Author's note: Okay, I admit, I don't have a lot of patience. I wonder what Nail's doing at the moment. I haven't heard from him for about half a week.
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Chapter 6: Second Journey
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"Come on," Shi said as soon as the two of them had exited the dense woods. "Let's head back to the Master Emerald shrine so we can plot a course to our next destination."
"Roger," Juan replied, and they dashed off.
It took quite a bit of footwork, but they both reached the Master Emerald shrine without trouble. They approached the Master Emerald together, and looked at it.
"So, uh, where do we go next?" Juan asked the Emerald. No response.
"Hello? Anyone there?" Shi added. Still no response.
Juan and Shi glanced at each other. "I think we need to show it that we rescued Cream," Shi decided.
Leaving those words in the air, Shi united with Cream, and looked at the Master Emerald again.
Gee… the Master Emerald is so impressive… and the way the light shines through it is so pretty… Knuckles must like admiring it… I wonder if it's okay if I touch it…
Shi quickly shook these thoughts out of her head. It appeared that being united with Cream was beginning to affect her thinking style. She reverted back to normal to prevent more interference, since the Master Emerald was already beginning to resonate with power.
There was a flash of light, and an image began to form inside the Master Emerald. This time, it displayed a snow-covered area with all kinds of winter fixings.
"Trail of Winter," Shi read, noticing the words that formed near the image. "Juan, check the signpost and see if you can find it."
Juan dashed down the altar's stairs and examined the signpost. "Got it," he finally said. "It's south of here, through Chao Fields. Let's go."
Shi came down to join Juan, and they both strolled down the path to Chao Fields. Once again, they fought off the robots that blocked the path. Apparently Eggman had bothered to replace them.
Just as they were approaching Chao Fields, Shi united with Cream so she could understand what the Chao were saying.
"Hello," Shi said to one of the Chao.
"Hello. Is there a reason you came here?"
Shi balked. "J-Juan, that Chao just spoke to me in English!"
"You're nuts," Juan replied. "It sounded like normal Chao speak to me."
"Well, I know I heard English. I guess this is how I can understand what they're saying."
As Juan and Shi looked around, Juan approached a gate at the far end of Chao Fields. According to a nearby sign, this was the way to the Trail of Winter. The gate was blocked by a lonely-looking Chao.
Shi approached this Chao and asked it to move so she and her brother could get by.
"I would," the Chao responded, "but I'm really hungry. Could you get me a Chao hexagon fruit? Those are my favorite."
"Got it," Shi responded. "One Chao hexagon fruit coming up!"
Juan glanced at Shi.
As if Juan had asked, Shi said, "He says that he'll move if we fetch him a Chao hexagon fruit. I think they're growing somewhere in the fields."
Without hesitation, Juan started checking nearby trees. One of them had some cute hexagonal fruits hanging in the branches. Try as he might, Juan couldn't shake any down.
Juan called Shi over, and Shi ear-whipped the tree, knocking a few good fruits to the ground. Juan caught one, then another bonked him on the head.
It didn't take long for Juan to recover from the mild concussion. He made the delivery, the Chao moved, and the two siblings continued on their way to the Trail of Winter.
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More to come!