I do not own sonic the hedgehog or any of the characters from the games, movies or comics but I do own this story and the other characters, I hope you enjoy it.

Things Only Whispered In The Shadows

Ch10. Armored Glass

I sat up, looking at the sky as the sun began to dip below the clouds out the mouth of the cave. It set the sky afire with hues of red and orange almost as if the mountains were burning with rage and anticipation. I shivered at the thought. Turning my mind to better places I thought back to the dream, I had never heard shadow say so much before, not even when he was questioning me, and I didn't think I would again for a while. He didn't seem like the share your feelings kind of guy.

I shrugged the questions off stop that. There was no reason for me to be thinking like that, sometimes people just had more to say than usual. As I stood up I took inventory of my things. Swords, check. Emerald, check. I knelt down and inspected the contents of my bag. I had hastily thrown together some things to take with when we left the temple. Medical supplies and a couple of tools. I dug through again to make sure I had the basics when something glittered in the bottom of the bag. I pulled it out and found the purple glass shard. Dumping the contents out, I found the rest of them and smiled. How long had I forgotten these? It looked like I had gotten to take at least one memory with me after all.

Quickly grabbing my tools and a few chunks of metal from deeper in the cave I went out and lit the hottest fire I could manage in an hour. Thankfully it was hot enough, I melted down the purest chunk of metal and skimmed off as many of the impurities as I could. Letting it cool down a bit I worked it into a thick wire, making sure it was the same along the entire length.

Rune had silently taken a seat on a fallen tree not far from me to watch, and that was fine by me as long as it stayed that way.

I looked over my work, correcting a couple of spots where it had ended up slightly thicker or had twisted slightly. My control over the emeralds chaos power had grown in the 48 hours I had to practice. I couldn't use it like Shadow had but then again I wasn't him. Melting the remaining metal I wiped the sweat from my eyes before moving on to the next part. Taking a deep breath I began shaping the thick wire, twisting and bending, cutting and fusing. My masterpiece began to take shape. I began setting the glass shards as the metal was finally cool enough to touch with my hands. Taking the half-finished project and setting it aside to finish cooling I went back to the molten slurry and carefully skimmed the impurities off the top. This batch was larger than the last one, almost five times larger and twice the concentration of impurities.

By now I had an audience of four, everyone had quietly made their way out to watch. I sighed and wiped my face again.

Fel motioned to Talon, then quietly, "I think she finally lost it. What do you suppose she's making?"

"Not sure, has to be important though if she's making it now."

"Hope so. We're a couple hours from toast and she's playing blacksmith."

"Would you shut it? I want to watch not listen to you two debate the finer points of boredom." We all looked at Rune like she had grown a second head. We hadn't known her long but up till now she had been quiet and reserved for the most part. I got over the shock first and smiled, Maxis chuckled and the boys just looked at one another before going back to watching quietly.

I took one last look at the molten metal free from imperfections and took a deep breath, this was going to be the hardest thing I had ever done by far. I focused my power over the metal, willing it to be lighter, stronger, less resistant to the wind but more resistant to everything else like my swords. I molded it with the emeralds power and my own, not giving it a chance to cool or solidify. I forced my will into it, concentrating on my work more than the world around me, I had no idea how long it took me and I didn't care, I had to do this.

The molten mass lifted out of the small vat and instantly began shifting and changing, the color deepened to a dark purple and the edges smoothed out into the shape of a light, flexible chest plate. As the shape began to settle a lighter purple swirled its way onto the edge of the piece. The interlocking plates shifted again as they cooled.

I dropped to my knees as I let my concentration go and my masterpiece clattered to the ground beside me. I took a moment before picking it up and walking back over to where the first piece was. I began working on it as soon as I picked it up. It fit perfectly to the shoulder, glass shards reflecting the last rays of sunlight as it finally set below the peaks.

Talon whistled. "Nice."

Fel tilted his head. "Why?"

Rune hit Fel upside the head. "Are you thick in the head? It's armor! Damned good armor at that."

"And?" he shrugged his shoulders.

Talon's turn to hit him upside the head. "We are about to go into possibly the hardest fight we have ever been in and you ask why my sister made herself some kick ass armor? I thought you were supposed to be the genius best friend."

"I get that, why now? She could have made it before we got invaded, or waited till after and had more time and better materials."

"How was she supposed to know that we were going to get invaded?" Rune put her hands on her hips and Talon nodded enthusiastically, I wasn't sure if he was siding with me or her now, same side I guess.

I had to butt in on this one before it got out of hand. "I won't find better materials for an armor like this. I needed metal for the resistance and it had to be light weight if I didn't want it to slow me down. Also I figured it would be better safe than sorry against unknown skills." I pulled the armor on over my vest and adjusted, it fit perfectly. The purple glass glinted in the fading firelight and I grinned. I couldn't help but feel like it was congratulating me.

"Oh. Makes sense I guess." Fel nodded and Rune face palmed. Talon tackled him yelling something about him sounding like an idiot.

Maxis went around the brawling boys and walked up to me. "Congratulations Whisper. I believe that your crafting skills have nearly surpassed my own. I don't think I have anything more to teach you."

I blushed and rubbed the back of my neck. "Thank you Maxis."

"Aw how touching. A student graduating from her mentors watchful eye." They were here, and I wasn't surprised. At their level they wouldn't need grunts to make it this far, they probably just wanted to test their strength.

The first one, the one who spoke, was a tall thorny lizard. He was almost twice Maxis' height and he was the tallest one of us.

The second was a pale kangaroo, wearing goggles on his head and a brown vest.

The last was a dog, brown spots on white fur contrasted with his bright yellow pants and the great sword slung across his back.

I wasn't sure if I should have laughed at the trio or taken them seriously. I opted for the later seen as how they made it here without a scratch. "Ah, look, the uninvited guests have arrived." Maxis was the first to react.

"Sorry to just drop in like this but you weren't exactly going to visit us anytime soon. We couldn't help but get a bit impatient." The thorny lizard spoke again, this time stepping forward to meet Maxis head on. Fel stepped up next to him.

"Enough with the small talk Regis, let's get this over with." The kangaroo chided his companion, not taking his eyes off of me for a second.

"I agree with Fleet, let's get started already." The dog pulled the sword over his shoulder. We could tell he was waiting for someone to give the word, to make a move. Rune and Talon edged closer, Talon keeping himself between the two.

"Shut it Booker! We both know you can't wait to kill something, just remember who's in charge!" The one named Regis was about to say more when he was interrupted by Fels' fist making contact with his face. He took a step back and rubbed his face. "Now you've gone and ruined my good mood little kitty cat." I had enough time to see him backhand Fel across the small field before I became occupied with my own opponent.

I heard him swear under his breath, as I was pushed back closer to him. "I put everything I had into that punch, what the hell is this guy made of?"

I was to busy dodging kicks to answer. Fleet was fast, I mean really fast. For every kick I dodged there was another one was waiting for me. Quickly getting away from the other fights to avoid getting caught between blows I realized something, Fleet was only fast in close combat. He may be able to keep up with me when I get close but there was no way he was faster than me when I got going.

One step and I was charging away from him, two steps and I was rushing up to the cliff, three and I was jumping up it. I climbed higher and higher, finally when gravity caught up with me I smiled and turned back down the cliff. "Let's see your kicks save you from this." I dropped like a stone before my feet made contact with the wall again, propelling myself forward into a sonic boom I hit him at full speed. He flew back into Regis, throwing him to the ground as well.

"How the hell did you manage that?!" Fel was just getting up from another blow, but thankfully not injured.

"Guess I just hit harder than you."

"Yeah right. I will emnot/em get out done by a girl. Especially not little Whisper."

"Little? Last I checked we were about the same height. I might even be an inch taller than you now." Silence, "Are you ignoring me?"

Fel launched himself forward and landed another punch on the lizard and sent him tumbling back again after he had just gotten back up. "Sorry, couldn't hear you over how awesome I am." I rolled my eyes and turned back to my own fight.

Fleet was back up, and I felt a chill as I realized that he was completely fine, they were letting us beat on them. This was going to royally suck. Even though he hadn't landed a single hit on me I knew that mine had been ineffective to the point where he was just dusting his clothes off from rolling around in the dirt. He thought he was going to toy with me, well I guess he was in for a surprise then. I backed up to the cliff again, but this time I let him corner me. "Shame you chose to oppose us, in a few years you might have become a fine soldier. You didn't think something so pathetically weak could stop us did you? Any last words?"

I reached behind me and touched the emerald. "Chaos Control." His eyes went wide as I disappeared from his view. I raced down the mountain, gaining momentum. I knew it wouldn't be enough. I grabbed my swords, ready to draw any moment. Breaking the sound barrier for the second time in the last five minutes I charge forward, ready to catch him off guard. Seconds from the end of the cliff I jump at him, and he jumps at me. If I wasn't in midair I would have stopped, unfortunately I didn't have that option. A blow to my side sent me crashing to the ground, and if I hadn't had the armor I would have several broken ribs, as it was I was having trouble catching my breath. Had he hit me anywhere else I might not have been so lucky. This guy could kick. I made another mistake when I glanced over to see how everyone else was doing. I got another kick to the side and hit the cliff.

I saw just enough to know the others were having just as much trouble as me. Well so much for holding back. At least they didn't bring back up. Not like they need it. I stood back up and touched the emerald again. "Chaos control." He looked up immediately, good, just keep being predictable. I was a good ways behind him, "Silver sleeve." Instant sonic boom. He looked back just in time to see my knee make contact with his face.

I hadn't intended to use my knee, I had planned on actually getting to use my swords, but I was too fast to use my draw with the silver sleeve. I dropped my swords into my hands and readied a counter attack as he staggered up instead of attacking. No way had I done that much damage. Fleet wiped his arm across his heavily bleeding nose. He chuckled. "Not bad kid, what did you say your name was?"

I rushed him again, "I didn't." we spent the next few minutes dodging each other's attacks, I was faster.

"I have to hand it to you kid, you're good. You sure you don't want to reconsider joining our side?" we were both panting from exhaustion coupled with our injuries. He was worse off than I was, I had weapons and armor, he didn't. If he would have had either this would have ended differently.

"Never." He didn't seem like such a bad guy, not like the other two. Not like someone who would have joined Salem willingly. I gave one last push to finish the fight and Fleet ended up on his knees. "Here's a question for you. Why are you with Salem?" I was expecting a lot of things… laughter wasn't one of them.

"You don't seem to get it. He's unstoppable. There's nothing anyone can do to stop him and no point in cutting my life short by opposing him. Besides, the way I see it, his empire is big enough that he can't keep track of everything that goes on inside it. All I have to do is make a name for myself, retire, and live the good life protecting the things that matter. You should to if you know what's good for you."

"You're wrong, he isn't unstoppable, we're going to stop him, and there isn't anyone who can stop us." he laughed again.

"You really think you can stop him? Your either stronger than you let on or crazier, either way I chose my path a long time ago. I'm afraid that there isn't any way out for me. If you plan on getting out of this alive you might want to help your friends, they're going to need it." just then a rampaging Booker swung his sword at us. I jumped back to avoid it, Fleet didn't. I watched in horror as he smiled sadly as he dropped to the ground, bleeding from a wound I couldn't take my eyes from.

Fear, anger, sadness, rage. I wasn't sure why I stood there or why I felt so much for someone who had just tried to kill me. What confused me the most was why Booker had killed his own team mate even though he had his own fight to deal with. My heart nearly stopped as I spun around thinking that he may have finished Talon and Rune as well. I was relieved to see them both alive even if they were badly beat up. We weren't down for the count yet. I dodged another swing, he didn't miss a beat when he turned his swing into a crushing downward blow. When did he get so good? Oh don't tell me…. He's a berserker… I dodged another barrage of blows and got a good look at his eyes. "Why can't anything ever be easy!"

"Look out!" Fel came running through with an angry Regis hot on his heels. That is until he noticed that Booker was berserk.

"Uh oh." He looked at Fleets unmoving body and made a run for it. "Nice meeting you folk but I think it's about time I beat a hasty retreat."

And with that we were left with a berserk, great sword wielding, mad dog to deal with.