Chapter Twelve
Animals Galore
Cosmos looked up at the entrance to the Fauna Clan's garden. The tiger Chao statue seemed to want to come to life and attack him. He gulped and looked at Zero beside him. He was looking up at the statues too. He looked back at Cosmos. "Well, I guess this is our first stop, since it's closest." Cosmos nodded. Aeon stood there, staring at it in awe. "The door's huge!"
Pyro pushed Cosmos and Zero aside. "Hey, are we gonna go in, or are we gonna imitate those statues?" She walked (floated, you guys know what I mean!) into the door and disappeared into the darkness. Cosmos and Zero looked at each other, before they both ran in. Aeon followed. Soul was the last to enter the door. After a brief moment of a floating like feeling, they found themselves in a huge meadow.
A ram leapt past them as they walked around the meadow, looking for Falcon, the Fauna clan leader. Instead, they found a yellow tinted ram Chao that looked like it was almost a Hero Chao. He looked at them curiously, but when Soul stepped…I mean, floated up, he smiled and walked over to them. Soul stuck out his hand, and the ram Chao hit the top and bottom of it before he grabbed it and brought them together into a kind of bear hug.
Soul patted him on the shoulder. "Hey, Buck! What's up, man?"
Buck smiled and waved his hand in the air. "Crazy, man, crazy! Everybody's running around and training and junk. It's like the Hero and Dark War all over again!" He looked over his shoulder at Cosmos and them. Cosmos was giving Zero a noogie, while Aeon and Pyro tried hard not to laugh. Soul turned and looked at them. "Yeah, well, I'd love to talk and hang out, but I'm afraid this isn't a little 'hello' visit."
Buck nodded. "Yeah, I know what's up. Falcon filled me on everything. Now, let's meet this motley crew of yours!" They walked over to the group, and Buck stepped forward. "Hey, Cos, I'm Buck!" Cosmos made a face at being called 'Cos', but Zero smiled at him. "Hey, Buck! I'm Zero, and this is Pyro," he pointed at Pyro looking Buck up and down, "and Aeon." She smiled and shook his hand. "It's nice to meet you, Buck!"
Buck smiled back. "It's nice to meet you too, Ms. Aeon. I'm afraid I haven't met many pretty young ladies such as you!" Aeon blushed and looked away. Zero frowned, a little jealous. Wait, why was he jealous?!? Buck turned to Pyro and bowed. "It's an honor to meet you, ma'am. Such wonderful company is few and rare."
Pyro smiled, obviously liking the attention. "Why, thank you! It's nice to see a gentleman around here!"
Cosmos glared at Buck, hatred written in his eyes. Zero nudged him and whispered, "Do you think he does it on purpose? It looks like it comes natural to him." Cosmos watched as Buck led Aeon and Pyro over to the group of Chao in the middle of the garden. "Perhaps…"
Soul smiled at their angry expressions. What a pair…when one's mad, so is the other. You would think they were brothers or something! He walked past them and said, still smirking, "Come on, we've got to meet Falcon. He'll teach you some of the basic things about leadership!"
Zero and Cosmos looked at each other, shrugged, and ran after him. They ran over to a group of Chao by a lake, as clear as the Supernova Blazer had back at the Cloud Council. They saw a Chao with all phoenix features except for dragon wings fly over them. Cosmos nudged Zero, who stopped staring and ran over to the group on the opposite side of the lake.
Buck and the girls were there, along with Soul and some other Chao. He had purple bird wings, feet, and tail, and had a yellow tint to him, just like Buck. He was smiling and talking to Soul, laughing at some joke. He saw Cosmos and Zero running towards them, and said something to Soul before he walked past him and walked towards them.
Cosmos and Zero screeched to a halt in front of him, panting tons. Falcon handed them each a glass of water, and they downed it easily and gave it back to him, wiping their mouths. "Thanks!" They both said, smiling and grateful. Falcon nodded. "No problem. Now, about the reason of your visit…"
Cosmos smiled his famous pointy grin. "I'm here to learn, of course!" Zero patted him on the back. "Both of us!" Falcon nodded. "Yes, I see…" He smiled. "Well, follow me; we have much to cover and little time to spare!" Cosmos stretched lazily. "What's the rush? Where's the emergency?" Falcon frowned. "I'm afraid Dr. Robotnik has already sent out to take the Supernovas away from their hiding places, and we can't allow him to get his greasy hands on one!"
Buck nodded. "That fat egg's already seduced dozens of poor Chao to become his slaves, and tortured them by inchaomane means."
They all shivered. Soul floated over to them. "What happened?" he asked, smirking. "Did you guys see a ghost?" Falcon smiled again. "No, Soul, we were just discussing the evil egg of the Other World." Cosmos made a face, making Zero snicker. Soul smiled. "Well, you've already made friends with Cosmos and Zero, I see." Falcon nodded. "It's best to have more friends than enemies."
Soul smiled. "Yeah, I guess." He held out his hand. "Well, I'm gonna go show Aeon and Pyro around the place, so you don't have to worry about them. I'll be seeing you!" Falcon shook his hand. "See you later, alligator!" Soul smirked as he walked off. "After a while, crocodile!" Cosmos scratched his head. "I don't get it."
Zero grinned at his puzzled expression. "It rhymes, stupid!" Cosmos tackled him. "Oh, yeah? Who's stupid now?!?" They rolled around a little, until Falcon whistled loudly. They got up and dusted themselves off, and Falcon beckoned them over to a small bush. He crawled into the bush, and disappeared. Cosmos and Zero looked at each other, before they crouched down and crawled after him.
They found themselves going down, but not vertical or anything. It was gentle enough not to force them to grab the ground or anything. After about ten yards, they crawled out of the bushes and found themselves in a little clearing with a pot cooking over the fire. Falcon was putting some kind of plant into the pot, humming as he worked. Cosmos stared at the pot. "We're gonna learn how to cook?"
Are they? You'll find out in the next chapter of 'The Chao Chronicles 1: The Supernovas'!
Ja ne!
