Chapter Six: Green grass and high hills

This chapter is entirely from Miles' point of view. Hope you like!

"I don't see him! He could be anywhere up here!" Miles called into the communicator she was holding. They had been searching for hours up in a very mountainous region, having split up to cover more ground. They both bought special long distance communicators so that they could stay in touch with each other. Now, they had gone so far that Miles couldn't even see Sonic, except for an occasional blur going along the hillsides in the distance.

"Calm down, Miles. We'll find him, we just need to keep searching. He can't hide forever in these hills," Sonic replied over the communicator. The static over the communicator indicated that he was a great distance away, which worried Miles. She didn't like being alone up here, even though the she had a flare to alert Sonic to her location at any time.

Suddenly, Miles saw a mobile flying towards a nearby volcano, and called into the communicator, "He's flying towards the volcano in the distance!"

She was starting to follow, when Sonic asked, "Which one? There's dozens around here, y'know."

Miles sighed and said, "Never mind. I'll deal with him myself if you can't find the volcano."

Sonic said, "Wait! Don't-"

Miles switched off the communicator, not wanting to accidentally alert Eggman to her location by having Sonic yelling through the communicator. She watched as Eggman flew in through a cave. She thought, "I've nailed him. Now, I just have to fly from hill to hill to get there."

Easier said than done, she thought. She began to fly across from the first hill to the other one, and reached it without peril. She began running up to the top, and was hoping that Eggman hadn't scattered any badniks around. Her hopes were dropped by the sight of a small ball-shaped bot. It had flames around it and was floating towards her. It shot the flame at her, but she easily leaped above it and landed on the robot, crushing it under her feet.

She continued running, hoping that she wouldn't encounter too many badniks along the way. She reached the top and stopped for a moment to catch her breath from running uphill. Her black jacket wasn't slowing her down, even though it felt somewhat heavy at first. She had bought it, along with another one for Sonic so that they wouldn't be freezing up on the high hills.

She then flew to the next mountain, and upon landing, the ground gave way under her suddenly. She involuntarily screamed, and then managed to catch onto the edge above her. She hung there, hoping desperately that a badnik wouldn't come knock her inside. It wasn't a badnik that knocked her inside, however. Instead, it was a large boulder coming down at her. She gasped and forced herself to let go before her fingers were crushed. She looked down as she fell, hoping that she wouldn't fall to her death.

She saw that she was falling down to a ledge down below, and when she landed, she felt immense heat around her. She looked down and then pounced back away from the edge. She thought, I'm surrounded by lava...oh, how do I get into these situations?

She winced as she looked down into the lava, and tried to look through the sparks that were flying up from below. She saw nothing solid down there, and then gasped. The lava was slowly rising, apparently because something was causing the volcano to begin erupting. She looked up, and saw the small hole above her, and said to herself, "That's my only way out now..."

She leaped as high as she could and then began flying upward. She managed to push herself out of the hole, and then began desperately raising uphill. She was right about to reach the top when the mountain began cracking. Thinking quickly, she laid herself on one of the now cracking pieces of the ground and prepared for a high speed flight up into the air.

Then, the eruption never came. The lava simmered back down, and Miles breathed a sigh of relief. Reluctantly, she stood up, and when the ground stopped rumbling beneath her, she began running up to the top of the hill again. She reached the top and kicked off of it towards the volcano. She was reached the cave entrance and began dashing inside.

She barely heard, "Miles! Wait up!"

Miles didn't, instead continuing to run. She knew that it was of utmost importance to stop Eggman at all costs. She kept running, and reached an area that was covered in lava. Eggman called, "You fools will never catch up with me across this lava!"

Miles looked up into the crater, and saw Sonic reach the top. He called, "Miles, fly across this! Get to Eggman first!"

Miles looked, and asked, "Across all of this?!"

She shook her head, and then forced herself to run forward. She leaped over it as far as she could, and then began flying. The heat began hitting her in waves as she soared across the huge fiery pit, and she thought that she was going to fall in because of it. She soared across, and right she managed to catch the ledge on the other side before she fell in. She looked down at the lava and said, "Ha, I guess I'm better at flying than I thought."

She climbed up to the top and saw the hole that Eggman had flown through to reach the outside of the volcano. She flew through it as fast as she could, trying not to bump into any of the walls as she went. She flew out the other side and saw Eggman ahead of her, trying desperately to get away. She ran after him, calling, "You won't get away this time, Eggman!"

She was just about to catch up with him when he disappeared over a cliff. She just about leaped off after him, and then forced herself to stop in surprise. There was lava down below, and Eggman was nowhere in sight. There was another ledge across the lava, and Miles leaped onto it right as Sonic did as well. Sonic said, "Whoa! Wait up next time! You about lost me there."

Miles said, "There's no time for talk, Sonic. Eggman could be anywhere in this lava right now."

Mile saw him behind Sonic, and yelled, "Behind you!"

Sonic turned, and then leaped over a line of fire that was shot out at him. He kicked at the air and blasted forward towards the lava submarine right before it submerged. He hit it on the glass, cracking it. Miles had leaped over the line of fire, and watched as Eggman's submarine went back under the lava. Sonic landed on the rock out in the middle of the lake of lava and began looking around, waiting for Eggman to pop up again. Miles was also keeping a sharp eye out, hoping to continue proving herself useful.

Eggman's submarine popped up again, this time with a metal shield closing over the glass. She sighed and thought, Has to make things overly complicated, doesn't he?

Miles, aware that she had one of the Chaos Emeralds, leaped forward, and tried to use the Chaos Emerald to somehow power herself up. To her surprise, a glowing barrier surrounded her as she sped towards the submarine, and then she hit it. She bounced off of it and towards one edge of the lava pool, thanks to a huge amount of momentum that had been given to her by the emerald. The submarine began exploding, and Eggman's mobile popped out of the top, a metal covering still around the top. It flew away for a ways, and then the metal cover slid off as it went, allowing Eggman to see where he was going and change his course.

Sonic leaped over, and then said, "He's heading for that cave!"

Miles could see him enter a small opening in one of the mountains in the distance. Sonic said, "Alright, let's go. We still have to catch him."

Miles asked, "Why didn't you urge us to pursue him immediately?"

Sonic stopped, and then grinned as he replied, "'Cause, I like giving him a chance or two. Makes stopping him funner."

Miles gave him a confused look and said, "That's a weird reason to let him get away like that every time."

Sonic said, "Back at the ruins, I would have pursued him immediately had I not been worried about you. I was actually afraid that you might have started drowning, although I think that I would have known if you had started..."

Miles listened to him, and when he said that, she lightly blushed and turned away. She thought, He cares for me...that's new. Then again, he is a hero, and so he probably cares for the lives of everyone, even his threats.

Miles then remembered that they were supposed to be chasing Eggman, and suggested, "How about we talk about this later? We have a fat, egg-shaped scientist to catch."

Sonic said, "Sure! Let's get him."

Sonic began running towards the cave entrance, and Miles flew over the mountains to get to it. She smiled as she thought, Now that I think about it, I would have worried about his life excessively had I been in his situation. I don't know why, but I'm beginning to think that he thinks of me as more than a friend.

Hey guys! Sorry that these chapters are coming slow, but I really don't have really great ideas right now. Well, next up is Mystic Cave! Hope you liked how I put this particular chapter from Miles' point of view.