In The Land Of Pikmin

In The Land Of Pikmin; Part 15

Note: Italics are pikmin speaking in the ancient pikmin language.

Disclaimer: I do not own Nintendo or Pikmin. As much as I wish I did, I do not. If I did, we would have a Pikmin RTS Online by now.

Bubbles

So there we were. Flamer and I were sitting alone in our tent, and I was about to tell him my biggest secret. I knew he would keep it, but I couldn't seem to diffuse all of my fear. I cleared my throat, and began to tell him my story.

"I was born at Base 12, originally. That's northwest of Camp Kenmore. But I… you see… I wasn't widely accepted. That's because I was… I have no gills, Flamer."

"What? What do you mean? I can see your gills from here." He pointed to my gill slits, and I nodded.

"These look like gills, don't they? But they aren't. They are only a tattoo."

"What's a tattoo?"

"It is a type of ink, permanently set into the skin. These gills are not real, Flamer." I grabbed his hand, and I passed his hand over the false gills.

He looked confused. "But the day you rescued me, you had to swim to save me! How did you manage that?"

I shook my head. "It was very lucky of me. I had to resurface for air many times. I could have drowned as well."

"Then you really are a hero!"

"What?"

"You dove in to save me despite your setback!"

"I- I did what anyone would have done."

"And I thank you! You're the best, Bubbles!" Flamer spontaneously hugged me, and I returned the gesture after a moment of shock. So he wasn't upset at all? Good old Flamer.

"And then what happened?" He asked me suddenly.

"Well, I left. After constant mocking for several years, I just left. I wandered the wilderness for almost three months. I burned myself with these marks, to disguise the fact that I had no gills. Then one day, I stumbled upon an army outpost, under the command of the same commander you and I have today. And I decided to join. I had nothing better to do. There I met Spout and Toxin, among many others, and Toxin had joined on the same day that I did."

"Two years later, I end up as a sub-leader with a brand-new recruit, Smog. Only Toxin and Spout were transferred along with me, so I didn't know many people. But after some more training, we set off to take the entire continent by storm."

"And then you met me!" Flamer interjected. "You must be a great fighter, then."

"Why do you think I'm a sub-leader?"

"As am I, as of today. How hard is it?"

"It isn't that bad, only a bit of paperwork and a few responsibilities. You're still new, so leave most of the strategy to Smog and I."

"Come to think of it, I should tell you something too. I'm actually from Base 45, not Camp Kenmore. Both Zap and I. We really did attend Elcowitz Boot Camp, though. We kind of got stuck in a crate, and Smog helped us out, but not until we were miles and miles from home. So we joined the army."

"What? That's the strangest thing I've heard today! But I suppose I understand why you didn't tell the commander the truth. Stowaways are not received well."

"Just don't tell anyone. Promise?"

"Yup. Can you promise to keep my secret?"

"Yup." He imitated my answer. I laughed and grappled him. We rolled laughing from one cot to the other, until we were completely exhausted.

"Goodnight, Flamer."

"G'night."

We rolled up in our blankets, and went to sleep on our thin cots, designed for traveling, not permanency. I wondered how much longer it would be before we saw home again. I then realized that I had forgotten to write in my diary, but dismissed it until the morning. Both of us soon fell asleep.

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Smog (2 DAYS LATER)

It turns out that we didn't all get killed. That's good. My new friends and I survived Buggy Hills, and now we were moving on. It was only the morning of the ninth day today, but it felt like so much longer.

It had only taken the army one day to clear the TallPlant forest. Flamer, myself, and the rest who had been underground were ordered to stay behind to put together a massive report on the incident. We got an extra four hours to sleep, as well, that's always good.

It was on the next day that things turned sour. Our commander tripled our physical training, and it was easy to catch slackers, because there were less people to keep track of. Phyll had no trouble keeping up because he was very fit. Viper was pretty exhausted by the time we were dismissed for lunch, however. He said something snide about the workout, and Bubbles, Flamer and Phyll laughed. I couldn't understand him, though, so I felt sort of left out. Instead, I spent most of my time with Zap during lunch and the first leg of the march to what would be our new location.

We were headed to the Crimson Savannah. This place was said to be home to several different types of blowhogs; Sandy, Fiery, Watery, and Withering. Also there would be Fiery Bulblaxes to contend with.

The area was to be divided into fifty sections, one for each squad. Each section would be about one and a third miles wide and nearly fifty miles long. To effectively clear the area, we would need a little less than three weeks. The plan was to communicate with smoke signals when we needed assistance and the like.

So it was a three-day march to a three-week fight. Fantastic. And the reduced size of Troop 45 wasn't very comforting either. Everyone calls me pessimistic, but I'm just looking at reality. Can our army really clear such a vast area?

The army set up camp after the long hike, and Troop 45 unpacked all of the tents and cots from their carts. Zap had been moved to my tent, and we decided to set up near Bubbles' tent so we could all talk. Viper, Phyll, Spout, Toxin, and Rugburn also set up nearby. Rugburn now had his tent to himself after his bunkmate decided to move to a different tent.

We built a good-sized fire, and the nine of us just sat back and talked for most of the evening. Bud came to join us after sunset, so we were then a group of ten. We talked about the past and the future.

"And just as it was about to swallow me whole, it gave a horrible squeal, and dropped me the sweet, sweet earth. My comrades had killed it just as I thought it was all over. The Hairy Bulborb heaved once, and was still." Toxin had just finished telling his story about nearly getting eaten by a Hairy Bulborb. I myself was feeling pretty tired, and nearly dozed off.

"My story couldn't have been that boring Smog." Toxin said, feigning a hurt voice. "You try telling one."

"Tell us about yourself, Smog." Said Rugburn suddenly. "None of us know anything about you.

"You want to hear my story? Fine, but then you'll understand why I'm so pessimistic all of the time." I glared at those around me.

"We're all friends. I know that. But I had other friends, years ago, before they were killed. I've experienced hurt far beyond any of your imaginations."

"I'm from Base 45, just like Fl--" I caught myself from revealing the secret. "—It's near HTC, and the army marched through it at the start of this horrible journey. I didn't want to join the army. I wanted to be left alone. Then I was drafted."

"My best friends from more than two years ago never would have allowed me to go, not alone. I only knew them for a month, but I knew right away that I wanted to be there for them always. But fate wouldn't have that. When we were harvesting pellets; we worked together, that's how I met them; a greater spotted Jellyfloat sucked them up. I couldn't do anything, I just had to run. And I did. I ran away. And the only two people I cared about were swept away."

"Their names were L.B. and Node. Red and yellow, respectively. When I met Flamer and Zap, I was so surprised that I stuttered a little. I even fainted standing up. You reminded me so much of them, that it scared me. And now here we are, you are my friends."

"I'm not the weakling I was before I joined the army. I was so wallowing in pity before. Now I have a purpose. So even though I say I hate that I was drafted, it probably saved me. As much as I hate the war, I see its necessity. I won't let anything happen to my friends again, ever."

I stopped talking, and there was an awkward silence for a minute.

"I had no idea, Smog." Bubbles said weakly. She translated my story into pikmin old for the greens, and then the silence resumed.

I got up from the group and went to bed. I cried a little bit, but I can't be blamed for that.

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Brilliance!

-SZ