His Island Isolation
Chapter 1
Here I am - this is me
There's nowhere else on earth I'd rather be
Bryan Adams, Here I am, Spirit: Stallion of the Cimarron
My breath feels harsh, wretched, beaten into a panting state and pouring from my partly opened mouth in mist-tainted gasps of silent meaning. I shiver a little, in perfect match with my husky breathing, as wintry sensations begin to swell ebb up my spine, migrating across my torso and limbs like a river's ripple of warning and fear of what will come. I clench my teeth tight, tighter with a bitter strike with a curse lingering in an inaudible whisper that is held even tighter still by the increasing tension my body, tension that attempts to quell a chill charring my flesh hidden under seemingly thin layer of velvet crimson that is my fur.
Lifting my head in the minutest of movements, my head spines instantly slide back from the flanks of my skull with the slightest quiver, listening intently for any noise that should prick their interest just as leaves would listen to a breeze in the most rigid of silence. My jade coloured eyes watch everything in a single glance from in front of their threads, focusing on just one spot below me yet, watching everything in the same moment, never slipping heir gaze for even a split second knowing the price if they should ever do.
My tail barely moves even in the slightest of strokes that composes motion though to me such little comes as no surprise, not when it is forced against the heavily chipped surface behind my back and pressing on my shoulder blades, the surface that tries to claw away some of my scarlet coat and aiding the chill and suspicion that sweeps through me without a thought beyond pure instinct.
The eternity passes by within another's breath as the ancestor's watch my training that exist purely to protect my island, my existence by testing my own limits and senses within every turn and moment my orbs do not fall closed. My face still painted in shadowed light remains unchanged behind its emotionless mask, this is despite the unforgivable thankful look that may have tried to penetrate from behind, still fixed without a shred of thought or twitch in movement to reveal anything to an opponent. This mask is forever; it is there for a purpose and must continue without an end to conceal everything that lies behind and to keep me from letting even the slightest show slip into a view of another I may encounter, if I ever do.
With a quick and swift movement, I push away silently with my concealed hands, letting the claws slide effortlessly from the rock in which they gripped without disturbing the substance's exterior. Now with nothing to hold me against the skeletal ledge, I lean forward and kick away with a raised foot and instantly fall into motion of a flip that flows in echidna bred grace amongst the desolate hanging chill. Stretching my hand forward as my feet reach their peak height, I grab the long form before me then push away with my free hand as my body starts to feel the gravity and fall onward to keep me in the air for one final evasion. The split moment I hear my landing upon the turncoat snow; my stance is that of an instant attack. Crimson fur instantly blazes in action like a fed dying ember, lunging with the object clenched tight in my paw and causing my head spines to spiral in tribal insanity of a ritual as the dance of death continues. My eyes remain fixed in a cold harsh state, locating non-existent targets
My head spines are the last to fall still though their movement ends as swift as my own to lie strewn across my shoulder blades making their blunt edges fade from the choked blur, settling once more in wait and observance. My eyes continue to watch on in an endless cycle letting the shined amethyst note every extract that comes before them and stores forever into my memory. The cold no longer breathes, no longer is felt while they are held in place by my paralyzing gaze. It is these eyes; these senses that will keep my island safe, and my destiny remain true to my heart.
The walk back to the Emerald Chamber takes many an hour but it does not faze me even for a moment, nor should it ever considering. This cold climate here in the Icecap zone is actually one of the closest of areas to the emerald shrine yet, due to the amount of shadowed cover and bitter wind forever wrapping a figure of azure ice, it is one of the best areas for me to train that I can wander to in my choosing. I am alone here, except for the Emeralds in which are guarded night and day by my own eyes, there is only I who can push my limits and ensure that I am forever ready, only myself and a sealed heart of ancient unbreakable mortar. There is no loneliness here for the concept is completely foreign to me, just the last echidna Mobius who offers his life to protecting one of the most dangerous powers ever to be brought forth to a world of non believers I shall never see. I know of no other way, I cannot object or look for another path, just follow the ancestors before me and guard the creation that binds my e
And thus the Echidna walks filled with solemn silence that only a fallen oak could ever hope or even dream to match. His head spines coil back and forth in constant motion with his sturdy shoulders that shuffle back and forth below and past them. Their base is held slightly higher than normal; the guardian has his head dipped forward in thought so that they follow suit with the stillness, this allows them more freedom yet like him; remain trapped in an endless cycle that never deems a hope to break and change for even the slightest amount that time can provide. His tail is stretched out, only partially bent with a lowered dip to suggest the thought so obvious running across his closed eyes. As blind he may seem trudging through this still thick mesh of old seasons, age coloured stone and withered trees, he is actually where his kind has the most advantage, in the dark of another's light. The shadow's are after all the best ally such a creature of crimson coating would ever need, in particular one of such a s
The ring that tells all watchers that HE is the echidna guardian of the most powerful creation Mobius has ever known to exist.
My eyes open once more in a knowing sense of where I now stand with a slight blink as my vision grasp the light source again. My arm uncrosses from my chest where I held hem on my journey while the other grips the staff the slightest tighter, not leaving a trace of panting breath visible in their wake for exhaustion held nothing. The chill has subsided long since for here is the edge of the frost's domain, exactly where I wish to be at the precise moment in time. The russet drabs that form colour upon the stone formations around me come to close at this point, making the area seem almost suffocating with so little visible above them other than a pale sapphire coat dipped with softened white blushes upon its living canvas. The snow fades rapidly to nothing more than a barren surface below my shoes, some even diminishing into liquid and slipping down small ruptures in the durable surface. This is not a dead area however even it may sound as so for there is something of more use here than simple training ground
Away, back to the only place I belong.
Pulling away from the tunnel almost blinded from the speed sensations, I flick my leg out in front of me; toss my body at a sideways angle to help slow down before any collisions on nothing other than pure instinct. My head spines flail wildly for a brief moment before settling again with the stillness of my body and the emerging small amount of dust scraping from the stone slabs that lay nestled beneath me. Without a change of breath, I stand myself straight like a small model standing to eternal attention to an order never spoken. Those Zoom Tubes are what allow my access to nearly every part of this giant island, though some areas have to be reached only by walking from the closest Zoom Tube. They are certainly the fastest way to get around, the speeds they help a passenger gain cuts walking back to this shrine time by half or even more though it does take a few months, years even to get used to the sensation and remain unfazed by access and egress. Those years are so long and such frequent in number that
I glance upwards with a hidden smile that never shows, straight into the heart of the island in the shape of seven floating jewels, the ones, which keep this island from falling to the land below, to Mobius. They are what creates my duty of protection and are also what give me a purpose in this existence even if all other sides lay as blank as an untouched desert before a storm. Six are small holding the colours of existence while circling a larger emerald of the name sent colour, the one, which keeps the smaller six in harmony as well. They themselves float within a thing veil of jade coloured energy, the one that allows their power to slowly filter away in small amounts and keep the island afloat. Should the largest ever move, the link between them all would instantly snap away and become gradually weaker the further the distance before this island looses its Floating name bound title. But they shall never move, the ancient construction still holds as strong as my will to protect them.
Always.
My rest lasts no longer for the Island alarm breaks the pleasant hum off the energy being filtered. Throwing my head back to stare at the once blank screens, I quickly shift between each one to spy the area that has a disturbance. Within seconds and with the sound still blaring in my ears, I run towards the nearest Zoom Tube I know in that area with a fury built into my pace of the thought of a trespasser leaving my clattering steps alone to echo.
The staff also falls to the stone coating, it rolls away until something stops its movement and stares at the birthright of my ancestor's with a wonder.
…..
And I am yet to know.