Chapter 11
Poor Richard
A/N: A long awaited update… and only a short chapter… :( sorry guys… but been really busy lately… but it's almost spring break here in Japan, so that's great news there! I'll be able to update more frequently!
Anyway, I hoped I spelled Gryrozx's name right…
Richard fearfully hid behind one of the trash cans in the school yard. The darn pig was still looking for him, and the other three were hardly any less relenting.
Richard wanted to find Violet, but he knew there was no chance of that with them so near. He could endanger her life.
He carefully listened to the sound of trotting footsteps, but there were none. So many times today he had heard silence, and then when he thought he was safe, an eruption sound told him to run again.
He heard the school bell ring, and the devastated Richard sighed. He had spent the entire school day running and hiding. What a day.
Richard then began to think wildly. Perhaps with all the noise about, he might be able to make a break for it…
He thought he heard something slam into his head, but Richard thought no more a split second later as he slowly fell to the ground…
"Finally!" Gorman Pitney exclaimed as he withdrew his fist. Kauri looked at the scene of the unconscious fox with satisfaction.
"Now that the bait's here, lets show that scientist just how good we are." The panther told them.
They stuffed Richard into their hover car, carefully hiding him within a bag (though careful to give him a good amount of air. After all, they did not want to kill him.)
All four of them knew they were one step to what they really wanted…
The Half-Seedrian…
Perhaps it was the smoke playing tricks on her eyes, or maybe the moment of excitement, but Kauri thought she saw a figure watching her. When she looked back to check, no one was there. She continued to look at the spot, before she turned her head. You could never be too careful…
What is it like, to be worried for someone when you have no idea where they are? It is like falling off a cliff, without being able to see the bottom of it, building a bridge without ever seeing the other side of the land, or mailing a card to a house you don't even know the address too.
Violet was filled with fear, uncertainty, and most of all, guilt. The Half-Seedrian knew Richard could easily have been sick, but her intuition told her it was not so. Not even the happiest part of Violet's mind dared to disagree with that thought.
Cosmo and Tails both were highly worried about their daughter, as for she hardly touched anything on her plate. And her rather unenthusiastic smile she gave when her mother asked when she was okay further made them worried.
Nevertheless, she somehow managed to escape the dinner table unperturbed. She knew her mother would likely come in later and ask her what was wrong.
Bu to her surprise, it was not her mother that opened the door, but her father while she was immersed in her history textbook.
He stood there at the door, his daughter not looking up at him, and he himself uncertain of what he should say, or how to approach this. After pondering for a moment, the clever fox finally decided what course of action to take.
"You're quite fortunate, Violet." Miles began. "There are several children out there that don't even have anything to eat. If you're not hungry next time, just bring your plate out there for them." He winked at her, and Violet couldn't help but smile.
His eyes then trialed to her oboe, which was leaning on her knight stand. "Do you mind if you play a song for me?" Miles asked her nicely. The fox regretted never learning how to play an instrument himself, and concerning his voice, he knew it would never sound quite good.
Violet sighed, and she gave a shy nod as she reached for an instrument. "Any particular song?" Violet asked.
"No, just play whatever comes to mind." Tails told her.
Music may very well be an art, but there is science to it as well. It connects to your emotions, to your heart, to your mind, and to your soul through its sound waves. The value of the decibels makes it softer or louder, the very shape of the instrument shapes the sound it makes. Tails knew all of this. He also knew that when people pick up an instrument and just play it, picking a song, they pick something in mind, most often something that matches the person they are, or what they feel at the moment.
Violet's fingers moved quickly and hastily, and Tails saw that there was fear and worry in her, though he also knew it came from her natural timid personality. There was lamentation in her sound and the song she played. Tails guessed it to be regret.
Tails was no musicologist, but he certainly would probably have been quite a great one. He thanked his daughter for her performance and gave her a proud smile, which cheered her up plentifully.
Tails had succeeded in both of his goals, he had made Violet happier, and he had learned what ailed her. Though he knew he wouldn't be able to fix that, the music conveyed the same thing a conversation would have, without words. He had no idea, just how big the thing was that was ailing her spirits… no idea…
The wolf had watched Richard be punched in the back of head and dragged to Gear's base. He knew he was supposed to protect the fox… but the wolf envied him too greatly. After all, the Half-Seedrian he cherished had affection for the fox. How could he ever win her heart when the arctic fox was slowly winning it instead?
In fact, the wolf had been Richard's doom. He had slyly told the four where he was without even revealing himself, by a piece of paper. He didn't like them, but he liked Richard even less. To him, it was worth it. Besides, if they tried to use him as bait to get Violet, he'd just attack them and save her. Then, he would be seen as a hero in her eyes; though he knew (and hoped) that Richard's life would be lost in the process. The thought was selfish, and perhaps dark, but there was some good in it too.
There was also another advantage to this; he would now know where Gear's base was. "Always the fool…" He muttered to himself, shaking his head at the four's stupidity. He had followed them near a rugged cliff, seeing what appeared to be solid rock really a door open up, admitting the four into the secret base.
He mapped out the path he had taken to the area, labeling it "Gear's Robotnick's secret base." This map blew away in the wind, and frustrated, he had to create a second one. He then triumphantly placed the second map in his pocket. "The master will be pleased." He said to himself. He noticed the door opening again, and quickly disappeared from the site.
The first map of the wolf's continued to blow away in the air, until a male tri-tailed fox leaned down onto the ground and picked it up. The fox looked up at his namesake sky with realization.
"I should have known." The fox said. "What other scientist would have been interested in the über metal besides Gears Robotnik?"
Charles "Sky" Prower didn't think it would take long to get to the base. "I'd better travel there in the morning." The fox said to himself. "I doubt he'll be ready for a visitor…"
Charles himself did not look behind him to see another young hedgehog watch him with curiosity. He had seen the map from afar, and he did not need to get close to see where it led to.
Thus Gryrozx decided that he would aid the tri-tailed fox when he entered the base.
He didn't know just how much he would be of an aid not just to Charles… but to so much more…
A/N: And this is where the climatic chapters of the first story arch begin…
