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
Ch.19 Sand and Sickness
Four figures crested the final Mountaintop as the sun began to rise, painting a watery orange hue on the few wispy clouds above. The storm had left its mark on the craggy hills beyond the narrow pass. Greenery raced to take hold in any place it could get a foothold before the blessed water dissipated in the heat of the coming day. The four wound their way down the steep cliffs and into the hills toward the shimmering sands beyond. They would make camp on the edge of the expanse and wait till nightfall to travel.
The desert was the exact opposite of the deadly forest, noting thrived here with its blistering heat during the day and often freezing temperatures at night. It was a miracle that anyone had managed to survive here in the first place, let alone build an entire country and raise a Resistance there.
Fel whistled slowly at the sandy dunes beyond the hills where they had set up camp. "That is one big sandbox."
Rune wrinkled her nose and glared at him, "did you really just say that?"
A grin spread over his face as he laughed at his own remark. "Got a problem with it Ice Queen?" Expertly dodging the bedroll thrown his way and bounding off to inspect something that caught his eye on a rocky outcrop some ways away.
"Is it just me or has he been extra unhelpful lately?" Rune sets up a small fire pit and begin carefully placing wood to build a fire with.
Talon looks up at Fel from pitching the last tent and then looks to Rune with a slight smile. "Don't pay to much attention to it, he's just extra excited to be on another journey. The last time we left the forest we came back with an emerald."
"I suppose the promise of another adventure and another piece to defeating that tyrant would be enough to make anyone a little excited." Her own nerves on high alert at the prospect of striking a blow against that man, no matter how small. They had two of the emeralds and if their info was correct then they were hot on the trail of another. At the very least they would be harder for him to get where they were going.
It made sense to her that he hadn't sent any significant force to get them, after all he had no reason to believe that they were a threat let alone able to use the emeralds against him. Still the thought of crossing him made her nervous.
Talon had finished setting up and now looked at her with worry in his eyes. "What's wrong? You were so set on coming with and now you look like we just teleported all over again."
The reminder of the teleporting turned her stomach almost as much as that man did, it wasn't natural. "Thank you for reminding me of that. I wasn't uncomfortable enough thinking about the odds we're facing, and possibly alone if the resistance turns out to be a dead end." She sighs, it isn't right to take out her anxiety on others, least of all Talon. He had been nothing but kind to her from the moment they met. Something that had changed her mind for the better and gave her a reason to continue opposing that man.
He chuckled, "Sorry about that, I just thought you looked a little under the weather considering you're farther from that tyrants grasp. Although I can understand the nerves, I almost tuned back on my first journey from the temple when I lost sight of the mountains. I forgot how big the world was outside our little haven."
"More like a zoo, but I guess the view is nice." A slight blush crossed her cheeks as she teases him.
Fel scoffs and interjects, "A petting zoo maybe."
Rune jumps back from the newly lit fire and ends up nearly landing in Talons lap in her surprise. "Do you have to sneak up every time you come back?"
"What fun would it be if I didn't?"
Talon laughs along with Fel and eventually Rune sighs and lets out a light laugh as well. This is why she chose to stay with them, but how long could it last? How long until one of the generals showed up to retrieve the gems? hopefully they would be ready by then.
- three days later -
The trek through the sun kissed sands had taken its toll on the group. Even with her ice magic the heat during the day was nearly unbearable and all they could do to keep the chill of night at bay was to continue traveling to keep warm. By the second day they had decided it was better to camp at night and have shelter from the cold and a fire than to risk hypothermia. Maxis had fared the worst, even with his previous experience traveling, he had been much younger then. ice magic only went so far with limited water. There hadn't been a single cloud since that first morning, and there were no signs of more anytime soon.
As they trudged on in the silence that had settled over the small group that morning, after Maxis had awoken with a horrible cough, the horizen began to shimmer as the heat of the day began to set in. If Maxis' map was right they should be getting close to the first oasis. But it was hard to tell how far they had traveled that day when every dune looked identical to the rest.
"We need to pick up the pace or Maxis won't make it to the first checkpoint, and I don't know about either of you but I can't make heads or tails of his map without him." Fel and Talon nod in agreement and redouble their efforts to keep the old fox upright and on track, or at least headed in the direction he pointed them in in the first place.
Little was said the rest of the morning and they took fewer breaks than normal, they had to make it there soon or they would be carying him. Fel opted to be the one to do so when he finally collapsed just after midday since he didn't have any problem with the temperatures or exhaustion. A few hours later when the temperature peaked the blurry horizon finally gave way to the shimmering images of a few scraggly trees, and then a few less scraggly ones. The closer they got the more life they saw and the cooler it got.
"Oh thank god. I thought we had gotten lost." Rune drops her gear near the closest tree and rushes over to the calm waters of the oasis. Dropping to her knees she reaches her hands into the refreshingly warm water and scoops handful after handful into her mouth, nearly sobbing with relief.
Talon helps Fel get Maxis over to the water and they all quench the thirst that had been nagging at them for the last few hours. they hadn't quite run out of water but they had begun rationing it just in case they had ended up lost.
"I don't suppose either of you knows what's wrong with Maxis?" The old grey fox hadn't said a word since he had collapsed earlier, even though he had managed to drink some water on his own only to roll out his bedroll and go straight to sleep.
A concerned look crossed Fel's face as he watched his mentor rest. "I don't know and I don't like it. We can't move on until he gets better."
"Agreed."
"I would expect no less if it were either of you in that position." Worry creasing Runes face as well. The old man had saved her, there was no doubt about that. Now it appeared it was her turn to repay the favor.
They agreed to take shifts looking after Maxis keeping him cool during the day was Runes job and warm at night with the boys and their days in and he had only gotten worse, hacking coughs wracked him even in his sleep and he had come down with a fever that wouldn't break.
"I don't know what else to do." Fel looked haggered and depressed. He hadn't been sleeping and refused to leave his side after the fever set in.
"There's nothing more we can do Fel. None of us were prepared for this." Talon tried his best to comfort his friend but even he didn't quite believe his own words. "He's strong, he'll pull through."
"I got another sand worm, There're more of these things out there than we thought, we must have gotten lucky on our way here to not have seen any." Rune drops the carcass of a ten foot long, armored worm next to the fire. Dark circles had begun forming under her eyes from the long days of constantly using her powers. She was quickly running through her stores of energy and she couldn't keep it up for much longer and it showed. "It's just a little one but it should tide us over till tomorrow night."
"You need to get more sleep, you shouldn't be out after sundown when you pull such long shifts during the day." Talon takes over cleaning the worm and cooking it.
"I don't want you two doing all the heavy lifting all the time."
"Are you kidding? Your powers take more of a toll that catching oversize worms, and taking care of Maxis is rather simple even if it can get a bit daunting at times. We don't need you dropping next."
Rune gives an exhausted huff. "You're right. I hate it, but you're right." She goes over to her sleeping roll and makes herself as comfortable as possible given the circumstances and drifts off as soon as her eyes close. Thinking about all the ways this could have gone so much worse, about how he could have shown up to claim the gems for himself. Of course he wouldn't be so forward about it but that didn't mean her mind wouldn't wander there anyway. Always in his Shadow, no matter how far she ran.
Hey, I'm back after a much needed but longer than anticipated hiatus. I am still figuring out how to deal with my life now that I'm picking up the pieces slowly but surely. I hope to continue to get chapters out on a more regular basis but it might take me a little while to get back into the swing of things. Thank you for your patience and i hope you come back for more.
