Hellooooo everyone! Spark The Cat, amateur writer, back to action with another story of my series: The Random Adventures of Cream and Marine. If you don't know me or the previous story (which is probably the case), there is a previous adventure that takes place right before this one. Regardless of it, I intent to make all the stories readable and understandable without the need to read the entire thing. All the connections will be explained in a way, at least I'll try. Now, the main reason for this series to exist is because I always felt that was few stories with Cream and Marine on the spotlight (no, I'm surely not counting Tailream. How is this even a thing?). Anyways, this is my way of making some justice to two characters that have a lot of potential, at least n my humble opinion. As usual, the rights for anything releated to the Sonic franchise belongs to Sega. This story belongs to me. Bla bla bla. Reviews and comments are very welcome, and if by any chance you already read the other story, let me know, it'll be nice. Hope you all enjoy it! Let the adventure begin!
Act 1 Start
Noon. It was probably noon as the sun was high in the bright blue and clean sky, few sparse clouds distant in the horizon being the divisory line between it and the azure from the sea, its waters as bright and clean as above. In midst of this tranquil landscape, two things stood different from the rest, two vessels floating side by side; one smaller, a small ship, just twice as bigger than a boat, with only one mast and an secondary triangular sail; the other, larger, about the size of a frigate, with a green translucent cover above it and wing-like structures on it's back.
Aboard the larger vessel were two young girls. A cream colored rabbit with an orange streak in the middle of her head, big droopy ears with the tips also orange, her eyes a cinnamon brown color. She wore a orange sleeveless dress with a blue ribbon on the neck, white gloves and orange and yellow boots. The other girl was an orange raccoon with brown rings on her tail and brown ears, and she had blue eyes. The tips of her pig tails were also brown, and so were the marks around her eyes, characteristic of the species. She sported a lime green and white top, black shorts, lime green and orange sneakers and tan gloves. None other than Cream the Rabbit and Marine the Raccoon.
Right now the girls were leaning on the border of the Ocean Tornado as they looked at the shorter ship and at the owner of it. A yellow young fox with two tails and sky blue eyes. The boy had three bangs over his forehead and used golden goggles with dark purple lens. He wore a white thick long sleeve shirt, a blue sleeveless jacket over it and red and white shoes. He stood by the mast of his ship as he stared back at the young girls with a confused look. He was sailing back to his city when a bright flash shone in the horizon. Curious about the event, he changed his course a little and headed to towards it's direction.
Upon reaching the place where light came from, he spotted a strange vessel in the distance and approached it. It seemed to be completely empty when two girly voices came from it, shouting some greetings and something about tails. He stopped at its side and found the sources of the voices, those two unknown kids that seemed to have mistook him with someone. That didn't happen very often, mostly because of his unique feature: his two tails.
Right after awkwardly greet them and answer to a foul remark about his vessel, he asked them who was this person that they mentioned before. Maybe they knew another two tailed fox, thought he found it too hard to believe. After another minute or so of eerie silence, he decided to start a conversation. Somehow.
"Umm, its… a fine vessel you have there. Indeed, I think I have never seen such a… exotic design before"
"Oh thank you. Actually, it's a pretty common model back at home"
"Oh, I see… May I ask where do you come from? I beg your pardon but I don't think you live in this lands"
"Well Ta- ahem. Mister, we are… from a very distant land"
"Yeah, very distant"
The fox then held a suspicious look. He would not dare to maculate such innocent images as these two, but they seemed to be hiding something, which concerned him about their well being. In fact, it was high unlikely that two young ladies would be in the middle of the sea taking care of a ship all alone. There had to be more people in the ship. What if they were hostages of an enemy country, using them to invade the kingdom? Or maybe pirates trying to pass by unnoticed? They could've being held captive for weeks! He had to do something, but he wasn't sure that he would manage to do so.
"Oh, I see… why don't… why don't you come over here so you can tell me more about how you ended here…?"
Cream and Marine looked at each other with a slightly worried look, which didn't passed unnoticed by the fox.
"We would love to talk about it, mister"
"But we have to go now. Things to do, places to see"
If the girls learned something from their last trip was that when dimensional jumping was involved, something obvious and familiar could be completely different from what they expected, and all the caution was not enough. Who knows, this Tails could be a mean guy, maybe a pirate or some kind of kidnaper. They planned to dismiss him easily and just leave as fast as they could without raising suspicions.
"But I insist that you do. I have to know more about this vessel of yours. It's simply fascinating"
"Sorry but we are on a hurry right now, mate. Maybe another time, if we meet again?"
"Who knows when another opportunity will come? We better take it while there's time. Is there anyone else on your ship? I would like to meet the crew"
Insert underwater countdown here
The tension was building up with Cream and Marine. What would they say? Either yes or no, he could be planning something. Marine was sweating a bit while she thought about her answer and Cream was holding the wooden ledge with increasing strength. Their minds were racing around what they should do, thinking about a plan to fight if necessary, or maybe a escape route would be safer? They weren't sure.
"Oh dang it! Marine, start the engines!"
"R-right!"
They gave up on the act and decided to flee instead of fight. Marine rushed to the bridge, almost tripping when she went through the doorway, and started to turn on the engines via the control panel. While she assumed the steering wheel, Cream decided to take some defensive measures and loaded one of the small side cannons on the ship. She pointed towards the smaller ship and was about to try and say some kind of threat or warning, but she no longer could see the fox.
When she looked to her right she found him just a feel inches away from her. She yelped and, surprised by the sudden move, let her guard down. The fox grabbed her wrists and tried to pull her away from the cannon and towards the other ship. Cream, of course, resisted against it with all her might.
"Hey, wait! Stay calm, I will vet you out of here"
"You sure are not! Let me go!"
They kept struggling as Marine watched the scene developing on the deck. She was looking at the radar to see if she could find an island or something to make a run and when she looked up she saw the fox climbing aboard the Tornado. Before she could shout something, the guy got a hold on Cream. Now she was looking for something to take him down, but the vessel lacked of melee weapons such as a sword on even a club. They were anything but necessary having Blaze around. She looked to her side and spotted an old friend leaning on the corner of the bridge.
"Guess it's you and me again, mop"
She grabbed the mop and rushed to the deck. Meanwhile, Cream kept fighting against the kidnaper. He was saying he wanted to help her but she knew better than to believe in him. Never talk to strangers, her mother always said, so following an foreign alternative Tails was completely out of question. They were near the ledge and the fox was almost winning, so by instinct, Cream kicked his knee. The guy flinched and let go of her wrists, jumping in the place on one leg as he held the other. With the adrenaline running through her veins, she made another daring move and punched him in the nose, knocking him on the ground backwards. Two or three seconds of dizziness and the guy finally registered what happened, taking a serious mental note that this rabbit was much stronger that she looked. Just when he sat up he received another blow to the head, a soaked one, may I say. Marine just ran in and hit him with the mop, once again knocking him down.
He murmured something while he kept on the floor and Marine raised the mop again. His eyes widened and he shouted, his arms blocking the way to his head.
"I surrender! I surrender!"
Marine lowered the mop, but still kept it on her hands and pointed towards him, while Cream held a defensive stance with her hands curled into fists and up. The fox let go of his defense slowly and carefully sat up again, his eyes darting from the raccoon to the rabbit and then to his surroundings. Indeed, no one seemed to be here besides the girls and now himself. Thinking again about it, if there were pirates, they would've attacked already, which raised the question: what were they doing here all alone? It would have to wait because right now they were making the questions.
"Who are you and what do you want? Answer or... the mop goes down again!"
"I rather avoid further violence since I am surprisingly in disadvantage. Ahem, my name is Miles Richard Prower, but you may call me just Miles. All I want is to reach the coast and get back to my shop with the supplies I have on by ship. Now, may you forgive my boldness, but I only went into that direction because I saw a bright light. Can you explain me what it was?"
Now a little less defensive, the girls thought if they should tell Miles the whole dimensional jumping thing. Considering the last time, they decided to take another way and tell him the truth. It could be hard for him to believe but at least they would not have to go with fake stories. Having that decided, they told him about how they ended here and where they came from, the whole adventure on Moebius, the need to find a power source for the Aleatory Probabilistic Generator and the universe hopping thing. Miles took his time to let all the information sink in and then got up and dusted himself off, having his thoughts on the whole story set.
"Well, indeed an incredible story. I'd recommend that you two avoid telling everyone about this, unless you want to end tied on a trunk over a fire pit. That said, it's not the first time I hear about someone from another world, which makes me question if this is common sense on another worlds"
"Well, it's kind of common back at my home, mister Miles"
"The same can be said from my place, mate"
"Fascinating. Anyway, I beg your pardon about the ruckus I caused. I jumped to conclusions and thought that you were hostages of a group of pirates or something like that"
"We kinda thought the same thing. Still being used to the alternative versions of practically everything"
"Well then, I shall go otherwise I won't reach the bay during the day. Farewell miss…"
"Cream"
"Marine"
"Farewell then, miss Cream, miss Marine"
"Actually, we could use some help"
"We need to reach the land too, and starting on a populated place will make things a little bit easier"
"Then let us go already. Leave it to me"
Miles jumped back to his boat and went back to his original course, being followed by the girls on the Ocean Tornado. The small ship wasn't much fast, but in time they reached the bay, a large and rounded portion of the sea that invaded the continent. The entire circumference of this almost circle had lots of construction, mostly shops and piers to dock ships. Speaking of ships, there were lots of them at the bay. Really, a lot of them. Ranging from small frigates and little fishing boats up to huge and imposed galleons, they went to a side to another, entered and exited the bay.
On the coast, the many decks were filled with people as they bought and sold their commodities. Once docking, the girls rushed after Miles as they crossed the busy wooden decks and the frenetic crowd constantly shout-talking. They must've lost Miles from sight at least four times but in due time the managed to get out of the commotion. Miles paid some workers from the docks to unload his ship and then went inside a huge warehouse, at least fifty feet tall, with large doors in the front and wide windows on the sides. They followed him and saw the inside of the building, a similar ambient as nearly everyone was chatting in a considerably high tone. On the ceiling huge candle chandeliers hung and illuminated the ambient with a bright and warm yellow. Big mezzanines formed a second floor were lots of cabinets stood side by side. On the end of the warehouse, large wooden tables with people sitting around them. The people here seemed to be much more wealthy than the crowds outside.
"What is this place, mister Miles?"
"This is the Great Trade House of Commerce. A place where we can sell, buy and negotiate any kind of product, not necessarily in that order. I'm here to trade some items that I brought"
They headed to a cabinet on the second floor, on the right side, and Miles called the owner. A fat bald man appeared, wearing a white,slightly dirty shirt and brown pants. They greeted and chatted quickly, and just as quickly they came down to business.
"So, do you have the cargo?"
"Yes, it's being brought here as we speak. What about my part?"
"Right here". The fat man went back at his cabinet and pulled a cart full of dark grey and dull rocks. "Fifty pounds of raw iron ore for four barrels of wine plus ten percent of the value in gold"
Miles frowned at the man and pushed the cart back to him.
"We agreed in a hundred and twenty five pounds, and this ore is anything but worth the price. I bet most of it are just common rocks! Who do you think you are tricking?"
Now the man held a frown on his face, having his arms crossed over his chest.
"It's you, my lad, that is mistaken. This ore is from the finest quality and it is worth the price it costs"
"This is a poor quality material and you know it. I won't buy a single gram of it"
The man hovered above Miles and pointed a finger to his face, his expressions very menacing. The girls on the back even took a step aside.
"We have a deal, boy, and you better come up with your part if you don't want any trouble"
Miles pushed the man's hand with his own and stepped in, making the fat guy back up.
"We sure have a deal, and I have three copies of it well documented and stored. Now, if you don't want your competition and the crown's collectors to know about your 'outside' sources, you will give me my hundred and twenty five pounds of QUALITY ore and keep your barrels of wine. I can cause you a lot of trouble and you won't like it, I tell you that"
Miles had the man cornered, literally. Having his back on the wooden wall of the cabinet, the bald man let out a frustrated sigh an went inside it again, returning with a larger cart, completely full with black rocks with a slight metallic bright. Miles held one on his hand, inspected it and nodded in approvement, putting it back on the cart. A minute later one of the men he had hired at the pier appeared and pointed to some barrels at the entrance of the warehouse. Miles then bided his farewell to the bald man and motioned to the hired one to bring the cart with him.
Marine and Cream followed them close by, impressed with the skills and boldness of the fox. As they walked off the warehouse and through the streets, they kept watching the surroundings. Shops and people selling all kinds of things, and most of them discussing about something, be it the price or legitimacy of any product. Miles noticed their looks and started another conversation.
"Heh, merchants. Always trying to get an advantage. But he should know better than try to fool me on a matter of ore quality"
"Are you an specialist on it, Miles?"
"I work constantly with it Cream"
"What do you work with?"
"I'm a blacksmith. Since my childhood I have been working around a furnace and an anvil"
Oh, so you make swords and stuff? Nije job, mate!"
"Not only swords and weapons. I deal with any kind of metalurgic job, but indeed most of it is making blades, shields and armours. It's a family business…"
"And we are heading to you shop now?"
"Yes. My house and workplace stay in Camelot. We are going to rent a carriage to carry the ore and my other stuff"
They reached another part of the city, equally full and agitated, but it seemed more like an elite place. They got to a carriage and the hired men loaded it while they got up in the passenger's seats. During that time, Cream held a thoughtful expression, as if she was trying to remember something. She kept like that a good part of the trip. Marine noticed but didn't bother to ask, sure that sooner or later the rabbit would voice her thought by herself. Miles, on the other hand, only now noticed it and didn't spend time waiting to ask.
"Cream, do you have something in mind?"
"Oh, nothing important. It's just that… something that you mentioned caught my attention for some reason but I can't tell why"
"And what would that be?"
"Your home city, Camelot. I think I heard it in somewhere before…"
"Well, I suppose Camelot is famous even among other worlds. It's a pretty big and powerful city after all"
"Meh, doesn't ring any bells for me though"
"Really? It's hard to see someone that never heard the stories about the king and this kingdom"
"What king, mate?"
"Well, there was a king before… he was known on all the lands and many trembled in awe and fear upon hearing his name. He was King-"
"Arthur!". Cream shouted suddenly, clapping her hands together.
"So you know him, Cream?"
"Yes, but in the way you are thinking Marine. What I know are the stories about the king Arthur and the sword stuck on a rock. We are on the world of the Knights of the Round Table!"
"Oh… never heard of"
"Excuse me but, stories? What do you mean?"
"How can I say it, Miles… back at my world, Arthur, the knights and the magical sword were only stories and legends"
"Hmm. Well, it wouldn't be the first time I heard something like that…"
"Really?". Marine inquired. He would answer her right away, had they not arrived at the city, Camelot. As they passed by the streets, the girls looked at the old fashioned houses, for them at list. It was like a time travel back to the Middle Age, which was actually pretty close to their present situation. At the distance, the tall and imposed castle, with large walls surrounding it and high towers. They stopped in front of a small rather large house, which had the front pretty much like a garage. Inside it were all the things needed to work as a blacksmith: furnaces, hammers, sharpening stones, anvils, and lots of already done swords, shields, armour pieces and many more metallic crafts. They didn't have experience but they could tell Miles was very skilled, as much as Tails was a true genius.
The men unloaded the cargo and Miles thanked them after handing them a bag full of golden coins. It was almost dark so the young fox offered for the girls to stay at his house, which they gladly accepted. He feared that his accommodations were quite rudimentary since he spent most of the time working, just like his counterpart. The girls didn't bother thought, Marine in particular stating that she had much worse things for a bed. The night came in and so sleep to the two girls. Miles kept putting some things in order before he went to sleep.
The night passed by and the sun raised again, illuminating the houses and the great castle. A sweet smell came to the girls noses, slowly waking them up. They got from the bed they shared and got to their feet, stretching and shaking of any remainings of sleepiness. They followed the scent through the house and found Miles in the kitchen, stirring a small stewpot. They came to his side and looked inside the pan, seeing a white cream. Upon seeing they were awake he greeted them.
"Good day girls. Are you up to porridge, because that's basically the only thing I know to cook…"
The girls let out a small laugh. The similarities with Tails didn't stop to show up. Cream remembered of that one time she found a pile of cups of instant noodles and her friend asleep on his desk, covered in sheets of paper. And of course they didn't mind, since he already did a lot for them. They sat on a small table with some bowls filled with the porridge and started to eat, enjoying the sweet taste of the food. As soon as he finished, Miles threw his bowl at a large bucket full of water and went to the workshop, having already lit the furnaces. The girls took their time to finish as well and then followed him, first Marine and then Cream, who decided to wash the dishes. They stood at the doorway and observed the busy fox going from a side to another, melting the raw iron ore, then heating some ingots he already had, then looking at his drawings and models, and repeating all over again, sometimes stopping to sell a sword or repair a damaged helmet.
"Geez, good thing he seems to be a multitask guy. I would end crazy if I had to do all this stuff alone"
"Tails always tried to do a lot of things together to win some time, but he always ends completely exhausted"
"Yeah, he is in a frenzy. Does he work like that every day?"
"I think that we cannot count on him to help us. I mean, we can't possibly ask for him to stop his work just because of us…"
"Same here. Well then, let's walk around while we figure out a way to recharge the generator"
"Something tells me that it won't be as easy as last time"
"You call THAT easy?"
They left the workshop and walked through the stone paved streets, looking around and memorizing some references to come back later.
"Yes, we walked through a desert and yes, we had to deal with rebel me and crazy you-"
"And with super green Sonic"
"Yeah, that, but at the end we had an limitless power source from a legendary gem handed to us. I don't expect any more Chaos Emeralds copies to fall from the sky"
"I get your point. Do you have the tPhone with you?"
"Yep. Already turning the tracker on"
With the energy source locator on, they kept walking through the town, doing their best to ignore the strange looks that most of the people gave them when they passed by. That was expected since they were from another completely different world, but still was a little embarrassing to draw so much attention. The morning went on pretty much like this, the girls making a huge tour around Camelot trying to find a trace of any power source, talking and sometimes laughing at the uncommon scenes they had seen so far, like when they crossed a large open square and spotted an 'wizard' making pigeons on a cage disappear. They just looked at him from behind and spoted the birds on a hidden cage under the table he was. There was also an street circus with some jesters falling on purpose and juggling with anything they could toss in the air. They even got a couple of apples for free after helping a cat out of the roof, as Cream just flew up, grabbed the little kitty and handed him to the fruit stand lady.
Near the edge of the town, a small blip came from the tPhone. Cream and Marine immediately got their eyes focused on the smartphone, staring at the blank screen. Maybe it was just a fluctuation on the reading, or they were hearing things- nope, another blip and a faint wave pattern coming from the corner of the screen, meaning that something distant was emitting energy. They looked at each other for an instant and wide smiles crossed their lips. Without thinking they dashed away, heading for the direction indicated by the radar. Back at the workshop, Miles was done working on some of the raw materials he had bought. He wiped the sweat on his forehead, an representative act since he was completely covered in it because of the furnaces. Heading inside the part that was his house, he looked for the girls, finally giving up in denying his stomach the well deserved food it was begging.
"Cream, Marine, what do you think of eating at that inn we passed when we arrived? I only have bread and a piece of ham… umm, forget about the ham! Girls? Hello?"
He looked at the bedroom and at the kitchen, the only two rooms of his house if you don't count the workshop and the storage. He didn't see when or where they left, then again it was logical since he knew how oblivious to his surroundings he became while working.
"Well, it seems that I will have to look after them. It cannot be too hard, a lot of people must have seen them. Oh, better not let this bread get musty. The ham alone is already a big loss…"
While eating the bread, Miles left his place and started to ask people about the two girls. As he imagined, it was easy to recognise them since they wore very distinct attires. Meanwhile, already on the outskirts of Camelot, Cream and Marine were on a light jog through the grass fields and wheat farms. As they moved forward the signal became slightly stronger, now blipping on a constant pace. The more they got away from the town, more and more trees appeared in the landscape. The wheat fields soon gave place to a taller grass and, further ahead, tall and large trees. The open fields turned into a dense forest, shaded by the thick tree tops. They slowed down to a walk as they went along the road between the trees, going deeper at the forest. Their surroundings gave an eerie and kind of mystic sensation, as many beams of sunlight crossed the dense canopy of the trees, contrasting with the shaded environment. There was little to no sound around them, something strange for such an untouched area of the nature. The path they were following became more and more tortuous, making wide curves left and right, each time going with the flow of the terrain instead of of just going through it. The path gradually disappeared, fading away in the forest.
They now tracked the signal, still weak but steady, following natural trails in midst the forest, making their way through bushes and branches. Marine looked up but could not tell what time of the day it was. They completely lost track of time, but felt like they were walking for hours and yet they were not hungry or tired. The air around them felt extremely refreshing and the more they kept going, more motivated and lighten up they felt, as if the forest was inviting them to go further. In fact, even living here would be something nice. The forest was beautiful in it's own way, full of exotic flowers and now that they were pretty deep inside it, they could see and hear the fauna all around. Every single detail, from the small drops over the leaves to the little green worm chewing a pink petal on the ground, looked magical, and they could not get tired of it. Cream and Marine soon stopped to worry about the tPhone, just taking the views surrounding them as if in a kind of hipnose trick.
Suddenly, a faint noise like a flute sounded, followed by a gentle breeze that blew through the threes, shaking the leaves lightly. Cream broke out of her dazed state upon hearing the blip of the energy tracker. For a brief moment it registered a peak of energy, not really strong, but much higher than the previous readings. For the first time since they entered the forest, Cream felt the clouds nebulating her mind fade away and she managed to think straight, also noticing her friend's state and shaking Marine a little. The raccoon seemed to wake up and looked ariu d with a confused expression.
"Where… where are we, Cream?"
"I don't know… for some reason I can't remember how did we get here, neither the way back…"
"Ugh… it's like I was going on autopilot or something… as if…"
"Something was luring you…?"
"...you too?"
Cream nodded with a worried look. They started to understand the situation. Something was up in this forest, and whatever it was it managed to trick them for what seemed to be hours. Who knows what other tricks there could be, just waiting to be casted at them. What dangers could be lurking behind the trees? The worry on their minds started to grow to unhealthy proportions, turning into fear and almost panic. They didn't know where they were or how to get out of the forest, all by themselves. They still had some apples but they would not last forever, and the exotic vegetation could be poisonous. They left without warning Miles so it could take a long time for him to notice and try to go after them! What if they were attacked by an wild animal? What if they got injured? There was no way to call for help!
On the verge of a panic attack, that faint flute noise sounded again, followed by the same gentle breeze, coming from the same side of the forest. As it blew by them, they felt more calm, as if the wind had washed away all their worries. Once again the feeling of their clouded minds clearing came, making it clear to the girls that this forest had an effect over their minds. The blip on the radar caught their attention and they finally looked at it, seeing the direction of the energy peak. Had they payed a little more attention before, they would notice that the peak of energy came from the same side the wind blew from. Deciding to not let the forest get on their heads again, they returned to tracking the energy source.
The way thought was pretty much harder to go through, being full of irregularities, rocks, thick bushes and twisted branches, as if everything around them was on an effort to stop their progression. Only five minutes out of the natural trails and the girls were already exhausted, breathing heavy and feeling their legs a little numb. The hunger soon made its way, forcing them to eat the apples, and even though they had four for each, their stomachs kept feeling empty. The need to stop and sleep washed over them, making the soft looking grass on the ground almost irresistible. Every ten steps or so a grassy spot appeared, illuminated by a beam of light crossing the thick canopy of the trees, forming a very convidative bed warmed by sunlight. The only thing keeping them awake was the steady sound or the radar, but even this was starting to seem useless. Just before they gave up, the breeze blew again, the flute in the wind much clear and easy to hear now. Small fireflies appeared in the air, giving the shaded forest a faint golden glow. Suddenly, Marine noticed a small trail through the trees that she was sure wasn't there before. She tugged Cream, who looked at the tPhone to look at the signal. Coincidentally, it pointed to the way the trail lead.
This trail felt different from the previous ones, not giving them the magical feelings they felt before. There was no revigoration nor tiredness, just the steady glow of the fireflies as they kept going. The trail soon widened into a path with some rocks on the ground which were almost flat, l as if hand made. More and more fireflies came flying around them, increasing the golden glow. The path now almost straight lead them to a clearing, letting the girls look at the sky for the first time since they entered the forest. It was almost night, the sky ranging from an strong orange to a faded red and a dark blue coming from the horizon. This gave them a clue of how much time they spent here, which was crazy because all this time the beams of light didn't change the angle, color or intensity, always keeping perfect at these conditions. Cream looked down and spotted a pile of bit stones on the other side of the clearing. The breeze blew again and she was sure that it came from the stone pile. A closer look at it revealed that there was a hole on it.
Cream looked at the radar again an it pointed towards the stone pile. She and Marine walked to it and saw that the stone pile was actually an entrance to a cave. The signal became slightly stronger, now appearing on the screen. They looked at each other and then entered the underground cave. The descending was quite easy as they went through the stairs carved into the stone with the tPhone's flashlight to see where they were stepping. It only took them five minutes of slow descending to reach an doorway carved into the stone. As they passed by the tall round portal, they found a huge round cave, illuminated by big light blue crystals on the ceiling, which emitted a bright light. On the center of the cave, something took their attention: a large rock table with some inscriptions around it. They walked for it and got surprised and a little bit disappointed at what they found.
Over the table rested a short sword and an round small shield, covered in layers of dust. The sword's handle was brown, with the guard and the end of it in a metallic gray. The shield was also brown except for the details on the borders and the cross in the middle, which had the same color of the sword's guard.
"So, what are looking at? Doesn't look like a power source for me"
"Yeah, I don't think so either. Guess I was expecting something more like a magical stone or something like that…"
"What is it that every object that holds a great power has to be related to a jewel?"
"I can see why miss Rouge likes gems so much, hehe"
The girls kept looking around for the power source but they didn't find a single clue about it. The signal wasn't strong enough to have the precise location so the tracker only pointed that it was in this cave. Cream even checked if the crystals could be used but they were just luminous. Mentally and physically tired, they sat on the ground in front of the rock table, back to back.
"Do you think we can throw wood or coal inside the generator?"
"Let's see what the manual says… ummm, apparently not since the generator does not 'transform an energy type into another one'. It also says that we would need tons of coal or wood to charge it up…"
"So we are stuck in this dimension?"
"I don't even know if we will manage to get out of this forest Marine, let alone jump to another dimension?"
"Don't you mean home?"
"We thought we would jump back to home but we ended here. Who knows how many times we will have to jump until we go back? We could keep going at this for our entire lives without jumping at the right one"
"Now that's completely depressing"
"~sigh~ I know, it's just that… I guess the forest messed up with my head a little"
"I got it. Anyway, you are just being realistic. Maybe, if we get lucky enough to get out of here, Tails could contact us again and think of a way to charge the machine"
"Yeah, like a water mill powered motor generating electricity"
"I can already see it. Just eight years and we are good to go!"
"Still better than chopping down an entire forest, and much easier"
"What if we asked Miles to show us the legends of this world? We could pretty much find one and our problem was solved"
"That's the normal plan anyways. Find legendary item, win final battle, save world, hehe"
"Haha, I even ask myself why Eggman Nega and the pirates even tries knowing how it will end?"
"Right? Hahaha"
They laughed at these situations that always followed the same pattern, like some kind of multiversal joke, repeated over and over. The irony about it was that they didn't escape from it either, remembering what happened last time. In they now lighter mood, they didn't notice a shadowy figure coming from the ground in a swirl of light blue fog. Only when they heard a strange low growl that they turned around to see the ghostly figure facing them. It was slightly translucent, bluish in color and the legs didn't existed down from the knees. The specter looked like a knight, using a helmet, armour plate and gauntlets, but the latter had the hands bigger, the fingers sharper, forming very menacing claws. It's eyes burned with bright red flames through the helmet's eye slits.
Insert Mystic Mansion theme - Sonic Heroes
A cold shiver through their spines and they jumped up, taking several steps back until they leaned on the rock table. The looks on their faces could be described as a mix of fear and nervousness, with a hint of 'I am going to faint'. There was a brief moment of silence before the ghost growled again and rushed at them. The girls screamed and ran away in opposite directions. The ghost made a turn and followed Cream around the cave, swinging his claws at her and missing by inches. She ran straight to the wall of the cave, jumped and stepped on it, making a backflip and taking flight. The specter just came across the wall, leaving a thin layer of ice.
"Where did it go?!"
"~gasp~ Behind you, Marine!"
The phantom came from the ground right behind Marine, who yelled and jumped forward, dodging an horizontal attack. It dashed after Marine as she ran around the cave. She made a leap over the table and turned around to face the ghost. It tried to reach her around the table and she ran around too. They spinned around it left, right, left, left again, right, until the phantom roared and float jumped over it, aiming at Marine, who ducked and jumped away from him, just to be grabbed by Cream. They stood in the air looking at the ghost.
"Do you think he can reach us here?"
The ghost faded into the ground and seconds later he came out of the ceiling a little bit far from them, claws pointed towards them and screaming.
"You had to ask, Marine?!"
Cream dived just in time to dodge the ghost, which made a turn and followed them. Cream got near the ground and made a sharp turn up, which the vhost didn't manage to follow, but he just faded into the ground and reappeared on one of the walls chasing after them again. Though used to lift a LOT of extra weight (A/N: looking at you Big), to Cream, flying was proving very difficult since the specter after them seem to get tired or bored of chasing them, forcing the rabbit to make very tricky maneuvers in order to avoid the danger and carrying Marine just to add up to the pile.
Going higher again, she was pretty close to the ceiling. Cream moved around the crystals trying to lose the ghost. If they could have at least a little breach, she could dive at the entrance of the cave and get out without the phantom going after them through the forest. The forest itself would be a really serious challenge so they could not risk having the creature on their heels. She made a sharp turn around a bigger crystal and held on the smaller tips coming from the main structure, helping Marine to do the same. They made all the possible to keep silent, Cream being a little short of breath. The luminosity up there barely let them see a thing around them, but the darker aura of the ghost pointed his position as they could see it through the glassy crystals.
The specter vanished from their view and after a minute Cream was getting ready to make her dive, but before she could give a signal to Marine, the raccoon screamed. Turning around Cream found the ghost right after them, upside-down and coming from the ceiling. The sudden move made Marine loose the grip of one of her feet and when she tried to hold on the crystal tips, they cracked and broke, letting her fall from it. In an instinctive reflex Cream let go of the crystal and used her legs to gain speed and reach her friend. She grabbed Marine's hand right in time to avoid major injuries when hitting the rock table at the center and rolling to the ground, but still the impact made their legs a bit sore. The ghost floated down and nearly above them, standing with his arms and claws open in a menacing stance. Sitting on the ground and with no other escape route or options, they just backed away as it floated towards them, until Marine bumped her hand on the shield that was over the rock table. They knocked it and the sword when they landed.
The ghost raised it's arm and made his attack at the girls. Without thinking, Marine grabbed the shield and held it in defence, holding at the borders while they screamed in fear. Some seconds passed and she dared opening her eyes, feeling too much alive for the current situation. With a confused look she scanned her body and looked at Cream, who also held a confused look on her face, then both looked at the phantom floating over them. They could swear, if it wasn't for the closed helmet and dark aura they would see the confusion on his face too. The ghost roared and lashed at them again, and Marine responded by screaming and lifting the shield up again. The small shield completely nullified the attack and a faint light shone in form of a sphere around them very briefly, like some kind of force field. Roaring in fury again the specter started a barrage of lashes at the girls, only to have all his attacks blocked by the shield Marine was holding up. It tried to hit them around the shield but the force field still acted, protecting the girls from all angles. He even tried to pierce and trespass the barrier but failed miserably.
Now having some time to recover from the shock, the girls stood up and nodded to each other as they walked towards the entrance portal, Marine always holding up the shield and turning around to face the ghost as it moved around, just to be sure he would not get them off guard. Unfortunately, just a few meters away from their exit, the ghost let out a loud scream and his hands got engulfed into a lighter shade of blue. He flew ahead of them and lashed upwards at the air, creating a wall made of blue ice crystals. He turned around to face the girls and roared screamed again, charging at them with his ice claws. The attacks didn't reach them but the ice was starting to accumulate around the force field, impending them from moving. Marine lowered the shield and the field dissipated, but she quickly held it up again as the ghost tried to strike them at this breach. They moved back to the center of the cave on this cycle, to a point where the ghost would keep flying around and striking the shield until a thick layer of ice formed and Marine had to undo the protection, barely making it again before he got to them. With the escape route blocked and the ghost keeping them at this thigh spot, it was a matter of time until they got caught, and the other possible solution was to defeat the ghost, but how to do so?
At that moment, Cream stepped into something. Looking down she found the short sword that was together with the shield. A light bulb shone on her mind.
"Marine, look at this. This sword was together with the shield"
"Yeah, so?"
"The shield completely blocks the ghost"
"...so, maybe…"
"Maybe the sword also affects it"
"I don't know Cream, we are already on big trouble. This is going to be even more risky"
"I don't see any other option right now"
They looked at each other unsure of this choice, another roar of the ghost and a heavy layer of ice on the shield strengthened their resolve. Cream held the sword with her two hand, making her best to imitate the action movies she used to watch with Sonic, Knuckles and Tails. She remembered of the medieval ones where knights dueled, which seemed proper given their current location, and also remembered the futurist science fictions Tails liked so much, with light sabers and things like that. The young rabbit took a deep breath and focused on the spectral knight flying around them. Once it made a turn and went for another strike, Marine lowered the shield and she dashed forward, heading straight at the phantom. It screamed again, holding his claws wide open to slice the girl facing him, but at the last second Cream slided on the ground and held the sword up.
"HAAAAAYA!"
She managed to cut the dead knight across the chestplate. She didn't even made much an effort, but cutted through pretty easily. The ghost roared in what she assumed was pain. Does a ghost even feel pain, like, in the same way a living being does? Well, that answer would have wait since the specter was back on the game and coming for Cream. She quickly got up and braced herself for the attack, holding the sword with strength. When the knight swinged his claws at her, Cream took a step back and ducked the second slash, hitting the left side of the armour and running away as the specter howled again. She made her way to Marine, who lifted the shield up again and only then managed to release a breath of relief.
"So, how are you going?"
"Good, I guess. I don't know why but this sword just goes through this ghost like he's made of butter"
"Isn't it because he is a ghost?"
He didn't manage to go through the crystals, right? Maybe there are things that he cannot go through"
"Let's think about it later, here he comes!"
The knight slashed another barrage of claws at the force field, covering half of it in ice. Marine lowered the shield and the ghost made its way around to get them from behind, only to meet face first a swing of the sword from Cream. It let out a loud howl and floated away, holding a claw to his face. The dark blue mist coming from the ghost flared up wildly, showing that it was pretty angered at the two girls. Cream and Marine stood side to side, facing the knight, one holding the sword in an attack stance and the other ready to raise the shield when needed. Sensing the challenge, the ghost screamed again and dove at the duo once again.
At the nick of time Marine raised the shield, blocking the attack and making him flinch a little, which Cream used as a opportunity to strike, slashing her sword across the chestplate diagonally and upwards. The ghost backed away and faded away, but not through any of the walls, ceiling of floor. The girls looked around waiting for the next attack, which almost got Marine from behind, had it not been for Cream spotting the bluish outline of the phantom's claws and countering the attack with one of her own. Marine raised the shield and it repealed the ghost, cracking some of his already damaged armour. The specter soared in the air and started to send icy wind blades with his claws. Marine ran around blocking with the shield in order to get his attention while Cream flew up at its blind spot and hit it with the sword in a vertical downward slash. The knight roared and went through the ceiling, erupting from the ground shortly after and creating a huge ice spike as he did so. Marine barely managed to roll out of the giant icicle, and as the ghost kept diving into the ground and creating those deadly lances, Cream held Marine and they flew up. As they landed, the knight charged again with his mist flared up, and they countered him the same way before. That sequence repeated for more three times before the armour got completely broken.
At that moment the phantom knight floated at the middle of the cave and started channeling energy, creating an ice vortex around itself. Marine noticed that some of the pieces of the armour were getting back to their places and the visible cuts on its ethereal form were getting smaller and smaller. They would have to go all over again at that rate. Looking at Cream, who also noticed the situation, they decided to try and end it before they got too tired to keep fighting. Marine ran into the vortex with the shield raised, protecting herself from the ice storm, but the ice started to accumulate around it, making it harder to keep moving. At the half way through the storm, Marine got completely covered in ice, forming a frozen dome around the force shield. Cream dashed forward and leapt, landing on the dome and then jumping again. While airborne she used her ears to get a last impulse through the strong and cold wind and targeted at the ghost knight with the sword raised. On a single swift move she spinned herself to avoid a lash of the frost claws and cutted through the ghost's chest, and landed on the floor almost slipping on the formed ice. The storm ceased and Marine, who punched a hole to watch the final blow, broke the ice dome and ran to Cream, who stood still looking at the ethereal form in front of her not making a move. Suddenly, it let out a high pitched scream that pierced through their ears and started twisting and collapsing in itself until it finally imploded, leaving behind a thin blue mist. On the ceiling, the crystals started to shine brighter and they emanate heat not, warming the cold cave just a little bit and still melting away the ice blockade on the doorway. Upon seeing the exit open, the girls wasted no time and rushed through the stairs, still holding the shield and the sword. Once outside, they found out that it was already night time. Despite the enormous lack of light, the clearance was pretty illuminated, crowded with thousands of the golden fireflies. They looked in awe at the scenario surrounding them. Everything seemed covered in gold and the shades of the forest were all gone, as if another power had taken over the place, changing the nature of it completely. While they looked around, a figure came out of the woods, walking towards them, followed by another one quickly tagging along.
The girls noticed their arrival and quickly jumped into a fighting stance, trying to imagine what they would face this time. Cream, however, gasped in surprise once seeing who was coming over. The helmet and gauntlets deceived a little, but she could recognise this person a mile away and in whatever dimension they were. She lowered her sword and ran over to the newcomer, hugging him tightly, much to everyone's surprise.
"Even if from another world, it's really good to see you mister Shadow!"
The black armoured hedgehog shifted back a little, cleary taken aback from the sudden move and unexpected familiarity towards him. He looked down at the young rabbit with eyes filled of joy, clinging at him like her life depended on it, and placed hand on her should, now unsure of what to say.
"Look kid, I am not the person you seem to think I am-"
"I know it mister, I am almost used to this alternative universe thing. Sorry about the space invading. To be honest, my world's Shadow also isn't very fond to hugs and people in general, but I could not help being happy in seeing another familiar face!"
"Umm, Cream, I think it would be better if you let go of him"
"Miles!"
Marine joined the group, still puzzled about Cream's spontaneous actions. She wondered who was the black hedgehog, or rather who it looked alike in order to make the rabbit react this way. Cream let go of the knight, allowing himself to straighten up and introduce properly.
""Ahem. I am Sir Lancelot, knight of the Round Table, loyal servant to the kingdom and to the code of Chivalry. I am here on a mission to rescue two missing children and I won't rest until I fulfill my duty. Now, have you by any chance seen-"
"Sir Lancelot, those are the girls I talked about"
"Oh. Well then, that settles it. Mission accomplished with most success. I told you not to worry about this predicament"
Miles raised an eyebrow but decided not to discuss with the greatest knight in all the kingdom. To the girls was clear that Miles had been busy, and they felt a little guilty for leaving alone without saying nothing and making him worry about them. Honestly they were pretty glad that he noticed their absence so quickly and even asked for the help of a knight to go after them, but some apologies were very needed nonetheless. Marine noticed the amused look behind Sir Lancelot's helmet.
"Umm, sir Lancelot…? Is there a problem here or something?"
"Ah, nothing in particular. I am just… surprised"
"With what?"
"When I got assigned to this task, I expected to go through the Shrouded Forest focusing my mind not to fall for the tricks of this mystical land, then fight some evil being and save the lost children. What I found when I got here was said children safe and sound, and a pleasant but unexpected pool of healing magic, pouring its positive energy into the shadowy forest. I wonder how can this be?"
"Well…". Cream then went on explaining how they got here, all the strange experiences they had going through the forest, the guiding breeze, the cave and the fight against the ghost knight. The last part caught Sir Lancelot's attention and he heard every detail of it, wondering how much of it was exaggerated of made of by the kid. Such was his disbelief, he excused himself and entered the cave to see for himself the facts. He didn't find explicit signs of the battle but could sense a great negative energy fading away as the mana pool almost literally washed it away.
How did the two girls achieved this feat, he had to find out.
Back at the clearing, Cream also had a question herself.
"Miles, how did you find out we were here so fast?"
"It was quite simple. I just walked around a little and asked some people if they saw two young girls with strange clothes. I followed some leads and ended at the outskirts of Camelot. When a farmer told me you two headed to the Shrouded Forest I ran to the castle and asked for help. Sir Lancelot quickly volunteered"
"Hmm, we sure don't go around unnoticed"
"But I am sure there is more to you than the eyes can perceive. Now, we should be heading back to the castle, as my intent is to return you two safely"
Sir Lancelot lead the way through the Shrouded Forest, and the girls could not let go of noticing that the eerie sensations they felt before were now gone, instead getting good vibes and feeling recharged. The trip was actually very long, which made them realise how far they went without noticing, being caught in the spells from the forest.
They reached the border of the forest at the dawn. It was like the sun was greeting them with his light, dispersing all the shadows away. Sir Lancelot had Cream on his back fast asleep while Marine made a huge effort not to stumble on her feet as she walked, yawning and feeling her eyelids very heavy. Miles also showed to be tired, but he was used to have few hours of sleep, sometimes being awake all the night drawing his projects. The knight though didn't seem a little fazed neither showed any signs of being tired. In fact, one could say he was as awake as possible. The curiosity about these mysterious girls kept the black hedgehog really eager to reach the castle and put them to proper rest. He had a lot of questions both for them and for some other person that should have a thing or two to say about this outer-world situation.
As the night veil removed itself from the skies, letting the light blue take place, they reached Camelot Castle, going through a dirt path that lead to the huge gateway in the front. The tower guards noticed the arrival of the great knight and quickly shoved the slumbering gatekeeper to open the heavy pitch black metal gate. They crossed the wide stone bridge and entered the great walls of the castle, now walking through the courtyards. Many soldiers and workers were already up and engaged on their daily tasks, some feeding the horses on the stables, others tending to the gardens, and some even had youths taking lessons in sword combat.
They finally reached the entrance of the castle, it's huge wooden doors slowly opening to reveal the sumptuous architecture and decorations, typical of royal palaces. Sir Lancelot signed for the maid that approached once the doors opened and she walked over to them. He asked for her to help Miles take the two girls to rooms so they could rest properly. At this point Marine gave up and was completely leaning on the fox, with an arm half wrapped around his neck and snoring a little.
The knight put Cream on the cat maid's arms and walked through the main corridor while she led Miles along one of the wings of the castle, going upstairs and reaching the second floor, where the guests rooms were. She decided to choose a room with wide windows and two big beds, in which Cream and Marine were laid down. She then showed Miles his room, and after saying a dozen of times that he could sleep at his home, he gave up and decided to enjoy his good luck. One does not simply stops by the castle and gets a room.
The cat maid returned to the other room, just to check on he girls. The two were fast asleep, now with relaxed faces, seeming to enjoy the soft and comfy beds. Something caught her attention and she could not stop wondering about the shield and sword that the two kids had with them. Even on their asleep state, they didn't let go of them. She kept thinking about it after carefully close the door and head to the maid's rooms.
Act 1 complete
There you go. Man, it does feel good to see a chap all up and done. Just some things I want to say, I really, REALLY wanted to make the characters talk in a "medieval" way, but the thing is, english isn't even my natural language and I know by previous tries that I cannot understand am accent that easy (I tried to make Bunny talk like a country girl once and Marine always seemed to be an Australian for me(Is the term "Ausie" offensive? I don't wanna trigger anyone -_-')) so I prefer not risk trigger people further than my grammatical errors already does. Anyway, hope you guys enjoyed this first chapter. I plan to make semanal posts, but that relies solely on my ability to write during my little free time between work and college. See ya later!