Hikari and the Soul Edge
Chapter 13: Getting across the Sea
Hikari, Kenji, Mog, and Maria followed the trail of dark energy to a nearby port town. Hikari and Kenji began to look around.
"You're the magic sensing guys," Maria said. "Where did he go?"
"I think that…he went across the ocean," Hikari said.
They all looked at the ocean.
"Are you serious?" Maria asked.
"That's what I sense also," Kenji said.
"Kupo-po?" Mog squeaked.
"Let's ask around town," Hikari said. "We might be able to learn something."
They split up and asked around town. At the end of the day, they gathered at a restaurant to eat and discuss what they learned.
"Nothing!" Hikari exclaimed. "How can Nightmare just stroll in here and go across the sea without anybody knowing anything about it?!"
"Calm down," Kenji said. "He probably did so in the middle of the night, while everyone in town was asleep. We can't expect everyone in town to know."
"Maybe we should just get a ship and cross the sea," Maria said.
"I already thought about that," Kenji said. "When I talked to the ship captains at the port, they said that they absolutely will not sail across the sea at this time."
"Why not?" Hikari asked.
"Apparently, a powerful storm is blowing by," Kenji said. "The storm's making the sea too rough to cross."
"So how do we get across?!" Hikari groaned.
The waitress then came by with the bill.
"I couldn't help but overhear you," the waitress said. "Did you say that you need to cross the ocean?"
"Yeah," Hikari said. "But nobody's willing to go."
"Not by sea," the waitress said. "But maybe you can take an airship."
"Airship?" Hikari asked.
"They're wonderful inventions that fly through the sky," the waitress said. "If I had the money, I'd go across the ocean in one. By the way, you can pay that bill at the front."
The waitress then left.
"That does sound like a good idea," Hikari said.
"There's one problem," Maria said. "We don't have a lot of money to spare. We probably have enough for food and shelter."
"Unless we find someone who'll fly us across for free, we'll just have to wait the storm out," Kenji said.
"But that'll take too long!" Hikari groaned.
They paid their bill and left. The following morning, Hikari was out buying supplies with Mog. She walked by the docks and saw a commotion going on. When she walked to the crowd of people, she saw that a strange man was in the middle of the crowd. He wore a red vest and red pants. On his feet was a pair of black boots. Attached to his waist was a Chinese Sword.
"Did you hear?" one woman in the crowd said. "I heard that he's a Sky Pirate."
"Are you serious?!" another woman exclaimed. "A Sky Pirate?! Here?!"
Hikari got curious and joined the crowd. She walked up and tried to get up to the supposed Sky Pirate. He was telling a tale.
"…and to escape that dreadful island, I used the hair on my back to tie together sea turtles," the Sky Pirate said. "I made a raft out of them and sailed here."
"That's a lie!" someone shouted. "Nobody could do that!"
The Sky Pirate walked up to that person.
"Under a stressful situation, anything is possible, mate," the Sky Pirate said. "I'd say that being stranded on a deserted island is a stressful situation."
"Hold on," Hikari said. "Why are you called a 'Sky Pirate'?"
"Because I pilot airships," the Sky Pirate said.
"Did you say airships?!" Hikari asked.
"Aye," the Sky Pirate answered.
Hikari then grabbed the Sky Pirate and began to drag him away. When they stopped, the Sky Pirate pulled himself away.
"What the hell are you doing?!" the Sky Pirate asked.
"I need you to fly my friends and I across the sea," Hikari said.
"Even if I wanted to fly you and your mates across the sea, I can't without a ship," the Sky Pirate said.
"What do you mean?" Hikari asked.
"My ship was stolen from me," the Sky Pirate answered. "My mutinous crew turned against me and dropped me on that island. So I have no crew and no ship."
Hikari thought about this for a moment. She then got an idea.
"If we can get you a ship and help you man the ship, will you take us wherever we want to go?" Hikari asked.
"If you can get me a ship as fine as the one I used to captain, then I'll be your personal chauffer," the Sky Pirate said.
"Then we have a deal," Hikari said.
Hikari held out her hand to shake his.
"Fine then," the Sky Pirate said. "Let's go."
They shook hands.
"By the way, my name's Hikari Kamai," Hikari said.
"Captain Cid Phoenix," the Sky Pirate said. "Just call me Captain Phoenix."
"Alright, Captain," Hikari said. "I'll get you a ship and meet you at the docks."
"Alright," Captain Phoenix said. "But I'll only wait a week at most. After that, I'll be leaving to check out the horizons."
"Then we have a deal," Hikari said. "I'll see ya in a week."
Hikari and Mog then ran off. They met up with Kenji and Maria and told them the story.
"And that's the story," Hikari said. "We have a week to get an airship."
"Hikari," Kenji said. "It's not going to be easy getting an airship. First of all, very few people even make them. Even if we did find someone who'll sell us one, they don't come cheap."
"It's our only shot," Hikari said. "There has to be someone who'll sell us a cheap airship."
"I don't know if it'll be cheap, but I did hear that an airship shop lies outside of town," Maria said.
"That settles it!" Hikari shouted. "Let's check out that shop!"
The next day, they found the shop. Hikari looked at the sign of the workshop.
"Egg Airships," Hikari read.
"Kupo?" Mog squeaked.
"Let's go inside," Maria said.
They opened the door and walked inside.
"Hello!" Hikari called out.
"Coming!" someone shouted.
They heard crashing and falling. They then saw a young girl in a white lab coat falling down a nearby staircase. When she reached the bottom, she readjusted her glasses and stood up. She had brunette hair tied up in a ponytail and wore a white lab coat and white pants.
"Welcome to Egg Airships," the young woman said. "Or…at least that's what it used to be."
"What do you mean?" Hikari asked.
"We haven't had any business in a while," the young woman said. "But…if you're here…then you must want a ship!"
"That's why we're…" Kenji began.
"My name's Isabella!" the young woman excitedly said. "I'll be helping you with anything you need today!"
"We need an airship," Hikari said.
"Alright!" Isabella exclaimed. "Father! We have customers!"
"I'm coming," an older man said from another room.
He stepped into the room. He was a fat man with long legs. He was bald, but had a large mustache. He wore goggles on his head and glasses on his face. He had a big nose. He wore black pants, a red jacket, and white gloves. He took one look at Hikari and looked surprised.
"You look familiar," the man said. "You wouldn't happen to be related to a Kai Kamai, would you?"
"He's my father," Hikari said.
"I see!" the man said. "Of course! I know your father!"
"Really?" Hikari asked.
"I need to introduce him," Isabella said. "This is my father, Dr. Ivo Robotnik."
"Ivo…Robotnik?!" Hikari exclaimed.
She drew her sword and pointed it towards him.
"Don't trust this man, guys!" Hikari shouted. "He's Dr. Eggman!"
"Who?" Kenji asked.
"He fought my father years ago!" Hikari exclaimed. "He's a bad guy!"
"Hold on!" Dr. Eggman said. "Hold on! I have to admit, I was evil in the past. But that's all behind me now. I've given up all plans on world domination."
"How can I trust you?" Hikari asked sternly.
"You can trust my father!" Isabella exclaimed. "He's not evil, believe me!"
"Hikari," Kenji said. "You should calm down. This guy is our only chance at getting across the ocean."
Hikari then withdrew her sword.
"I guess…I'll trust you for now," Hikari said. "But no funny business!"
"Of course," Dr. Eggman said. "Now what do you need?"
Hikari and her friends explained their situation.
"I see…" Dr. Eggman said. "Unfortunately, we don't have the materials we need to build a whole ship."
"So what do we do?" Hikari asked.
"If you had an older ship, even if it doesn't run, we could fix it and get it moving," Dr. Eggman said.
"But where will we get an airship?" Maria asked.
They all thought, but Hikari was the first to remember something.
"My father once told me a story!" Hikari exclaimed. "Metaknight once flew a ship called the Halberd!"
"So where do we get it?" Kenji asked.
Hikari then became disappointed.
"I…don't know," Hikari said. "I heard that after nearly being destroyed years ago, it was taken somewhere to be stored. I don't know where, though."
"Maybe we could ask Metaknight," Maria suggested.
"He's still following Nightmare," Kenji said. "It'll be impossible to get to him unless we get the ship."
"Kupo," Mog said.
"How can we find a hidden ship if we don't know where it…" Isabella began.
"I remember!" Hikari exclaimed. "Kenji! Remember that feather thing you showed me when we first started?!"
"The Seeking Feather!" Kenji realized. "Of course! It can find anything, anywhere!"
Kenji pulled out the feather and a map. He then placed the feather onto the map.
"Alright," Kenji said as everyone gathered around the map. "Now then, where is that airship?"
The feather spun around. It eventually stopped on a nearby location.
"It's only a couple of miles from here!" Kenji happily exclaimed.
"That settles it!" Hikari exclaimed. "Let's get that ship!"
"We'll go with you," Dr. Eggman said.
"Alright," Hikari said.
"Hold on," Kenji said. "How will we carry a large airship all the way here?"
"Not a problem," Isabella said. "We have a special carrier vehicle. I'll get it out."
Soon, all of them were riding a hovercraft with a strange device on the front of it. They glided across the ground at amazing speed as they headed for the Halberd. But what else will they find there?