Author's note: So, it's time for another chapter, I suppose. Sorry, all out of things to say here.
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Chapter 11: Feather or Not
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As I approached Tails' lab, I flew upward and landed on the roof. Tails had closed the skylight, so I kneeled down and knocked on it. This got Tails' attention, and he looked up. Seeing me, he opened the skylight, letting me in.
I dropped to the ground, opening my wings to slow my descent. "I was just in a mine run by some Nack guy," I explained. "I barely got out before the whole cave caved in! I managed to find a lantern in there, though, so you can finish whatever you were working on."
Reaching into my wing, I found the lantern I'd picked up and passed it to Tails. "Thank you, Leo," he told me as he took it. "Now I can get back to work. This will only take a moment."
Tails approached a table and emptied the lantern's oil into a beaker, then poured most of the oil into a vat of chemicals. I watched as he added this and that, heated it to varying temperatures, and stirred it well.
Eventually, Tails managed to finish the concoction. He dipped a towel in it like before, and asked me to hold out my right leg and rest it on the same stool as before. I complied, and he wrapped the towel around my leg as he'd done before.
I thought for a while as I waited for it to soak. I wonder what this mixture does. The last mixture was really cold, but this one is really hot. And why did Tails need that lantern oil? This just isn't adding up. Well, I suppose Tails will tell me when-
"It's ready, Leo. Remove the towel."
Tails took the towel as I passed it to him, and I checked my leg. This time, they were died a deep orange color.
I glanced at Tails. "Orange feathers?"
"Flame Feathers," Tails told me. "If you shoot one, it can raise temperatures and light things on fire. I'm sure you'll find them as useful as the Ice Feathers. Now, what about the water cooler?"
"What about it?"
Tails pointed at the water cooler. The water in it was frozen solid. I'd forgotten what I'd done to it back when I'd gotten the Ice Feathers. I quickly retrieved one of my new Flame Feathers and shot it, hitting the frozen stream of water and thawing the whole thing completely.
Approaching the newly thawed water cooler, Tails got a drink from it. He was very excited about it; "Eureka!" he yelled.
You don't smell so good yourself, I thought, deciding not to mention it out loud. I did say something else: "Is there anything else you want me to get for your next project?"
"Yes," Tails replied. "If you can help it, bring me a glowing seashell, a quantity of blessed air, and a … well, I haven't figured out the last one yet."
"Okay, I'll try to find you those things," I assured my two-tailed friend. "Where should I start?"
Tails showed me a map, and I looked it over. The most likely candidate for a starting position seemed to be an odd cave at the beach area. "It's called the Cave of Aqua," he explained. "It's kind of flooded with ocean water, so be careful."
Giving Tails the thumbs-up, I departed through the skylight the way I'd came, pausing for a moment to take measurements and make sure I wouldn't miss. Tails didn't get a chance to object, but when he saw how careful I was, he didn't have any reason to.
I paused to perch on the roof again, and looked around. The beach was to the south, so I jumped and opened my wings, making a low glide which ended on the shore. From there, it was a short stroll to a nearby cave entrance. It HAD to be the Cave of Aqua; nothing else could've been.
As I entered, I found that the cave was a little dark. The cave ended at a stone door, though. What would I do now?
Two torches illuminated the door. At least, one of them did; the other had gone out. On a hunch, I dropped one of my Flame Feathers into the torch, which burst into flame. The door shuddered, then opened.
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In case you can't tell, I'm all out of things to say here. Except that nobody seems to read the Quotes of the Chapter. Not that I'm complaining; I'm running out of quotes.
Quote of the Chapter:
"To test his hypothesis, Max picked up the statuette and slammed it into his chest again. All he managed to do this time was knock the wind out of himself."
-Narrator, Schwing!, Ch. 1