Author's note: Sorry for the lag, folks. What with school and all, I've had a hard time fitting everything into my schedule. But nevertheless, this is the next in the order, so here we go!
Segment 6: Scout's Honor
Chapter 1: Brave Souls
(Kim)
I'll never forget the dream I had that night. I was standing in the middle of some kind of ancient garden, with a few flowers growing around me. I could hear birds chirping in the background, too. It looked like Echidna Fields many years in the past. I wasn't in my fox form, either- I was human again- and for some reason that felt strange.
In front of me stood a female echidna in some kind of strange outfit that would never have gotten by the fashion police under normal circumstances. I decided I'd better not comment on it.
"Kim," the echidna finally said, in a pure, clean voice that sounded as if it came from an angel. "Kim Starlinowski. Don't be shy. Step closer to me."
"H-how did you know my name?" I asked fiercely, but at the same time I found myself approaching her. She put her hand up, and I stopped in my tracks.
"I am Tikal," the echidna introduced herself, "a goddess of this world. You have no doubt been wondering why you have arrived in Emerald County." I nodded silently, though I hadn't really questioned that recently.
Tikal smiled. "Well then, let me explain. I believe it's way overdue. You are no doubt aware that a long while back, I brought your brother, Leo, to this world. I knew that a disaster was about to befall this world, and I needed a brave soul to beat it back. I scanned your world, and I found Leo. He- hey, I saw you rolling your eyes!"
Hearing Tikal suddenly yell at me, I suddenly jumped back, blinked a few times, and looked at her again as she cleared her throat and continued. "Right. Well, as I was saying, your brother had precisely the right qualities to be this world's hero, so I brought him here to this world."
"Let me guess," I interrupted, catching on. "When his job was done, you then returned him to my world in the same way, so that he thought it was a dream the entire time."
"Yes," Tikal confirmed. "You're a very bright one. But I'm not done. When the demons arose, I knew that they were a more serious problem than the last. So this time, I took no chances, and brought both of you here. I apologize for deceiving either of you in any way."
I quickly shook my head. "No, I'm not worried about that, Tikal. It's just that Leo will never believe me if I tell him this."
Tikal laughed out loud. Her laugh was as beautiful as any other part of her voice, and I couldn't help but smile as I heard it. "You don't have to worry about that," she assured me. "I've taken the liberty of telling him the same things I just told you. He understands it as well as you do."
"Thank you for that, Tikal," I agreed. "But I have one more question."
"Yes?"
"Do you have any relation to Knuckles or the Master Emerald? You look a little like him. The resemblance is very obvious."
Tikal nodded. "As a matter of fact, I'm glad you asked that. Knuckles is what you'd call a priest of this world. I myself created the seven Chaos Emeralds- you know about them- to aid in the battle against evil, but it soon became apparent that they could be stolen and used for evil ways, so I created the Master Emerald to counterbalance their power. It is Knuckles' duty to guard the Master Emerald."
I took in every word of Tikal's explanation, and nodded silently. Amazingly, I understood every word of it, even though I was barely listening. Now that everything was explained to me, I felt a lot more confident.
"Good luck in defeating the demons; I believe in you," Tikal finally concluded, and with that everything went white.
It was then that I woke up. I looked at the alarm clock on the nightstand. It was eight in the morning! The night sure went quickly! Leo was still asleep, so I shook him, and he woke with a start. We got out of bed together.
"We slept in," Leo commented. "I guess that wild dream about the echidna goddess sped the night along more quickly than I thought."
As we made our morning preparations, the phone rang. Leo answered; it was Amy again. She'd picked up some train tickets for us to the Keystone Mountains, and she wanted to meet us at the train station in half an hour.
"Sounds like she's got a plan," I decided. "Amy sure is helping us a lot. Come on, let's go."
I really didn't expect myself to be the kind of person to tap this deeply into the unknowns of the Sonic world. Nevertheless, I can hear N.S. now: "I'm glad you finally delved into how Leo and Kim got here, though I still don't see…"