I'm so sorry I didn't post this yesterday. I completely forgot it was Saturday yesterday. My bad. I hope you'll still enjoy it.

Rising Darkness

By: JadeDragonKnight

Chapter 5: Earth

The sun had sunk below the horizon. However, there was still an orange glow in the sky close to the horizon. The other part of the sky was darker than the rest, but there was enough light to see details of objects. This was how Meta Knight and Sonic found the apple trees they were looking for. Many of them were short enough to easily grab the first branch and hoist themselves up. These trees were full of red apples. They were dull in color and had just ripened. Sonic started to grab some apples, but Meta Knight stopped him and told him these weren't the right apples. The knight led them further into the grove until they came across a tree that towered over the forest. It stood 50 feet tall and its thick branches spread over the tops of nearby trees as if it was guarding them. The trunk itself was impressive. It would take two or three people to wrap their arms all the way around the trunk. Sonic stared up into the giant and gave a silent whoa. Meta Knight took a moment to marvel at it then spread his wings and flew up to the nearest branch. He balanced himself on the huge limb and went up to the bright red apples hanging down from it. He cradled one in his hand and inspected it. Satisfied with the quality of the fruit, he snapped the stem holding it to the tree.

"Sonic, catch," the knight alerted before he dropped the apple.

Sonic ran up to it and caught it with both hands.

"Whoa, these things are huge!" the hedgehog said, turning the melon sized apple in his hands.

"Yeah, they are," the knight replied as he looked for another good apple.

"How did they get so big?" Sonic asked.

"Well, this tree has been here for a long time. Those other trees we saw were just children compared to this one."

"I'm no expert, but don't apple trees stop producing fruit before they get this big?"

"They usually stop after about 20 years, but this one is obviously much older than that," the knight added as he dropped another apple down to Sonic. "The locals believe this forest is magical. Some force has kept these trees alive and fertile for many years."

"You don't believe that, do you?"

"Why not? I've had my share of magical creatures and talking trees."

Meta Knight dropped a few more apples down to Sonic. When they had five, the knight flew down to the forest floor and picked up three apples. They were pretty heavy given their size. They began to walk out of the forest.

"Does Dedede eat all these by himself?" Sonic asked.

"Yup."

"Don't you get any?" the hedgehog questioned, wondering if it was really worth the effort to collect these then watch your hard work get eaten.

"Sometimes I sneak a bite."

Sonic chuckled at that. Meta Knight started to say something else, but a strange tugging stopped him in his tracks. It was that feeling again. He looked around wearily. Sonic stopped ahead of him and asked what was wrong. The knight shook his head and kept walking. Maybe if he just ignored the feeling, it would go away. Suddenly, a monstrous roar rumbled through the forest. Birds scattered and took flight. Sonic and Meta Knight froze and now both of them were scanning the trees.

"I don't like the sound of that," Sonic said.

"We should go, now," the knight replied firmly.

They quickened their pace. Suddenly, they heard fierce rustling from the tree line. Something was racing up behind them. Meta Knight whirled around and instinctively threw his head back. The attack was just inches from his face and speared through one of the apples he was carrying. The giant root drew back and shook the apple off violently. More roots slithered in and reared up, surrounding them.

"What the heck?!" Sonic cried as he got in a battle stance.

Meta Knight drew his sword and watched the roots sway from side to side. Then, the roots closed in and tried to impale them. They jumped out of the way, but they jumped in opposite directions and got separated. Sonic curled up in a ball and threw himself at the roots. Upon hitting them, they curled up in discomfort, but then came back with a vengeance. Meta Knight sliced the attacking roots away. Some of the cut roots retreated back into the forest, but more replaced them. Then something strange happened. The roots became stationary. Meta Knight waited for them to attack him again, but they did nothing. He glanced over at Sonic. The roots were still swiping at him. He became uneasy.

'What are they waiting for?'

Just then, a pulse hit his forehead. He staggered back and held his head. A purple haze began to cloud his vision. He went to cry out for Sonic, but only a quiet cry of pain escaped his mouth. The roots closed in on him and wrapped around his ankle. Then, his vision faded to black.

Sonic panted as he stood ready for the next attack. He heard a loud thump and something being dragged behind him. He turned to find Meta Knight was being carried away by a root, his golden sword left on the ground behind.

"Hold on Meta Knight!" Sonic shouted as he jumped through the attacking roots, scooped up the sword, and dashed after the knight.

The roots retreated back into the forest, leaving Sonic to chase them down. The hedgehog raced through the trees. He lost sight of the knight and his captor, but he could still see the trail they left behind. Soon he burst into a clearing and skidded to a halt. Standing in front of him was a giant Venus fly trap. It roared down at the hedgehog. Its roots were writhing angrily in the air. In one of those roots was Meta Knight, wrapped up tight and unmoving.

"Humph, I just gotta cut him down. Piece of cake," Sonic muttered to himself.

Suddenly, the monster plant threw most of its roots at the hedgehog. He sped away from them as they chased after him. He swung the sword wildly when one got too close. He jumped up towards Meta Knight, but the beast swatted him out of the air. He tumbled on the ground, but quickly recovered and wiped the corner of his mouth.

"You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?"

The wide mouth of the beast seemed to curl up into a smile. Just then, large thorns sprung out of the roots. Sonic's smirk changed to a look of horror.

"Uh oh. This doesn't look good."

Meta Knight tried to fight the purple haze away.

'I can't be like this now! I'm in the middle of a battle!'

The haze was unmoving. Another pulse went through him, but this one intended to stun him. He stopped fighting it.

'Fine. I give…'

Then, the haze cleared and showed what looked like a giant Venus fly trap. Suddenly, purple electricity erupted on it. It cried out in pain, unable to move. Then, the vision raced up to the base of the beast and something sliced through it. A white light emitted from the cut and consumed the view. Then, the light faded and noises filled his head. He looked around dazed at the battle between Sonic and a plant monster. He noticed he was wrapped up in one of the roots and unable to move. He struggled against the vine to no avail.

"You're not going to make this easy for me, are you?" he heard Sonic say.

Just then, thorns erupted from the other roots. Meta Knight let out a cry of dread, but the vine that was holding him didn't sprout thorns…yet.

'I got to think of something quick!'

His root began to grow thorns at the base. They slowly grew closer to him. If they reached him while he was bond, it would be all over.

'Wait, what was in the vision? Purple lightning. Does that mean…?'

Meta Knight called forth a dark pulse. The electricity erupted from him and shot down the vine. It consumed the monster, causing it to cry out in pain. The root uncoiled and released the knight. He dropped to the ground and raced over to Sonic.

"Hey, you freed yourself," the hedgehog said, "I was going to do that."

"You took too long," Meta Knight replied. "Pass the sword."

Sonic tossed Galaxia towards the knight. Just then, the beast smacked the sword midair. It sunk into the trunk of a nearby tree.

"That wasn't in the vision," Meta Knight groaned.

"What did you say?" Sonic asked.

"Duck!"

They dropped down, just barely avoiding the root that swiped at their heads.

"Keep it occupied," the knight called to Sonic.

The blue hedgehog nodded and raced off. The plant monster turned its attention to Sonic. Meanwhile, Meta Knight ran over to the sword sticking out of the trunk. He pulled at it, growling at the effort. The beast noticed this and swung one spiked vine at him. The root hit the tree with so much force that the sword jarred free and caused Meta Knight to hit the ground on his back. The thorns were stuck inside the tree, causing the plant to turn its attention to prying it loose. The knight seized his chance and ran straight at the monster's base. His sword began to glow white. At the last second, Meta Knight sliced through the beast and stopped at the other side. It didn't seem to have affected it at first, but then the body slid off of its base and crashed onto the ground. It let out one more, weak roar then went limb.

Meta Knight withdrew his sword. Sonic jogged up to him and looked back at the giant with his fists at his hips.

"Well, I can believe this forest's got some freaky magic going on now," the hedgehog stated.

Meta Knight nodded in agreement. Just then, a light emitted from the center of the severed base. They cautiously walked up to it and looked in. Inside the stump was a single flower, a white water lily. The petals glowed with a soft, warm light. They stared at it for a moment then Meta Knight began to reach for it.

Sonic quickly pulled his hand back and said, "Whoa, don't touch it."

"Why?" the knight asked, taking his hand back. "You're not afraid of a flower, are you?"

"It's glowing! And it came out of that thing," the hedgehog argued, pointing at the dead plant monster.

Meta Knight rolled his eyes, causing Sonic to cross his arms. The knight again reached into the stump and carefully scooped up the lily. They gazed at it until Sonic became anxious.

"Ok, it's pretty, can we leave now? I don't want to get attacked by another plant."

"Alright," Meta Knight replied.

He went to put the flower down, but it didn't move from his hand. He stared at it questionably and shook his hand. The lily refused to move. He turned his hand over to see that tiny, green roots were wrapped around it.

"It latched onto me," the knight said, almost like a question to himself.

"Oh great. I told you not to touch it."

"Yes you did, mom. Now help me get it off."

Sonic grabbed the flower. Just then, yellow dust sprayed out of the flower right in Sonic's face. He stepped back and coughed.

"That thing is…evil," Sonic said, but that last word was slurred.

"Are you ok?" Meta Knight asked as the hedgehog began to sway.

"I feel…sleepy…"

Suddenly, he fell back onto the ground.

"Sonic?!" the knight shouted worryingly as he got down next to him.

Then, a snore came out of him. Meta Knight shoulders slumped as he looked tiredly at the sleeping hedgehog. He looked at the flower still clinging to his hand.

'This is the second time I had a vision. And the second time a glowing object came out at the end. Is it just a coincidence?'

He frowned. He looked back at Sonic, still snoring away.

'Humph, he's out cold. It'll take hours to carry him out of here.'

Then, the knight realized something and grinned.

'Or maybe I won't. He can't follow me anymore like this. But still…'

Meta Knight looked around the forest for any signs of danger.

Finding none, he shrugged and said, "Eh, he'll be fine."

He stood and walked back into the forest in search of the apple tree.

That's it for now. This chapter is the last chapter that was prepared to be posted. I don't have any other publishable chapters right now. Which means that the next chapter might not come next Saturday. I'll do my best to meet the deadline, but I wanted to warn you in advance. Please be patient with me.

Review time!