A/N: Well people, the long awaited beginning of Arc 3 of this Fic is finally here, to see the name of the Arc is on the beginning of chapter 1. Also I would like to thank my reviewers for following this fic, because in all honesty I didn't think I would make it to a third Arc. So thanks everyone and hope you continue reading this story. I'll try to get the next chapter out as soon as I can.

Well I'm talking to much just go ahead and read the chapter and leave your comments, and review. ^.^

NOTE: I DON'T own the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise, trust me if I did then everything would be A LOT different and It wouldn't go below the T rating.

Bound by the Chains of Fate

Chapter 21: Nakama

Five weeks later…

Five weeks went by in a blink of an eye, and also it's been five weeks since the fight with Nazo and now everyone is fully recovered from the brutal fight with the new experiment. Well at least psychically, but mentally they were still coping with the fact that now the Necks of Orochi have created something stronger than them and it was a very hard blow to the Kamihime Jiyuu no Faita. Then only thing on their mind is to get stronger, since they don't have much time left for the war.

Everyone was in Tails work shop, now that it was fully repaired and Satoshi was staring at the broken swords in front of him, very deep in thought. To him, seeing broken swords meant a task for him to repair them but he had another thing in mind, and he still hasn't told Yuffi, Sonic, Blaze and Rin about what he and Tsubaki are thinking of doing. Mioko and Tails were fixing up on the broken machines that were in the workshop and also fixing up new weapons. Mioko was very impressed on the young fox's intelligence and he always seemed eager to learn new things. Also the status of the Chaos and Sol emeralds were good and Tails had them stored away, just in case.

"Hey have any of you seen Sonic?" asked Amy walking into the workshop.

"He's training with Blaze" replied Mioko.

"He's been acting weird for the last few weeks" said Tails. "I'm kinda worried"

"Let him be" said Mioko. "He's probably getting stronger so that he can protect his friends. Also he's still shaken up by the fact that Nazo could have killed all of you on the spot"

"Well Nazo is scary" replied Amy. "So what are the two of you working on?" she asked.

"Some weapons that Mioko and I designed" said Tails. "With Mioko's knowledge on creating weapons with the function of spiritual control, we're creating a more variety of weapons to help us out"

"Also I need to help Satoshi fix Yuffi, Rin, Sonic, and Blaze's swords" replied Mioko. "You can't go into a war unarmed"

"Hey Amy, have you seen Aya?" asked Tails looking up from his work.

"No I haven't" was her reply. "I haven't seen Ichiro, Asami or even Junichi and his pervert of a brother either. Where could they be?"

"Training"

Amy turned to see Sally walking in with Bunnie and Julie-Su behind her. "I bet that they're training to be able to defeat Nazo" said Sally.

"I still can't believe that the Necks of Orochi killed Eggman and Nega" said Julie-Su.

"Shadow and Rouge informed me that G.U.N found their bodies in the remains of the canyon" explained Mioko. "They were brutally decapitated"

Everyone stayed silent for a bit, yeah Eggman and Nega were two mad scientists who only wanted to create Eggmanland, a disturbing though to others, but not even they deserved to be killed like that. To be betrayed by your own allies is unforgivable and the Necks of Orochi have gone too far this time and to decapitate them right in front of them was just horrifying. That memory will forever stay in their minds.

"How long has Satoshi been staring at the swords?" asked Bunnie.

"For almost an hour" replied Mioko looking at him.

"Why is he just staring at them?" asked Amy.

"He's trying to figure out how to repair those swords and make them stronger" answered Mioko. "That's just how he thinks"

"Well I don't know about you guys but I'm going to train" said Sally. "I'm not going to die in this war and I'm going to give it my all"

"Same here" said Bunnie as Julie-Su nods in agreement.

"Well I'm going to train to!" said Amy with confidence.

"I wish all of you the best of luck" said Mioko with a smile. "Now Tails let's get back to our work"

Meanwhile…

In the forest known as Leaf Storm was usually known for its large variety of plants and flowers, the perfect place to find medical herbs especially for critical wounds. Tsubaki was walking around the forest with Cream, Vanilla and Cheese as her guides. She had decided to go searching for herbs and also to teach them how to pick the right herbs for medical treatment, because sometimes it can mean the difference between life and death.

"I appreciate that the two of you are helping me find herbs" said Tsubaki with a smile. "I always like to stock up just in case"

"It's no problem" said Vanilla with a smile.

"Miss Tsubaki who taught you how to pick herbs?" asked Cream.

"My mother did" answered Tsubaki. "As miko's it's our job to help others either it's for spiritual purposes, healing and in some cases to exercise spirits"

"Wow that's amazing" said Vanilla.

"Also miko's have the ability to make contracts with other spirits to help them in situations" said Tsubaki. "So far I have contracts with eleven spirits"

"Are they nice?" asked Cream.

"Some of them yes but the trick to getting a spirit to submit to you is to show them that you are strong enough to wield them" explained Tsubaki. "In some cases if your heart is weak the spirit might turn on their master and attack them"

"Spirits do that!" exclaimed Cream in shock.

"I've heard of some cases and also a spirit can turn on their owners if their abused by their owners" said Tsubaki. "Sometimes that's the case with some other spirit owners, that's why I treat my spirits as friends instead of tools"

"I can't believe some spirits have to go through all that" said Vanilla.

"Spirits are everywhere" exclaimed Tsubaki turning around to face them as they stopped. She kneed down and patted Cheese on the head. "In fact, Chaos' are actually spirits, they only live in places with clean water and also they only show themselves to those with kind hearts. In some cases they bond with a person"

"So Cheese is actually a spirit?" asked Cream.

"Chao" said Cheese.

"Yes he is, but one of the common and peaceful ones" said Tsubaki. "It's rare for a spirit to bond with someone naturally but Cheese seems to have bonded with you. It means you have a kind heart"

Cream smiled as Cheese started flying with happiness. Tsubaki smiled as did Vanilla and they started walking again. "Have you two ever heard of the story about the Onibi and the Exorcist?"

"What that?" asked Vanilla.

"Well it's more of a legend than a story" said Tsubaki. "Long ago in a small village humans were being overrun by different spirits with one of them being the most terrifying, his name was Kurikara, the Onibi"

"What's an Onibi?" asked Cream with curiosity.

"An Onibi is a fire demon, and Kurikara was the strongest of them all" explained Tsubaki. "Many exorcists tried to dispel the powerful demon but none have survived, they knew when he would appear because of his blue flames. But one day a group of exorcists went to go confront the demon and he burned them all, all but one"

"Who survived?" asked Vanilla interested in the story.

"Her name was Yura and she was considered one of the strongest exorcists but she was the black sheep of the exorcists" continued Tsubaki. "Because she believed that humans and spirits could live together peacefully and also she believed that spirits came to the human world because they were curious about it. She decided to follow Kurikara and he confronted her while he possessed a wolf. At first he tried to scare her off but she wasn't afraid of him eventually they became friends and she visited him every day"

"That's so nice" said Cream.

"One specific day she was talking with him and she mentioned that she would like a world where humans and spirits could live as equals and he had told her that he would like to see more of the human world" continued Tsubaki. "So she offered to become his vessel so he could see the human world"

"What's a vessel?" asked Vanilla.

"A vessel is a person who has a spirit living inside of them" explained Tsubaki. "Yura agreed to become his vessel and at first it was kept a secret that she was harboring a spirit inside her body but one day changed everything"

"What happened?" asked Cream eagerly.

"Chao!" exclaimed Cheese eagerly.

"Yura became pregnant by Kurikara" said Tsubaki. "Many of the people soon discovered that and begun to fear her, calling her a witch and many of the exorcists ordered her to terminate her pregnancy but she didn't want to. Instead of honoring her wishes the exorcists decided that a human carrying the child of a demon was disgraceful and they sentenced her to death"

"That's awful" said Vanilla.

"How can they do something like that" said Cream.

"Chao!" said Cheese in agreement.

"Not wanting his woman and his unborn child to die, Kurikara possessed one of the exorcists and freed her, but the exorcist whom he possessed died due to his flames. He ordered Yura to run and that's what she did" continued Tsubaki. "She fled to a forest and it was there where she gave birth to her child. It was at that moment where Kurikara manifested itself in his original form, a man covered in blue flames with pointed ears, blue hair, glowing blue eyes and wearing a kimono. The small family shared an embrace and Kurikara held his child, whom he names Aoiko. The child had the same features as his father but he didn't have the pointed ears. Wanting for his family to be happy he decided to confront the exorcists and the humans himself"

"That was so brave of him" said Cream.

"When he confronted the humans he told them that he would make a deal with them" explained Tsubaki. "He said that he will protect the village from any threats as its guardian spirit and that in return they don't harm his family, he also said that if they ever break the contract then he would destroy the village. After long discussions and thought the humans and exorcists decided to take up his offer and Kurikara became the guardian spirit of that village. It was from that moment on that Yura's wish came true, for a world where humans and spirits could live peacefully" finished Tsubaki.

"That was a nice story" said Vanilla.

"It's believed that was the moment where exorcists, priests and priestesses started contracting with spirits" said Tsubaki.

"I have a question Miss Tsubaki" said Cream. "What are we called in Kamihime?"

"Yokai" answered Tsubaki. "Yokai is another form of calling a spirit but we don't reside in the spirit world, we're just Yokai and we've lived with humans since the dawn of time also sometimes we are referred to as Fushigi na Dobutsu which are knows as animal spirits"

"That's so cool" said Cream.

Tsubaki smiled at the young child and they continued their walk until they got to a clearing where many flowers bloomed and also many herbs were growing. Tsubaki picked many of them and also she told Cream and Vanilla which ones were used to treat wounds. After a half an hour of picking herbs they proceed back to Green Hill to sort out the herbs. Tsubaki also was thinking about some other things she needed to do afterwards.

In the same area of Leaf Storm is where Sonic was training with Blaze to hone their skills and to prepare for the fight with the Necks again. Both were fighting hand to hand since their swords were no longer usable. Both have trained with each other before but this time they were being more forceful with their attacks. Right now both were lying on the grass resting from the sparing session and looking at the sky. Many thoughts were running in their heads but the one thought that will never leave their minds was the fact that Eggman and Nega were killed right in front of them. Even though they were their arch nemeses it was still horrifying to see such a thing. Another thing in their minds was the fact that some of the members of the Orochi know them, and that's scary.

"I wonder how Lilith knows who I am" wondered Blaze looking at the sky. "It creeps' me out not knowing but something's telling me that I shouldn't know"

"I know the feeling" replied Sonic. "How the hell does Kazeko know about me, and he claims that I was a kid when I last saw him, but I don't remember anything"

"Also, the fact that Eggman and Nega are dead is, well kinda scary don't you think" said Blaze. "And to think that they thought that the Necks of Orochi were their allies"

"The Necks of Orochi, those guys are far worse than I thought they would be" said Sonic. "For once I'm kinda scared; if they can do that to their allies, I don't even want to know what they'll do to their enemies"

"I hate to say this but I'm scared to" said Blaze. "My most fear is what Nazo is capable of"

Sonic flashed back to the fight with Nazo. His blood started to boil at the memory where Nazo was brutally torching Blaze and breaking her bones. He also will never forget the painful screams she let out as he held her captive. It also sickened him that the members of the Necks of Orochi found it amusing to see them get brutalized and nearly beaten to death. The more he thought about it, the angrier he got. If it wasn't for the fact that Mioko, Satoshi and Tsubaki came when they did they would be six feet under right about now.

"We can't give up that easily!" stated Sonic sitting up. "I'm not ready to kick the bucket just yet, and with the power of the emeralds and more training then we can defeat them"

"Your right Sonic" said Blaze sitting up. "If Yuffi were here that's exactly what she would say and also I have my world to think about, there's no time to be depressed"

"That's the spirit" said Sonic turning to face her with a grin and with a thumbs up. "So how about a re-match?"

"I won't go easy" said Blaze with her own grin.

"I was hoping you'd say that" replied Sonic.

Then in a blink of an eye both of them started to fight again, exchanging punches and kicks to each other and dodging their attacks. This time there was no holding back; to be able to go against Nazo they needed to get stronger. This time they will win.

The sound or rustling leaves could be heard in the wind and from the tree branches. One of the leaves separated from the branch and was flowing in the wind, then in a flash two figures jumped in the air each throwing a kick and blocking each other. Once they retreaded back the leaf that was once whole is now split in two. Rin and Espio both landed on opposite sides of a tree branch. Rin was currently wearing her ninja kimono with her hair tied up in a high ponytail and Espio was wearing his ninja suit. Both waited for a moment and then they vanished and in that instant they attacked each other in the air with a barrage of kicks and punches. They retreaded back onto the ground and from there attacked again. Both were fighting hand to hand to improve their skills and Rin was using her powers in her punches and kicks on Espio. Espio had a similar ability, using his spiritual pressure to attack his opponents. These two was usually train together do to the fact that they were both ninjas and they can go all out with each other without the worries of hurting each other. After another go with the punching and kicking they decided to take a break and rest for a bit. Luckily they were training near a small river and waterfall. Rin stuck her head in the water pouring down the waterfall to cool of her sweaty head while Espio was drinking water.

"Thanks for agreeing to train with me" thanked Rin wiping the water off her face.

"No problem I also needed to train" said Espio. "I want to be at my strongest when we fight the enemy"

"Yeah no kidding" said Rin looking at the sky. "This time they won't win"

"You mentioned that they're after the Kamui" said Espio. "If they have three in their possession won't that be enough to weaken the seal to the Orochi"

"No, they need all seven of them to free the Orochi, any less will be useless to them and they can't use the Kamui themselves because of the amount of spiritual energy it needs and also from what I've read it's highly unstable"

"So in other words even you don't know the full extent of the Kamui" concluded Espio.

"No one does, some people thought it was only a legend" replied Rin. "Say Espio, I've been wondering, where did you learn your ninja skills?"

"Like you I'm also from Kamihime" replied Espio.

"Really, which part" asked Rin while looking at him interested in what he said.

"Chiharu Village" answered Espio.

"The land of Hot springs" said Rin. "Interesting"

"I began my training when I was a child and once I finished them I did a lot of traveling, eventually I came here and started working in Chaotix" said Espio. "What about you, who taught you your skills?"

Rin hesitated for a moment. "My father taught me the basics when I was four but ever since he died I had to teach myself how to be a ninja by reading his old notes and with the help of scrolls" answered Rin.

Espio was shocked by her answer, he had never heard of a ninja without a master and for her to be able to teach herself at such a young age was impressive. But a ninja without a master was usually known as a rogue. He thought about it for a moment. "How about I teach you what I know" offered Espio.

Rin was shocked at that statement as her ears twitched. She looked at him wide eyed. "Seriously!" she said. "You'll teach me!"

"I don't see why not" said Espio. "You have potential and it also it would help to prepare for the war"

"Right!" said Rin eagerly. "Thanks Espio I appreciate it!"

Espio let a small smile appear on his face at her eagerness. He would have never thought he would have a student to teach. Rin was happy to have someone to teach her how to be a true ninja, she knew the basics and also some of the advance skills but there is so much she still doesn't know. She couldn't wait to get started.

In Mystic Ruins it's usually known for its large lands and the discoveries for treasure hunters but now it has turned into a training ground for two certain hedgehogs. Shadow and Yuffi were training brutally with each other to prepare for the next encounter with the Necks of Orochi and most of all Nazo. This time Yuffi was wearing her usual kimono and hakama while training with Shadow, but that didn't matter since they were too focused on fighting each other. Shadow was impressed on her hand to hand combat skills but he did noticed that she's not as adapt in using it like Rin and she attacks with her powers. Looking in the sidelines, watching them train was Isao, Junichi, Kaiko, Chikane and Mayu. Isao and Junichi were resting from their training and the same went with Kaiko and Chikane. Mayu was just watching them train and also cheering them on every now and then.

"How long have they been at it already?" wondered Isao.

"Over two hours" answered Mayu. "Don't those two ever get tiered?"

"Their stamina is strong" said Junichi. "And it seems that Yuffi is determined to get stronger"

"I wouldn't blame her" said Chikane. "From what Knuckles has told me, Nazo is someone that we need to get rid of first, but the problem with Nazo is his strength"

"For now we can only get stronger" said Kaiko.

After a while Knuckles and Rouge came to where they were training and they saw Shadow and Yuffi training. They walked to Isao, Junichi, Kaiko, Chikane and Mayu. "So those two have been fighting all this time?" ask Rouge.

"Pretty much" said Chikane.

"Well tell them to hold it for a second" said Knuckles. "Satoshi and Tsubaki need to talk to Yuffi about something"

All of them nod their heads and Chikane walks to them. "Hey Shadow Yuffi, take a break Satoshi-san and Tsubaki-san said they need to talk to you!" yelled Chikane.

With the mention of her brother Yuffi halted her fight with Shadow and both of them walked to the rest to head back to Tails work shop. Yuffi wondered what Satoshi and Tsubaki were going to talk to them about.

Back in Tails work shop, Satoshi and Tsubaki had told everyone to meet up in the work shop to tell them what they were going to do involving the current situation with Nazo and the rest of the Necks of Orochi. Once everyone was here, including the rest of the Chaotix and Vanilla and Cream, they began the small discussion.

"Well I have good news" said Satoshi with a grin. "Your swords can be fixed and it'll take me about three days to fix them up"

"Wow that fast" said Blaze impressed.

"Please if it were a regular sword it would take me a few hours, but your swords are going to be different from anything I've ever done before in my life" said Satoshi. "Tell me what do you think of the thought of contracting with a spirit?"

"What are you talking about?" asked Sonic.

"Satoshi and I decided that to confront Nazo at full power, that Sonic, Blaze, Rin and Yuffi will be contracted by my most powerful spirits" said Tsubaki.

"Is that even possible!" said Amy in shock.

"As long as you show your spirit that you are strong" explained Tsubaki. "For it to work then they would need to go in a trail to prove to the spirit that they are strong"

"So in other words our new weapons will be harboring one of you four spirits Tsubaki-nee" said Rin.

"I'm not against the idea" said Yuffi.

"Me ether it might be a fun experience" said Sonic.

"It might" said Blaze with a thoughtful look.

"Also there's another thing that I need to explain and it involves all of the Freedom Fighters" said Tsubaki now getting serious. This now got the interest in all of them. "For all of you to even stand a chance against the Necks of Orochi all of you will need to obtain Spirit Force"

"What's Spirit Force?" asked Silver.

"Spirit Force is the state where one's spiritual pressure surpasses their limit" explained Satoshi. "In other words is going above what you are capable of"

"Spirit force the strongest state of ones abilities and once you gain it your power increases nearly ten times the usual strength" said Tsubaki.

"But how to we obtain Spirit Force?" asked Shadow.

"Now that's the tricky part" said Satoshi. "To obtain Spirit Force your body must be pushed to the breaking point, in other words surpass your outer limits"

"The soul is the prime importance to obtain this state" explained Tsubaki. "Your spiritual energy is entangled in a chain known as 'limit' once the chain breaks from the soul then the spiritual energy that was once dormant will spread throughout the body. But you must learn to control the sudden outburst of spiritual energy because it can backfire and hurt you"

"So for the next training session all of you are going to try and obtain Spirit Force" said Satoshi. "Any questions?"

"If we obtain Spirit Force does that mean we'll have a chance at the war?" asked Sally.

"You never know unless you try" said Chikane. "I say let's go for it"

"Me to!" exclaimed Aya. "The stronger we are the more chance we have to end it as soon as possible"

"That's right" said Ichiro. "The Necks are going to pay once and for all"

"Yeah, because no matter what the circumstances you never betray your nakama!" said Yuffi.

"Nakama?" questioned Julie-Su.

"Nakama means comrade" said Mioko.

"And no matter what we will win this war!" yelled Isao with his fist in the air.

"For our friends and our future!" yelled Rin.

"FOR OUR FRIENDS AND OUR FUTURE!" everyone in the Kamihime Jiyuu no Faita yelled with their fists in the air.

After that outburst the rest of them were pumped up to start their training to be able to protect their friends. Mayu smiled at her brother's determination when he declared in front of everyone that he would protect her. The rest of them had also vowed that they would protect them at any cost.

"So in three days we'll make a contract with the spirits" said Blaze.

"Yeah" said Satoshi.

"So just continue your training until then" said Tsubaki.

"Tails we to will continue our weapon making to help as we can" said Mioko.

"Right" said Tails with determination.

"Good luck!" said Aya.

"The same goes to you" said Tails.

Tsubaki walked over to Cream and Vanilla with something in her hand. "Cream there's something I want to give you and your mother" said Tsubaki.

"What is it?" asked Vanilla.

In her hand revealed two Omamoris, both colored a light orange color. "These are called Omamori, protective charms, their supposed to protect you in future situations. Wear them all the time and you'll be protective"

Cream took her Omamori and she put it around her neck. "Thank you Miss Tsubaki" thanked Cream.

"Thank you very much" thanked Vanilla also putting hers around her neck.

Tsubaki smiled. "Just don't open them" she said.

"Du they really protect?" asked Antoine.

"Yes they do, don't doubt the powers of a Miko" warned Tsubaki.

"Omamoris are called protective charms for a reason Antoine" said Asami.

"As long as they're protected" said Blaze.

"But we're still going to protect all of you" stated Rin.

"Yes now we must continue our training" said Espio.

"Hey can we watch you train?" asked Charmy.

"I don't see why not" said Rin. "You can come to Vector"

Vector smiled. "I just want to see what skills you've got kid"

And anger vein appeared on Rin's head. "I'm not a kid" she said above a growl.

"Sorry" he said sweating bullets.

Everyone laughed and the young fighters left the workshop to continue with their training. The rest hoped that they will have enough time to improve their skills and also to get stronger for the war. Mioko looked up at the blue sky; she'd hope that they would be safe once the fighting began again. In three more days, the trial will begin.