I'm kind of tired of apologizing for late chapters, but my schedule! Ugh! It's been especially rocky these past few months.
Also, if I have the time (I never will dafuq am I saying lol), I'll fix any errors in spelling, punctuation, etc. Anyway, please enjoy! :)
Edit: So I looked throught the chapter again and just...errors of all types everywhere! I fixed them, though. Should be okay now.
25 - How Tikal and Shade Became Friends and Tikal and Knuckles's Decision
Everyone on Angel Island was either asleep or residing inside of their sleeping quarters for the night. All except Pachacamac, who was currently searching for Tikal, but so far she was nowhere to be found. He crossed his arms and grumbled, angry that Tikal was currently not where she was supposed to be.
"Damn you, Tikal. Where can you possibly be at this time?", he mumbled under his breath. He continued to walk around aimlessly, searching high and low for the Guardian of the Master Emerald.
Meanwhile, way high up, Shade, Knuckles with Tikal on his back, and Tails holding Sonic and Amy's hands, had finally made it to Angel Island. They flew just above the remote island, where it seemed pretty dormant, until…
Tikal groaned. "Drat! That's my father. Quickly, let's land near that torch.", she commanded, pointing towards a large, burning torch near one of the sleeping quarters. Hiding was not quite on the agenda, but Tikal was still trying to be as distant from her father as possible. She couldn't afford to get in this kind of trouble. Not with outsiders and a member of their rival clan around.
Tails noticed Pachacamac looking around frantically. "I think he's looking for you.", he remarked. Tikal was unamused by Tails's comment and gave him a "wow, ya think?" sort of look. She eyed Pachacamac for a bit, figuring out the right time to pass him
"Release me, Knuckles.", Tikal whispered, trying to climb off of Knuckles's back. "Follow me closely. I will lead you all to my sleeping quarters, but don't make any noise." For some odd reason, Sonic seemed especially unsure about Tikal's plan. He figured there would be a chance of them getting caught if they weren't careful, therefore having to take extreme measures, and he was in no mood to hurt the father of his new friend.
Once Pachacamac was a fair distance from the group, Tikal pointed to a spot towards the far left. "That's where we need to go. Follow me.", the group stayed relatively low, low enough to at least not be immediately spotted by Pachacamac.
At least my sleeping quarters can finally be in use, since I'm rarely there most of the time. Being a Guardian is hard work… , Tikal thought to herself. After a couple of minutes, the group was finally where they wanted to be.
The sleeping quarters on Angel Island were built with the same brick material as the Altar, however they were smaller and usually situated next to either one or 2 torches. There was nothing to seal the entrance of the sleeping quarters, however some of the residents have used cloth (made form the same material as Pachachamac's clothing) to make a makeshift "door".
"Hurry in. I have to tell my father that I'm back.", Tikal rushed, the rest of the group hurriedly making their way into the dark place, and it was very dark, in fact, that the others couldn't see where they were seated at, except for Knuckles, who had slept here numerous times and therefore knows that room like the back of his hand.
Tikal took one last peek into the quarters. "If there is time tomorrow, I would like to show you guys around the island. It'll be fun, I promise.", she explained before leaving to find Pachacamac.
Tikal hurriedly ran over to where her father was, which was a bit far to the right of the island. She finally stopped on a dime and sheepishly greeted the clan leader.
"Greetings, father. Apologies for my tardiness…", she explained.
Pachacamac frowned. "As the Guardian of the Master Emerald, you can not afford to be tardy all of the time. You will have serious concequences if this happens again.", he explained.
Tikal nodded. "Sorry. I won't do it again."
Pachacamac nodded and proceeded to the right yet again. Tikal sighed and made her way to the Altar, alone and slightly chilly. I hope my new friends don't get caught …
The sounds of quiet breathing were the only thing that made the quarters seem not so bland. Knuckles quickly got up and headed to the exit.
"I'll be right back, guys. This place needs some light.", he muttered, picking up a nearby branch, one thick enough to hold a flame for a while, and set it near the torch next to the quarters. This wouldn't last too long, but it was just enough to illuminate the place until everyone was asleep.
Everything seemed much clearer to the group when a full beam of light took over the room. For a moment, everything was very awkward, until Tails finally spoke.
"So, Knuckles. You ended up here by accident, huh?", he asked with a fairly quiet voice.
Knuckles nodded blandly. "Yep…"
A long silence.
"You don't wanna be here, do you?"
"Nope…"
Another long silence.
Then Amy faced Shade. "So, like, how did you and Tikal meet? I mean, because you 2 are from rival clans or whatever...", she asked, trying to liven up the dullness of everyone else. Wow, everyone's so dead, now… , she scoffed.
Shade bit her lip. "It's kind of a long story. I might bore you guys.", she responded, but everyone seemed so intrigued to hear the backstory of Tikal and Shade's friendship. She simply gave up and got started.
And with that, a flashback began…
The planet of Albion was somewhat deserted, save for a young echidna, who looked to be running away from something. She was clutching her arm and breathing heavily, which meant she might've been injured. She looked very weak, and probably wouldn't last too long without some first aid.
She was trying to escape the island. She would glide for as long as she had to until another form of land, of which she didn't care what or who inhabited said land, appeared. but wasn't sure if her arm could withstand too much activity. She tried anyway, and with a running start, managed to get her glide going somewhat smoothly. Even though she left behind a crimson trail into the air, it thankfully didn't take her too long to find land yet again, and just in time, too. Her arm was beginning to give up on her.
She landed roughly on what looked to be grass. Very hard grass. Thankfully, there wasn't much impact on her injury, however it wasn't going to heal anytime soon. In fact, it was still bleeding out more. She quickly had to find first aid before this loss of blood took a toll on her life.
She felt herself breathing heavily and sweating profusely. She remembered she hadn't had anything to drink whilst traveling, so she quickly looked for a source of water. After a couple of sluggish minutes, she stumbled upon what looked to be a garden. It was very beautiful, and she wished she could hang out here, but her injury demanded attention.
Within the garden, she spotted a shallow body of water. It sort of looked like a pool. Nevertheless, she needed to hydrate a bit, and while at it, she would also wash off the blood from her wound. She rushed over to the pool, frantically cupping water into her hands for a drink. It wasn't the best; it was warm, giving it a rather unpleasant taste for some reason. She didn't care, though, because she needed to quickly hydrate herself.
Once she stopped panting, she went right to her wound, rinsing the dry blood back into the pool. This didn't help, though, because every time she rinsed off some blood, more of it would seep right out of her wound. She continued nonetheless, hoping the bleeding would stop eventually. She noticed herself becoming less and less in touch with her surroundings as she grew weaker.
2 more echidnas, one around her age and another who was around ten times her age, possibly the other echidna's grandmother. The 2 were about to relax and play in this garden, however before they could even explore the many flowers bloomed within the garden, they noticed another echidna leaning over the pool. She looked like she would fall into that pool any second, given how extremely weak she looked.
"Grandma, look!", the little girl shouted, about to release her grandmother's hand to help the farther echidna, only for the elder one to hold her hand tighter, bringing her closer to herself.
"Careful, Tikal. We don't know who that is. She might not be nice.", she responded, wagging a finger at her. They then noticed the echidna they mentioned approaching them slowly, grasping onto her arm and still panting, but not as heavy. She sobbed every once in awhile from the sharp pain the wound produced. She was thankful, however, that there were others around. Maybe these 2 could help her.
"P—please…! Help me. Help me…!", she whimpered, losing the strength needed to stay standing. She had just barely made it to the other 2 before she collapsed. The elder echidna quickly caught her, stopping her from falling flat of her face. She gasped as she saw just how bad her wound was.
"Dearest Chaos! What happened to you!?", she asked, shocked at just how weak the wee echidna was.
"M—my arm…", she sobbed quietly.
Tikal felt very bad for the poor echidna and approached her. "Grandma, let me heal her. I've been practicing my powers.", she offered. The elder one smiled and let her granddaughter do the work. She gently rubbed her small palm against the deep wound. The injured one winced slightly, but before she knew it, the pain, blood, and weakness had disappeared.
"Wow, thank you!", she giggled, absentmindedly embracing the young echidna who healed her. Tikal smiled lightly and returned the hug. Once they broke the hug, they both giggled together.
After a couple of moments, Shade looked up at the elder echidna. "We didn't properly introduce ourselves. I'm Lamanai. This is my granddaughter, Tikal.", the elder one explained.
"I'm Shade...", she said shyly.
Tikal smiled. "Where did you come from?", she asked.
That question hit Shade like a brick. She wasn't sure how her new friends would react if she told them she was from their rival Clan, despite not knowing where these 2 came from. Either way, she believed that this would still be a hit or miss situation for her.
"I'm from Albion. I escaped from the Nocturnus Clan…", she said nervously, waiting to see how the 2 would react.
The 2 were surprised, but not for the reason Shade was expecting.
"Who from our rival clan would hurt you of all people so badly!?", Lamanai asked.
"It was my master. He did it.", she responded.
Tikal growed. "They're such bad people. You should never go back to those mean people.", she warned.
Shade gave Tikal a weak smile. 'You bet I won't!', she thought to herself. She didn't really know what else to say after that, but thankfully Tikal broke the silence.
"Grandma, can Shade play with us? Please?", she asked, her voice the slightest bit whiny.
Lamanai thought for a long moment. Shade was from the Nocturnus Clan after all, but seeing as she was only so young and so innocent, she nodded nonetheless. "Of course. You 2 are friends now, right? Have as much fun as you want!", she chuckled, releasing Tikal's hand.
A giggly Tikal skipped towards her new friend and the first place they went to was the same pool that Shade had drank from while Lamanai stayed in the distance and watched. They waded in the pool for a good few seconds until they saw a small creature floating towards them.
"Is that a Chao?", Shade asked. Tikal nodded and grabbed it, placing it into her arms. The Chao smiled and cooed the typical "Chao Chao!" phrase to them. They then saw a couple more Chao appearing in multiple places.
"Grandma, we're in a Chao Garden!", she giggled.
She didn't notice the slight discomfort Lamanai was in due to the Chao surrounding them. "I see, honey…", she chuckled nervously.
After a couple of hours of playing and telling each other about themselves, it was finally time to head back to the Altar. Lamanai was first to exit, with Tikal and Shade not too far behind. They were walking next to each other. Neither realized that their hands were intertwined, but eventually the 2 noticed. They both looked down for a bit before making eye contact and smiling.
"Let's be best friends.", Tikal suggested, giggling.
Shade's face lit up and she genuinely wanted to cry. She never thought that she would actually become this close to someone, let alone someone from her rival clan. Nonetheless, Tikal's close contact with her made her feel more welcome.
"Best friends forever.", she giggled. For the next couple of years, the 2 were growing closer and closer, eventually forming a sisterly bond. Tikal would even show Shade the special abilities of Master Guardians and was even looking forward to her becoming one in the near future.
"I have a couple of questions.", Tails said. Shade nodded, giving him the green light to ask away.
"How did you manage to do all of this Knuckles Clan stuff without getting caught and why are you even wearing Nocturnus Clan clothing?", he asked.
Shade was somewhat shocked. She honestly thought Tails would ask way more questions than this. "Tikal and I are very sneaky. Also, I wear this clothing because despite no longer being part of the Nocturnus Clan, I adapted to our culture, which is also why my combat tactics are similar to that of the Nocturnus Clan."
Now Knuckles was the one to ask a question. "So that's why you use firecrackers?", he asked.
Shade shook her head. "That's just my own thing. My martial arts are similar to that of the Nocturnus Clan."
"Where did that body suit come from?", Amy asked.
"I stole it from one of Albions clothing factories because I didn't like how the Knuckles Clan's clothing felt.", she explained, shrugging.
"So you're just... not worried about getting caught with that on?", Sonic asked.
Shade shook her head once more. "Trust me, I know what to do to not to get caught.", she explained.
They all jumped when they heard footsteps approaching. Orange dreads reflected the fire's light back to the others' direction. "May I see Knuckles for a bit?", Tikal requested. Sonic chuckled and pushed Knuckles forward, laughing louder when he stumbled. Knuckles looked back to see a large sneer taking over Sonic's face. Knuckles quickly exited the structure and the 2 stood next to it.
"Remember when I said I wanted to ask Chaos some questions about our future? Well, my father will be away this week and I believe this will be the perfect opportunity to do this. This Friday, maybe? We should have plenty of time until we initiate a strike on Imperator IX, but right now, I would just like to have some fun with you and your friends and maybe get to know them better. Do you agree?", Tikal asked, hoping Knuckles would say "yes".
A long silence took place, but eventually, Knuckles shrugged. "Ah, why not?" , he said, sort of reluctant of the decision. "Just nothing weird, okay?", he demanded. Tikal nodded in acknowledgement and led Knuckles back into the structure while she trotted back to the Altar. Immediately after entering, he was surrounded by questionable stares.
"So what were you and Tikal talking about?", Sonic asked, trying not to laugh.
"Oh, you know. War stuff…", he lied, blushing slightly. "Nothing special…". He bit his lip. He felt like he could've come up with a better lie.
Shade shrugged. "Alright, I would like to formulate the plan to infiltrate Albion and shut down all of their factories. It won't be simple, so pay attention.", and with that, she began to talk. Total might've implied that they had plenty of time until they infiltrate Albion, but did they really?
I can't really predict how long you'd have to wait for the next chapter but I'll try my hardest to get that one out earlier than this one. I'm also working on my rough draft for "Gossip REMASTERED". Peace out!