The epic fifth part of…

The Pencil Rain

Outside the forest of the Mystic Ruins

500 hours

"How did we get this far this fast? We're already out of there!" exclaimed Sonic as he and his new adventurer, Malachite, arrived at the edge of the forest. He walked several steps onward before he noticed something wrong. There wasn't anyone there. He had turned around to see Malachite standing at the edge of the trees, her hesitant nature noticeable. "You can't come?" Sonic asked, with head turned to try to encourage her to take a step forward.

"No, I can't," Malachite responded sadly. "I can't let anything happen to this forest while I'm away. You see, I protect it."

Sonic shrugged, and was about to say goodbye. But two important things slipped his mind. He immediately called back, "Hey!" upon noticing she was walking back into the verdant depths of the wood. "I need to tell you something!" Malachite instantly ran back, expecting a goodbye.

Sonic reasoned, about several yards distance away, "You know, anyone who hurts the forest won't have much time to anyway if you don't come with me. I need you to help save your forest, and everything else too. There's not a good chance all of the emeralds will be in the hands of the three people I have in mind. You can help me find the other emeralds. One of the people I'm searching for has the same problem as you do. He has to protect the Master Emerald and will stop at nothing to stay close to it and keep it from harm. Sometimes, though, he has to get away because the threat is on the outside. If you want to save the forest," Sonic concluded, "you may have to step out for a while."

Malachite was conflicted- and not because this new friend of hers, moments ago a ball of adventurous energy, was now being a completely different person. It was also because she realized she had to take her first step out of the forest that had been home for as long as she could remember. The trees that felt like a sister to her now had to share with the flat, forbidding dirt. She gathered resolve, and without any words to Sonic, she planted her foot on the grass, leaving behind the forest, reassuring herself, weak-kneed, almost scared. At least it was dark out, the pre-dawn almost like high noon spent underneath the trees.

She found confidence after that first step. She walked out towards the dirt and grass that formed the path to Angel Island. Sonic now knew the way, and Malachite realized the importance of this trip. She knew that it had been hard to track the locations of the emeralds, and that she could mostly tell that there was a strong presence coming from this spot. The Master Emerald had been confusing her, and if she knew what it was like, she could better pick out the other emerald locations.

Sonic walked carefully across the bridge leading to the island, again knowing that something was wrong. Where was Malachite? He looked back, not seeing her. He knew that something must have gone wrong, until Malachite appeared directly overhead. He remembered that she was floating not too long ago, but he didn't know it was part of her normal skill roster. He knew that several other people he knew were able to fly, but his newest acquaintance defied explanation. She had no wings, double tails, or even a flying position to use like Knuckles. She simply floated in midair. Before he reached a conclusion as to Malachite's hovering, he reached the end of the bridge. Malachite was at the end of the bridge, and Sonic immediately raced up the steps of the circular emerald shrine, now restored to pre-war conditions by Tikal. No reflection pool yet, no Chao, but there was steady progress. After climbing the steps, the pair found Knuckles at the top, in meditation, yet ready to strike at any moment.

Malachite took a step forward. She was past the pristine and faultless marble steps, taking a step towards the emerald, then another. Knuckles saw her coming, and mentally prepared to attack. Sonic was about to introduce Malachite, but Knuckles was already too far to turn back. He instantly sprang up and threw a flurry of punches at Malachite. Usually one of his foes would go down after a few seconds of that. Instead, Malachite didn't even have to dodge any of the punches. She instead flew straight up and flung a vine at high speed right over Knuckles' head. It barely missed, but because she wanted it to. She remembered that this was Sonic's friend, and she figured he wanted to protect the emerald, like she would protect her forest. She didn't know, however, that Knuckles could fly as well. As she waited for a reaction from the echidna below, she almost suffered a punch, as Knuckles had jumped over to one of the surrounding pillars and flown straight at her.

Sonic yelled at the top of his lungs, "STOP!" Suddenly Knuckles, already on the opposite pillar, ready to jump, spotted his longtime friend, although he was reluctant to admit their being friends. He said, "Sonic, how's it been going?"

"Well, not too well. Now stop trying to attack her and come over here." Knuckles agreed and jumped over to where the two now stood. Sonic continued, "Knuckles, this is Malachite. She guards the forest over there normally. Malachite, this is Knuckles, the friend I talked to you about." The two shook each others' hands awkwardly. Knuckles apologized- something very rare. Sonic then informed Knuckles of the events prior, including the fact that Eggman was working with them. He concluded, "So, if we don't collect emeralds, the pencils will destroy everything."

"I do have one emerald, but the other five were lost in a storm. They're probably, well, I don't know where," Knuckles said, knowing that they would be hard to find. Malachite, however, was busy looking at the Master Emerald, trying to get a feel for it, clearing its influence so she could find the five not found yet. As Knuckles gave Sonic his emerald, Malachite declared, "I know where three of them are!"

Where are the three emeralds? Why exactly can Malachite float? And when are there going to be some real action sequences? All will be revealed (yes, all of it) in the sixth section of… THE PENCIL RAIN.