I felt… strange. The other pikmin were sitting in the center of the nest, discussing the Dark Demon problem, but I wasn't listening. I was too busy thinking about the blue's echoing words.

"As long as pikmin depend on an Onion for survival, they will never see themselves as anything more than servants."

I didn't want to believe it. I kept trying to convince myself that it didn't need to be true. But it was precisely how I had seen myself. It was precisely how my friend had seen himself. It was precisely how every red pikmin I had ever known had seen themselves.

And yet, in spite of my doubts, I couldn't shake the feeling that it wasn't so all-or-nothing. Why couldn't pikmin be creative and live with an Onion?

I ran that question through my head over and over again, but even THAT felt wrong, in the same sense that asking, "why can't a pikmin be yellow and fireproof," is wrong. But the answer to that question is obvious. The answer to the Onion question… was not.

It was like my feelings were at war with each other, like the blacks and oranges…

…The blacks and oranges...

I winced at the memory of them fighting, and yet, something about it triggered my curiosity. Was it really the Onions' fault? Or was something else going on here?

I had so many questions, and very few answers, but one thing I knew was that I was tired of the other pikmin trying to sway me. The blue showed me the clashing pikmin, the male yellow showed me the trapmin, and the white kept arguing that me being left behind was a good thing. The only pikmin that didn't give me any problems was the female yellow.

…Why was that? It hadn't occurred to me before, but compared to the other pikmin, she was awfully quiet. In fact, I didn't recall ever hearing a single anti-Onion comment from her. It was almost suspicious.

I dwelled on these thoughts for a bit longer before I decided what I wanted to do. It was time to kill two Demons with one bomb-rock.

…But the tricky part was figuring out how to do it without drawing too much attention to myself.

I listened in on the other pikmin's conversation. The blue was saying something about stalking the Dark Demon and memorizing its patrol path, the male yellow was worried about it reproducing, my red friend wanted to kill it somehow, the white wanted to disguise herself as another pikmin to distract it, and the female yellow was sitting silently, apparently having fallen out of the conversation.

How convenient.

"Psst, Yellow," I said, crawling over to her.

"Yes?" she replied, turning her head.

"What do you say you and I go on a foraging trip?" I asked.

"Right now? Why?"

"Well, with that Dark Demon prowling around, I think it would be a good idea to stockpile on food. You know, so we can lay low for awhile if things get rough."

"That sounds like a good idea," said the male yellow, apparently overhearing us. "It's always good to have a backup plan."

"Yeah, exactly," I said.

"I suppose you're right. Why just us, though?" asked the female yellow.

"Two is a good number. It's big enough for us to watch each other's backs, but it's small enough to not attract too much attention," I said. I was impressed by my on-the-spot excuse.

"I guess that makes sense. What do you think, Blue?" she asked.

"I agree that foraging would be a good idea," said the blue. "The rest of us are busy right now, anyway. Don't go too far and you should be fine."

"Will do! Or won't do? Bah, you know what I mean," I said. "Come on, let's go."

I lead the female yellow outside, waving to my red friend as I left. He waved back, but not without throwing a subtle glare at me.

"Anything in particular you'd like to look for?" the yellow asked.

"When I was running away from that Demon, I saw a bunch of Nectar Spirits flying around in a clearing. I think there might be a colony there, and if there is, we can raid them for their eggs and nectar."

"Ooh, lead the way!"

She sounded so excited, and it made me feel bad because she was destined for a rude awakening.

"So tell me," I said as we started walking. "What's your history with the Onion?

There was a brief silence before she asked, "what do you mean by that?"

"Well, when we were hiding from the Demon, the blue told me what his beef with the Onion was and why he left. I'm just a bit curious as to what happened with you and the other yellow, exactly."

"But the blue already went over this," she said, a hint of franticness in her voice. "Remember what he said about the orange leader and-"

"That was different. Back then, he just told me what happened. But today, he told me what it was like from his perspective. It was more personal," I explained.

"I see…" she murmured.

"So…?" I asked, trying to coax her into speaking.

"Mmm… Well…"

"Yes?"

"Life with the Onion wasn't that great," she said, shrugging.

"What was wrong with it?" I pressed.

"Well, I…"

Her stem stiffened.

"Look! A Fire Spitter!" she said, pointing.

I looked ahead and saw that there was, indeed, a Fire Spitter in our path.

"Oh, is that it?" I said, lacking her instinctive fear of the beast. "I'll distract it so you can sneak past."

I did just that, allowing the Fire Spitter to shoot its flames at me while the yellow snuck past. Once she was out of range, I rejoined her.

"Doesn't that hurt?" she asked.

"No, not really. So, about the Onion…"

"Maybe we should worry less about the Onion, and more about staying alert? I don't want anything catching us off guard, and I almost didn't see that Fire Spitter."

"Well, alright then…" I said.

At this point, it was blindingly obvious that she was hiding something, but I decided not to pursue the matter further. All I could do was wonder what happened between her and the Onion, exactly. For all I knew, her story could've been the same as the blue's, but that raised the question as to why she couldn't have just repeated what he said. I couldn't shake the feeling that something else was going on…

We continued traveling for awhile, occasionally having to navigate around Demon Harbingers and Red-Eyed Stabbers. We also encountered a Flower Creeper or two, but I hardly considered those a threat, what with their terrible disguises. Seriously, what did they think they were fooling?

"Red, how much farther is the colony? We've been walking for quite awhile now," said the yellow.

"Oh, we still have a ways to go," I replied.

There was a lengthy silence.

"…Red?" she asked.

"Yes?"

"We're not really going to a Nectar Spirit colony, are we?"

"No, we're not."

She sighed and shook her head.

"Look, I've been to this part of the woods before. I know where you're trying to go. You're making a big mistake," she warned.

"I need to do this," I said.

"Why?" she asked.

"Because I-…"

I was about to tell her, but stopped short when an idea crossed my mind.

"Hey, what do you say we make a deal? I answer your question, and you answer mine?" I offered.

"What question?"

"You know exactly what question I'm referring to."

The yellow scowled.

"…Fine. But you go first," she said.

"Fair enough," I nodded. "Lately, I've been feeling conflicted over whether Onion life is good or bad. I can't make up my mind on my own, and the other pikmin aren't helping, so I'm paying a visit to the Orange and Black Onions."

"What do you think that will accomplish?"

"I don't know, but I don't have any better ideas. I can't just go back to my own Onion to see if it's as good as I remember it. Going to the oranges and blacks is the best I can think of."

"So basically, you're seeking answers from them because you don't have anyone else to turn to?" she asked.

"Yeah, pretty much."

"That's completely irrational! They think their purpose in life is to kill each other!"

"I know it sounds irrational. But I think that if I learn more about them, I'll learn more about myself, too."

"You're one crazy pikmin," she said, grinning.

"You've got that right," I laughed.

"Are you sure want to do this? Because the last time you saw the oranges and blacks…"

"Yes, I'm sure. This is just something I have to do," I insisted.

"Alright. I'm coming with you, then," said the yellow.

"Thank you. I appreciate it."

"So, shall we get a move on?" she asked.

"Not so fast there, Yellow. I believe it's your turn."

Her eye twitched.

"We made a deal," I reminded her.

"Okay, okay…. " the yellow sighed, finally relenting. "Remember all those things the blue said about the Onion being bad, and how pikmin are better off without it?"

I nodded, expecting a rehash of the blue's speech.

"Well, I don't believe in any of that. I left for a completely different reason."