Author's Corner – Ooh. Reviews. I like reviews. Who doesn't? xD
Thanks, guys and girls.
I'm putting a short hiatus (notice: short) on Of Shuriken and Sunlight because;
1. I'm not too into Espio right and I might get his character off a bit
2. Shadow and Rouge are more interesting than Espio and Kimono right now (actually, they almost always are)
3. I have writer's block and have discovered a wall in that damned story's plot. xD
4. …I don't know. Sometimes it gets boring.
However, it is not dead and will not die until it's complete. And then I'm leaving its rotting corpse up on my profile. So yeah. It ain't leavin'.
Heh heh. Okay, okay; thanks again, and here we go.
The night sky was so beautiful.
That is, if you had the compatibility to appreciate the wonders of the unknown.
However, it is obvious that you would if you spent most of your waking hours (and unconscious hours) upon the same island, around the same environments… you had endless amounts of time and thousands of questions running through your brain.
Perched on the low green hill overlooking the world below his very own Angel Island, a kingdom he would have rather not inherited. Despite this, everyone close to him knew Knuckles the Echidna would guard Angel Island and its prize—the Master Emerald—until his death.
Starlight interwoven through his red coat, the moon reflecting in his orchid gaze, he stared into the endless depth of star-spattered darkness that was his closest friend nowadays.
Oh, yes, he was still good friends with Sonic the Hedgehog, Miles "Tails" Prower the Fox, and Amy Rose, but they didn't go out of their way to visit him usually.
Sighing moodily, he turned away, eyes focused on the Emerald's container.
Usually, it spun in a smooth circle, the sculpted edges gleaming with brilliant emerald luster.
Usually.
But usually it was there in the holder!
"Damn," Knuckles growled, anger lancing through his limbs.
"Getting rusty, Knucklehead? You were never this stupid before… or maybe you were, and I just never noticed," taunted a smooth, sweet-sounding female voice from above. All too familiar – unfortunately for the red guardian echidna.
"Ah, dammit, Bat Girl," he cursed the thief.
She was sitting on the hill above the one he rested on, the Master Emerald behind her. She looked the same as she had the last time she'd taken the Emerald – cocky, confident, sly and wickedly poised. Her wings were splayed, making her seem much slighter than she was.
And… that to the left of her… Shadow!
Shadow stepped forward, face expressionless. If it weren't for the bright scarlet highlights that seemed to illuminate him, like a splotch of blood against snow, almost. Sooty snow. He flicked a glance Knuckles' way, then turned back to Rouge.
The bat sighed and rolled her eyes.
"Ah, Knux, you echidnas have filthy language," she purred, eyes boring into his.
He was rapidly becoming infuriated. So, she couldn't do it by herself. She has to cheat further and use Shadow against me. Great. Well, I'm not giving up that easily.
"Well, you stupid winged rats have no morals," he snapped, temper rising unsteadily. He leapt up, poised to strike her in the face heavily… but that was what she had Shadow for. From the side, the Black Blur disappeared from where he'd stood, pouncing on Knuckles and driving him back. They landed on the hill, both on their feet, eyes meeting challengingly – Shadow's cold crimson-ringed eyes and Knuckles' enraged dark amethyst glare.
Rouge yawned, pretending to be bored, though she was enjoying this quite a bit, levelly staring down at the echidna and the hedgehog as they awaited. She felt like a queen whose subjects were fighting for her loyalty. She hovered slightly and then rested on the Master Emerald—something she knew would infuriate Knuckles, if he'd seen her.
However, Knuckles wasn't concentrating on Rouge.
Shadow.
"I won't let you thieves get the Master Emerald!" He bellowed, starting to assume his fighting stance, but Shadow was much swifter than Knuckles. He tackled him with the Spin Dash, not much of an attack, but enough of one to knock the red echidna off his feet with surprise.
It'd been awhile since he'd brawled with Sonic or Amy—and Shadow was faster than Amy and at least as fast as Sonic. He was used to dealing with Eggman's rust-buckets, beating stupidity with brawn, like he always did. Speed was hard to beat with only strength, as he was discovering. It had been too long since he'd fought Shadow.
The dark hedgehog skidded to a halt behind Knuckles, a smirk on his muzzle, now. "I'm rather disappointed," he commented dryly, flicking a smug look at the red echidna. "I expected a battle here, not a pillow fight."
Knuckles' pupils dilated with rage.
"You… you… raaaah, that's it!"
He leapt into the air, his anger charging his punches. Shadow dodged them with some effort, realizing he had provoked him into a stronger but more reckless state as well. Now's the time, he thought, ducking when Knuckles through an uppercut, leaping when he aimed for his legs.
It would only be a matter of time when the enraged echidna struck him, and he had an idea it wouldn't be too much time.
Rouge seemed to catch the idea that she needed to get out of there.
Before leaving with the Emerald in her possession, she turned around and pretended to throw Knuckles a kiss. "See ya, sugar," she exclaimed, laughing triumphantly and ascending to the air.
Shadow's eyes narrowed.
Knuckles' widened.
Deciding to drop Shadow and go straight for Rouge, he shoved the black hedgehog aside and leapt upwards before the bat got high enough; he gripped her legs with surprising weight and force, sending both of them tumbling into the dust.
Not waiting for the chance the sly thief would take the Emerald again and leave him breathlessly surprised, he jumped up, his prized possession in his gloved claws.
"I suggest you leave, Bat Girl, or it's gonna get ugly."
"It wasn't beautiful to start with," she barked, rising to her feet, clearly in pain. Not physical pain, though; she couldn't believe she'd failed… again. It seemed no matter how hard she tried, the damned echidna was always going to come out on top.
"Well," Shadow said coldly, coming up behind the two, "Seems you know how to fight a little bit after all. Let me give you a few hints." Rouge saw, to her pleasure, that he was gripping his small, gleaming green Chaos Emerald in his hand. She knew what that meant.
Knuckles turned, more than a little agitated.
"What are you—ahh! What the—"
"Chaos Control!"
Knuckles froze. Literally.
Rouge, excited, charged the Master Emerald, knowing Shadow's freezing time power didn't last for long. She gave the dark hedgehog a conspiratorial look.
She had finally succeeded—the Master Emerald was her's!
He didn't voice this aloud, but he thought to himself, Somehow, I don't think that will last long.
