Kript the fox – Act 1 – Purgatory
A blast of fire and smoke exploded into an endless void, expanding rapidly to fill the empty space. The body of a young fox emerged from the abrupt distortion in space and time, his cloths scorched badly by a raging inferno of his own creation. Kript opened his green eyes as soon as he was clear of the smoke. Overcome by a feeling of weightlessness mixed with the sensation of falling. Disoriented, his eyes scanned the surrounding void. Even after several moments he was unsure if he was looking up or down. His body still hurt from drawing on the power of the False Chaos Emeralds to destroy Eggmans base that had been manufacturing Shadow androids. Even though most of his body had been numbed by the explosion, in his chest he could feel a burning, no it was something more. It was closer to that of a second heart beat, with the pain coming and going at a regular steady basis. Tilting his head down brought a sharp pain, but in looking Kript found his chest glowing with a soft blue light. Surprisingly enough it didn't frighten him, it just made him relax more. Perhaps it was because it was the color of his flame, of his own special power. It was the thing that set him apart from everyone else, something nobody else had.
Looking around in the endless void that surrounded him only one thought managed to cross his mind. Could he be dead? Could this be the world after? Is life after death really a place filled with nothingness? No sooner did he ask these questions than did he pass from an endless void to open sky. Finally having air to catch onto his cloths jerked forward. Now two things were for sure, he was falling, and he was falling backwards. Panicking he watched a black hole close up before him, the void had closed off and he was now somewhere new.
"This can't be good!" Kript said spinning around to find his guess to be true, and a moment later he hit the lake below in a hard belly flop. The splash sent water several feet into the air and within moments he had hit the soft bottom of loose dirt. After shaking off the pain off hitting the surface of the water, Kript kicked off the lake bed and headed straight for the surface lungs screaming for air. Surely he had just barely made it out of the water to not inhale a lung full of water.
Kript tried to use his power to make a raft of ice to flout on but this failed miserably. His mysterious power was too sporadic to control and this came as a surprise to him. Normally he had complete control from causing his Tung to work as a sparkler to making flames hot enough to slice through the thickest of metal plating with ease. Now it came as uncontrollable bursts of flame, though he was still able to form a rather large clump of ice from it. Clinging onto his makeshift flotation device Kript paddled to shore with much stress and frustration dragging himself from the water. His body aching all the way, gladly giving in to lay in a soft batch of long grass just feet from the crystal clear water. Now somewhat comfortable the young fox closed tired eyes and fell asleep.
Not far off from the lake Kripts grand entrance into this world hadn't gone unnoticed. A much intrigued feline was on her way to check things out. She had been enjoying a simple and rather plain meal of bread when out of the corner of her eye she spotted a figure falling from the sky. Still munching on her roll she drew ever closer to investigate. Only when it was too late did she notice Kript passed out in the grass before her and promptly tripped over him. Helplessly she watched as her half eaten roll tumbled down into the lake where it was swiftly eaten by hungry fish.
"That was so unfair." She said picking herself up off her unconscious tripper. Placing a hand on his shoulder she shook him gently. "Hey boy, wake up." Given no response she flipped him onto his back and took in quite a sight. To her it seemed as though he had be in a great fire, for his cloths were horribly burned and he smelled heavily of ash. The odd thing was that his fur was unharmed; she even ran her fingers through it to be sure. It could only mean one thing, he like her, had the rare gift of pyrokinesis. Curiously she sat at his side and waited for him to wake.
Kript found himself walking through a world covered in blue flames. Every which way he turned was another wall of fire shooting up before him, almost intelligently. In fact it was behaving intelligently very intelligently. Focusing in on the flames he could almost see a face in them. And through the roar and crackle he could have sworn he heard a voice. But what could it be saying, and, was it even real?
"We will be free, once more." Sounded a much more audible voice from the darkness above. Before Kript could respond the flames enveloped him in a scorching fury that sent every nerve in his body ablaze with pain. This couldn't be happening, fire couldn't hurt him, there was no way he could be burning alive! Was all he could think before he jumped awake with a yelp off terror, much to the surprise of his as to him yet unknown watcher. Jerking her out of the drowsiness that had begun to take her in the late of night the young cat drew quickly to his side.
"Hey, hey, calm down boy." She said putting a hand on his shoulder. Her eyes widening as she watched his fur begin to frost over, much like grass would frost for a cool morning. Remaining calm she brushed his fur clear of the frost and reassured his scared tired eyes. "It's ok; you just had a bad dream was all."
Kript shook his body, sending the frost flying everywhere including on his new acquaintance. Realizing what he had just done Kript quickly apologized. "I'm sorry Miss; I didn't mean to shake off on you."
"No no, it's all fine." She replied raising up a hand too calm him down. "Now then," she started clearing her face of frost, "are you alright boy? You seemed to be having quite the nightmare, waking up like you did." A sort of calm worry spread across her face as she spoke and Kript quickly picked up on this. However there was one slightly more pressing matter that had to be taken care of before he answered her question.
"My names not 'boy' Miss." He said picking himself off the ground followed by a polite bow. "The name is Kript, Kript the fox." The young cat was taken aback by such a show of manners. Never in her lifetime had she expected such a gesture from one, from that she could tell at first glance, so battle worn. Quickly she too got up to return the gesture, too quickly in fact as she tripped over her own feet. Just as quick though was Kript, who with swift hands grabbed her well before she hurt herself.
"Thank you." She said standing up more carefully and almost stuttering from embarrassment. Now upright and balanced she lifted the side tales of her outfit and returned his kind bow with her own. "Blaze at your service." Together they gave each other another courtesy bow and exchanged smiles. Both now pleased with such a formal introduction were now free to speak as they pleased.
"It is a pleasure to meet you Miss Blaze." Kript added before continuing on to her question. "And I am fine; so you may drop any of your worries." Seeing no sign of relaxing her mind on the subject the persistent fox continued to press his point "As you said it was just a dream. Nothing more and nothing less."
Blaze nodded pretending to believe him but still keeping a spark of suspicion smoldering in the back of her mind. She was sure there was more to it than just a dream, and that he had just said that to ease her mind. Never the less she kept such a notion to herself and responded. "If you are sure then Kript, I believe you. But you need not be so formal with me. I can tell you are the formal yet informal type." Kript cocked his head to one side as if to ask how she knew but before he could actually ask she continued. "It's the way you dress; it's so plain and simple for someone so well versed in manners." This comment caused him to blink surprised.
"Do I really dress so simple?" he said spinning around while looking at himself. Dressed in a plain grey outfit that was once his mothers with gold buttons and gold trim, followed by rather plain blue jeans that were just slightly too long but still fit him nicely. Lastly were his boots which were custom made some time ago by a nice couple that had taken him in for about a year. He hadn't thought much of anything for his cloths or how he carried himself in them but he could see what she meant. Now drawing his gaze upon her it was clear how contradictory they dressed. She had upon her a bright purple outfit with violet trim. Properly fitting white pants dressed her legs and on her feet were very expensive looking high heels whose colors perfectly matched both her pants and top. "Dressing as lavishly as you do I'd say you were royalty of some kind?"
"Oh? You are too kind Kript." Was Blazes only response beside a slight smile. With graceful strides she walked over to a fallen tree and sat, patting the spot beside her as a welcome for him to come sit too. "Won't you please sit with me? I realize that you must have a lot of questions. I know I did when I first got here." Kript nodded and sat beside her, his eyes now drawn to the landscape rather than Blaze. All around them were rolling hills covered in tall grasses and a few clumps of trees here and there. Off in the distance were the twinkling's of other lakes as the moon shimmered off their calm waters. Looking up was a bit of a surprise to take in, except for the red moon there was nothing to see. No clouds, no stars, just the vast endlessness of space stretching out forever skyward. This filled Kript with more dread, after all he had no idea where he was, much less how to get home to Crystal and his other friends.
"Blaze, where am I?" He asked looking down at his boots, a slight feeling of depression overtaking him as he contemplated what had happened. He himself had gotten the hero jitters and done something completely stupid, admittedly brave, but none the less stupid. Kript shook himself from such thoughts; he would have time to worry about past mistakes later when he was out of here. A few minutes had passed since he had asked Blaze his question but there was no answer, looking over it seemed she was struck with a similar depression. Then it dawned on him, maybe blazes means of coming here were similar? Maybe she too had done something reckless or stupid and wound up here as a result or her actions. This prompted him to ask her a new question. "Blaze, how long have you been here?" Blaze shot a look at him, wondering how he had picked up on the fact that she too wasn't from this world.
"I'm not really sure anymore myself," She paused for a moment to think on the answer. "A few weeks maybe? I'm sorry Kript I wish I knew more about this place." She gave him a rather sad look confirming her lack of knowledge on the subject. With some effort she got up off the log and sighed. "I'd best get back to the others, its dark and they will be wondering where I went." Looking back at Kript she spoke again with a happy tone. "You should come with! Everyone would be happy to meet you!" Kript raised an eye brow. There were more Mobians here? Were they like blaze? Kript sure hoped not, being as he was dressed the total opposite of her; he would stick out like a sore thumb. But seeing little choice in the matter he too stood up and began to follow her.
"You still haven't answered my question yet." Kript brought up the subject again just as they began to walk down a narrow dirt path that looked as if it were formed by the passage of animals rather than by any purposeful planning. Blaze looked back at him as if to ask what question but Kript answered before she could open her mouth. "Where are we? What is this place?" Blaze gave out a sigh again, seeing there was no avoiding the subject like she had tried to just a minute ago. Clearly the only way Kript would drop it would be to tell him. Though this came as an annoyance to her she did respect his determination to get to the bottom of things, it was proof of a strong will.
"Fine," she started and took a deep breath. "Were in Purgatory. Kript this is the so called world after, where we are sent when we pass from our world." Kript was shocked at this, clearly shown by how his jaw had dropped, surly he had wondered if he had died but having it confirmed was almost too much for his mind to take. Almost. Blaze watched him calm down before continuing her explanation that Kript so desired, pointing up to the red moon she spoke again. "And above us is Hell, the place of punishment, where all the evil of our world gets sent." Blaze looked up at the blood red circle in the sky with a somewhat disturbed look. "If it weren't for space, we could probably hear the screams of the lost and tortured. If were good Gabriel won't send us there, but sometimes I wonder if it would be better than this bland world." She knitted her eyebrows together as she said this; somewhat disappointed in herself for saying it out loud but knew her words were true. Kript cocked his head to the side.
"Who is Gabriel?" Blaze shook her head and gave an irritated sighed. This was a good hint that she didn't like this person for whatever reason. Not wanting to upset her more than he possibly had Kript retracted his question. "Never mind Blaze, I get the picture." Giving anther sigh she calmed down and gave him a smile of relief before speaking.
"If we are lucky we won't have to deal with him for some time. In a perfect world we wouldn't have to deal with him at all." Another sigh came from her as she shook her head and started again down the narrow path. "But this world is far from perfect." With that she went silent leaving Kript to take in her words as they walked. If she was speaking the truth then he was indeed dead, and had no chance of ever getting back. This could be true yes, but he had known people to be wrong before. And none the less he would make the best of his situation. How he would do this was yet to be discovered as he had not yet fully grasped his surroundings. And given his short time of conciseness it would be hard for anyone to have fully grasped the situation and the best course of action. Then again Kript doubted anyone ever could do those things when given this particular situation. He pushed the thoughts from his mind; there was no point in wasting energy trying to comprehend the incomprehensible. Looking around him again he noticed the landscape did not change no matter how far they walked. He wondered how blaze was navigating her way back to her friends, there were no landmarks about, no distinctive features in any of the trees, no stars to follow. There was nothing, nothing but the trail. How odd that there would be one trail from the lake the he had landed in. Kript watched as they passed right by another lake and noted, the path did not branch off to it. For a moment he paused and looked back, the sight sending a chill down his spine. Not ten feet from him the path disappeared, replaced by thick bunches of the tall brown grass that enveloped the landscape. This sight was unexpected to say the least, but it did hold a truth. The trail they now walked on was no natural trail. It was meant just for them, just so they could find Blazes companions. Blaze somewhat farther up the trail looked back to see him gawking at the disappearing path behind him.
"You'll get used to it!" She shouted back at him guessing what had distracted him. It too had thrown her through a loop when the trails first vanished behind her, sending her into almost panic, but she had been alone when she stumbled upon this peculiar. Hopefully her being here to help him would ease his panic. However panic never really came to him, Kript just shrugged his shoulders and walked back up to her giving a quick remark.
"That's a new one." Was all he said giving her and inquisitive smirk. Blaze blinked blankly at him, watching him take the lead on the path now. To her this was now a shock, more shocking than the path had been to her the first time it vanished at her feet. He seemed more or less intrigued by this, like he wanted to find out more about it. Now following him down the path the young cat found it hard to keep up with his pace. Kript took long fast strides and was a good bit taller than her by at least six inches even though she was in high heels. This combination amounted to a slow jog for her just to match his pace. She wondered if she could even keep up with him in a full sprint. This was added to the list, the rather long list now, of things she was starting to wonder about the black and white furred fox. Back at the lake she had noted the large chunk of ice flouting on the shore but made no mention of it too him. At the time it was unimportant, she had been more worried about his condition that the melting obscurity in the water. But now, now it made her wonder just what he was capable of. But something more itched in the back of her mind, like she had missed something important. Though she couldn't quite put her finger on it she let it go. She shook her head free of the wonders that plagued her; the answers would come to her in time. With a thud she slammed into Kripts back and nearly fell over, she may have if his rather large and fluffy tail hadn't wrapped around her waist instinctively.
"I think we're here." He said looking over his shoulder to see if she was alright. "Sorry about the sudden stop, I thought you were paying attention." Blaze gave him a frown and rubbed her sore nose. She had been deep in thought when he stopped at the top of the hill that overlooked a rather large town with an equally large river flowing through the middle of it. "Well I guess there are more of you here than I thought." He said with a smirk, sometimes he enjoyed it when his expectations were off. In this particular case they were off by a very large margin. Noticing that his tail was still wrapped around her waist he released her.
Now free she walked to his side pointing down to the large village before him and spoke, "This is where we live, say hello to your new home Kript." He drew his eyes back toward the village, trying his best to take in the view that the high hill granted him. The building seemed to be made of stone, a rather strong stone seeing as most of them were three or more stories tall. Their roofs topped with woven bundles of grass and slanted for the rains to roll off into a rather simple drainage system that flowed beside the streets down into the river. Blaze walked ahead of him obscuring his view of the village. "You do know the view is better from ground level right?" she said teasingly as she made her way down the hill. Kript quickly followed knowing she was right of course. The best way to view the village was by walking the streets, no more than a village from its size, it was a city.
Walking on her heals the fox leaned over and whispered, "What is the name of this place?" Blazes ear flicked away from him, his breath a freezing on her ear. Quickly she rubbed it for warmth, trying to bring feeling back to her now numb ear. Kript chuckled; he recognized this reaction from his dear friend Crystal who always had yelled at him afterwards. Though it was not his fault his breath reached sub-zero temperatures when he tried to keep his voice low. the young fox tried to remember not to get too close for his breath to hit her ear. More often than not it had slipped his mind and earned him a lecture. Finally getting some warmth back in her ear Blaze shot him a look. Kript quickly razed his hands in defense. "Sorry, I forgot that happens!" she only nodded, he wasn't sure if she actually believed him or not.
"Actually, I don't know if it even has a name. Maybe one of the older ones would know if it does." She said still rubbing some warmth into her chilled ear, taking a step back from him so it wouldn't happen again she pointed for him to walk ahead. He wouldn't freeze another part of her on her watch, accidental or otherwise. Kript chuckled and walked ahead, it seemed to him that this little kitty wasn't fond of the cold. Possibly another testament to the way she dressed? Fancy clothing and manners, adding up to air-conditioning and heat in his mind did not fare well for outdoor conditions. Such things didn't bother Kript of course; his power softened the blow of that any sun scorched dessert or freezing blizzard could give him. More than once when he traveled entirely alone he had used this natural survivability to escape pursuers of all fashions. This now stirring around in his mind as he walked up to the first street, the main street from what he could tell, he let himself wonder if for one reason or another he did run into trouble. How would he escape? It was not a matter of getting away and disappearing in the thick fields of grass. More or less the problem was where would he go? Another thought crossed his mind, what if one of those paths formed up behind him as he ran off? That would hamper any kind of escape he could try to manage. These thoughts in mind he hoped he would never have to use his power out in public, needless to say most people didn't look kindly on it.
"So blaze, where is it were going anyways?" Kript asked looking at the finely carved buildings. Running his hand along one as they passed by he noticed it had an unnatural smoothness to it. Not that he was surprised after the disappearing trail act, in fact he expected as much. To him, he had come to realize, this world would seem completely unnatural and mysterious. But this just added to the fun of discovery. As it is in a fox's nature to be curious about what he doesn't understand. And Kript was a fox to his very core and he was not ashamed to act like it. Though Blaze had indeed answered his question within moments after he asked Kript had not heard her, his mind too much focused on what could be around this corner, along that street, just around the bend, who was tapping their foot behind him. Looking back Kript found an agitated Blaze tapping her foot with her arms crossed.
"Are you paying attention to me now?" she spoke crossly, expecting a quick answer. Kript gave her a quick nod, knowing he was on pins and needles right now for unintentionally blocking her out. "Good, now do you remember what I just told you?" To this he could only shake his head. Blaze gave another irritated sigh and rubbed her tired eyes with an open palm. Fatigue was starting to set in, making her patience for Kript dangerously short. "As I said, were here. And before you ask 'here' is the census office. Now come, we need to have you recorded into the city's log." She said to him as she opened the door to the building beside her, leaving Kript out on the street by himself. Before he entered himself Kript took a look down both ends of the street, down as far as he could see in both directions, and could not spot a single person. He realized it was late but in a city of any size life never truly shut down with the sun, of this he was dead sure. Another thing he was dead sure of as he entered the dark candle lit room was that this place was going to be just as odd as the other aspects of this world. Blaze held out her hand, placing it on his chest to make the fox stay put in the center of the room.
"You stay here, I'll go get White Feather so he can record you." Blaze said as she vanished into a door fashioned of woven grass. Kript looked around from the spot he had been placed. Though this room hadn't much in it to see, the walls bare, the rug at his feet was woven from grass, the front door and the desk before him seemed to be made from wood, though it was hard to tell in the dim light given off by the candle on the desk. Being the only thing out of place in the room the candle drew Kripts attention. It was the first source of light other than the moon he had noticed, more than that though was that no wax on it had melted. The foxes sharp ears flicked around, he had just head voices outside the door. Somebody was out on the street, closing his eyes Kript tried to listen in on what he heard but to no avail. The sound of footsteps from the other room masked the childish voices outside.