Bloom
- Chapter 2-
Flora's Cliff existed within a vast body of oceanic water that separated Station Square and some other unimportant city. It was inimical. Hardly any reports or information about the area had been recorded since its discovery in 1992 and finding an official route that ran through the place was almost impossible. Flora's Cliff was far too far from anywhere important and too inconsequential for any travel agency to look into. This level of seclusion from the public eye influenced a rise in folk-tales and horror stories, the kind sailors and pilots would share amongst themselves in crew quarters and cabins. Not a single existing council, Mobian or Human, bothered to regard the cliff as anything significant. As far as everyone was concerned it was just a pile of rocks in the middle of the ocean.
Now, here was this weird thing, in the middle of this insignificant rock formation. No mention of it in the documented papers, no indication it'd been discussed among any past explorers of the cliff. It wasn't even hinted at in the stories the crew would hear during their trip to the place. Didn't matter what the crew believed, to the rest of the world, the newfound pit was a fairytale.
Tails, bewildered by this strange conclusion, kept focus on his research documents, hoping to find something he might have accidentally glanced over. He was illuminated and kept warm by the burning camp-fire that separated him and his four other friends. Every minute or so, he'll drop the papers, slap his head in his gloves, shake the snow out of his ears and look over the information again. From the top Tails, from the top, he'll repeat to himself.
"I have a confession to make."
Tails dragged his gaze from his reading.
"What is it, Amy?" Sonic asked.
"I didn't like the raspberry we got served on the way here," she replied.
Sonic rolled his eyes.
"I'm sorry, I just didn't want to offend your cooking Tails, but next time I think I'll just pack," Amy said.
"Okay," Tails responded, he sunk back into his research.
"Yeah, no worries, I'm sure you'll be great someday," she buried her hands further into her jacket.
"Maybe bringing you along was a big mistake," Sonic muttered.
"Oh shut up, you're going to pick on me now because of my food critique?" Amy asked.
"Well, you're clearly having a nervous reaction from all this waiting and it's making you talk stupid." Sonic said.
"Talking about someone's food is not stupid Sonic!"
Amy had been fidgeting for a bit. The cold, the mountain's remote location and the sighting of the abyss had been serious nerve wreckers for the only female hedgehog in the group. Sonic would scoot over and let her fall on his shoulder for comfort but he wasn't feeling very romantic at the moment.
"I think your cooking is fine Tails," Blaze said. She'd been sitting quietly, further away from the burning flames than anyone else.
"Not exactly Mobian Court quality but it's alright", Silver said. He'd found comfort sitting just a few metres to Blaze's left.
Tails flung his papers into the air and let the wind smash them against the rocks and snowy bed. Some were blown off the cliff's edge and hurled into oblivion.
"I give up", he collapsed unto the ground and shut his eyes. Afterimages of written jargon and faulty coordinates were burned into his eyelids.
Sonic released a sharp whistle as he observed the flying documents.
"I'm still up for just jumping into the place, and rushing out if things get tough," he said. "I've scaled vertical buildings before Tails".
"Yeah, but this one's different Sonic, I can't even gauge the depth on it," Tails said. "I'm not going to send you into that thing until I know what's going on."
He rolled over to his side, grabbed one of his twin tails and pulled them over his head to protect it from the cold. "We'll just have to wait for something to come up I guess."
"We could just wait for the plane to come back," Silver suggested.
"I agree with Mr. Silver on that one," Amy added.
"We've come too far for that," Blaze said, "Besides, if I remember correctly, our clients weren't going to bother with any sort of evac for the next fifty hours."
"We're definitely not sitting this out Silver," Sonic said.
"My presence would have been better suited elsewhere," Blaze said.
"Don't say that," Silver yelped. "You're vital to keeping this crew alive if we're going to secure the emerald and keep it from the wrong hands!"
"You think 'G-U-N' counts as the right hands?", Blaze asked, she shot Silver a sternful stare. "They're the ones funding this stupid crusade."
"I-It was Tail's idea that we go on with their proposal," Silver continued, "I was just following his idea!"
Blaze let out a sigh and drew herself closer to the flames, she didn't want to have this conversation.
"Well, if push comes to shove, you'll have it out of there quick right Sonic?" Silver continued.
"You kidding? I would have taken them half-way through the whole planet before I let them have it," Sonic boasted.
"I yield, to whatever conclusion you have on the matter!", Blaze shouted, holding her hands up, surrendering the argument. "We'll wait fifty hours atop this solace of ice, and return to our home as frozen corpses."
Amy gulped and let her head droop a little. She squeezed her hands under the thick jacket, hoping nobody would see it.
"That's not going to happen," Tails murmured, he rolled onto his back and let his eyes bathe under the dusky clouds above.
The others looked at him with some anticipation, they'd hoped he had some clever plan to get out of this mess.
"There are other factors riding on this mission that I can't disclose now, but it's important that we find a solution, regardless of the difficulty"
"And, how do you suggest we do that?" Sonic said. He slid his knees upwards, hugged them with his lanky blue arms and pushed his head forward.
"Well, we'll need to see where we're going, so a consistent light source would be very useful," Tails said.
"That's Blazes's shtick," Sonic said, "Think you can handle it Blaze?"
Blaze let out a weary sigh."Drawing up something won't be too difficult despite this awful, soul-crushing climate, but I don't think this is just a regular pit wrought forth by natural circumstances", she said, "I think it's an abandoned oil mine".
Tails, surprised by this new detail, shot up into an attentive sitting position. "How did you figure that one out?".
Blaze tapped the middle of her right palm to help with her explanation. "Clanging at the bottom," she said.
She dragged herself a bit closer so the others could hear her better. "There's some kind of machinery down there".
"Like an, oil drill?" Sonic asked.
Blaze gave a slight nod. "These were far from uncommon back home," she continued. "As children we were warned to keep away from them lest we fell in and lost our lives."
"You could have brought that to my attention earlier," Tails said. "Would have saved me a lot of crummy reading from these useless documents."
"I didn't feel confident in my conclusion", Blaze replied. "Besides I'm not a fan of royal memories."
"Well I am," Silver said, he wore a bright smile across his face.
"Good for you," Blaze replied, she dropped right back to her usual position.
"Using an incendiary in an abandoned oil mine isn't a very clever idea", Tails noted. "We'll go in dark, but before we do, Blaze can set up a fire perimeter around the edge of the hole. That'll give us some illumination on our way down"
"I can manage," she said.
"So can I", Silver added. "You're gonna need a psychokinetic like me to carry us down there!"
"See that's what I was thinking," Tails said, "but what's stopping you from getting tired and dropping us mid-descent?"
"You doubt my skill, orange fox?"
"You're no stranger to languor Mr. Silver, but don't fret it, I have a solution"
"Well then let's get to it, all this talk is making me tired", Sonic flipped unto his feet and began to jog on the spot.
"Alright," Tails responded. The orange fox gradually got back on his feet, grasping the stony ground below. His body would need some time to warm up before they were fully functional. He couldn't even feel anything from his knee downwards. Blasted cold had gotten to him. They didn't have nearly enough firewood to provide for proper warmth and Tails had kept some extra tied up in case they had to make it back later.
Sonic, on the other hand, looked like he was ready to run circles around the Pacific Ocean. Neither the thickness of his winter jacket, nor the storm of the gale could keep this eccentric down. He'd been ready to jump into that hole ever since he laid his eyes on it. For the rest of the crew it was a worrying puzzle, for Sonic it was just another adventure waiting to happen. Didn't matter what was waiting for him down there, he'll beat it.
Tails glared at him with an undying sense of admiration.
Why drill for oil in the middle of nowhere?
An important question for Tails to ponder as his gaze was once again filled with images of the rift. There was something traumatic about the shape of this abyss. Something clear, yet impossible to decipher. Like a half-remembered answer to a final exam. Your brain knows of it, your hand is equipped to follow the motions, but the exit door won't budge. The answer is there, yelling at you through foggy windows and a barricaded door. What was the answer to this question?
Leave
Tails didn't budge, he solidified his courage and stared the darkness down. There was too much at stake now to simply give up. They were at the hole again. Him and Sonic on one side, Silver, Blaze and Amy at the other.
"Can I trust you Silver?" Amy said. She wasn't sure whether she should stick to Silver or Sonic for security and comfort.
"Well Amy, let's hope for our sake that the raspberry lunch didn't make you too heavy," he said with a naughty smirk.
Amy hit him on his shoulder. "Meanie, you're just like Sonic sometimes."
"Hey! Amy don't hurt the spelunking machine," Tails shouted, from the opposite side of the hole.
"Spelunking machine?" Silver asked
"Ignore him, he's just emulating his best friend at this point," Blaze said. "Those two are like figs and apples".
"Should I be worried that he's doing that?"
"Just focus on what you need to do Silver, don't get distracted by the casual things," Blaze folded her arms. "Besides I don't want to end up as floor paste this evening."
"Now you're being the meanie," Silver folded his arms and pointed his nose away from her.
"Hey!" Tails yelled again from his side of the edge. His voice was almost cracking due to the immense pressure on his windpipe. "We've got only one shot at this, I can fly but the rest of you are pretty much on heaven's door if we mess this up!"
"I won't!" Silver yelled back. He wasn't a fan of all this doubt being thrown his way, especially considering this was his field.
"I don't understand, why can't you just drop us down?" Amy asked.
"Well against my better judgment, Tails decided that we let gravity do the falling and I just slow you guys down, like some kind of parachute."
"Alright, ready Silver?" Tails yelled again from his side.
"Ready!" Silver shouted.
Amy let out a nervous wince and dug her head into Silver's shoulder. She could pretend he was Sonic again, which gave her some comfort in the confusing situation.
"Fore!," Sonic yelled. His face was gleaming with courage, he was more excited than anyone to make this jump.
The five leapt from the edge, Silver clutched Amy's body, fearing she might need someone to jump for her. He won't be surprised if Amy needed a little motivation to leap down into this pit of fate. Enigma rocked the atmosphere around this rift. There were the physical details which Blaze had already entertained, but hardly anybody spoke about the almost spiritual vibes the site seemed to emit. It didn't matter now, they were already in hell's claws. 'Que Sera Sera', as their human friends would say.
What the hell were they doing!
Once gravity took over and they began to drop, thoughts of danger shot into Silver's brain like a steel bullet through his skull. As the darkness quickly enveloped him, his bravado shattered, leaving only sheer panic and shock. In the split of a second, Silver wasn't the skilled warrior of psychokinesis the others regarded him as. He was now just a speckle of waning light being swallowed alive by this escalating void.
Everyone crashed into themselves, cancelling their momentum and dropping like flies into the large tunnelling abyss. Silver missed the catch.
August-28th MADE MORE UPDATES