I do not own sonic the hedgehog or any of the characters from the games, movies or comics but I do own this story and the other characters, I hope you enjoy it.

Things Only Whispered In The Shadows

Ch13. The Things We Do

"Talon!"

Everyone had settled in nicely, well almost everyone, there were about a dozen loyal Salem supporters locked up in the basement level of the temple, we kept them fed and taken care of but they had no chance of escape, not with the remaining soldiers loyal to Fleet and round the clock guards. Not like they would make it through the forest on their own anyway but it was better to be safe than sorry at this point.

"Give it back or so help me god!"

Most of the men couldn't leave the temple even during the day but that was fine with them for now. It was a big enough place and it was safe from both Salem and the monsters that kept Salem out. All in all we now numbered almost two hundred strong, although most of the new members of the temple were recovering from injuries sustained while getting here, the ones who survived the first couple of nights were getting along fine. Even Fleet had gotten over the worst of his injuries, although he would always have a huge scar he seemed to like it, said it made him look tougher or something like that.

"I have no idea what you're talking about sister dearest!"

Maxis had decided that any men willing and able to, were welcome to learn how to fight well enough to go outside, it would take them awhile since most of them were in no condition to train but the ones who did had a promising future ahead of them. Fel had gotten the pranksters to stop following him wherever he went by pawning them off on maxis, he told them that if they couldn't pass Maxis' training then they would never be able to measure up to him. They were Maxis' first recruits.

"BS! You know exactly what I'm talking about and when I catch you, you are so going to get it!"

Meanwhile Fel did take on some students of his own, surprisingly enough he weeded out three promising cooks to help keep everyone fed and happy. Two more cooks joined him earlier this morning and so far things were looking up. I was happy that Fel was finally sharing his amazing cooking skills with more than just Rune.

"And what am I going to get exactly? Does it have anything to do with your notebook? Maybe I should ask this Shadow guy if he's seen it."

Rune was just as much at home ignoring the extra company as she had been before it existed and Talon? Well he was still his old self, only livelier. I don't know what it was about having more people around but he had more energy than ever, and he was causing more problems than normal even for him. Might have something to do with Fel not goofing off as much when he's busy teaching.

"Shadow has nothing to do with this! Now give me my idea book back before I throttle you with it!"

"Death by note book, not the most pleasant way to go."

"Oh hey Fleet. Good morning! Nice to see you doing better." I stopped long enough to wave and plot my next move as Talon zipped around.

He had gotten faster in the week after the big fight and it annoyed me that If he kept this up he might just catch up to me in speed. Between the chaos training, strategizing with Shadow, and trying to get everyone settled in and doing something useful I was hard pressed to find time to goof off like Talon. Not that he hadn't done his fair share of helping, no in fact he did most of the hunting and gathering, he just happened to have more free time than most of us.

"Good morning to you too. Let me guess, your brother took your notebook again?"

"How'd you guess?"

"Intuition." He chuckled and I smiled, it was good that things were looking up for him.

"Hey Fleet! Want to do some light reading?" Talon took the distraction as a chance to race past, unfortunately for him I was counting on it. I snatched my book on his way by and danced around to the other side of Fleet with a shit eating grin on my face, no way was I about to let my brother out do me when it came to speed and cunning. I waved to Fleet as I bolted back to my room and locked the door behind me before my brother could react. Leaning against the door I let out an exasperated sigh and slid down to the floor clutching the notebook. I had started keeping track of the dreams of the other worlds I had visited and kept a timeline of when and how things were progressing on both sides of the divide. So far I had only been to the nightmare world twice since and that was ok with me, I didn't really have anything to say to Shadow at the moment, and it wasn't like I and any news that he didn't already know right now. Other than that I knew they had a lead on the last emerald and were close to obtaining the one they needed. On the other hand we knew that we had to leave the temple for the resistance soon. Fleet and his men were capable of taking care of themselves at the moment and a few of the soldiers were almost good enough at fighting to go out with him during the day.

I made my way over to my desk and put the notebook away, I wished I could find a better place for it. I found myself looking at my armor that had been unceremoniously ditched next to my bed after we had gotten back that fateful night. The glass shards glittered in the afternoon sun streaming through the window, and the deep, swirled, purple surface beckoned to me. I sighed again and smiled. I was definitely proud of this one, I grabbed the armor and located my swords before quietly unlocking my door and peeking out to see if Talon was anywhere to be found.

Nothing

I grinned and snuck out and down the stairs, careful not to draw unwanted attention. When I finally made it to the gate without getting caught.

"Going somewhere this late in the evening?" I spun around to find Fleet looking out at the valley below. I let out the breath I hadn't known I was holding, "You guys really are amazing you know, you've been going out at night in this god forsaken place since you were kids and I can barely manage on my own."

I blushed at the compliment, I wasn't used to anyone saying things like that. "That's not entirely true, you managed to get two hundred others here with your own power."

"Yeah, I guess your right about that, but I had help. Honestly if it weren't for those two hundred others I don't think any of us would have made it."

"I'm sorry you lost so many men to this place…"

"Stop right there, this was our doing and our fault. We were here to kill or capture you and if you hadn't done what you did we would still be under Salem's control."

A few minutes of silence sat between us as we stared at the now setting sun. He kind of reminded me of my dad, well if my dad had been a kangaroo mercenary… I couldn't hold back the laughter, which elicited a more than slightly confused look form Fleet.

"That came out of nowhere."

"Sorry, it's just that you reminded me of... better days." I was still smiling as the sky lit up with crimson hues and painted the clouds purple. "Well I'm off pops."

"Pops?"

"Yep, take it or leave it, either way you're old enough to be my dad."

"Seriously?" I gave him one last grin before setting off for the forest. It had been a while since I did the rounds on my territory, and even longer since I had practiced with the emerald. I dropped down the cliff and with a boom headed over to the edges of the mountain forest.

I was gone for two days. That's how long it took to get most of the stronger monsters a good ways away from the temple. That should help out a bit with the men who wanted to go out during the day. Maybe they would survive without us after all. I had gotten quite a bit of training in with the emerald and could now use it to teleport myself farther than before and more often, I had this nagging feeling that I still didn't stand a chance against Shadow though.

"So when were you planning on coming back? I mean not that we were worried or anything, but a little forewarning that you would be gone so long would have been nice since we are kind of on Salem's radar now." Talon really liked hiding in trees, I hadn't even noticed him among the greenery. His purple gaze met my green one, he looked more board than anything. No wonder he was out here looking for me, things were probably going smoothly now that we weren't the only ones capable of getting things done.

"Let me guess, Pops told you where I was?"

"Pops?" I jumped at Runes voice behind me, when had she gotten good at sneaking up on people?

"I think she means Fleet." What the heck! When did Fel… I was losing my touch.

"So when is Maxis going to pop out of nowhere?"

"Oh don't worry, he's still repacking his things. Said something about being able to leave some of it behind with the others this time." Rune and Fel laughed with Talon, so this is what it felt like to have a family again.

"Hey guys, want to see something really cool?" I pulled the yellow gem from my quills.

"Sure." Talon shrugged.

"Really? What?" Fels eyes lit up.

Rune just blinked at me. I grinned in return.

"Chaos Control!" In a flash of light we found ourselves on top of the farthest mountains from the temple, the ones we had intended to cross the night we met Fleet.

"Whoa! That's awesome! Do it again." Fel was having the time of his life, even if he did look a little tipsy from the travel.

"Whops. Careful Rune." I turn to find Talon catching Rune before she fell off of the edge of the mountain. Apparently she didn't do well with this kind of travel either, although Fel didn't seem to mind the dizziness and Talon seemed totally unaffected by it like I was. I did have to admit that it was a bit disorienting at first however.

"Anyone up for round two?" before Rune could protest I had the gem ready again. "Chaos Control!" this time the flash of light dropped us off at the top of the stairs of the temple right next to a couple of very confused soldiers. Between the happily tottering Fel, the overly concerned Talon, Rune who was now nearly the same color as my brother, and the slack jawed onlookers I was having the time of my life. Who knew messing around with important things could be so much fun? I held the yellow gem up again for effect, "Want to go again?"

"Yes!" Fel nearly toppling over.

"No!" The looks Talon and Rune gave Fel for his enthusiasm were priceless. Even though I had no intention of teleporting us again it was funny watching their reactions. I liked to think that the trouble I caused for my brother helped him get closer to Rune, and it gave me something to cheer myself up with after a long day.

"Suit yourselves, so did you still want me to give you guys a heads up the next time I disappeared for a while?"

"Yes. Why… what's up?" Talon, always the observant one.

"Remember how we planned to get the emeralds from Salem to get help from the other world?"

"Yeees…."

"Well, I may be able to skip straight to the getting help from the other world." I give it a moment to sink in before continuing. "And if it works then we won't have to risk our lives to get the emeralds so that we can ask for help to stop the tyrannical monster lording over us all…"

"And how long would you be gone for?" Talon crossed his arms and gave me a doubtful look.

"No idea, no more than a month or two at most I'm guessing." I shrug it off, I don't see why it would be such a big deal, not like if it were going to be a year or two, or something like that.

"Wait, you're guessing?"

"I think I am going to walk away from this conversation. Rune, you want to help with dinner tonight?" Fel was slowly and not so subtly backing away from the developing argument.

"Since when has that ever been a problem?" I was not going to let my brothers' paranoia get the better of me and our chance at freedom.

"I think I may just take you up on that offer." Rune quickly followed Fel's lead.

"Since my little sister decided to go off on her own to a foreign world, for god knows how long, to save us all form having a bit of trouble that we are already training and preparing for. That's when it became a problem."

"A bit? A bit. Really. How does risking our lives and the lives of everyone we currently care about and then some count as only a bit of trouble? And I am more than old enough and strong enough to take care of myself thank you very much." By this time I was shouting at him, he had managed to keep his cool and it was pissing me off even more. Why did everyone feel the need to question my decisions lately? Had I been botching things up left and right when I wasn't paying attention? No, no I was not, I had been helping out the best that I could given the circumstances. "I'm not the little girl who needed saving every time you turned around anymore. Besides, I will have the hero's from the other world to help me if I need saving while I'm there and I will bring them back with me."

"Whisper, this isn't just some game."

"It never was." I pulled out the emerald and taking a step back from my brother with shock written on his face and tears in my eyes I shook my head. "Chaos control."

I found myself in the clearing where Booker and Regis were buried. Frustrated and angry I stood there for a while just looking at the unmarked graves. Taking my time to cool off I let my mind wander, it was surprising how the grass was already taking root around the edges of the week old graves. Walking back to the cave we had spent the night in I curled up in the farthest reaches of the darkness and began to sob. This had never been a game to me, as much fun and mischief as there was at the temple, defeating Salem had never been anything but a serious matter for me. He had taken my parents and nearly taken my brother from me as well, there was no way I was going to let that happen. I lifted my wrist up and gazed at the golden ring. I knew exactly how to save my brother and my new family.

I was exhausted, as I felt the darkness consuming me I hoped and prayed that the nightmare would come. And come it did.

Of course he was there, he was always there. We hadn't talked much other than to strategize since our, argument, but that was fine by me. As long as things got done at this point I didn't much care.

"What happened to you?"

"Nothing happened. How close are you guys to getting me to your world?" Shadow raised his eyebrow at me, perpetual scowl deepening as I blatantly lied to him.

"We finally found the emerald and we will be ready to bring you to our world as soon as we gather them together."

"Good. How soon can you do that?" I almost looked away when he knit his brows together and nearly dropped the scowl.

"Tomorrow morning at the soonest, are you sure you're ready?"

"Absolutely." I nodded.

"Fine, then expect to find yourself traveling to our world tomorrow morning then." I wasn't sure if the sensation in the pit of my stomach was nerves or anticipation, either way I felt queasy. "Are you sure nothing happened?"

I hesitated.

He noticed.

"No, nothing happened." I lied again.

We sat there in silence the rest of the night surrounded by the darkening nightmare world.