Feels like ages since I last updated FntS, but its only been a week!
Damn it's been a very slow week...
Anyway, mainly character and plot development this week, nothing major.
I'm setting things up for later as it were.
Anyway, on with the chapter.
Shade solemnly walked down the third flight of steps, occasionally nudging Knuckles in the back whenever he paused in his decent of the long, cold stone flight of stairs. Neither guard, nor prisoner spoke on their decent, as neither could find the words to utter.
The red furred guardian refused to put up a fight as he was guided into simple iron barred cell. Shade removed her helmet and looked Knuckles in the eyes. She didn't want to do this. Not to the first person she had met who wasn't from this island, not to him.
She felt a kinship with red guardian. Her entire life was spent in combat training or studying military tactics. She had fought hard to raise herself through the ranks to the lofty heights of High Praetorian, outclassing both her piers and instructors on many occasions. It was because of her unwavering loyalty, brutal efficiency and unsurpassed combat expertise that had caught the eye of Procurator Lien-Da.
But despite all of her success, all of her commendations and honours won battling the other denizens of the Twilight Cage, Shade often felt lost and alone in her own clan.
Many an hour was spent on a balcony overlooking the small lump of land floating in a veritable sea of blackness, hoping, wishing for something different. Indeed, if it hadn't been for the efforts of her sister Julie-Su, Shade was sure she could well have gone mad.
"I wish I didn't have to do this." She admitted morbidly.
"Then why are you?" Knuckles bit back darkly. Shade took a step back, she was unsure why but she was slightly hurt by the tone of his voice.
"I'm following orders, it's not like I've got a choice!" She snapped back.
"There's always a choice Shade, and only you can make it, no-one else can make it for you." He turned away and stared at the solid black stone wall at the back of his cell. "If all my years alone have taught me anything, it's that you make your own destiny."
Shade left the silent guardian, his cell door sliding closed behind her. When she reached the foot of the long stairwell back up she looked over her shoulder, only to see his back turned and shoulders hunched.
Knuckles listened as her footsteps faded into the distance. Once he was certain he was alone, he sat down and crossed his legs, closed his eyes and steadied his breathing. He reached out with his consciousness and touched the Master Emerald with his thoughts.
"*Tikal, I need you advice.*" A slight, familiar tingle assaulted the back of his mind as the echidna spirit responded.
"*How may I help you guardian?*" The young Priestesses soft voice echoed through his mind. Knuckles remembered how freaked out he had been when she had first contacted him in this way.
"*I must escape here and tell Sonic, Shadow, everyone about the echidna's return! Who knows what could happen if these Nocturnus simply marched off into Mobius?*"
"*And Chaos agrees with you.*" Tikal replied quickly. "*But I believe that you should bide your time. You have planted the seeds of doubt in the mind of the High Praetorian, and it is my belief that she will see that what her clan does is wrong.*"
"*And if you are wrong?*" Knuckles said hesitantly. There was an audible pause.
"*Then I will attempt to undo what I have done.*" Tikal's presence faded, leaving Knuckles sat on the floor deep in thought.
Should he wait and trust in Tikal's assumption? Or should he escape to bring warning to the world? And what of the other clan inhabiting the island, the clan living within the stone temples? What were their views on this change of events?
So many questions, and so little time to seek answers.
He slowly drifted off into an uneasy sleep.
Shadow pulled up outside a tall apartment building near the outskirts of the city. Comprising of seven floors, having one of the best views of the ocean and some of the largest, most extravagant apartments made this particular building sought after by many of the rich and successful.
Cassie had rarely come to this area of the city, having never been well off in means of money, and lacking in successful family to sponge off. That combined with the fact that most of the murder investigations she was involved with were committed in the downtown regions, shady alleyways and the gambling dens of Night Babylon, meant that she was never really given the chance to rub shoulders with the city's elite, and yet here she was, standing in front of one of the most prestigious apartment buildings in the city!
"You live here!" She exclaimed as she climbed out of his car.
"Yes, but honestly I spend more time at headquarters or Rouge's nightclub." Shadow replied nonchalantly, as he locked his car and fished his apartment keys from his quills. Cassie smirked.
"Never thought you were the clubbing type Shadz." The ebony hedgehog grinned back and unlocked the door.
"Nah! I usually spend the night on the owners' balcony listening to the music. I find the heavy bass quite soothing." They walked through the silent lobby and entered an elevator.
"So which one are you?" Cassie asked, pointing at the many buttons. Shadow grinned again as his finger pushed the one for the top floor. Cassie raised and eyebrow of wonder.
"At least the music in these lifts is up to date." Commented Shadow, clicking his fingers to the steady beats emanating from the small speaker in the top corner of the enclosed space. Cassie listened, recognising the music as one of the latest top twenty. They rose swiftly in silence before stepping out into a small hallway with one door at the end.
Shadow held the door open for his guest as she stepped into a place rarely seen by others. The walls were painted a bright light grey, reflecting the warm glow of the small shaded hanging lights; the floor was hardwood laid over with various long striped carpets. The lavender hedgehog walked slowly around the living room, taking it all in with silent wonder.
A hard oak bookshelf was against the far wall next to a large window looking out over the golden sanded beach and azure-blue ocean. Books both hard-backed and paper were slotted next to each other in organised chaos; piles of vinyl records graced the top shelf along with an old turntable.
There was a small wooden coffee table piled with research books and case files slowly gathering dust, the black soft leather three-seat sofa, light brown recliner and matching armchair looked like no-one had sat in them for weeks on end.
Decorating the walls were various sepia and black and white photographs of landscapes and city streets, along with other paraphernalia including what appeared to be the sword taken from one of the Black Arms during the invasion.
"Sit down while I um… get us something to drink." Shadow quickly darted into his kitchen and, stopped. He stood motionless in front of his fridge with a singular thought running through his head.
"What do I do?"
This was the first time he had ever invited someone around to his home, the first time he had to play host to a guest, and he had no idea of how to even begin. He peaked back around the door frame to see Cassie idly looking over his collection of various keepsakes. She had removed her heavy G.U.N jacket revealing a simple grey tank-top which hugged her curves beautifully.
Shadow pulled himself back into the kitchen and shook his head violently.
"Get a hold of yourself Shadow!" He growled quietly to himself. Taking several deep breaths he finally summoned the will to pick up a pair of glasses and filled them both with water.
Cassie was taking a closer look at the Black Arms sword when Shadow re-entered the room. She turned to him and accepted the glass with a smile.
"What haven't got anything stronger?" She asked with a smirk. Shadow frowned as he looked down at the clear water sloshing in the glass.
"I… well, I've never seen the attraction of alcohol so there's little reason for me to have any." Cassie sat down and looked up at him quizzically.
"So you've never had a drink? Never got drunk?" Shadow shook his head as he sat down on the recliner opposite her.
"No I haven't." Cassie's grin unsettled the ebony hedgehog slightly.
"Well we can't have that can we?" She looked at her watch, the time being almost eleven in the evening. "Tell you what, instead of cooking lets just order in, and this weekend, I'm going to take you out on the town."
Shadow chuckled. "Yeah, why not."
Tails turned on his desk light and rolled out the large blank blueprint. Squinting in the light he took pen in hand and began sketching a new plane design. He immersed himself in his work to keep his mind off of the terrible truth that lay in the Station Square hospital. Another mistake in the design and he threw his pen across the table.
He buried his head in his hands. He couldn't remember the last time Sonic had gotten hurt; it was just something that had never happened. Not once in all their adventures could he recall Sonic getting hurt. The blue blur would just flash through everything, dodge any missile or projectile, trash anything that threatened him or any of his friends and be off to the nearest chilli-dog stand before you knew it.
For years he had followed Sonic, helped him through thick and thin, and now would be no different.
He flipped the blueprint paper over and scrambled for his pen. He began jotting down ideas and plans, small sketches of machines and lines upon lines of calculations. He paused, pen nib hovering just above the paper.
"I'm going to need some help." He sprinted to his computer and began a search for his old friend and fellow inventor. The satellite image swiftly found its mark but what was shown on the screen was one of the last things the young twin-tailed fox wanted to see. "Nononono!"
He rushed back to his worktop, snatched up the blueprints and ran out to his waiting biplane. The image left on the screen was the smoking remains of the Acorn Castle.
Heres me, suffering the agony of enjoying the sunshine while I type this up to sate my writting hunger.
Ok that sounded a bit strange but I don't care.
In a completely unrelated matter, FntS is now in the top ten Sonic crime stories on word length.
Well better wrap this up,
Corrupt TE is outta here!