Well, here is Chapter 4. Sorry if it took a little long to get this story
up, but I had a busy week with my comics and all. So without further to do,
lets start Chapter 4.
Chapter 4
The next day came like any other day for Knuckles. The sun shined through his room window in an attempt to wake the sleeping prince, but to no avail. The young prince still resides in his deep slumber, awaiting someone to deliver him from his incapacitation. Then, there was a silent knock on the door, but the knock remained unanswered. Then another knock, but still no answer. The door slowly opened to reveal the source of the knocking. There in the doorway was a beautiful echidna woman with long flowing locks and bright green eyes. Her body was so perfect that the people say that she was blessed with that body from all the gods from a young age. It was obvious that she was the one that the rest of the women on the island try to model themselves after. As she walked toward her sleeping prince, her silk nightgown flowed in the light breeze of the morning as to announce her beauty to all of the gods. As she walked closer to her slumbering prince, she gave him a little kiss and rubbed his shoulder. Slowly the young prince opened his eyes to see the warm face he known and loved.
"Wake up, Knackuleous. It's morning. Time to get up."
"M...mm...mom? Hi. It's morning already?"
"Yes, my dear. Now wipe that sand from your eyes and come to the dinning room. Your father wants to speak to you."
"Ok, mom, I'll get up. Just give me a minute."
"Alright, sweet child, I'll wait for you at the dinning room."
She gave Knuckles a kiss, rubbed his head, and walked out of the room. Knuckles gave out a good yawn and stretched his arms. He got up and went toward his bedroom window to get a good feel of the sun's rays. He looked down toward the town to see all of the villagers awaken and start their busy day.
"Well, if they are starting their day, then I might as well start mine." Knuckles then got his towel and head for the shower room.
"Ah man. I needed that," Knuckles said as he emerged from the shower room a couple of minutes later. Knuckles walked to his room, still wet from his shower, and was greeted by his personal servants.
"Hello, sir Knackuleous, do you need any assistance."
"No that's ok. If I need anything, I'll call for you."
"Very good, sir. I'll be here if you need me."
Knuckles went inside his room and continued to his closet. As he opened his closet door, he noticed that his favorite shoes and gloves were gone. He frantically looked everywhere in his closet, throwing everything he can get his hands on.
"It's not here! Where is my stuff?!"
Just as Knuckles turned his head, a familiar person walked through the door holding Knuckles' gloves and his favorite shoes.
"Sorry for not telling you this before, but I took the liberty of taking your shoes and gloves and cleaned them for you, Prince Knackuleous."
"What... Jouleolus. Oh thank goodness. I thought someone went into my room and stole my stuff. But why did you clean up my stuff?"
"Well, young master, I wanted to make sure that you was presentable to the king today. And besides, today is a very important day for you and I wanted to make sure you was looking your best."
"Thanks, Jouleolus. And another thing, my name's..."
"Knuckles. Sorry, young prince, I'll remember next time."
Then Jouleolus walked out the room and closed the door. Knuckles then proceeded to put on his gloves and shoes and ran out the door toward the dinning room.
The young prince ran down the long hallway toward the dinning room. The hallway was decorated with painted portraits of decedents of the royal family. Then, Knuckles finally made it to the dinning room. As Knuckles walked in, the aroma of the food entered into Knuckles nose and his mouth began to water to show its gratitude for the fine cuisine. As Knuckles looked down the table and the fine foods, he sees his mother and father at the end of the table, waving to him to come toward them.
"Come over here, my son. I have something to tell you."
"Ok, father, here I come."
Looking at his father, Knuckles knew to himself that his father was a true king. The king looks exactly like Knuckles except having more facial hair. His muscles are well defined and toned, probably from years of physical training. He doesn't have gloves to cover his knuckle barbs because every glove he wears ends up torn before the day's out. His dreads flowed down way below his shoulders and flowed right along with his cape.
"Knackuleous, do you know why I called you in here?"
"What, did I do something wrong?" Knuckles said.
"No, no, my son, no. I didn't call you in here because I wanted to punish you. I called you in here to talk about your training."
"Yea, father, what about my training?"
"Well, I've been hearing good things from Jouleolus. He said that you are progressing in your training in a rapid pace."
"Yea, I know 'cause I am that good," Knuckles said as he flexed his pecks.
"Upon hearing this, my son, I have decided that you have completed your training."
When Knuckles heard those works, a sigh of relief came followed by a huge smile.
"Dad, does that mean that I can do what I want now?"
"No my son. What I meant to say was that you completed the first part of your training, the physical part. But you have to complete the second part of your training, the mental training."
The smile on Knuckles face was quickly erased.
"Dad, I didn't know that there was a second part to the training."
"I know that this distresses you, my son. But this mental training will train your mind to make right decisions about good and evil. And it will also help you to focus your mind and body to do as you wish."
"So, dad, how am I going to do this...this "mental" training?"
"Well, that's what I'm going to tell you, my son. To complete your mental training, we must go to the temple of the Chaosis. There you will complete your mental training. We will go after breakfast, so eat up."
Knuckles then proceeded to a seat and began to eat. His father saw the distained look on Knuckles' face and began to ask a question.
"Knackuleous, is their anything that's troubling you?"
"No, father, there isn't."
"Well if there is a problem, then tell me."
"Ok, dad. There is one thing you can do for me."
"Alright son. What is it?"
"Can you call me Knuckles from now on?"
The king and queen looked at each other and looked at their son.
"Why do you want to be called by that name? Knackuleous is a proud name to behold upon a person such as yourself."
"Yes, I know father. I don't mean any disrespect, but just call me that as a nickname. I don't want to replace my name with Knuckles, but I wanted to use it as a easy way to call me."
"Well, okay, my son, I'll call you Knuckles by a nickname."
"Thanks, dad," Knuckles said as he continued eating.
After breakfast, Knuckles and his father walked out of the palace. They continued through the streets where the villagers greeted them. Every villager that saw the walking prince and king had a chance to shake their hand, talk to them, or share a laugh. As they continued walking, Knuckles turned to his father and tugged on his arm. "Yes. What is it my son?" "Dad, why do we have to walk to the temple instead of taking a chariot or something?" "Well, my son, there are two reasons. One is that walking is very healthy, and another is because I want to meet people." "Why do you want to do that, dad?" "Well, I want to meet people because I want to have a good friendship with the people. And having a good friendships can help you out in the long run, because you want friends that can help you out when you're in trouble and visa versa." "Hmm...friendships. Are they really that valuable?" "Yes, Kna...Knuckles. The people help me out at times because they're my friends, and I help them out because I'm their friend. See having friendships is an important part of life. Having friends cannot only help you but they can also help your friend live better. Just make sure that you make the right friendships with the right people or you'll get into the same trouble that person will be. Okay?" "Ok, father, I will." Just as Knuckles took another step, he felt a small rumbling underneath his feet. Then the rumbling turned to a tremor that knocked Knuckles and his father on their feet. The whole town shook under the tremor's might, and then the tremor quickly subsided. The town and everybody in it were still in one piece but the tremor did leave its mark of fallen market places and fallen people. "Father, what was that?" "That was just a small tremor, nothing serious to worry about. We are lucky that it was just a small tremor." The king then turned toward the villagers. "Is everything okay?!" he said to the townspeople. Every person either gave a wave or yelled out to show signs that they are okay.
"It's good to see that everyone's ok." "Yes, Knuckles. I didn't want anything to happen to my close friends. Now, let's continue to the temple where you'll continue with your training." Along the walk, Knuckles hoped that something would happen to the temple to halt him from continuing his training. But as they walked to the temple, Knuckles saw that the temple remained untouched from that tremor. "Well, dad, I guess we're here." "Yes we are. C'mon, lets enter the temple."
The temple of the Chaosis is home to the overseers of the Chaos emeralds and the Master emerald. They are spiritual people who fully understand the power that the emeralds possess. Their spirituality helps to control the power of the emeralds and use it for the good of the people.
The king and Knuckles walked into the temple and toward the high priest of the temple. There they see the high priest in a white flowing robe and a young woman right beside him. "Good morning, high priest." "Good morning, my liege, and how are you today?" "Good, thank you. I've come here to make sure that my son can finish his last part of the training before the corrination." The priest takes a quick look at Knuckles and turns back to the king. "Yes, yes. It seems that he has passed the first part of the training." "Yes, it appears that he is very strong for his age," the young woman said. Knuckles looked at the young beauty and gave a smile with a wink. The young lady couldn't help but giggle at the young prince. "So, what is your name, young lady?" "My name is Tikal, my king. It is a pleasure to met such a man as yourself," Tikal answered. "Yes, she is a Chaosis in training. I personally saw that she has special talent and trained her myself." "Yes, high priest. I can see that Tikal does have special talent." Knuckles looked at Tikal and scanned the girl's lovely body. "Yea, she has more than that, plenty more." The king heard that little remark and gave Knuckles a quick punch on the shoulder. "Ouch! Um, sorry about that, Tikal." "Oh that's okay. And thanks for the complement." The king then turned his head toward the high priest to continue the business at hand. "So, can you tell me how long will it take for the mental training to be complete?" "Yes, my liege. Come forward, Prince Knackuleous." Knuckles did as he was told and walked toward the priest. The priest then proceeded to place his hand on Knuckles' forehead, closed his eyes, and concentrated.
"Hmmm..." "Oh..." "Umm hmm..."
The priest took his had off of Knuckles and turned towards the king. "Your highness, if he starts his mental training now, he can be finished in three days." Knuckles started to look distressed and turned to the priest. "Um, when you mean three days, do you mean I train and go back to the palace?" "No, young prince. You'll have to stay here and train for three days without leaving the temple." Knuckles felt his jaw drop. Three days. Knuckles have to say without any contact from the outside world for three days. 'I can't do this for three days straight,' Knuckles thought to himself, 'because I got other things to do instead of staying in some room all day.' "Now, Tikal, why don't you show the young prince to the training room?" "Yes, high priest. Come now, young prince." Tikal then took Knuckles by the hand and then proceeded to the training room. As they walked to the room, Knuckles thought to himself, 'Yea, this training thing might not be all bad. If she's here then we can play and have fun while I'm in here.' Tikal and Knuckles entered into the training room. While they are there, Tikal showed Knuckles how to do the mental training. "First Knuckles, you'll have to sit down with your legs crossed and your hands like this." "Ok. Like this, Tikal?" "Yes, now you must close your eyes and focus on your strengths." "Ok. I'm focusing on my strengths. You know, it's good that I have someone here to do this with me. It can get lonely in this room." "I'm sorry, young prince, but I must leave you to your meditation." "But...but why you must leave?" "Because you can't be deterred from your mental training or it will take longer. A beautiful girl like me would falter your training, so I must leave now. I'll lock the door for you." "Wait a minute. You're locking the door?" "Well, yes. Nothing must come in to disturb your training. Now remember to meditate on your strengths and I'll be back in three days." After Tikal said that, she closed the door behind her and locked it. Knuckles then began to meditate on his strengths, but all he could think about was his father and mother. He also thought about the fun times he had with them and the stories they told him. Then he thought of one story that was stuck in his head, the legend that his mother told him. For hours he thought of that story while he was meditating, remembering every detail Knuckles' mother told him. And from that thought an idea came upon him. 'I've trained long and hard on my gliding technique. If that echidna can glide across the great ocean, then so can I. Tonight, I will do it. I will glide across the ocean. I will see what's on the other side.'
Night fell on Angel Island. As the time slipped away, the hustle and bustle of the town streets slowly went quiet. Everyone in the town went into their rooms and began a night of good dreams and sweet slumber, all except one. Knuckles, still meditating, opened his eyes and looked out the room window. "Hmm, nightfall. Time to make my move." Knuckles slowly moved to the window and looked outside. All Knuckles could hear was the crashing of the waves and the breeze through the trees. Knuckles then dug his knuckles into the side of the temple and proceeded down the wall. Slowly Knuckles climbed until he reached the ground. He takes a quick look around to see if anyone's awake and proceeded to the highest peak on Angel Island. He walked through the town to find a quicker way to the peak. He heard somebody come his way and Knuckles jumped into a darkened alley. There he hid as the two villagers proceeded past him. The two villagers seemed to be intoxicated and in a heated debate about women. "Man, I'm telling you, that girl at the Chaosis temple is hot. Don't tell me that you wouldn't do her if you had the chance?" "Oh, dude. If I had the chance, I'll knock it 'til she's (burp) bowlegged. Ya know what I'm sayin' to ya'? (burp) And what about the queen, dude?" "Man, I'll do it and keep on doing it, (hick) 'cause she's all that!" 'How disgusting can you get,' Knuckles thought to himself. Knuckles then left the two drunks to their discussion and climbed up the wall. Knuckles emerged from the town and entered the jungle. Then he continued through the jungle until the mountains entered his sight. Knuckles stopped, looked at the mountain peak, and thought to himself for a moment. 'Well, there's the mountain. Time to see if my skills are good enough.' He then proceeded to the foot of the mountain. Knuckles stretched his arms, gave a little sigh, and dug his knuckles into the mountain. There he then began to climb to the top. Step by step Knuckles climbed toward the top with the starry sky overlooking the peak.
'Man, this peak's higher than I thought. But I got to continue. I got to see what's on the other side of the ocean. I must see.'
Knuckles continued to climb to the highest peak on Angel Island. With every step he took everything on the island grew smaller and smaller. Then, before he knew it, Knuckles reached the top of the peak. He grabbed the ledge and crawled up onto the solid part of the peak. Knuckles then laid there, huffing and puffing, trying to catch a breath from the long climb. He looked up toward the sky and looked at the stars. The peak was so high that the stars looked so close and bright. Knuckles then go up and walked towards the edge and looked at the sea. There off in the distance, he can barely see strange lights that dance like fireflies.
'Ok, there it is. But it's so far away. Since the peak's so high in the sky, I can probably glide across, no sweat. Alright time to get ready.'
Knuckles walked back as far back as he can without falling back off the ledge. He set up his feet in a ready position and looked toward the sea.
'Ok, Knuckles, this is it. All I have to do is take a good running start, do a good jump, and glide across the ocean. Alright, here goes nothing.'
"1..."
"2..."
"3!!"
Knuckles took a running start and jumped off the ledge. He then stretched his arms forward and began to glide across the sea toward the mysterious lights on the other side.
'Gods, please protect me as I glide across these waters. And please help me reach my destination without failure.'
From Moegedow:
Man that was a long chapter. I had a lot of time to do this around spring break. I hope you liked this chapter and another chapter, Chapter 5, will be up. If you got some comments or whatever, send them to my e-mail and thanks for reading.
Moegedow
Chapter 4
The next day came like any other day for Knuckles. The sun shined through his room window in an attempt to wake the sleeping prince, but to no avail. The young prince still resides in his deep slumber, awaiting someone to deliver him from his incapacitation. Then, there was a silent knock on the door, but the knock remained unanswered. Then another knock, but still no answer. The door slowly opened to reveal the source of the knocking. There in the doorway was a beautiful echidna woman with long flowing locks and bright green eyes. Her body was so perfect that the people say that she was blessed with that body from all the gods from a young age. It was obvious that she was the one that the rest of the women on the island try to model themselves after. As she walked toward her sleeping prince, her silk nightgown flowed in the light breeze of the morning as to announce her beauty to all of the gods. As she walked closer to her slumbering prince, she gave him a little kiss and rubbed his shoulder. Slowly the young prince opened his eyes to see the warm face he known and loved.
"Wake up, Knackuleous. It's morning. Time to get up."
"M...mm...mom? Hi. It's morning already?"
"Yes, my dear. Now wipe that sand from your eyes and come to the dinning room. Your father wants to speak to you."
"Ok, mom, I'll get up. Just give me a minute."
"Alright, sweet child, I'll wait for you at the dinning room."
She gave Knuckles a kiss, rubbed his head, and walked out of the room. Knuckles gave out a good yawn and stretched his arms. He got up and went toward his bedroom window to get a good feel of the sun's rays. He looked down toward the town to see all of the villagers awaken and start their busy day.
"Well, if they are starting their day, then I might as well start mine." Knuckles then got his towel and head for the shower room.
"Ah man. I needed that," Knuckles said as he emerged from the shower room a couple of minutes later. Knuckles walked to his room, still wet from his shower, and was greeted by his personal servants.
"Hello, sir Knackuleous, do you need any assistance."
"No that's ok. If I need anything, I'll call for you."
"Very good, sir. I'll be here if you need me."
Knuckles went inside his room and continued to his closet. As he opened his closet door, he noticed that his favorite shoes and gloves were gone. He frantically looked everywhere in his closet, throwing everything he can get his hands on.
"It's not here! Where is my stuff?!"
Just as Knuckles turned his head, a familiar person walked through the door holding Knuckles' gloves and his favorite shoes.
"Sorry for not telling you this before, but I took the liberty of taking your shoes and gloves and cleaned them for you, Prince Knackuleous."
"What... Jouleolus. Oh thank goodness. I thought someone went into my room and stole my stuff. But why did you clean up my stuff?"
"Well, young master, I wanted to make sure that you was presentable to the king today. And besides, today is a very important day for you and I wanted to make sure you was looking your best."
"Thanks, Jouleolus. And another thing, my name's..."
"Knuckles. Sorry, young prince, I'll remember next time."
Then Jouleolus walked out the room and closed the door. Knuckles then proceeded to put on his gloves and shoes and ran out the door toward the dinning room.
The young prince ran down the long hallway toward the dinning room. The hallway was decorated with painted portraits of decedents of the royal family. Then, Knuckles finally made it to the dinning room. As Knuckles walked in, the aroma of the food entered into Knuckles nose and his mouth began to water to show its gratitude for the fine cuisine. As Knuckles looked down the table and the fine foods, he sees his mother and father at the end of the table, waving to him to come toward them.
"Come over here, my son. I have something to tell you."
"Ok, father, here I come."
Looking at his father, Knuckles knew to himself that his father was a true king. The king looks exactly like Knuckles except having more facial hair. His muscles are well defined and toned, probably from years of physical training. He doesn't have gloves to cover his knuckle barbs because every glove he wears ends up torn before the day's out. His dreads flowed down way below his shoulders and flowed right along with his cape.
"Knackuleous, do you know why I called you in here?"
"What, did I do something wrong?" Knuckles said.
"No, no, my son, no. I didn't call you in here because I wanted to punish you. I called you in here to talk about your training."
"Yea, father, what about my training?"
"Well, I've been hearing good things from Jouleolus. He said that you are progressing in your training in a rapid pace."
"Yea, I know 'cause I am that good," Knuckles said as he flexed his pecks.
"Upon hearing this, my son, I have decided that you have completed your training."
When Knuckles heard those works, a sigh of relief came followed by a huge smile.
"Dad, does that mean that I can do what I want now?"
"No my son. What I meant to say was that you completed the first part of your training, the physical part. But you have to complete the second part of your training, the mental training."
The smile on Knuckles face was quickly erased.
"Dad, I didn't know that there was a second part to the training."
"I know that this distresses you, my son. But this mental training will train your mind to make right decisions about good and evil. And it will also help you to focus your mind and body to do as you wish."
"So, dad, how am I going to do this...this "mental" training?"
"Well, that's what I'm going to tell you, my son. To complete your mental training, we must go to the temple of the Chaosis. There you will complete your mental training. We will go after breakfast, so eat up."
Knuckles then proceeded to a seat and began to eat. His father saw the distained look on Knuckles' face and began to ask a question.
"Knackuleous, is their anything that's troubling you?"
"No, father, there isn't."
"Well if there is a problem, then tell me."
"Ok, dad. There is one thing you can do for me."
"Alright son. What is it?"
"Can you call me Knuckles from now on?"
The king and queen looked at each other and looked at their son.
"Why do you want to be called by that name? Knackuleous is a proud name to behold upon a person such as yourself."
"Yes, I know father. I don't mean any disrespect, but just call me that as a nickname. I don't want to replace my name with Knuckles, but I wanted to use it as a easy way to call me."
"Well, okay, my son, I'll call you Knuckles by a nickname."
"Thanks, dad," Knuckles said as he continued eating.
After breakfast, Knuckles and his father walked out of the palace. They continued through the streets where the villagers greeted them. Every villager that saw the walking prince and king had a chance to shake their hand, talk to them, or share a laugh. As they continued walking, Knuckles turned to his father and tugged on his arm. "Yes. What is it my son?" "Dad, why do we have to walk to the temple instead of taking a chariot or something?" "Well, my son, there are two reasons. One is that walking is very healthy, and another is because I want to meet people." "Why do you want to do that, dad?" "Well, I want to meet people because I want to have a good friendship with the people. And having a good friendships can help you out in the long run, because you want friends that can help you out when you're in trouble and visa versa." "Hmm...friendships. Are they really that valuable?" "Yes, Kna...Knuckles. The people help me out at times because they're my friends, and I help them out because I'm their friend. See having friendships is an important part of life. Having friends cannot only help you but they can also help your friend live better. Just make sure that you make the right friendships with the right people or you'll get into the same trouble that person will be. Okay?" "Ok, father, I will." Just as Knuckles took another step, he felt a small rumbling underneath his feet. Then the rumbling turned to a tremor that knocked Knuckles and his father on their feet. The whole town shook under the tremor's might, and then the tremor quickly subsided. The town and everybody in it were still in one piece but the tremor did leave its mark of fallen market places and fallen people. "Father, what was that?" "That was just a small tremor, nothing serious to worry about. We are lucky that it was just a small tremor." The king then turned toward the villagers. "Is everything okay?!" he said to the townspeople. Every person either gave a wave or yelled out to show signs that they are okay.
"It's good to see that everyone's ok." "Yes, Knuckles. I didn't want anything to happen to my close friends. Now, let's continue to the temple where you'll continue with your training." Along the walk, Knuckles hoped that something would happen to the temple to halt him from continuing his training. But as they walked to the temple, Knuckles saw that the temple remained untouched from that tremor. "Well, dad, I guess we're here." "Yes we are. C'mon, lets enter the temple."
The temple of the Chaosis is home to the overseers of the Chaos emeralds and the Master emerald. They are spiritual people who fully understand the power that the emeralds possess. Their spirituality helps to control the power of the emeralds and use it for the good of the people.
The king and Knuckles walked into the temple and toward the high priest of the temple. There they see the high priest in a white flowing robe and a young woman right beside him. "Good morning, high priest." "Good morning, my liege, and how are you today?" "Good, thank you. I've come here to make sure that my son can finish his last part of the training before the corrination." The priest takes a quick look at Knuckles and turns back to the king. "Yes, yes. It seems that he has passed the first part of the training." "Yes, it appears that he is very strong for his age," the young woman said. Knuckles looked at the young beauty and gave a smile with a wink. The young lady couldn't help but giggle at the young prince. "So, what is your name, young lady?" "My name is Tikal, my king. It is a pleasure to met such a man as yourself," Tikal answered. "Yes, she is a Chaosis in training. I personally saw that she has special talent and trained her myself." "Yes, high priest. I can see that Tikal does have special talent." Knuckles looked at Tikal and scanned the girl's lovely body. "Yea, she has more than that, plenty more." The king heard that little remark and gave Knuckles a quick punch on the shoulder. "Ouch! Um, sorry about that, Tikal." "Oh that's okay. And thanks for the complement." The king then turned his head toward the high priest to continue the business at hand. "So, can you tell me how long will it take for the mental training to be complete?" "Yes, my liege. Come forward, Prince Knackuleous." Knuckles did as he was told and walked toward the priest. The priest then proceeded to place his hand on Knuckles' forehead, closed his eyes, and concentrated.
"Hmmm..." "Oh..." "Umm hmm..."
The priest took his had off of Knuckles and turned towards the king. "Your highness, if he starts his mental training now, he can be finished in three days." Knuckles started to look distressed and turned to the priest. "Um, when you mean three days, do you mean I train and go back to the palace?" "No, young prince. You'll have to stay here and train for three days without leaving the temple." Knuckles felt his jaw drop. Three days. Knuckles have to say without any contact from the outside world for three days. 'I can't do this for three days straight,' Knuckles thought to himself, 'because I got other things to do instead of staying in some room all day.' "Now, Tikal, why don't you show the young prince to the training room?" "Yes, high priest. Come now, young prince." Tikal then took Knuckles by the hand and then proceeded to the training room. As they walked to the room, Knuckles thought to himself, 'Yea, this training thing might not be all bad. If she's here then we can play and have fun while I'm in here.' Tikal and Knuckles entered into the training room. While they are there, Tikal showed Knuckles how to do the mental training. "First Knuckles, you'll have to sit down with your legs crossed and your hands like this." "Ok. Like this, Tikal?" "Yes, now you must close your eyes and focus on your strengths." "Ok. I'm focusing on my strengths. You know, it's good that I have someone here to do this with me. It can get lonely in this room." "I'm sorry, young prince, but I must leave you to your meditation." "But...but why you must leave?" "Because you can't be deterred from your mental training or it will take longer. A beautiful girl like me would falter your training, so I must leave now. I'll lock the door for you." "Wait a minute. You're locking the door?" "Well, yes. Nothing must come in to disturb your training. Now remember to meditate on your strengths and I'll be back in three days." After Tikal said that, she closed the door behind her and locked it. Knuckles then began to meditate on his strengths, but all he could think about was his father and mother. He also thought about the fun times he had with them and the stories they told him. Then he thought of one story that was stuck in his head, the legend that his mother told him. For hours he thought of that story while he was meditating, remembering every detail Knuckles' mother told him. And from that thought an idea came upon him. 'I've trained long and hard on my gliding technique. If that echidna can glide across the great ocean, then so can I. Tonight, I will do it. I will glide across the ocean. I will see what's on the other side.'
Night fell on Angel Island. As the time slipped away, the hustle and bustle of the town streets slowly went quiet. Everyone in the town went into their rooms and began a night of good dreams and sweet slumber, all except one. Knuckles, still meditating, opened his eyes and looked out the room window. "Hmm, nightfall. Time to make my move." Knuckles slowly moved to the window and looked outside. All Knuckles could hear was the crashing of the waves and the breeze through the trees. Knuckles then dug his knuckles into the side of the temple and proceeded down the wall. Slowly Knuckles climbed until he reached the ground. He takes a quick look around to see if anyone's awake and proceeded to the highest peak on Angel Island. He walked through the town to find a quicker way to the peak. He heard somebody come his way and Knuckles jumped into a darkened alley. There he hid as the two villagers proceeded past him. The two villagers seemed to be intoxicated and in a heated debate about women. "Man, I'm telling you, that girl at the Chaosis temple is hot. Don't tell me that you wouldn't do her if you had the chance?" "Oh, dude. If I had the chance, I'll knock it 'til she's (burp) bowlegged. Ya know what I'm sayin' to ya'? (burp) And what about the queen, dude?" "Man, I'll do it and keep on doing it, (hick) 'cause she's all that!" 'How disgusting can you get,' Knuckles thought to himself. Knuckles then left the two drunks to their discussion and climbed up the wall. Knuckles emerged from the town and entered the jungle. Then he continued through the jungle until the mountains entered his sight. Knuckles stopped, looked at the mountain peak, and thought to himself for a moment. 'Well, there's the mountain. Time to see if my skills are good enough.' He then proceeded to the foot of the mountain. Knuckles stretched his arms, gave a little sigh, and dug his knuckles into the mountain. There he then began to climb to the top. Step by step Knuckles climbed toward the top with the starry sky overlooking the peak.
'Man, this peak's higher than I thought. But I got to continue. I got to see what's on the other side of the ocean. I must see.'
Knuckles continued to climb to the highest peak on Angel Island. With every step he took everything on the island grew smaller and smaller. Then, before he knew it, Knuckles reached the top of the peak. He grabbed the ledge and crawled up onto the solid part of the peak. Knuckles then laid there, huffing and puffing, trying to catch a breath from the long climb. He looked up toward the sky and looked at the stars. The peak was so high that the stars looked so close and bright. Knuckles then go up and walked towards the edge and looked at the sea. There off in the distance, he can barely see strange lights that dance like fireflies.
'Ok, there it is. But it's so far away. Since the peak's so high in the sky, I can probably glide across, no sweat. Alright time to get ready.'
Knuckles walked back as far back as he can without falling back off the ledge. He set up his feet in a ready position and looked toward the sea.
'Ok, Knuckles, this is it. All I have to do is take a good running start, do a good jump, and glide across the ocean. Alright, here goes nothing.'
"1..."
"2..."
"3!!"
Knuckles took a running start and jumped off the ledge. He then stretched his arms forward and began to glide across the sea toward the mysterious lights on the other side.
'Gods, please protect me as I glide across these waters. And please help me reach my destination without failure.'
From Moegedow:
Man that was a long chapter. I had a lot of time to do this around spring break. I hope you liked this chapter and another chapter, Chapter 5, will be up. If you got some comments or whatever, send them to my e-mail and thanks for reading.
Moegedow