"Ugg..." Rookie started to feel his consciousness come back a little. He felt his body facing up on a soft surface which he concluded was most likely a bed.
"Rookie! Rookie! Please, wake up!" said a familiar voice to the young red wolf. The sounds of her angelic voice always calmed him down. There was something special about it.
He decided to try and call her name. "S... SN... SNT?" His eyes started to open, but he still couldn't see anything.
"Rookie..." The voice cried out for him. "I'm so happy that you are ok!"
"It seems that you have a very weak heart!" said another voice he didn't recognize. Rookie's vision then started to clear up a little. He was able to see light illuminating in front of him and 2 silhouettes of two people. One was made of a light blue figure who seemed familiar, and the other of a dark blue figure.
"Where are we?" he asked.
SNT then got into her thinking position. "Well, that is quite a mystery. Do you want the basic answer, or do you want the complex answer?"
"Well, judging by you being here, I am guessing I am in another dimension," Rookie concluded.
"Well yeah that is a good guess. The place we are in seems in between dimensions really," SNT answered. "It seems that somehow you have come to a place where there is no concept of time, as we are in a place where time stands still."
"You... you're... pulling my leg SNT," Rookie sort of snickered a little bit.
"I'm telling you the truth, Rookie. I know it's kind of hard to understand what is going on, but why would I lie to you?" SNT explained.
"She is telling the truth," explained the fox on Rookie's right side. "I like to call this place purgatory, but it's true. Thanks to SNT here, if she didn't dive in after you, you could have died in the middle of the ocean."
Rookie sat up and looked at SNT, "I... um... SNT, I don't know how to repay you for how you saved me back there."
"Oh Rookie, you don't need to thank me. It was my pleasure!" SNT laughed, "I'm just happy to see you alive." She then proceeded to smile as suddenly her aura started to expose itself.
Rookie's heart started to once again hurt. "AAAAAHHH!"
"Rookie! Calm down!" the blue fox then got a hold of him. "Your heart is extremely weak. Please calm yourself."
Oh my, SNT thought to herself. "Subaru, is he going to be ok?"
Subaru put Rookie down and then went to the desk to start mixing chemicals together. "I am trying to make some medicine to try and strengthen that heart a little. Also to unclog some of those blood vessels. This seems to be the only thing in which I can do without giving you surgery."
"Is that what you are suggesting?" Rookie asked. "Should I get some sort of surgery?"
"Yeah, I would suggest that," Subaru confirmed. "Could I give you some medicine to help?"
"Thank you! That would be helpful," Rookie smiled.
"Wait!" Suddenly, another familiar face then comes into the room from the boat. The child then gets out her book and sets it on the table next to Subaru.
"You know I need that space right?"
"Subaru, you know your brewing formulas like that won't work? Especially if they are untested," she explained.
"Cas!" Subaru yelled at her. "You know magic is not the answer to everything, right?"
"But it can be to make this little wolf a little stronger!" She responded as she then walked up to Rookie. "Don't worry about anything, that little heart of yours will be stronger than ever once I finish with you!"
"Um... what are you going to do with me?" Rookie asked.
"Use my magic on you," Cas winked as she showed her fingers to him snapping them. "I am going to make your heart so big that Subaru won't need to use you as a lab rat."
"Cas, science knows more than magic. Science is the rules of the world!" Subaru explained.
"But you know nothing about what magic can actually do!" Cas explained. "I am going to finally prove to you that no miracle cure from mixing random plants together will cure heart disease!"
Subaru then got up to Cas' face and pointed her finger into her chest. "And I am going to prove to you that science is the absolute law of the universe and only understanding it can cure any disease. No miracles are made with magic, but with science!"
Cas holds out her hand, and with a fraction of a second, her book that she put on the table suddenly flew into her hand, and she started reading from it. Subaru in the meantime then went back to her set and quickly whipped something up.
SNT decided to let the experts handle the health protocols. "I think I will just leave you both to it. I should get out of your way." She slowly backed out and hit the doorframe, surprising herself. She then moved to her side and continued her way and shut the door.
"SNT! Don't leave me here!" Rookie yelled in panic as the two people now stood in front of him ready to do whatever they wanted with him.
SNT joined her friends outside as they waited for the operation to be complete. Alicia, Rand, and Saki were outside.
"So..." Saki got her attention. "You all found Rookie? Is he ok?"
SNT looked at Saki to answer the question. "It seems that he needs an operation in order for his body to function correctly."
"AAAAAAAAAHHHH!" All of them look at the door toward the source of the noise. It was obviously Rookie's voice.
"Rookie, hold still!" said Cas.
"Cas, get off of my side, I'm trying to keep him alive." said Subaru.
"Please, get off of me or we might get a bad scene!" Rookie yelled in response.
While all of them were waiting for Rookie to come out of... magical surgery, Alicia and Rand were talking a little bit while Saki was relaxing. Rand was on his computer with both Alica and him sharing an earbud.
"Does that sound good?" he asked.
"Yeah, that does, our little session last night has really helped solidify the music," Alicia pointed out. "The only thing I would change is the synth during the chorus because it doesn't work with that completely dry."
"Alright, I'll try that," Rand then starts clicking on his computer a little to fix the problem.
SNT was watching this, but she had other things on her mind. She then goes into her pocket and then gets out the yellow Sonichu ball. Saki looked at SNT when she did it and noticed the object. "Wait... is that the crystal of corruption?"
SNT looked up to see Saki get close to get a better look. SNT then corrected her, "This is not a crystal, Saki, this... is a Sonichu Ball."
"Sonichu Ball?" Saki asked.
"Oh you know what, I don't think I have ever talked to you about this. I'm sorry, I have been trying for so long to forget this, but it seems that it has come up again," SNT explained facepalming. "I think I have a lot of explaining to do." She then continued to explain the things that she explained to Elise including her past adventures and her run-ins with Sonichu. She also talked about last night and her adventure into his realm to bring the color back to the Sonichu ball.
"So wait..." Saki stopped her, "Something doesn't make sense. All of this is too convenient. Why would these balls trap us here on this island if they were looking for you? And why do you think that you have to collect them?"
"I don't really have an answer for that," SNT admitted as she then looked back at the yellow ball. "But whatever Sonichu is doing with them, it can't be good. I believe the only way to stop him is to collect them all. They must be scattered all over the island. We should be able to find them."
"But SNT, this could be a trap!" Saki tugged on her arm. "I feel these things you explained to me sounds like a trap of some sort, because why would they even be here in the first place? Are you sure this is the best idea to go after these balls?"
"I don't know," SNT answered. "But there is only one way to find out!"
Rand and Alicia were listening to the conversation. "I bet you need all of the help you can get." Rand responded to that. "If that is the case, if anytime you may need our help, just ask."
"Really?" SNT asked.
Saki then comes in to stop Rand, "If we don't have practice and are not busy, only you have a lot of stuff to do for me still."
"But you never really give me any breaks!" he argued.
"Then keep working," she concluded. "Don't stop or I will break you!"
"I guess the only thing I am waiting for is for Subaru to finish the operation. The princess told me that she could help me find the Sonichu Balls," SNT announced.
"Well I don't know when Subaru is going to be done with the operation but I don't really know if she has ever seen them around the island," Rand realized. "I know that she has the most knowledge of where everything is because she wouldn't have created this amazing place without it."
He was referring to the powerplant/workshop they were in. There was a wooden wheel on the side of it turning to the waterfall which was pouring right beside it. On top of the workshop were 3 sets of windmills turning to the ocean breeze. All of this was to create power for the nearby village. The place looked like an aircraft hanger with all sorts of machinery inside, in which SNT didn't know what these machines did. On one corner of it was the actual home of the fox and the hedgehog which both Subaru and Cas lived together.
The blue fox slowly comes out of the room and shuts the door. She takes a deep breath and looks at the crew just waiting outside of some sort of news about the wolf.
"Oh... if ya'll want to know about how Rookie is doing, he is going to be fine. He just needs a good few hours of rest. I'm having Cas keep him within a calm state for me and watch his levels."
"I hope he is going to be ok," SNT worried.
Subaru padded SNT on the back, "He will be just fine, I promise that much."
SNT gave a sigh in relief, "Oh thank goodness." She gave the fox a serious look. "I wanted to talk to you about something." SNT then revealed the Sonichu Ball.
"What, do you need sugar?" she asked as she looked at the ball. "The crystal? Oh I see you found a way to give back its color!"
"Well yeah, but I need your help with something." SNT then held the ball at her face. "I was wondering if you can help me find the rest of the Sonichu Balls?"
"Sonichu Balls?" Subaru asked.
SNT nodded, "Yes, these are the actual names for these things, and there are 7 of them. I have one of them, but I need 6 more."
"Hmm," Subaru thought for a second. "I know I have seen them around sometimes on the island but I don't remember where they are. But I wonder...?"
Subaru pointed at the Sonichu Ball in her hands. "Do you mind if I borrow this real quick?" She then took the ball away from SNT and walked over to her table to set it down. Then she started to attach a bunch of wires to the Ball and turned on her computer.
"What are you doing?" SNT walked up to see what was going on. Subaru started to type on her computer and then looked at the ball for a second, then she got back into typing.
"I'm just trying to find the wavelengths that this thing is emitting and see if I can get the computer to pick up on those. Once that happens, I should be able to create a program so we can see where these wavelengths are coming from all over the island and I will be able to plot them on the map I have over here to my left." She pointed at a screen which was the map of the Island. SNT quickly went over to the map to get a closer look.
On the map, it showed the village and the workshop they were in. But there were places on the island which were still untapped by her. There was a surrounding jungle around the village, and shielding it was a large snow capped volcano with a lake in the middle. All of it surrounded by an ocean.
"Something that you should know about this map!" Subaru got up and went to another computer to continue programming. "I personally made this map from scratch as I went and surveyed everything. But there are still things here I haven't seen yet. Did you know there are a lot of underground caves here too?" she asked.
"Well no, but I guess it is all a part of the adventure," SNT laughed a little to herself. This looks like a place which has too much to discover in it.
"Alright, I think I have finished," Subaru announced as she then augmented the frequincess onto the screen showing the appearance of 7 dots on the screen, revealing the Sonichu Ball's locations.
Two of them were on top of the volcano. One was in the jungle next to the village. Another was in the village but was cutting in and out which was sort of odd. There was one in the middle of the ocean and one on the beach on the opposite side of the island. Then there was one more that was on top of Subaru's workshop which was definitely coming from the ball on the table.
Rand looked over at the map. "Looks like you have your work cut out for you!" he pointed out.
"It looks like there is a lot of stuff to do. The Balls won't collect themselves. If someone has to do it, it's going to be me," SNT announced.
"Do you have a plan, SNT?" he asked her.
SNT then started to think a little. "Well I think I want to go find the one in the village somewhere but I don't know why we can sometimes pick up that signal and sometimes we can't. So maybe I might go after the one in the jungle."
"That jungle is what we call... Actually, I don't think we ever gave it a name!" Rand thought out loud.
"Are all of you that uncreative to not give the place a name?" SNT questioned in a sassy tone.
"Nah, we're just lazy," Rand came back.
"Figures," SNT responded.
"But if you are going out there, be very careful. There is all sorts of wildlife in there like bears, bare bears, and bears bare bears!"
"What the heck is a bare bear?" SNT asked.
"They're bears... 'butt' naked," Rand responded.
"Are you pulling my leg?" SNT asked.
"If I was, I would be given a restraining order!" Rand responded, That was when Saki then interrupted the conversation and smacked Rand in the face. "OUCH!"
"No! SNT is to get that joke. Please do jokes like that! Don't you know this fanfic is for kids?" Saki asked.
"Well according to the FTC it's not!" Rand replied as he was then smacked in the face again by her. "Ouch!"
"Breaking the fourth wall is my job. Stop touching it or you will get a restraining order!" Saki replied.
"What are you all talking about?" SNT was confused about what was going on.
"Oh... it's nothing, just teaching an old dog a lesson!" Saki replied looking at Rand.
"Um..." Rand then raised his finger into the air and shut his eyes. "The term is you can't teach an old dog new tricks. And I am not a dog, I'm a wolf!"
"Yeah... whatever," Saki waved it off. "You get the point, SNT!"
Alicia then got her attention. "Do you think you will be needing any help getting the crystal, SNT?"
"Well, I don't think so. Typically these adventures get harder as we go along. Right now this should be easy to deal with. I might need help later though, but thank you for the offer. I will definitely consider it. Just for now, keep watch of Rookie and make sure he gets better!"
"You got it!" Alicia answered, she then went up to Rand and grabbed him by the arm. "I guess we will be working again tonight."
Subaru then goes up to SNT with a toolbox in which she puts on the table next to her and pulls out a machete. "You might need to get through that jungle. It's pretty dense and uninhabited. I have been through it multiple times and I have fought a lot of snakes and bears. So promise me that you will be careful."
SNT nodded as she took the weapon into her hands. "I will, I promise I will be back safely!"
"Also one more thing I need to tell you!" Subaru tugged her arm. "There are rumors of a monster hidden in the jungle somewhere, but I never really encountered it."
"So... let me get this straight!" Saki started to see through Subaru's statement. "You are telling Ni-chan here that you have been all over the island, even going through the effort of surveying it, and yet you have never seen this monster?"
"... actually you have a good point..." She started to think about that. "I said I have been all over this island, but there are still a lot of caves I have not as of right now, the underground is still a mystery."
"Well maybe you're just not very good at surveying," the pop star responded.
"No, it's not that, even if I did decide to mark every cave on this island, if I created a map for every little thing that is here, then my map would just look like a black screen," she argued. "Every map maker has to make decisions on what to include on their map and what not to include, because you are trying not to confuse the reader or myself."
"Saki, there also might be a chance I may never encounter this monster that is hidden. If I do, I will be ready!" SNT said with confidence. "I have gone after a lot worse and I am sure that this monster will be nothing."
Saki then proceeded to pat SNT on the back. "Well, if you think you will be fine then I trust you to get it done!"
"Don't worry about me. I'm confident that I can get this done!" SNT responded standing up straight.
Subaru quickly starts typing on her computer and then plugs a watch into it. Then she presses the enter key. "Please, before you go, I need to give you something." Just like that, she put something onto the watch and then gave the watch to SNT. "This watch will allow me to track your movements around the island. It not only tells time but you can also communicate with us at any time and there is also a built in Sonichu Ball Tracker so you can know where you are going. There is also a teleportation feature which will teleport you back here in case of danger or when you request it."
"Oh... thank you, this will come in handy." SNT nodded then attached the watch to her arm.
"Alright, it seems you are set!" Alicia announced. "Remember, you can always ask for help when you need it and we will be there in a flash!"
"Thank you all for everything. I think I better go now and get this over with!" SNT announced. She then walked one step then looked back at the crew. "Can someone please take me to the entrance to the jungle?"
"Well the place I use to enter is up the road near the village. If you go over there you should see a place where the trees sort of break in the middle and there is like a hallway." Subaru explained. "It's a little hard to miss but it's in between Alicia's House and the village."
"Alright, thank you, I guess I am off. Wish me luck!" SNT then ran out of the workshop as her friends waved at her.
"Ni-chan be careful! Don't die!" Saki yelled as she waved goodbye.
SNT couldn't hear that as she then ran at her usual speed. As she ran down the road, she took time to notice the waves from the ocean crashing onto the rocks letting off a strong breeze coming off of the storm that was surrounding the island. She could still see the raging lightning coming from the eyewall of the storm and still hear the thunder coming off of that. It was weird to see that when she was sleeping she could hear the storm but It never rains here.
When SNT got to the place where she thought Subaru was talking about. The village was to her left and she could still see how active it was with all of the people thinking it was just a normal day. The hybrid took a deeper look and noticed how dark the forest looked. She felt cold chills coming down her spine when she heard some noise coming from it, which gave it an eerie feel.
The hybrid was a little afraid to enter as it seemed that no sunlight came because it was swallowed up by the various leaves shielding the trees. But she knew that somewhere deep inside, where the sun didn't shine, one of Sonichu's balls would be hidden. There was no way for SNT to avoid this as it was going to be her to retrieve it and return its color.
Our hero took a deep sigh and then told herself, "Here we go!" Then she took one step on the grass to make sure that she wasn't too frightened to enter. After she insured her safety she then took another breath then ran right in to pretend that there was no fear left in her heart.
With a little confidence, SNT then storms ahead into the unknown not knowing what would be hidden behind every tree. Not knowing whether or not she would return alive.