Chapter 8—Sinbad, Adventurer of Adventurers

Sonic and Shahra met up with Ali Baba back in the Sand Oasis. Sonic hurriedly told of their adventure to the core of the Evil Foundry, hoping for some advice. "…then we escaped back here," he finished.

"Hmmm. Well, let's see…my friend Sinbad might be able to share some of his worldly knowledge with you, and since he travels so much, he may have seen pieces of your friend's soul," Ali Baba offered.

"So, where is he?" Sonic asked impatiently.

"Well, according to rumor, he was fighting some pirates when he was taken away by the Rukh."

"The Rukh…?" He repeated tentatively.

"It's a giant bird. Well, not exactly a bird. It's more like a living fossil."

"Is that right? Well, where is this, er…bird thing?"

"I think the Rukh flocks someplace out in the skies to the west," Tails gestured in that direction.

"The skies, huh?" Sonic confirmed thoughtfully. "Okay, anything to get Aly back to normal. Thanks, buddy! Hey, Shahra!" He rubbed the ring.

"O Master, what is thy wish?" She asked respectfully.

"We need that magic carpet! We've got ourselves a Rukh to track down!" He said. Shahra made the carpet appear, and Sonic jumped on, holding Aly's body close to him. He recalled the beginning of this adventure, when he rode the carpet with her and actually had a normal conversation with her. Well, if you call inviting her to live in his world instead of this book "normal." "Let's get moving!"

Aly could hear everything going on around her clearly, but she still felt as though this were all just…fake. Her memories had a strange haze around them, and she couldn't remember at all what Sonic looked like. Come on, brain! How hard can it be? Why are you being like this? He's just one color, and I know it's one of the basic colors, I just can't see him! Why? What's wrong with me? She wondered. She remembered what she looked like, what Shahra looked like, and everyone else. She knew Sonic was a hedgehog, but that was all! She couldn't remember if he was tall, short, cute, weird; nothing! She wondered why she felt no emotions. She didn't feel happy or sad or angry; she just felt nothing. Except…there was something, a tiny spark, when she heard Sonic talked to her the first time. But she didn't know what it was.

Come to think of it, she didn't know what anything was.

All around her was darkness, she couldn't speak; couldn't move. She wasn't even sure she still had a body. She sometimes heard the wind whistle through her ears, and she knew Sonic was running with her. He told her that she wasn't going to feel anything at all, and that she couldn't do anything except for breath, think, and hear. She knew why it was happening…but it still did not make sense to her.

She again tried to recall the hedgehog who loved her. But…it was like he just wasn't there. Like…as though he'd been blanked out of all her memories.

She wondered if it was the work of the Erazor Djinn. It wouldn't surprise her.

At the thought of the name, she knew she should be mad. But yet again, she felt nothing, in the place of an emotion.

Sonic told her he was going to collect her sense of touch next, he hoped. But honestly, she wanted back her sense of sight, so that she could have her emotions back. But, of course, she had no way of telling him that.

She just wanted to be back to normal. I suppose I should be mad or sad right now, she thought. But I just can't feel anything. She mentally sighed. Heck, I don't even feel bored. And I should be, stuck in a place like this.

"We're riding on that carpet again," she heard Sonic whisper to her. Had she had her ability to move, she would have pricked her ears to catch his voice easier, but of course, she didn't have that ability anymore. "Remember the first time we rode it? It was the first time you and I ever had any kind of real conversation." He chuckled. "Still wanna come back with me to my world? I wouldn't blame you if you didn't want to, though. Every time I do something, you always seem to get hurt." He sighed. "And I'm sorry about that."

Of course I want to go back with you, Sonikku, she thought. And I will, when this is all over.

"Whew! These things sure are weird lookin'! Doesn't resemble a bird at all!" Sonic exclaimed as they neared the Rukh flock. They looked somewhat like Manta Rays, only they had entire cities on their backs, and they flew slowly through the air.

"Be careful, Sonic," Shahra warned. "Once you get on one, it'll be hard, moving against the wind, if you're not already in motion," she said.

"Eh, no worries!" He waved her off. "I'll be fine. Let's go find this Sinbad!" He jumped off the carpet and onto the back of one of the Rukh. His footing was unstable as he landed, and he wobbled back and forth for a bit before steadying himself. "Whoa, Shahra, you were right, the wind is harsh up here! Better get movin'!" He said, dashing off. The sound of sobbing stopped him.

"Shahra? Not to be rude, but please tell me that's not you crying!" Hope filled him as he thought of the possibility of another soul piece being here.

"Not me," Shahra said. "But look, she's over there!" She gestured towards a nearby gargoyle statue. One of Aly's soul pieces was standing on top, crying into her hands.

"Yes! I wonder which one this is." He said.

"This one is her sense of sight. It'll give her back her emotions, too," Shahra said after analyzing the spirit for a little while.

"Well, not really the one I was looking for, but it's still one more piece! Hey, um, Aly's soul? Wanna come back to your body already? I bet it's pretty terrible to be floating around alone up here, being tossed by the wind and such."

The spirit looked up at him, tears streaming down her face. Sonic literally took a step back. He hated to see Aly cry, and despite the fact that he knew this was the only emotion it could show, he was still struck by how upset she was. "Hey, no reason to cry! Your body's right here, can't you just return to her?"

"N-no, I caaann'tt," she wailed. "You h-have to b-beat me in a raaaccee!" Everything she said ended in her crying out, as though she were in hysterics. "A-and I can't let you win, either! Because then I'd b-be shattered for-forever! But I want to return to youuu! I mi-miss you, Sonic!"

"Hey, hey, I miss you too, alright? And I'll beat you in a race. I've already collected two other soul pieces. May I ask you a question first?"

She sniffed. "What is it?"

"Should you beat me, what would happen, if anything?" He asked nervously.

"We-well…I'd disappear for a while, then eventually come back someplace else. An-and it keeps up until you finally be-beat meee!" She began wailing again.

Sonic flattened his ears, half in irritation, and half in sadness for her. He hated seeing her so upset, even though he knew this wasn't really her. He imagined how he'd react if she ever got this upset with her soul complete. He shivered somewhat. He'd hate to see it happen. I'll just keep it from ever happening, he thought. "Alright then, that makes me feel a bit better about losing to you. Let's race! From here to the top of the tower on that Rukh!" He pointed to a Rukh somewhat northeast of them.

She nodded sadly, suddenly not crying anymore. "Okay…" she mumbled, as though she were too depressed to even move. He wondered if this was going to affect her speed at all.

Of course it won't, this is all just to throw me off, he thought to himself. "Alright. Ready, set, GO!" He called out, taking off just before she did. He ran fast against the wind as it tried to pull him back. He felt like someone was dragging behind him, holding fast to his quills. He noticed that Aly wasn't exactly moving very fast either. So, the wind affects her, too? Makes it a little bit more fair! He thought happily. Suddenly, the wind stopped tugging, and he moved much faster. He darted around the many Gargoyle statues while Aly used each one as a springboard to push herself ahead. He noticed something a bit different about the way she jumped, however. She stopped to charge her jumps, something she never really had to do. He caught her eye for just a moment, and he felt as though she were talking to him telepathically. Yes, we all want to return to our body. Isn't it obvious? We'll all try to let you win as much as we can under the radar, but we can't give much. Hurry, because I'm about to run out of a reason as to why I can't go very fast!

Sonic nodded, and picked up speed again. He reached a zip line connecting the two Rukh and used it to swiftly jump across. He looked behind him and noticed she'd slowed down, just a bit, since the zip line wasn't as fast as running. Suddenly, a strong burst of wind hit them both, and Sonic was almost thrown off, and he watched as the spirit acted as though it'd caught her off guard too. She picked up speed, quickly though, and he jumped off the zip line a bit early, in an attempt to go faster. His feet hit the ground steadily, and he took off into the tower. He used the various springs and ropes to navigate to the top, doing his best to avoid numerous spikes and spiked balls along the way. "Whew!" He exclaimed. "They just keep getting tougher!" Finally, he launched himself to the top of the tower, just before the third soul piece exploded out after him.

"You be-beat me…you didn't eve-even go easy on me!" She was back to sobbing as she formed into a ball of light, similar to the rest.

"Ya know, I recall you asking me to do that, at one time. Bet you're glad I didn't listen, huh?" He smiled. Shahra appeared beside him, carrying Aly's body.

"You di-didn't listen to meee!" She cried. To anyone else, it would seem that she was scolding him. But he heard the whispered "Thank you" as the ball of light entered back into her body, and Aly received her third soul piece.

Her eyes fluttered open and darted to look at him. He knew she still couldn't move or talk, but everything that needed to be said was in her eyes. He walked up to her and pulled her close. "You can hear and see now. I don't have to explain everything to you anymore, do I?"

She merely blinked twice in response. He laughed. "Here's a deal, when I ask you a 'yes' or 'no' question, blink once for 'yes' and twice for 'no', alright?"

He saw light dance in her eyes and knew that meant she was laughing on the inside, and she blinked once. He grinned and said, "I missed your dang eyes, ya know that?" Gently, he handed her back to Shahra. "Ya know, I'm starting to think these pieces are trying to be as helpful as they can! After all, everywhere that we've had to go to in order to continue our mission, there's been a soul piece. They want to be together again. Poor Aly…" he reached out and stroked one of her quills. "You'll be back together soon. Only two more to go!" He turned to Shahra. "We gotta go find Sinbad now. So, let's go!" He took off across the backs of the Rukh, either jumping from one to another or using zip lines to reach far-off Rukh.

He finally found the tower where Sinbad was imprisoned. Sonic had climbed all the way to the top and was now attempting to hold back his laughter as he recognized the red echidna before him, trapped in what seemed to be a large birdcage. He was wearing a turban, as were most of the males in the Arabian Nights. He also wore a loose vest and baggy pants, both of which were shades of cream. "Hey, Knuckles! How'd you get here?" He asked between snickers.

"I am Sinbad of the Seven Seas! Adventurer of Adventurers! Uh…who the heck are you?" He added, confused.

"Oh, Sinbad, it truly is you, the great adventurer? Would you be willing to give us some of your worldly wisdom, or maybe help us find this girl's soul pieces?" Shahra cut in before Sonic could continue mistaking this man for someone else. She floated eagerly towards the bars of his cage, her hands clasped in front of her as though in prayer, light dancing in her eyes as she beheld such a great adventurer.

"Hey, er Miss…uh…" Sinbad trailed off.

"Shahra."

"Shahra. Listen, I hate to break it to you, but I'm kind of stuck, here. You're the ones who should be helping me!" He exclaimed with a bit of a Holier-Than-Thou attitude.

"I feel a strong magical force here," Shahra said, gingerly touching the lock on his cage. "It must be the work of the Erazor Djinn, which means if we can break the spell we can undo this lock!"

"Now you're talking, that's the ticket, Shahra!" Sinbad grinned, and Shahra blushed at his praise.

"Come on, Shahra, let's just leave him there. We've got more important things to mess with," he said, tilting his head towards Aly, who was once again in his arms.

"Hey, listen, hedgehog!" Sinbad began.

"Finally, someone gets it right!" Sonic mumbled under his breath.

"Life's a game of give and take, see?" He continued, ignoring Sonic's less-than-subtle remark. "You help me get out of here…and in return, I'll help you out later. Not a bad deal, huh?"

"Wisdom…Knuckles?" Sonic said snidely. "Doesn't seem likely, if you know what he's like back in my world," he whispered in Aly's ear, loud enough for Sinbad to hear, again. Her eyes lit up as though she was laughing.

"What?" Sinbad exclaimed. "What'd you say?"

"Ah, never mind. Come on, let's find that key!" Sonic said to Shahra, handing Aly back over to her. "This shouldn't take to long."

Ah, by far one of my more favorite parts in the game! Hahaha "Wisdom...Knuckles?" xD Sonikku you're so mean! Anyways, I have to admit I had a bit of trouble with this one...it's hard to mess with a game in order to insert myself into the script! But, I'm pretty please with the way it turned out. I decided again that Sonic had too much spotlight and decided to tell a little bit about what's going on with Aly as she lays there, immobile and unfeeling, with nothing but the ability to think and hear. I must say, it kinda sucks! I also decided I should give a bit of info because the next interlude won't be until after chapter 10 or 11...and it'll explain what was happening to Aly before Sonic restored life to her. Anyways, reviews, criticisms, and proof-reading is always welcome! And I have a question...how do I get 150 views, and no reviews? Bleh, I guess I'm just not review-worthy...*sadface*. Oh well, I'm just shocked I got 150 views xD Now, onward to the next chapter!

*~Soul Pieces signin' out!~*