Disclaimer: Nack the Weasel and other Sonic Characters are property of
their respective owners such as SEGA or Archie Comics. Dirk and Crystal
Echidna are m' own fan chars.
For Money or Truth?
Waltz 1: Dances with Echidnas.
It had been a normal day on the Floating Island, as normal as it gets being on a hunk of floating astroturf held up by just over a half dozen glowing gems. This piece of paradise, pristine and unchanged for countless centuries, is considered by only its Guardian and those who covet the emeralds upon it. But that is just a cursory look at the island, to others, it is a place of strife and sacrifice mixed with tears of laughter and tears of pain. Beneath its lush foliage and rich history, burroughed deep into the ediphice of time, is where this story of the Floating Island takes place, and for once The current Guardian Knuckles has no business in it.
For one purple weasel and his sister, the Floating Island is home to a great many well paying customers. Usually it's just capture the flag for Nack, pocket change at best. A resident of the island turns up missing - he finds them - he collects fee. Sometimes one of the old Guardians in Haven needs him, or their earthbound cousins from Albion. It doesn't matter to him though, job's a job, and he and Nic were both called in this time by their best customers.
"Tell me again why I'm coming with you to this mud ball?" Nic said spraying herself down with OFF Skintastic ™.
Nack piloted his lil' hover craft toward the Island, smiling wide with his one bright fang showing. "Oh just a job, but for some reason they think you should be involved." He snorted, feeling as if his share would be bigger without a sister.
"And who the heck are 'they' Nack?" She tapped her fingers on the brim of the console impatiently.
"Some old customer who was just reunited with his sister. Don't worry about it. This guy pays big! I wish he had more jobs for me." He fantasized about rolling in money and jewels, with the customer he'd envisioned having a never ending stream of money for him flung out of pocket.
"I knew I shoulda' started investigating your customers the first time you said you had some 'contacts' on the Floating Island, but I thought you might just be drunk then." She said. Nic was always giving Nack a hard time, even though they were twins, nearly identical with the main difference being that Nic was a girl and Nack was a boy [That being said for the benefit of anyone to whom that is unclear - it's Nocolette].
"Woe to ye of little faith sis." Nack grinned.
At last they arrived at the edge of the Lava Reef, and were greeted with its kind of intensity right off the bat. "How did I let you talk me into this?" She said flatly, fingering her gun. Heat tends to make one edgy, but Nack strode off the craft without so much as battin' an eye and entered a long and winding tunnel before them through which a magma river flowed. (Guess I could have called this "A River runs through it")
The two of them traveled along the rocky trail, Nic eyeing the bubbling brew warily. Nack acted as if it was perfectly natural - and it was for this part of the Island. He thought nothing of it as he crossed a rickety old bridge over it, which Nic prefered jump over. Nack was a little disgusted, but chose to conserve his strength, winding firther into the lava tube.
"Nack?" Nic said finally when the batteries to her hand held fan died, when she was sweating bullets, when she wondered when the heck they'd get out of this sauna from you know.
"Yes?" he said, as if quite puzzled as to why she would be complaining in a hot, muggy, stiffling, claustrophobic place where if the heat doesn't get you, the tremors and threats of cave-in will.
"WHAT IN HADES IS THIS PLACE?!" She found herself yelling, and an unfriendly echo replying several times before fading away, also accompanied bya tremor.
Nack coughed lightly, and a small rock fell off the ceiling and clunked him in his hat. He took his hat off, dusted it off, and placed it neatly back on his head before opening his mouth to speak. Before he could reply however, Nic snapped, pulled his hat off his head and whapped him with it a few times before placing it over his eyes. Nack simply adjusted it. "Now," he coughed, "As I was saying..." Did nothing phase his thick skull? "We are in the Fourth Wonder of Mobius..."
"As if a Floating Island alone isn't one, brother?" sounding even more irate than before.
"This is the 'Belly of the Giant', a natural wonder used by the Mythos Mobians of Downunda's Naulia district." he motioned around at a few writings on the wall that Nic had all but ignored til now. On it were pictures of fire Dragons of old mixed with Griffins and rock Golems of who knows hoa many ancient myths.
"You mean the Mythos Mobians were once real?" She mused over the heiroglyfs and the archaic writings scrawled beneath each illustration.
"Yeah." He nabbed her wrist and pulled her down another twist in the tunnel until they were in a distinctly cooler room, wide, open and spacious. "Welcome to the Hidden Palace." He grinned.
It was beautiful; every wall was covered as if with many glittering jewels. The pillars were of such vibrant stone as if they were carved a few days ago and shone so beautifully they almost appeared metalic. She then glanced at a mural that did look familiar: It was an Echidna mural, painted on which were the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald in the hands of some giant that looked something like Dr. Egg Man. Opposing his force was a lone Echidna surrounded by an aura.
While Nic was hypnotized with the mural, their hosts emerged from nowhere, Two Echidnas faced them as boldly as a Yin Yang Sign - one black and one white. "Nic? I said this is Crystal Ka and Dirk." Nack motioned to them with one hand and pressed her foreward with the other.
"Dirk... and Crystal.." She repeated and held out a hand, quickly pulling herself back together. "So what's the job and why do we care?"
"You are exactly as we envisioned." the white female said kindly. Crystal had two shocks of bangs that curled down the center of her forehead, and two shining blue jewels of eyes. Her ghostly complexion was also reflective in her eyes, which seemed deep as the sea, she almost seemed lost and scared, and Nic's contact with those eyes left her with some indescribable funny feeling. No it wasn't anything bad really, just a desire to know what kind of empty or stretched feeling that was, certainly the woman wasn't vacant, but she was a little odd and for once Nic had met someone she couldn't quite place.
Nack had seen those eyes, but being as dense as a male usually is, he probably didn't notice a thing about her personality from those eyes. Eyes are a window to the soul, and every woman knows that, but a guy? Bah, no. It was kinda an odd feeling, Nic knew the conversation was continuing, the greetings, the noddings, the pleasantries, and her mind was out to lunch. She found herself replying to sentences she barely heard, and nodding as well, but it wasn't until the white one adressed her again that she really snapped out of it.
"So Nic, what form of Payment would you prefer? I can pay you in precious jems, semi-precious, Rings, or Mobian Standard currency."
"Small unmarked bills." She smiled, her classic response. She held her mind in the present long enough to look over the black male - Dirk. He was kinda cute for an Echidna. He had bangs like his sister, only they were triple fringe. His sister looked downright tribal, he looked pretty modern with a gun of his own at his side, a pocketed utility belt and apparent communications apparatus on his head - a headset. His boots were also modern compared with her dusty ol' sandals. Taking another glance, she thought she saw a silver speck in the corner of his eye, and a blue jewel just underneath the headset... nahh. "So what is the job?"
"Niic... weren't you paying attention?" Nack's turn to be irritated. Nic blushed.
"Quite all right, I don't think it can be said enough." Crystal Ka glanced to her brother and nodded.
"All right, I'll explain it again. We want our mother's body." Dirk said flatly, hand on hip.
"wha-WhAT?" She blinked, "You wha?"
"I know, it's a morbid request, but it's been over ten years and she hasn't been burried yet." He said calmly. He had more to explain, "She's in Haven." Now that would be a tough nut to crack. "But that's only half of what I want."
"You want us to be sicko grave robbers in a high tech Guardian laced haven?!" Nic's eyes were wide in disbelief. And yes, now she could see why she was needed, but was skeptical of their motives. Nack didn't seem phased, she wondered what bizzare request they'd had of him before, steal Knuckle's breakfast and live to tell about it?
Dirk smiled at her apologetically, "I'll explain as best I can. I don't think.. you necessarily want the gory details on why you're hired all the time, but this must be a first." Nic nodded speechless. His voice was soothing though... "My mother died in Haven durring an attack by the Dark Legion over 10 years ago. I want to know why she died, why her body is still in Haven and not in the soil where it belongs. If you can recover the body you get twelve hundred dollars each in your choice of payment. If you find both, we pay the price you name. Fair deal?"
"It's Fair. Odd, but fair." Nack nodded and shook on it. "Well? Ya in?" Nic found herself shaking hands with the strange kindly black one with Midnight fur almost against her will. She could see something simmilar to the white one's eyes in him. His eyes were sharp and alive, more vibrant than hers', but something strange... strange, maybe mechanical about him. But again, a job's a job, a deal's a deal, and dealings with Echidnas could prove quite strange, they prefered their privacy more than she and Nack did it seemed. There was something off about this pair though, and for her own curiosity she'd find out.
***********
Waltz 2: Dances in Dark Places
Having been given their orders, and accepting the job, the two bounty hunters left the bowels of the Floating Island's Lava reef. Nack climbed on board his hover craft and hauled Nic up with him. He started the engine and everything went smoothly.
"Nack?" Nic was much more polite than usual, somethin had changed after that meeting. Nack hadn't really noticed it til now.
"Eh? What is it?" Nack continued piloting the craft toward the desolate Forbidden Zone.
"I know you've worked for these Echidnas before, but ... wasn't there something off about them? their eyes..." She was really getting creeped out thinking about it now.
"Something off? Well... Nic, almost all Echidnas are odd, Take Knuckles as a prime example. He's so solitairy and secret he's like some Pyramid placed neatly in the desert, it's got all kinds of secrets but no one bothers crossing the desert to find it, and when they do, they also discover safe guards and traps guarding it."
"Nack, I'm impressed. You actually said something meaningful!"
The craft landed out pf Haven's Site, and Nack checked his guns out to make sure they were ready and able if they were discovered. Knockout gas in one gun, fake bullets with a stun effect in the other. He hauled a rope off the back seat, and ilted his hat downward a little, showing he was ready for the job and began to move out.
Nic had a simmilar gearing up ritual, checking her boots to make sure they were secured - Old School Cinderella says make sure you don't throw a shoe while escaping the scene, course Cindy hadn't been involved in a crime before. Nic began having reservations as they reached a side vent to Haven before she finally spoke again, "So we just grab the body and go right?"
"huh?" Nack turned to his sister, "No... we get the info on 'er first."
"But we don't even know her name brother." a shiver ran through her spine. She wasn't fond of the idea of haulin' a ten + years dead corpse out of haven.
"Kalin Da. What were you? Asleep when he told us all this sis?" He waited for some witty retort but none came.
"Is it worth the money Nack?"
Nack stopped and appeared thoughtful. He pulled his hat off his head long to scratch the top of it then on it went again. "I'm.. not in this one for the money."
"What?" Nic gasped and almost fainted. "Have you lost it? What could be more important to you?"
"The truth." And for an instant, there was that stretchy echidna look in his eyes, no a reflection, and Nic almost thought she could see tears forming in his eyes. "We got to say good bye to Mama... it.. it was an accident."
"Nack..." suddenly the bold bounty hunter was shy and withdrawn. She remembered the day of the accident... 'very soon now' ... She remembered the terrible loss, the scars it had left on their hearts, but what did that have to do with now?
"They lost their mom more like... seventeen years ago, and at the time, they were only three. Crystal Ka explained that but I think you were cat napping or something. It's hurt them, maybe deeper than we could guess, because they never... said good bye. Recovering the body will give them that, recovering their mother's past will answer questions they never got to ask. That's why."
"I.. had no idea" And Nic was genuine in that. For a moment, she touched bases with her feminine side and gave Nack a hug. She started to cry, tears for their mother. Nack managed not to cry, he was too busy comforting her until they could carry out this most peculiar job.
So in they went, and now the obvious question was to be asked, "How do we even find information on this... Kalin Da? I mean, she's bound to be in the computer somewhere, but Haven's systems have encryption on top of encryption." She remembered at least one job for the Guardians, and so avoided the security cams like the plague.
"We rip a code off a guardian, that's how."
"Oh... brilliant..." She rolled her eyes. "Hey Guardian? You know, I really wanted to change the codes today, you mind telling me what it is?" she laughed sarcastically... "Yeah right, I betcha it isn't topic of the day."
Nack shrugged and took off into the vent shafts, hauling his sister after him. They passed many corridors, and looking down through the ocassional grate they caught the Guardians at their 'most relaxed'. Some were talking with each other in a lounge, others manned computers. The weasels eventually found themselves in the private quarters of the current Guardian's father - Locke.
"And what will this gain us?" She snorted.
"Won't know til we look around." Nack smiled and started carefully searching through Locke's belongings. Brush, robe pockets, dress uniform pockets, desk, books, shelves. Nic searched along side of him, under the bed, between the mattresses, dresser drawers, etc...
"Well this is a dead end." Nic declaired, pulling a picture frame off the dresser and glancing at it - a picture of Knuckles' Mother Lara Le. "Speaking off, when do we play dead cart? I want out of here." She sighed. She pulled the back off the picture, to find there were actually two stuck together. That caught her eye at least.
"C'mon, we gotta' hide, someone's coming!" Nack grabbed the picture out of her hands and put it back where it belonged. She followed him back into hiding in the vents as the door whooshed open, and Locke stepped in after a particularly long shift.
The echidna sighed deeply, and stretched upon entering the dimly lit room. He flicked a switch, and suddenly the lights came on full brightness. The two lavender weasels had to rub their eyes til they adjusted. Locke booted up his computer right away, and as expected, a password protect screen came up. The two of them fought to get a look at the way his fingers flew across the keys, maybe it'd be a universal code - so they hoped. Niether of them caught it, and he entered a word processing program.
After a couple hours of bored surveylence, Nic and Nack were practically falling all over each other to get some sleep. Apparently Locke was in agreement with them on the sleep issue. he ran his fingers over the frame containing the picture of Lara Le, then, after stretching out, he curled himself over the desk and fell asleep.
"Finally." Nic whispered.
The two of them climbed down out of the vent and over to the computer. Both of them could see it was a daily jornal. Since their target was in Haven at the time of death, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that she might be mentioned somewhere in the jornal. A Simple word search revealed she was... the last entry... Nack widened his eyes. "Man... this is a time bomb."
Nic peeled up the backing of the photo and separated the pictures. She saw a picture of what once was, or maybe what could have been... a happy family. Locke seemed to be a mere teenager in the pic, the woman in the picture still young, but obviously the mother of the yin yang echidnas she held up on each shoulder. She pocketed it unknowingly and leaned over for a look on Nack's screen.
She read aloud, loud as she dared, a just enough to be heard. "It was my fault... Kalin Da died. My own sis...ter..." She swallowed that bit of info keeping in mind this was Locke's jornal. "I got Crystal to safety... but when I returned, part of the tunnel had collapsed. It wouldn't be so bad... if the other guardians had been there. She was hurt on the other side, and by the time they returned, all they could do was pull me away from the rubble..." Her eyes darted over the rest of the journal, highly detailed in the events of that day, and checking further back, were numerous mentions of this remarkable Echidna Woman and near guardian. Her children had a reason to be proud of their mother.
Nack pushed infront of Nic and copied the data to a CD, glancing ocassionally at Locke to make sure he was asleep. "Still think it aint worth the money?" noting his sister's eyes glued to the monitor.
She blushed, then shook her head.
Waltz 3: The Last Dance
Cargo Secured, the two escaped Haven unnoticed. Nic had gained some new appreciation or reverence for the Echidnas, at least the ones they worked for. Nack Piloted them on in silence, while Nic read through the lines on the diary pages once more. Her heart skipped a beat and sank as she read the words... Kalin Da's last, "My Children... keep them safe, my precious ones... I love them so..." Their own mother had had the same sort of sentiments, and so it brought tears to her eyes.
Finally they arrived back at the Hidden Palace. She was thankful that the heat had dried away her tears, and didn't mind it so much when Nack put a hand on her shoulder. They were both thinkin' of mama.
"Thank you so much." Crystal Ka smiled as the disk was handed over, and Nic found the parting of the disk somehow painful. She caught another look into the echidna's eyes, and knew what that stretched out feeling was. She saw it lift from her eyes a little now, and it was replaced with memories. She did know how they felt, about a mother they hardly knew at all, but how important she was.
"You're free to name your price." the black one, Dirk, spoke up.
"Twelve hundred." Nack grinned. Dirk nodded to him, having expected that answer from him.
"Nothing." Nic said quietly.
"Huh?" Nack glanced at his sister.
"Nothing." She shook her head again. "I don't need any payment."
Dirk stepped up to her and put both a hand on her shoulder, the other hand guided her chin up so they made eye contact. "Did you... see what was written?" She coldn't lie to him and nodded slightly. Nack winced, thinking they wouldn't get paid at all for that one... Instead, he leaned in slowly and gently kissed Nic's forehead.
"W... What?" She was confused.
"I had to pay you somehow." Dirk smiled softly.
Leaving that Island that day, they had left a piece of themselves behind as well. Now, everyone could rest easy, the echidnas' they'd helped, and their mother might rest in peace more now. By passing up payment for the deed, maybe Nic felt... like their own mother was smiling down at them. Nack felt it two, the smile on his face. They'd learned a little bit about themselves that day, and even though she was gone, they felt just a little closer to their mother. Such kindness should never be forgotten, and almost none compares to a mother's love for her children.
The End.
For Money or Truth?
Waltz 1: Dances with Echidnas.
It had been a normal day on the Floating Island, as normal as it gets being on a hunk of floating astroturf held up by just over a half dozen glowing gems. This piece of paradise, pristine and unchanged for countless centuries, is considered by only its Guardian and those who covet the emeralds upon it. But that is just a cursory look at the island, to others, it is a place of strife and sacrifice mixed with tears of laughter and tears of pain. Beneath its lush foliage and rich history, burroughed deep into the ediphice of time, is where this story of the Floating Island takes place, and for once The current Guardian Knuckles has no business in it.
For one purple weasel and his sister, the Floating Island is home to a great many well paying customers. Usually it's just capture the flag for Nack, pocket change at best. A resident of the island turns up missing - he finds them - he collects fee. Sometimes one of the old Guardians in Haven needs him, or their earthbound cousins from Albion. It doesn't matter to him though, job's a job, and he and Nic were both called in this time by their best customers.
"Tell me again why I'm coming with you to this mud ball?" Nic said spraying herself down with OFF Skintastic ™.
Nack piloted his lil' hover craft toward the Island, smiling wide with his one bright fang showing. "Oh just a job, but for some reason they think you should be involved." He snorted, feeling as if his share would be bigger without a sister.
"And who the heck are 'they' Nack?" She tapped her fingers on the brim of the console impatiently.
"Some old customer who was just reunited with his sister. Don't worry about it. This guy pays big! I wish he had more jobs for me." He fantasized about rolling in money and jewels, with the customer he'd envisioned having a never ending stream of money for him flung out of pocket.
"I knew I shoulda' started investigating your customers the first time you said you had some 'contacts' on the Floating Island, but I thought you might just be drunk then." She said. Nic was always giving Nack a hard time, even though they were twins, nearly identical with the main difference being that Nic was a girl and Nack was a boy [That being said for the benefit of anyone to whom that is unclear - it's Nocolette].
"Woe to ye of little faith sis." Nack grinned.
At last they arrived at the edge of the Lava Reef, and were greeted with its kind of intensity right off the bat. "How did I let you talk me into this?" She said flatly, fingering her gun. Heat tends to make one edgy, but Nack strode off the craft without so much as battin' an eye and entered a long and winding tunnel before them through which a magma river flowed. (Guess I could have called this "A River runs through it")
The two of them traveled along the rocky trail, Nic eyeing the bubbling brew warily. Nack acted as if it was perfectly natural - and it was for this part of the Island. He thought nothing of it as he crossed a rickety old bridge over it, which Nic prefered jump over. Nack was a little disgusted, but chose to conserve his strength, winding firther into the lava tube.
"Nack?" Nic said finally when the batteries to her hand held fan died, when she was sweating bullets, when she wondered when the heck they'd get out of this sauna from you know.
"Yes?" he said, as if quite puzzled as to why she would be complaining in a hot, muggy, stiffling, claustrophobic place where if the heat doesn't get you, the tremors and threats of cave-in will.
"WHAT IN HADES IS THIS PLACE?!" She found herself yelling, and an unfriendly echo replying several times before fading away, also accompanied bya tremor.
Nack coughed lightly, and a small rock fell off the ceiling and clunked him in his hat. He took his hat off, dusted it off, and placed it neatly back on his head before opening his mouth to speak. Before he could reply however, Nic snapped, pulled his hat off his head and whapped him with it a few times before placing it over his eyes. Nack simply adjusted it. "Now," he coughed, "As I was saying..." Did nothing phase his thick skull? "We are in the Fourth Wonder of Mobius..."
"As if a Floating Island alone isn't one, brother?" sounding even more irate than before.
"This is the 'Belly of the Giant', a natural wonder used by the Mythos Mobians of Downunda's Naulia district." he motioned around at a few writings on the wall that Nic had all but ignored til now. On it were pictures of fire Dragons of old mixed with Griffins and rock Golems of who knows hoa many ancient myths.
"You mean the Mythos Mobians were once real?" She mused over the heiroglyfs and the archaic writings scrawled beneath each illustration.
"Yeah." He nabbed her wrist and pulled her down another twist in the tunnel until they were in a distinctly cooler room, wide, open and spacious. "Welcome to the Hidden Palace." He grinned.
It was beautiful; every wall was covered as if with many glittering jewels. The pillars were of such vibrant stone as if they were carved a few days ago and shone so beautifully they almost appeared metalic. She then glanced at a mural that did look familiar: It was an Echidna mural, painted on which were the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald in the hands of some giant that looked something like Dr. Egg Man. Opposing his force was a lone Echidna surrounded by an aura.
While Nic was hypnotized with the mural, their hosts emerged from nowhere, Two Echidnas faced them as boldly as a Yin Yang Sign - one black and one white. "Nic? I said this is Crystal Ka and Dirk." Nack motioned to them with one hand and pressed her foreward with the other.
"Dirk... and Crystal.." She repeated and held out a hand, quickly pulling herself back together. "So what's the job and why do we care?"
"You are exactly as we envisioned." the white female said kindly. Crystal had two shocks of bangs that curled down the center of her forehead, and two shining blue jewels of eyes. Her ghostly complexion was also reflective in her eyes, which seemed deep as the sea, she almost seemed lost and scared, and Nic's contact with those eyes left her with some indescribable funny feeling. No it wasn't anything bad really, just a desire to know what kind of empty or stretched feeling that was, certainly the woman wasn't vacant, but she was a little odd and for once Nic had met someone she couldn't quite place.
Nack had seen those eyes, but being as dense as a male usually is, he probably didn't notice a thing about her personality from those eyes. Eyes are a window to the soul, and every woman knows that, but a guy? Bah, no. It was kinda an odd feeling, Nic knew the conversation was continuing, the greetings, the noddings, the pleasantries, and her mind was out to lunch. She found herself replying to sentences she barely heard, and nodding as well, but it wasn't until the white one adressed her again that she really snapped out of it.
"So Nic, what form of Payment would you prefer? I can pay you in precious jems, semi-precious, Rings, or Mobian Standard currency."
"Small unmarked bills." She smiled, her classic response. She held her mind in the present long enough to look over the black male - Dirk. He was kinda cute for an Echidna. He had bangs like his sister, only they were triple fringe. His sister looked downright tribal, he looked pretty modern with a gun of his own at his side, a pocketed utility belt and apparent communications apparatus on his head - a headset. His boots were also modern compared with her dusty ol' sandals. Taking another glance, she thought she saw a silver speck in the corner of his eye, and a blue jewel just underneath the headset... nahh. "So what is the job?"
"Niic... weren't you paying attention?" Nack's turn to be irritated. Nic blushed.
"Quite all right, I don't think it can be said enough." Crystal Ka glanced to her brother and nodded.
"All right, I'll explain it again. We want our mother's body." Dirk said flatly, hand on hip.
"wha-WhAT?" She blinked, "You wha?"
"I know, it's a morbid request, but it's been over ten years and she hasn't been burried yet." He said calmly. He had more to explain, "She's in Haven." Now that would be a tough nut to crack. "But that's only half of what I want."
"You want us to be sicko grave robbers in a high tech Guardian laced haven?!" Nic's eyes were wide in disbelief. And yes, now she could see why she was needed, but was skeptical of their motives. Nack didn't seem phased, she wondered what bizzare request they'd had of him before, steal Knuckle's breakfast and live to tell about it?
Dirk smiled at her apologetically, "I'll explain as best I can. I don't think.. you necessarily want the gory details on why you're hired all the time, but this must be a first." Nic nodded speechless. His voice was soothing though... "My mother died in Haven durring an attack by the Dark Legion over 10 years ago. I want to know why she died, why her body is still in Haven and not in the soil where it belongs. If you can recover the body you get twelve hundred dollars each in your choice of payment. If you find both, we pay the price you name. Fair deal?"
"It's Fair. Odd, but fair." Nack nodded and shook on it. "Well? Ya in?" Nic found herself shaking hands with the strange kindly black one with Midnight fur almost against her will. She could see something simmilar to the white one's eyes in him. His eyes were sharp and alive, more vibrant than hers', but something strange... strange, maybe mechanical about him. But again, a job's a job, a deal's a deal, and dealings with Echidnas could prove quite strange, they prefered their privacy more than she and Nack did it seemed. There was something off about this pair though, and for her own curiosity she'd find out.
***********
Waltz 2: Dances in Dark Places
Having been given their orders, and accepting the job, the two bounty hunters left the bowels of the Floating Island's Lava reef. Nack climbed on board his hover craft and hauled Nic up with him. He started the engine and everything went smoothly.
"Nack?" Nic was much more polite than usual, somethin had changed after that meeting. Nack hadn't really noticed it til now.
"Eh? What is it?" Nack continued piloting the craft toward the desolate Forbidden Zone.
"I know you've worked for these Echidnas before, but ... wasn't there something off about them? their eyes..." She was really getting creeped out thinking about it now.
"Something off? Well... Nic, almost all Echidnas are odd, Take Knuckles as a prime example. He's so solitairy and secret he's like some Pyramid placed neatly in the desert, it's got all kinds of secrets but no one bothers crossing the desert to find it, and when they do, they also discover safe guards and traps guarding it."
"Nack, I'm impressed. You actually said something meaningful!"
The craft landed out pf Haven's Site, and Nack checked his guns out to make sure they were ready and able if they were discovered. Knockout gas in one gun, fake bullets with a stun effect in the other. He hauled a rope off the back seat, and ilted his hat downward a little, showing he was ready for the job and began to move out.
Nic had a simmilar gearing up ritual, checking her boots to make sure they were secured - Old School Cinderella says make sure you don't throw a shoe while escaping the scene, course Cindy hadn't been involved in a crime before. Nic began having reservations as they reached a side vent to Haven before she finally spoke again, "So we just grab the body and go right?"
"huh?" Nack turned to his sister, "No... we get the info on 'er first."
"But we don't even know her name brother." a shiver ran through her spine. She wasn't fond of the idea of haulin' a ten + years dead corpse out of haven.
"Kalin Da. What were you? Asleep when he told us all this sis?" He waited for some witty retort but none came.
"Is it worth the money Nack?"
Nack stopped and appeared thoughtful. He pulled his hat off his head long to scratch the top of it then on it went again. "I'm.. not in this one for the money."
"What?" Nic gasped and almost fainted. "Have you lost it? What could be more important to you?"
"The truth." And for an instant, there was that stretchy echidna look in his eyes, no a reflection, and Nic almost thought she could see tears forming in his eyes. "We got to say good bye to Mama... it.. it was an accident."
"Nack..." suddenly the bold bounty hunter was shy and withdrawn. She remembered the day of the accident... 'very soon now' ... She remembered the terrible loss, the scars it had left on their hearts, but what did that have to do with now?
"They lost their mom more like... seventeen years ago, and at the time, they were only three. Crystal Ka explained that but I think you were cat napping or something. It's hurt them, maybe deeper than we could guess, because they never... said good bye. Recovering the body will give them that, recovering their mother's past will answer questions they never got to ask. That's why."
"I.. had no idea" And Nic was genuine in that. For a moment, she touched bases with her feminine side and gave Nack a hug. She started to cry, tears for their mother. Nack managed not to cry, he was too busy comforting her until they could carry out this most peculiar job.
So in they went, and now the obvious question was to be asked, "How do we even find information on this... Kalin Da? I mean, she's bound to be in the computer somewhere, but Haven's systems have encryption on top of encryption." She remembered at least one job for the Guardians, and so avoided the security cams like the plague.
"We rip a code off a guardian, that's how."
"Oh... brilliant..." She rolled her eyes. "Hey Guardian? You know, I really wanted to change the codes today, you mind telling me what it is?" she laughed sarcastically... "Yeah right, I betcha it isn't topic of the day."
Nack shrugged and took off into the vent shafts, hauling his sister after him. They passed many corridors, and looking down through the ocassional grate they caught the Guardians at their 'most relaxed'. Some were talking with each other in a lounge, others manned computers. The weasels eventually found themselves in the private quarters of the current Guardian's father - Locke.
"And what will this gain us?" She snorted.
"Won't know til we look around." Nack smiled and started carefully searching through Locke's belongings. Brush, robe pockets, dress uniform pockets, desk, books, shelves. Nic searched along side of him, under the bed, between the mattresses, dresser drawers, etc...
"Well this is a dead end." Nic declaired, pulling a picture frame off the dresser and glancing at it - a picture of Knuckles' Mother Lara Le. "Speaking off, when do we play dead cart? I want out of here." She sighed. She pulled the back off the picture, to find there were actually two stuck together. That caught her eye at least.
"C'mon, we gotta' hide, someone's coming!" Nack grabbed the picture out of her hands and put it back where it belonged. She followed him back into hiding in the vents as the door whooshed open, and Locke stepped in after a particularly long shift.
The echidna sighed deeply, and stretched upon entering the dimly lit room. He flicked a switch, and suddenly the lights came on full brightness. The two lavender weasels had to rub their eyes til they adjusted. Locke booted up his computer right away, and as expected, a password protect screen came up. The two of them fought to get a look at the way his fingers flew across the keys, maybe it'd be a universal code - so they hoped. Niether of them caught it, and he entered a word processing program.
After a couple hours of bored surveylence, Nic and Nack were practically falling all over each other to get some sleep. Apparently Locke was in agreement with them on the sleep issue. he ran his fingers over the frame containing the picture of Lara Le, then, after stretching out, he curled himself over the desk and fell asleep.
"Finally." Nic whispered.
The two of them climbed down out of the vent and over to the computer. Both of them could see it was a daily jornal. Since their target was in Haven at the time of death, it wouldn't be unreasonable to think that she might be mentioned somewhere in the jornal. A Simple word search revealed she was... the last entry... Nack widened his eyes. "Man... this is a time bomb."
Nic peeled up the backing of the photo and separated the pictures. She saw a picture of what once was, or maybe what could have been... a happy family. Locke seemed to be a mere teenager in the pic, the woman in the picture still young, but obviously the mother of the yin yang echidnas she held up on each shoulder. She pocketed it unknowingly and leaned over for a look on Nack's screen.
She read aloud, loud as she dared, a just enough to be heard. "It was my fault... Kalin Da died. My own sis...ter..." She swallowed that bit of info keeping in mind this was Locke's jornal. "I got Crystal to safety... but when I returned, part of the tunnel had collapsed. It wouldn't be so bad... if the other guardians had been there. She was hurt on the other side, and by the time they returned, all they could do was pull me away from the rubble..." Her eyes darted over the rest of the journal, highly detailed in the events of that day, and checking further back, were numerous mentions of this remarkable Echidna Woman and near guardian. Her children had a reason to be proud of their mother.
Nack pushed infront of Nic and copied the data to a CD, glancing ocassionally at Locke to make sure he was asleep. "Still think it aint worth the money?" noting his sister's eyes glued to the monitor.
She blushed, then shook her head.
Waltz 3: The Last Dance
Cargo Secured, the two escaped Haven unnoticed. Nic had gained some new appreciation or reverence for the Echidnas, at least the ones they worked for. Nack Piloted them on in silence, while Nic read through the lines on the diary pages once more. Her heart skipped a beat and sank as she read the words... Kalin Da's last, "My Children... keep them safe, my precious ones... I love them so..." Their own mother had had the same sort of sentiments, and so it brought tears to her eyes.
Finally they arrived back at the Hidden Palace. She was thankful that the heat had dried away her tears, and didn't mind it so much when Nack put a hand on her shoulder. They were both thinkin' of mama.
"Thank you so much." Crystal Ka smiled as the disk was handed over, and Nic found the parting of the disk somehow painful. She caught another look into the echidna's eyes, and knew what that stretched out feeling was. She saw it lift from her eyes a little now, and it was replaced with memories. She did know how they felt, about a mother they hardly knew at all, but how important she was.
"You're free to name your price." the black one, Dirk, spoke up.
"Twelve hundred." Nack grinned. Dirk nodded to him, having expected that answer from him.
"Nothing." Nic said quietly.
"Huh?" Nack glanced at his sister.
"Nothing." She shook her head again. "I don't need any payment."
Dirk stepped up to her and put both a hand on her shoulder, the other hand guided her chin up so they made eye contact. "Did you... see what was written?" She coldn't lie to him and nodded slightly. Nack winced, thinking they wouldn't get paid at all for that one... Instead, he leaned in slowly and gently kissed Nic's forehead.
"W... What?" She was confused.
"I had to pay you somehow." Dirk smiled softly.
Leaving that Island that day, they had left a piece of themselves behind as well. Now, everyone could rest easy, the echidnas' they'd helped, and their mother might rest in peace more now. By passing up payment for the deed, maybe Nic felt... like their own mother was smiling down at them. Nack felt it two, the smile on his face. They'd learned a little bit about themselves that day, and even though she was gone, they felt just a little closer to their mother. Such kindness should never be forgotten, and almost none compares to a mother's love for her children.
The End.