Disclaimer: I own neither pikmin nor its characters
Chapter 27: the origins of it all
I woke up to the lurch of the rocket as it went to land. After quickly eating, I jumped out. I didn't recognize where I was, and I didn't see any onions. In fact, I didn't even see Olimar. The ground was sandy, but there were no footprints, which meant I was the only one here. Did he put the ship on auto pilot? Did the ship even have an auto pilot? There was nowhere for me to go, and I had no idea where anything was. The ship put me here for a reason, and I had to find out why. I searched for an opening in the dense forest around me, but there was nothing. I was so focused, I didn't notice the single onion landing silently, or the salient pikmin that came out. My suit beeped, indicating something was near. I took off my suit quickly, knowing it would only hinder me, but wasn't faced with an enemy. Instead, a single colorless pikmin stood in front of me. "You're the guy from yesterday, aren't you?" I asked, not expecting a response. I was surprised when he nodded in agreement. "Well, I'm Alex, but I don't know your name." the pikmin looked at me. I was getting ready to say something else, when he spoke. "I'm star, the leader of the dream pikmin" he spoke! I stood amazed that he had trusted me enough to speak to me when he only just met me, then I remembered what I had thought about these amazing creatures "oh, uh, sorry about calling you useless, I didn't understand who you were" star looked at me "you realized our true nature, and if we hadn't forgiven you, we wouldn't have returned" hang on, we? "If you're the only pikmin of your kind here, why do you say 'we'?" I asked "well, I refer to the onion as one of our own, we did grow it ourselves. For other pikmin, the onion is a temporary shelter, for us, it is our life. We only have one onion, other pikmin can get another easily. Because our onion is so important, we give it the respect it deserves. This time I use we in the sense of my kind. There are more like me, but they are in the dream city, which few creatures go to and return from." Dream city…the way he said it made it seem like a place that was already there "what's dream city?" I asked "dream city is the place where all dreams go, and where returning dreams come from. Any dream you have goes to dream city, if the dream reoccurs, it's because it returned. Dream pikmin are one of the few creatures aloud to travel to and from it without a destination." There was more, I knew it, but I figured I'd have to be visited by one of the free-traveling dream creatures (a story for another day) "so you're the first dream pikmin?" I asked, kind of awkwardly. He nodded "I can single handedly defeat almost any enemy, and have never been reincarnated" "reincarnated?" I asked. "Yes, any dream pikmin that survives long enough to get to the city is stored in the onions database, to be reincarnated if he or she parishes in battle, or through hazard. Any pikmin born on the field is a colorless pikmin that shelters in our onion. Once he or she decides to make a permanent home, they create a copy that they can transfer their memories into, and that pikmin will never truly die. That's when they become dream pikmin." Wow, dream pikmin were so complex! "Don't you ever get lonely?" I asked, realizing he didn't have a partner "yes, being the only one on the field is lonesome, but I must go without a partner until your dreams allow another to spawn." "So, you can't make another dream pikmin until you have a partner?" he nodded "dream pikmin are limited to partners, we are too weak to do anything but fight alone. On the first visit, I am the only pikmin, if I come back, I will be with my partner, Starlet." Starlet… "Wait, is she-" "my mate, yes" so they did 'date'! I wonder why the other pikmin don't show signs "it's because the others are focused on the outer world, while dream pikmin are focused on the inside." Telepathy, forgot about that. All of a sudden, my vision got blurry for a second, but quickly went back to normal. "Why is my vision getting blurry?" Asked "your waking up, we can't keep you in the dream world forever." He said. He ran towards the onion as the sun speed up its course, and set, even though it was only noon a second ago. The onion took off, and when I blinked, my eyes opened to the rocket. I rubbed my eyes as I looked at my watch and saw it was midnight. I went back to sleep, hoping to see star again some time, though I knew it wouldn't be until Olimar left. The next day was uneventful, except for another ship part being collected. I didn't tell anyone about star, I wanted to make sure he wanted himself known first. I realized there were only 3 days left before Olimar had to leave, or die trying. I tried not to dwell on it as I went to sleep that day. I really hoped Star would visit me again soon, even though I knew he wouldn't.
Getting closer and closer to the finale! I have one more chapter I don't have an idea for, and I actually wasn't planning on putting Star in until the next story, but I ran out of ideas. It may be a while until the next chapter while I think of a story for it, but it will come as soon as possible. Remember the usual: I love criticism of all kinds, reviews encourage me, and I'm (somewhat) open to input. Stay tuned!
