VIMH 3

"Hurry the hell up! It's right ahead!" Ray screamed. Drop, Flare, and Violet were stumbling at this point. However I only had a major headache. With my arms crossed from the cool air I was no used to, I looked to the sky warily, hoping the moon was close to setting.

It was very early morning, since the moon was going to hit the horizon any second now. I looked forward at Ray, who still seemed jumpy. I wondered where she got all that energy from.

"Ray," Flare and Drop moaned in unison. "Let's rest right here. For the day, please..."

"No way morons. The forest pikmin have a nice tree thing they live in. We can rest there."

All of them groaned, and I shook my head slowly at how whiny and annoying all three of them were. Ray was right, although she was getting annoying at this point, too.

I looked ahead of us, and gaped at the wood mountain. "We're supposed to climb that damned thing?!" I snapped, glaring at Ray, who only nodded.

"Well, let's get going already!" We all sped up to catch with the energetic black pikmin.

As we began our slow climb up the annoying barrier mountain, I couldn't help but become extremely jealous of Ray's amazing climbing skills. She used her claws to practically run up the entire thing without even using her feet. Black pikmin must have been built for getting away quickly...

Ray sat on the top and waited for us. I swore under my breath at how unfair she was.

I got to the top before the other three, who were still struggling halfway. Ray pulled me up with on hand. "That took you way too long," She said in a mumble.

The sun was rising now, and Ray's energy seemed to disappear with the moon. She looked as tired as I felt now. "Bi-polar much?" I said with a chuckle. She gave me a sharp glare.

"I am not bi-polar! I'm nocturnal... You should know that."

"How come you were up in the day yesterday, then?"

"I, well, I was trained." She shrugged. "But as soon as I set off with those idiots, I start going back to my regular ways."

"Ah."

"They got used to it though, so they carried me when I fell asleep during the day, and I bossed them around during the night."

"They must be extremely tired."

She completely ignored me. "They're overworked, but they're good at keeping secrets."

"Oh."

With a big yawn, she finally stopped.

The sun was a quarter up by the time the others got to the top. I was surprised that Violet was as fast, or should I say slow, as Drop and Flare. Of course, they had been talking the whole time, so that probably slowed them down.

I poked Ray, whom was falling asleep on my arm. She jerked up, looking around wildly for a second before calming. She stood up and glared at me. "Don't do that again. You are so lucky I wasn't in deep sleep, or you would be dead right now," She paused before snapping, "And don't you dare think I'm too tiny to hurt you, because I could easily take any pikmin down!"

"I didn't think that," I said, questioning why she was so grumpy.

"Now let's go, before I end up snapping someone's neck." And with that, Ray jumped down the entire thing, landing neatly on her feet. She looked up at us impatiently as we started our slow way down, hoping gravity didn't feel cruel today. I was one to take risks, but that drop would kill me if I jumped and I knew it. I waited until I was halfway down to let go.

I landed in a tumble, coming to a stop on my back. Ray looked at me and rolled her eyes before helping me up. "You're brave," She mumbled under her breath, not looking me in the eyes. "That's good to know..."

"Bravery can become stupidity if you have too much," I replied. She ignored me and continued staring up at the others, who were even slower on their way down than they were going up.

I turned my back to them and stared at what lay ahead of us.

The forest was so... Huge... Everything in it towered over us, especially the trees, which seemed to touch the sky itself.

I remembered this place. It was where my first memories were... My stem drooped at the thought of... then...

This was the forest where Fog Valley lay. The river that ran through was poisoned by the Changer, the terrible monster that enslaved pikmin, like it had tried to do to me.

In the center of Fog Valley was said to be filled with riches. That as the only reason brave pikmin would go down there, never to return, and also the reason why the Changer probably decided to live there anyways.

"Will we be going around Fog Valley?" I asked Ray. She looked me in the eyes, and seemed to be hesitating.

"...No..."

"Why not?!" I snapped at her. She glared.

"Look, just becayse you have a few bad experiences there, desn't mean that we're going to steer clear of the area. News Flash: You're not the center of the universe," Ray said.

"And what made you think that I won't just go into spasms when we get near the area?" I asked, glaring right back at her.

"We can deal with you..."

"You know what, I don't even know why I'm wanting to help you guys... Really, all you do is annoy me and put me in danger."

"We need you, though." Ray's eyes widened, knowing what I was thinking of. "You can't leave us, we... We need you..."

"And may I ask why...?" I took a step forward, and she took one back.

"So..." She seemed to be racking up an excuse in her head. "So when we begin heading back with the nectar, we won't get attacked by daylight monsters in the desert."

"Hm," Was all I said, and she shrank away when she saw the distrust in my eyes. "Suit yourselves. If you want to put yourselves in danger, so be it."

"Good."

Flare and Drop finally reached the ground, and Violet was almost there. I sighed, tired and frustrated.

'Well isn't that wonderful news to hear.' You-know-who said in my mind. 'Will you be visiting?'

"In your dreams, idiot," I mumbled under my breath, and followed Ray as we began our way into the forest, with Violet running to catch up.