That was fast...

Enjoy

Melt

"You know I could have killed you already."

I ignored the cyan pikmin, and just let him lead me through the forest. The sun had set, leaving the sky in a state of twilight.

"I mean it is really stupid of you to not bind my hands with anything. I might not be even leading you to the right place. We could be heading towards a trap."

I replied this time. "I trust you."

The cyan burst out laughing. "Trust me!? Oh you are an idiot. You're letting me walk free right now. Or are you looking for a fight? Cause I must say you are quite good at it. Never mind that, because I must inquire, why do you trust me?"

"I saved your life"

The cyan's act of sarcasm and his mocking tone dropped for a second but quickly reformed. "Yes...but us being pikmin we get our lives saved everyday, it is a team effort you know. Do you? Or have you been living under a hole?" Another burst of laughter.

I interrupted. "How much further?"

"Actually, we should almost be there now. Ah yes right at this tree up ahead." The cyan pointed to the location, I had no idea how he distinguished it, all the trees looked the same to me. "This shouldn't be necessary, all this hiding food, when spring comes, food will be more plentiful. You can feel the change in the air now slightly."

The air did seem to lack it's freezing bite. Looks like I wouldn't have to worry about freezing to death.

The cyan continued talking, though I don't think he ever stopped. "...The snow also feels a bit more...crunchier, you know?" He approached the base of the tree, where the roots started digging into the earth and snow.

"I thought you said this puffstool was going to be more of a threat in spring?", I inquired.

"Indeed, it is worse, quite bad for one puffstool honestly. Usually they team and start an infection, this one has done one heck of a solo effort. It's managed to scare a lot of the creatures away...usually this forest is laced with them. Some of the creatures that remain show early signs of infection. But it's mainly the pikmin the puffstool is after." The cyan pikmin was digging through the snow, finally he found a small gap between the roots and the frozen ground. Reaching in there he pulled out a chunk of pellet. "Here you go." He pulled out one for himself and raised it in a mock toast. "For saving my life." He snickered.

It was my turn for a dry joke. "I half expected to find dead pikmin bodies in there..."

The cyan pikmin turned to me and for once he actually seemed serious. "You're talking about the cannibalistic cyans aren't you?" He said darkly.

"I thought I was talking about cyan pikmin in general," was my glacial reply.

"Not all of us are cannibals. The group I was with, we were a small band of cyan's who disapproved of that practice."

"So...not all of you are sick twisted killers?"

"No!" The cyan was now yelling. "We hate them as much as you do! We know it's wrong, but it's a natural part of our us. Do you realize how hard it is to ignore instinct?! Even looking at you right now...but no, my group and others...we resisted. The other cyan pikmin mocked us and made us slaves, a lower class. We resisted that too, fought back, and know we're in some twisted civil war, because for some twisted reason we're made to eat other pikmin!"

I stopped my next reply and ate my pellet slowly, I was actually beginning to feel bad.

The cyan pikmin looked ashamed too. "I'm sorry. It's just how the other pikmin look at our colour...well it's terrible...and now my friends are dead or worse." He shuddered.

"Infected?" I quietly asked. He nodded. The cyan pikmin's mocking attitude had changed to sullen in an instant. "I was an outcast for most of my life," I added.

"How so? You're a blue pikmin..." The cyan inquired.

"I wasn't always, I use to be a mushroom pikmin. I wasn't controlled though as my original host had died. But this puffstool has been causing me quite some trouble, using the spores in my body. The other pikmin didn't exactly trust me because of that..."

"Wait, are you that mushroom pikmin?" the cyan inquired.

"That mushroom pikmin."

"The one that attacked the cyan pikmin's camp, to rescue the the other pikmin?"

"I was one of two," I replied, remembering my now deceased friend.

"Our camp has heard about you. You did more than any of us ever could, a full blown rescue, straight into the heart of their base."

I tried to remain modest. "Well you've probably seen a lot of fighting with them as well, I mean you said you're at war."

"Well our tactics our pretty guerilla compared to yours. Almost...cowardly."

"How so?" I asked, but the cyan pikmin didn't reply so I didn't bother pressing on the matter. "There was a reason I went into the cyan pikmin's base, it was really to get one pikmin..."

"A friend?" The cyan asked.

"Yeah, a unique pikmin as well. He was a white pikmin, different from all the others, like me. I guess that's why we got along so well."

"Where is he now."

I breathed. "Dead"

The cyan pikmin said nothing and almost looked downtrodden again. I decided to finish the rest of my pellet in silence. When I was done I stood up again, "Well thank you for everything, I guess I'll be off now, I won't bother you again." I turned to leave, but the cyan pikmin stopped me.

"You're leaving?" The cyan pikmin. "Didn't you hear what I told you about the forest?"

"Yes, but I'm sure I'll be fine, I haven't seen anything yet. The Puffstool can't control all the forest."

"But still, where do you plan on going?"

I had to think about that, because honestly I didn't know. For once, I truly felt alone, no group to argue or agree with, it was just really me. So I lied, sort of: "I want to get out of the forest, and find the Leader."

The cyan pikmin laughed for the first time in a while. "Wow you other colors are behind. You really need to get over serving these Leaders, there really is no benefit when you look at it..."

"Well how about you?" I intervened. "Where are you planning on going?"

The cyan pikmin stopped. "My group is...gone, we relied on each other," he paused and then his somber attitude disappeared. "But I think I can last by myself for a while, this is a cyan's natural habitat after all...I think I can help you though."

I still wasn't sure about the cyan pikmin but I inquired, "Do you know the way out of the forest?"

"Yes, I know the whole place inside out."

I hesitated, "...Okay, you can lead me there then. We'll start tomorrow I guess. And you can have first watch."

"What?"

I gestured to the darkening sky. "I'm tired, going to get some rest. You keep an eye out for any creature's. Signal me half way through the night and then you can get some rest."

"Oh yeah, sure."

The dreams I had could not be described as dreams at all.

Dreams of friends dying...

Past friends.

The yellow pikmin.

The white pikmin.

They both stood vividly in front of me.

Almost real...

And then the puffstool was behind them.

And with a laugh and shake of it's head, it sent out a vast cloud of spores. engulfing both the white and the yellow.

And when the spores parted, all I saw where two mushroom pikmin...

I was screaming by this time, pounding the groun in agony. As I screamed my blue skin began to rip, revealing one solid colour...

Purple.


I had to stop myself from jumping up as I awoke. There was no puffstool in sight of course. Just the trees and the white snow, shining under the dazzle of gems spilled across the sky.

I hoped when I got out of this forest that these dream will stop, but these dreams were real splinters of my past, embedded in my head.

Did I want to get out of the forest though?

Or did I want to kill the Puffstool...

It was clearly responsible for almost all the misery in my life and others. And now it was infecting the forest with the same malice, only widespread.

I've changed though.

Physically.

Mentally.

I've moved on...

I wanted nothing more of that dreaded creature. I needed it out of my life.

I did not want to fight anymore though. No more violence...

Instead I wanted escape.

I sat down on the root of the tree, almost frustrated that these thoughts were interrupting more pressing matters at the moment, and I was still tired.

The cyan appeared from around the side of the tree. "Can't sleep?" he asked. I shook my head. "Well I reckon I still have a bit more time to go for my watch."

"It's okay," I said. "I'll go now."

The cyan shrugged, "alright then."

We exchanged spots, me standing up, the cyan nestling between the roots. He murmured something about how I picked a comfortable spot and then he was asleep.

I sat against the side of the tree wishing that medley of colours I had seen before would ignite the night sky, something to keep me entertained. The sky remained black though, and I quickly grew bored.

The forest was eerily empty, the tall trees stood like vast pillars in the snow, I felt tiny, insignificant...

There was one thing that kept me from falling asleep again. A constant dripping noise, the water droplets only landing a few feet from me. They seemed almost as insignificant as me, but they signaled one important fact. The snow was melting.

Spring was coming.

The sky was beginning to brighten slowly, the inky black giving way into a shade of blue, and I had counted a thousand four hundred and thirty drips when I finally noticed another entity in the forest.

I recognized it as one of the same species of the creatures I had fought back in the desert very long ago. This one was white though, making it almost invisible. I watched it stumble through the snow, falling over twice. It looked lost.

Something was wrong with it...

I approached the creature cautiously my curiosity overwhelming my general sense of danger.

As I got closer I began to hear some sort of wheezing noise from it, sometimes almost a rasp, almost if there was something stuck in it's throat. I could see the creature more clearly now and it looked like it had not slept in days. It's eyes were bloodshot and unfocused as it stumbled by...not even giving a glance towards me. It's normally round body had developed several unordinary lumps, giving it a deformed look. It's white skin had developed a purplish tinge to it...

I felt a small pressure inside my head, something uncharacterized. I couldn't think clearly, and the pressure increased. I could almost hear a murmuring, fuzzy, incompressible. It was expanding, pushing out all other thoughts...

You...

"I wouldn't get near that."

I turned around to see the cyan pikmin standing there. He was gesturing towards the creature. He looked at me again, "Are you okay?"

I nodded. "Yeah...fine." I glanced towards the creature. "What's wrong with that thing?"

"It's infected with spores, early stages. Looks like the puffstool is getting creatures now, this one is putting up quite a fight though..."

I felt a chill, the pressure in my head now seemed familiar, but impossible.

I was a blue pikmin now...

"I don't know if it can spread the spores to us yet," the cyan continued. "But better safe then sorry."

I nodded slowly.

"Well we're both awake now," the cyan said. "I guess we can get moving. Here," he handed me another piece of pellet, then began to lead the way through the forest. I followed, trying to drown out the wheezing behind us and the pressure inside my head...

The sun sprang up from the hidden horizon and was high in the air rather quickly. I could feel it mellow out the cool air as I sensed the forest changing around me.

The dripping was more prominent now, happening at every tree. the cyan seemed a bit wary about the water droplet falling from the sky though, having to dodge a couple along the way. Myself on the other hand, savored every drop that hit me.

It was only inevitable that we finally spotted our first plant. It was growing at the base of the tree, taking shelter from the snow. It's green leaves contrasted against the backdrop of white snow. As we passed by, the cyan ignoring it completely, I noticed something peculiar, unnatural about the plant. Something that didn't belong...

Growing out of the plant's stem, was a mushroom.

Thanks for the read and (possibly) the review.