The mushroom path
"Why won't you tell me what happened?" Rouge tapped Knuckles chin since he was carrying her.
Knuckles just shook his head again for the fifth time; Tikal had forbidden him to speak of the spell since it could stir up her soul and corrupt her inner spirit. It was always better for the victim to never know that they had died and that their soul had dispersed, it could freak them out.
"Gees, this echidna girl wasn't fooling around when she said she wouldn't stop for us." Sonic whispered to Shadow who was in a lot of pain with his broken arm and just hissed in agreement.
The fact that Shadow was in pain because he had to carry him made Sonic feel terribly guilty, it wasn't his fault that he couldn't move his legs but he still felt guilty deep down in his heart. Guilty that he was causing Shadow a lot of unnecessary stress and agony.
It was now night outside of the forest with the rain clouds from earlier still hovering above the trees. This made the dark forest even darker if that was even possible, they couldn't see at all where they were walking and had to be extra cautious and careful. The mist got even heavier and harder to see through making Tikal ahead of them look faded, this caused immense problems with the pure darkness and the impassable fog making their Journey even more treacherous.
Sloppy, muddy water continued to lap against all of their knees making them groan in disgust and annoyance, the long yellowish grass had grown a lot longer here and the trees were so much closer together making the darkness stronger and almost impossible to see through. This was no forest; this was a swamp of death and dread.
The unnaturally long blades of grass and all of the poisonous undergrowth made this place a death trap. This part of the swamp like forest was worse than what they had experienced before; the decaying birch trees here were almost black with death as they withered over the lumpy diseased waters. Very poisonous fungi grew on the rotting trees; all were purple and red in colour with some being larger than their hands.
Even though this place was revolting and unbearable to be in this part had some extraordinary sights. Sonic was looking around since he had nothing else to do, he was looking around to see if he could spot anything interesting. He gasped as he looked up and poked Shadows white chest fur, too amazed to say anything. Shadow followed his gaze upwards, and there above them were the giant heads of mushrooms, no longer tree leaves blocking the sky. The Long white stalks that they had thought were birch trees were actually long mushrooms reaching heights way over their heads.
Sonic whistled with approval at the size, he had never seen mushrooms so big. Knuckles and Rouge had also noticed and were completely flabbergasted at the unbelievable sight. Tikal, even though she said she wouldn't, did indeed stop and gave a small chuckle at their shocked faces.
"No animals or not, this place is the perfect habitat for mushrooms. Some of these mushrooms we use for healing purposes," Tikal explained as she waited for them to catch up. "Wait until you see these particular tall mushrooms at midnight, their serene beauty is outstanding."
"You said we, are there more echidnas here?" Knuckles inquired as he was the first to catch up with Rouge in his muscular arms.
To be honest, he wanted to desperately know since he thought that the echidnas had become extinct, he thought...that he was the only one left. That is, until he met Tikal. Tikal laughed at this question, obviously thinking it was hilarious.
"Of course, my tribe live in the mushroom houses here. In fact we are not far from my old home. However my duty forces me to live in the scared temple...I am not allowed to leave. I am bound by my duty." She stated sadly as she started walking though the thick mud with ease, her staff half way in the watery mess.
"Sounds like someone else I know." Rouge said seductively, now fully recovered from the magical soul combining.
Knuckles blushed at this, it was harsh but true. He was the guardian of the master emerald and was bound by his duty to guard it, the same as Tikal was the forest guide and protector of the scared temple. Meaning she was also bound to one place by her duty. A lonely, miserable life in solitude just protecting what she has been ordered to protect. Knuckles knew how it felt...and he felt sorry for her.
"You are very strong," Knuckles reassured her as he caught up to the Tikal with a miserable expression on her face. He had come to learn to respect Tikal for knowing the ancient arts of magic, a rare gift amongst the echidna. "And I know your pain."
"How do you?" Tikal asked curiously, slowing down the pace so she could have a conversation with the red one.
"I am the guardian of the master emerald, I am bound to my duty to Angle island...bound to protect the master emerald." He answered and Tikal gave him a shocked expression.
"I have never heard of Angle Island, but I have learned of the master emerald in the ancient text on the sacred temples walls. Does this mean there are echidnas outside this forest?" She asked excitedly, eager to learn of the outside world since she was forbidden to see it.
Knuckles slowed down as he trudged through the knee length sludge, looking downcast. Tikal noticed this and also slowed down wondering what could have possibly caused this reaction from the outsider.
"Well...no. I thought I was the last echidna alive. Until I met you," He began as Rouge listened in on their conversation as she learned about the echidna. "Until I met you and you told me that there were others living here in this very forest. I always thought I was the last one of my kind...I was alone."
Tikal gave him a look of pity and sympathy laced into one, she did not realise that Knuckles had thought that he was the last, always thinking that when he died the echidna would be extinct. She forced her staff forward as she brushed away blades of long mucky grass out of the way.
"What...happened to them?" She asked cautiously and quietly, not sure if she wanted to know.
"They were wiped out...by the master emerald itself," This response made Tikal stop moving all together as she stared at him with disbelief. "Chaos, who lives inside the emerald, wiped them out. You see, my tribe had wanted to destroy the emerald, thinking that it could only bring evil. The tribe went up to the shrine and threatened to destroy it. But chaos stopped them...by wiping them out. I was just a young boy left at home for safety...not realising that my mother and father had vanished." Knuckles' voice broke as he felt the memories of a lonely childhood sting his eyes.
"What made it worse was that I was forced to learn how to live alone at only five years old, forced to be strong and protect the thing that so wrongfully wiped out my tribe." Knuckles continued as the brown water that sloped around his knees started to lower, obviously getting closer to normal solid ground.
"I am so sorry." Tikal's words were genuine and had real feeling. She was bound to her temple, but at least she still had a family and a tribe to visit.
"Looks like they are getting along well." Sonic chuckled as he watched Tikal and Knuckles ahead of them chatting away in the darkness, Rouge listening and also feeling sympathy for Knuckles. Rouge would never tease Knuckles about guarding the master emerald again.
"Yeah, them two talking has slowed them down enough to let us catch up." Shadow added as his arm throbbed painfully, but he couldn't let Sonic drop into the swamp water.
"We are almost there." Tikal called over her shoulder at seeing Shadow struggling carrying Sonic with his arm.
By now you could not even see the water since it was so dark and the mist made things feel eerie and spooky. All of them, except Tikal, were absolutely exhausted and needed sleep.
Sonic kept looking up at the giant heads of the mushrooms, it felt like they had shrunk to bug size. To Sonic he felt puny as the mushrooms seemed to get bigger and bigger the further they travelled. Shadow occasionally got his foot stuck in the thick mud at the bottom of the swamp water, but he just cursed and forced his feet onward making Sonic smile at him.
It was almost midnight and if they could see the star lit sky they would be able to see that it was a full moon shining down upon the forest leaves and mushroom heads.
"It is almost time, you guys are going to witness what no other outsider has seen before, `The time of the great light`." Tikal said proudly. "It is our small piece of beauty that we forest echidna only see every midnight. Because this place is always in eternal darkness, `The time of the great light` is a huge relief to us."
Sonic looked at Shadow and Shadow looked at him, both anticipating what beauty was meant to come in this dark, miserable, dying place. Shadow could suddenly feel solid ground beneath him, he could also feel that his hover skates were completely soaked in stinky swamp water and he had to stop himself punching something since he was holding Sonic at the moment.
The ground was now completely solid again as Shadow felt shorter grass brushing against his now trembling legs. He was cold, tired and exhausted to the point of collapse. He had a broken arm and had to carry Sonic which made things worse.
The blue hedgehog had to admit he was enjoying the ride, and what happened with the CPR thing wasn't so bad. Thinking that Shadow would do mouth-to-mouth with him wasn't a bad thought at all and thinking about it made Sonic develop a small pink blush. But his thoughts of the black sexy thing carrying him were interrupted as a sudden white glow started to form above them.
"It is here...`The time of the great light! `" Tikal said with glee.
All eyes looked up in amazement. The giant mushroom heads above them were glowing! Blues, whites and purple glows broke through the eternal darkness breathing hope into them. It was truly spectacular as even the fungi attached to the dying birch trees glowed red. All the different lights reflecting off of the swamp water made the swamp look almost enchanted. In a way it was romantic. Shadow got an urge to kiss Sonic here and now in this romantic setting, but was too embarrassed since there was everyone here.
"It is a shame, but we are at our journeys end. We are approaching the entrance to the haunted village," Tikal almost sounded disappointed as she told her new friends.
The lights from the glowing mushrooms allowed them to see that straight ahead there was a wall of tall mushrooms, their thick stalks unbreakable. Tikal raised her staff and a purple glow enveloped the staff and the mushrooms. Her magic was manipulating them as the thick stalks bent on their own to the sides really slowly. Moonlight poured through the crack that had developed through the mushrooms as they spread more to the side. There, down a small path, was the haunted village. "This is where we separate, I must return to my temple."Tikal turned to the group looking upset.
All felt relived to see the sky again, even if it was slightly clouded over, they had been travelling in the forest for almost a full twenty four hours.
"Thank you so much, forest guide" knuckles said as he put Rouge down and gave another bow.
"The pleasure was all mine, guardian of the master emerald." She replied with a bow of her own.
She suddenly looked back at Shadow panting with Sonic in tow. He stumbled out into the fresh air as he carefully put Sonic down on the lush green grass desperate to get his weight off of his arm.
"Do us a favour Sonic...lay off the chilly dogs." Shadow gasped as he sat next to him cradling the sling. Sonic just laughed as he lay back on the grass and relaxed in the fresh air too.
Tikal suddenly came over, kneeling next to Shadow. He gave her a quizzical look, unsure of the girl's intentions. Placing her staff onto Shadows sling the black one hissed at the pressure she was putting on it. The same purple glow as before was released from her staff and it enveloped the broken arm. A few seconds later she pulled her staff away. Shadow felt no pain anymore. Sonic was watching him with wide eyes as Shadow undid his sling and moved his arm around. Tikal had healed him.
But he didn't get a chance to thank her since she was already heading to Knuckles who was arguing with Rouge again. She made eye contact with knuckles in the white moonlight, ocean blue to violet as she gently grabbed his hand, placed something in it and then closed his mitt around it.
"If you should ever need me, or feel lonely...Just whistle." Tikal said with a smile, she nodded to each person in turn before slowly walking and entering the gap between the still magically pulled apart mushrooms.
She stopped and looked back at them for the final time; her eyes were burning with hot tears as she had to leave her new friends already. Then she disappeared into the uninviting darkness of the forest, the mushrooms magically bending back into place as she got further away.
Knuckles blinked at the now blocked off entrance before looking at his still clasped hand. Rouge was right next to him waiting to see what she had given him. He slowly opened his mitt to see something that shocked him. Tikal had given him a small flute, no bigger than his middle finger. It was made out of some sort of bone and had many holes to play tunes with. It had a string so he could place it around his neck. He admired its craftsmanship, even though it was small it was the best present he had ever had. He placed it around his neck with pride, knowing that a mage, his new echidna friend, had made it herself.
If you should ever need me, or feel lonely...just whistle.