Hmm, usually I wait until I get three reviews on a chapter before updating and seeing how I already got three and I finished this one I figured… update time! Yay!
Chapter 10
"What do you mean you lost them?"
"We're very sorry, Mr. Hedgehog." The soldier standing in the doorway said, "All we found was the jeep parked on the side of the road." He held up a pair of white gloves, "These were inside it."
Amy went forward and took the gloves, "These are Tails'!" she exclaimed.
Sonic laid back on the hospital bed, uncomfortable from the bandages around his chest, "Why would he kidnap Tails?" he wondered miserably.
"I'm sorry to have to tell you this-" Sonic sat up again and saw that the soldier had left to be replaced by Levee who was looking down at him sadly, "But I don't think your friend has much of a chance of being found alive."
Amy gasped, "What?" she demanded, "No! We have to find Tails!"
Sonic only stared dumbstruck at Levee, "But… I… why not?" he asked, at a loss for words.
Levee bowed her head, "The fox that escaped was imprisoned for treason to the empire." She explained, "We have reason to believe he only took Tails as a temporary hostage, for security purposes if you will, until he escaped from Dey Ruien at which point he would… no longer need a hostage to threaten us with and…" she didn't finish.
Sonic looked away his eyes filling with tears, "I don't believe that." He said stubbornly, "Keep looking for him."
"Sonic-"
"No!" Sonic shouted turning back to Levee, "Tails would never give up without a fight! He has to be somewhere, right?"
Levee only nodded, "Very well. We'll keep looking but I implore you not to get your hopes too high. I've known Cree for a long time and he's quite ruthless." With that she turned and left the room.
Amy looked down at the gloves she had taken from the guard and then back to Sonic, "I should… go tell the others." She said solemnly.
Sonic nodded, wiping the tears from his eyes, "Tails didn't even want to come to this planet…" he mumbled, "I wonder if he knew something was going to happen…"
Amy stared down at Sonic for a moment then turned and left to find the others. She took the elevator down to the lobby where Cosmo, Cream, Chris, Knuckles, and Shadow were waiting for news.
As she entered Cosmo immediately ran up to her, "Amy, do they know where Tails is?" she asked.
Amy looked at the tile floor miserably, "They haven't found him yet… and they say there isn't much hope." She replied.
Cosmo gasped and her eyes filled with tears, "They think he's…?" Amy nodded and held up Tails' gloves. Cosmo took them and stared down at them for a moment, then her lip began to quiver dangerously and she burst into hysterical sobs. Amy pulled Cosmo into a hug, trying to hold back her own tears.
After a moment Cream approached them and tugged on Cosmo's coat, "Ms. Cosmo?" Cosmo wiped away her tears and looked down at Cream, "Don't worry; Tails is alright. He'll find his way back to us. I'm sure of it." She said with a smile.
Cosmo smiled, "I believe you're right, Cream." She said, "Tails would never let that vicious fox hurt him."
Shadow shifted uncomfortably in his seat. Would Cree really have murdered Tails? He didn't seem like the kind of guy to do that… but then again he was in the dungeon when they found him. The hedgehog looked away thinking maybe he should take another trip to the fox ghetto before the day was out.
"Hey, what's that?"
"Oh, that's High Rise." Cree replied with a smile. A large town could be seen through the clouds far off to the west. They were too far away to make out details but Tails could see it was very lively.
"Where's Akillian?" Tails asked looking back up at Cree.
"Maybe another ten minutes from here." Cree replied, "I should put in my code so they can open the doors of the cavern before we get there."
"Cavern?" Tails asked with a raised eyebrow.
Cree smiled again, "I bet those foxes told you Akillian was an underground city, right? Well, what they don't know is it's actually underground."
"How did you manage that?" Tails asked with wide eyes.
"Discordia and Celsia found that one of the mountains had a massive underground cave with an entrance near the top." Cree replied, "Of course, after one thousand years of polishing you wouldn't recognize it for what it is once you're inside."
Cree reached forward and typed '0314Z' into a number pad on the controls, "Hopefully I can sneak by without anybody noticing me." He mumbled.
"Why wouldn't you want them to notice you?" Tails asked.
Cree glanced back at the orange fox, "Well, I wasn't really supposed to be in Dey Ruien." He replied, "But they're used to me disappearing every once in awhile, so it shouldn't be a huge deal."
"Disappearing?" Tails repeated in confusion.
Cree let out a laugh, "They try to keep me all bottled up and secure in their little mountain city, but they have no idea how boring it is in there. I have to get out sometimes, you know? Fly around Kilbor; explore High Rise- all that kind of stuff."
Tails smiled; he sounded just like Sonic when he said that. "Yeah, I know what you mean." He said.
"Glad someone does." Cree mumbled, "Dear General Lark doesn't seem to understand."
"Who's that?"
"My keeper." Cree replied with a roll of his eyes.
Tails let out a small laugh and looked ahead. In the distance loomed a dozens of mountains peaking above the clouds. "That's it, right?" he asked.
"Yeah, those are the Kilbor Mountains." Cree said.
Tails looked over the side of the jet down at the ground. The trees had receded and a green meadow was below, "What's that valley down there?" he asked.
Cree glanced down, " Samhaeil Valley." He replied. As he said this he reached forward and turned off the auto pilot and grabbed the controls, "Hang on, Miles."
Tails opened his mouth to ask why but the jet lurched forward and he was pushed back against his seat as they flew ever faster. "You're going way too fast! I thought you were going to land!" he cried.
"I am!" Cree said with a devious smile.
Tails hung on to the edge of his seat nervously; this was how Cree sounded right before they were speeding through Dey Ruien at breakneck speed.
The mountains were growing closer and closer. "I suggest you buckle up." Cree said. The jet lurched forward again as he sped up. Tails found himself unable to watch as they headed straight for the side of a particularly large mountain.
However, he opened his eyes again and saw the side of the mountain only yards ahead of them. He stared with wide eyes as they were about to crash but suddenly some of the rocks slid out of the way revealing a dark passage and the jet flew straight through. Tails looked back and saw them slide right back once they were through. That must've been what Cree meant by the cavern door.
Cree pressed a button on the controls and the wheels popped out underneath the jet. He lowered the jet onto the ground. Tails was thrown forward into the back of Cree's seat as it screeched to a halt.
Cree looked back, "I told you to buckle up." He said simply. He pushed up on the cockpit's glass frame and jumped to the ground. Tails stood up and rubbed his head, "So, this is the entrance to Akillian?" he asked jumping down to the ground.
Cree shrugged as he looked around, "Yeah, not much… but just wait until you see the city." Tails looked around the large dark room; the walls were just the rock wall of the cave but the floor was asphalt. In the wall nearby was an elevator and a stairway leading downward next to it. A few other planes were off in the corners but for the most part it was empty.
Cree looked back up at Tails, "We should get out of here before-"
"CREE!" Tails hadn't even noticed the stairway door open, but before either of them knew what had happened, a pink fox had Cree pinned against the plane and had her lips pressed against his.
Tails only stared for a moment as Cree pried her off him, "Celsia, what's up with you?" he asked, his eyes wide and slightly alarmed, "You'd think I was gone for a year."
"You may as well have been." She said hugging him again.
Cree just stared down at her, "W-what do you mean?" he stammered, "I was only gone for the day."
Tails opened his mouth to say something but froze as he felt a hand on his shoulder, "And who is this?" a chilling voice demanded.
Cree pushed the pink fox, Celsia, off him once again, "Let him go, Discordia." He said angrily, "He's just a kid."
The hand released him and Tails found himself able to move again. He turned around to see a black hooded fox glowering down at him. He took a few cautious steps away from her. "This is Miles." Cree explained, "He was in Dey-" he paused mid-sentence, "I… I mean-"
"Save your excuses." Discordia said angrily, "We already know what you did."
Cree opened his mouth to reply but he was pushed against the plane in a death hug again, "How could you put yourself in danger like that?" Celsia demanded, "You had me worried sick!"
Before anything else could be said a loud ping was heard as the elevator doors swung open and a green fox in a blue military jacket and two other foxes clad in green soldier uniforms stepped out. The green one immediately approached Cree and pulled Celsia off him, "Alright, that's enough!" he shouted, anger coursing through his voice.
Cree smiled slyly, "Calm down, Lark." He said, "You'll get your turn."
Lark glared at Cree angrily, "You shut your mouth before you get yourself into even more trouble." He said angrily, "I just want to know what the hell you were thinking going to Dey Ruien?"
"So Apache actually told you about that?" Cree asked, "Heh, I didn't think she'd actually tell anybody…"
"Do you have any idea what would have happened to our cause if Levee still had you?" Lark demanded, "Why do you deliberately put yourself in danger?"
Cree stared at Lark for a moment unsure of what to say, "So, Apache didn't tell you the whole story, did she?" he mumbled.
"What do you mean?" Lark demanded, "Why did you go to Dey Ruien?"
Cree hesitated for a moment, "I'll just keep that to myself." He replied. He tried to walk past Lark but he stepped in his way.
"You're not going anywhere until you explain yourself." He said forcefully.
Cree clenched his fists and glared at Lark, "I don't have to explain anything to you." He said calmly, "I have a right to do whatever I like."
"Well you don't have the right to go to Dey Ruien!" Lark shouted, "I'm starting to think you can't even be trusted by yourself!"
Cree's lip twitched angrily, "Get out of my way." He said viciously.
"Make me!" Lark challenged.
Cree responded by pushing Lark back forcefully, "Quam praesumo vais question menh? Ego sum Custadis le Níveus Rusa; vos hav haud vox lacesco meus auctorita vos stultus balatro volpes!"
Tails stared for a moment in confusion before he realized that Cree was shouting in a different language. He looked over at Lark who seemed to be just as confused as he was. Before Cree could continue shouting Discordia swept forward and threw him into the side of his jet, "What did I tell you about controlling your temper?" she said angrily, pointing her finger in his face.
Cree glared up at her, not saying a word. She didn't respond well to his defiant silence; a small flame engulfed her finger, "Do I have to discipline you, Cree?" she threatened.
Upon seeing the fire Cree's anger dissolved and he shrank back against the plane, "Please stop!" he said fearfully.
Discordia moved the fire closer to his face, "Am I going to have you burn you, Cree?"
Cree turned his head away, closing his eyes, "STOP IT!" he screamed.
"Discordia! Stop that!" Discordia was pulled away by Celsia. She approached Cree to comfort him but he pushed her away and ran out the door and down the stairs.
Once he was gone Celsia turned on Discordia, "Why do you have to be so cruel to him?" she shouted, "You know he's been afraid of fire since the accident! Why would you use it against him like that?"
Discordia only stared at her smugly, "It's a weakness, just like his anger. He needs to overcome it." She responded.
Celsia glared at her for another moment then stormed after Cree. Discordia sighed and looked down at Tails then back to Lark, "Take the young one somewhere safe." She said, "He's probably been through a lot."
Cree reached the bottom of the stairs and stopped to lean on the railing. He took a deep breath and mumbled curses at Discordia under his breath. He heard the door open and looked ahead and saw a black fox come through the door. She smiled when she saw him, "Cree! You're alright!"
Cree smiled also, "Hey, Apache." He said descending the last few stairs to her level.
"I'm really sorry about before…" she said looking down, "I should never have let you go in there alone."
"No, it's not your fault. I would have gone even without you helping me." He replied with a shrug.
Apache stepped closer, "I was just… you know, worried about you." She took another step, "I'm glad you're safe." Her body was just inches away from his.
Too close!
Cree stepped back, "H-hey, don't worry about it kid." He said with a weak smile, "It all worked out alright, even if I didn't get the Ro-"
"Cree!"
Cree looked back and saw Celsia coming down the stairs towards them. Apache quickly stepped farther away from Cree, "I should go." She mumbled, "I'll see you later, Cree." With that she turned and went out the door trying to conceal her disappointment.
Celsia approached Cree and put her arms around him, "I'm so sorry about my sister." She said, "Discordia can be a bit mean sometimes."
Cree pulled out of her embrace, "Thanks, Celsia. I just want to be alone for awhile." He said heading for the door, "I'll be in my room."
"Oh, alright." She called after him, but he was already gone.
