Authors Note: Hey everybody. Thank you very much for your patience. I'm sorry I don't' upload as frequently as others but I had to deal with writing other stories on my deviantart, major writer's block and preparations for returning to university in a couple of weeks. I'm truly thankful for your patience and I will happily welcome any suggestions you have for the story. Thank you and enjoy.
The Straw Hats are encountering more and more of the unusual life forms of the island. Zoro wanders into and hive, Nami, Aika and Kumi encounter an expecting Mother and Luffy soon becomes a parent himself.
One Piece belongs to Oda
Blizzard, Aika and Kumi belong to XfangheartX
Pikmin belongs to Nintendo
One Piece! The Wonders of Pikmin Island! Ch. 4- Bulborb Business.
"Hm-hm-hm, hm-hm-hm-hm~! Hm-hm-hm-hm-hm-hm~! Hm-hm, hm-hm-hm~!" Nami, Aika and Kumi looked on curiously as the upbeat melody echoed throughout the forest clearing. They'd been walking for quite a while now since Aika and Kumi had saved Nami from the spider web and as they had been, the pikmin started letting out a cheery hum to themselves which sounded almost like a song. Some of them had even brought their leaves to their 'mouths' and blown on them like a grass whistle. Needless to say the girls were impressed and enchanted by their music.
"You fairies are really something." Nami complimented. "I know Brook would love to meet you."
"And just wait till Big Brother does too. He's gonna be so amazed." Aika grinned.
"Let's just hope Sanji doesn't try to cook them." Nami chuckled.
"That goes double for Blizzard trying to eat them." Aika laughed back when she heard a few surprised chirps and looked to see some of the pikmin had spotted a mass of butterflies and were trying to catch them. The girls chuckled at their innocent antics until one of the butterflies flew off into the clearing and the pikmin chased after it.
"Hey~! Wait you guys, come back~!" Aika called before she hurried after them.
"Aika!" Nami shouted after her.
"Don't worry, Big Sis. I'll get them back; they're just around the corner!" Aika said as she followed the pikmin. As she rounded the corner she saw them hopping and jumping after the insect as it glided from flower to flower. Aika giggle at them when the butterfly came to a gentle stop on what looked like a large cotton dandelion.
"Wow. It sure would take a lot of huffing and puffing to blow just one seed off a dandelion that big." Aika gaped at the size of the flower before turning her attention back to the pikmin who were sneaking towards the butterfly perched atop the dandelion. "Come on you guys, we have to get moving." She called but the pikmin seemed transfixed on the butterfly as they began to bend their legs and with a sudden leap they jumped towards the butterfly which quickly took off before they could touch it as they landed on the dandelion with a flump. Aika giggled at them before she said
"Come on you've had your fun. Big Sis Nami's waiting for us. We'll play more…" but her sentence trailed off suddenly. The 'dandelion' was moving and then all of a sudden it rose off the ground causing the pikmin to tumble off it and as Aika looked on in surprise, the 'dandelion'… had legs? It slowly turned around and Aika gasped. It wasn't a dandelion at all; it was some kind of mammal with a pointed pale white muzzle and a large pair of eyes on stalks while its rump was completely covered in a large mass of fluffy fur which the group had mistaken for the aforementioned flower which partially obscured the dusky blue spots on its abdomen. It slowly blinked at the group implying it was still half asleep before it opened its mouth to yawn revealing many sharp teeth within. Aika gulped.
"Everyone, just back away…slowly." She said as they began to take a few steps back while the animal began to gain even more consciousness as it began to slowly plod after them in turn but didn't seem to threatening but that soon ended when its foot caught on a nearby root causing it to fall to the ground and wake up completely. It sharply turned its gaze to Aika and the pikmin before letting out a thunderous roar and that was all they needed to run.
"HELP!" Aika cried as she and the pikmin ran with the monster in tow, snapping at their heels.
"Aika?!" Nami said as she saw the little girl round the corner with her pikmin but soon screamed as well as the beast came charging round after them as well. "Run!" The girls and pikmin dashed off as fast as they could. The hairy monster wasn't far behind as it tried to snatch them up in its jaws but at that moment one of the pink pikmin flew over and punched it in the eyes causing it to stop to roar in pain allowing the group to gain a few more feet ahead of it.
"Just stay close to me, we'll find a way to lose it!" Nami attempted to reassure Aika and Kumi, but then, when it looked like they were home free just as they ran over a small hill they stopped suddenly to see a gaping hole in front of them, too far to jump over. "Dammit we're trapped." Nami cursed as they looked to see the beast approaching them slowly, certain it had them cornered. The pikmin looked down into the hole and then too each other before nodding and then, without warning, they suddenly pushed Nami, Aika and Kumi…over the edge. Time seemed to slow down as this happened before the girls screamed in horror as they fell but not before the pikmin jumped right in after them leaving the animal dumbstruck at what had just happened to its breakfast.
XXX
Meanwhile, not too far away, Luffy had gotten back to searching for his crew having had his fill of meat. The Captain looked around for any sign of his friends as he dragged his large hat behind him by its string.
"Man, everything is just so big now, it's like a whole new world." He said to himself. "I just hope that the others are coping as well as I am." But as he carried onward he noticed a pile of objects lying by the trunk of a tree. There were four of them; they were dark brown, about the size of a small dog and seemed to have a hard crackly surface. Luffy stared at them before he wandered over and picked one up.
"They look like nuts." He assumed as he looked at the strange object from every angle. "But I'm too full right now to eat. Although Sanji did say nuts are good source of energy and protein so I shouldn't' wait them…wait, I know!" he then hurried over to his hat before grabbing the rim and with one move, flipped it over so the bowl was facing the ground now. He then proceeded to pick up the nut shaped objects and placed them in the hat.
"There. Now I can stock up for when I get hungry again." Luffy smiled before grabbing the string on his hat and went back to searching but as he dragged his hat behind him he didn't see one of the 'nuts' wobble and tremor as a tiny crack appeared on the surface.
XXX
"Well this is just terrific. As if the guys didn't get lost easily enough already. Now that we're all this tiny they're gonna get lost even quicker." Zoro kicked a stray pebble out of his path as he trudged through the undergrowth having come to terms with the sudden change he'd gone through. "I sure hope Robin's alright, but knowing her I'm sure she is. I'll bet she'll be the first to find me with those many lovely eyes of hers." he chuckled. He passed by an old hollow tree as he came to large clearing full of colourful, rocky protrusions. But at that moment he stepped on something. He looked down to see what looked like a small animal skeleton and upon looking at the skull he noticed it had a gaping hole in it though the cut was clean and without cracks so whatever had caused the damage, the user had sharp movements and an effective weapon as other pierced bones littered the area. And Zoro's growing suspicions of that he was being watched were confirmed when his ears caught the faint sound of buzzing coming from within the hollow trees surrounding him and a clicking noise which sounded from the strangely coloured rocks which had started to quiver slightly.
"Looks like I've stepped into a feeding ground." he smirked as the noises grew louder, before, out of the hollow tree came a swarm of large grub like insects with a pair of small wings and atop their backs were enormous pointed shells similar to that of a knight helmet. They were blood red with a pair of bright purple spots on the sides like a second set of eyes. But there was more, as the greenish blue rocks began to rise out of the ground revealing themselves to be the same kind of insects only these ones didn't' have wings and were slightly bigger with golden yellow spots on their sides instead of purple ones. Both kinds of insects were certainly big but were only about half the size of Blizzard. Zoro's eyes darted as he counted the advancing bugs.
"One...two...five...twenty of them. Good, I could use a challenge right now...and a meal." he grinned as he drew his swords. One of the flying grubs sped towards Zoro before it opened it's beak like mouth and suddenly, a long needle like proboscis shot out, narrowly missing Zoro's side. Several more of the bugs attempted to spear him as he evaded their rapid attacks.
"So this is how they kill their prey." he realised as he blocked one of the needles with his swords causing it to stop just an inch away from his face. "Nearly lost my other eye there." he added before he slashed back only for the hard shell atop the insect to block the attack before it retaliated. What's more the ground based ones were charging in, readying their mouthpieces. With a flip, he dodged one of their attacks and landed on top of the insect's back. Four more of the bugs noticed him and readied their barbs, but Zoro was ready for them; as they shot their weapons outwards he leapt away from the bug he was standing on and as he did so the barbs missed him and while two struck the hard shell, the other two pierced the insect in its thorax resulting in it releasing a pained scream and seconds later fell to ground, dead as dirt. The other insects released their barbs in shock at what had happened.
"So that's your weak spot. You should learn to guard it better." Zoro said while the insects hissed angrily at him before the flying ones came at him jabbing at him rapidly with their barbs. While Zoro kept his guard up, blocking the tips of their spears with the face of his blades, he had to admit they were putting up a fight even though they were animals, but then having scene what his Captain's dog was capable of he knew better than to underestimate even wild beasts. As one of them shot at him, he somersaulted over it before delivering a slash to its thorax causing it to drop down as well. The insects buzzed fiercely as their attacks began to grow even more aggressive. Zoro kept blocking their attacks but soon noticed they were beginning to surround him.
"Three sword style...tatsu, MAKI!" SWISH! He unleashed a tornado of slashes which pushed the crowd of bugs away giving him time to get out of the crowd but as he ran he felt a stabbing pain in his leg and looked to see one of the grubs had landed a hit on him as the proboscis was sticking straight through his leg and into the ground: he'd been pinned.
"Dammit!" he hissed at both the pain and position he was now in as the bugs began to surround him once more. he tried to slash at the needle but another one of the insects got in front of his sword to block the attack with its shell. "I think I'm in trouble now." he gritted his teeth as he narrowly avoided or blocked the attacks and even kicked one of the bugs away with his free leg until one of the grubs hovered over him and aimed its spear at his head and fired. Zoro managed to catch the attack by crossing his sword but the bug was slowly but surely advancing its needle closer and closer and just as it was about to pierce his skull...something snatched it out of the air. the bugs stopped to see a gigantic hand holding their comrade in its grip before it tossed the bug away across the clearing. Zoro grinned at the sight of the gargantuan limb before he spotted the caster just a few feet away.
"Take so much as one step closer to him...and I'll squash you like the bugs you are." Robin glared ferociously. The grubs stared at the woman before they backed away from Zoro, whilst the other pulled its proboscis out of hi leg. But seconds later they advanced towards her. Robin sighed irritably before she summoned a second hand.
"Mill fleur. Gigantesco mano: swat." THWAP! Three more giant hands materialized form the ground and swatted the insects away sending them scattering everywhere. Knowing they couldn't beat her, they decided to retreat back into their hive as they scurried/flew back into the hollow tree leaving Robin and Zoro alone. The archaeologist uncrossed her arms causing the giant limbs to disappear before she hurried over to Zoro.
"Figured you'd show up eventually." he grinned before Robin captured his lips in a loving kiss.
"I'm so glad I found you." she smiled as she embraced him which he returned before she looked down in concern. "Your leg..."
"Ah it's nothing. you know I've had worse." Zoro chuckled only for Robin to slap his arm.
"It's nothing to sneeze at let alone laugh at. We need to find Chopper and quickly or that wound could get infected."
"Let's just pray he was wearing his backpack when he shrunk otherwise all his equipment will be too big to use." Zoro said.
"Then we'll have to make do with this for now." Robin said before tearing off a patch of her dress.
"Robin!" Zoro blushed slightly at the revelation of leg the tear had made.
"Oh hush! Your health is far more important than my dress." she said as she used the shred of garment to bind Zoro's leg. "Now then, we have to hurry and find the others." she added as she helped Zoro to his feet.
"What's the hurry? I mean I know we have to reunite with the others and all but we're all on the same island and we know they can take care of themselves."
"It's not that." Robin added. "If we don't' find them others before sundown we'll be in serious danger."
"Why? what happens at sundown?" Zoro asked.
"It turns out the majority of these animals are nocturnal. You saw how fierce those grubs were alone but once it's night the entire island is going to be out for blood. I'll explain it all later but right now we have to go. can you walk? I can use my powers to carry you."
"No, no." Zoro waved his hand. "I can manage. Really, I can."
"Alright. Then let's go. There isn't much time left." Robin frowned as they hurried away from the area. Only ten hours till sundown.
XXX
"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" Nami, Aika and Kumi screamed as they fell down deeper and deeper into the hole.
"I DON'T WANNA DIE!" Aika cried as she hugged Nami who embraced her and Kumi back.
"We'll be alright, Aika!" the navigator replied to calm the child as best she could. "We won't die like this." but as she looked down she saw the ground fast approaching. she closed her eyes and held Aika and Kumi tight preparing for impact when all of a sudden, they landed in something soft. The girls opened their eyes to see the pikmin just beneath them, holding them up unharmed. The girls shakily got to their feet and stared at the pikmin.
"We...We're alive..." Aika whispered as she fell on her rear from the shock just before Nami seized one of the blue pikmin by its stem.
"WHAT THE HELL WAS THAT?!" she roared causing both the pikmin and Aika and Kumi to squeak in fright. "WE WERE GONNA DIE YOU LITTLE WEEDS! PUSHING US OFF THE EDGE LIKE THAT! I COULD'VE TAKEN THAT BIG BRUTE BY MYSELF!" she screamed as she shook the blue pikmin by its stem like ringing a bell. The other pikmin chirped and squeaked in what seemed to be a beg for mercy.
"Big Sis let him go!" Aika said. "They wouldn't push us in for nothing! I think they might have done something like this before. Why else would they jump in after us? They know this island better than we do." Nami looked at Aika before she let go of the pikmin.
"I guess you have a point. Sorry for shaking you." She apologised to the pikmin. "Just warn us next time instead of pushing us into holes." the pikmin nodded before they started trotting off into the cave waving for them to follow. "Come on, Aika, Kumi." Nami said as she took the little girl's hand and they followed the pikmin. The cave was very dark but luckily for the group the tips of the pikmin's stems gave off a bright enough glow for them to see enough in front of themselves.
"Stay close, girls. It's easy to get lost in here. Thank god Zoro isn't with us." Nami commented. But as they made their way through the twists and turns of the cave they eventually found their way into a large open space, so big that the light the pikmin gave off covered only a fraction of the darkness within.
"I don't like this place. It's scary." Aika shivered as she clung to Nami who petted her comfortingly.
"Don't worry, you'll be fine as long as you're with me." she reassured until a strange noised reached their ears. It sounded like, slithering. The group stared into the darkness before something came crawling out of the gloom towards them. Nami readied her clima tact and stood in front of the group but just as she was about to attack the source of the strange noise revealed itself. Out of the darkness came a little white creature. It was about shoulder high to the pikmin with a pear-shaped body with a pale yellow snout while also sporting a large pair of eye stalks similar to the ones of the hairy creature that had chased them earlier.
(A.N. Behold: the most adorably dangerous monster in the entire game franchise)
"What...is that?" Nami stared at it in confusion. Aika looked at it in equal curiosity before she smiled.
"Hello, little guy." she said as she wandered over a few steps towards it. The worm like creature blinked at Aika before it crawled towards her and sniffed her open hand. The little girl smiled back at it sweetly but just before she was about to pet it, the creature opened its mouth revealing a set of long sharp teeth and in the split second it did so it snapped it's jaw shut and if it weren't for the pikmin pulling Aika away she would've lost her hand. The girl screamed as the pikmin pulled her away form the worm in time and passed her to Nami who held her tight while one of the blue pikmin charged at the worm and with an angry squeal and a strong swing of its stem it crushed the worm into a puddle of slime.
"Big Sis..." Aika whimpered "I-"
"It's ok. I thought it looked harmless too." Nami said. "All of you stay behind me." she added before the slithering noise returned and seconds later a whole bunch of the little worm like creatures came crawling towards them gnashing their mouths hungrily. Aika trembled while Kumi and the pikmin growled defensively and Nami prepared her clima tact.
"Stand back, everyone." she cautioned. "I'm gonna clear a path through these maggots and then we make a run for it. Ready?!" the others nodded as she pointed one of the poles at the worms. "Gust SWORD!" FWOOOSH! A blast of wind was unleashed from the pole and blasted the worms back while leaving an open path. "NOW RUN!" with that they sped as fast as they could through the colony while Nami carried Aika and Kumi the pink pikmin carried the blues safely over the worms.
"Dammit it's too dark in here, I can't even see where I'm going. Wait I know!" Nami said before he swung one of her poles. "Weather egg!" a little egg shaped cloud flew from the pole and high into the cave. "Now hatch, baby sunshine." CRACK! SHEEEEEEEEN! The egg popped open and a blazing ball of sunlight burst from the cloud, illuminating the cave. The worms squealed at the sudden brightness bringing them to a grinding halt as the group sped passed them.
"Nice one, Nami!" Kumi yipped.
"Hey! Look out for that giant toadstool!" Aika piped up.
"Toadstool?" Nami questioned as she looked where Aika was pointing to see something big and red, covered in white spots up ahead. But as the sunshine lit up more of the cave, the 'toadstool' suddenly stirred and a deep sound emanated form it, almost like a yawn.
"Guys, I don't think that's a toadstool." Nami said as the strange red object began to quiver until...Pop! One of the little white worms popped out of it and seconds later it began to elongate, growing longer and longer until lying before the group, groaning drowsily...was an enormous red and white caterpillar and sticking out of its front was a tiny little face that looked exactly like the hairy beast from before complete with a pair of minuscule legs hanging beneath which didn't even come close to touching the ground.
"It's...a caterpillar?" Aika stared at the giant worm. "But...one of those white grub things jumped out of it."
"Then that means...these worms are all babies." Nami realised. "And this creature is their Mother." but the observation was suddenly broken as the caterpillar turned and spotted them before it shot a glare at them.
"I don't think she's happy to see us." Aika whimpered before the caterpillar straightened her engorged body, and began to roll towards them.
"LOOK OUT! SHE'S GONNA SQUASH US!" Nami yelled as they hurried to the far end of the cave. The pikmin ran close behind them as fast as they could though a few of them unfortunately weren't fast enough as they fell under the worm's weight, crushing them flat. Aika held back her tears at their loss but kept running until they got passed the caterpillar's head, avoiding her fat body as she slammed into the side of the cave causing a quake in the process as rocks began to fall from the ceiling. One came dangerously close to Kumi though the blue pikmin scooped her up in time as it hit the ground. the group ran in all directions as the caterpillar rolled back and forth, crushing any of the white worms that tired to crawl towards Nami and the others while also causing more rocks to fall from the ceiling.
"This is madness! If I don't think of a strategy fast we're either gonna be eaten by those worms or crushed under that overly pregnant caterpillar. And what's worse, we're trapped underground. We're in serious trouble here." Nami thought in rising panic. "But I won't give up! We're Straw Hats and we always pull through!" But as the caterpillar attempted to crush them once more only to hit the wall again, a glowing spiderweb of cracks split across the ceiling allowing sunlight to seep through them causing the worm to stop rolling and look up just before the ceiling caved in sending all below into screams of shock.
XXX
Back above ground however, Luffy was carrying onward with his hatful of nuts in tow as he sang to himself.
"Well~! The island's in the south are warm~! And their heads get really hot~! They grow a-pineapples, they grow a-coconuts, and they're all morons~!" but he came to a sudden stop when he felt the ground shake. "Whoa-oa-oa-oa!" he teetered on his foot in a attempt to keep his balance before the trembling stopped. He looked around curiously and scratched his head.
"Well that was weird. Oh well, next verse." he said as eh went back to walking and singing. "Well~ The islands in the north are snowy~! And their heads get really cold~! They're very chilly-chilly, they're very willy-nilly, and they're all idiots~!" but he was interrupted again by another rumble only it was even stronger this time.
"Dammit! Why do I never get to finish this song?! Who's interrupting me?!" he shouted grumpily, waving his arms until eh felt the shaking again and noticed it was coming from beneath him. "Down there, huh?" he pouted before he stamped him foot on the ground. "Whoever's down there shut up, you're ruining my song ya jerk!" he said before starting up once again. "Next verse: Islands in the east are-" KROOOM! Before he could sing another lyric the ground suddenly shattered beneath him and he fell in leaving his hat behind. "AAAAAAAAAAAAAHHH!" but as he fell he landed on something soft and bouncy and as he looked down he found himself sitting on a big red caterpillar with white spots.
"What the? What kind of sausage is this?" he asked as he looked around and saw a horde of white worm like creatures crawling away from the fallen rubble. "Just where am I?" until he heard a what sounded like coughing and looked towards the other end of the cave which was currently obscured by dust from the fallen rocks. But as he looked harder he gasped as he spotted a small figure lying among st the rubble and a small puppy was beside her, licking her face and she was also surrounded by a mass of small blue and pink creatures.
"AIKA!" Luffy shouted as he ran to her. The pink and blue creatures saw him coming and stood in front of Aika with their arms held out defensively. "OUT OF MY WAY!" Luffy roared as he kicked them away from her and pulled Aika into his arms. "Aika! Aika say something! Anything!" the little girl strained as she opened her eyes slowly until Luffy's image came into view above her and she gasped.
"BIG BROTHER!" she cried as she threw her arms around him while he did the same.
"Oh Aika I'm so glad you're alright! I was so worried! Are you okay?!" Luffy asked as he checked her over.
"No I'm alright, just a bit overwhelmed. I thought those rocks were gonna crush me." she sniffed as she held Luffy tight. "They must have got me away in time."
"They?"
"Luffy?" the Captain turned around when he heard his name and his mouth fell open as he saw Nami standing a few feet away.
"Nami?" the navigator stared at him until she ran towards him and tackled him with a hug. "Nami you're here too!" Luffy cheered before he was silenced by Nami giving him a big chaste kiss causing Aika to giggle at them. She pulled away after about ten seconds before smiling at him tearfully.
"I knew you'd find me somehow." she beamed.
"Was there ever any doubt?" Luffy grinned back as Nami allowed him to get up before Kumi bounded over and Licked his face makignhim chuckle.
"Good to see you too, Kumi." he smiled as pet her, when he noticed the pikmin wandering over to them before he stood in front of the girls. "Don't worry girls, I'll protect you form these things! They don't look so tough!"
"No, no, wait!" Aika said as she ran in front of him. "They're not dangerous. They're our friends. They saved me, Kumi and Nami. They're fairies."
"Fairies?" Luffy questioned. "They don't look like fairies to me."
"They are. They can fly, breathe underwater, sing and they can even glow." Aika debated.
"And you're saying they saved you guys?"
"It's true, Luffy. I was almost eaten by a giant spider and Aika and Kumi were nearly eaten by a fish but they saved us all." Luffy turned his gaze from them tot he pikmin before he went over and got on his knees to bow to them.
"Thank you. I'm sorry for attacking you earlier. These three are very important to me and it's thanks to you that they're alright." the pikmin chirped in understanding as they patted his head as a sign to stop bowing until they heard a loud and groan and looked to see the caterpillar and the worms. The former looked rather dazed, probably due to the fact that a piece of rubble had hit it on the head when the ceiling collapsed and the white worms were nuzzling it whining in worried manner.
"Were they trying to harm your girls?" Luffy asked.
"Well the little ones tried to eat us and the big one tried to squash us so yeah." Nami replied. Luffy glared at them but before he could advance Aika grabbed his hand.
"Wait! Don't hurt them!" she said.
"Aika, honey with all due respect, they just tired to kill and eat us." Nami argued.
"It's not their fault! They're predators and we walked right into their nest. Would you blame a tiger and her cubs wanting to eat us if we ended up in their den?"
"She has got a point." Kumi agreed.
"Please, she was just trying to defend her home. and we have a way out now, so, can we just leave them peace?" Luffy and Nami glanced at each other before they smiled at Aika.
"You have a big heart, you know that?" Luffy said ruffling her hair earning a giggle from Aika. "How about you, Nami?"
"If it gets me out of this cave, I'm good." Nami smiled.
"Then hold on." Luffy said as he wrapped his arm around Nami and his legs around Aika and Kumi before grabbing the ledge of the hole with his other arm as they bungeed up and out of the pit with the pikmin following.
XXX
"Man it sure feels good to be out int he sun again. I thought we'd be lost down there like Zoro on a one way street." Nami laughed as the group were safely back on the surface.
"Well I don't know about you but I'm starting to get hungry." said Luffy as he climbed into his hat and came back holding the four nuts.
"Luffy what are those?" Nami asked.
"Nuts. I found them on my way here and I've been saving them for later. want one?" Luffy offered.
"They don't look like any nuts I've ever seen." Nami said as she took one in her hands when it jittered suddenly causing her to drop it while the other three nuts also began to shimmy and shake.
"Big Brother are you sure you didn't find some jumping beans instead?" Aika asked when shells of the nuts began to crack and split as thought something was trying to fight its way out from within. Until, all of a sudden...four small animals popped out of the nuts and tumbled onto the ground in front of Nami and Luffy. They shakily tried to get to their legs but only wobbled and stumbled, having not gained enough strength. They appeared to be the same species as the hairy beast which was an apt comparison because one of the four creatures looked exactly like it, only much smaller and it's fur coat was shorter and fuzzier. The second one looked like the creature Luffy ate with the long anteater snout. The third was a dark brown with an orange abdomen covered in spots of the same dark brown colour. Lastly, the fourth animal had a large red abdomen with big white spots and it's snout was tanned.
"...Well those aren't nuts." Luffy said breaking the silence.
"Obviously!" anmi snapped. "Luffy those weren't nuts, they were cocoons."
"Coccoons? You mean like a butterly."
"Yes. They have the same face and eyes as that big worm we fought underground. These must be what those little white grubs turn into when they grow up."
"Now that you mention, I was attacked by an animal hat looked just like that one with the long snout. I ate it."
"And we were chased by a big version of that fluffy one." Aika pointed as the quadruplets were starting to gain control of their legs as they began to stand up and open their eyes. While the red, long-snouted and hairy ones all had different shades of blue the orange one had pitch black eyes with golden irises. They squinted at the light as they began to gain their vision until they saw Luffy and Nami kneeling before them. They blinked before they began to waddle over to them. Nami reached for her clima tact but Luffy held her arm.
"Wait." he said before he held out his hand to them. The red one sniffed his palm and looked at him before it pounced on him.
"Luffy!"
"Big Brother!" but the cries of fear were suddenly drowned out by cries of laughter as the girls and pikmin looked in surprise to see the animal licking and nuzzling Luffy's face. The fluzzy one was trying to climb onto his front as well but couldn't seem to get a grip.
"Stop that tickles!" he laughed as it rubbed its cheek against his, purring softly. "He likes me."
"But why? aren't they supposed to be predators?" Nami wondered until she looked own to see the long-snouted one rubbing up against her while the orange one had crawled into her lap. "H-Hey, wait a minute!" she stuttered before the orange one licked her face sending her into a fit of giggles as well. "Hahaha w-why are they being so friendly?" she laughed before Aika chuckled.
"I think they think you and Big brother are their parents." she giggled.
"WHAAAT?!" the couple said in disbelief.
"Well you know they say when a baby is born, no matter what kind, the first living thing it sees it views as its parent. You and Luffy were the first things those babies saw so now they've bonded to you." Nami looked at her in utter bewilderment and then to Luffy who was cuddling the red and fluzzy ones.
"Can we keep them, Nami?" he asked. 'We're their parents after all." he grinned.
"Don't be a smartass, Luffy! We don't' even know what they are!" Nami argued until the animals stared at Nami with pleading looks. They're bulbous eyes seemed to double in size as they stared at her, whimpering while the long-snouted and orange ones even licked her cheeks causing her to chew her lip before she let out a wail of defeat and embraced them.
"I"m naming you Terry and you Noodle." she said to the orange and long-snouted animals.
"Why those names?" Luffy asked.
"Well cause this one's coloured like a chocolate orange and this one has a long tongue like a noodle." Nami explained.
"Man you really aren't good at names." Luffy muttered.
"Oh? So what are you naming yours, smart guy?" Nami pouted.
"I'm naming him Spot and her Fluffy." Luffy pointed to the red and fuzzy ones.
"Uh-huh, top naming right there." Nami complimented sarcastically as Terry wandered over to Aika and the pikmin. He sniffed Aika's open palm before licking it, inviting her to pet him which she did while one of the blue pikmin trotted over to Noodle who looked at him curiously as he copied Aika's gesture as she sniffed his hand and licked it before the pikmin petted her snout. The rest of the pikmin looked on curiously before they went to interact with the other three. Kumi was even curious as she'd started to play chase with Spot.
"Unbelievable. Who'd have thought that we'd end up adoptive parents to these four little ones." Nami said.
"Tell me about it." Luffy agreed before he stood up. 'We should get moving. Now that I've found you guys, it shouldn't take long to find the others, and once we're all together again, we'll find a way to get big again. Plus with all these little guys, we know we've got our backs covered."
"As optimistic as ever, Luffy." Nami grinned.
"Shishishi, that's my Big Brother." Aika smiled proudly before the group headed off back into the forest with Spot, Fluffy, Noodle and Terry close behind them...unaware that they'd started to increase in size; they weren't done growing yet.
To be continued...
