Chapter 39
"So, Nailei, you seemed very interested when I was talking about Tails," Sonic had caught Nailei relaxing in the shade of a tree. Knuckles and Tikal were sitting in a canopy, drinking some of the local drinks. Manic was trying and failing to beat a Kitsune warrior in hand-to-hand training combat.
"Yes… well, you see, when I was growing up out here, I was an orphan, but I did know this; I had a twin brother, and we were separated at birth. I didn't know where he was or even what he looked like, but I vowed to find him some day…"
"And you think he might be Tails?"
"Well, you said he had two tails, and none of the kitsune here has any less than three. It was logical assumption. Oh, and what's his real name?"
"Um… Miles, Miles Prower…"
"Why don't you call him that?"
"I don't know, I suppose it's just the nickname we use for him." Nailei's attention flicked over to Manic being flipped over the warrior's back. She laughed.
"The green one's funny,"
"Yeah? He's my brother,"
"Is he?" She watched as Manic kicked the warrior between the legs and he doubled over. They could hear him shout:
"All right! Nutshot!"
"So, why have we not noticed you out here before?" Sonic turned his attention back to the conversation.
"We preferred to keep ourselves secret."
"Why? By the looks of it I'd say you could have been a huge help,"
"I… I thought that we would be wiped out if we got involved too heavily,"
"With the quality of training these guys have, I'd say you'd be in no danger. But that's not really important. We need to get to the piece of the emerald."
"Yes. How are you planning to do that?"
"There are some old high-speed tunnels north of here that can speed us to the coast off the island, and then we can try and make our way to the island itself and we can search then."
"How far are the tunnels?"
"About… forty miles?"
"Brisk walking should take about a day, but we might be able to go faster by treetop,"
"We have a car, we can cover it in half an hour."
"Oh. Right. That saves you some time,"
"Oh yeah, it's a hovercar aswell, so we can drive across the water to the island."
"This… car… it's very useful, isn't it?"
"Yes…" Sonic moved away from Nailei slightly.
"All set?" Knuckles asked as he lugged a bag of supplies into the trunk.
"Yep." Manic replied cheerfully.
"Wait," Nailei called after them.
"What?"
"I want to come with you."
"You what?" Knuckles said in disbelief.
"I want to help you with your quest,"
"Um… thanks, help would be appreciated," Sonic was slightly flustered. "But… how are you going to fit in the car?"
"We can squeeze in,"
"We? What do you mean we?" Manic was now concerned.
"I wouldn't go anywhere without my most trusted warrior," she added as a bulky kitsune came forward. It was the same one whom Manic was fighting earlier. Manic gulped. "This is Jakavi, and I trust him with my life."
"Yeah, sure… not sure I'd trust him with mine, though…" Manic quipped. Jakavi grinned slightly.
"Don't worry, I won't try to beat the tar out of you… much…" He replied. Manic gulped again.
"Oh, stop it, Jak. We'd better get moving." She jumped into the back of the car gracefully, with her tails fluttering in the air. She nestled in next to Tikal. Sonic popped the boot.
"Hey Jak, get hold of something in there, it should be big enough," It was – just.
Nailei said goodbye to her tribe and they left. Sure enough, only half an hour later they had arrived at the tunnel. Sonic stopped next to the edge of the entrance. The entrance lay in a deep pit, and the elevator down had long since ceased to function.
"So who wants to find a way down?" Manic asked, peering over the edge. Nailei, to everyone's surprise, vaulted over the guardrail and let go. However, before she let go, she had tied a rope to it and began abseiling down the side of the wall. Jakavi followed. Knuckles raised an eyebrow, but decided to follow them. Tikal and Manic followed him. Sonic was the last to descend. His shoe got caught on the rope, and he took a few minutes to free himself. By the time he was free, the others had reached the bottom; Manic was just putting the rope down as he looked down. It was a long way down – wouldn't want to fall. As he descended, he heard an unwelcome sliding sound. He looked up to see the knot slowly unravelling. He redoubled his pace, but it was too late. The knot gave way, and Sonic felt himself leaving the surface of the wall. He closed his eyes rather than watch the ground close in. He howled in pain as he slammed against the wall on the way down. He slid to a halt on what he thought was the ground. He daren't move, instead waiting for death to come.
A few minutes later, he heard someone calling to him.
"Sonic! Are you okay?"
"What?" He groaned, pushing himself up. He looked around. It looked like the tunnel entrance, but something was odd about it. He looked straight towards his feet. Sure enough, the feet are still there… but what's that over there? He sat up to try and see the background better. Where there should have been a wall, he saw the edges of treetops and clear blue sky. He got up and turned around. On the other wall he saw some rubble, and… the others, standing there looking at him.
"Hello? Sonic?"
"Yeah, I'm fine…" He continued to observe his surroundings. He walked around a bit, exploring his current gravitational circumstances. He pulled some fluff out of his pocket and let it go. It fell, to him anyway, sideways away from him towards the others. "What the hell?" He walked towards the others. When he was about a few metres from the wall, or floor depending on the point of view, he stopped. "What the hell just happened?"
"Um… I'm gonna tell it like it is," Manic started. "You're walking on the wall."
"Say what?"
"Yeah. You're walking on the wall."
"Hmm?" Sonic walked down to join them, now standing in the same direction as them.
"This is really freaking me out…" Knuckles added.
"I suppose I'd better go get the car," Sonic smiled, and he set off walking back up the wall and up to the top. Nailei was simultaneously astonished and relieved. Manic noticed this.
"You look like you know something. Care to explain a little?"
"Well…" She began.