----------------------- NYCTOPHOBIA: PARALYSIS OF LIGHT -----------------------
---------------------------------- * BY VISLER * ----------------------------------
---------------------------------- * CHAPTER 8 * ----------------------------------
-------------- * ---------------- * * * * * * ---------------- * --------------
He woke up with a jolt; alerted bya crash. His ruby eyes looked around the
circular room, confused. His gaze finally stopped on a grey hedgehog with
violet streaks in her bent quills. She swore silently and looked at him, a
sudden blush creeping across her face. She turned away to pick up shards of a
broken clay pot strewn across the cobble-stone floor. He blinked.
"I- I'm so sorry. I tried to be quiet. I didn't mean to wake you. Please
forgive me. I never ment to-"
"Don't worry about it," Shadow answered, holding his temper in check. The grey
hedgehog looked at him in surprise.
"Um... Who- Who are you?" she asked tilting her head to the side.
"Shadow..." the obsidian hedgehog answered. "Didn't Zylex tell you?"
"Oh yeah! Hee! I forgot. I'm Apollo."
"Hi." Shadow replied bluntly while looking around. He frowned. "Where are the
others?"
"Outside working. You'd be surprised on how much work we do to keep this place
standing. It's more than just sand and water, but anyway... they left you alone
to sleep because Kkaia said you might still be injured from your fall and that
you need to get more rest so that you can heal. I thought it was nice of them
to let you sleep in. If I were injured, they'd make me work whether I could
stand or-"
"You sure do talk a lot." Shadow interupted, standing. A small sting from his
leg made him wnce, but he ignored it to stretch. He suddenly yawned; baring his
white fangs in the process. Apollo looked up at him, but her violet eyes fell
on what stood behind.
"Get moving. Now!" The all-black hedgehog shouted, startling Shadow. Apollo
quickly moved to grab another clay pot and ran out of the room. Shadow scowled
at Omega. "What's your problem?"
"Likewise. What's yours?" Shadow countered. Omega shot him a dark look and
moved towards him.
"Do not try my patience, Outsider."
"Try some breath fresheners," Shadow said, waving his hand in fromt of his
face. Omega drew his hand back, preparing to hit him. Shadow smiled, eyes
falling on something behind the black hedgehog. "I wouldn't do that if I were
you."
"I don't need weak outsiders like you to tell me what to do!" Omega yelled,
backhanding Shadow. The black and red hedghog caught his arm easily and
flipped him before backing away.
"I'm not weak." Shadow whispered, crossing his arms and leaning against one of
the walls.
"It would appear that way." Trisca smiled, coming further into the room. She
watched as Omega stood up and brushed himself off. He looked at her. "Get back
to work and stop being so hard on Apollo."
"I wasn't being hard on her."
"Fooled me." Shadow muttered, closing his eyes.
"Nobody asked you!" Omega shouted turning to the black and red hedgehog.
"Omega, stop. Shadow, please..." Trisca watched as the obsidian hedgehog
shrugged. She sighed and looked back at her second in command. "Omega, please
help the others outside."
"Fine." He muttered turning away from Shadow. The obsidian hedgehog watched
as Omega moved past his queen almost ghost-like. He scowled.
"What was that all about?" Trisca asked after Omega disappeared through the
doorway. Shadow shrugged. Trisca frowned. "You don't like us do you?"
"I didn't say that." Shadow countered, moving away from the wall. He focused
his eyes on hers and scowled noticing the look in her eyes. Amy would give him
that same look when they were together. He turned away. "Stop."
"Stop what?" Shadow looked back at her.
"Stop falling in love with me." At this statement, Trisca looked down, eyes
swelling with tears. Shadow sighed, a pain growing in his heart. "Sorry, but I
already have someone."
"Then go back to her." Trisca replied running away from him. He closed his eyes
and looked to the ground.
"Sorry..."
"Whispers disappear within the wind and remain forgotten." Visler replied,
startling Shadow. He looked at her for a second before looking away. "What
troubles the lost soul?"
"I need to get out of her to warn my friends of danger, but I really want to
stay..."
"Does the option of 'return' live in your vocabulary?"
"Do you always speak in riddles and rhyme?" Shadow asked, looking up at her.
She smiled.
"I haven't spoken in rhyme for quite some time."
"You just did." Shadow smiled. The silver hedgehog smiled and shrugged.
"Do you wish to return to your outside world or not?" Zylex asked, leaning on
the door frame.
"I want to go back, yes... But I also want to stay here."
"Why?"
"Well, I want to go home to see Amy and my friends again and also to warn them,
but I want to stay here because I don't feel like an outcast here. I actually
fit in."
"Then we will await your return." Zylex smiled, motioning for Shadow to follow.
He shook his head, but came, hesitatingly, and was led outside. He blinked,
blinded by the sun. "We will aquire the help of Matrix, Tarno, Kkaia, and
Aurora. It is safer to travel together during the early hours of cool."
"Okay..."
* * * * *
She watched as seven moved out across the sand. One amung them held back as if
saying good-bye. She turned away, not wishing to see him. She had made a fool
of herself; falling in love with a dream someone else had had.
She sighed, walking to the small oasis their colony had been built near.
Sitting at the water's edge, she removed her shoes and dipped her feet into the
cool. An explosion made her ears perk up. She turned to see her colony in a
whirl of fire and smoke. She cried; running to her home.
Apollo lay unconcious on the sands leading further into the desert. The black
queen ran to her, but something grabbed her wrist; yanking her back, hard. She
screamed in pain, but the sound quickly died; covered by a black hand. She
couldn't breathe, and struggling only increased the pressure on her wrist.
Her head was suddenly snapped to the side, and her world went black.
* * * * *
Dry winds brought life to the red sand, moving it like ghosts dancing off the
dunes. The sun beat down on them, cooking them in an oven of sand and dust, but
none of them acted to notice. A few panted lightly, stressed from the heat he
was oblivious to. he felt sorry for them, but didn't move to speak. Words
weren't his friend.
Zylex suddenly stopped; haulting the caravan in an instant. They watched her;
curious. She turned to look back from whence they came, eyes distant and
saddened. A silver tear fell from her dark eye; falling to disappear into the
sand. Forgotten. Abruptly, she turned away, once again leading the caravan
across the desert.
He scowled, "What was that about?"
"She had a vision," Tarno answered, crossing his arms behind his head and
reminding Shadow of his cobalt friend. The obsidian hedgehog shook his head.
"Doesn't she tell you about them?"
"Yeah... When she wants us to know," the teal hedgehog replied. An eagle cried,
causing him to suddenly stop. Aurora plowed into him and the rest of the
caravan waited to see what was wrong.
"Why did you stop?" Aurora complained, rubbing her chin.
"Something's coming." Tarno said looking out across the sands. His ears fell
back, laying flat against his head. "Something... dark."
* * * * *
He had searched the desert over since the night he had scanned the falling
object. Though his censors couldn't detect much from the object, he had been
able to see the readings of a chaos emerald; fiant, but there. All he needed
now was to find the chaos emerald and see if it was one of the nine his master
required, then he could return.
He stopped suddenly; censors focussing in a single direction instead of many.
Two of the black gems were making their way towards him. He keyed in on their
location and reopened his jet thrusteres; skimming across the sand to meet them
as they came. A caravan of seven lifeforms appeared over a large dune. He
instantly picked out the one with both gems, a black hedgehog with red streaks,
and charged.
* * * * *
Tarno turned to the oncoming threat and growled. He croutched as if readying a
pounce and waited. A black machine shot ofer the top of a near dune, heading
strait for him. His eyes sparked and shifted to white, waiting as the machine
neared.
The hedgehog-shaped machine was close enough for Tarno to see its lifeless eyes.
He finally pounced; lightning crawling up his body in mid-air, transforming him.
He landed on the machine, pinning it to the ground. But he was no longer a
hedgehog. The leaden weight of a teal and grey tiger held the machine at bay.
* * * * *
He stopped suddenly, cuasing a certain blue speed demon to plow into him. He
growled and pointed ahead. His folowers moved their gaze to settle on what they
had been dierected to: an almost transparent boundary erupting with lightning
and fire.
"Pass through the wall to get to the Forbidden Zone," the red echidna replied
quickly, turning to leave.
"Hey, Knux..." Sonic started. The echidna turned to him. The hedgehog smiled.
"Thanks."
"Good luck," Knuckles winked. He ran off, disappearing into the jungle.
"Let's go." Epsilion whispered, a hint of worry in his voice. Sonic nodded and
watched as the navy hedgehog placed his hand on the wall. The lighning and fire
scattered away as if in fear. He breatehd in and stepped through, disappearing
from view.
"I'm gonna hate this..." Sonicmuttered, copying Epsilion's actions. He shivered,
passing through the wall. he felt dizzy, but it passed after a minute and the
blue hedgehog found himself atop a large, red sand dune. He blinked and looked
up. His jaw dropped.
-------------- * ---------------- * * * * * * ---------------- * --------------
Author's Note: I would have put this up a while ago, but I got in trouble with
the bot (FFN's Police force) because of one of my stories. For those of you who
liked 'Roses Sweetened by the Light of Shadows" please refer to my webpage to
read it from now on. Thanks.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed chapter 8. It got a little long, didn't it? Oh well...
Please don't forget to R/R/F!
* * * * *
AFTER BURNER:
I'm planning to write a history of the Forbids and the Forgotten Nine (You'll
find out what I mean later in the story). Stay tuned for the third and final
part of the Project Series, 'NEMESIS PROJECT: THE STORY OF NINE'.
---------------------------------- * BY VISLER * ----------------------------------
---------------------------------- * CHAPTER 8 * ----------------------------------
-------------- * ---------------- * * * * * * ---------------- * --------------
He woke up with a jolt; alerted bya crash. His ruby eyes looked around the
circular room, confused. His gaze finally stopped on a grey hedgehog with
violet streaks in her bent quills. She swore silently and looked at him, a
sudden blush creeping across her face. She turned away to pick up shards of a
broken clay pot strewn across the cobble-stone floor. He blinked.
"I- I'm so sorry. I tried to be quiet. I didn't mean to wake you. Please
forgive me. I never ment to-"
"Don't worry about it," Shadow answered, holding his temper in check. The grey
hedgehog looked at him in surprise.
"Um... Who- Who are you?" she asked tilting her head to the side.
"Shadow..." the obsidian hedgehog answered. "Didn't Zylex tell you?"
"Oh yeah! Hee! I forgot. I'm Apollo."
"Hi." Shadow replied bluntly while looking around. He frowned. "Where are the
others?"
"Outside working. You'd be surprised on how much work we do to keep this place
standing. It's more than just sand and water, but anyway... they left you alone
to sleep because Kkaia said you might still be injured from your fall and that
you need to get more rest so that you can heal. I thought it was nice of them
to let you sleep in. If I were injured, they'd make me work whether I could
stand or-"
"You sure do talk a lot." Shadow interupted, standing. A small sting from his
leg made him wnce, but he ignored it to stretch. He suddenly yawned; baring his
white fangs in the process. Apollo looked up at him, but her violet eyes fell
on what stood behind.
"Get moving. Now!" The all-black hedgehog shouted, startling Shadow. Apollo
quickly moved to grab another clay pot and ran out of the room. Shadow scowled
at Omega. "What's your problem?"
"Likewise. What's yours?" Shadow countered. Omega shot him a dark look and
moved towards him.
"Do not try my patience, Outsider."
"Try some breath fresheners," Shadow said, waving his hand in fromt of his
face. Omega drew his hand back, preparing to hit him. Shadow smiled, eyes
falling on something behind the black hedgehog. "I wouldn't do that if I were
you."
"I don't need weak outsiders like you to tell me what to do!" Omega yelled,
backhanding Shadow. The black and red hedghog caught his arm easily and
flipped him before backing away.
"I'm not weak." Shadow whispered, crossing his arms and leaning against one of
the walls.
"It would appear that way." Trisca smiled, coming further into the room. She
watched as Omega stood up and brushed himself off. He looked at her. "Get back
to work and stop being so hard on Apollo."
"I wasn't being hard on her."
"Fooled me." Shadow muttered, closing his eyes.
"Nobody asked you!" Omega shouted turning to the black and red hedgehog.
"Omega, stop. Shadow, please..." Trisca watched as the obsidian hedgehog
shrugged. She sighed and looked back at her second in command. "Omega, please
help the others outside."
"Fine." He muttered turning away from Shadow. The obsidian hedgehog watched
as Omega moved past his queen almost ghost-like. He scowled.
"What was that all about?" Trisca asked after Omega disappeared through the
doorway. Shadow shrugged. Trisca frowned. "You don't like us do you?"
"I didn't say that." Shadow countered, moving away from the wall. He focused
his eyes on hers and scowled noticing the look in her eyes. Amy would give him
that same look when they were together. He turned away. "Stop."
"Stop what?" Shadow looked back at her.
"Stop falling in love with me." At this statement, Trisca looked down, eyes
swelling with tears. Shadow sighed, a pain growing in his heart. "Sorry, but I
already have someone."
"Then go back to her." Trisca replied running away from him. He closed his eyes
and looked to the ground.
"Sorry..."
"Whispers disappear within the wind and remain forgotten." Visler replied,
startling Shadow. He looked at her for a second before looking away. "What
troubles the lost soul?"
"I need to get out of her to warn my friends of danger, but I really want to
stay..."
"Does the option of 'return' live in your vocabulary?"
"Do you always speak in riddles and rhyme?" Shadow asked, looking up at her.
She smiled.
"I haven't spoken in rhyme for quite some time."
"You just did." Shadow smiled. The silver hedgehog smiled and shrugged.
"Do you wish to return to your outside world or not?" Zylex asked, leaning on
the door frame.
"I want to go back, yes... But I also want to stay here."
"Why?"
"Well, I want to go home to see Amy and my friends again and also to warn them,
but I want to stay here because I don't feel like an outcast here. I actually
fit in."
"Then we will await your return." Zylex smiled, motioning for Shadow to follow.
He shook his head, but came, hesitatingly, and was led outside. He blinked,
blinded by the sun. "We will aquire the help of Matrix, Tarno, Kkaia, and
Aurora. It is safer to travel together during the early hours of cool."
"Okay..."
* * * * *
She watched as seven moved out across the sand. One amung them held back as if
saying good-bye. She turned away, not wishing to see him. She had made a fool
of herself; falling in love with a dream someone else had had.
She sighed, walking to the small oasis their colony had been built near.
Sitting at the water's edge, she removed her shoes and dipped her feet into the
cool. An explosion made her ears perk up. She turned to see her colony in a
whirl of fire and smoke. She cried; running to her home.
Apollo lay unconcious on the sands leading further into the desert. The black
queen ran to her, but something grabbed her wrist; yanking her back, hard. She
screamed in pain, but the sound quickly died; covered by a black hand. She
couldn't breathe, and struggling only increased the pressure on her wrist.
Her head was suddenly snapped to the side, and her world went black.
* * * * *
Dry winds brought life to the red sand, moving it like ghosts dancing off the
dunes. The sun beat down on them, cooking them in an oven of sand and dust, but
none of them acted to notice. A few panted lightly, stressed from the heat he
was oblivious to. he felt sorry for them, but didn't move to speak. Words
weren't his friend.
Zylex suddenly stopped; haulting the caravan in an instant. They watched her;
curious. She turned to look back from whence they came, eyes distant and
saddened. A silver tear fell from her dark eye; falling to disappear into the
sand. Forgotten. Abruptly, she turned away, once again leading the caravan
across the desert.
He scowled, "What was that about?"
"She had a vision," Tarno answered, crossing his arms behind his head and
reminding Shadow of his cobalt friend. The obsidian hedgehog shook his head.
"Doesn't she tell you about them?"
"Yeah... When she wants us to know," the teal hedgehog replied. An eagle cried,
causing him to suddenly stop. Aurora plowed into him and the rest of the
caravan waited to see what was wrong.
"Why did you stop?" Aurora complained, rubbing her chin.
"Something's coming." Tarno said looking out across the sands. His ears fell
back, laying flat against his head. "Something... dark."
* * * * *
He had searched the desert over since the night he had scanned the falling
object. Though his censors couldn't detect much from the object, he had been
able to see the readings of a chaos emerald; fiant, but there. All he needed
now was to find the chaos emerald and see if it was one of the nine his master
required, then he could return.
He stopped suddenly; censors focussing in a single direction instead of many.
Two of the black gems were making their way towards him. He keyed in on their
location and reopened his jet thrusteres; skimming across the sand to meet them
as they came. A caravan of seven lifeforms appeared over a large dune. He
instantly picked out the one with both gems, a black hedgehog with red streaks,
and charged.
* * * * *
Tarno turned to the oncoming threat and growled. He croutched as if readying a
pounce and waited. A black machine shot ofer the top of a near dune, heading
strait for him. His eyes sparked and shifted to white, waiting as the machine
neared.
The hedgehog-shaped machine was close enough for Tarno to see its lifeless eyes.
He finally pounced; lightning crawling up his body in mid-air, transforming him.
He landed on the machine, pinning it to the ground. But he was no longer a
hedgehog. The leaden weight of a teal and grey tiger held the machine at bay.
* * * * *
He stopped suddenly, cuasing a certain blue speed demon to plow into him. He
growled and pointed ahead. His folowers moved their gaze to settle on what they
had been dierected to: an almost transparent boundary erupting with lightning
and fire.
"Pass through the wall to get to the Forbidden Zone," the red echidna replied
quickly, turning to leave.
"Hey, Knux..." Sonic started. The echidna turned to him. The hedgehog smiled.
"Thanks."
"Good luck," Knuckles winked. He ran off, disappearing into the jungle.
"Let's go." Epsilion whispered, a hint of worry in his voice. Sonic nodded and
watched as the navy hedgehog placed his hand on the wall. The lighning and fire
scattered away as if in fear. He breatehd in and stepped through, disappearing
from view.
"I'm gonna hate this..." Sonicmuttered, copying Epsilion's actions. He shivered,
passing through the wall. he felt dizzy, but it passed after a minute and the
blue hedgehog found himself atop a large, red sand dune. He blinked and looked
up. His jaw dropped.
-------------- * ---------------- * * * * * * ---------------- * --------------
Author's Note: I would have put this up a while ago, but I got in trouble with
the bot (FFN's Police force) because of one of my stories. For those of you who
liked 'Roses Sweetened by the Light of Shadows" please refer to my webpage to
read it from now on. Thanks.
Anyway, I hope you enjoyed chapter 8. It got a little long, didn't it? Oh well...
Please don't forget to R/R/F!
* * * * *
AFTER BURNER:
I'm planning to write a history of the Forbids and the Forgotten Nine (You'll
find out what I mean later in the story). Stay tuned for the third and final
part of the Project Series, 'NEMESIS PROJECT: THE STORY OF NINE'.