldn't we let our food settle a bit in our stomachs?"
"Oh, I left room for dessert!"
"It's fine, Rick. It's not as if we have to all make smores at the exact same time." Coo said.
"Good point. Ey, how 'bout we tell some ghost stories while we're hanging out here?"
The other three nodded, seeing the idea as pretty fun.
"Well, who should go first then?" Kine asked.
"I will." Coo offered.
"Go ahead, mate."
The owl cleared his throat. "It was a dark and stormy night. Two teenagers were walking home, desperately searching for shelter from the heavy rain. One of the two saw an abandoned building in the distance. Not having any other option, the pair ran up to it and let themselves in. Thinking that they were safe, the two sat down in what appeared to be the living room. Then suddenly, bam! The chair they were sitting on and sprouted fangs, chomping down onto the two, eating them whole. The two had now become permanent residents of the haunted house."
Both Rick and Kine immediately shuddered at the story, but Kirby had a completely different reaction. "Oooh, that's an interesting story!"
While surprised by Kirby's reaction, Coo was at least glad he scared the other two.
"Alright, who's next?"
"I guess I could go next..." Rick said, scratching his head as everyone looked to him in anticipation for his story. He then cleared his throat and began. "There was a farmer who spent his days tending to his garden, especially his watermelons. Then one day a group of punks destroyed the melons. In his grief the farmer made a wish that his melons would get avenged. The next morning, all the punks involved found themselves buried alive in the farmer's garden, with no one being able to hear their screams."
Both Coo and Kine appeared to be spooked by the story, but the pink puff had a different reaction.
"While I understand why he would wish that, it's still a bit mean to cause the punks to be buried alive, I think..." Kirby said.
Rick blinked at the very much unexpected reaction. "Uhh... yeah. Anyway, guess you're next, Kine."
The fish his throat and began to speak. "So, there was this woman who lived in an old house with her husband. It was constantly being repaired and she would often watch over these repairs in her favorite old chair from her favorite hotel. Suddenly, she saw a strange letter on the table in her living room. It was from a man. He talked in a strange level of detail about the woman's habits, what she read, what she did, what was going on in the house, almost like he was right there. He continued to send letters with more and more detail until another letter came one day. This letter asked the woman if he could meet her. The woman was afraid and left a message asking where he was. It turns out, that the man was inside her chair."
While Rick and Coo shivered slightly, Kirby was instead clapping. "That was a really good one, Kine!"
"Why, thanks, Kirby!" The fish said, slightly confused at the child's lack of fear.
"Oi mate, why didn't any of these stories scare you?" Rick asked.
Kirby simply smiled. "Why should I be scared if I'm with friends?"
The three looked at each other and laughed good heartedly.
"That's such a you answer, Kirby. Never change mate."
"I don't plan on changing at all!" He replied with a smile.
"Good!" All three said.
"So, do you have a story to tell, Kirby?"
"I'm pretty sure most of my adventures could work as one..." he giggled.
"Well, then tell one you think will scare us."
"Hmm... I think I got one!"
"Alright, then let's here it."
"Well... this happened to me actually pretty recently." He scratched his head. "So it was really dark out and I had to go through this old castle. It was a bit creepy since there was no one there. Every sound that was made seemed to echo throughout the building. So, I tried to go to the most important room there. When I arrived I tried to investigate. Then, suddenly, a loud voice boomed throughout the whole room. "WHAT ARE YOU DOING HERE!?" and I felt myself get knocked into a wall! It was the next day when I woke up and I just happened to be in bed. I don't know how I got there!"
The three looked at him in silence. While the story was creepy, there was something oddly familiar about it.
"Well, what do you think?"
"I thought it was scary." Kine admitted.
"Yeah, me too." Rick nodded.
"...This was about trying to take food from Dedede wasn't it?" Coo asked.
"No!" Kirby pouted, his face a bright red.
"That means yes." All three thought at the same time.
However, they also decided to accept the answer, knowing how genuinely terrifying some of the monsters their friend faced could be.
"Anyway, let's make smores!" Kirby said, his usual cheerfulness completely back already.
His friends nodded in agreement.
Soon, the group was done making smores and now settling down inside the tent for the night.
"Well then, what else shall we do?"
"We're laying in the tent now, why don't we sleep?"
Kirby nodded. "Yeah, that sounds good to me." He laid himself down and almost instantly fell asleep.
"Wow. He musta really tuckered himself out today." Rick said.
"You know how he his. He always puts everything into anything he does."
"Yup. That sounds like Kirby all right." Kine chuckled.
"We should get to sleep ourselves, mates."
"Indeed. Knowing him, he'll be just as energetic tomorrow." Coo nodded in agreement.
"So we'll need to be just as energetic." Kine responded.
Rick laughed. "Of course, but there's no way we're gonna beat him at that game!"
"There's no beating Kirby at most things. That's what makes Kirby, Kirby."
"Yeah... seriously speaking, let's get to sleep."
The others nodded, soon they all entered another kind of Dreamland.
Sorry for taking so long just to get out another chapter. I've been a bit busy with graduation and dealing with some mental health stuff.
I'm doing fine right now, though.