Hurricane of Hope

Time is running out. That's what I keep thinking in every moment when I'm not moving. Time is running out. And I had that feeling again when I woke up in my ship this morning. It was a morning like any other on that strange planet, but for me, it was another day gone by. One more day's supply of air used up. Every night, I dreamed of my home, of my kids, my wife, my job. Sometimes when I wake, I feel a glimmer of peace, forgetting where I was, but then I remember... I'm losing everything that ever mattered to me.

Well, I thought when I woke, I can sit here and give up, or I can go back down to the surface and find more parts of the S.S. Dolphin. I sat up from the position I slept in, feeling the entirety of my cracking back. Every muscle in my body ached, it always did. Even worse, there was no room to stretch until I can land. I pressed my hands on my hips and tried anyway. I'm not young anymore, I shouldn't be confined in such a tight cock-pit! But my poor attempts to relieve my aches only made me feel worse.

No use complaining, I needed to land as soon as possible anyway. I flipped the screen in front of me to show my radar. It seems that there's still some missing parts in the Forest of Hope. I made my decision, I will go there today. I turned off the auto pilot and steered it around, to the planet that became my death sentence. I was always pleased when I would see the onions doing the same. The pikmin always looked out for me. Hopefully they can help me off here before it's too late.

The weather always seemed pleasant there in that forest, but today was different. Sure it still seemed pleasant, but that's what was worrying me. It was brewing, what my radar was saying, a warm wind that was bound to become stronger. The pressure was high, and clouds were forming together. If what my radar told me was true, then this can become dangerous.

But I denied it and became, I'll be honest, stubborn. I can't waste today! Who knows? Maybe this one day can make a difference in my fate. But I believed the pikmin felt it too, because when I called them down, they seemed highly active. The little creatures glanced around and sniffed the air, but that seemed to make them tense.

"Are you sensing a hurricane?" I asked them out loud. I knew they probably wouldn't understand what I was saying, but they were my only company nowdays. And the more time I spent with them, the more I cared for their safety. "I know there might be a possibility for one, but I need you to work today. I'm sure you understand. I just hope the weather can hold off until tonight when we're forced to leave anyway." As I expected, they didn't reply other than look at me with their full, curious eyes, and tilted their heads to one side. I couldn't help but laugh at them, which only made them even more confused.

But time hasn't stopped for us, and I beckoned them to follow close behind. I brought up my radar for a second time to see where the parts were. "All the way over there?" I asked no one in particular. "We have quite a way to walk then. I'm hoping to at least bring back one piece today. We have time for that much."

I exited the landing area and led the small army of yellow, red, and blue, through the opened gate that led to a large, glittering pond. As always, dwarf bulborbs lingered around the water's edge, and they were so busy burrowing their noses in the dirt to even notice us. Despite the building weather, everything here seemed pretty normal, but I thought that before, on the edge of my vision, I saw something large swim past in the water.

Even with my stubborn head and the time thinning, I was forced to stop. I have only ever seen wogpoles in there. How could there be anything else? Fins gleaming gold swirled around other sparkling hues.

It took me a while to realize how many there really were, but I knew that just one of these things were large enough to swallow me whole. Each one was fat and round, with swirling tails that were bigger than their bodies. They all looked a little different, some a lighter gold than others, and some even had patterns like sploshes or stripes.

I was easily intimidated at first, but they were no threat to us. They just swam around each other peacefully. I then had a longing to study them, what made the gold scales shine? Why did they linger so close to one other? And most of all, why haven't I seen them here before? Were they hiding out of sight? Maybe in the mud, or in shelters I couldn't see, but there were a lot of these things, and each one was of a great size.

As much as I wanted to stay and watch them, time urged me forward, we had to keep moving if we were to make progress today. And time was ticking forward quickly, already, we were just a quarter from the day's midpoint. So when we came nearer to a bulborb that had settled into a deep snore near where the wooded area thickened, I beckoned the pikmin to keep quiet and we crept past it. Then, I brought up my radar to check the parts again.

The nearest was to the path next to us that would go up to a cliff next to the large pond. But I had been avoiding that place, because the last time I took my army, there was a group of snagrets, and not only wasn't I prepared, but I'd wished my pikmin army to be bigger.

Now though, I was ready! I had as many pikmin as the onion would allow, and this time, I knew what lived up there. They were fierce beasts, with a serpent body and a bird's head. They burrowed, so it was hard to tell where they were, but they also used the size of their beaks to easily pick at the pikmin.

I didn't want to bring them into battle, it bothered me to see them lose their lives for something that I brought them into. But in this world, it was all about life, death, and the food chain. These beasts that hunted us, were also just looking for food, and while it was sad, this was just another part of life. I'm sure the pikmin lived like this every day, even before I landed here. But my mind was in a hurry to reach our destination. Now wasn't the time to become sympathetic.

But, in the end, we never reached the cliff.

I was deep in thought for a moment, but that moment cost many pikmin their lives. I first heard the loud commotion behind me, then I saw the dirt falling in front of my helmet, but the worst was hearing the high screams that followed. I turned, and saw what I feared it to be; a snagret. The monster shrieked and began grabbing the pikmin one by one.

Why was it here!? I wasn't at the cliff yet! I called the pikmin back safely out of reach. There was nothing I could do for the ones that dangled from the snagret's beak, their cries for help was unanswered, and were swallowed whole. I ordered a charge forward, but the snagret retreated back in the ground. How could I let that happen?

The only thing I could do from that point, was wait and expect it from any angle. I ordered the pikmin to stand close.

When I heard the booming, I knew that it was coming back, and this time, I won't let it go without a scratch! The ground exploded again and revealed the sharp beak. I pointed at the monster and blew into the whistle. The entire pikmin army left my side at once and attacked the snagret that was now rising out of the earth. But the monster didn't flinch, it started to pick them off again.

I called the army safely back again, and the snagret disappeared into the ground with its prey. But the tunneling and booming under our feet was more terrible than the last.

The other two heard its cries!

And sure enough, I was right, the ground burst open in two different areas from either side of me. I ran and led the team away from one and threw the pikmin up on the other's head. The snagret couldn't eat them if they were up there! But that didn't mean the pikmin were safe. The snagret managed to shake a lot of the off. Even worse, some of them flew and fell into the two puddles a few steps away.

The blue pikmin were fine of course, but the others were drowning! I was starting to rush over there to help them, but the snagret behind me had incredible reach, and I heard more screaming from the pikmin. Then, in my hesitation, the first snagret came back right in between me and the drowning pikmin.

There was nothing I could do for them. I could only save as many pikmin as I had left and flee. I ordered the pikmin close again and turned back for the landing site, not looking back and trying not to think about the ones that died in this fight.

By the time we were safely away, I stopped and turned, guilt and depression taking hold of me. I looked down at my radar and watched the reading of a ship part slide away from the battle scene and back to the cliff where I first encountered the snagrets.

The battle took most of the day too. Colors of sunset beamed down and painted the earth floor between a cover of thick, dark clouds. I felt like breaking down to my knees. My goal of trying to bring back another part today wasn't reached, this was just another wasted day. Out of my army of one hundred, only about thirty lived. Seventy lives were taken in vain, I was a horrible leader.

I returned back to the landing site. As we passed the pond, the golden swimmers couldn't look more at peace, like they didn't even know what happened. I disbanded the pikmin and allowed them to climb back up into their onions.

Once I was alone yet again for the night, I kicked at the dirt. I was as good as gone by now! Time kept ticking, ticking down to my death on this planet! What was the point of all this if I wasn't going to make it home? Would my family even ever know how I died, or that I died at all?

I climbed back into the S.S. Dolphin and took off into the sky. I looked down at the ground as the ship took off. The three onions were leaving and following me into orbit. Why did the pikmin continue to support me? We haven't made progress in a while, and so many of them died. If I were them, I would have given up on this weird stranger who needed help.

I punched in the screen to bring up my log, where I could write about these feelings. You know, besides the pikmin, you are the only one I talk to, Diary. I only wonder if you will be read many years from now if I can't succeed in my trip home.

Well, there's still around two weeks left, so let's hope tomorrow goes a little better. I'll keep trying until the very end.

So here I am again, Dear Journal, ready to tell you about what happened today. I woke up just the same. With a longing for home, rememberence of my impeding fate, and aches all over. When I brought up the map on the radar, I have decided to give the Forest of Hope another chance. After all, it seemed that hope liked to remain hidden in slight glimmers. Prehaps the forest was the same.

I was about to go down to the surface when I remembered that the hurricane never hit yesterday, so I then brought up the weather patterns. It was safe now, it looked like it did indeed become dangerous last night. It was time to inspect the damage.

Once we reached the ground, and the onions settled, I stepped out of the Dolphin to behold the evidence. Plants were snapped, and debris from probably far off lands littered the wet, ruined ground. It looked so much different from the morning before.

I moved around and stepped over the mess so I could call down the pikmin. They slid down the onion just as energetic and trusting as ever despite last night. "I'm sorry." I had apologized. "About that battle, I try my hardest to lead you safely as possible."

Again they responded in their own way, this time, they looked ready to go. Their little faces stared with determination and excitement, not anger.

I accepted their forgiveness and gathered them again, with as many colors as possible. Then I led them out to the pond again. The dwarf bulborbs had left, probably in their shelter from the storm. But I was shocked when I caught sight of the pond. It was an absolute mess! The debris floated on the dirty water surface, and heavier pieces had sank to the bottom.

That was when I noticed the golden, graceful swimmers from yesterday. They all looked upset, and they weren't swimming peacefully together this morning. This time, they stayed at an edge of the water, and moved with more twitch and speed. One of their own was away from the pond.

The storm had chopped away at the smooth earth, and water puddles, most likely from the rain and disturbed pond, filled these holes. One of the golden swimmers was lying in a close puddle away from its family. I don't know how long it was there, but I knew it was still alive, although it wouldn't be able to live there for long.

Journal, I'll be dreadfully honest, I was going to kill this creature and allow the pikmin to take it. They had suffered a large number in that battle, and I wanted to bring their numbers back up. Also, my head was still stubborn and I was still only thinking of moving on to the ship part. But for the life of me, I couldn't give the order for the pikmin to carry the swimmer away from its family.

Remember when I wrote about life and death yesterday? I had said that it is sad, but that's how life was. Well, I take that back. I couldn't let the pikmin take this one. For some reason, when I looked at that desperate creature, splashing in that puddle, I saw myself. Away from my family, and dying alone. I imagined my kids asking their mother when I will be back, only to receive no answer.

Time urged me forward, but I couldn't leave, and I couldn't kill this hopeless creature. If the pikmin carried it away, it will die, and its family will never be at peace again, swimming in graceful waves around one another. Luckily, the pikmin knew what to do with my order once I gave it. The pikmin were just so innocent... Always wanting to help, even if that means their survival was on the line. When I approached the swimmer, the blue followed and gave it a push back into the pond, back with its family.

The golden swimmers returned to their dance and moved away from the pond's edge, encircling the lost member with cheer. I was trapped watching them dance and twirl in the dirty water. The pikmin saved its life, as they were trying to save mine. Journal, that's when everything changed for me. I felt the hope I first did when I discovered the pikmin. I stopped thinking so much about myself, because I was sure everything will be okay in the end. I was going home with their help. I will be like that swimmer and go back home with nothing but love for my family, who I miss so badly.

And it would all be because of the pikmins' help. I owe them my life. They stood there with me, and I couldn't help but think that they too, were entangled by the swimmers' grace. I clasped the pikmins' shoulders on either side of me, feeling peace for the first time since my crash. I'd wished I could feel more of a part of this environment. I wanted to feel the air, wanted to smell it, wanted to hear every crisp sound without the muffling of my helmet. I want to use my own senses without the help of my radar. But, that can't happen, at least, not while I'm trapped here. Maybe one day, but for now, the peace was all I needed.

And Diary, the day only got better. When we left for the snagrets again, I expected them. But now, there was only one. The one that had the part in its belly, and it was weak. I didn't know if it was weak from the hurricane last night, or if it carried injuries from the battle. Either way, the pikmin easily defeated it, and took my missing Geiger Counter back to the S.S. Dolphin in time before dark. I am a step closer to going home.

I'm excited to see what will happen tomorrow. There are only a few more parts, then I will be able to go home. I'm sure of it! My family were waiting for me, and I couldn't wait to see them! Thank you, pikmin, for giving this lost man hope.

I'm going home.

Author's Note: Thanks for reading! That was longer than I expected it to be. This oneshot is based on 180 Writing Prompts question 147, called Sad Sea Monster, where it asked for a story to be written about one. I did this challenge with IreneT447 last year, but we're doing it again! So go check out her Writing Prompts too while you're at it!