2Stuck in the Setting Sun
There used to be six of us when this night started, and now I'm alone. It's a scary thing, to be sure, and there's been many times in my life when I was literally trembling with fear, but none of those times were quite like this one. The planet that I called my home was so different in the nighttime, and if I live to see the sun rise back up, I hope I'll never have the chance to be left behind in the dark again.
To be fair though, it wasn't his fault. You know, the guy who crashed landed here about a week back? I know he cares for our safety, and there's been many times when he went out of his way to help us. It just started after we fought the toxic mushroom beast by the glowing fungis. The fight took too much time, we couldn't even take back the piece of his space craft, we had to rush on home.
But before we were even out of the area were we fought the monster, I wasn't paying enough attention to my path of travel, and I tripped and slammed my head on the flat slope. No one really noticed beyond the panic and the fact that I was near the back of the group, I know someone would have gotten me if they saw me fall.
By the time I recovered, I broke into a run for the landing site, I knew I was cutting it really close, but I was just desperate I could make it in time. But I was already too late. Both his space craft and mine were already off the ground and soaring up into the sky.
We've landed here several times now, and the nocturnal monsters already learned to come here looking for straddlers who couldn't make it back to the ship in time, and tonight, that just so happened to be me. It was quiet long enough for me to notice a lone leafed yellow running in from the opposite direction. I guess he missed his flight too.
I was just thinking about how at least we have each other and I wasn't completely alone in this, but my thought was cut short. The ground was shaking with every pounding footsteps. The nightlife was already awake and coming. There wasn't a lot of places to hide down in this hole underground, but there were a few patches of grass that grew from the sunshine reaching in from right here, and right now, that was my only option. I cried out to the lone yellow and dove for the grass, were I crouched down on my belly and watched quietly.
The yellow sped to do the same thing, but he was spotted by a large, marching native of the forest. Those tall eye stalks took over with interest, and ran forward towards its prey. I urged the yellow to keep running, and somehow, he made it.
And if it wasn't for a few more straddlers who came in a second earlier, the creature would have chased us out of the grass. My poor friends... Most of them didn't even stand a chance. There were a dozen of them at the least, of all three colors, running and trying to avoid the night monsters. They were stomped on, chomped, taken away, but then the insects in the dirt began to sprout up.
The yellow and I, a budded blue, were terrified. Upset, he asked me if there was anything we could do to help, but I shook my head. It was already too late for them, and if we tried to do anything about it now, then we would be killed along side them.
The green winged bugs were on the surface now, snapping at the running straddlers. But then I too began to panic as a green pincer nearly ripped my arm off. I screamed, the hiding spot in the grass was a hiding spot no more, we had no choice but to leave the landing site behind.
Luckily, well, for us, there was enough going on at the moment that we escaped pretty much unseen. We pattered down the side of the bridge we just built the other day and ran closer by the underground lake. Then we both, nervous and out in the open, tried to look for another safe place to hide.
But there's two things I learned in that night; one, there are so many nocturnal creatures that hiding in one place all night is nearly an impossible feat, and two, this was an underground region, there wasn't anywhere good enough to begin with.
Just then, nearby movement send me in a further panic, but it was only two leafed reds running around the corner. They were being bathed in a hot spray of fire, luckily that didn't bother them. They were escaping a hoard of fire breathing hogs, and the two of us followed. We would be in even more danger around those monsters than these two guys were.
"There's no where to go." Yellow sighed. "We'll just run until we'll too exhausted to protect ourselves."
"Even if we take the high ground it's risky." A red agreed.
I spoke up next. "Anywhere we choose will be. We just have to stay alive until the sun comes back up."
So we split, making for the highest ground I could think of. Near the landing site, there was a large stick we unearthed to reach a large gear. It may not be totally protected, but we'll be free from the land lurkers down here.
There was a mound obstructing the view of the landing site, but it seems mostly quiet now. Though I could make out forms in the dark still. We have to be careful nothing creeps up to us.
My fellow friends are important to me, and I wanted them to live as much as I wanted to live, but traveling with a group of four was bigger than what was safe. We were easily seen running the field.
Well, now I'm in a group of five. By the time we reached the pole, there was already another red, this one flowered, ahead of us and racing for it. He began to climb, and we quickly followed as a set of footsteps approached, another forest native, and this one was fast.
We nearly lost yellow then and there after he tripped, but we raced back, dragging him to safety. I went first on the stick, still after that flowered red, and made it to the platform. The forest native beast reached the stick quickly, and at first I thought it was going to knock free, but it was deeper in the ground than I first thought.
"Are there any more of us?" I asked the flowered red.
But he was too upset and stressed to be sure. "I don't know." He answered, shaking up and down as roars surrounded us. "There were a little over a dozen, but most of them were killed on the landing site. If any happened to escape, I don't know."
After I glanced away, I realized, like it was the first time, just how much of a big problem this really was. I could make out shadowed forms all over the place, both big and small. A lot of them I haven't even seen before. Roars, cries, and calls of all different kinds filed back and forth throughout the cave. It would take a miracle to live through this, no wonder it was nearly impossible. But I tried to focus on one step at a time, if I become too hopeless or broken now, there's no way I'll make it out of here alive.
A long moment passed, it felt like we waited there all night already. But I'm sure we weren't there for more than an hour. It really wasn't too bad up on the ledge, I even thought maybe we could hide there for the rest of the time. But of course that would be too easy.
"We have a problem!"
I turned, it was one of the leafed reds who spoke, and he was pointing down underneath us. I edged over and looked, expecting to see some sort of gigantic monster threatening our position, but instead, I saw something much worse.
There was another survivor, another leafed yellow, running down the path from the pools down here by himself. Behind him, he was being chased by a swarm of green flying insects. Ahead of him was a giant fire breathing hog. He was going to be roasted if those bugs didn't get to him first!
We had to help him, I couldn't just sit by and watch him die. Without needing to explain, I saw the others felt the same way. And so, despite all of our fears and safety, we all leapt from the mound and fell on the incoming hog's back.
He thrashed like crazy, trying his hardest to boot us off. Hot fire sprayed everywhere, but I held on. Finally, he bucked, sending me flying. Everything happened so quick, I couldn't even tell what was going on with the others right now, I could only focus on my surroundings.
The yellow fleeing the swarm was all right for now, but he, and several of the others were running. My bruised mind couldn't really understand why at first, but then I turned my head. The swarm was bigger than I first thought, and it was hardly slowed.
They covered the body of the hog, pinching and biting, and it winced, searing them off with more waves of fire. A lot of them though, left and continued forward, aiming for the rest of us. It was time for me to join the others in their escape. I jumped to my feet, taking off a sparking ember that blew my way by dipping my budded stalk in the water next to me.
Then I picked up and ran. I avoided looking back, but I heard a snapping sound by my head. Death was close, the closest it's ever been. I'm honestly surprised they didn't eat me there, though, to my dismay, they caught up with one of the leafed reds, and he was disappearing behind the group of flying bodies. "No!" I cried. I leaned over for a second, thinking maybe I could still grab him and pull him free, but it was already too late.
As much as a tragedy that was though, his death distracted the monsters long enough for the rest of us to escape.
We've been running all the night through. We were all exhausted, scared, and injured. Our spirits were broken, but so far we were still alive and it's been a good several hours in the night by now. The sad part is, that since this was underground, I had no idea how much longer we needed to go before daybreak.
The remaining five of us went from plan to plan, but none of them stuck very long. Each sanctuary was very shortlived, and I was running out of options.
My legs burned, my feet were weak and clumsy, and it was like I was already dying, just so and in the worst way possible. But out of all the enemies we faced that night was not as nearly as unpredictible as one I could think of.
I didn't even think too much of it at the time, but we were running down a path, a sharp cliff on one side, and little bit of a hill on the either. We were coming back from a ruined hideout, making our way for nowhere else in particular.
We should have stayed at that last place a little longer...
At first, I caught a glimmer up in the cavernous sky. It was a silver strand. I thought it was a moon beam at first, but I was wrong. Something fell from that web, and it was huge. It came in like a dark, fireless meteor, and stomped the earth around us.
To my dismay, but nothing I could grieve for at the time, I saw another survivor fall over the cliff, the abyss I couldn't see anything down. These monsters were rare in the day, a huge, golden body suspended by long, spider like legs.
Two more were crushed, screaming and running for their lives in the process. They couldn't even respond with proper terror before they were engulfed by shadow. That left just me and a final leafed red.
But I don't know for sure if he made it out of there either. I didn't see he was killed, but I ran out of there so fast, I have no idea where he ran, because he wasn't following me.
I don't know how, but I ran for a good hour or two. Yes, my whole body hurt, and I thought that alone would finish me off, but somehow, I ran all the way past the fire hogs and ended up by the lake again. The whole time I fled, I was faced with a new threat, and just when I thought I lost them, another one appeared.
I was going mad. The terrible night was starting to crawl in my head. For a while, I even dared to think of returning to the landing site. How long will it be until it returns? But I was too scared to turn for it. All night, it's been one of the most active places. I can't survive another wave of monsters.
So I kept going, I kept going until I reached a rather large rock close by a patch of rough sand by the water. Then, I slid down on my belly. My heart was racing, I was trembling so much I worried I was dying, and I couldn't even move my legs anymore.
Everything was silent, so I continued to lie there, trying not to lose myself in my sorrows. When this night started, I was aware of five other survivors, but now I had no idea. It was a possibility I was the last one, and that thought terrified me even further.
I didn't want to die tonight, and I most certainly don't want to die by myself. Let me die in some hopeless battle, or ambushed as we carry a ship piece to our leader's broken ship. I want to die around my comrades. I want to fight for a cause bigger than myself.
What happened? I still couldn't comprehend it, I still can't really. It was too much, we were left on the ground, and I witnessed the death of four friends. Did that fifth, the leafed red live? Was he stuck just like I was? Or am I the only one, in the world, still alive on the surface tonight?
Many minutes passed, and I was almost settled from utmost panic. Almost. Then, I was suddenly under a dark shadow, and I was staring up at a large, yellow belly.
I almost died right there, but somehow rolled away in time before the frog crashed down again. Then yet again, after so many times that night, I was on the run after being discovered.
My breath came unsteady and forced, and I made the mistake of keeping my head behind me for too long. I tripped over a ledge and landing with a face full of dirt.
This was back at the beginning. This is where I was when I tripped the first time and tried to make the departure at the landing site, the battlefield with the mushroom beast. The ship piece was still here. Maybe this doesn't seem like anything to you, but it was ironic to me. If I'm going to die this night, why shouldn't I die right where I should have the beginning of this dusk? Maybe I was already considered dead.
I don't know if I ever confenced of anything, or even if I made a decision, but I was so broken, phically and spiritially, that I fell asleep right there.
And now, here I am, cataloging the most horrible night of my life to you. After that night, I woke up somehow more weak and groggy than I was before. Somehow I wasn't killed in my sleep, nothing found me there. Perhaps I'm just really complaining about these aches now because the adrenaline wore off finally from running all the time.
Whatever it was, I woke up in pain and in panic, still with a sense I should be on my feet. I crawled, dragging my limp feet to as close to the cliff as I could. I even thought, for just a second before it was rejected, that I was just waking up after slamming my face here after the group rushed to leave at the approaching nightfall. If there's one good piece of news in this night, this wasn't the start of dusk, I didn't travel back in time and I didn't have to redo everything.
I huddled there for a long time, and I didn't notice as I was so beat, but it was silent again. No roars echoed, no sounds of the dying, and no forms moving invisible in the dark.
At some point, I fell asleep again. Well, I'm not sure if I did or not, but the next time I was aware of my senses, I was trembling with dark fear again.
There were footsteps, and I wasn't sure if it was best for me to move from here.
They were light, and I didn't think I was seen. Until it stopped. I looked up, sure I was staring into the last face I would see before I die.
I was wrong.
It was my leader, staring down at me with a look of confused wonder. It was morning, the captain and the rest of my family were on the planet again. His expression was too shocked to show awe or relief to find me safe. He even had a team of others, and they were giving me the same look.
I survived the night. I'm not sure how I did it, but it happened, and I was glad.
The ordeal was terrible, and it'll remain with me for the rest of my life, but I was blessed to be with my loving family again. I didn't regret that.
My sores hindered my movement, and the alien captain, worried I was hurt more than I was, picked me up and carried me. He had a gentle hand, and he spoke to me in a different language. I wasn't sure what he said, but it was caring and quiet.
He carried me all the way back to the landing site, then with a point, showed me that I should retreat in my own ship and rest. Without a common language, he understood what I been through. I know he did.
As it turns out, I thought you would like to know, they found that single leafed red later that day as well. Somehow, he also lived through the night. He ran all the way back to the pools, where he hid behind a rock for the rest of the time. And because of the rising sun, that was the last run he had to push through.
I was really touched the captain could know everything without me telling him, but I was glad there was someone else I could talk to. Someone who saw the same things I did. It brought us closer together, and closer to our purpose. I love my family, and I will never again take them for granted.
Author's Note: Wow, this one barely made my deadline. It was kind of last minute, and it's also been a long week for me. This one is again from the first Pikmin, don't get me wrong, I love all the other pikmin games, but there's a little side story that comes with this fanfic in particular.
Several years ago, I was playing this game, in the Forest Naval, and I accidently left a single blue bud pikmin behind. I counted him as lost, but came to the same level the next day. For some reason, he was alive, just standing by himself in the battlefield where the Puffstool enemy was, right where he was discovered in the story. And no, he wasn't in the ground either, he was just an idle pikmin. I must have glitched the game or something, but I also thought it was pretty interesting, and a cool reason to write a fanfic. Anybody else have a story like this? I'd like to hear it.
That concludes this year's Writing Prompt Challenge. This one said to start a story with the sentence, "There was six of us... Now I'm alone." Sorry for the long post. :) Thank you for sticking around!
