Chapter 3

The inside of the fissure was much cooler than the outside. They had come to rest on a ledge that ran two-thirds of the way along one side. A similar ledge crossed the entirety of the opposing face, and Shadow could see into a room via a single window.

"At least it's cool," he muttered, descending a short set of stone steps and looking around. Three rope bridges crisscrossed the cleft. On the far left was one that had a hole larger than he was in the wooden planks. The second one was a bit better… but not by much. The third, however, had only two planks missing.

"I think this is the best one," he said, stepping out onto the rickety boards. Amy waited until he was about a quarter of the way across before she followed. Both of them held onto the ropes as if the bridge was their last link to survival. The boards creaked and groaned beneath their weight.

Shadow reached the middle of the bridge and heard a sound he didn't like: wood snapping. "Oh crap. Amy, get-"

The bridge broke cleanly in the middle. Shadow fell into the bottom of the gorge, landing with a hard thump on his rear end. He managed to catch Amy before she landed on him, setting her on her feet. He stood up, massaging his rear. "Damn."

Amy's breathing was labored, and her face was flushed. "T-that was close…" she stammered, "I mean… er…"

Shadow walked past her and began to survey their position. The opposing face of the cleft from their starting point had a small ramp leading up, but it led to a closed door. He could see one of those blasted cloths hanging from a water bucket, but it was too high up. There was a footbrake, though. He climbed up and pumped it a bit before giving up. It wouldn't work.

Amy, meanwhile, had discovered something else. "Hey Shadow, look at this!" she yelled, jumping in place. Shadow suddenly realized something – she was out of the cleft. She was actually up on a second, smaller ledge next to the one they had started on.

"How did you get up there, Rose?" he asked, looking around in annoyance.

"You can use the bridge to get up," she said, pointing to the remnants of a fourth bridge. Hanging as it was, the bridge slats made effective rungs. In moments, Shadow had joined her at the top.

"Goody," he said, pointing at another cloth inside a small building. There was a bed and a table, but not much else. He touched the fabric that hung on the wall, watching as now one finger glowed blue.

"Shadow, do ya think Sonic's all right?" Amy asked, looking up and out of the cleft. She was worried, that much was obvious. Shadow, for some bizarre reason, felt both a twinge of pity and a slight stab of jealousy.

"Sonic can handle most things that get thrown at him," Shadow said, "As I understand it, he saved the world solo the first time, didn't he? I think he'll be fine."

Amy gulped and nodded, "Yeah, I guess…" she sat down, with her legs hanging off the ledge. "What about you?"

Shadow blinked, "Me?"

"How are you doing? Isn't this hard for you?"

Shadow took a mental stock of himself before answering. "Back when I first learned how to use Chaos Control, I wasn't perfect, Rose," he said, "There were dozens of times when I would either end up lost in the ARK, or even on some of the other stations in space. Once, it took Gerald and Maria weeks to find me…" he sighed at the memory, "This is something familiar, albeit unusual."

"Oh…" she didn't turn to face him. Shadow sat down on the edge of the bed. He could see their next path – either a jump from one end of the fissure to the other, or a harrowing walk along a trio of two-by-fours. I think I'd rather jump… lest I end up on my rear again.

"Rose… Amy… are you alright?" he asked, watching her back intently. "This must be hard on you…"

She shook her head, but for a moment Shadow saw the beginnings of a tear in one of her eyes. "I just miss my Sonic, that's all…"

Shadow sighed, "I will not pretend I am not concerned for his well-being," he admitted, "but at the moment all we can do is trust in his skill and speed to help him… and he has plenty of both. Don't worry, I'm sure we'll find him. I've tried to lose him a thousand times and he just keeps coming back."

Amy laughed, "Good point, Shadow," she stood up, "where to next?"

"I don't know… do you trust me?" he asked, smiling wryly and walking out onto the ledge. There was another room next to the one he'd been in, and he looked inside. Other than a pair of unusual goggles, it had nothing of interest. Shadow decided to keep the goggles. They might serve him well if he needed to protect his eyes.

"Yes, but why-"

"Then hold on," he said, scooping her up in his arms and taking a running jump at the far side of the cleft. Amy screamed something that sounded like "lunatic" as they sailed through the air. He landed on a lower ledge, right next to the other half of a fallen bridge. He set Amy down and began to climb.

"Shadow, that was the scariest thing you've ever done," she said, breathing hard… "I swear, if you scare me like that again, I'm going to introduce you to my hammer!"

Shadow turned around and smirked at her from at the top of the ladder, "Are you coming or not?"

Amy grudgingly followed him up the ladder and into what seemed to be a laboratory. Some kind of disc-inlaid pyramid sat on the far wall, adorned with what looked like a radar dish. Shelves were cut into the walls, and were covered in bric-a-brac of ages gone past. Shadow was eying a carving by the door. The symbols matched those on the disc/pyramid exactly with only one exception.

The disc (and the carving) was divided into four parts. The top, left, and bottom segments matched each other. However, the far right icon on the wall showed what looked like a loaf of bread. Shadow walked over to the imager and ran his fingers over the incorrect piece. The icon faded away to show a different one. He repeatedly touched it until it changed to look like the loaf on the wall. A few presses of the button at the center of the disc told him it wasn't going to work. With a grunt, he started to look around.

"Hey, I found a lever," Amy called. Shadow followed her into another room via a descending set of stairs. Sure enough, there was a rusted lever near a set of grinding wheels. A shaft led straight up and out of the room, and he could dimly see daylight filtering in. "Oh… I get it."

He turned to Amy, "The windmill. This place needs it turning. Can you wait here?"

He left the room and returned to the Cleft. A jump and a ladder climb later, he was back on the surface, the desert sun having risen slightly. It looked to be sometime around six or seven in the morning. He walked over to the windmill, "Rose, can you hear me?"

"Yeah, I can." The response was muffled, but audible.

"Good, pull the lever."

"Okay, I did. Some clamps opened. Now what?"

Shadow braced himself against a bar sticking out from the windmill, "Sit tight."

With an almighty shove, the windmill groaned to life. It caught the arid desert wind and began to turn faster, until it spun freely in the rising sun. Shadow returned to the ladder and descended. On a whim, he tried the footbrake by the water bucket again. This time, it lowered.

"Jackpot." He touched the fifth cloth, smirking. It looked like things were functional now.

He climbed the fallen bridge and prepared himself for a jump back into the lab area. Midway through the air, the door to the lab descended. Shadow had no way to stop his momentum, and crashed into it with enough force to set his head reeling.

"Oh my gosh," he heard Amy exclaim, "I swear, I didn't know what that button did!"

"S'okay," he mumbled, rubbing his face, "You gave me a present…"

Hanging on the back of the door was the sixth cloth. He touched it and called for Amy to reopen the door. Moments later, the two of them stood before the disc-device again. The button at the center had lit up brilliantly.

"Go on," he urged Amy, "Touch it."

Hesitantly, she reached out and pushed the button.