"So let me get this straight," said the white. "My Onion is trapped somewhere near the valley, and the Black and Orange Onions came to rescue it?"

"That's right," I replied. "Our first search was a failure, and our second one is underway. They may or may not have found it by now."

Her face tensed. "And this whole time, Onions have been able to understand pikmin?"

I nodded. "I was surprised, too. Unfortunately, they can only answer yes or no questions."

"That's... interesting..." she muttered. "Come on. We'd better get a move on."

"Does this mean I have to carry both of you?" Honeyglow grumbled.

"You don't," the white replied. "You carry Spicebloom, and I'll go on foot. It'll be faster that way."

I raised my brow. "Are you sure?"

"I can run faster than she can fly. Nothing can surprise me from below, and you two will ensure that nothing surprises me from above. Now let's go."

She took off without even waiting for a response, and before I knew it, I was being lifted upward and through the forest. I watched as she raced through the understory, her movements hurried even by her usual standards. I could feel Honeyglow straining her wings to keep up, and if it wasn't for the periodic rocks, branches and other obstacles, the white certainly would've left us in the dust by now. "What's with her? I've never seen her so anxious before."

"She's obviously excited about her Onion," Honeyglow replied. "If it were the Red Onion, wouldn't you be anxious?"

"She didn't sound excited, though. If anything, she sounded... bitter."

"Spice, she's been alone for five seasons. Don't read so deep into it."

I crossed my arms and shrugged. "If you say so."

My eyes drifted down again, watching the white as she tore onward.


Before long, we arrived at the cliff overlooking the valley. Naturally, the white had gotten there first, and by the time we caught up, she was already gazing upon the expanse before her. To me, the harlemin below looked like a bunch of orange and black specks, their activities almost impossible to discern. But the white's eyes weren't like mine, and her stare was full of intrigue. "What're you looking at?" I asked.

"An orange pikmin," she replied. "It's standing next to a patch of nectar grass, and it appears to be... dropping dirt on it?"

"That's probably Sparkweed," said Honeyglow. "He's teaching himself how to cultivate nectar grass."

She raised her stem. "Like how the trapmin cultivated the Spice Grove?"

"Yes, exactly."

"He's found that the grass grows better in some types of soil than others, especially when they're blended the right way," I added. "He's made a lot of headway with his experiments, but I don't think he'll be satisfied until he tries every possible combination."

The white shifted her gaze. "What are those things over there? They resemble creatures, but they seem to be made of clay?"

"We call them sculptures," I replied. "We build them in the shape of the strongest, most cunning creatures we encounter. That way, newcomers can know what they look like for future reference."

"Interesting. Was this your idea?"

"Nah, it was Hollyberry's. Can you tell what creatures they're supposed to be?"

The white squinted. "I see a Towering Orbwalker, an Onyx Rockspitter, a Sidewalking Clawmaster, and..." She squinted harder. "What's the one on the left? The one with the curved tail?"

"We call it the Manticore," said Honeyglow. "It had a ravenous appetite, a scarlet shell, and surprising speed. Kinda reminds me of the Leviathan, to be honest."

"Yeah, it caused us a LOT of trouble that day," I added. "Thankfully, it had a weak point on its tail."

The white turned her head. "I see a group of pikmin heading for the woods. Most of them are oranges and blacks, but there's also a pink and a white."

"That would be a white patrol," I said. "The white locates a Crawler nest, the pink draws them out, and the rest kill them. An easy meal for the Onion and a safer territory for us."

"This is... amazing," the white muttered, locking eyes on the distant Onion. She then exhaled and sat down. "I was even blinder than I thought."

I glanced at the Onion, then back at the white. "You're thinking about the blue, aren't you?"

"Unfortunately. I mean, I already had enough reason to despise him. But now I can see that he was wrong about everything. He didn't just wrong me; he wronged everyone."

Honeyglow alighted and sat next to her. "What do you think he would say if he saw this?"

"I dunno. Probably nothing. What can you even say when your whole philosophy is disproven?"

"An admission of being wrong and an apology for misguiding everyone?" I asked with a shrug.

The white narrowed her eyes. "That doesn't sound like the blue."

"Yeah, it really doesn't." I sat beside her as well. "You know, I never actually told him that I blew his secret, but Foxtail tells me that he refuses to even speak of me. You think he figured it out?"

"Definitely."

"You think he blames me and not himself?"

"Definitely."

A silence passed as we all gazed upon the valley.

"Come on," said Honeyglow as she stood up. "Let's see how the search went."

The white got to her feet as well, her fists clenched. "Let's."

Honeyglow took flight and lifted me by the stem, and the white promptly latched onto my ankles. Carefully she lowered us into the valley, and predictably enough, the harlemin came stampeding toward us. "Spicebloom! Honeyglow! And... who's that?" "Hey, I remember you! You're the white from the forest!" "Wait, what?!"

"Everybody settle down," said Honeyglow. "For those who don't know, this white is an old friend of ours who lives in the woods. She's here because she wants to see her Onion."

"Now, have any of the search parties retur-"

Before I could finish, Moonflower jostled her way to the front of the crowd. "White?!"

The white raised her stem. "You."

"It's been so long," she said. "Do you have a name now? Mine is Moonflower."

"I don't. Well, not yet, anyway."'

Moonflower looked around. "Where's Goldenrod?"

"Still in the woods," I said.

"Why didn't he come, too?"

"That's... not important."

Moonflower narrowed her eyes. "Oooooof course it's not."

"Forget about him," said Honeyglow. "All that matters right now is the white and her Onion."

"Whoa!" someone exclaimed. We turned and saw that Peppergrass had appeared. "Wh-White?! Is that you?!"

"Hey," the white said softly. "Long time no see."

"Yeah... Long time indeed..." he replied, trying to regain his composure but only partially succeeding. He glanced at me, and I gave him my coveted "I promise I'll explain all this later" look. He then turned back to the white and said, "So I take it you're here for your Onion?"

She nodded.

"We better go to the rendezvous point then. The search teams should be back soon, if not already."

Peppergrass turned and led the way, and as we followed, the white whispered, "You never told them what happened that day, did you?"

"No, I did not," I whispered back. "And I'd appreciate you not telling them."

"I won't, but you know that Moonflower's onto you, right?"

"Yes, yes, I know. I'll worry about that later."

Up ahead, I could see the pinks and whites waiting for us. They were sitting idly, and when they noticed our approach, they didn't even bother getting up. What a delightful omen!

Once we closed the distance, Peppergrass asked, "Still no luck?"

They all shook their heads.

"So what do we do now?" asked Honeyglow.

"I don't know," I replied, rubbing my temples. "Obviously we need to change our approach, but to what exactly? I don't even know what we're doing wrong."

The white turned to me. "Spice, you told them to search the ground, right?"

"Yes, that's right."

"Then it's time to search the trees."

I squinted at her. "Why would an Onion be in a tree?"

"No idea. But I don't know where else to look, and neither do you."

Before I could respond, one of the pinks said, "Hey, I don't recognize you!"

"Me neither," said one of our whites. "Are you a new sprout?"

I held in a sigh. "She's an old friend of mine. But introductions will have to wait. Can you try searching the woods? Specifically the canopy?"

"Canopy, huh?" asked a pink. "Eh, worth a shot. Ya'll in?"

Everyone else looked and nodded amongst each other. "Let's do it!" they said in unison.

"Quick question first," said the same pink. "Should we fly above the canopy or beneath it?"

That was a very good question. Above the canopy provided easier navigation, but it was also more of an unknown. I myself had only gone that high once, and while the creatures I had seen were seemingly harmless, my instincts told me to play it safe. "Fly beneath the canopy. We don't really know what's above those trees, and now's not the best time to find out."

"Understood! Let's fly!"

After they took off, I turned to the white. "White... there is a slim chance that your Onion was already rescued. But I can assure you that if it's still out there, we will find it."

"I have no doubts," she replied, though she bore an unsightly frown.

My stem drooped. "Thinking about the blue again?"

She shook her head. "No, not this time."

"Then what is it?"

"It's... not important right now," she muttered, crossing her arms and looking away.

I glanced at Peppergrass and Honeyglow. The former shrugged, while the latter shook her head at me, indicating that I should drop it. Clearing my throat, I turned back to the white and said, "Regardless, it's good to have you back, White. The three of us found a fresh start here, so hopefully you can, too."

A slight smile formed on her face. "Cherry."

I blinked. "What?"

"Cherry," she repeated. "Call me Cherry."