There was nothing except darkness then, a warning.
"Warning! Whiplash is common, use the Necks Solution! Our patent-"
Kirby released the travel pillow in his arms as he was startled awake. The small cushion tumbled downwards, flipping through the canopy below as it quickly disappeared from sight.
Giving a furtive glance around, he saw the chassy tangled in vines. With nothing but a green carpet, above and below.
He was very dazed, completely out of it. Possessed by nothing but confusion and delirium.
"Am… am I a yo-yo?" Kirby muttered, slurring heavily.
He stared off, entirely befuddled by his situation.
"CCRR--AACK!!!"
The vehicle lurching forward throws Kirby out of his seat. His seatbelt, fastened tightly held him, suspended below the suspended vehicle.
He immediately snapped back to reality. The weight of the situation hit him harder than the blunt force trauma.
"Oh god, oh god, that's going to crush me if I don't move."
Adrenaline pumping, he snapped his neck around, looking for anything he could use to move out of the collapsing vehicle's path.
A cursory check proved fruitful as there was an enormous tree trunk directly behind him.
With a swing forward he slightly dislodges the car, causing him to jolt downwards an entire meter. With the momentum he disengages his seatbelt, scrambling to get a grip on the tree.
Pure panic ensued. He clawed at the trunk, bloodying his hands and scraping his torso into something unrecognizable. After a minute had passed with him not moving, the adrenaline stopped pumping and his heart rate went down.
He spent a hot second, trying to reorganize his thoughts before the car finally became dislodged. The tree bent for a moment before the car, a meteor of slag, fire, and more fire fell. A sizable hole was immediately punched through the carpeting and revealed a brown floor.
Kirby made his move. There was a chance that this vehicle could explode at any moment. The blast might not kill him but the flames sure will. He hopped down the tree like a hiccup laden panda. Scooting downwards he came across a branch and began a normal descent, getting to the ground in a solid minute.
Once he made it to the ground he checked his surroundings, only to be shown familiar scenery.
The trees blotted out the sun, roots covered every millimeter of free dirt. A damp and dead landscape unfolded before him. The only light present was that cast by the flaming vehicle. An acrid smell filled his nose and the only thing he could do was run.
He ran through absolute darkness, stumbling and falling at almost every step. Eventually, he resorted to crawling.
Then, the explosion shook the forest.
A shockwave pushed Kirby off his feet and flung him against the nearest tree, breaking his left arm instantly. This failed to stop him, he knew what was going to happen if he were to stay.
With blind fervor, he kept going. After overtaxing his three functional limbs he wound up spraining both his ankles. The world started becoming fuzzy as he was fading in and out of consciousness.
He fell asleep, covered in ash, blood, and with more cuts than skin.
-----
Kirby woke up to screaming. Not his own but something far more… inhuman. The air had turned thick and the roots beneath his feet were convulsing. There was light this time. The darkness behind him waned, giving way to a dull, red light. Whatever this place was, it was burning down.
He sat there, trying to reconcile his thoughts.
*I just need some time, I need to think.*
Again interrupted, Kirby came back to reality.
"Hey! Hey you! What the hell did you do!?"
A figure approached, features indecipherable in the dim light. He ran up beside Kirby, who was to busy trying to stay conscious.
"Alright, I don't know who you are, or how you've done this but I'm taking you out of here." The figure said, leaning down to get a look at the Kirby's bruised figure.
The man picked Kirby up, taking great care to keep him safe before moving. The instant the man began to move, the surroundings blurred.
They promptly arrived at a horse-driven buggy. He plopped him down and tapped the horse like animals driving the vehicle.
Once they left the forest they were still in its shadow. The sky was cyan but the sun was blotted out by the skyline of the forest behind them. They rode through a patch of petrified plains, which ended as abruptly as it started, some trees petrified on one side and living on the other.
In the grasslands, in plain view of the stone forest, the man parked his cart, setting up a tent and some other basic necessities.
*I'm completely vulnerable right now. How do I get out of this?*
After a brief moment of silence, Kirby grabbed his legs up one by one and propped them up. He looked over at his savior and made eye contact.
"Do you know what happened in there?" The man questioned, trying to understand the situation.
Thinking of a possible answer he realized that he was completely and utterly incapacitated. The only thing he could do is hold his cards close to his chest and confide as little as possible. So long as he had some service to offer, or hidden knowledge he could continue to hold on to hope.
"I don't know, honestly I just woke up." Kirby replied, his wordplay severely inhibited by the shooting pain in his leg.
The silence was promptly reinstated. The two stared, both calculating the best response.
"Right, I'm also guessing that you've never seen that forest, heard of it, are confused why there are two moons, and don't understand why you weigh more than usual." He said with his head in his hands.
Kirby confusedly checked his surroundings, turning to look upwards, at the remarkably alien sky. There is as a matter a fact, two moons. One of which was hued red, while the other was hued blue both larger than the from. When he looked back he saw and heard the forest.
You could hear the desperation radiating from the agonized screaming. The entire forest was glowing, the center a bright white. Like an ingot near its melting point.
The plains around him felt tangibly warmer. He paused, realizing that whatever his arrival had caused, it wasn't good.
"And what would it mean if that was the case?" Kirby inquired, looking back at his savior.
Once more the man grimaced, then pointed to the distance. Beside the superheated forest and behind a mountain range there sat a large spherical object. It was the size of a thumb from where they stood.
"You see that?"
"Yeah, what is it?" Kirby asked, squinting to get a better view.
"If I'm correct in my assumption, that's where you come from." The man stated, as if it was the most typical thing in the world. He sat there waiting for Kirby to finish his train of thought before he continued explaining.
"I have no idea what you meant by that."
"It's simple. This world was built by a deity, long lost and forgotten. It was created to elevate all of existence. It slowly absorbs lower realities, pressing further and further to godhood. Your world was seen as the most valuable for assimilation and it was added to the artifact's mass." He finished his spiel and looked at Kirby, expectantly.
"That's not particularly simple, is it? I mean I understand though…"
The man appeared upset at this answer, scratching his beard.
"Before we continue, can we greet each other? I'd like to know who saved my life." Kirby asked looking back over to the man.
"Sure." The man proceeded to light the fire, illuminating his face. "My name is Tien Voil, traveling jester and magician." The fire surged, revealing an older, wrinkled face. He had a smile that superseded the rest of his scarred but jovial face. He was built like weightlifter coming close to seven feet tall.
Kirby greeted the man in kind. "Kirby Spero, adopted son to a true man and a great father." Feeling that this was an opportunity for him to start figuring out what was going on. He would have to momentarily depend on the medieval comedian for some aid.
"I hope we can help each other." Kirby said, reaching out his only functioning hand to Mr. Tien.
High fiving Kirby Tien went back to work.
"We'll talk in the morning okay Kirby? I've set up a tent for you over here." Tien said, still setting up said tent.
"Okay, thanks for all of this." Kirby said through clenched teeth, grunting as he tried to move.
Seeing this, Tien walked over, picked him up with one hand and patted him on the back. Set him down on now non-broken ankles he properly shook his left, broken arm.
Walking over to the tent, Kirby looked at his body, interested but not surprised at the now pristine state of his limbs.
"Talk to you tomorrow Tien!"