Author's Note: Um…duh…all right, I'll keep writing. And as for your question, Kirby, um…well…ya know what, why don't you go ask the next author a question about his book? I think that the story closest to mine, right before it, was…KirbyXtreme's. So why don't you go ask him a hard-to-answer question about his sto-Oh. Well, let's just say that I'll be posting the Pikmin's age in Pikmin years. So they might just be 10 days old, but that might be 13 in Pikmin years. Now…because I've seen two stories doing it…I'll accept signups for those who want to be in the story. I won't go too far with this idea. Mostly, I just need better names for my Pikmin. All I've been doing is throwing random letters together and making sure that the vowels and syllables were matched so it would sound right. And besides, I'm bored and sleepy. So here's a sign up sheet:

Name:

Alignment: (Beasts, Pikmin, or Neutral)

Species/Color: (You can be a beast. You can choose one that's been made in Pikmin, or you can make your own. Just don't make it overpowered.)

Personality:

Location: (Lava Pits, Whirlpool Willows, Lightning Lyght, Ruddy Ruins, Void, Slave Camp, or Wilderness)

And that's it. And if I don't like your thing or if I decide not to do this later on, when I feel like I have a bit more brainpower, I'll just take your names or sumthin' like that. And if you don't want to make a character, feel free to contribute ideas. And sorry for the wait. My life caught up with me. o.o I'm betting there's a million mistakes in here…

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Jewel just sat there on the ground, kneeling. How could this have happened? She had murdered in cold blood. She did have paralyzation solutions; why didn't she use them? Now a life had been taken. Jewel bowed her head, thinking about how she could possibly repent for what she had done.

Time passed, and Jewel was not aware of it. Nothing seemed to matter anymore. There was nothing for her. She should just wallow up and die in her misery. Then footsteps came. A Pikmin, lifting her up. Someone was carrying her. Through her tears, she saw his face. A red one. It looked familiar. And then, Jewel fainted.

Hours later, Jewel awoke to the crackling of a fire. She forced her tear-stained eyes open, and looked around. She was in a long sleeping bag, and had a good amount of space to roll around. The burn marks caused by the earlier fire were almost gone. There was another sleeping bag right next to her, with Ivy in it, and a campfire was burning bright, with Niko and Marrow sitting around it, talking to each other. Jewel shivered. The fire reminded her of her dastardly deed. It burned, without even thinking of what consequences it could bring about. The fire scorched and hurt people, with a merry glee, with not a care in the world. Jewel suddenly felt cold, and clutched the blanket around her, her teeth chattering. In an instant, Niko was by her side, asking her what had happened.

"I heard an explosion. I was afraid that you had somehow gotten in trouble, and went to look for you. On the way, I met this friend of yours. Marrow, it seems. We were both anxious about you, and came to look for you. We stumbled upon you kneeling in front of a piece of charred ash with your head bent. So I picked you up and carried you to Marrow's camp, and he scattered the rest of the ashes to the wind. On the way, we met a queer fellow. We think he's still following us. His name's Hujer, and he was rambling on and on about someone called 'Kuyin'. Something about betrayal. After he told us all a wonderful story, he then said that the sky was blue. Then he ran around in circles, yelling and whooping. And finally, he angled his head down and ran at us, yelling 'battering ram'. We left him behind, but we've found traces of him."

Jewel raised her eyebrows in an amused expression. "Such as?" she asked.

Niko shrugged. "Like finding coconuts on the road, as well as the odd feeling of being watched.

Jewel smiled. "Thanks for coming for me," she murmured.

Niko returned the smile, his grin seeming to light up the sky. "No prob," he whispered.

And Jewel close her eyes, and sunk into sleep again.

The next morning, Jewel awoke to a rising sun, reddening the great sky. Jewel stretched, and got up, yawning. They were getting closer to the Lava Pits now, and it would be within sight before long. After yesterday's events, the foursome had decided to travel together for maximum safety. Only an hour or so until- Jewel's thought was left unfinished as a loud boom sounded off in the distance. Jewel looked at Niko nervously. He murmured, "It should be all right…these are calm lands…"

Marrow, walking behind him, stopped and nodded. "The Beasts have no power here. The Lava Pit civilians have been too strong for them to take, and any that stray in the forests are soon killed by Lava Pitians."

But another resounding boom sounded, closer this time. "Let's not take any chances," muttered Ivy, and they walked along at a brisk pace. However, the sound did not stop. Quite the contrary. The booming got closer and closer. But when it seemed to be right by them, it stopped. Looking around nervously, Ivy said, "Well, at least that stopped…"

Then a small hole appeared in the ground. Niko started to walk closer to take a look, but Marrow held him back with one hand. Just in time, too. A single claw poked its way through the whole. Marrow looked at Ivy questioningly. She shrugged, apparently not knowing what it was either. And, faster than the eye could blink, a paw followed up behind that claw. The paw was furry and looked soft, but Jewel knew better than to go check. After a brief pause, the paw vanished. And another boom, and dust clouded everywhere. Jewel heard rocks and pieces of dirt dropping to the ground. The soft clink clink almost made them sound metal…Then the smoke cleared, and an odd creature was standing there. It seemed to have no neck, its head simply attached to its body, and its whole body was covered with dense brown fur. Its eyes, those wretched eyes, were chips of burning fire on its face. Three long, twisted horns grew out of its forehead, with points so sharp they looked as if they could pierce armor. Each was curved forwards, but was moving as if directed to by the monster. The long and hairy arms were longer than the body itself, and it held them in front of it. They ended in four long, wickedly sharp claws. Its legs were rather short, but it was obvious that it did not do much running anyway. And…it…was a he. "So you three are the ones that I'm supposed to find, eh?" he said with a menacing grin. "Well, just come with me, and I won't need to hurt you. Besides, Kuyin wants you all alive. So just-"

He was cut off as Ivy spat at him, yelling, "We will never go with you, you slaver scum!"

When he spoke again, his voice was like the scratching of metal upon gravel, a noise that ground at the foursome's ears. "Do not anger me, Pikmin. You will come with me. Alive."

"Oh yeah?" replied Ivy. Marrow made a shushing motion at her, but she paid no attention to her fiance. "Well, how would you like having your face bashed inside out?"

"I wouldn't like that at all," he agreed calmly. "How would you like having your face stuffed under mud for a few hours?"

Ivy fell quiet after that, so Marrow resumed the conversation. "Look, you're outnumbered. There are 4 of us and you're alone. We don't want to have to hurt you."

The look the creature gave Marrow was full of hatred. "My name is Cujiq. Always address me by it." After looking at the four bedraggled members of the group, he retorted, "And though I may be outnumbered, you're outskilled. I am not a General for nothing. Besides, you all look tired. Been walking all day?"

Marrow paled. So bluffing would not get through this creature. "Very well, then. We shall fight." Without another word, he drew his trusty sword, the Sentinel, and ran at Cujiq. The Sentinel was a specially modified longsword, with the sword splitting towards the middle to form two blades, much like a pair of scissors. Marrow sliced downwards, but Cujiq caught the oncoming blade between two claws. Then, a punch to the stomach sent Marrow reeling back. The Sentinel was dropped. Now Ivy and Niko jumped into the frey, weilding a rapier and zweihander, respectively. Cujiq knocked the rapier aside by batting at it, but the zweihander made a gash across his bicep.

"What's the matter, Cujiq?" taunted Niko, jumping out of the retaliating swipe aimed at him. "Annoyed that I drew first blood?"

Cujiq did a back flip, and landed on his feet, out of the reach of both swords. "No, just raging at you," he replied. Cujiq leaned back, and let out a mighty blast of sound and wind that sent Niko flying backwards into a tree. Only Ivy's quick reflexes by sticking her rapier into the ground and hanging onto it. Cujiq paused for breath before long, and Ivy relaxed her grip on her sword slightly. Cujiq leapt into the air, and intended to crush Ivy. She rolled out of the way. Cujiq, however, had other intentions, apparently. He sunk into the ground, leaving no trace of him behind. Jewel, who had been watching the battle, stunned, was brought back to consciousness as that happened.

She rushed over to Ivy and helped her up. "Are you all right?" she asked.

"She'll be fine," said a limping Marrow. Getting the wind knocked out of him was exhausting for him.

Noki came up, supporting his left arm with his right, his zweihander sheathed across his back. "That was too close. He almost had us. But why did he flee?"

That question was answered as three familiar-looking horns burst out of the ground. "RUN!" cried Jewel, sprinting away, with the others not far behind her. The horns moved toward them with frightening speed. And claws emerged from the ground, too, eager to pierce skin. If any of them fell, they would get ripped apart by the oncoming Cujiq. Jewel turned and threw a slowsand mixture at Cujiq. Hopefully, it would stop him. The others ran on by her, knowing that she knew what she was doing. And Cujiq did pause. For a bit. But then he moved on, with renewed speed. Jewel could barely stay ahead of those points. She leapt over rocks, dodged around trees, and ran through bushes…but those horns crushed the rocks, split the trees, and scattered the bushes. Jewel could barely look back, but she forced herself to do so. A Pikmin had its hand in the ground, and had grabbed Cujiq! The Pikmin pulled Cujiq out of the ground, and slammed him into a nearby tree with force. Cujiq groaned and slowly stood up. The Pikmin, taking advantage of his momentary dizziness, ran up to Cujiq and jabbed, crossed, hooked, and elbowed Cujiq in the chest.

Cujiq let out a below of agony, and glared at Jewel. "You win this round, Pikmin. But I will be back." He gestured, and was gone in a flash. Undoubtedly, his master had called him away. Now Jewel looked at the odd Pikmin. There were scars all over its body, and the eyes had no friendliness in them. Had Jewel just walked out of one unfortunate fate just to stumble into another?