Chapter 2: Holy Chao!

(Cream's POV)

"Cream dear, you are you alright? You ran straight to your room when you came in the door. Did your lesson go okay?" Mom asks from the other side of the closed door.

That's because I didn't want you to see the dirt on my clothes! I think sarcastically as I twist my face while I look at the door as if it was actually Mother herself.

"It was fine Mom. Tails was a…good teacher." I say, almost whimpering.

"Okay, honey." She replies before pausing. "I made a nice salad that's on the bottom shelf in the fridge for a snack later if you want it."

"Thanks Mom." I tell her warmly.

"Let me know if there's anything wrong, okay sweetie?"

"I will Mom."

I hear her soft footsteps quietly tap down the stairs as they fade away.

I look at the clock by my bed and see that I've only got an hour to go before I need to be at the waterfall.

"Cheese?" I ask, suddenly wondering where he went.

I haven't even mentioned to him what's going on yet.

"Chao?"

He sticks his head out from under the bed.

"C'mere Cheese."

I feel my face frown as I pat the side of the bed.

Noticing my concern, he quickly slides out and glides to my side.

"We have to go save Tails, okay? But I'm really scared." I tell him. "They want me to bring you and I don't know why."

"Chao Chao!"

Cheese turns serious and nods firmly.

"I'll make sure nothing happens to you or Tails!" I say, more to myself than to Cheese.

I change into khaki shorts and a dark grey shirt and put on the orange running shoes Sonic got me for Christmas last year.

"Ready to go?" I ask as I quietly slide up the window from my second floor room.

A few stray crickets chirp sporadically as the unusually bright moonlight gleams gently across the field around our house.

Cheese gives me another nod before we fly out the window and toward the Mystic Ruins.

I don't understand. I think nervously as I click on my cell phone to see that it's 10:55. Where is he?

The waterfall flows steadily, partially concealing a cave about halfway down from the top of the cliff. The lake below gurgles as the water from above mixes in smoothly.

A small blue light from the cave catches my attention as it slowly grows brighter.

I feel my heart thump loudly as I tense my legs and arms.

The waterfall suddenly separates as I see two figures leap out, easily crossing the lake and landing on top of a small slope above me.

"Shade! Shadow! Where's Tails?" I call out to them.

"I see you brought your little soul carrier." Shade snarls at me. "You're not as stupid as I thought you were."

I narrow my eyebrows at the echidna.

"You were the one flying that plane?" I ask her intently. "Why were you after Tails?"

"We were using him to get to you." Shade says simply.

Her head armor makes it look like she has the horns of a ram. Her pink wrist and ankle bands glow intensely.

"Get to me? Why? Where is he Shadow?" I demand, turning to face him.

"You really did a good job, keeping it a secret for so long, you know? I'll give you credit for that much." Shadow replies as he glares straight at me.

"What are you talking about?" I snap back as I make sure Cheese is right beside me.

"Don't play games with me little girl! I know what Chao really are! Tikal herself told me!"

"What are you talking about? Chao are Chao! Simple as that!"

"Stop lying! You know very well that Chao are actually the resurrection of souls of the dead among us!" Shade sneers as she takes off her helmet.

Her deep orange colored locks flip loosely over her shoulders.

I gasp out loud, reflexively reaching to cover my mouth.

"That can't be." I feel the anger rising in my throat. "You're the one that's lying! Tikal would never say anything like that! Everyone knows that Chao are animals! They're living creatures just like everyone else!"

"I want her back! And I need your Chao to do it!" Shadow's words burst out.

He must be talking about Maria. I think sorrowfully. But why does he think Chao have anything to do with her?

A short green glow appears around Shadow before he vanishes.

"Look out Cheese!" I warn him as I jump back and up into the air.

Cheese flaps his wings fiercely and stays close by me.

Shadow suddenly reappears in mid-air with his chaos control, but since we were already moving, it was easy enough to avoid him.

"I thought you changed Shadow! I thought we really got through to you!" I tell him as I stay in the air in case he decides to come at us again.

"Whether or not you believe it you little fool, Chao are the embodiment of souls of the dead! Think about it! No one, not even Tikal herself, ever knew exactly where Chao came from. No one has ever been able to find a habitat where Chao are created on their own or in the wild." Shade smirks as she stares at me with her powerful purple eyes.

The nerve of that girl! I can't believe she called me a fool!

"But Chao are hatched from eggs all the time!" I counter. "That's where Chao come from!"

"Now I know you're lying about that Cream. Where did your little Cheese come from? An egg? I don't think so!"

I cower a little at Shade seeing through me that easily.

"Where did Cheese come from Cream? Tell us." Shadow grins at me sinisterly as he stands on the ground, looking up at me. "Now!"

"Never!" I tell him.

It feels like he's boring holes through me as he continues to stare intently at my eyes.

"I…can't." I continue. "I can't tell you…that. I can't tell…anyone. I don't want to!"

"Frankly, I don't care where the hell you got him from. I just know that you will give him to us. Right now!" Shade says as she begins to walk down the short, spiraling slope toward the base of the waterfall where Shadow is standing.

"Why do you want Cheese? What could he possibly have that you would want?"

"I'm going to use him to help Shadow bring Maria back to life!" Shade says as she arrogantly looks away from me, sounding like she knows everything about everything.

"Shadow, you have to listen to me! You can't bring Maria back! Shade must be tricking you to get something she wants! Don't you remember? You should honor Maria by the way you live! That's what she would wan—."

"Don't you dare tell me what Maria would want!" Shadow roars as he leaps at me.

I barely manage to twist out of the way as he propels himself through the air.

"Chaos Spear!" Shadow quickly turns and flings a wild blast of energy at me.

I zip around as fast as I can, narrowly avoiding his disorganized attacks.

"Chao!" Cheese smartly notices how distracted Shadow is and smacks into his left cheek.

The collision stuns Shadow for just a moment, but it's long enough for me to gather enough speed to approach him and deliver a roundhouse kick to his face.

"Gahhh!" He reaches for what will hopefully be a broken cheekbone as I send him flying backward.

"Shadow, stop it! Aren't you forgetting we've already got little Cream in the palm of our hands, even if she doesn't know it."

"Hmph." Shadow pulls his hand away from his cheek.

I see a large bruise forming against his muzzle.

"You've become a much better fighter Cream, there's no doubt about that. But I don't think your heart is ready to make the kind of decision you're about to have to deal with."

I hesitantly flutter to the ground, keeping my distance from the black hedgehog and clay colored echidna.

"You have thirty seconds to hand over your Chao to me or…" Shade starts calmly.

"Or what?" I cut her off.

"Tails will die. Simple as that." She shrugs.

My stomach sinks as I hear his name mentioned.

At least he's alive! I think with a little relief, if only for a moment.

"I don't believe you!" I call Shade's bluff.

"Oh no? Take a look for yourself." She pushes button on her armored helmet, causing the visor to glow and receive a signal.

She roughly tosses it in my direction.

I catch it just as the picture is coming into focus. It's hard to make out the surface, but…

Tails! I see Tails!

His sunflower colored fur and his white tipped tails! His blue eyes! He is okay! I gasp in shock though as I see the camera scan over his body. His arms and legs are strapped at the wrists and ankles.

"He's strapped to the wall of a small reservoir on the other side of the cave behind that waterfall. When I signal them, one of my knights will blast a containment dam that is holding back the water."

I quickly glance around the rim of the canyon to see if there's more of her army of black clad knights, but I can't make anyone out.

"The water will rush in and he will die what I imagine would be a slow, scary, painful, and lonely death." Shade comments coldly as she looks at me with one raised eyebrow.

"No…" I feel myself weaken as I want to collapse to the ground.

I steel myself and try to fiercely stare back at her as best I can as I fling her visor off to the side. It rattles around on the ground as it rolls to a stop.

"It really is that simple Cream. Hand over your Chao or your friend will die, because of you!" Shadow taunts me.

"What are you going to do with Cheese?" I snap at them.

He clings tightly to my arm as I give him a quick, reassuring pet.

"Oh, we're going to extract the soul from inside him to help bring Maria back to life. You'll never see him again."

"I'm not giving him to you!" I say simply.

"Then you'd better get a good look at your fox friend there! Cuz it's the last time you'll see him alive!"

"I won't let that happen!" I say, narrowing my eyes to fight off the tears welling up in them.

"You can only save one, Cream. You'd better hurry up and decide who it's gonna be." Shade tells me.

"Thirty….twenty-nine…twenty-eight…"

I hear her start the countdown as it feels like my life and Tails' are both slipping away.

Chapter 2 End

Will Cream have to sacrifice one of her friends to save another? And what's all this about where Chao really come from and where Cream really got Cheese? Find out more next time!

Author's Note: Just wanted to point out that when Cream references what happened with Shadow before earlier in this chapter (and that he should 'remember'), she is talking about something that happened in an old story called Chao Down that I wrote. You don't need to have read it to understand this story. I just thought it tied in well, but I didn't want to confuse anyone.

Also, it's been a long time since I played Sonic Chronicles, so I hope I remembered what Shade looks like okay.

Let me know what you guys think. Thanks very much for the comments and I hope you enjoyed it.