AUTHOR'S NOTE: I got some positive feedback on the mood music, so I have a few more songs prepared for this chapter, if you don't mind. They are listed in the order you should play them, and I've added footnotes in the chapter to show where they should be played. I also tried to pick music most may not be familiar with, but help set the tone for the scene. Of course, you don't have to listen… but it can be nice, if you try it out.
One Calm ("Ima Sokoni Iru Boku" OST, a.k.a "Now and Then, Here and There")
Lighting Lanterns (Sinbad: Legend of the Seven Seas OST)
I Love Being A Turtle (TMNT Movie Soundtrack [not the rock song from the show])
~ (One Calm)
Shadow opened his eyes, his head facing to the right.
Waking up seems to be the story of my life, he mused. Shadow found himself in another hut much like the first, except this time he was propped up and lying on his back on a much more comfortable mattress. The right wall was decorated with rugs, patterns, and metallic ornate containers. Sunlight filtered through the cracks in the roof, a signal that the day was half through. Shadow turned his head to the left…
… and into a pair of brilliantly shining blue eyes. Shadow body jerked about a foot into the air, and the strangest wave of déjà vu overcame him.
Maria stared straight at Shadow, unwavering, her lips curled in an obvious pouting position. Her arms and legs were both crossed as she sat on his left side on a stool, and as Shadow reacted to her presence, she didn't react at all. Behind Maria was a partition, separating them from the rest of the room. Shadow stared back at Maria, unsure of what exactly to say.
"Uh…" Shadow began. It was all he managed to get out before Maria drew a large pillow from behind her back and repeatedly whacked Shadow in the face. "Hey! What are you… mmmph!" Shadow waved his arms and legs out from under the pillow, knowing he wasn't in any dire danger. In all honesty, he'd seen the pillow coming the moment he saw Maria. But if there was one thing he'd learned about her, it was that Maria always had a reason for what she did.
"Stupid, stupid, stupid!" Maria breathed out between pillow whacks. After about a minute, her strength waning, Maria grabbed the pillow and forced it down on Shadow's head. "Stupid… stupid… stupid…" Shadow stopped fighting, letting his limbs go limp. After a few moments, Maria's grip began to slowly weaken, until she let go and lifted the pillow altogether. She sat back onto the stool, clutching the pillow tightly. Tears welled up in the corners of Maria's eyes. "Stupid."
Shadow sat up and dangled his legs from the side of the bed, facing Maria. She responded by sinking her head into the pillow, letting the fabric absorb the tears streaming down her face.
"They said you were going to die," Maria sobbed, her voice muffled by the pillow. "They said they couldn't do anything to help you… the doctor said that… that…" her voice trailed off to a mumble, indiscernible. Shadow reached out with his hand, then hesitated a moment before placing it on Maria's head. Maria started again, "Don't… don't leave me… please. Don't ever… okay?"
Her heart poured out before him, Shadow made a silent promise to himself to never leave Maria alone, and protect her… at least until they got back to the A.R.K.
"Got it." Shadow replied.
For several minutes, they sat in silence. Maria slowly felt herself calming down, and after wiping away what was left of her tears, she smile brilliantly.
"You beat my record, y'know," she mentioned.
"Your record?" Shadow asked, confused.
"It's been three days since the doctor, Tikal, announced that you were going to be okay. Which means you've been asleep a day longer than I slept after drowning!"
"Somehow, you seem too excited."
"Well, it has been kind of boring with you being out of the picture," Maria sighed as she glanced at the ceiling. "The locals won't let us go anywhere but the area immediately around you."
Mention of the locals brought up the subject of their current situation in Shadow's mind. "What happened? I know I blacked out after I woke up near the river. Fill me in."
"First of all, you didn't black out," Maria explained. "There was a scouting party nearby sent to investigate claims of 'flying metal blocks', and as they neared us, you woke up and started screaming. They found us within a few seconds, and although the rest of the group was frozen stiff at the sight of me, you, and the Prototype, the medical assistant sent with the team immediately reacted and sedated you. None of us could understand each other, but once we figured out they weren't trying to hurt you, we followed them here."
"And where is 'here', exactly?"
"An island just off of the coast the river feeds into. Even though it's technically an island, it's really really big, as big as a small country!"
"Wait, you said you couldn't understand each other," Shadow pointed out. "The doctor, though…"
"There are some people here in this village that can speak the same language as us," Maria continued. "Most can't, though. Tikal is one of the few who do."
"But how do…" Shadow was interrupted by a growling noise emanating from his stomach. "Uh…"
Maria smiled coyly. "Hungry?"
"I don't suppose you have anything to eat?"
"As a matter of fact…" Maria stood and pushed back the partition, which rolled on wheels. Behind the makeshift wall, the entire room was filled to nearly the ceiling with food, fruits, vegetables, medicines, charms, and all other manner of gifts. "…we have plenty!"
Shadow felt his mouth falling, and quickly swallowed to cover it. There was so much food, he couldn't even see the door!
"The villagers brought all this?" Shadow asked.
"Yep!" Maria confirmed. "I didn't get a chance to see who, though. It must have come from various people, because it didn't all get here at once. They were all left at the edge of our 'allowed space', probably because the villagers aren't used to giant lizards. There was a lot more, but our 'friend' helped himself to quite a bit of it."
There was something fishy about it. Shadow couldn't put his finger on it, but the generosity on the part of the locals seemed suspicious. Unless they were scared out of their minds, which Shadow reasoned was entirely possible. Jumping down from the bed, he began rummaging through the stores of food, attempting to find something his nose would agree with. He found an apple sitting in a basket on his right, and greedily bit down.
"Oh, wait! Shadow that's…" Maria tried to warn him.
An extremely bitter flavor flooded Shadows taste buds, nearly making him gag. He made a mental effort to continue chewing and swallow, to save face in front of Maria. The inside of the "apple" was dark green, extremely juicy, and slightly sour along with the bitter flavor. After swallowing the initial bite, Shadow swallowed several more times, to get rid of the taste. He glanced over at Maria, who was staring at him peculiarly.
"What?" Shadow asked.
Maria burst into a fit of laughter, falling to the ground and clutching her stomach. Shadow could feel his cheeks burning.
"It didn't taste that bad."
"Liar!" Maria managed between laughs. While Maria continued to laugh, Shadow went back to finding something edible to settle his stomach.
After a few more failed attempts at picking fruit to eat, Shadow allowed Maria to show him what was decent by their standards. Once he had eaten a mid size meal, a voice came through a window at the back of the room.
"Excuse me!" It was the voice of the female doctor from earlier, Shadow noted. "Shadow? Maria? Are you both there?"
"We're here," Shadow acknowledged, pulling back the curtain on the window. Tikal's face came into view, eyes wide. She clearly had not expected Shadow to be awake yet.
"Ah!" Tikal fumbled with her words for a second before continuing. "Since you're both awake, would you like a tour of the village?"
Shadow glanced back at Maria and nearly had to shield his eyes because her eyes were dazzling so brightly. "I don't think she'd let me refuse."
~ (Lighting Lanterns)
The group spent the rest of the day touring the village. Tikal walked in front, followed closely by Shadow, who frequently asked questions about their surroundings and the significance of buildings. At the rear, Maria rode on the Prototype's back. Her shoes had become dirty and worn, and the Prototype was happy to help since there were few things for which he could be useful.
As they walked, Shadow could feel the eyes of the villagers (the Echidna, as he had learned from Tikal) watching them. It wasn't the same as it had been on the A.R.K.; instead of looking at him with fear and distrust, their eyes were full of awe and amazement. At first, it didn't bother him. Who wouldn't be amazed at such a large creature as the Prototype? He quickly realized, though, that all the villagers' gazes were directed at him. These stares made him even more uncomfortable than the scientists had on the colony, and Shadow couldn't help but chuckle inwardly at the irony.
After touring most of the village, the group stopped back at their temporary home to eat. A small table at the foot of the bed seated four, though they only needed three, and the Prototype happily munched on whatever he could snake out of the front entrance using his tongue. Shadow now knew which foods he should stay away from, but was caught off guard by the Prototype, who ate everything Shadow considered tasteless. I guess we're not exactly alike…
During the course of their meal, Shadow continued to ask questions. Everything was new to him, and he wasted no time in absorbing whatever knowledge he could. During a period of silence in the dinner, Shadow noticed Tikal staring intensely at Maria. Maria, who hadn't noticed, continued eating until she noticed Shadow staring at Tikal, then followed his gaze. Tikal, suddenly aware of herself, looked away and continued eating.
"You look like you have something to say," Shadow said to Tikal.
"What is it?" Maria asked.
"Well…" Tikal stammered. "I don't want to be rude, but… how did you get your hair to be so straight?"
"Straight?" Maria was confused. "It's always been straight. As long as I keep it clean, it stays that way too! Why do you ask?"
"I'm jealous," Tikal admitted. "I once wondered what it would be like to have straight hair, and I asked several elderly women if it was possible. After two weeks of persistence and work, we gave up. Our own hair is just too naturally curly. It always ends up like this…" Tikal held out a clump of her dreadlocks to Maria, who grabbed a lock and examined it closer. In return, Maria offered a few strands of hair for Tikal to look at as well.
"There's something else that's been bothering me," Tikal continued to talk to Maria. Shadow felt isolated, and figured it was a girl thing. "What are you? You're not a hedgehog, like Shadow, and I'm fairly certain you're not a lizard, either." Something in her statement gave Shadow pause, and he noted it for later.
"I'm a human," Maria stated, once again caught off guard by the odd question. It suddenly occurred to her that though the creatures she was around were intelligent, and could communicate, she was the only human being within a significant distance. The revelation made her feel small and insignificant, but the feeling soon passed.
"A hue-man?" Tikal sounded out the word. "So then, you all are from different places?"
"No, not at all! We're from…" Maria began.
"Before that," Shadow interrupted, then paused for effect. "I want you to be honest with us." Tikal's surprise was all too obvious on her face, convincing Shadow that she was indeed hiding something from them.
"What are you talking about?" Maria asked.
"Small things," Shadow explained. "Things that wouldn't stand out by themselves, but are suspicious when you put them all together. The incredible amounts of food brought to us is appreciated, but seems a little too generous for this village. From what I've seen of inter-personal relations, the Echidna are respectful of one another, but don't necessarily go out of their way to help strangers.
"The stares are another thing. Anyone I know would without a doubt say that the most eye drawing feature of our group is the giant creature that stands seven times taller than your largest people. However, when we were touring earlier, nearly everyone's gaze was directed at me.
"And just now, you said that I was a hedgehog. I never told you that. I merely told you my name." Shadow leaned in closer in an effort to be intimidating. "What's really going on here?"
A pregnant pause followed. Maria and Shadow looked at Tikal, who shifted her eyes nervously. "You're right," she conceded. "There is a reason for all of these things. But explaining the events behind it is a long story, one that encompasses the complete history of the Echidna."
"We have time," Shadow urged.
"…Very well."
~ (I Love Being A Turtle)
"We Echidna are not originally from this island, or even this world. This island belonged to an ancient race of immortal beings known as the Chao. The Chao had evolved to a point where their existence was perfectly in tune with nature itself, constantly going through the process of birth, aging, death, and reincarnation in harmony. It has been said that the Chao shaped this island themselves, knowing what future generations would need to survive, and providing for any trial that may arise.
"At the center of the Chao way of life was the Master Emerald, an artifact of near infinite power. It has been said that this item held the key to the Chao's enlightenment, and that countless civilizations had risen and fallen on its whims.
"The Echidna, at this time, were a rudimentary race. Little more than animals, we enjoyed only small bursts of inspiration. As a whole, we were uncivilized to say the least. We were numerous, and lived in great numbers along a coast, connected to this island by a natural land bridge.
"Though our people were unaware of the Chao and vice versa, both lived in peace.
"This did not last forever, though. Evil often interferes in the affairs of the peaceful. Without warning or provocation, both peoples were attacked by an unknown foe. These invaders did not seek alliance, or conformity. They wanted the destruction of what the Chao and the Echidna had brought forth. This Black Doom annihilated anything that stood in its way, leaving only destruction in its wake."
Shadow was so engrossed in Tikal's tale, he didn't notice Maria stiffening next to him.
"Echidna who survived the initial attack fled to the only place nearby that seemed safe: Angel Island. Quickly following were the invaders, seeking to finish what they started. It was at this point that something extraordinary occurred. The Master Emerald shone brightly, and in an instant, the invaders, the bridge, and our homes completely vanished. Much later, it was determined that the Master Emerald had saved all of us by taking us away from our home entirely. This new world we found ourselves in was unexplored and untouched: a paradise.
"The powers of the Master Emerald had other, longer lasting effects as well. Echidna who were exposed its power gained extraordinary abilities. Some were able to see the power of nature, some could perform incredible athletic feats, some could speak languages never before heard, and some even gained the ability to see into the future. Our intellect and physiology underwent drastic changes, until we became the way you see us now.
"After a time, it became apparent that the abilities of those who survived the Black Doom would not extend to the next generation, and as our people grew further from the event, these abilities began to wane. A unanimous decision was made to preserve whatever we could, for the benefit of those who came after.
"Those with the ability to see, interpret, and understand the flow of nature created the first Rings. These Rings could contain a set amount of power, allowing it to be stored for later use. The smiths who designed them recorded the procedure for their creation, and since then the blueprints have been passed down, from father to son.
"Those with the ability to channel the Ancient Power honed their skills, making many leaps in medical science. It was discovered that others could use the same powers, but not to the extent of the First Echidnas. They named the ability to wield the powers of nature the Ancient Power, and passed down their medical knowledge to their students.
"Those given the gift of languages had the most difficult task; to preserve an entire language from generation to generation is difficult. To preserve more than thirty is nigh impossible. Those blessed with language arts spent the rest of their lives recording these languages and teaching them to the young. These manuscripts can still be found, sealed, in the temple at the center of the village.
"Those who could see far into the future wrote a commission, a rulebook for the Echidna to follow. Each Echidna was to be instructed in the use of the Rings, and charged with the creation, empowerment, and storage of them. To this day, our smiths still forge Rings in the manner instructed by our Ancestors. Each Echidna is given a Ring, and over the course of a few weeks is to deposit whatever energy they can spare, after which the Ring is stored away.
"The reason was this: the Clairvoyant Echidna foresaw a future where another doom would await us. If left to its own devices, this doom would bring about the end of the world. In our darkest hour, a Hero would appear wreathed in a golden light wielding the Ancient Power to save us. This Hero… would be a hedgehog."
Shadow felt his own pulse spike as three sets of eyes turned to look at him. That's ridiculous. It's impossible to tell the future… or is it? I've barely scratched the surface of the possibilities of Chaos power. Maybe something like that could actually happen…
"Ever since that time, the Echidna have been watching and waiting for this 'Hero' to appear. I, myself am one of the few in the village who were appointed the task of learning the languages passed down by our ancestors, which is why I am able to communicate with you. I also became an understudy as a doctor, to heal the wounded."
Tikal looked straight into Shadow's eyes. "Any way you look at it, you have to be the Hero our prophecies told us about. A hedgehog with the Ancient Power? That's you, right?"
"Don't forget 'wreathed in golden light'," Maria beamed. Shadow wished he shared her enthusiasm. On one hand, he felt intrigued that a prophecy of any kind could be that accurate. It was also nice to feel needed, important even. However, he couldn't shake the voice in the back of his mind that said that even if the story was true, he was still being used to ensure a future he had no choice in.
"That's why the villagers look up to you," Tikal finished. "Everyone has pretty high expectations of you."
"That's a pretty colorful story," Shadow commented. "The Echidna seemed to make off decently. But whatever happened to the Ch…"
"I'm sorry!" Tikal interrupted. She stood up from the table and made a short bow. "I've spent too much time being idle! I didn't realize it had become this late! I'm afraid I have to take my leave, now. Good night!" Without another word, Tikal rushed out of the front door fast enough to kick up dust. Shadow followed her with his eyes as she retreated into the crowd of Echidna outside the perimeter of their lodging.
Did she just…?
AUTHOR'S NOTE: Whaaaaaaat? What is this "doom" the Hero is supposed to avoid? Why did Maria act so suspicious? Will our heroes ever get back home? What was Shadow about to ask Tikal? Is Shadow really the Hero? Or is there another…?
Remember that reviews fuel my need to finish this Fanfic. I'd hurry before MW3 comes out, if I were you.