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dear god distant tundra hates these two
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Chapter 16
The terrain here was certainly... different from the past two areas. Whilst the Garden of Hope and Tropical Wilds had both been lush with forest life, the aptly-named Distant Tundra's only plants came in the form of long-dead trees, their spindling, frostbitten branches hanging ominously. The land was a vast expanse of gray rocks and white snow, save for the lone blue river whose freezing water rushed by, faster than light.
Alph shivered. The terrain here was cold, bitter, and unwelcoming, and even his spacesuit couldn't protect him from the cold. In fact, the way his helmet fogged up whenever he breathed was only making it harder to see in the already-blinding blizzard. Brittany was out there somewhere, and he couldn't just leave her out here to face the elements alone - but he'd been standing there for hours now, with no luck.
"Brittany!" he shouted, praying for a response. "Brittany! Are you out there?"
Silence, save for the eerie howls of the wind. A lone tear formed in one of his eyes, and he began to walk back to the Drake, head down.
"Alph? Is that you?"
He turned around. Standing on the other side of the riverbank was Brittany, a large group of yellow creatures in tow. Alph brightened up and ran towards her...
... only to fall straight into the rapid water below.
The current almost instantly dragged him away. He swam to the surface and thrashed around, trying to find something to get a grip on. Miraculously, he managed to grab a root and drag himself out. He breathed heavily, then flopped forward, his Pikmin swarming him nervously.
"Uh, Alph? You good?" Brittany asked, confused.
He groaned. "I don't know how to answer that, because I'm not sure if the exhaust or the chilliness is worse. How are you? I hope that landing didn't hurt you too much..."
"Yeah, I'm good! I found these adorable Yellow Pikmin in a cave. I'll show them to you once we figure out a way to cross this river."
"Ooh! I have an idea; follow me!" Alph hurried along the bank, remembering a certain place where he'd seen a half-built bridge.
Brittany followed him to the structure. She blinked at it, disappointed. "I don't see how this is helpful. It's not even done."
"Trust me, just find some same-colored chunks of this and you're good!" he said, pointing to a pile of nearby navy-blue fragments on his side of the Tundra. "Believe me, it's surprisingly stable."
She nodded and wandered off. Alph picked up one of the blue fragments and began carrying it back, his Pikmin following suit. Within minutes, the bridge was done.
However, Brittany still hadn't returned. He was beginning to get worried. His foot tapped the ground impatiently as he waited.
Eventually, the hyup-hyup-hyup of busy Pikmin echoed faintly through the clearing. Brittany's Yellow Pikmin had returned, each one carrying a fragment, and not far behind them was a staggering Brittany, her suit and face scorched.
"Holy cow! Brittany, what happened?"
"Oh, yeah," she said. "Funny story - my helmet got cracked because of your TERRIBLE LANDING, so I started to feel really sick, and as if things couldn't get ANY WORSE, some fire-breathing pig walked up to me and TRIED TO COOK ME ALIVE." She took a deep breath. "Sorry. I'm not in a very good mood right now."
Just as she said that, one of her Yellows carried the last piece back and slid it neatly between two others.
Alph ran across and hugged her, almost crying. "Brittany, I'm so sorry! I should've listened..."
"Nah, you're fine. But I thought you might want to see this." She pulled out her KopPad and scrolled across it. "Look over here. There's a signal coming from this cave I saw on your side. It might be the captain."
He sniffed and nodded, a look of determination on his face. "Well, let's get your helmet patched up, and then we're going to save the Captain!"
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No, Alph hasn't slept in the past 28 or so hours (in this game's time). The cold is just keeping him awake.
Sorry for the long wait. The page reloaded after a bit, and I just wasn't feeling it. A 2-day promise is a 2-day promise, though.
I'm also going to be linking the previous chapters as well! Just makes things easier :)
