"...You do realize that you're now trapped here with me...? Oxygen is poisonous for you still and your life-support system will likely stop working soon... how much longer do you have?"
He looked so... concerned. The other looked down.
'...5 days.'
"Hm..."
There was a long silence as he seemed to get lost in thought. He was frowning deeply.
'...Olimar, if it comes down to it, the Pikmin can always just take me to the Onion-'
"Don't. Don't give up so easily. We are going to find the President and we're both going to be taking that ship out of here and don't you dare think anything different."
He sounded angry and determined. More determined than angry though.
'...Okay.'
"Just...try to get some sleep...okay?"
Louie nodded.
According to Louie we have 5 more days until his life-support will run out...undoubtedly, the ship has knowledge of this and will inform the President to leave once the time runs out...after that I'm not sure what will happen. There's always this idea that seems to float through the air; that we will have to turn Louie into a half-Pikmin hybrid that I now seem to find myself...I have told him time and time again to leave that option as exactly that: an option. Only for if we don't have any other way... for a worst-case scenario...I'd rather not think about what could be. We still don't know what a fate like mine could even begin to involve. If I can even go home like this...no, I must stay hopeful! For both of us! For my family! I must have hope that tomorrow will be a brighter day...My this is a mighty mess I seem to be in.
-Olimar
He closed his log and thought back to the day where it all went downhill. How long ago was it now? How long have they been officially stranded? He couldn't remember very much, it could have been days now. They still don't know if the President is still here, if he's still looking for them or...
He turned to his colleague who slept silently nearby. Louie still hadn't told him what exactly happened but Olimar guessed that he really didn't expect him to. As much as he hated waiting and as impatient as he was he knew he would have to be patient if he wanted any more answers. If he was being truthful this was the most Louie had ever even spoken to him, so he knew that-despite his social limitations-the guy was at least trying.
...Regardless of whether Olimar knew the whole story or not, he always had faith in Louie. He had a feeling he was even a hero, having saved him after all, and that Louie had always meant well.
Louie had stayed behind with him. Maybe he just wasn't thinking about the possibility that their life-support systems didn't last forever, but Olimar felt that wouldn't be giving him enough credit. Louie was smarter than he often let off, the tired Captain knew that much. He had missed out on a trip back to Hocotate just to ensure that Olimar would be okay...
Said Captain yawned, going to lay his head down on the ground.
It was surprisingly comfortable to lay down without a helmet on, the grass felt soft; cushioned his head.
He supposed that with every fault being a half-Pikmin there had to be a positive.
He remembered wandering off for days.
He wasn't thinking clearly, he hadn't slept well in a long while. The first days had been terrifying, lonely. He entered caves, walked past many dangerous creatures that would have eaten him as lunch, if not for this weirdness that seemed to follow him around.
He was in some sort of trance, there was no way he even knew what was happening.
When he finally got out of it all, he remembered a familiar voice calling out for Olimar, wondering where he was. He looked around, wondering where Olimar was too. Was he here? Did he come back? His eyes were blurry and his head hurt quite a bit.
His vision was clearing though. When he could see again, the first thing he had noticed was that he found Olimar. Not exactly how he had hoped to see him again though.
He covered his mouth and his heart stopped.
There was Olimar, laying on the ground, helmet smashed to pieces and tiny fragments of glass everywhere, seemingly crushed under the body of a hugely colossal insect.
The voice grew louder, calling and calling as the unknown other was searching for Olimar.
He tried to think back to what had happened but things were unclear, faded.
'Did...Did I do this?'
The situation had finally set in. They were coming. He panicked.
He grabbed the injured Captain and got out of there.
He can't even remember how long he ran, where he was even trying to get to.
He ran until he couldn't run any longer, ended up in an area he hadn't been, ended up in a cave he didn't recognize...
He laid him down on the ground.
"Louie..."
...What is that?
"Louie...?"
He woke up startled, flailing around and vocalizing not words but a series of garbled sounds. He looked up and seen it had just been Olimar who was now looking down at him, worried that he was so scared.
"Sorry about waking you up, I had wanted to get started early."
Started?
'...What?'
"We're going to look around and see if we can't find the President or the Ship today. I'm tired of just sitting here and waiting for them to come find us." He could hear the frustration present in Olimar's words.
Louie gulped. He should have guessed that Olimar wouldn't just sit around forever.
'Is...Is that such a good idea, Captain?'
He turned around. Louie got a better look and noticed that he was holding something. He looked a bit confused.
"Why, do you think it's a bad idea?"
Louie thought for a second.
"...Think he'll become frantic when he sees me like this?' He snickered faintly.
'What? No, it's not that,' Louie shook his head rapidly, 'It's just...what if he comes here and we're gone?'
"Oh. Well, that is a good point but I've already got that much covered."
He revealed what he had been holding in his grasp: a note.
"I'll just leave it here on the off chance he might stop by."
Louie nodded silently. He always was really good at thinking ahead.
He watched from his place as Olimar went off to place the note somewhere it would be easily visible.
He felt terrible. He knew that chances were in favour of nobody coming.
He just didn't have the heart to say anything to make him disappointed.
He'd do as much as he could to let him cling to hope for as long as possible.
If that meant spending the day looking around, he wouldn't argue.
He followed Olimar out of the cave, squinting from the bright sunlight. He wondered how many days it had been now that they had been hiding off in that cave. He directed his adjusting eyes onto watching the captain more carefully than usual. Was it easier for him to be eaten now? He supposed it could be, what with the lack of protective helmet. He knew Olimar handled himself well, but would it be okay to go without Pikmin? He wanted to ask if they could bring some Pikmin with them but it seemed not really in his place to ask, he was really just tagging along for the ride.
Always just tagging along for the ride...
He hoped their safety wouldn't be even more threatened with his superior's new development.
As they walked out further and further, Louie noticed a surprising lack of enemies. Was there a reason a lot of the creatures were missing?
"I've found a lot of the more dangerous creatures don't seem to surface in the earlier hours."Olimar spoke up, seemingly reading Louie's mind, "Many appear to be -in a sense- nocturnal. I figured it would be ideal to travel before many of the creatures were awake." Louie made a small sound of approval, mostly just to let him know he was listening.
Always thinks of everything, Louie thought to himself.
They trudged through the area, Louie noting how Olimar seemed to be more lost than usual. Typically the guy seemed to have an air to him that he knew where he was going, but that seemed to strangely be absent. He was second guessing himself quite a bit, running into dead ends and u-turning every once and a while. Any glance Louie got at his face showed he seemed confused most of the time, mainly trying to find a path he could work with while scouting the place out. He didn't seem to know where to even start. He guessed he hadn't been to this part of the planet yet; Louie hadn't even been in this area before he had travelled there after...the accident.
Eventually, Olimar stopped altogether, rather abruptly too. Louie nearly crashed into his back. He was now looking all around, a finger pressed to his mouth as if contemplating something. Louie watched on, until the shorter turned to face him suddenly, confusion still spread on his features.
"Louie...where are we?" He seemed upset.
Louie didn't say anything, he wasn't entirely sure either.
"How...,"he seemed a bit awe stricken as he looked at his surroundings, "How did we even get this far away?" Louie looked away, finding it hard to look him in the eyes. Olimar just stared at him.
After a while, the short captain sighed and turned around and unenthusiastically began to walk away. He seemed to be a bit less motivated. Louie stood still and raised his hand in a way that said 'don't go' as he watched him leave, but couldn't find his voice. He wondered for a little while if he should keep on following him, but ran to catch up to him after he realized leaving him all alone was probably a bad idea.
He followed in silence for what must've been hours, watching as Olimar seemed to now be constructing some form of a map on a page in his log book. He remembered that they didn't have the ship to give them a sense of where everything was, any device for navigation even.
The creatures had seemed to become more frequent as the day was upon them. Every once and a while they found themselves needing to sneak around a creature in their path to avoid a fight. Getting eaten was the last thing they needed.
Louie could tell that Olimar was getting drained through the day, the situation seemed to be setting on him more and more, that time was ticking down and getting out of this area might be harder than initially thought...
'M-Maybe we should take a break?' He really felt that Olimar needed one, he seemed to be stressing out more than usual. Olimar didn't say anything, he kept walking, but after a while he seemed to take a right turn towards a particularly empty, quiet little spot and sat down. Louie went to sit down across from him, letting out a short breath.
They sat in an awkward silence, the same silence that lingered for the past few hours. Olimar put his head in his hands, sighing.
Louie felt really bad, he wished he still had that energy he seemed to have at the start of the day. Now, he just seemed broken. He didn't know what he could do to make him feel better, all he knew is that he wanted to. He wished he knew where they were, that he had some answer that would work in their favour. Something to make him have that hope once more. Something that would at least make him useful...
He looked up and noticed his superior holding and looking over the stem that protruded from his own head. Louie hadn't noticed before but he no longer seemed to have a leaf, but a red bulb now.
'Uh...', Olimar glanced at Louie.
"Hm?"
'Wh...What does it feel like?' Olimar seemed to look back down. He didn't say anything but he seemed to look a bit hurt. The blond Hocotatian nervously wondered if that was wrong of him to ask. Louie went to rub the back of his head awkwardly but his hand settled on only hitting his helmet, making an awkwardly loud clink sound. Olimar couldn't help but chuckle.
There was a silence again. Both looked down awkwardly for a while.
"...Well, if you really want to know...," Olimar spoke, letting go of the black stem that seemed to whip back into place above his head. He seemed to notice Louie's eyes light up to him speaking again. "It's strange. ...inexplicably peaceful almost. Breathing the air feels different, 'cold' I guess. Smells just seem to be stronger. The sunlight is remarkably more refreshing. It's...certainly different."
Louie smiled awkwardly, 'That doesn't sound too bad...', he replied quietly.
Olimar smiled sadly, looking down.
"No, I guess it isn't," he said. Louie guessed that his condition wasn't his main concern but-instead-what it could mean was. The captain still didn't know if he could even go home, and that was if they even found the ship...
"...Why do you ask?" Olimar asked. It took a second for Louie to process the question. He avoidably looked up at the sky, noticing that the it seemed to indicate it was getting later. Why did he ask? He supposed he wanted to know so that it might be easier if or when he would ever share Olimar's fate-
'...Just curious I guess,' he spoke shortly. Olimar seemed to have an idea that wasn't what really wanted to be said. He stared as his young partner looked up at the sky. He looked up as well. He was reminded of the sky back on Hocotate.
It seemed to be getting later...
"...We'll take some Pikmin out with us tomorrow," Olimar said a bit to himself. Louie smiled, laying back in the grass. He stretched his arms out, admiring the view the world gave; thinking of how if it came down to it, maybe it wouldn't be so bad to live on this planet.
'...Right,' Louie said under his breath, 'Tomorrow...'
After a while it seemed to be getting too dark for any more work to be done; the two had decided to retire to the cave for the night. Olimar looked down at the single sheet of paper that was newly covered with the map he had drawn. He was pretty proud of how it seemed to have turned out, he had little experience in cartography but felt he did a pretty good job capturing the area. He tucked his book under his arm, walking further into the confines of rock walls.
He had grown a bit accustomed to living in the cave and figured Louie had to of as well. He seemed oddly comfortable.
He looked over to his partner and noticed him sitting against a wall nearby. He seemed to be spacey: zoning out a lot more than he usually did. Olimar couldn't help but worry about him, he had been acting a bit off all day. He watched in slight amusement as he seemed to tuck both of his arms in and scarf down his rations from the inside of his suit. Eventually, he noticed his superior watching him and stopped chewing.
'...What?', he asked, his voice was muffled and his mouth filled with food.
"Nothing!" Olimar laughed and held a hand up in defence. The other muttered something and his face turned notably redder as he kept eating. Olimar had to admit, he was pretty hungry himself. He reached into his suit to pull out his own emergency rations. He looked at the small package for a while, reminded of how they really didn't taste very good.
Opening the actual package, he was even less appetized. He raised it to his mouth, but when he went to eat it he couldn't help but gag. He spit it out, choking and coughing. Louie had turned to him, wondering what was wrong.
Olimar dropped the thing, disgusted and feeling sick. He wrapped his arms around himself and shivered.
'What happened?' Louie asked, getting up from his spot and walking over. Olimar looked positively ill.
"I can't eat them," Olimar said weakly. Louie was worried.
'Can't eat them?'
"I...I can't..." It seemed to be the straw that broke the camel's back, as Louie seemed to notice the small captain sink down to the floor. Louie noticed his eyes were getting wet with oncoming tears.
He recalled that he hadn't seen him eat in days.
Louie patted his back in reassurance.
'H-Hey, don't be upset...', Louie kneeled to his level awkwardly. He wasn't responding, he just laid there looking miserable, sick, tired. He wasn't sure how he could help him...
But a sudden thought struck Louie.
'Wait...Wait!" He spoke out loudly. He noticed that the little captain seemed to have his eyes on him now. 'I'll be right back!' He ran off and out of the cave quicker than Olimar had ever seen him run.
It only took him about a minute to return, out of breath and carrying what seemed to be a bowl in his hands. Olimar got up slowly, wondering what he could have. Somehow he thought he knew the answer before he even showed him, possibly because of scent? Instinct? He wasn't sure.
'T-Ta-dah!' He tipped the bowl to show Olimar the contents. Inside was a yellow jelly-like liquid that seemed to edge forward from the tilting. Olimar knew exactly what it was.
"...Nectar?"
'Uh-huh.'
He had to admit, it was a rather good idea. Louie knew more about food than he could ever hope to... and he was starving after all...
Olimar reluctantly accepted the bowl, muttering a thank you and looking at it curiously. It smelled sweet. He always wondered what it tasted like...
As it turned out, it tasted even better than it smelled. Louie watched in amusement as he drank the whole bowl in one go. Before he even realized it he was looking down at an empty bowl.
It was Louie's turn to chuckle at his eating habits.
'I take it you liked it?'
"I...hate how good that tasted," Olimar commented, turning away and seeming conflicted. The nectar made him fell a bit weird but in a good way. Strangely energized.
Louie seemed to look wide-eyed upwards and above his head, and Olimar was confused until he followed his eyes.
Huh.
Louie was grinning brightly at him.
'Nice flower,' Louie commented.
He had to admit, it was a pretty nice red flower.
It was night and Olimar wasn't feeling very tired. He laid on the ground. He found his mind was always reeling during the night, he had a lot of thoughts that always ran through his head. He turned to look at the blue light that always shone in the corner of his eye: Louie. He seemed tired, but also seemed to be trying to forcibly stay awake for some reason. Olimar could have sworn he always seen him looking at him when he wasn't looking. He wondered if Louie was staying awake because he was still awake.
He wondered if that was conceited of him to think that.
"Hey."
'...Hey.'
Well that confirmed that he wasn't sleeping with his eyes opened. He frowned.
"You should get some sleep, you seem tired." Louie just shook his head and shrugged a bit animatedly.
'...Nah I'm awake as ever.' Despite the rather emotionless tone it was clear to Olimar that he was lying. Even made more so when he seen him yawn widely. Olimar was a bit frustrated.
"...Why are you lying?" He couldn't help but ask him. Olimar couldn't read the expression he gave after he asked him that, it was a face he never seen the other make. It seemed like he was happy and sad at the exact same time. Relieved? He couldn't get a good reading off of him.
'I...', He didn't say anything more, he just sort of stopped. It was as if he had asked him a much more complex question like 'what's the meaning of life' or something. There was a long silence, and Olimar found his patience wearing thin with the guy.
"...Never mind," Olimar dismissed. He turned over.
'I...', Olimar's ears perked up hopefully, 'I don't know.'
Olimar just sighed at the answer.
"It's okay."
A long pause.
...
"If you're going to stay awake is it alright if I ask you something?" Olimar asked bluntly. He turned back around to look at Louie who looked back. He nodded slowly.
"...Why did you stay behind with me?" Louie stayed silent for a moment, as if trying to piece together what he would say.
'...I had to.' He stated simply. Olimar wasn't really expecting that answer. It seemed like Louie legitimately believed that.
"Louie...you know you didn't have to stay with me?" Olimar spoke. Louie just shook his head. "You could have looked for the President, you could have gone home...I guess I just-I mean it always just seemed like-I don't know...like you didn't really care about anything? ...That's harsh and out of line, I'm sorry-"
'No, no... Y-You're right...', he interrupted, 'C-Captain-'
"Hey now, don't sell yourself short, I didn't mean for it to come out in that fashion. I guess I'm just...surprised? You missed your chance to go back to Hocotate just to stick around with me and with my...-"
'It's not a big deal, r-really-'
"But it IS, Louie. That's what I'm trying to tell you. It's rare to find a friend who would do something so selfless, so altruistic...you risked your own well-being just to make sure that I was okay. ...Even though things didn't turn out so great, I'm alive because of you. So out of the bottom of my heart-"
'P-Please, don't...'
"I want to thank you, Louie."
'...'
"You are a very good friend, I am very lucky to have you-"
'No...no you're not...'
"But I am."
Silence. Olimar laid there, waiting for if he would say something.
The only thing he heard was a sniffing sound.
Louie was crying.
"Hey, what's wrong?"
He started crying harder.
"It's okay..." Olimar sat up.
'N-No it's n-not...'
"We're going to be okay..."
'Th-This is all my f-fault...'
"No it's not. Don't even think that..."
'I-It is...' He started walking over to where Louie was laying.
"Why do you think it's your fault?" He asked. The captain sat down next to him.
He curled into himself.
'My signal...'
"You're signal?" Olimar guessed he meant the device that allowed the ship to locate everyone, the device that's built into everyone's suits.
'My signal...i-it's broken.'
"...What do you mean?" Olimar asked, "Of course it is. We found it all smashed up beyond repair, remember?" Louie just kept shaking his head.
'No...I mean it wasn't broken.'
"I don't-"
'I broke it.'
A long silence. Olimar tried to process this.
"I don't understand-"
'You...,'Louie was visibly shaking, 'You ha-have to understand...you weren't waking up. I-...I panicked.' Olimar couldn't believe what he was hearing. He broke his own signal?
"...Tell me." Louie sat up slowly, leaning his back against the wall and seeming incredibly tired and weak for some reason.
'Y-You were out cold, your life support system was completely damaged...
...you had to be dead or near it...
I heard the President coming...
I ran off to try to get you to the ship
...but I got lost.
We ended up in a cave, a cave I couldn't recognize...
...I didn't want the President to find out that you were gone
...if he found me and seen you...
...it didn't look good...
...I smashed my working tracking device once a group of Pikmin took you away.
...I thought you were gone
...I thought that if they took me home they would be taking me back...but labelled as the person responsible for your death...
...the Pikmin who took you away dragged me over to the Onion...
I thought they wanted to hurt me...
...but I seen an unpicked sprout in the ground...
and...
well...
...by the time I found out you were okay...
the device was broken...'
There was a long pause. Louie seemed to be stiff, he looked as if he awaiting punishment, as if he was waiting for Olimar to start yelling at him, maybe hit him.
Louie thought that he deserved yelling and hitting.
Olimar did neither of those things.
He stood up, turned around and went still. He was quiet for a while.
"I...", he said quietly, "...I need some time to think about this."
Louie looked at his back.
'O-Okay...'
The captain walked over to the spot he had been laying before and went to lay down, his face hidden by the stone wall that he pressed himself against.
'Olimar...?' Louie got up weakly, following behind him slowly. He approached where he lay. He couldn't see his face.
He didn't reply.
'I-I am s-so sorry...'
And with those last words the only sound that followed were the quick footsteps of Louie leaving the cave.
He only ran so far until he found himself stumbling over.
He was incredibly weak.
He could barely breathe.
He started to sob.
He used what strength he had to turn himself over so he was laying on his back.
He raised his arm up to the starry sky as if reaching out.
He saw the red light flashing.
Warning.
The monitor read: 'DANGER! Life Support Failure'
He took one last look at everything
'It's better this way...'
The morning sun came shining through the cave entrance, as a beam of light shone on Captain Olimar's face. When he woke up he shortly remembered what happened last night. He looks around the cave.
This is where this whole thing started, he thinks to himself. He turns to where Louie always slept.
Except, Louie wasn't there.
Louie wasn't anywhere.
Did Louie sleep outside?
He wondered if maybe he might have gotten up early to start the day ahead of him.
He decides to go out and look for him, getting up off of the ground to stand.
He exits the cave and lets his eyes adjust to the sun. It was later in the day than when he woke up yesterday. When his eyes adjust to the light he looks around, searching for any signs of Louie.
It's not long before he thinks he see's a blue light off to the left, likely Louie's beacon light.
He begins to walk over. The light is low to the ground. As he gets closer he notices that Louie is laying on the ground. He wonders if he really did sleep outside. As he approaches closer he notices that something seems off.
He's not moving.
Olimar is hoping that he's deeply sleeping, but it takes only seconds for that hope to fly right out the window.
His emergency light is flashing intensely.
"Nonono..." He runs over as quick as he can and falls straight to the ground beside him.
"Louie! Louie, what happened!?"
He checks his meter and it indicates that the system has completely shut down.
"Louie! You said you had a few more days left! What's happening?"He's so confused.
"Were you lying?"
"Why would you lie about that?"
"I thought you had time!"
"I thought you still had time..."
He goes to check his pulse.
He panics, he doesn't feel anything.
He keeps trying and trying to search.
Until suddenly he feels the tiniest pulse.
He's alive but barely.
Olimar tries to pick him up but he's heavier than he remembers. It takes everything he has in him to manage to get him to the cave. He lowers him down and quickly he looks over his device to see if he could fix it or do something.
He's panicking. By the look of things there's nothing that he can even do.
He feels eyes are watching him.
He looks up.
There's a group of Pikmin forming around and watching everything play out.
"He's not breathing." Olimar says to nobody in particular.
He hears something weird.
It's a voice he recognizes but it sounds different.
It's a Pikmin's voice...
but he almost feels like he could understand it.
He swears he hears one of them say 'Onion'. He figures it a trick of the ears.
But the whole group seems to start chanting, repeating over and over the word 'Onion'.
After a while he figures out what they mean.
"No!" Olimar says sternly. They all stop chanting.
"There needs to be a different solution, there must be a better way..."
But Louie's system indicates that he's slowly losing all signals of life.
Olimar figures at this point there's really no other choice.
He's fading fast.
He lets them take Louie away, following behind.
He watches on nervously.
Deep down he's hoping that this will work as he goes to pull the sprout that forms out of the ground.
'O-Olimar? What-"
"It's okay...you're alright..."
"...A-Are you mad at me?'
"No, I'm not mad at you. I meant what I said when I said this wasn't your fault."
'...Are you crying?'
"...You should have told me the truth. You should have told me it was the last day for your life support. You should have told me about breaking your tracker."
'I-...'
"It's okay, I would have understood, I do understand...you were scared, weren't you?"
'I didn't want you to hate me...'
"You're my friend, Louie. I don't hate you."
'...'
"This was all just some dumb accident. It's no one's fault. "