Chapter 30
Memories
Wow, what Grandpa said really was true. Big felt so much better now!
After the echidna and all those other animals left, Big was completely confused. And what had Grandpa told him to do when he didn't know which way was up? Why, take a hike in the woods! And for some reason, everything made sense! Something weird was happening that he didn't need to be a part of. So why bother with it? If it bugged him or Froggy again, he'd handle it.
"Right, Froggy?" he asked his amphibian friend. A loud, crackling croak came in response-Big generally associated that with "Yeah." A second or two more and it'd be "Hell yeah." Big smiled and decided to head back home.
The only problem was, he forgot which direction home was. He had been so wrapped up in thought (Who ever figured that would happen? Not Dad, that was for sure) that he hadn't paid attention to where he was going. He was lost!
But Big didn't worry. He was the true blue American outdoorsman. Well, not necessarily American-he was actually born just inside Canada-but still a skilled one. The Boy Scouts had nothing on him.
It was already pitch-black out. He wouldn't have enough time to find his way back now. He'd have to wait 'til morning. So he decided to set up camp. He broke off scores of tree branches while Froggy dug up a fire pit. But when Big got back with nearly thirty pounds worth of sticks, the pit was only about three inches wide and not much more deep.
"Froggy," Big sighed, shaking his head. "What am I going to do with you?" He began to help Froggy with the pit. Once it was completely dug up, the sun had almost completely set. It was time to get the fire started. He set up the sticks in a large "log cabin" formation, very tall, in hopes that the fire signal would go high enough for someone to see in case he still couldn't find his way back tomorrow. Now, the tricky part-actually getting the fire to start. Now, what was the most effective way again? He knew that movie cliché "rub two sticks together" didn't work as well, but that might be the only choice here. But first, he needed to try something else. He grabbed a couple rocks and surrounded the fire pit with them. Then, he picked one branch and repeatedly struck the rock with it. Nothing. Big sighed and began rubbing two sticks together above the tall tower. Nothing still. But instantly, the tower lit in a quick blaze.
And a man's face appeared behind it. Hair a charcoal brown, eyes the color of the fire, and a very unfriendly expression.
"Is that really the only thing you could think of?" the face growled. "C'mon, I never went camping and I still know more survival skills than you." "Wh…who are you?" stuttered Big.
"Sure, you can set up a fire, barely. But can you escape from a mountain lion? Do you know how to fend off a shark? Defeat a bear? Survive outside in sub-zero weather for two weeks? I did it all, and I can assure you it wasn't because I decided to go for a little nature walk."
"Who are you?" Big repeated. Froggy got out a tiny croak.
"You know me, you tubby tabby." Big's memory flashed an image of the bounty hunter.
"You! What are you doing here?"
"It wasn't to roast marshmallows. I want you to come with me." "Why?" "It involves Sonic."
The man began to turn around, then slowly returned his gaze to Big. "By the way, you didn't start that fire yourself, either," he muttered. A smile graced his face as he held up his sword, glowing a dark crimson red.
And suddenly, the man simply turned and walked back, as if he expected Big to follow him. But then, Big thought for a minute. He owed a lot to Sonic and his friends-they'd helped him find Froggy not once, but twice. He needed to give something back. If this guy was telling the truth…But wait-wasn't that guy after Sonic? Maybe he was trying to trick him into giving more information on where he was! He had to find out what was going on. So he did exactly what the warrior wanted-he followed.
Espio scaled the ceiling. It was the only choice. The floor and walls were completely filled with spikes. He was so lucky he had developed his skills so well, otherwise he would have been stuck back at the start. Or dead, thanks to…
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
The rockslide. The noise from inside the cave continued. Reason enough to keep going.
It took all his strength to keep him on the ceiling. Upper body weakening, arms straining to hold on. Certain death lay below. Just a few more feet, he told himself. It couldn't be too much longer, could it?
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
He hoped Mighty and the others were okay. Oh crap, Vector and Charmy still didn't know about it, unless they were already experiencing it.
Here we go, a flat area not too far ahead. Spikes now rested on the ceiling before him. Quick, before you fall!
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
It was like a combination of climbing before and climbing now. Every time he moved it was like trying to lift a twenty ton weight with one arm. Mighty just might be able to pull that off, a long shot, now that Espio thought about it. Just make it to the end and you'll be able to run, he insisted on himself. It won't be much longer now.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
Now, time to eyeball his landing. If he let go too soon, he'd still hit the spikes. He had to be sure he was completely over the tunnel of points. But if he stayed too long, he'd climb into another path of spikes. He would have to let go at the perfect point, not too short, not too far.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
Espio's left arm gave out.
It hung limp at his side as only his right arm held him up. He needed to pull off something big to make this work.
He heard a crashing sound far away, followed by a crackling sound too similar to lightning for his comfort.
Espio's right arm gave out.
Once he reentered his car…
"What did he say?" Amy piped up. No wonder the hedgehog didn't appear to like her. Before you could do anything, she needed to know everything.
"He's coming," he mumbled. His immediate stoppage of speech was a good enough hint, even for Amy, that he didn't want to be bothered right now.
He popped open his storage closet. Normally, he'd call it a glove compartment, just like everyone else, but RaGiff wouldn't hear of it.
"This is my own creation," he'd said. "My baby! I can't call it just some "glove compartment," man!"
So, just to spite him…
"RaGiff, I'm using you're cool little glove compartment now." "I knew that was coming soon," RaGiff growled.
Blade poked through a couple useless papers and warrants until he found…
The envelope.
His last memories. Of her.
God, how long had it been?
A couple photos, one small, one large, fell out of the envelope. He picked them up and looked at them.
The first one was actually a Christmas card. On the left was a little "Merry Christmas" icon along with a quick personal message from her. "Thanks for everything we've had, Leo. Happy holidays! Love, Cassie."
On the right side was an absolutely stunning picture of her. Long brown hair combed straight down, pure white smile, slightly tanned skin, beautiful blue eyes…God, those eyes…So cheerful.
"She's beautiful," a voice from behind commented. Amy.
Normally, Blade would have brushed her off, yelled at her, something. But now, he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he liked it.
"Yeah," he murmured. "Yeah…"
"So you're real name is Leo?" No response from Blade. He had already started looking at another picture.
This one was a picture of them on their summer vacation, just a few months before he was drafted into the army. They stood in front of a flat, grassy field, Cassie's head resting on his shoulder, smiling. At that time, she had dyed her hair red with a solid silver streak along the side. "You two look so happy," Amy said. "Together." Blade simply nodded this time. "It's the last time I remember…with her." "What happened?" Blade still did not look at Amy. "I…left…"
His head came closer to his body.
"War…I came back and…"
He stopped. His head now rested on his hand. Trembling… Amy put her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. She knew that even the toughest of people had a heart, a soul. He was almost like Shadow, in an odd way.
"Have to find her…" "I'm so sorry," Amy began.
"You can't understand…I'm sorry…" Blade rubbed his hand against his face, as if to wipe away tears. "We're not done yet." He was slowly regaining his composure. "Mighty, which direction did the hedgehog go in?" "Sonic? He and Knuckles went near that mountain over there, but that's all I saw," the armadillo answered. "But we can't go there, the rockslide-" "No rockslide," he told Mighty, "is getting in our way. We're running low on time, and if we're gonna stop that Eggman person…" His voice trailed off as something came to light.
"Did you say Knuckles?"
Memories
Wow, what Grandpa said really was true. Big felt so much better now!
After the echidna and all those other animals left, Big was completely confused. And what had Grandpa told him to do when he didn't know which way was up? Why, take a hike in the woods! And for some reason, everything made sense! Something weird was happening that he didn't need to be a part of. So why bother with it? If it bugged him or Froggy again, he'd handle it.
"Right, Froggy?" he asked his amphibian friend. A loud, crackling croak came in response-Big generally associated that with "Yeah." A second or two more and it'd be "Hell yeah." Big smiled and decided to head back home.
The only problem was, he forgot which direction home was. He had been so wrapped up in thought (Who ever figured that would happen? Not Dad, that was for sure) that he hadn't paid attention to where he was going. He was lost!
But Big didn't worry. He was the true blue American outdoorsman. Well, not necessarily American-he was actually born just inside Canada-but still a skilled one. The Boy Scouts had nothing on him.
It was already pitch-black out. He wouldn't have enough time to find his way back now. He'd have to wait 'til morning. So he decided to set up camp. He broke off scores of tree branches while Froggy dug up a fire pit. But when Big got back with nearly thirty pounds worth of sticks, the pit was only about three inches wide and not much more deep.
"Froggy," Big sighed, shaking his head. "What am I going to do with you?" He began to help Froggy with the pit. Once it was completely dug up, the sun had almost completely set. It was time to get the fire started. He set up the sticks in a large "log cabin" formation, very tall, in hopes that the fire signal would go high enough for someone to see in case he still couldn't find his way back tomorrow. Now, the tricky part-actually getting the fire to start. Now, what was the most effective way again? He knew that movie cliché "rub two sticks together" didn't work as well, but that might be the only choice here. But first, he needed to try something else. He grabbed a couple rocks and surrounded the fire pit with them. Then, he picked one branch and repeatedly struck the rock with it. Nothing. Big sighed and began rubbing two sticks together above the tall tower. Nothing still. But instantly, the tower lit in a quick blaze.
And a man's face appeared behind it. Hair a charcoal brown, eyes the color of the fire, and a very unfriendly expression.
"Is that really the only thing you could think of?" the face growled. "C'mon, I never went camping and I still know more survival skills than you." "Wh…who are you?" stuttered Big.
"Sure, you can set up a fire, barely. But can you escape from a mountain lion? Do you know how to fend off a shark? Defeat a bear? Survive outside in sub-zero weather for two weeks? I did it all, and I can assure you it wasn't because I decided to go for a little nature walk."
"Who are you?" Big repeated. Froggy got out a tiny croak.
"You know me, you tubby tabby." Big's memory flashed an image of the bounty hunter.
"You! What are you doing here?"
"It wasn't to roast marshmallows. I want you to come with me." "Why?" "It involves Sonic."
The man began to turn around, then slowly returned his gaze to Big. "By the way, you didn't start that fire yourself, either," he muttered. A smile graced his face as he held up his sword, glowing a dark crimson red.
And suddenly, the man simply turned and walked back, as if he expected Big to follow him. But then, Big thought for a minute. He owed a lot to Sonic and his friends-they'd helped him find Froggy not once, but twice. He needed to give something back. If this guy was telling the truth…But wait-wasn't that guy after Sonic? Maybe he was trying to trick him into giving more information on where he was! He had to find out what was going on. So he did exactly what the warrior wanted-he followed.
Espio scaled the ceiling. It was the only choice. The floor and walls were completely filled with spikes. He was so lucky he had developed his skills so well, otherwise he would have been stuck back at the start. Or dead, thanks to…
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
The rockslide. The noise from inside the cave continued. Reason enough to keep going.
It took all his strength to keep him on the ceiling. Upper body weakening, arms straining to hold on. Certain death lay below. Just a few more feet, he told himself. It couldn't be too much longer, could it?
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
He hoped Mighty and the others were okay. Oh crap, Vector and Charmy still didn't know about it, unless they were already experiencing it.
Here we go, a flat area not too far ahead. Spikes now rested on the ceiling before him. Quick, before you fall!
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
It was like a combination of climbing before and climbing now. Every time he moved it was like trying to lift a twenty ton weight with one arm. Mighty just might be able to pull that off, a long shot, now that Espio thought about it. Just make it to the end and you'll be able to run, he insisted on himself. It won't be much longer now.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
Now, time to eyeball his landing. If he let go too soon, he'd still hit the spikes. He had to be sure he was completely over the tunnel of points. But if he stayed too long, he'd climb into another path of spikes. He would have to let go at the perfect point, not too short, not too far.
Rumble, rumble, rumble…
Espio's left arm gave out.
It hung limp at his side as only his right arm held him up. He needed to pull off something big to make this work.
He heard a crashing sound far away, followed by a crackling sound too similar to lightning for his comfort.
Espio's right arm gave out.
Once he reentered his car…
"What did he say?" Amy piped up. No wonder the hedgehog didn't appear to like her. Before you could do anything, she needed to know everything.
"He's coming," he mumbled. His immediate stoppage of speech was a good enough hint, even for Amy, that he didn't want to be bothered right now.
He popped open his storage closet. Normally, he'd call it a glove compartment, just like everyone else, but RaGiff wouldn't hear of it.
"This is my own creation," he'd said. "My baby! I can't call it just some "glove compartment," man!"
So, just to spite him…
"RaGiff, I'm using you're cool little glove compartment now." "I knew that was coming soon," RaGiff growled.
Blade poked through a couple useless papers and warrants until he found…
The envelope.
His last memories. Of her.
God, how long had it been?
A couple photos, one small, one large, fell out of the envelope. He picked them up and looked at them.
The first one was actually a Christmas card. On the left was a little "Merry Christmas" icon along with a quick personal message from her. "Thanks for everything we've had, Leo. Happy holidays! Love, Cassie."
On the right side was an absolutely stunning picture of her. Long brown hair combed straight down, pure white smile, slightly tanned skin, beautiful blue eyes…God, those eyes…So cheerful.
"She's beautiful," a voice from behind commented. Amy.
Normally, Blade would have brushed her off, yelled at her, something. But now, he didn't seem to mind. In fact, he liked it.
"Yeah," he murmured. "Yeah…"
"So you're real name is Leo?" No response from Blade. He had already started looking at another picture.
This one was a picture of them on their summer vacation, just a few months before he was drafted into the army. They stood in front of a flat, grassy field, Cassie's head resting on his shoulder, smiling. At that time, she had dyed her hair red with a solid silver streak along the side. "You two look so happy," Amy said. "Together." Blade simply nodded this time. "It's the last time I remember…with her." "What happened?" Blade still did not look at Amy. "I…left…"
His head came closer to his body.
"War…I came back and…"
He stopped. His head now rested on his hand. Trembling… Amy put her hand on his shoulder, trying to comfort him. She knew that even the toughest of people had a heart, a soul. He was almost like Shadow, in an odd way.
"Have to find her…" "I'm so sorry," Amy began.
"You can't understand…I'm sorry…" Blade rubbed his hand against his face, as if to wipe away tears. "We're not done yet." He was slowly regaining his composure. "Mighty, which direction did the hedgehog go in?" "Sonic? He and Knuckles went near that mountain over there, but that's all I saw," the armadillo answered. "But we can't go there, the rockslide-" "No rockslide," he told Mighty, "is getting in our way. We're running low on time, and if we're gonna stop that Eggman person…" His voice trailed off as something came to light.
"Did you say Knuckles?"