Alright, everyone, here's another chapter :D
Sorry for missing last week. This one is kinda short too.
Context: The girls are on a treasure hunt Shadow's making them do for training.
Chapter 8: Tales of Training part 3: Treasure Hunt
"Where do you think the crystal is?" Stacey asked.
"I don't know," I said.
"Why do we have to go through all this mud?" Stacey asked.
"Because this is where you're leading us," I answered. "We're probably going in the wrong direction."
"I'm tired," Stacey complained.
"Tough it out," I said.
"You're the worst partner," Stacey said.
"You could've partnered with your cousin," I said.
"Yeah but she's with Star." Stacey spat the word Star like it wasn't chilidogs.
"Dramatic," I commented.
"Thanks, I try," Stacey said.
"Keep up, Nebula," Star called over her shoulder.
"I'm trying!" Nebula called back. "I don't know the island as well as you do!"
Star sighed and pulled Nebula up the rest of the cliff.
"Where do you think the gem is?" Nebula asked.
"Somewhere hidden enough to give us trouble, but not so hidden Shadow wouldn't know where it is," Star answered.
"If we're looking for a gem, maybe we should check the Master Emerald?" Nebula suggested.
"That's too obvious," Star said.
"Um… could we check anyway?" Nebula asked.
"Ugh, fine," Star said.
"Where to?" Pepper asked.
"I thought you already knew," Prism said, raising an eyebrow. "You've been leading us for the last twenty minutes."
"Oh. I thought I was following you," Pepper said.
"How do you even do that?" Prism asked.
"I dunno," Pepper answered. "It just happens sometimes."
"C'mon, we don't got all day," Prism said. "I want to get to that shiny gem first."
"Let's go then," Cinnamon said.
"OK. Where to?" Pepper asked.
"That way," Prism said, pointing at some trees.
"No, that way," Cinnamon contradicted, pointing in the opposite direction.
"This way," Prism insisted, shaking her arm for emphasis.
"You dare disrespect my chao's natural instinct?" Cinnamon asked.
One of the chao glared at Prism.
"Uh, let's go Cinnamon's way," Prism said.
"C'mon, we're going to the Master Emerald," Cinnamon said.
"Really!" Prism asked excitedly.
"Let's go!" Pepper said, doing a cartwheel.
"What are you doing here?!"
"I'm… checking the Master Emeralds stability," Star said quickly. "We could all come crashing down if it's not right, you know."
"Well, I'm… checking to see if there's anyone trying to steal the Master Emerald," Prism said.
"Why would anyone be up here in the first place?" Star asked.
"The kidnapper might," Prism answered.
"The kidnapper's here?" Nebula squeaked.
"No," Star said.
"I've checked the perimeter," Cinnamon said. "No dice."
"Don't gamble!" Pepper shouted.
"I'm not gambling," Cinnamon said.
"Oh. You said 'no dice', so I thought you were," Pepper said.
Cinnamon rolled her eyes.
"C'mon, it's not here," so let's move," Prism said. "We got to get to it first!"
"What's not here?" Star asked, eyes narrowed.
"Nothing, let's go!" Prism said, physically pushing her partners.
"The gem's not here," Nebula said. "I was checking while you were talking."
"How do I know you checked hard enough?" Star asked.
"Um, I don't know," Nebula said.
"Stupid-nogood-can'tbelieveit-argh," Stacey muttered.
"What's wrong?" I asked.
"I got sand in my shoe!" Stacey shouted.
"Then get it out," I said.
"It's not that simple," Stacey grumbled, sitting down and taking off her boot.
I focused on my chaos sense. It had been pinging ever since Shadow brought us to Angel Island, obviously because of the Master Emerald. But now something seemed off. Almost like there were two sources…
"Ugh, it's in my sock too!" Stacey groaned. "How does that even happen?"
"Carelessness," I answered.
Stacey glared at me.
"You sound like Shadow," she said.
"Do I?" I asked, suddenly self conscious.
"Yeah, you really do," Stacey said.
"Well, that would be weird, since we are, like, totally different," I stammered.
"Alright, where are we going now?" Stacey asked, pulling her boot back on.
"This way I said, walking off in the direction I thought the second chaos signature was coming from.
Well, the signal actually got weaker.
"I mean this way," I said, turning ninety degrees.
"Maybe I should be the leader," Stacey suggested.
"Do you have any idea where to go?" I asked.
"Fine, you can lead," Stacey said. "Just don't take us through mud."
"You again!" Star shouted.
"Ugh, what are you doing here?" Prism asked, not bothering to hide her annoyance.
"Please don't be mean," Nebula said.
"Like, stop following us," Pepper said.
"Good one!" Prism cheered her friend.
They high-fived.
"We're not following you, you're following us," Star countered.
"If you're not following us, how are we always running into each other?" Prism asked.
"Burn!" Pepper shouted.
"Wow, you're really learning," Prism said.
"Thanks!" Pepper said.
"Ugh, can you just go away?" Star asked.
"The gem isn't here," Cinnamon said.
Both teams groaned.
"I get this weird feeling that we're walking in circles," Stacey commented.
"I'm trying," I said.
"Just saying," Stacey said, raiding her hands.
I sighed and closed my eyes. I slowly spun in a circle.
"There," I said, pointing straight ahead.
"That ominously dark and spooky cave that I really hope I won't have to go inside?" Stacey asked.
I opened my eyes.
"Yes," I said, inwardly groaning and hoping my chaos sense was lying to me.
Of course, as much as sometimes it seems like it's wrong, my senses never lie.
After many more encounters, Star and Prism had decided to join teams. This just meant that they were wasting more time with Star and Prism arguing, Pepper cheering them on, Nebula trying to get them to stop, and Cinnamon doing all the work.
"Where to, captains?" Pepper asked, waving a stick around.
Pepper had made a hat out of leaves, picked up the stick, and declared herself a pirate. A pirate who apparently listened to captains.
"That cave is the only place we haven't looked," Star said.
"How do you know?" Prism asked.
"Uh, I live here?" Star replied.
"Let's just go into the cave now," Nebula said.
The five of them walked into the cave.
It was dark.
"I regret this," Nebula whimpered.
"Are we lost?" Stacey asked. "I think we're lost. We're definitely lost."
"We're not lost," I said, trying to focus. "We just might not be going the right way."
"We're lost, we're lost, we're lost," Stacey panicked.
"Not lost," I said. "Stop freaking out."
"What am I supposed to do?! We obviously are stuck here! We're going to die here!" Stacey shouted.
I sighed and grabbed Stacey's hand, dragging her along.
I knew it would be darker for her than for me since I have night vision, but she was definitely overreacting.
"C'mon, we're almost there," I said.
The chaos signal was getting loud.
Shadow stood inside a cavern deep within the cave. Soon his daughter would get there and receive the chaos emerald.
Shadow did not have faith in Star and Prism. They needed a bit more work in the 'not ignoring everything just to fight their allies' area.
"See, it's getting lighter!" I said, still tugging Stacey along.
"Oh? Are we finally out?" Stacey asked.
"You know, I thought that since you're a werehog you would've been used to the dark," I said.
I felt Stacey glare at me.
"Well, we're here," I said as we entered a large cavern.
"Good, you're here," a voice said.
"Hi, Shadow," I said, not surprised.
I'm pretty used to him just being places.
"What are you doing here!" Stacey exclaimed.
"I was waiting for you," Shadow answered. "Congratulations."
"Stacey, check out this gem," I said (somehow without sounding at all excited). "It's cool."
I picked up the chaos-radiating gem off of a stone pedestal.
"The others will be here soon," Shadow said.
"Wow! Did we just barely beat them?" Stacey asked.
"Yes," Shadow answered. "Though, to be fair, they never really had a chance."
Stacey gave him a confused look.
"Yes! Civilization!" someone shouted.
"Nice gem, Nocny," Prism said.
"Thanks," I said.
"Can I have it?" she asked.
"No," I answered.
Prism gave me a pouty face.
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