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Disclaimer: Sonic the Hedgehog is © Sonic Team / Ashura the Hedgehog & the Uni are © me
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9: City of the Uni
Dusk had come to Station Square, and Sonic and Ashura now found themselves back inside Sakana's cave.
The woman knelt in the center of the room and began vigorously sweeping sand out of her way, causing it to rise in clouds around her. Sonic's face wrinkled and he took a step back, while Ashura, clutching the Enjeru Rod in one hand, stood dumbly and rubbed at his eyes.
Now, in the floor, a barely noticeable circular outline was made visible. "Trapdoor?" Sonic asked. Sakana nodded. Then she pressed the palms of her hands against the ground inside the circle, and waited a few seconds. A glittering purple light shone out from under her spread fingers. Sonic gasped a little. Ashura stared in amazement, his mouth hanging half open. When Sakana stood up, the circular stone panel stuck to her hands and lifted up easily, revealing a dark hole in the cave floor. "Uh . . . Women and children first?" Sonic mumbled.
"Very well, Sonic," Sakana said, tossing the stone aside, "but you must go next. You are, after all, a child."
"No I am not!" Sonic cried. "I'm seventeen! That's not a child! That's almost an adult!" Sakana rolled her eyes and dove headfirst down the hole. "Sakana!" Ashura gasped.
Sonic took a step forward, hesitated, and glanced back at Ashura. "Well . . ." Ashura said softly, "you heard her. You're next." Grumbling under his breath, Sonic sat down, scooted over the edge of the hole and disappeared inside.
Ashura got on his hands and knees and peered over the edge of the hole. It was small, and dark. Small spaces were bad enough, but if they were dark . . . "I . . . I have to be brave," Ashura said to himself. "Afraid of the dark, ha! There's nothing to be afraid of. I'm a grown-up!" But he was still rather cautious as he lowered himself into the hole. He felt nothing beneath him; no footholds, so he would just have to let go and trust that he wouldn't get hurt.
Ashura sank slowly for at least thirty feet after letting go of the edge of the hole. As he neared the end of the vertical tunnel, he could see a faint bluish light below him.
And before he knew it, he was out of the narrow tunnel. But he wasn't drifting anymore. He was falling. Falling through air.
That's not right! There can't be air underwater!
But there was, and he fell through at least fifteen feet of it until he hit water again. He'd landed in a large pool, probably thirty or more feet across and twenty feet deep. Ashura flailed his arms and legs frantically to get to the surface again.
Once Ashura's head was clear of the water, he called out, "Guys? Where are---" And then he stopped with his mouth still open. The pool was in an enormous undersea cavern, in which the small city resided.
A main "road" through the city was discernible: a wide stone path dusted over with a bit of sand and lined with tall torches, whose stands were almost translucent, that gave off a sky blue glow.
The city was made up of little ten-by-ten huts, constructed from coral, driftwood and sea grasses, that appeared to have three or four rooms. There were a few larger buildings scattered here and there: three stories at the most, some reinforced with stone.
There were sea plants growing in the cavern called giant tree coral: multicolored branches of coral that grew to staggering heights and often fanned out at their tops, resembling trees. These corals could have been passed off as a different sort of skyscraper.
The tallest structure in the city was quite far back in the cavern, at the very end of the city, but it still stood out from the shadows due to its size. It appeared to be a miniature castle; one hundred-twenty feet high or more. From what Ashura could see, it had three towers with multiple balconies on each, and a long staircase with two gates leading up to its open entrance.
It's a real castle. Just like Sakana said. Princesses and kings and everything.
Ashura heard a soft whoosh of water as something passed him. He jerked his head in time to catch a glimpse of several shadowy creatures darting towards the city. When they climbed out of the pool, Ashura was astonished to see that they were children, and they looked like Sakana.
There's a whole city of Sakana creatures!
"Ashura!" Sakana called cheerfully. "Come over here before a shark gets you!" That started Ashura swimming. He dog-paddled as rapidly as he could, so that he was out of breath by the time he reached the city's edge. Chuckling, Sakana helped him out of the pool. "I was kidding. I don't think any sharks can get in here."
"Hey, this is a big-ass cave," Sonic pointed out. "Ya never know. So what the heck is this; Atlantis?"
"No, Sonic," said Sakana. "This is my home; the City of the Uni." Instead of pronouncing it oo-nee, as she did her last name, she pronounced the city's name oo-nai. "That sounds plural," Sonic observed. "So this city is full of . . . um . . . can I ask what you are?"
"As my name states: we are the Uni. An ancient race of amphibious people, dating back to the dinosaurs."
"So, are you guys, like . . . half-human?" Sonic asked. "You look a lot like them."
"We are echinoid, though I suppose we could be considered anthropomorphic as well."
"Riiiight," Sonic said, through trying to make sense of this. Then he turned again and focused on the municipality before them.
Up close, Sonic and Ashura could now see the inhabitants of the city in the insufficient light. They all looked like relatives of Sakana. They wore loose garments: mostly dresses, kimonos or robes; had pale, slanted eyes, grayish skin, and spines growing out of their backs. "Incredible," Ashura murmured. "Hey, does anyone else know about this?" Sonic asked, looking up at Sakana. She shook her head slightly, and a bit of the liveliness disappeared from her face again. "To the rest of the world, we are a myth."
"Why is there air?" Ashura spoke up out of nowhere. Sonic glanced at him, then narrowed his eyes at Sakana. "Yeah. This isn't right. The water just ended back in the tunnel."
"I will explain later; I promise. Follow me now. Mother wishes to meet with us."
Sonic and Ashura followed Sakana down the main path through the city, but their minds weren't on meeting her mother. They stared in wonder at the city and its inhabitants, and the other Uni stared back. Some of the children hid behind their parents, but most bravely ventured closer. Pretty soon, the hedgehogs had a small group of young Uni following them. They could hear the childrens' whispers, but not necessarily the words. The children were speaking an entirely different language. Unese, Sonic quickly dubbed it.
The last child to speak was particularly loud, and sounded rather scornful. Apparently they weren't too keen on strangers. Sakana stopped all of a sudden and turned to face the little group. But her expression, instead of stern, was caring and a bit amused. She rattled off an Unese sentence to the children, and then, using telepathy, translated herself to the hedgehogs. These are hedgehogs, little ones, and they're here on a very important mission. Perhaps you can ask them questions later. Right now, I must take them to the Erus.
"Wow," the children breathed in unison, and Sonic had to chuckle.
"Valra, kodopuer," Sakana said, and continued walking. "Valra, sam-Sakana!" the children chorused, and ran off.
Sakana was clearly leading her guests to the small castle at the center of the city. "This is where Mum lives?" Sonic asked. "Yes," Sakana replied. "It's the royal palace. Grand, isn't it?"
"Oh yeah. Way past cool."
"Now you must behave. I know the guards will grant us access, but the littlest thing upsets them. They are very diligent about their job."
Sakana walked up to the first pair of gates and stopped with her nose practically touching it. Sonic and Ashura stood quietly behind her, feeling very insignificant when the pair of tall male guards glanced at them. The men didn't notice them for too long though; they soon turned their attention to Sakana, and both dropped to one knee. "Damn," Sonic said under his breath. Sakana looked at the two men and said something Unese. The guards replied to her in the same language and stood immediately. The three of them then engaged in a short, indecipherable conversation; however, Sonic and Ashura were sure they heard Sakana say their names.
Then Sakana nodded towards Ashura and said a final word. The guards gasped and looked at him. He flinched and dropped his gaze, wondering what Sakana had said to make them react that way. The guards began babbling away in their native tongue, dropped their spears and collapsed in a kowtow. This time, however, they were bowing to Ashura. "Damn," Sonic repeated.
A few seconds later, the guard on the left jumped up and opened the gates, saying a word of approval. Sakana thanked the man with a smile and proceeded through the tall gates, Sonic and Ashura following obediently. Ashura, keeping his eyes nervously on the guards, accidentally stepped on his brother's heels.
"Um, Sakana, why did they bow to me?" the big hedgehog asked when they were out of earshot. "What were you saying to them?"
"First of all, since I am their princess, it was customary to bow down to me," Sakana said. "Then they asked who my guests were, and I told them your names, and that you were our guests of honor. And then I told them that you, Ashura, were the Savior."
"Oh," Ashura replied quietly. Never in all his life had he been respected, and now seeing strange people bow to him was unsettling.
The threesome came to the next sets of gates, and the same scenario occurred. Finally, Sakana, Sonic and Ashura found themselves standing before a long, narrow, spacious hall, with statues of past "Erus" built into the pillars and lovely paintings and carvings on the walls. "Way past cool," Sonic murmured. Ashura said nothing as he took it all in.
At the end of the hall was a giant pair of doors, with two guards at post before them. But before Sakana even said anything, the guards nodded their heads and opened up the doors. Sakana said a single Unese word to them.
Sonic and Ashura peeked around her into the room they were entering. It was a wide, airy chamber, mostly white, with three balconies. The walls, pillars and even the ceiling were decorated with more carvings and paintings, and a lamp that had to be four feet across hung in the center of the ceiling. Several female Uni stood around, carrying platters, pottery and other miscellaneous items. And sitting in the center of the room, on a huge white chair with a red cushion, was the Erus.
She wore a floor-length, gold-trimmed white robe, with the same gold cross on the front as on Sakana's dress, and sheer silk sleeves that fastened shut at her wrists with silver bands. A green-jeweled earring dangled from each elongated ear, and a large pearl necklace with a peridot pendant rested around her throat. Her skin was almost pure white, her eyes golden, and her spines and hair were a silvery color. She was noticeably taller than Sakana even while seated. And she wore a crown made of coral on her head, with a single peridot stone set in the middle. The crown was decorated with a silk veil that hung down to her shoulders. Her expression was jaded; her eyes intense. Ashura felt his stomach flop nervously.
The woman suddenly rose from her seat, and all the servants milling about put down whatever they were holding and kowtowed. Sakana bent over at the waist in a slight bow. The Erus nodded her head, and then commanded in English, "Bring forth the Chosen One."
"That's you, buddy," Sonic whispered to Ashura. "I know," Ashura whispered back, but he didn't move. The huge, dour woman with her booming voice scared him. What if she found out how dumb he was? How chicken he was? She wasn't going to like him.
"Ashura," whispered Sakana, giving his arm a squeeze. He would have to talk to her mother; he had no choice. This was part of his job. He forced his feet to move, and stepped up next to Sakana. The Erus scrutinized him and said, "Closer." Ashura swallowed hard and walked right up to her.
The Erus reached out and placed her slender hand on his head, seeming to disregard the hedgehog's resulting flinch. Ashura watched as a flicker of comprehension sparked in her eyes, and he knew that in those few seconds she had read his mind.
"I am honored to meet you, Ashura the Hedgehog." She removed her hand from his head and held it out to him for a shake. Ashura hesitated, but finally grasped it, trying to overcome his nervousness with courtesy. "Thank you for coming," the giantess continued. "My name is Arisu Uni. I preside over this city, but my stature is nothing compared to yours."
"H-Hello," Ashura squeaked.
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A/N: w00t, funky words! Now for a translation:
echinoid (English): of or like a sea urchin. Long story---Sakana was actually created by an estranged friend of mine, as a sea urchin. I then took "Fishy", as she was currently named, and developed her further (with permission!). And now you know why the Uni have spines! (and how Sakana got her name)
valra (Unese): goodbye.
kodopuer (Unese): children.
sam- (Unese): an honorary tag; like san or ma'am.
