I sat in the nest, slurping a chunk of orange meat. Morning had just arrived, and everyone had taken their ration from the cache. Or at least, what was left of the cache. An unknowable number of days had passed since I harvested that meat, but in what felt like no time at all, the supply had dwindled. There was hardly enough for another day now, and despite our best efforts, we had thus far failed to replenish our stock.
The season had grown bleaker than ever. The day after I discovered the orange, I returned to it to collect more meat only to find that none remained. Scattered flakes of skin told me that more Snow Sparkers had gnawed at it, while a trail in the snow told me that a Purloiner had dragged off the remainder. We promptly sought other food sources, but our attempts proved quite literally fruitless. Redberries had become nigh-impossible to find, and there were no more lucky encounters like with the orange. We had followed the trail to the Purloiner's nest in the hopes of raiding it, but the beast was present and on guard. Dislodging a Purloiner from its burrow was not only difficult, it was dangerous, for a defensive Purloiner would readily collapse the tunnel to entomb invaders. We tried coming back the next day hoping that the hoard would be unguarded, but the owner had gone nowhere. We tried yet again the day after, and yet again got the same result. After that, we didn't return.
Snow Sparkers became increasingly common, which not only exacerbated the fruit shortage, but also made the forest more difficult to explore. If it hadn't been for my wings, vast stretches of the woods would've been inaccessible to us, but the difference this made was nominal at best. No matter how far and wide I traveled, I could scarcely find more than a berry or two.
Presently, our situation was at its absolute worst. After three consecutive days of failure, we had unanimously determined that redberry foraging was a lost cause. This meant that we now had to take—as the blue put it—"desperate measures." Naturally, I had no idea what he was referring to, but I was soon to find out.
"Alright, it's about time we got started," said the blue. "Pink? White? You two are gonna do some scouting."
The white's face lit up when he said this, but I was simply confused. "Scouting? For what exactly? The forest is pretty much barren now."
"Or so it seems," said the blue. "We've stripped every bush of its fruit, but there are other sources of food we can turn too. One of them is Green Beetles."
"They hide underground during the Season of Snow," said the white. "When the time comes to hunt them, I use my eyes to locate them. Once I find one, we all dig it out of its hiding place and swarm it so that it coughs up nectar. It's really easy in snowy weather because the cold slows them down, and the best part is that, with you flying me around, spotting them will be a cinch."
"That's all well and good, but why the hell did we wait until just now to start doing this?" I asked. "I would've much rather been eating nectar than those accursed berries."
"Consider these two factors," said the blue. "First, there's only so many Beetles in the forest, far fewer than what would be needed to survive the season. Second, they're completely safe from everything but us, as only a white pikmin can find their seasonal hideaways."
"…Okay?"
"Now, with redberries, it's the inverse situation. The forest produces enough to feed us for multiple snow seasons, but we're not the only ones eating them. Any and all creatures can find them with ease, and as a result, they're a fleeting resource. The Beetles, on the other hand, aren't going anywhere, so it's more pragmatic to put them off until after we've harvested all the berries we can."
"Because that extends the longevity of our food supply," I finished.
"Precisely. If something can wait, it probably should."
My stem sank. No matter how I felt about him, I had to admit that his intelligence was humbling.
"You ready, Pink?" the white asked.
I finished off the last of my orange and nodded. "Yeah, I am."
I flew about aimlessly with the white in tow, staring ahead while she stared down. Unlike most creatures, Green Beetles didn't have any permanent territories, nor did they have any specific preferences when it came to hiding places. As a result, it was impossible to form an actual hunting strategy; we just had to keep looking until one turned up. Since there was no telling how long that would take, I decided to pass the time with some conversation. And I knew the perfect topic. "Hey, White? What was your life like before you left the Onions?"
"I guess it was okay?" she answered. "I spent most of my time serving the Leaders, and as you already know, I was quite fond of the Orange Leader. But the second Leader didn't have me do much besides dig up buried treasures, while the third Leader never instructed me at all."
Purple, I thought. "So I take it you found that tedious?"
"A little bit. But I never had to do anything especially dangerous, so I suppose I can't complain…" Her voice faltered at that last word, as if she had recalled something foul. Then, in a mumbly tone, she said, "I did feel a bit isolated, though."
"Because the other pikmin resented your privilege?"
"Good guess! But no, that wasn't it. The problem was that I always felt 'incomplete' because of my amnesia. I spent so much time wondering who I used to be, and sometimes I still do."
"That's… depressing," I muttered. knowing she would interpret me differently than what I meant. "Was leaving a hard choice?"
"Not really. A lot of pikmin struggled to leave because they were attached to their Onions, but I didn't have this problem for obvious reasons. To them, it was a difficult adjustment, but to me, it was a natural progression."
"Didn't you feel at least some attachment to your Onion, though? Obviously you don't remember being a part of it, but simply knowing which one it was must've created some sentimental valu-"
"I don't know which one it was," she replied, stating exactly what I predicted she would. "In fact, I don't know one solitary thing about my past life. I tried asking about it plenty of times, but nobody would give me answers because they pitied me."
A frown spread across my face. I already knew this information, but it was still sad to hear. However, I soon realized that there was something I didn't know. "What was it like being an amnesiac? At the beginning, I mean?"
"It was… strange. For the first few days, the question I kept asking is why there was no White Onion. But of course no one would tell me, not even the other whites. If it hadn't been for the blue, I might've never known."
"So it was the blue who filled you in, huh?"
"That's right. He told me how white pikmin work, and how I had lost my memory in the Changing Flower. The realization made me feel so lost and disconnected, and I wanted nothing more than to know myself. But then the blue told me that who I used to be doesn't matter, and that instead of worrying about my old life, I should create a new one. And that's precisely what I've done."
Part of me shriveled up and died. That scummy, manipulative, treacherous little-
"Hello? Pink?" I heard the white say.
"Wh-what is it?" I stuttered.
"I asked you how your life was with the Red Onion."
"O-oh…" I shook my head to snap back into reality. "Well, it wasn't terribly exciting. When we weren't gathering pellets, we were hunting, and when we weren't hunting, we were loafing around. Red and I were inseparable, and while there were some dark days, life was relatively easy."
"You miss it, don't you?"
"Yeah, I suppose I do," I answered, though it came out half-heartedly. I thought about all the trials I had endured since losing my Onion, and how much growth I had experienced as a result. It had been about a season's length since I joined the deserters, and in that time I had become far more clever, tenacious and perceptive than I could've possibly imagined. But had it really been worth it? "Hey, White? Can I ask you-"
"Down below!" she abruptly exclaimed.
"What?"
"A Beetle! There's one hiding by that rock!"
"Oh. Good," I said, gazing wistfully at the snow. "Let's get the others."
All six of us stood by the Beetle's hideaway. To most of us, it was an inconspicuous layer of snow, but to the white, it was a den masked by two layers of cover. "Is everyone ready?" asked the blue.
Everybody said yes, but I merely crossed my arms.
"It's going to take an effort to dig this thing out, so once it's exposed, be sure to give it your all. We cannot afford to let it escape without dropping anything. Now let's start digging."
We did exactly that, scooping away snow with our flowers. Little by little a hole appeared beneath us, sinking further and further as we toiled away. After what felt like a while, the soil became visible. "We're almost there," said the white. "It's buried just a little ways below the surface."
"Yellows?" asked the blue. "Dig into the Beetle's lair. The rest of us will be ready to strike."
The two yellows busily dug up the dirt while I and the others surrounded them. Soon enough, an emerald sheen became visible.
"There it is! Attack!" the blue ordered.
We surged forward and struck wildly at the Beetle's back. At first it did not respond, laying still in the ground as if it were a stone. But then its body began to quiver, and within seconds it was actively struggling.
"It's about to bolt!" the blue exclaimed.
We continued attacking until the Beetle erupted from the ground, frantically stumbling before bolting up the hole and into the snow. In its groggy panic, the fleeing beast lost its footing and flipped onto its back, thrashing its legs as it tried to correct itself. Instantly we were upon it, unleashing our desperate fury onto its underside.
In a quick motion, we were all flung aside. I pushed myself up and saw the Beetle sprinting off, its iridescent form shrinking into the distance. I then turned to where it had fallen and saw a glob of golden liquid.
We spent the next seven or eight days menacing the Beetles of the forest, flushing them out one by one and forcing them to relinquish their meals. Not only was the stolen nectar extremely satisfying to eat after so long, it was also the most nourishing of all pikmin foods. The delectable gel was easily stored in the snow, and sometimes we would pirate enough to sustain ourselves for two or three days.
Sadly, this was not to last. Green Beetles were sparse even in the warmer seasons, so in the end, we only managed to locate five. Every other Beetle was out of range, and the ones that we robbed had likely starved.
With our prey having been depleted, it was time to move on to something else. This time there was no need for scouting, as this food source only appeared on a specific type of tree. Armored with a coarse, reddish bark that grew mossy in wet weather, these "greenwoods" were rare in the forest; so rare that there were only two within our proximity. So what did they have to offer us?
My face dropped as I stared at the answer. I was hovering high beside the first greenwood, and attached to its bark was a cluster of tiny beige bugs that were shaped like lumps. Perched on a nearby branch were the other pikmin, waiting intently for me to collect them. "So… What are these things called?"
"Bark Mites," said the male yellow. "I know they look gross, but it's not as bad as it seems. Just start bringing them here and I'll show you what I mean."
I was very reluctant to follow his instructions. These "Bark Mites" reminded me an awful lot of Poison Mites, a similar-looking bug with a toxic bite and a tendency to swarm. However, a rumble from my stomach compelled me to proceed. Swiftly, I grabbed one and plucked it from the bark.
The kidnapped creature had utterly no response to what I had done. It merely remained still, not even moving its puny legs. Relieved, I gathered as many as I could carry, brought them to the branch, and then retrieved the rest. When I was finished, they were all arranged in a helpless pile.
"Bark Mites feed on the juices of greenwoods," the male yellow explained. "They spend their entire lives anchored in one spot, slurping away at the sugary liquid all day, every day. So what happens when you leave a colony to thrive for nearly four seasons?"
He struck a Mite with his flower, causing a gelatinous fluid to spill out. He then took the ochre-colored blob and sucked it in. "You get an emergency food supply."
Everybody started smashing the Mites and consuming the liquid, including the red. Hesitantly, I killed one myself and drank the insides. It tasted better than I expected, having a sweet flavor and a pleasant texture, though it wasn't nearly as good as nectar. Satisfied, I promptly feasted upon them.
It hadn't been three days before we found ourselves hungry again. We each had to consume multiple Mites to fill our stomachs, so it was inevitable that we would eat through the population so quickly. The greenwoods were certainly glad to be rid of them, but us pikmin were not so enthused.
After we had exterminated the bugs, the red popped the obvious question: "What do we do now?"
The blue let out a sigh. "We have one option left."
I looked around and saw that the deserters all had nervous expressions. Even the male yellow, who normally had nerves of steel, was visibly anxious.
"Well? What is it?" I asked.
The blue clenched his fists. "We have to go to the Phantom's Lair."
