The Silver and Web Series
Episode 26: The Lost Chao
There's nothing like relaxing on a beautiful summer day, Silver thought to himself as he lay on the grass with his eyes closed, relaxing and enjoying the warm weather. He opened his eyes when a butterfly fluttered over to him and perched on his nose. Then he sat up when he heard crying from a short distance away, causing the butterfly to fly off.
The silver hedgehog got up and looked behind some bushes near where the sound was coming from. There in the grass behind them sat a crying Neutral Chao. "Hi there, little Chao. What's the matter?" Silver asked gently; he knelt beside the Chao.
"Chao! Chao Chao!" the tiny creature sobbed. I'm lost! I can't find my family!
Silver petted its head soothingly. "Hey, don't cry. I'll help you find your family." Then he stood up. "My name's Silver. Just stay close to me, okay?"
"Chao!" the Chao replied, now smiling.
Silver walked around, searching for any sign of other Chao. The Chao he had found tried to follow him, but it was still young and not very skilled yet. It ran after him to try to keep up but ended up tripping. Silver turned around and picked it up, holding it carefully in his right arm. "Here-I'll carry you," he said.
"Chao Chao!" the Chao then pointed toward something lying on the ground by a pool of water. When Silver ran over to it, he saw that it was a piece of a leafy branch.
"This branch looks like it came from a Chao fruit tree," he said when he picked up the branch with his free hand, "Maybe if we look for trees with branches like this, we'll find your family!"
At that moment, a large fish suddenly jumped out of the water, grabbing the branch from Silver's hand in its mouth. When it splashed back into the water, Silver set the Chao on the ground and looked angrily down at where the fish had gone. "Hey! Come back here with our only clue!" he exclaimed. Determined to get the branch back, he dove into the water.
The fish swam through the water with the branch in its mouth, happy about the new treasure it had just taken. However, it soon saw Silver coming and looked back in surprise. He swam after the scaly creature until he came close to it; then he used his powers to stop its movement and take the branch from its mouth and into his hand. He smiled at his accomplishment while the fish swam quickly away.
After getting the only clue back, Silver surfaced with a splash, gasping for air. "That was a close one!" He used his powers to float out of the water and into the air while carrying the Chao again, who had been watching from next to the water's edge. "Let's try searching from the air. There won't be any fish there."
The two of them floated high above the ground, looking down for any sign of Chao fruit trees or other Chao. Then the Chao pointed down at two trees below. "Chao!"
Silver landed and looked up at the two trees, holding the branch up to them to compare them. The trees bore round oval-shaped fruit and had leafy branches just like the one Silver carried! "These are Chao fruit trees…" he announced and looked ahead, "and this is a Chao Garden!" Dropping the branch on the ground, he gazed in wonder at the tranquil scene in front of his friend and him. A Hero Swim Chao swam in a small pond, a Dark Fly Chao flew through the air, and a Neutral Power Chao was munching on a Chao fruit. "Wow! I've heard about Chao Gardens, but I've never actually visited one before. It's so peaceful here!" the hedgehog's eyes sparkled.
Suddenly, the Chao jumped out of Silver's arms and ran over to one spot excitedly, where a Neutral Fly Chao, a Neutral Run Chao, a Hero Chao, and a Dark Chao were gathered in front of a beautiful waterfall. "Chao Chao Chao!" they all said cheerfully with hearts above their heads. The Neutral Chao and the Neutral Fly Chao hugged while the Hero Chao and the Dark Chao jumped up and down with joy.
"We did it! We found your family!" Silver cheered while he walked over to the five little creatures.
Silver stayed at the Chao Garden for a while to play with the Chao living there. He splashed in the pond with the Hero Swim Chao, floated through the air with the Neutral Fly Chao and the Dark Fly Chao flying after him, ran through the grass with the Neutral Run Chao, and used his powers to get fruit from a tree for the Neutral Power Chao, the Hero Chao, and the Dark Chao. Then he spent some time sitting on a log next to the Neutral Chao, watching the sunset. "It's about time for me to leave," he said after a while. The Chao looked sad, but Silver took it in his arms and gave it a hug reassuringly. "But don't worry, I'll come back to visit sometime, I promise. Maybe I'll bring some of my friends to meet you then." He placed the Chao back on the ground with the other seven Chao and turned to leave. "I'll see you all then. For now, goodbye!"
"Chao!" all eight Chao said at once as they waved goodbye to their new friend. Silver looked back and waved as he walked away. And after he was out of the Chao Garden, he headed home with joy in his heart, for even though he was leaving his new friends, he had done a good deed…and he knew he would see them again.
(from June 7-9, 2019)
Yes, I was originally going to have Silver help this Chao at the beach in episode 25 but ended up changing that.