A/N: Liek onos. I write fast.
CHAPTER 2: Cocoons
The next day, Flash and Speed awoke to the sounds of birds singing. They got up,
had a breakfast consisting of five Square Fruits, and went outside to see what was happening.
While they were exploring the village and were almost ready to see the jungle, a Chao called them.
"Chaolin there might have already told you this, but there's a little meeting new Chao have to attend called the Rules Seminar. It's just a short meeting where you learn the rules and some other things. You have to be in the hut marked MEETINGS by 1:00," the Neutral Chao said.
After Speed accidentally fell into the lake (he couldn't swim) and Flash had to rescue him, the two Chao went in for lunch. After eating six Round Fruits, they headed for the MEETINGS hut.
Quite a few Chao were there, and at 1:00, a Hero Chao with bunny parts and a yellow halo rushed in.
"Sorry, I was delayed by...er...forgetfulness, basically. Anyway, this is the Rules Seminar, if you didn't already know that," the Hero Chao said, talking very fast.
He then slowed down his speech.
"Rule number one is no fighting. If you came from the gardens, which is where basically all the Chao in this village came from, you should be used to this."
All the Chao nodded their heads in compliance.
"Rule number two is that Chao can't go into the jungle until they have evolved once into either a Hero Chao, a Dark Chao, or a Neutral Chao."
Many of the Chao groaned, including Flash and Speed, but they still nodded.
"Rule number three is that you can't leave the village unless the mayor gives you special permission. Our current mayor is called Darkly, and you should listen to him."
The Chao nodded. Flash and Speed didn't see why they would ever need to leave.
"Rule number four is that, no matter what, no Chao can go past the safe area of the jungle. When the safe area ends, there'll be a big fence. No going past that unless the mayor says you can."
The Chao nodded again. Why would they want to venture into dangerous places?
"Rule number five is that a Chao CANNOT, under any conditions, fully cross the lake...unless given permission by the mayor."
The Chao nodded again, though some of them were clearly confused at this rule.
"Rule number six is that no Chao can be in the army unless they are over 3."
Flash's ears perked up. Why would a peaceful place like this need an army?
"Rule number seven is that, if you see something other than a Chao or a small animal enter the village, alert the mayor. We don't want any Mobians invading our sanctuary here."
Flash only partially understood this rule; he didn't know what a sanctuary was.
"I think those are all the rules. But we still have more. The Chao Doctor is in a big hut on the east side of the town. This hut will have a sign saying MEDIC next to it.
If you ever somehow get hurt or feel sick, go to the doctor. If you can't go to the doctor by yourself, there's an emergency button in your hut, next to the bed. Push it and the doctor will arrive as soon as possible. Also, the cave in the jungle leads to the Chao Stadium, where Chao can race and fight. I think that's all for the seminar. Let me check."
The Chao glanced at his list, and continued talking.
"I forgot something. The entrance to the jungle is near the west gate of this village. And that's all for this rules seminar."
One by one, all the Chao departed. Flash and Speed left, talking mostly about rule two.
"If we can't get any small animals that means we can't evolve," Speed complained.
"That's not true," Flash said. "You can evolve without small animals. I read it in a human book."
"You read human books?"
"Once upon a time, I did."
The two Chao walked home. Both of them were hungry (the food in their belly lasts for only about three hours, so every three hours they have to eat. Since about six hours of a regular Chao day is spent sleeping, a Chao needs six eating sessions per day. These sessions are called breakfast, brunch, lunch, snakh, dinar, and nisnakh.), so they went to some of the many fruit trees, shook down fruit, and ate it. After snakh, the Chao went home and had a nap.
When the Chao woke up, it was time for dinar. They ate the last fruits out of their bowl and went outside for a walk. They were returning when Speed felt a strange sensation. Something was enveloping him; some sort of blueish teardrop-shaped wall. Speed tried to get out, but it was of no avail. Then Speed felt like energy was being channeled through him. His thoughts were changing. He was thinking different kinds of thoughts, but he didn't know why. What was happening? He suddenly felt...different, like a part of him had changed. A big part. The wall started fading away.
When Speed finally was set free, Flash was staring at him.
"Wha...what happened?" Speed asked.
"See for yourself," Flash said, and he pushed Speed over to the river. Speed saw his reflection and jumped.
"Who is THAT?" Speed asked. "It looks like...a Dark Chao!"
"It's you." Flash answered. "Or it's your reflection, at least."
"But I didn't want to become a Dark Chao!" Speed said, and started crying. "I wanted to be good!"
"Just because you're a Dark Chao doesn't mean you're bad," Flash coaxed him. "You're the same Chao, aren't you?"
"I feel different," Speed said. "I feel...naughty."
"Which is only natural. You're not going to actually BE naughty, are you?" Flash asked.
"No!" Speed said.
"So...what's there to worry about?"
Speed thought for a second and stood up. The two Chao walked home.
Three hours later, Flash was having nisnakh when he felt something happen. A blue teardrop-shaped wall was beginning to trap him. No, it wasn't exactly trapping him, he realized. This was evolution. This wasn't a trap, this was an essential stage in any Chao's life. Then came the pricks. His wings felt like they were being pricked for a split second.
Then his life-support ball. Then his eyes. And then he felt very different. He felt warm and fuzzy. He smiled. Flash knew what this meant. He had evolved into a Hero Chao.
The walls started to fade, leaving a smiling Flash. Flash decided to show Speed.
"How do I look?" Flash said when he entered Speed's house.
"Who are you?" Speed asked.
"Speed, this is Flash," Flash said.
"You evolved? When?"
"A few minutes ago."
"Oh, okay. Why don't you look at yourself in the lake?"
"'K."
The two Chao walked to the river and Flash looked in. How much he had changed amazed him. He now had a halo instead of an expression ball, and a black outline around his eyes. He was fully white...well, that wasn't a change...and had pink wings.
"You look great," Speed remarked.
"Thanks," Flash replied, smiling.
The two Chao walked home and went to sleep, both smiling.