I'M BACK, BABY.
Sorry. I was a bit…distracted…by the announcement of Halo 3 Recon, as well as other things, but I'm glad to be delivering moar ONE MUST DIE. We'll start of the chapter with another flashback, and then talk more about the orange/bulbmin relationship (which isn't stated directly, but I hope people will at least make assumptions), and then quite literally get on the move. So, here you go, guys.
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"I need a sit-rep now," The red officer, Reld Firefist, stated quickly. He was standing with his army on the top of a hill in the middle of the bleak expanse known as the Barrens. To his forces' left was the slightly smaller blue army, its leader—Gandon—in clear sight.
The hill they had chosen was dwarfed by the ant colony looming over them, which had been the final (and immediate) objective of both armies. It needed pacification.
"It's not good, sir," The lowly red soldier said worriedly, his meager leaf blowing in the slight breeze. His voice was almost drowned out by the clacking of hundreds of feet, slowly making their way down from the top of the ant colony. The ants were coming full force—though Reld had been planning to quickly counterattack after the ants were defeated at the foot of their colony, he had eventually decided to pull back onto the nearby high ground with the blues and wait for a (hopefully) final wave of bugs. "We've counted at least seventy drones, fifty regulars, and about forty soldiers in the wave."
The soldier's numbers seemed accurate. Reld spotted many of the smaller than average drones scrambling down the hill; about the length of the bottom half of his leg, the little bugs were a grave threat in large numbers and alongside larger types of ants. Then came the regulars—ants that served multiple purposes. The jack-of-all-trades breed, regulars could fight, gather, and complete other tasks effectively. Finally, the force included soldiers—far more deadly than either of the two types, soldiers had spiked carapaces and limbs, and were much harder to kill than other ants. They had one purpose, which was to kill. Other than flyers and blood ants, the pikmin had not spotted any other types.
The ants thundered towards the bottom of their own hill, and would soon be upon the pikmin forces. "Stand ready!" Reld called to his troops, who looked uneasy as the ants neared. "Rangers, prepare!" The red pikmin armed with stones raised them, soon to throw.
"Ramn, don urdnot!" Across the way, Gandon doled out similar orders in his own tongue. His own stone throwers raised their own projectiles, looking consiberably more prepared for a fight.
There was a short pause as the ants hit the bottom of their own hill. The two captains quickly flashed each other suspicious looks, and then looked back instantly.
"FIRE!"
"HUNDROT!"
Stones flew across the battlefield, and ants collapsed with broken heads and cracked legs. Any rocks that struck the soldier ants seemed to fly off with little effect.
"FIRE!"
"HUNDROT!"
More ants fell, but the main force was almost within charging range now. Out of the corner of his eye, Reld saw Gandon raise his weapon—an ant's mandible—into the air.
"COR URIAS!" The blues roared, charging at the ants. Reld was not to have his own force outdone.
"CHAAAAAARGE! TAKE THEM, REDS!" The red pikmin cheered and launched themselves into the fray.
Both lines engaged the ants with sudden zeal, many creatures from both sides being cut down very quickly. Pikmin were bitten in half, beheaded, and impaled on spikes, while the ants fell from cracked necks, smashed heads, and broken legs.
Reld leapt forwards, taking a long jump past several comrades. He came down on a regular with such force that its spindly spine broke. He used the ant's thorax as a stepping stone, hopping back into the air and over several pairs of snapping jaws. He came down again, this time on the ground, and found himself surrounded by ants on all sides. However, his fellows broke through the distracted ant line behind him and engaged the others near him, giving him a breath of safety.
Suddenly, he was bowled over, having been hit hard from in front of him. It had knocked him over onto the ground, where he landed next to an ant's corpse. He felt an open wound on his chest—whatever had rammed into him was sharp.
He looked up and saw a massive soldier ant looming over him, its armor gleaming in the sunglight. Its black eyes looked down at him emptily and he saw that the dwarf bulborb-sized ant's mandibles were bloodstained. It brought up one of its six spiked legs, and brought it down towards his head.
Reld Firefist screamed in despair.
"This is all very…startling." Orow sat there on a twig, his rootlike fingers steepled together. Towering over him was a fairly large bulbmin. "I have never heard of such creatures before…The thought of their existence is very disturbing."
Geer, Flewow, Yeer, and Dorunot, sitting nearby, waited to hear the orange pikmin's verdict on the matter. Whether he would lend them soldiers or not was what they were wondering.
"However…I fear I can lend you little assistance." Damn. "Every orange pikmin is needed here for the moment, as we are at our highest population level in a long, long time…Ever since we were attacked by the crimson pikmin, I believe."
Dorunot smirked. "I am glad to hear your population is returning towards its old level. We…blues…" He said, frowning as he used the red name for his kind, "Have not forgotten the cruelties of the crimsons either."
"I have a feeling," Orow continued, paying little heed to Dorunot's remark, "that I can lend you at least a little help. I can send you off with three hunting packs of bulbmin. I think you will find them to be most helpful…they are some of our best. Remarkable trackers, hunters, and warriors alike."
"We are honored by your generosity." Dorunot, as well as the others, smiled, though the orange could not see (obviously, since he lacked facial features, one of which was eyes).
"Oh, do not say such things. If what you say of these 'ants' is true, then anything short of some help would be shameful. I am only doing my duty as a pikmin."
"We assure you that this is a worthy cause."
"And please, feel free to stay here as long as you like. We have not had true guests in a very long time, as most beings come here will ill will…"
I would hate to be considered hostile by these forest-folk, Yeer thought. It was no wonder people feared the forest.
"That is a grand offer, but I fear that we must be on the move," This time it was Flewow who spoke, not Dorunot.
"I am sorry to hear that. Nevertheless, I wish you good fortune on your journey."
"Thank you, Orow." Flewow said graciously.
"We won't forget your kindness." Yeer added, having said something for the first time since he described the Barrens.
"Yes, we won't forget this. Let me assure you, my friend, that you have friends to the North. If you should ever need to leave your forest, you will be welcome." Dorunot finished for the various representatives.
"Thank you, Captain, but I have a feeling we will be staying here for a long, long time." Something about the orange pikmin's remark gave Yeer the impression that orange pikmin did not like to consider the worst-case scenario.
--
The visiting pikmin colors were mobilizing to leave. Well, most of them, anyway.
"Bye, little guy. Catch a few bugs for me." Lear affectionately rubbed a bulbmin's nose. The bulbmin let out a yip of happiness.
"Oy! Lear! Hate to stop you getting to know the locals, but we gotta go!" Lek impatiently called to his friend from the very back of the departing caravan of seed-pods. Lear turned to him and nodded. He then turned back to the bulbmin, gave him a final pat on the head, and ran after the pink pikmin. The bulbmin looked on after him as a second bulbmin walked up beside him, gazing after the bipedal pikmin. The newcomer let out a series of barks that had an interesting translation.
"Straightspines are weird. Odd to think we were like them once."
--
Traveling with the bulbmin soon was very odd, but after a few days all of the pikmin began to get used to it. The energetic creatures ran all about the caravan, barking and howling to one another. Whenever the pikmin troupe stopped, they would run off, and would eventually return with some sort of carcass that they would then hurriedly eat—a bizarre practice in the eyes of the pikmin.
Another strange thing was the fact that they didn't get in a seed-pod at the end of the day, but they were always waiting in the morning. Not even Flewow knew the reason behind that. Lek was able to offer his own theory, however: "How in the name of the forefathers do you expect them to get in a seed-pod? They don't have any bloody arms."
They had exited the Hallowed Forest now, and were headed west. They had entered a land that reminded Yeer of the very beginning of the journey, when they had traveled through tall grasses that separated green and yellow territory. The primary difference, however, was that the grass was of a different type—it was about two feet tall, towering over the pikmin, and it was a yellowish color.
"So, Flewow…Where exactly are we headed?" Yeer asked one day. His legs felt like rubber from all the walking, and he had decided he might was well know where he was headed.
"I was beginning to wonder when someone would ask me that," Flewow said; he sounded like he was relishing explaining his plan. "You see, we're now going to double back towards the Brush, while making several more visits along the way."
"Do they have anything to do with that thing?" Yeer asked, pointing towards a massive formation of earth that had been noticeable ever since they had left the Hallowed Forest. It was, in truth, a very small mountain—but to a pikmin, it was beyond gargantuan.
"Yes, actually. You see, the ground in our direct path is actually unpassable."
"Isn't that going to…um…be a problem?"
"Well, it would be, in normal circumstances…" Flewow's eyes gleamed. "But the next part of our journey will take us underground."
"Underground? You mean…beneath that giant thing?"
"Yes, as a matter of fact. Directly underneath that mountain is one of the most spectacular kingdoms known to the entire spectrum…the King's Mountain."
Yeer was dumbstruck; he had heard many stories about the place, and many assumed it to be a legend. "That's where the…"
"The purple pikmin reside, yes." Flewow said. "From what I understand, they are now in their fourth dynasty." He paused, and then said, "Of course, before we get there, we'll have to pass through the Land of Autumn, which is also considered purple territory."
"And then what? I mean, after King's Mountain?"
"Believe me, Yeer, I know what I am doing. But you don't want me to ruin the excitement by telling you everything now, do you?"
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