I don't know how long I have been out here. One night alone is a very long time, and it has been a great many nights. But now matter how long it has been, I can still remember everything like it just happened. Oh, how I wish it were all a dream...
I was like any other normal Pikmin, or so I thought. I was born in the ground and given the same instincts as everybody else. I could absorb nutrients through my skin and take in sunlight with my leaf just like everybody else. I could think and feel and I knew the difference between a friend and an enemy, like everybody else. But why did I feel so different? Why am I still so different?
It was strange. It always is. I felt happy and secure in the ground. It was so warm and I didn't want the comforting feeling to end, the feeling that I was home and safe from all danger. My stem waved slowly through the air above me, my leaf gathering the sunlight and warming my entire body even further. The roots on my arms and legs gathered water and cooled me down at the same time, adjusting my body temperature to be just right. It felt like paradise.
Then all of a sudden, I froze. Even my stem stood perfectly still as I felt and heard something different from what I was already used to. The earth around me was shaking at a steady beat while a dull thud kept in time with the movements. Before I had the chance to even wonder what was going on, two hands grabbed onto my stem from somewhere above and I felt my entire body be pulled from the ground easily. With a little pop and a graceful flip into the air, I was born. Atleast, it would have been graceful, had I not been so shocked by the sudden change in the environment. I was so surprised that I was thrown completely off-balance and couldn't manage to land on my feet. I hit the ground and lay dazed for a moment. Foolishly, the first thing I tried to do was open my eyes, which I soon found out was a mistake.
It was so... bright. I had to shake my head and rub my eyes, stunned by the sudden unexpected light. It was so perfect beneath the ground, but the once-beautiful sun felt like it was burning my sensitive pink skin rather than making me all warm and comfortable like it did before. I made a tiny squeak of pain and covered my eyes as quickly as I could in a feeble attempt to protect myself, but the damage was done and it just kept on coming.
Right away I felt those mysterious hands again, holding me gently and carefully as if afraid of breaking me. I slowly opened my eyes and looked up into the face of a very strange creature. I was afraid of him at first, but something told me that I had nothing to fear. My large blue eyes met his soft dark eyes and I suddenly felt... safe. No, more than safe. This was what it felt like to be "home". My little body relaxed in his arms and I was no longer afraid.
He smiled at me and instantly I felt a rush of happiness, as if the sun I knew before was warming me once again. But my happy little world was broken by a loud, horrible shriek from somewhere behind the creature.
"Cory, you idiot! What's taking so long? Pluck those things and get back over here!"
My new friend flinched and nodded, then carefully helped me to my feet. I stood for the first time, and how strange it was. My roots had become fingers and toes, which helped me to stand. My new friend, this strange creature, also had fingers and toes, but mine were so much smaller than his. I wondered why. Well, atleast my feet were much tinier. My hands weren't the same size nor shape as his. They had two thick fingers and a thumb on the bottom of my hand all tipped with sharp white claws that were shiny in the sun.
He looked similar to me, in a way. He had arms, legs, a body, and a head. He even had a stem, but a very strange looking leaf. Or could it have been a flower? I couldn't tell, it looked like an odd glowing green thing. He was wearing a suit of some kind, it was white and had a strange green pack of some sort on the back, as well as what looked like a... bubble or something encasing his head. His hands were covered with a pair of green gloves, and even his boots had a green stripe near the bottom. He had some short black hair and a rather large nose, not to mention those lovely dark brown eyes that had entranced me.
I watched him curiously as he ran around some strange pole-like things and grabbed more stems just like mine. When he pulled on the stems, more Pikmin like me popped out of the ground with similar graceful little flips, except they managed to land on their feet. Showoffs.
We were Pink Pikmin. Obviously, we all had light pink skin. We also had large blue almond-shaped eyes and the strange claws I mentioned earlier. I looked at the long poles, and gazed upwards in amazement as I realized that they were supporting something big. It had an odd roundish shape that was a bit pointier near the top and was covered in stripes and triangular symbols of some sort. It was propped up on the tall stilt-like structures, three of them, and had a pretty white flower growing on top. I had no idea what it was, but I had the strangest feeling that it was where I belonged.
As I stood there with my tiny mouth hanging open, I almost didn't notice a larger Pink made her way towards me. She had a big white flower on her head instead of a leaf like the others and myself. Infact, her flower looked a lot like the one growing on top of that big round thing. Could there have been some kind of connection?
I smiled at her as pleasantly as I could and squeaked a little, "Hello," but she didn't even seem to notice me, that or she was ignoring me. She walked past me and stood beside the green creature, then looked at me expectantly. I didn't know what she wanted me to do, she just kinda stared at me, as if I was supposed to know what she wanted or something. Then, the green creature suddenly made a strange whistling noise, which I could only assume was coming from his flower because of the strange energy sparks that formed around it.
I jumped at the shrill noise and was still as confused as ever as I watched the other Pinks reluctantly go to his side. Then they were all watching me. He whistled again and I just stood there until I finally realized that he was trying to call me to his side. I squeaked in embarrassment and ran towards them, my cheeks feeling warmer than the rest of my body for some reason. The flower Pikmin glared at me, almost as if to say "don't make that mistake again". She didn't even need to say a word to accuse me of doing something wrong.
I stopped in front of the green creature and looked up at him, hoping that he could forgive me. If only he just told us what he wanted rather than making that loud noise, then I would have run to his side immediately. He looked down at me and smiled warmly, as though forgiving me. No... looking into his eyes I could tell that he never blamed or forgave me for anything. He didn't think I did anything wrong that needed to be forgiven. I was so glad that he wasn't angry with me... he seemed really nice, and already I wanted nothing more than to be by his side at all times.
Then I heard that loud, awful noise again.
"Cory! What is wrong with you today, get them over here!"
The green creature looked at something beyond me. I couldn't help but notice how he seemed a little sad. "Yes, Anton."
The green creature began to walk away and we all followed him instinctively, while I was trying my very best to stay right by his side. We came to an even larger object than what I had already decided to call home. It was really huge and didn't look nearly as natural or inviting as the large object sitting on stilts. It was covered in what looked like rust and dirt, not quite clean or safe-looking. It appeared very old and worn-out, and I definitely didn't like it at all. But I didn't like the looks of what came out of it even more.
Another creature emerged from the huge metallic object that looked similar to the green one, but the parts that were green on his suit were yellow on this one instead. He was much fatter than the green one and had a mustache under his nose. He had some curly red hair on his head and his flower glowed yellow. His eyes were also dark, but they were small and almost menacing, far from being warm and comforting. Just being near that thing frightened me so much that I shivered and huddled a little closer to my new friend, hoping that he could somehow protect me.
"Finally! What took you so long, you knucklehead?" He sighed in frustration and stared at the green one, and I was startled to see that he seemed even more afraid of the yellow one than I was at that moment. How was that possible? How horrible could this thing be to frighten him so much? "I should have brought Jerry along. He's able to take a simple command and not question what I say or do. Why can't you be like Jerry? You're useless!"
The green creature cringed and closed his eyes, looking sad and ashamed. I could see that whatever the yellow one was saying it was upsetting the green one. Seeing him like that replaced my fear with anger right away, and I curled my clawed hands into fists. He was nice to me and I didn't want anybody to hurt him. What right did this guy have to treat the green one like that? No, it wasn't right at all.
Almost as though she could read my mind, the flowered Pink touched my arm to get my attention. I looked up at her and she gave me a stern look, shaking her head and whispering, "It isn't worth it." The anger I felt slowly and almost painfully died inside of me and I wished that she hadn't stopped me. She was probably right, although at the time I just didn't care. All I could think about was getting back at that jerk.
The yellow one then began to circle around us as though inspecting us, but I didn't know what for. The green one noticed and suddenly hurried away from my side, causing me to panic. What did he run away for?
Quietly the yellow one wandered around us, judging our every flaw and feature, until he suddenly stopped beside a small Pink Pikmin and grabbed her arm tightly. She shrieked in pain and fear, struggling in his grasp and wondering what she did wrong. What was he doing to her?! I felt my anger flare up again almost as powerful as it was before, and this time the flower Pink grabbed hold of my shoulder and didn't let go.
He wrinkled his nose in disgust as he glared down at the young Pink. "Ugh... you mess up everything, Cory. This thing is way too scrawny, its useless. Put it in the cage with your other mistakes and we'll get going soon. At least it might make suitable bait."
The yellow one swung his arm back and threw the little Pink with ease. I watched as the poor little thing flew through the air and landed on her side, as she wasn't quick enough to catch herself in the air and try to land on her feet. I heard quite clearly the snap of her delicate arm as she hit the ground, and noone could ignore her screams of agony as she writhed in pain. I covered my mouth in horror and looked away, unable to imagine how that must have felt. The flowered one must have known that something even worse could have happened to me if I tried to protect the green one, and I would have been thankful for her interruption if I wasn't already scared out of my wits. How could he just do something like that? I was so shocked that I barely noticed the larger Pink's hand suddenly go away.
I was paralyzed and almost fainted when something much heavier than her hand rested on my shoulder. I was too afraid to look back, but I didn't need to. I knew that it was the yellow one standing right behind me, especially when the other Pinks backed away in fear. It felt like I was standing there for an eternity with that monster behind me, when in reality it was only a few seconds. The green one watched us from behind the others. I could tell by the look in his eyes that he recognized me right away and was very concerned, maybe even afraid for me.
"Hmm... this one has an anger management problem, I can tell. Perfect for fighting. Maybe you're not a complete screw-up after all, Cory."
Relief instantly filled my body when I felt the hand go away. I heard the yellow one walk away, but even then I was still too afraid to look back at him. The other Pinks waited until he was far away enough before they all rushed over to me, squeaking with concern and fawning over me. A few gently took hold of my leaf and checked for any damage, as if they thought just being near him would have caused it to wilt and die.
"What is your problem? Do you have a death wish or something?"
The other Pinks quickly scurried out of the flower's way then gathered behind me in fear, as if expecting me to fight her off or act as a shield. Sure, I wanted to be a protector and I wanted to be respected, but I honestly wasn't sure if I was more afraid of the yellow one or of this flower Pink. Something about her just wasn't right, and it frightened me.
As she walked up to me, I felt very small and insignificant. I really didn't want to be there. Why didn't the green one leave me in the ground where I was happy? Even though that meant I wouldn't have ever met him, atleast I wouldn't have had to face these scary things either...
As I looked up at her, I realized how intimidating and powerful she really looked. She was definitely bigger and older than me, no doubt about that. The scars and marks on her body suggested that she had been in many a fight, and that should have been my first clue as to why she was the only one of her kind as well as been an indication of what was to come. Her blue eyes might have been beautiful, had they not been staring into my very soul so coldly that it burned. They looked down at me with a piercing glare and I felt too afraid to move, almost paralyzed. She knew it, too.
I felt a flood of relief wash over me when I heard the green one whistle again. The flower one gave me a final warning with her eyes, then ran to him as the other Pinks following her, not out of respect but out of fear. I knew he wanted me to go to him but I couldn't move. My entire body felt heavier than before and I wanted more than ever to go back into the ground and stay there. Not for the comfort, but to hide from everybody and everything. I was afraid for my life. I had only just been created and already I had more than enough. I was just an innocent sprout a few minutes earlier, and I was perfectly content with sitting in one place for the rest of my life, far away from the danger and cruelty of the world. What had I done to deserve this? What had any of us done? And what would happen to that poor little Pink who was uncaringly tossed aside and injured..?
I then felt a presence behind me. I was afraid that it might have been the yellow one, or maybe the flower one had returned to teach me a lesson. I braced myself for the worst, but it didn't come. I jumped as I felt something touch my back gently, startled and almost expecting to get into a fight for my life. But as I turned to see who it was, I saw the green creature standing behind me equally as startled as I was. He looked at me with those brown eyes, and I could see the genuine concern within them.
My cheeks felt warm again and I whispered, "Sorry," to him as I turned my face away, feeling no less than ashamed and embarrassed. How could I have mistaken him for that yellow beast? Of all people to see me so frightened, I didn't want it to be him. Even so, somehow I just knew that I could trust him, trust him more than anything else in the world.
I wanted to talk to him about all that had happened, tell him how afraid I was, but what could I have said to him? It was too strange and confusing for me, he would have never understood. I barely understood it... no, I didn't understand it at all myself. But, I guess I didn't need to tell him anything. He knew, and he understood more than I could imagine. I just wish I had known that much sooner.
He slowly reached out towards me and gently took hold of one of my hands. It was easy to see that he was worried about me. Maybe he was just as afraid of the yellow one as I was, maybe more, but it hadn't occurred to me at the time. I could only think of myself and the comfort that I wanted. I heard the other Pinks murmuring something behind the green one, but I couldn't make out what they were saying. I had a feeling that the flower one was not impressed at my cowardice one bit.
"Don't worry, I'm here… you'll be alright as long as I'm here, I promise," the green one said with a warm and caring smile that chased all of my fear and doubt away. "I won't let anyone hurt you."
I gazed up at him and tilted my head to the side in confusion. Just hearing his voice was enough to soothe my spirit, but I couldn't understand his strange language. Then again maybe I didn't want to. I loved his smile. When the green one smiled at me it felt like nothing could possibly go wrong, that the whole world was at peace. I put the frightening image of the yellow one out of my mind and tried to be happy, like all Pinks should be. Things will get better, I would tell myself. Things will get better.
If only I knew how wrong I was.
He seemed happy as he noticed my change in mood, even if I did try to force out the positive attitude at first. "C'mon," he murmured to me, "we have work to do before sunset." He slowly led me away, still holding onto my hand as I walked at his side. My happiness wasn't forced anymore, I felt truly happy to be able to walk with him that way.
I felt proud as I walked with him and all the others simply followed behind, and I knew that atleast one of them must have been jealous. I was simply delighted at the very idea, and squeezed his hand a bit as we went along together through the dust and dirt, feeling important and like a real leader.