Chapter nineteen: "The Ghost that Walks the Swamp"
A huge brass gong sounded, sending it's reverberations throughout the courtyard.
Three times it rang.
The soft fronds of the willow trees trembled in the moist mist. A despairing silence
fell through the trees.
Deep in the woods of time, a young queen cried over a lost love...
Now, however, the Queen of The Amazons sat eating quietly upon her raised throne on top
of a silken pillow, listening to the silent wind. A look of sadness passed over regal features.
She tried to shake the feeling off, but it stayed, deep in her heart. She sighed softly,
brushing back a long dark braid that fell over her shoulder from where her hair had been
intricately plaited and done up into a tight bun at the back of her head. Her dress, of
oriental style, was long, and covered her body almost completely from the neck down. She
tugged her long sleeves up daintily, and continued to eat, maintaining her mask of regal
un-interest and calm. She watched and listened unnoticed as the rebel Princess and the red
flighty fox girl exited the medic's small hut. That strange blue hedgehog boy was waiting for
them.
"Hiya girls." Sonic greeted them. "Feeling all right Shelia?"
She still looked rather rumpled. "Better, at least." She mumbled.
"How about you, Sal?" He asked, noticing an uneasiness about her, "You feeling all right?"
She stared at him for a moment frowning, as if uncertain about something. Then, on
impulse, she stepped forward and embraced him.
Very surprised, Sonic almost stumbled over.
Shelia smiled at them sadly, and decided to go off and find her sister and leave them
alone for a while.
"Well..." Sonic stuttered, as Sally drew back, "What was that for?"
She smiled slightly. "Do I have to have a reason?"
"...No." He answered, grinning broadly, "But I'd like to know if it was something I did
so I can do it more often."
She laughed softly. "Nope, you didn't do anything... I just... Needed it I guess."
"I'll always be there for ya, Sal." He replied, winking.
"I hope so..." She said, and hugged him again.
The Amazon Queen watched all this out of the corner of her golden-yellow eyes as she
silently consumed her dinner. She let out a soft sad sigh. Even the rebel princess had someone.
She watched as the red-head and her blue beau sat down together around the bonfire, the light of
it's blazing flames dancing off the bronze surface of the huge metallic gong suspended on thick
bamboo poles over the pit. Everyone was seated around it eating happily. The competitive feelings
of the tournament had dissolved after the last event, and everyone seemed to have forgotten that
a battle was going on inside a war. Many of the Amazons had all ready picked out their male
companions from the ranks of Lupe's wolf pack.
The queen sighed again, quietly. Everyone seemed so happy. Everyone but her. She gazed
into the fire, wondering why she ever came to this land in the first place. Would she be happier
if she had married that soldier back on the mountains of her home like her father had wanted?
Now she truly understood the legend of the Keeper of the Opal of Despair...
She blinked, seeing the reflection of Lupe and Clawz coming out of the forest together,
laughing. She turned away. Even that wretched wolf girl had someone. That stupid male wildcat
was her interest was he? She had bad taste. She had been watching that male with almost a morbid
curiosity, although she never gave any clue of it. He seemed to be the epitome of all the reasons
early Amazons hated males, and while still today, the Queen of the Amazons, was destined to a
life of solitude and chastity. He was lewd, demeaning, and contemptibly sexist... And yet oddly
attractive...
She blinked again. What was she thinking?! Males were nothing but trouble... And yet...
"This stuff is great!" Clawz exclaimed, stuffing a handful of sushi rolls into his
mouth with his bare hands.
"Aya! Disgusting! At least use your eating utensils." Lupe scolded, edging away from him.
"You mean dese twigs?" He asked, holding up a pair of long, thin slices of bamboo wood.
"Those are chopsticks, dummy. Even I know how to use them!" She said, rolling her eyes.
"Well, excuuuuuse me, Senora Perfecto! I ain't as smart as you!" He sulked.
"Maria..." Shelia said softly to her sister, "I don't think my food was properly cooked..."
The little fox laughed at her older sister. "It's okay Shelia! It's supposed to be
served raw."
"Raw fish?" Shelia said, poking the wet roll of meat with a chopstick. "That's gross."
"It's called sushi, and it's not gross. It's good! Try it!" Maria replied, deftly popping
the fish into her mouth with the two long sticks.
Shelia wrinkled in her nose. "If you say so..." She mumbled.
"It's really not that bad Shelia." Sally admitted.
"Yeah," Sonic agreed, "But I'd still rather have a good ol' chili dog any day."
Lupe was trying to show Clawz how to eat with dignity, which was a loosing battle. "Look,
you use them like this..." She explained, demonstrating how to hold the two thin sticks between
her fingers.
Clawz tried a few times for himself, and failed miserably each time. "Aww, screw this!"
He growled finally, and simply speared the food through the middle with one stick and shoved it
in his mouth.
They all laughed.
The queen smiled slightly.
"Gommenasai, Kougou-sama (pardon me Empress)," A young female bobcat said softly to the
queen, interrupting her thoughts.
The regal tiger jumped, startled. "Oh! Ah... Hai? Naninani? (yes, what's the matter?)"
"All of the people are gathered. Are you going to tell the tale?" The amazon girl asked
meekly.
The Queen frowned, and thought a moment. "Iie. Iie. (no)" She sighed, then continued
in English "I do not feel like story telling tonight. Have someone else see to it."
"As you wish, my queen..." The girl said bowing away, stepping down from the platform.
She watched the queen for a moment, unsure. The queen seemed... Flustered. Turning away, she
dismissed it as her imagination and walked among the group gathered around the fire. Finally
she stopped in front of Shelia and her sister.
"Maria-san," The bobcat said softly, "Would you like to tell the tale?"
"Me?" Maria said, pointing to herself in disbelief, "You want me to do it??"
"You have finished translating it in your lessons, have you not?"
Maria nodded slowly. "Well, yeah but..."
"Good." The bobcat girl said, grabbing Maria by the arm and pulling her up in front of
the fire. "Now hurry, the queen grows impatient."
Maria sighed. "I'd be honored..." She grumbled, dusting herself off and hefting up the
huge, long-handled drum mallet. She took a deep breath, then swung and sounded the brass
gong with a tremendous clang.
After everyone got over their mild heart attack from the sudden noise, Maria stepped
up onto the platform beside the queen.
She cleared her throat. "Now that I've got your attention..." She began, "I'd like to
tell you a story."
"A story?" Tails asked, from where he now sat between Clawz and Sonic, "This isn't
going to be some dumb, mushy girl story is it?"
"Why don't you SHUT-UP and let me tell it and maybe you'll find out!" She hissed, shaking
the mallet in his direction.
"It was just a question..." He said, cringing away.
She snorted. "As I was saying..." She began again, "I am going to tell you a story. It
is the story of the first Amazon Queen, the first keeper of the Opal of Despair."
Shelia and Lupe, growing interested, moved closer.
The queen handed Maria a aged scroll, and she began to read aloud to the group.
"It was a thousand years ago this year. A war between the great forces of good and evil
had been fought, a harsh, dark war that only barely ended with light at the hands of the
Guardian of legend..."
"... I... I know this story...." Shelia said softly.
Lupe turned to stare at her thoughtfully.
Shelia didn't seem to notice, and continued to let herself be immersed in the story...
"Even though the Guardian had trapped the forces of Chaos," Maria continued, "She
had not destroyed them, and during the chaos dragon's short reign of terror over the world,
it had inflicted great damage and spread it's chaotic energy in a thin film over the peoples
of our planet. Many wars broke out, reshaping the face of the world we used to know. In
that time, a thousand years ago, our world was much different. The Chaos War reshaped
our lands and our civilizations.
To try and finish off the dying forces of chaos, the Guardian took the essence of the
elements, crystallized into eight stones of power, and distributed them in several locations
over the world, to stabilize, and finally neutralize the spirits.
One of these stones, a beautiful teardrop opal holding the despair of the world was
intrusted to our first queen, Theresa of the Woods. As I said before, because of the shaking
reverberations of chaos, many other, smaller wars broke out all over the world. The Amazon was
no different. Many males began to fight over the newly created lands, and battles broke out
between the villages. Many were killed, and many females found themselves without a place to
find refuge. Theresa however was a warrior, she taught the young ones to fight for themselves.
She soon found herself elected leader of a new tribe of warrior females, who called themselves
Amazons...
Many embittered females began our isolationist society, fighting for acceptance in this
world. The foolish males that started the disputes were turned away, and shunned. Amazons have
since denied any males into their tribe. But...
Strong as she was, the queen had a softness in her soul. She was not only a queen, but
a mother to the young Amazons. But sadly, this softness was also her weakness...
A young male of a neighboring tribe found himself in her favor. He was allowed into the
Amazon camp on several occasions, supposedly to help the queen with the building. The warriors
began to notice, and confronted the queen about her questionable actions. The warriors believed
that he was manipulating her, trying to break apart their tribe. So, for her people, the queen
turned out her secret love.
It is said, that sometimes, when her duties allowed her time by herself, the queen would
walk to the edge of our territory, to meet her mate. She truly loved him, but her fighting
spirit, hardness, and the will of her people never allowed her to show him. Her duty obligated
her to protect the sacred stone, our Jibou no Opaaru, forever until the guardian came to reclaim
it, as was the duty of the keepers.
Finally, as the years past, the wars went on between the male tribes, and one day when
the queen waited for her lover, he never came.
Some say he died in battle. Others say he just became fed up with the troubled queen's
inability to return his truthful adoration. Yet others say he simply found some weaker female
to call his own.
But the queen never saw him again.
She lived a long life and was a held high above many queens to follow in her footsteps.
She was a strong warrior, and a gentle saint. But she had a sadness about her always. She
died without ever taking a husband, as has been the tradition of all Amazon queens since that
day to honor the sacrifice she made for her people.
Today, they say you can feel her spirit in this land, roaming the edges of what is
left of our rainforest, waiting for her forbidden love. Her tears have made our opal, and our
tribe stronger."
Everyone was silent for a moment, the rather depressing story getting to everyone.
Well, almost everyone.
"Man, that *was* a mushy girl story!" Tails complained.
Maria hit him in the head with the gong hammer.
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