|chapter three: the visitor|
Coffee always smelled better than it tasted, according to Sarah.
Blaze had come in earlier that morning, however and she required a good cup of coffee as usual before she started her day. Shadow had rolled over by Sarah in the other chair available, and the two were hovering over the sage green hedgehog. On purpose.
"Mice?"
"Maybe," Shadow responded to Blaze's curious question.
Sarah's left eye twitched. They were toying with her at 5:32 a.m. Shadow had spoken about the one sound he had heard during the night and how he had decided that it was mice. In the building. Yay. Sarah knew from the inflection in his voice that Shadow was merely pestering her for fun.
She couldn't tell if he was being serious about the mice situation though.
Blaze caught on quickly what Shadow was doing and decided to join him. Whatever Sarah had done to deserve this, she didn't know. But she did know that when the two rangers weren't looking, they'd regret it.
"No raccoons?" Blaze was almost just as disappointed as Shadow had been last night. "We haven't seen them in a while actually."
"Oh, please," Sarah rolled her eyes as she automatically went to check the cameras. The data was stored on her computer, so she was the only one that could actually view any past footage. Anything current was shown on the side monitor that Shadow watched last night. She had two monitors, and that one always stayed on. "You made those dumpsters bullet-proof and bear-proof. Why the hell would poor chonker Henry and moody Matilda feel welcomed after that?"
Blaze sighed as she grasped the cup of coffee in her hand. Her tail wrapped around her ankles that were crossed. She rolled closer to Sarah and placed the cup on the table. "I'm sorry for ruining the only other relationship you have besides the ones with your colleagues."
"Apology not accepted," Sarah droned tiredly and sarcastically as Shadow joined on her left side.
"Don't worry. You can befriend the mice if you can't befriend Sonic."
"Pipe it," Sarah gritted her teeth. Blaze gave her a knowing look.
"Oh, Shadow?" The feline leaned back and Shadow mirrored her actions.
His ears perked towards her. "Yes?"
"I talked to Amy about the whole dating thing - "
"Ha!" Sarah let out a scoff of a laugh.
Shadow's posture changed as he frowned. Why the hell did Blaze have to ruin his morning fun of tormenting Sarah by bringing Amy into the mix? It's not like he could jab at the cat about Silver - that stuff didn't bother her anymore.
"-and she's totally understanding."
"Awwww, did you ruin his chances?"
"No. If anything, I solidified them."
"Oh?" Sarah raised an eyebrow as did Shadow. They both made the sound as they looked at Blaze.
The purple Mobian smiled as she took a sip of her coffee. "I'm not saying anything, but if Shadow were to ask her out, I don't think she would decline."
The green hedgehog gave Shadow a little nudge before going back to the computer monitor, sifting through the footage. "See? You got a chaaance," she said in a sing-song voice.
Shadow scoffed and leaned back in his chair. "Maybe. We'll see."
Blaze smiled at him warmly before leaning against Sarah and looking at the screen. The two females got busy looking at the footage. Sarah sighed after a few mere seconds. "You got a time frame?"
"1-ish."
Sarah took a few moments to find the time. She started it at 12:45 a.m. and watched through a sped up version. Blaze frowned. "How can you see anything?"
"I thought you had better eyes than us hedgehogs, cat."
"Not this early in the morning, apparently." Blaze's attention went back to Shadow, twisting around to look at him. "So, I was thinking about this situation."
"Situation?"
"Amy."
"Oh, great."
Sarah ignored the two as they spoke about the pink hedgehog. Her eyes were locked onto the screen as she ran through the footage. She knew that she was more likely to miss something going so sped up, but she figured that it would be easy to see any movement during a supposedly quiet night.
She was right.
There. Sarah chewed her bottom lip as she paused at 2:32 a.m. She backtracked to 1:46 a.m. Then further to 1:30 a.m. "You said 1?"
"More like 1:15, but sure - " Shadow responded amidst his conversation with Blaze, although he was dying for anything to interrupt it.
Sarah went back further to 1:15 a.m. and hit the play button. It played at a bit of a slower pace but still fast. She knew the time that she was looking for, but she wanted to double check that nothing had happened during the time Shadow had noted. And again, there was nothing. Until -
There.
2:34 a.m. paused. She backtracked a bit to 2:10 and pressed play. The footage sped through quickly and again, there was at least some movement on the screen between then and 2:30. She stopped and went back to 2:10 again. "Got something between 2 and 2:30 a.m., not 1."
The two Mobians behind her stopped talking and huddled near her. Shadow on her left and Blaze on her right, they leaned into her and stared at the monitor.
"Henry? Matilda?" Blaze questioned almost excitedly. She would never admit it as much as Sarah, but she missed the rascals.
"Not sure." Sarah pressed play at a normal rate. Time went by slowly for them.
"Can you go a little faster?" Shadow droned.
She fast-forwarded it a bit. And just as it neared 2:25 a.m., there was movement on the screen.
"Stop."
Paused. 2:28 a.m. Sarah glanced at Blaze who had spoken. "You see that?"
"It was quick, but go back again," Blaze noted calmly but slowly. She waited for Sarah to go back to 2 and press play at a slightly slower pace, but one that wasn't going to have them sit through it real-time. She paused again at 2:10 ish to slow it down even more.
"Real time at it," Shadow ordered as they neared the 2:20 mark.
The footage changed to real-time. With each passing minute, they waited for 2:25 a.m. When 2:23 a.m. hit, they saw movement around the edge of the back of the building.
"It's just out of camera view," Blaze remarked.
"Wait."
The movement seemed to stop as another minute passed. And then 2:25 hit. Suddenly, the movement wasn't towards the back of the building on the edge of camera view, but closer to camera view. The camera was angled so it didn't show to the back of the building, not even the door, as it was positioned slightly above the door. It was all barely out of view to see the back door - something Blaze had always hated. And now, they hated it even more.
A dark blob of something seemed to meander slightly into view at the bottom of the screen - which was basically next to the back door. It walked out of frame just as fast as it was there, to the northern side of the building.
"Hm," Blaze felt the hair fluff up at the end of her tail. "It's…a little big for a raccoon."
"Right. Raccoon wouldn't show up there if it was by the door. I mean, we can barely see the top of Silver's head when he walks back there," Shadow responded. "And he loves to say that he's technically the tallest because of his quills."
That part was true. Sarah watched with a scrutinizing gaze. Whatever it was had to have been at least as tall as Silver then? No, that didn't make sense. It was so barely in the frame that it looked like just a sliver of it was visible. But she had a different idea.
She switched to the side camera files as the two watched.
"You think it walked around?"
"Sure. We catch them walking around all the time," Sarah said as if it was the most obvious answer. And it was. The animals would typically always be first seen on the side camera pointing towards the main trail and forest - that's where they came from after all. It made sense that whatever it was probably came from there and walked to the dumpsters, tried to get in, and then walked back into the forest once it was done exploring around. "Problem is, it might not have walked around right then. Might have tried the dumpsters still or the trash cans not visible on the cameras."
She went to 2:30 a.m. anyway and pressed play at a quickened speed. It seemed to go by rather quickly before Shadow leaned in.
"Stop."
Pause. 3:35 a.m. Nothing on the screen, but she backed up. "Where?"
"Maybe 3."
They tried it at 3. Shadow watched with narrowed eyes now. It happened so fast that he wasn't sure if he was aware of what he was seeing. "Stop."
She did, and there was nothing. Sarah huffed. "Where, Shadow?"
"3:15."
She went back a bit and narrowed the time frame down. This time, Shadow moved forward and got ready to hit the pause button. Sarah didn't argue and neither did Blaze because they clearly weren't seeing what he was seeing. Blaze had a look of utter confusion on her face.
He was adamant when he hit the pause button. 3:24 a.m. An hour exactly later and there was something visible on the screen. Barely.
Sarah tilted her head and frowned. "A…blob. Again."
It was out of the light and closer to the trail board. Blaze observed the blob as she pressed play and watched in real-time. By 3:24 a.m. and 3:26 a.m. whatever it was walked out of sight again. But there was one thing notable.
Between that time, it made a large movement and turned to stare at the building.
Blaze wasn't sure if she had seen that correctly. She backtracked a little and they watched in real-time again. She paused just as the object turned its head, and all three Mobians felt a wave of uncertainty. Shadow sat straight as he immediately got on edge.
Yellow eyes stared at the camera for a few seconds before whatever it was, turned away and vanished into the forest for the rest of the night.
"What was that?" Sarah questioned. She had no honest clue or idea what it could be. But she could take note of one thing.
"Not sure. Bear?" Blaze looked at Shadow.
He looked alert all of a sudden, and the feline had a sudden judgment to ask him something else. "Shadow? Did you find something yesterday with Sonic?"
"Hm? No. Just…I was going to tell you," Shadow locked eyes with the cat. "We thought it smelled like a dead animal up by the watch tower. I figured if anyone would want to report something on it, it would be you. But I did feel uneasy up there."
Blaze's ear twitched. "You didn't share this until now?" She pointed at the screen. "If it's a bear, it could still be in the area."
"Probably not," Shadow decided. "Maybe it hunted by the tower and traveled down here looking for easy food. It's probably traveled miles away by now."
"True," Blaze agreed quickly but still had a thought, "Do we close the trails?"
"No. We have bear signs up just in case. People know that bears walk in and out of the territory although it's rarely reported - there just aren't any living here all year around."
"And one's never been this close to the station."
That was true, too. Shadow mulled it over and thought against it. His instinct told him that if it was a bear, then it traveled miles away by now - and would continue to do so. He wasn't sure what its path was though, and it could always find its way back to the station. Bears did walk in and out of the territory - but way further up northeast. Most of the bears were tracked by the neighboring park as they had more departments to do so. "Let's look for tracks outside come dawn and see if we can track it," he looked at Blaze.
"Amy and I can do it," Blaze nodded. "If you want to take Sonic back up to the tower - or does this discourage you?"
"No. We still have plenty to do," Shadow sighed as he stared back at the computer. "My contact for the contractor on the tower says that the material is arriving early - or at least the wood is - and they can't hold it for long. We'll have to either hurry to finish up the cleaning stage, or we'll have to find a place to safely and securely store the wood."
"You still thinking of an overnighter?" Sarah wondered. Now with a potential bear wandering around, she was a little concerned.
Shadow stood from his chair and stretched. "We'll probably have to at this rate. Maybe next week. Maybe Silver and I should do it."
"Shadow, I would like to accompany you on the 24 hour watch," Blaze suddenly spoke in all seriousness.
The other two hedgehogs stared at her, wondering if she was just tiredly speaking, but the cat seemed genuine. Sarah tilted her head and then glanced at their supervisor. Shadow cleared his throat as he looked down at Blaze, still sitting in her chair with her coffee in hand. "If you would like to, I'm not going to stop you. You want to try to track it, don't you?"
"Monitor it, yes. If the bear, or whatever it is, does come back, then I would like to see it real time," Blaze motioned to the cameras. "Plus, you're overworking yourself."
He scoffed, but before he could speak his case, Sarah was nodding with Blaze's statement. "She's right, Shadow. You've been working on this watch tower project since last fall when we got the go-ahead. We all share responsibilities around here - Blaze is the next best person that can help you and not be a straggler to slow you down."
The cat wasn't sure if it was a compliment, but she took it. Shadow rolled his shoulders and let out a small huff. "Fine. Monitor whatever it is then. Look for tracks outside. I'll see if I can find anything when Sonic and I leave today. You and Amy look around, though. But I got word last night there are two campers up on Ridge Trail still that shouldn't be. They never checked out with the station."
"Yeah," Sarah perked up as she minimized the footage's browser and popped up a different program. In it was a list of campers that would check in with the station that would hike up to certain points for a period of time. The station made it a priority to know which campers walked in and when they walked out due to incidents in the past. Hikers were a bit more difficult to track during the busy season, but there were some historical lookout sites that conveniently had 'check in' books for any travelers to write down when they visited, what they enjoyed, where they were from, and their name. It was a simple thing to see where all their visitors came from around Mobius, but it also came in handy should one go missing - they'd check the last known trails the hiker might've been on and checked the books for any information available.
"Two campers. Male and female. Went in three days ago, were scheduled to walk out last night. Didn't," Sarah noted. Blaze stood up and put a hand on her hip as she read over Sarah's shoulder. "Whatcha think?"
"Ridge Trail? They could've gone into the canyon then for the flatter parts to camp. But if there's a bear around, I'm not particularly happy to hear this news."
"I'm sure it's all unrelated. After all, there are bear warning signs," Sarah tried to reassure the cat. "I'm sure they took precautions. The canyon and those deeper trails are more dangerous statistics-wise than a bear. At least in this park."
"True. I'm not sure Amy could handle those further trails, though. It might be tougher with her."
"You're not going out alone. Take Amy," Shadow ordered as he walked away to grab another cup of coffee. Sonic should be arriving soon. "Look for the campers and see if you can find a trail around the station that might belong to whatever the hell that thing is."
He walked away and left the two females to ponder. Sarah brought back the footage and played it again out of curiosity. "I bet I can enhance the footage on this - try to get the contrast up and maybe get a better outline of the image."
"Try it," Blaze suggested as she walked over to the window, looking out at the trail board that was also being videoed at that very moment. It was still dark out, but the lamp post outside gave some light, and Blaze had good night vision as a feline. The main trail appeared empty and everything from the window looked untouched. She would've never guessed something like a bear had been walking around last night there. "Maybe it's not a bear, anyway."
"What makes you think bear?" Sarah asked rather quietly - like it'd been a question she held in as the two others had talked about it.
"Well, what else is that big? It's clearly a large mass of some sort."
"Yeah, but…"
There was a pause of silence as Blaze continued to look out the window. Her ears twitched to the sound of Shadow setting his coffee cup down on the counter space next to Sarah. She could sense his curiosity from here.
"But what?" he questioned the sage hedgehog as he leaned over her, looking at the footage too.
"Well, it's just…" Sarah pointed at the screen. "Look at this. When it turns to look at the camera. The yellow eyes could be a reflection of some light, right? The lamp post or camera, or something."
"Correct. Most definitely."
By this time, Blaze had wandered back over to the computer as well, watching intently as Sarah pointed out her new concerns. Sarah had noticed one thing differently than them, though, and it hadn't been the yellow eyes. It had been the height at which those eyes were.
She pointed as the mass of black seemingly turned its head and two eyes were barely visible, locking onto the direction of the camera for mere moments. She paused and hovered over the trail board with her finger. "Look at the height of this poster. That blaring white one talking about fire safety?"
Blaze and Shadow both looked from the computer monitor to the window - out into the real world where the trail board existed. There was the bright, white poster that was laminated and secured with screws onto the trail board even in the dark thanks to the lamp post. It was about fire safety, so they tried to keep that poster up the longest year round without replacing it so much. The laminated plastic made it stand out more than the rest of the posters.
"The trail board doesn't start until about three feet off the ground. And then the poster? It starts maybe another two and a half feet - Silver put it up to eye level with himself." Sarah made her point as the two continued to look from the monitor to the real thing, comparing the two.
She was right.
Shadow hadn't noticed at first because the footage could barely pick up the trail board along with the black blob of an object. The white laminated paper though would glare off the lamp post light from just a few feet away, along with several of the other papers on the board - that one was just easy to pinpoint. "You're right," he nearly whispered.
"The yellow eyes are almost level with it," Sarah continued. She pressed play and then watched as the eyes disappeared along with whatever the creature was. "A bear's eyes aren't five feet off the ground?"
"Right…" Blaze hummed in thought. "It wasn't one of the campers? Maybe they tried to get into the station - they were lost or something?"
"Do my eyes have a reflective glow like that?" Sarah scoffed.
"Well, they will. Probably not that vibrant of a yellow, though," Shadow agreed with the receptionist.
The three were left to think about potential possibilities. Maybe it was one of the campers. Maybe it was something else and not a bear. "Maybe it was a bear standing up?" Blaze questioned. "But an adolescent? Maybe it was a deer or young elk?"
Sarah groaned as her brain started to hurt. It was too early for this. "Look, maybe we'll find tracks out there. Something to follow."
Thankfully, as if by some saving grace, the front doors opened. A familiar blue hedgehog trudged in, but he had his nose scrunched up. He stopped short and stared at the three rangers hundled around each other.
"Good morning," Blaze nodded at him. "Problem?" she motioned to his expression.
"I can't get the stink off of me, or I'm going insane. Amy made me take a tomato juice bath last night after several showers, and I thought it was gone. But now I just smell it all over again."
"Smell? The dead animal smell?" Blaze turned to Shadow. "Skunk?"
"No. I'd certainly place it on a dead animal before a skunk."
"That's what I told Amy," Sonic whispered to himself moodily. He didn't seem happy about the fact that he was forced into a tomato juice bath. It was horrible to take a regular bath as it was - for a hydrophobic.
"Well…" Shadow trailed off as he went from Sonic to Blaze. "I guess we're looking for a recognizable odor too. If there's nothing - it's Sonic."
"Hey!"
"Ok. Dead animal odor. Got it," Blaze made a mental note of her to-do list.
Sonic pouted as he slowly walked up to the receptionist desk. He set his pack down on the higher top of the counter, on the visitor side. He smiled at Sarah. "Good morning."
If there was one thing she didn't like about the blue hedgehog, it was the fact that he was clearly a morning person and wanted to chit chat. Similar to Amy. Sarah groaned a, "Good morning," back just to be nice, but she saw the sly looks from Blaze and Shadow combined.
She wanted to snap at them to not even start with her, but Sonic was clearly trying to gather all of her attention. "Something going on? We're looking for dead animals now?"
"Something came in last night," Shadow interjected. Sonic's ears flipped back a little, disappointed that the male butted in as Sarah happily went back to her computer and ignored all life. "Blaze and Amy will look around the station today for any tracks, and an apparent stench now, while you and I continue to work at the watchtower. Unless that bothers you."
"No. I'm good with that plan," Sonic shook his head quickly. He didn't want to be cut out of the hiking and exploring part of the job, even if that meant manual labor all day at the tower - at least he was outside. But his demeanor didn't fool Shadow. The boy was clearly spooked at the mention of some animal coming in. "Bear?"
"No. Maybe." Shadow didn't want to jump to conclusions, but he didn't want to try to hide anything from the volunteer intern either. Sonic appeared to be the type that wanted to know all the information and be in the loop constantly, which he wasn't going to argue with if it meant safety out in the field. "Look. We don't know - it's barely visible on camera. But Blaze and Amy will look into it today. We'll see if we can spot anything on the trails too, but it's still relatively dark and our flashlights will only help so much. We could easily miss something right now."
He decided to leave out the part of the campers that Blaze and Amy would also be looking for. Shadow had to finish his cup of coffee quickly and get on the trail before Sonic started any more conversations.
Despite the intention of being quick, it was about another ten minutes before the boys left, walking out the front door. Blaze watched from her spot, staring out the window, as their flashlights bounced around the trail board and the main trail around it, looking for any sign of tracks. They moved on quickly - which told her they probably didn't find much.
"You work on enhancing that footage, ok, Sarah?"
"On it." Sarah didn't want to question the feline, but she felt like Blaze had some sort of fear in her tone.
The cat was the most knowledgeable about the animals in the environment, so Sarah wasn't going to try and reassure her of much. After all, it could still be a predator of some sort. Or maybe it was a simple deer - who knew. Sarah surely did not, but if she knew anyone that could figure it out, it would be Blaze. All she had to do was find a way to up the contrast on the footage and get a better outline of the creature.
Still, both women had a nagging feeling in their gut that the answer wasn't going to be something they'd like.
~.~
"So, are we thinking it was a bear?"
Sonic had become one of his most competent volunteers as well as his most annoying, and Shadow wasn't sure how much longer he could take it. He groaned, standing up from his hunched over position while hacking at bushes nearly taller than him.
"We can't be sure. No tracks - hard to see on the camera. It's almost like the damn thing wasn't there or didn't want to be seen."
"What about like a herbivore, though? Aren't they tall?"
Shadow may or may not have let it slip along the morning hike to the tower that Sarah had caught the height of the creature. The idea had crossed his mind, but the image of the blob against the back door didn't look deer-like. "Could've been but…No. I don't think it was."
"What makes you say that?" Sonic still seemed to have the energy to talk as he hurled the vegetation out of his way and onto his growing pile of bushes. It was exhausting work, and he had brought two extra water bottles more than yesterday with him, but his brain was firing on all cylinders now. He had to know what Shadow was thinking - the guy had more experience out here. And if the time came to run, Sonic needed to make sure that he had a good head start.
"Hunch."
"So, you're not sure what it was." Sonic rolled his eyes as he trailed off in his sentence, glad to have his back turned from the hedgehog. He was facing to the west side - where the view always made him catch his breath and pause for a moment. God, if it weren't the current circumstance, he would have plopped a cabin on the spot. "Great."
"What was what?" Shadow called back at him in a challenging tone. He didn't need the volunteer to be competent, annoying, and sassy. That was like a triple threat, but one that a teenager would have. He wasn't here to babysit.
"Nothing," was his response.
The ebony hedgehog didn't want to entertain the nuisance anyway. He went back to his work - keeping his mind on the task rather well compared to the day before. The odor wasn't lingering around, and Sonic didn't actually stink that badly. The stench had been at the station in the morning though, so Sonic hadn't been hallucinating then, unfortunately. Shadow had hoped that the baths the hedgehog had taken just hadn't worked, but perhaps whatever visited just genuinely stank.
Shadow found his mind wandering. He didn't want to keep a conversation going with Sonic of all people - he was quickly gathering they were at opposite ends of a spectrum. What spectrum that was, he didn't know, but he would classify it as the 'liking people in general' spectrum. Something about the positive energy so early in the damn morning, the incessant talking and need-to-know-everything attitude - it was all so aggravating to him. But then again, Shadow was used to being by himself for this job. It was why it was his job in the first place.
"At least it doesn't stink here," he remarked in a friendly manner, trying to at least keep Sonic on his good side.
"Heh, yeah." Sonic put his hands on his hips as he tossed the clippers he was using to the ground. The gloves were getting itchy with his sweat. "Amy and my brother about rioted last night."
He got a small huff of a chuckle in response, and he figured that was an accomplishment.
There was a small portion of the blue blur that wanted to ask the other his thoughts on Amy, but he knew it probably wasn't professional. After all, Shadow seemed…mildly interested in Amy. Sonic pondered the thought yet again, and found a different way around the conversation. "How long have you known Sarah?"
"A while, I suppose. Why?"
"Just wonderin'."
Shadow sighed as he glanced over his shoulder to spy Sonic not really working. "If you're going to ask her out, just ask her out."
"Huh?" Sonic acted as if he were surprised, catching Shadow's judgemental look. He sheepishly picked up the cutters that Shadow eyed before looking at him in a reprimanding way. "Oh. Well, I mean - if you think she'd be interested, I mean if you know her well enough - "
"Just ask her out, Sonic. Worked well enough for Silver and Blaze without anyone caring." With that, Shadow turned around and went back to work at his side.
They'd made quite a lot of progress and it was a little past noon by then. The picnic table that Sonic had stumbled upon yesterday was completely excavated from the bushes. The trail back to the station was getting clearer by each day as they trampled through it. The tower itself still remained the biggest piece of work ahead of them - naturally.
"Amy's single, too, ya know." Sonic decided he'd just throw it out there. Who was he to stop Amy from getting one good date, at least? He was sure Shadow wasn't a complete psycho - if he was, he would've left Sonic on the mountain yesterday.
It was as if Shadow had choked on his spit, and that was exactly what he had done. The sound came so shocking to Sonic that he whipped around to make sure the ebony Mobian was alright. Shadow was fine, more or less. His eyes were a little wider than usual as he'd been caught off guard. He should've suspected that Sonic would bring up Amy - it seemed like the nuisance's duty.
Still, despite that he quite literally choked, Shadow cleared his throat and turned to Sonic in all seriousness and said, "I didn't ask."
"I know." Sonic was almost a little too quick to respond, and it irked Shadow. "But you didn't have to ask for all of us to know."
He winked.
The damn cadet dared to wink at him. Shadow could do nothing but blink at him as Sonic whistled and went back to work, twirling the clippers in his hands as if he had been landscaping all of his life. Shadow couldn't respond - he knew he shouldn't. Sonic would only give him a quick quip back. Still, he apparently couldn't stop the words from coming out of his mouth next:
"She's more obvious than me."
Sonic gave him a 'Really?' look. The two were caught in a silence that Shadow knew he was losing. He'd walked himself into this corner. Sonic had moved to let him out of it, and Shadow had walked away and then back into the corner all over again. In another sense, he was digging a hole and didn't know when to stop. All while Sonic had a smug grin on his muzzle.
"So, you're sayin' there's a chance."
His ears flapped back as he pointed at the younger male. "I'm not saying anything."
"Look, man, you don't have to be defensive. She's one of my best friends, and she's interested in you. Why not ask her out on at least one date? We're here the whole summer, nothing else to do but work," he motioned around them. "What's one date at the local cafe gonna do?" He raised his eyebrow at Shadow - a challenge in his own way.
The ranger was caught.
"Sarah opted to ask everyone out on a double date." He ratted out his coworker rather quickly - quicker than he thought he would at least.
Sonic's eyes lit up at the mention of Sarah. "Well, I'm not opposed. But with you on 24 hour watch right now, it's gonna have to wait until Silver gets back. Then he takes turns, doesn't he?"
"...Yes."
"Great! Let's do it! I'll ask Sarah - you ask Ames. Easy peasy, Shadow. See what you get done when you put your mind to it?" Sonic jested at him before going back to his side of the overgrown area, snipping the cutters at nothing but air while he laughed to himself.
Shadow frowned a little. "Easy peasy," he scoffed and turned back to his own work.
It'd been a while since he'd gone on a date. Hell, since he'd ask any girl out - the blind dates didn't count to him. Amy was intriguing, sure. She seemed nice, energetic, and bubbly. Complete opposite of Shadow, but he wasn't going to simply toss her aside as an option. If she was interested in him, then Sonic was right - what could one date possibly do?
No harm. He supposed.
Any tension from the morning news and Sonic's annoyance was set aside as a new thought entered Shadow's head: the young pink hedgehog that seemingly came into his life full force. He wasn't the religious type or spiritual in any sense, but he was sure Knuckles would've said something like, "Fate works in funny ways, Shadow." And it did indeed if it meant that Amy Rose was interested in him of all people. He found himself to be more secluded and rather lacking personality - he liked routine and the routine that came with his job was all he'd known for three years.
I'm going to have to start thinking of different things to talk about on a date. I think last time, I talked about snow for thirty minutes.
~.~
"Timothy!"
Blaze figured that if Amy was good for one thing, it was causing a ruckus. The pink hedgehog knew how to be loud, that's for sure. They were on the Ridge Trail and hadn't found any evidence of a campsite, which bothered the feline.
What also bothered her was the lack of animal tracks at the station. Once Amy had shown up for work, the sun was rising. It gave them the perfect opportunity to scout the perimeter of the building - despite Amy's complaints about the smell that she figured was because of Sonic. But even she had been confused because she thought the tomato juice bath had worked last night. Blaze had to fill her intern on the news so far quickly.
And Amy was not fond of any of it.
Flashback
"A bear? Here?!" She said as she pointed to the ground, scrunching her nose at the disgusting smell. The trail board was right next to her, and Blaze saw no signs of tracks anywhere - and they had scoured the area for thirty minutes.
"Potentially. But we have lost campers that never checked in last night that are more of a problem," Blaze spoke. She decided it was true. They didn't know what the visiting creature was - and there was no evidence around the back of the building or the trail board that gave her any hints. But they knew for certain that two campers never checked in with Sarah when they were supposed to.
"They probably got eaten," Amy mumbled to herself, but Blaze heard clearly.
She snapped her attention to the cadet. "Don't talk like that, please. They're real people with lives out there right now that could potentially be in trouble or danger. Whether it's related to this possible bear or not is another matter entirely that we will figure out once we get to Ridge Trail. Any signs of a predator in the area will be clear. Any signs of a destroyed campsite will also be clear to see. What we are not going to do is treat this with unprofessionalism and suggest the worst."
Amy's ears flipped back against her head as she twiddled her fingers together. She tugged at one of her long front quills nervously. "I'm sorry, Blaze. I didn't mean anything harsh by it - I just. Well, I'm scared of big game."
"I know," Blaze sighed. "A lot of people are. For now, we just need to keep a level head on our shoulders and head to Ridge Trail. I can fill you in on other information along the way. Keep an eye out."
End of Flashback
And they had left with that, but it was clear the pink hedgehog was jittery. She yelled and hollered for the campers - shouting their names. The only thing that responded was the echo of her own voice bouncing off the mountains that slowly surrounded them as they entered the canyon trails. Blaze didn't want to think that the campers went into the rigorous terrain of older trails, but it was possible.
According to Sarah's chart, they were two older folk that might've known of the older trails and flatter terrain at certain points throughout the canyon. Timothy and Martha were their names - and from what Blaze could gather from Sarah's quick search, the two were probably a married couple that visited the park quite often. So, they certainly knew their way around the trails and the park itself.
"TIMOTHY! MARTHA!"
"Save your breath, Amy," Blaze chimed in, quieting the younger hedgehog. "Your shouts will only echo. It can make it harder to figure out the direction it's coming from."
"I'm sorry," she apologized for the second time that morning, remaining quiet as she followed behind Blaze at a decent pace.
The purple cat wanted to reassure her colleague, but she wasn't sure what to say exactly. "Look, Amy, I know you didn't mean it this morning. I don't mean to be harsh on you. But these trails can get dangerous further in, and I need you at your best today. Not as just an intern, but as a person on the trails in the woods. One wrong turn and you could get lost in here."
"I understand, Blaze. Really. I just…" Amy sighed as she looked up at the pine trees that clouded over them. The trail narrowed as they sunk in lower ground - mud sloshing at their boots. "I had a bad experience when I was younger with a dog. It's made me wary of pretty much anything that has canines and eats meat."
"You seem to handle Sonic well," Blaze jested in response, which got her a slight laugh from Amy. "It's unfortunate to hear that, Amy. I had one bad camping experience with a bear when I was younger - if that's of some consolation to you."
"What happened?"
"Oh, it just visited our camp," Blaze waved the situation off, but Amy could sense the wavering tone in her voice. It almost cracked as she spoke.
Amy was curious - knowing there was certainly more to that story. But she decided not to ask if Blaze clearly wasn't willing to share. "So, where do you think Timothy and Martha went?"
"My guess is they camped on the Black River Flats up ahead about two miles. It used to be a popular campsite before the park bought the land near the lake southeast of here. It was closer to town, a shorter hike, a prettier view from the mountaintop - good location for camping with family. Eventually, this trail just got dangerous in the spring due to mudslides, too. We advise people not to take it when they check in with Sarah - there's also posters about it on the trail board. It's been like that for nearly ten years now. I'm sure most people who come here regularly know the dangers of these trails. Black River can overflow come this time of year when all the snow melts off. It's probably higher than usual now. I wouldn't be surprised if the flats were all soggy moss right now."
"So, you guess there. But what if they aren't there? What do we do?" Amy tried to keep up with Blaze as the mud got thicker. She grabbed a limb of a tree and pulled herself up to higher ground as Blaze seemed to have done several feet ago. She was learning by example.
Blaze sighed at the thought more so than anything. "I should correct myself then - my hope is Black River Flats. My actual thought is further north of here. There's probably still some snow further in the mountain range north of here, so the farthest they could have traveled would probably be Ginger's Fork."
"Where?" Amy quizzed. She had never gone this direction in her life. Every tree was brand new to her, much less the trail.
There was an exasperated laugh from Blaze as the elevation climbed. "You know, we're actually further north than Sonic and Shadow are right now. They're back that way," she turned to quickly gesture southwest. "Ginger's Fork is another flat area - difference is, the elevation climbs at certain points so that the excess snow from the mountain drains into Black River and misses the fork where Black River meets Ginger River."
"Do they just name these rivers after colors and food?" Amy grunted as she shook mud from her boot.
Another tired laugh. "Black River was named after the first game warden in this area way back when. He was famous to the locals for proving that trout lived in the Black River. For the longest time, people thought only minnows or bass came through. But no, trout. Obviously. Why the hell wouldn't trout be here?" she motioned around as if it was obvious.
Amy just decided to agree with her. "And Ginger's Fork? Ginger River? Someone really like ginger?" Amy suggested.
They rounded a bend as the trees disappeared into willows. The trail got muddier and Blaze got more concerned. The two slowed down, trying to walk on the outer, drier edges of the trail that had sunken with the water. Everything smelled like it had just rained, and the weather got significantly cooler. Despite that, Amy still wanted to take her jacket off.
"Ginger Valentine. Went missing up north in a small town back before we were even born. She was only eleven or so," Blaze spoke as she brushed branches aside. "They found her body near the river - it cuts through the town, but they found it miles out of town closer into the northern parts of the park. Renamed the river after about five years in her honor. Originally, it was all Dew River through here, including Black River, before topographers found the fork. Then it was all just called Ginger River for a while until the game warden. Fascinating stories - all a part of the park's history if you want to pick up one of the brochures."
At this point, Amy was sure Blaze was treating her like a tourist, but maybe it was the way Blaze had to handle the situation they were faced with. The trail was getting muddier and muddier - the point where the two stopped altogether. Blaze panted only a little compared to Amy, who seemed to be struggling catching her breath.
"Mud's thick," she managed out. Her boots were covered all the way to her knees. How was she going to clean that off? Amy groaned as she aimed for a wet rock to sit on. Blaze seemed fine to stand.
The cat twitched her tail a little as her ear flickered. Birds chirped and sang - it was calm. The weather was fine and the sun was out, but the willows and trees cast a shadow on the trail that made it difficult for anything to dry up. Blaze put her hands on her hips.
"So, they find the person who did it?"
"Huh?" Blaze turned to her cadet, almost forgetting she wasn't alone.
"The person who killed Ginger what's her name? They find who did it?" Amy asked curiously between taking sips from her water bottle. She put it back in its spot on the side of her backpack with ease.
"No." Blaze responded as she turned forward and stared at the ground and trail. "There are no tracks. It looks like it rained last night though in this area. Pretty good, too. They might've gotten to Black River Flats and been forced to stay, were washed into the river, or took to higher ground. Like Ginger's Fork. Now, with the trail like it is, it's going to take us a while to get to the flats."
"Alright," Amy groaned as she stood up, stretched her arms and legs, and prayed for strength. She looked at Blaze, who was still looking at the trail with a scrutinizing gaze. "Let's go then, before it gets to be too late."
She trudged bravely onwards. Blaze made a move to pick her boot up out of the mud, but she faltered for a second and had to catch her balance by grabbing onto a branch. She automatically stared at the ground, but it was what was in the mud that made her stare longer than usual.
That's a paw print. She kept her eyes on the singular paw print in the muddy trail - as if the creature that left it was going to go on the trail but decided against it because of the mud. Honestly, she couldn't blame it.
It's deep. Heavy. Four toes - dog, not bear. Wolf? Maybe. Wouldn't be what we saw on the cameras then - too tall.
A wave of relief washed through her. A singular wolf was probably just passing through the territory to find a pack to join. It wasn't the first time. Still, it was a deep paw print, which meant the wolf was heavy. She decided perhaps it slipped a bit into the mud, though, and that's what caused the heavier indentation.
"Blaze!" Amy called from around another bend in the trail. She sounded worried.
"Coming!"
With the thought out of her mind, Blaze went on - picking her feet up one by one with massive effort on her part. She figured Silver's suggestion to gain more muscle mass was probably decent advice considering how much of a twig she was. It made it all the more grueling work to sludge through the mud and onto the drier sides of the trails. Even then, it wasn't totally dry. They had to walk lightly enough to not sink too far into the ground.
By the time they had gone for another mile and a half or so, Amy was wiped out. She had to rest again as her knees ached. "I thought this was something that would happen with older age. Not like…right now."
"Exercise will do you good," Blaze found herself copying Silver's words. He constantly told her that - even when she wanted to lie in bed to sleep in on rare days she could and he wanted to do nothing but go to the gym bright and early. The man was absolutely crazy.
"Are we close? I feel like we're close. We've been walking for like thirty minutes," Amy glanced at her watch on her wrist. She frowned. "Twenty-five."
"We're close. Maybe another half mile or so."
"Ugh. It's almost 1:30. Blaze, what do we do if we can't find them at the flats?" She echoed her question from earlier. "It's getting late. We'll be walking all day to get back to the station."
"We will come back tomorrow then. When the ground is drier. Hopefully it doesn't rain again. We'll notify authorities of the missing campers. Protocol."
Suddenly, as if by some saving miracle - Blaze's radio beeped. She grabbed from her waist belt. "This is Iris Doe."
Amy raised an eyebrow. "We have nicknames?"
Blaze shrugged, speaking with the radio off to respond to her. "Sarah implemented it after a few teenagers with radios of their own had Silver off into Tikal knows where. They got in serious trouble, and we decided to not make fun of Sarah's proposal of nicknames,"
"Isn't that typical to have though?"
"Shadow never had a reason to. Apparently his mentor before him didn't either." She spoke back into the radio. "Hello?"
"Iris Doe, it's Sage Owl. What's your 20?"
It was clearly Sarah's voice speaking over the radio, but the sight before her made Amy grin with glee. Blaze didn't seem fond of the judgment on their nicknames - Sarah had given them all to the rangers except Silver, who had created his own. He and Sarah were the only ones interested in it besides some of the fall rangers that accompanied Shadow.
"South of Black River Flats."
"Uh…Campers have checked out. You can come back to the Den now."
There was yet another wave of relief that went through Blaze. The campers were safe. "10-4. Thanks."
"10-7." With that, the radio was silent as Sarah signed off.
The cat sighed. "Well, that answers our questions." She put her hands on her hips and tilted her head at Amy. "We can go now."
"I'm glad they're okay," Amy stood. "But where were they?"
"We'll have to get information from Sarah when we return to the station. My new guess is that they were never on Ridge Trail like they said they would be. Maybe the rain drove them to a different spot entirely. C'mon."
Blaze waved Amy on as they backtrack. Amy was a little disappointed to not have traveled all the way to see the flats, but given the current trail conditions, she wasn't disappointed for long. The pink hedgehog gladly followed the feline back south to the station.
"You know, while we're out here, we could cut through one of the older trails to the tower."
"Really?" Amy perked up at the thought of visiting the tower. Or maybe it was the chance to see Shadow. Despite them working at the same place now, she was beginning to realize that they unfortunately probably wouldn't see each other often. She figured it was going to kill any chance to have a proper conversation with the man, unless she caught him after work hours. "Is it safe?"
"It'll be out of this area - so it should be good to walk on compared to this," Blaze mentioned. "Besides, I want to see if the dead animal smell is still at the tower."
"Great…" Amy's ears drooped. She had forgotten all about the atrocious smell and its origin point. Now, she wasn't entirely sure she wanted to see the tower. "You know maybe I should - "
"You're coming along."
"Okay."
She didn't try to argue as Blaze picked up speed. The thought of fixating on her second task for the day made her kick it into gear, almost leaving the pink hedgehog in the dust. But if Sarah said the campers were safe, then Blaze could focus on the visiting creature. She had a good feeling about being able to track it successfully if she started at the tower.
Granted, she also had a bad feeling that suggested maybe it didn't want to be tracked.
Next update is Monday! Enjoy the weekend! :D
