Well chapter 3 is finally here. Sorry for the very long wait, but I've been busy.
Enjoy!
The thumping of the creature's footsteps encouraged me to run faster along the sandy beach. My huge mushroom on my head seemed to be holding me back, preventing me from running faster. The creature was now right behind me, I could sense it's tongue flapping along the side of its mouth. It let out a roar drowning out all other noise, it almost sounded like a roar of victory. Its hot putrid breath blew against me followed by something sticky and wet. It was that clear liquid, the juices that were once my friend. The feelings of nausea were quickly over come by a warning, almost a sixth sense as the creatures jaws lunged forward to grab me.
Instinctively I jumped out of the way, landing face first in the sand. The creature's jaws though, instead of scooping up me grabbed a mouthful of dirt. Angrily it spat it all out and quickly scanned the area. I tried to hide, but the creature's eyes were quick, too quick and it spotted me before I could hide behind a rock. With a roar the creature stomped after me and the pursuit continued.
Rounding a corner I saw a wide open plain ahead of me with a couple of pathways up ahead. One led to the other pikmin.
Far.
Too far.
But I can try.
I seemed to be running towards the bright horizon that grew in intensity each passing second. It cast my long shadow over the ground. Looking back I saw the creature quickly closing the gap.
Halfway there.
Its mouth grew to a point beyond belief stretching out, blocking out all that I could see behind me. Its eyes were wide open, eagerly anticipating the kill.
That's when the sun rose.
The first few rays fixed upon us in bright orange light. I squinted in pain. The creature behind me wasn't so lucky; the rays seemed to fully blind its wide eyes. It roared in frustration,stopping and shaking its head as if something were fixed in its eyes.
I was saved.
More roars made me look back. I saw two more of those creatures meeting with the other one. One resembled the first creature. The other was fatter, larger and had a black hide with red spots….
I returned to the valley. Quietly I walked past rows and rows of glowing mushrooms. I walked slowly into the place where the other mushroom pikmin were. They all emerged one by one; they're faces all eagerly anticipating food. One by one, though, they all changed to expressions of disappointment. One of the pikmin approached me. He looked at me, trying to register what had happened.
"Where's the other guy?" he asked.
I didn't say anything, I couldn't.
"What happened?" he asked again, there was now a touch of fear layered onto his question.
I ignored him and sat down on rock. Still in shock.
"What's all the stuff all over you", he asked.
I looked down; all over my body was those juices, sticking to my body now because of the heat.
I picked up a sharp piece of wood on the ground and gently pricked my arm with it. Wincing in pain I watched as a clear liquid started to flow out.
The other pikmin saw the similarities. His eyes widened in shock.
Slowly, I gathered myself together. I became strong again reinforced with an urge. An urge, the will to survive. If I stayed like this I would die.
"Is there another exit out of here?" I asked.
The other pikmin pointed to the other side of the clearing, it showed a dark pathway, almost invisible.
"Okay", I said.
I began to walk that way and shouted "We need to leave this valley right now!".
Another pikmin quickly argued "We're not prepared to leave here; there may not be food that way!"
"Listen", I told the other pikmin "If we don't leave this valley, we will die".
The other pikmin stared at me "What!" he said.
"Listen they've probably already picked up my scent, they'll be here soon, we don't have much time", I replied.
The pikmin that was talking to me earlier, came up and said "Do you see all that stuff all over him, that's the other guys guts", he said it loud enough for everyone to hear.
Gasps came from all around, cries of panic and fear.
"We're doomed without a leader", I said, gesturing over to the dead puffstool.
The two other pikmin nodded, mushrooms bobbing up and down.
"We're going to have to leave everyone", the one shouted to the rest "we'll take the pathway over there, in hopes that it will lead us to food and safety".
And with that, no more further arguing, we left. Walking slowly, we entered the dark pathway, not sure what to expect. When I turned around I thought I could see three sets of eyes, all watching me….
There were no mushrooms to light our way. The only source of light we had was the sun that was thankfully rising up fast. Rocks slopped steeply upward on either side, making it impossible to climb. That's when we saw the ship.
The Leader's ship came down soaring over our heads, most likely landing in the spot were it usually did. It was soon followed by three onions. Red, blue, yellow.
Blue
A series of memories burned through my head. A blue pikmin fighting a large creature in the water…..a blue pikmin climbing down the stem of an onion…..a blue pikmin carrying a large metallic item.
Was that blue pikmin...me?
It was, I could tell. Me before what had happened.
The memories continued to flash in my head. Most of them were sorrowful, death and destruction as large creatures ripped us apart.
"The change was for the better", I thought to myself. But look what's going on now, the way that other pikmin died, his remains stained my body in reminder.
The Leader's ship descended to where it usually landed, I didn't see it land because it went out of view. I could picture him in my head though, calling out pikmin with his whistle.
Someone from up ahead suddenly yelled out "We found food!"
All the pikmin ran excitedly towards three small pellets on the ground. Everyone suddenly seemed in a brighter mood, as they pecked out chunks of crystallized nectar and shoved it in their mouths.
I took a chunk out of the blue pellet, and put in my mouth. The crystals started out very hard but my saliva softened it up and I swallowed gratefully. It felt warm and sweet down my throat.
"We should eat all we can", one pikmin said "If we take it with us, it'll slow us down".
"But how do we know if there'll be more up ahead", argued another.
"We can take little chunks with us, but that's all, if we try to take a whole pellet, the creatures will surely catch us", replied the first.
"He's right", I peeped up "We might be able to fight one, but if all three come then we'll be slaughtered".
Everyone shuddered at the word.
A roar behind us quickly ended the argument, and we all continued on making sure our arms were filled with chunks of nectar.
The sun was now very high in the sky, shortening our shadows, and making it noticeably hotter. The ground had become softer under our feet, as the sand was loose.
We continued walking for a long time until the sun was directly above us. I used my mushroom to shade myself and keep me cool. If we hadn't found the pellets we would have been dead, the creatures would have caught up and killed us.
Up ahead there were some dead plants. Their leaves were brown and cracked, because of sun and lack of moisture. A pikmin in front of me tore a piece off the leave and tasted it. He quickly spat it out.
Realizing it wasn't edible, I ate the last of my pieces of nectar, chewing slowly and gratefully. Other pikmin still had more chunks, but I didn't bother to ask for one, I was too tired for another argument.
There were also some weird plants with no leaves, just a dark green lump with a lot of sharp needles sticking out. The plant seemed healthy and edible but the needles kept us from getting close, besides it looked to strong to be able to crack open.
I saw one needle that had fallen off. I picked it up it was light and had a very sharp end. I eyed the plant, as an idea formed in my head.
I stabbed the plant with the needle and watched joyfully as drops of liquid streamed out, moistening the ground. I stabbed the plant again and again, pikmin around me bent to the ground and started sipping little puddles that formed on the dry ground. I bent down to take a sip myself, the juice tasted bitter but it wasn't poisonous. It would have to do.
I decided to keep the needle; it would make a good weapon, and help if I had to fight one of those creatures. I smiled as I pictured myself stabbing the black and red one in the eye.
The day passed into the afternoon as we continued on. The path was wide at some parts and very narrow at others causing us to go single file. It weaved a lot so we could never see straight ahead. I had a feeling the path had once been a river, but had dried out because of the heat.
It continued to get hotter. The air was dry and my footsteps were sluggish. Soon we might be reduced to crawling. As we rounded a corner, the pathway suddenly widened, stretching out both ways and we gasped at what we saw.
Review's would be nice and constructive critiscism is good too.