Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognized characters or gameplay patterns within this fanfiction. Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, Eggman, Blaze, and all related characters of such are owned by SEGA. All original character's are owned by me, unfortunately.
Extinguish 11.2
Tails felt the current pull him downstream, slowly getting faster and faster as he went. The water wasn't cold, but it was chilled. Refreshingly cold, if anything. That was a good way of putting it, in his mind. He dove underneath the surface of the river again, his eyes wide as he tried to peer around under the river. He wasn't expecting the Tides to be easy to find, but he expected it to be somewhere near a body of water. And water always leads to streams, to rivers, and then to oceans.
Then again, that was looking at things logically. The water was near perfectly, crisply, clear. There was no hint of green, or blue, or red, or even any of the bizarre colors like yellow or magenta. There was no sand beneath him; only pure grey rock.
He would've expected the rock to start leeching into the water, but instead there was no silt, no sand, no dirt. Rock and water. Even the sides were perfectly smooth, as if the water was formed first and then rock around it. It was a mixture of different rock types, too, and he spotted veins of quartz and granite mixed in with others like sandstone. Not a normal rock formation at all.
It was perfectly circular, too, he noticed. If the water hadn't been there, it would've very easily been called a half-pipe. The current wasn't too strong, either. It pulled him along, certainly, but it wasn't dragging him as if he weighed nothing. He was a strong swimmer, he knew, if only because he had to pull Sonic out of the water as many times as he did. He surfaced a moment later, letting the water flow out of his fur, as he looked around the top part.
The next two biomes had changed. Originally it had been some plains and a forest, and was now two mountains, one grey and cold, and the other a warm iron red.
He swam over to the side, only realizing once he was closer that the water had sped up. Not by only a little bit though, but by nearly three times as fast as it had been earlier. Even now, just treading water as he was, he was nearly covering thirty feet in ten seconds, and the water was still speeding up still. His ears perked up, hearing the sound of falling water ahead.
"I bet its rapids. It's always rapids," Tails muttered as he dove down again. The water was still crystal clear, despite it moving as fast as it was. Far ahead, he saw the tell tale signs of a small waterfall, and his ears clearly heard the crashing sounds of hundreds of gallons of water echoing above to him.
Rapids.
He called it.
He surfaced again, twisting his tails to try to fly up only to find that there was nothing above him now except rock. Somehow, despite being nowhere near a cave, when he'd gone underwater, he'd gone into one.
Worst part yet, he wasn't able to tell when he'd gone under it. The sky hadn't changed to show that there was a cave above him, he simply surfaced and there it was, barely able to fit his head. He took another deep breath and dove down again, this time focusing on swimming towards the upcoming rapids. His feet couldn't touch bottom from the top of the river, but he could see it just fine.
His ears perked again, rotating around behind him. A sound. Much like a roar. In fact it seemed rather memorable, and he took a bit of his air to sigh, small bubbles coming from his nose.
A leviathan. Because of course it was. With rapids in front of him, and a leviathan behind him, and no where to go but forward, he pushed himself down, his feet touching the bare bottom of the half-pipe.
He wasn't surprised to find that it was smooth, and hard to keep a grip on. He wasn't worried though, and he curled himself into a ball, starting to spindash in place.
The water kept pushing him forward, and he knew that it was probably going to hurt once he hits the inevitable sharp rocks at the bottom. But that also made sure it gave him room to fly, so maybe he wouldn't hurt himself that badly.
Who was he kidding? This was going to hurt. His backslide slammed into the rocks, and he unfurled just long enough to get some more air as he curled back up. He felt himself falling down, down...almost too far down. Water was still rushing down all over him, falling faster than he was. He heard the roar from above him again, this time headed downwards, echoing loudly through the chamber.
That meant it was wide open. Good, his original idea had been wrong. He unfurled, twisting his tails and flying directly in front as fast as he could, keeping one arm out while his eyes got used to the darkness. The waterfall was massive, he saw. There was very little light down here, and most of what he saw was a reflection from the leviathan's scales as it slowly descended the waterfall, keeping an eye on where he had been but wasn't now.
He kept up his flight for a little longer, allowing his eyes more time to adjust to the dark. The cave was massive, and even as fast as he'd been flying it was only halfway through the cave. The leviathan itself, something that took up the entirety of the river above, was tiny in comparison to the massive structure of rock he was down in.
The river did, in fact, change to rapids not long after he had chosen to fly instead of fall. There were plenty of walls, and plenty of cave floors available as the river rushed through it as fast as it could. The water wasn't white; it was still perfectly clear despite the constant turbulence it was under.
Tails landed gently, shaking himself off. One of his hands brushed against the bail-bag, and he smirked to himself. Through all of this, that bag was still going strong. He'd have to get more of those things. They were practically indestructible.
The cave floor was soft and warm, as if it was dirt rather than stone. There was another branch of a cave in front of him, and he saw small torches along the side. He grabbed one, unlit, and quickly gathered some static from his tails, lighting it. Now that he could actually see, the river kept going even through the chamber. But unlike before, it crashed into a wall full of holes, none of them big enough for him. Where the leviathan went, Tails didn't know, but he hoped it wasn't in the chamber with him.
The walls were a stony brown and grey, and rough to touch. He started walking towards the other cave, carefully keeping the torch in front of him. He took a moment to light the others near him first, allowing more of the fire's light into the cavern.
It smelled of stale air, as if there was no wind around. How far down was he? The cavern was almost boxy, and it reminded him strongly of the underground underneath the ruins. He just realized; if he was underground, he wasn't able to see the sun. Which meant that he wouldn't be able to tell the time. And there was so little time left. He spun his tails and started running through, going as fast as he felt safe.
Ups, downs, and through all manners of criss-crossing, Tails stayed in the cave. It never changed color, and each one had an unlit torch that he lit up to show his way. There was more than one time that he went expecting to find another lit torch, only to find another unlit one in its place.
The ground rumbled gently after what he thought was an hour of running. There was another loud roar, the same as the leviathan. There were multiple ways he could go, and each one led him to someplace he'd never been before. If one led to a dead-end, and the leviathan was stuck down here with him, he was a dead fox.
So it meant he had to get it right on the first try. He bolted down the left pathway, hoping that it was clear. It seemed to keep going for a while, even as fast as he was going, and would twist and turn up and down hills. The path split down the middle, one right and one left. He slowed down, only to realize he wasn't slowing down. The earth had reached up and grabbed him, shoving him towards the split in the middle. It had his feet up to his ankles, and no amount of flying would let it go.
He snarled as he spindashed into the right wall, feeling the entire wall start moving down the path. Sonic had told him of the ARK, and of the Lost World. It felt a lot like that, if he had to be honest. The cave was plain, and there were no clever designs on the side, but the entire thing was almost moving, shifting him forwards.
More and more split pathways. Middle, up, left, middle, right - Tails barely had the time to comprehend why he was making the decisions he was. It was seemingly random, and infinite in its depth and scope. His nose smelled the change first. The stale air smell had gone away, being replaced by fresher air straight forward. Had he made it out? His ears peered around, hearing the roar from behind him. Had the leviathan been chasing him this entire time? He didn't even know which way he was going, so why would it-
The bright lights blinded him for a moment before he found himself falling. The edge of the biome, he realized. Somehow, despite falling only down, he had gone up. The mountains seemed to raise around him as he fell.
There was no ground beneath him, and nothing to grab onto the sides of the canyons. He spun his tails, trying to at least slow his fall, only to realize they couldn't.
He couldn't slow his fall. The guy known for flying wasn't able to fly, but this time it wasn't due to injuries, but rather because the world really wanted him dead.
That made a bit too much sense, if he had to be honest. A dark blue leviathan was chasing him now, flying upon the clouds...or falling with him. It didn't seem to be getting closer or farther away.
It only had the one whisker on its face, and now that he saw it closer, its scales weren't just dark blue, but also dark brown at the same time. He remembered the yellow one from the river, capable of shooting water. The blue one from the lake, capable of shooting lightning.
Wait.
Blue. Lightning.
"Come on then!" Tails shouted, daring the creature to fire something at him. If it was earth, he could dodge. If it was lightning...
He smacked the Charger once, feeling his body coated with its power and energy. A few dozen bolts shot down from the leviathan with another roar, and Tails reached on with all of the control and power that he had, forcing it into a shield pattern around him.
The leviathan seemed concerned. Tails abused physics yet again, forcing the energy on top of him, creating almost a hard electricity glider. He felt his fall slow immediately, and it only lasted for a moment before he kept falling. But it was long enough for what he needed.
He tried to boost over to the leviathan. It had a large scar on its face, a large purple burn that Tails knew so well. It was the first leviathan they'd found. How? Why had it changed colors? Had it really followed them all the way from the lake, across the continent and desert, all the way across the ocean!? Or was this just...a meeting place?
It shot another bolt of lightning at him before he could think more on it, and he reached out to grab it before it could connect. He didn't let the shield fall this time as his feet connected with the leviathan's neck.
"Alright then. Come on, we're going to fly!" Tails shouted, planting his feet around the giant snake-like thing's neck. He pushed the energy surrounding him into the leviathan, hoping to make it connect and do...something.
Whatever it was, he hoped it would work. How it was supposed to work, he had no idea. This was more of a Sonic-style plan, wasn't it? Just how he liked it...
-Side B-
Blaze weaved left and right without bothering to look behind her. A small flare of green light was all that she needed to know that it had missed. The trees were rapidly disappearing around her, small streaks of whatever that energy breath weapon the thing had was. She had thought of using them for cover until she realized just how quick the thing chasing her was. Not quite as fast as her, but a little bit more agile at their high speeds.
She had, of course, sent more than a few fireballs and spears of fire at it, barely keeping it in view as she did. She had to keep her eyes forward, because hitting a tree at her speed was equivalent to smacking into a wall. It would have been painful, and embarrassing, for the future ten seconds she'd have to walk the world.
It was a giant snake-like creature, she knew. It had what looked like five or six pairs of legs, as if it was a centipede that had evolved to look more reptilian. It had no whiskers on its face, unlike the other leviathans they'd seen, and it didn't have wings so she doubted it could fly.
Her nose caught the smell before her eyes saw it. Another change in zone. From forest to...what it was, she wasn't sure. She sped up, eager to break for the trees with the small amount of time. She doubted it would follow her through the biome change.
The one second she spent in the air was enough time to realize that she had made a mistake. Changing biomes was making it turn around, but she'd prefer to deal with the fake leviathan rather than the swamp she was rapidly heading towards. She gave a soft sigh as her feet landed on the wet ground, falling inwards instantly. Blaze called the flames once more, pushing herself forward to stay on top of the watery mud.
She did find a toppled tree lying sideways in the mud, only halfway through the decomposition process, before she turned around. The leviathan hadn't left the biome change zone, instead roaring at her from the forest. It had a forked tongue similar to a snake, but it didn't hiss.
Each of its legs had claws nearly as long as she was tall, ending in sharp points that tore the ground asunder wherever it walked. It let out another loud roar, it's tongue shooting off a green beam of energy that cut through the nearest tree. It gave her one last look with its giant eyes, before it turned around and scurried into the forest. "And we're back to everything trying to kill us. Why did I miss that, again?" Blaze muttered to herself as she stared into the swampland.
The vines were hanging low from the dark trees, reaching into the swampy and muddy water underneath them. Each of the trees roots had lifted the trees up a bit, making them even taller than they were normally. The sky was dark, even darker than she thought it would have been. There was only green in the water, small bits of algae that had managed to hang on despite the lack of light. Blaze looked to see another log, carefully managing her jumps to ensure she landed on it and not back in the mud.
The Blooming Tides was not likely to be in the swamp, but it may have meant that she was on the right track. Her ears perked as she heard the sound of thunder far off, the storm over the mountain slowly growing stronger. Were they running out of time already?
The swamp's scents were mostly murky, with a hint of dead thing buried far underneath. She created a small fireball, sending it out in various directions, hoping that it would illuminate something...anything. She didn't need it, and she preferred the darkness truthfully, but there was no color in the dark. And with something like the Tides, color was needed.
Or at least, that's what she thought. There were no other sounds around, an eerie quiet that poked deep into her bones and soul. It was worse than the volcano, if she had to be honest. And at least then, she had Katia with her. She may not have liked the girl, then, but she'd been told many times she wasn't the easiest to work with. How, then, had Tails worked under that? How had she been so relaxed around him, and how was she able to work with him, when she could barely stand most other sapients?
She shook out her thoughts as she made another jump. The log on this one came up out of the water, far more decomposed than she had thought, and Blaze ran up to the far side and jumped up to a nearby tree, her claws extended and holding her up. Painful, maybe, but better than going in the water. Knowing their luck, it was probably filled with leeches and all kinds of other nasty animals that would like to feast on her flesh and blood.
It wasn't like the swamp back at the Elemental Mountain...Rock, now that she knew its name. For a primordial, she was expecting a much more...obtuse, name. Like Zephyr. Zephyr's name, or...the fire primordial.
Zephyr had claimed she already knew it. But had done so only after naming the Sol-
A headache pounded into her. A sledge hammer was being used to bang her skull around, combined with a minor pickaxe and a dull knife. She'd named the Sol Emeralds.
Silver had mentioned it, hadn't he? Before she'd used the Chaos Emeralds-
Another surge of pain. Something didn't like her thinking of the Chaos Emeralds or the Sol Emeralds. Blaze snarled to nothing. "This is my head, my body. And I'm going to think whatever I want," she managed to get out.
The pain seemed to recede a bit, and Blaze calmed down, breathing deeper and longer. When had she started hyperventilating? It was hard to tell these things, for her. She couldn't even trust her own head, now. Then again, she never had, had she? She was always over-complicating things, making things harder than she needed to.
She jumped down onto another log, hoping that this one was alright. It sank down deeper into the swamp, but didn't fly up and try to hit her in the face.
There was a slight rumbling, again. Another leviathan? She turned her head, eyes searching the darkness for the sign of anything, any movement.
The water told her first. It was barely there, and if she had had shoes on like she so wished she probably would've been killed. She blasted off the log with just enough time as the log broke straight in the middle.
A large pair of jaws had appeared around it, teeth the size of her. Black as the night around it, it's yellow eyes seeped into hers as the wood broke handily. Some kind of giant crocodile, or alligator. Giant though was giving it a misnomer. The thing was gigantic, nearly three times the size of the giant fox thing that had chased her and Tails. It had six legs, three on each side, and its tail had sharp spines on each side, like a wrecking ball of spines.
Casually she shot a fireball at it, not surprised as it dove down into the water. Blaze felt herself snarl again, a high pitched hiss emanating from her throat. She couldn't give it any thought as the log underneath her broke again, the crocodile doing the same thing it had done previously.
She was already in the air, fire combing over hands as she landed on the thick hide of the thing lightly. She was on its head, just as it had gone sideways over the water. Her hand started to burn as she invoked her flames more, pulling it into an almost dagger like shape. The dagger of flame was plunged straight into its head, and Blaze tried to push it deeper, to create a lance from a dagger. The alligator roared in pain, sending her flying into the treetops.
She landed gently and quietly among the trees. She stared at the crocodile, glaring at it, daring it to try to attack her from down below. Her ears flicked behind her; another sound, of the trees parting ways. Was there another one? One that could climb trees?
The tree branch she was on broke cleanly as another large spider, pure white as snow, dropped onto where she was. It's fangs were longer than her arms, its abdomen about the size of the alligator's.
Blaze plunged into the water only moments before the alligator or crocodile had taken her challenge, leaping up to its full size above the water. She created another vacuum of flames, despite the water around her, hoping to send her to safety before the thing landed on her.
She surfaced a moment later, not surprised to see both the spider and the crocodile staring at where she was. She felt a yell coming from her throat, and she tried to stamp down on it, knowing that it wasn't her, "You want some!?" her throat vocalized.
Whatever it was that called out, the creatures decided it didn't like it. The crocodile charged through the water, surprisingly agile despite its size. The spider was just as quick through the treetops, the vines and branches not even bending for the eight legged monstrosity. Blaze had only one option to run away, and that was to run on the swamp water, try and hurry to the next biome. Or...she could stay and fight.
The crocodile at least, had a head wound. She could see that, because the burn was massive on top of its scaled head. Which meant that fire could be effective.
And she was nothing if not fire. She focused on herself, calling all the flames she felt she could safely do so, without falling into Iblis' infernal flames.
A large pillar of fire spontaneously generated around her, just as the spider jumped down from the treetops, and the crocodile jumped up from the water.
Blaze shut her eyes, feeling the flames all around her. She forced herself into the air, spinning around as she focused on all the fire, bits and pieces being hardened and sharpened, cutting into both the spider's legs and the crocodile's mouth.
Fire erupted from their bodies, and more fire was set to Blaze's control. It wasn't just pure lances or swords or daggers, now, but rather fire itself running rampant through her enemies. Not whips, not axes, no physical weapons but fire, cutting as though they were physical. With each cut, she dug them deeper into the creatures, feeling more and more heat added to the flames wrath.
And with more fire, came more power. And with more power, came more fire. A subtle urge was felt deep below her head, deep inside her heart. She rested her feet for only a moment against the crocodile's teeth, feeling it slip only a little bit, before she exploded upwards. Her hands grabbed the spider's mandibles, forcing them up as she burned them with the fire still on her hands. Her feet found themselves in the head fur of the thing, all of its eyes focused on her.
She gave a slight smirk as she exploded again.
The water didn't slow her down as she jumped off the spider, sliding with ease onto the water, the flames all around her easing her forward and calling to her. The jungle's trees were lit up sky high, and she knew that they were smoking badly. The bodies of the spider and the crocodile were burning still, despite being in the water. And they would burn for as long as Blaze would feel like they should burn.
The fires carried with her, lighting more of the swamp on fire as she went, a veritable living flamethrower. She jumped over the next biome change, cutting off her flames as she did, hoping to not need to burn the next biome to the ground behind her.
A field of flowers gently cradled her, and Blaze turned around to see the smoke of the swamp behind her. Her body was filthy, small bits of algae holding on with all of its might against her bare stomach. With a minor flick, it leapt off, landing on the flowers around her.
Flowers of all colors dominated her sight, and Blaze relaxed into the flowerbed as she saw the sun, still blue and high in the sky. She hadn't missed any time than necessary in the swamp. Hopefully she didn't need to go back there.
She really didn't want to have to light it up on fire for a second time.
-Side S-
Spark found herself rolling gently in a small field, slowly slowing down. She unfurled from the ball that she had put herself in, her eyes lurching forward as she promptly lost whatever she had last ate into the greenery.
Had she passed out? Her head was fuzzy, and it was hard to think. She had put herself into a ball...in a mountain...and then slammed straight into some ground, which would explain why her back and legs were killing her right now, and then kept going into another of the hexes.
A plains field. Had she even seen this one from above? Her head was pounding, and she let out a low moan as she raised a bloody hand to her head.
She glanced at it. Sure enough, the back of her right hand had been torn up something bad. Had her back been the same way? Probably. That's what rolling downhill and using only the bare minimum of channeling would do to someone. Her legs seemed to get stronger the more she stood up, and her head slowly began to spin less. She still had a massive headache, but at least now she couldn't lose anything more than she already did.
The plains were mostly gentle hills, slow rolling mounds of dirt and grass. The grass was about waist high tall, and it tickled her bare legs as she walked past it. It wasn't reaching out for her, so to speak, but if it was an organism it knew she was there.
The story she knew of the Blooming Tides, the only one she'd ever heard of, had nothing in it about the Lost Hexes. Which meant that either they were very close, or somewhat far and had gone more off track. Although Zephyr had used his sky roads to make them land here. Was the ancient of air so likely to keep them wandering here for...however long they needed to be before they get reset?
She felt some of the ground sneak up on her, and she bounced away as the ground where she had been standing suddenly deepened, as if something had just taken a massive bite out of it. It was a near perfect circle, and the grass was still on the top. This wasn't like the snow place, earlier, was it? She'd hated that place.
And it wasn't just for the cold, either.
If she needed to fight soon though, she should probably bandage herself up while she could. She got out the cloak again, and tore off a small piece of the bottom, wrapping it around her right hand. It didn't interfere with the generation of her lightning at all, so that was a win.
Bandaged up now, Spark kept her eyes open and her ears attuned to the sounds around here. In grass like this, even a small wind could be deadly loud. There was no sound though, other than her own breathing and the sound of her walking through the grass.
Her feet felt it first; a small tingle of something close by. She jumped off to the side, landing in the middle of the tall grass, as another hole suddenly appeared. Something was chasing her. Was this what Blaze and Tails felt like all the time? No wonder they had been so jumpy. Although that jumpiness had gotten them out of Ikan'Thoa, so maybe that wasn't a bad thing.
She forced lightning to her legs, ignoring the way her legs protested the additional movement. Right, she hadn't checked to see if she was bleeding yet, and she had rolled down a mountain. Although she supposed she'd have to check back later, as she suddenly stopped, a large bear like thing suddenly coming out of the ground. A narkol. A bear like torso with a rounded tip for a mouth, capable of rotating on its own. It had fins for its feet, capable of driving through dirt at even the fastest of speeds.
Now that she thought about it, she wondered if this is what Tails meant what he mentioned that 'driller' thing. She'd have to tell him that there was a creature and it had an actual name. Next time she saw him. She shot a bolt of lightning at it, just enough to hopefully scare it off. Her feet twinged again, and she bounced off to the side as the narkol looked straight at her, its brown eyes menacingly closed.
Another narkol had shown up right where she had been. No wonder Tails and Blaze had been so paranoid. They had gone through an entire field of these things already, hadn't they? Blaze and he had just casually mentioned it, like it wasn't a big deal. A single narkol was a death sentence for most Ikan'Thoan's. For her, two or three might be able to injure her. Judging by the way the holes kept appearing in the grass, there was a lot more than just two or three.
It was times like this she wished for her crossbow.
She jumped up as that narkol she'd bolted charged at her, it's maw drilling and rotating as fast as it could. She landed hands first on it's back, ignoring the way it's hair dug into her fur. It was another natural defense of the narkol. She channeled lightning from her legs to her arms, pushing off furiously as she finished her midair flip. Both narkols on the surface turned around as quick as they could, just as Spark had landed.
The grass suddenly cut into her hips and legs, and she took more lightning from her torso to her legs. It had been a bad idea to use the stuff from her legs earlier, but if she got out of this she'd know better now.
Assuming, of course, that she'd actually get out of this alive. She tried to speed across the grassy hills, not surprised when she felt the grass actively trying to get in her way this time. She could try to use her lightning the way that Tails had, essentially creating an edged blade, but her control simply wasn't that good. She had a hard enough time using the dual lightning boost that they had done back on the Fox's Grace. The most she could do is try to run away.
She tripped, one lucky blade finally wrapping itself around her ankle, and she fell onto the ground, her back and legs screaming at her.
Her instincts were screaming at her too, as the narkol's slowly came closer, getting the feeling that their prey was defenseless.
How did Blaze do this? She had seemingly an infinite amount of fire at her beck and call, and even Tails, external controller that he was, never seemed to run out with that device of his. There was always the last bit of lightning she had...she reached down for her heart, feeling it's beat. There was power there, she knew, and maybe she could draw that out.
Four narkols, now, surfaced around her. They were coming at from every angle, and she could tell that others were coming too.
Her heart was starting to slow, she knew, as she drew out her power. She coated her arms, her legs, her head...all of it, with its power. She felt it burning her skin, burning through her fur with its heat.
She had one shot. She was probably going to die from this, too. But if it took out more than a few of these things, and helped Blaze and Tails, in anyway, shape, or form, then maybe it was worth it. Each breath was labored, now. Her heart had slowed down to the lowest she felt safe. Her lungs weren't getting air, as she had frozen all signals to her muscles. Even her own brain was starting to fry as she drained it for more energy.
She could only keep two thoughts in mind. One was the timing, and the other...the other was Tails.
She felt the first drill start at her chest, and she let loose, hoping the others were close by. An electrical storm jumped out from her, circling her near perfectly. She'd have nothing left, and left nothing out. She smelled the burning, dying flesh of the narkols around her, and knew that at least she had done something.
Then the world collapsed beneath her feet. The adrenaline shot through her body as she lost control of her channeling, and she felt a sudden urge to cough and heave. Her heartbeat wasn't steady, and her head was less than clear. She wasn't sure how long she fell for, before she hit the dirty ground far underneath her. Her back protested every movement, and her muscles were fried, but she could breathe.
She heaved herself up immediately, coughing up a large chunk of blood that spat itself onto her chest. Her hands weren't working, neither were her legs, and she knew she'd just doomed herself. Although it was dying to the narkols or dying down here.
...Honestly, in hindsight, the dying to the narkols probably wouldn't have been such a bad death. Would be quick, at least. Were there any down here? If not, she was...going to survive for a while, then probably die to lack of water. Or lack of food.
Her internal clock was messed up, but eventually her arms and legs started to respond. She felt, rather than see, the small sparks that started up from her fur. She sat up, pulling herself against a wall to lean against.
She ignored the large pathway of blood from it, and the blood on her chest. She was a warrior, not a kit. She'd have time to cry about it later.
Spark took a deep breath, trying to steady herself. She ignored the urge to cough, grabbing a bit of the water from her pouch. It didn't calm it down any, but it at least made her feel a bit better.
She had fallen into a cave, she finally noticed. The walls were nearly perfectly smooth and square, except for where the narkols had carved their way through it. There was no obvious exit, nor any obvious entrance. There was no smell besides dirt, down here, and of her own blood.
She pushed herself up, ignoring the sway in her step. She wiped one hand at her eyes, trying to keep herself awake. She ignored the blood that showed from it. Her eyes were bleeding, now too. Honestly, it was probably just luck she lived from that maneuver.
Or...maybe it wasn't. Her head was still fuzzy, but there was a distinctive lack of Tails in her head. Had she..somehow un-brainshifted herself? Was that even possible?
Quickly she thought of the fox, waiting for the hated thoughts to come. Instead, it was only her own thoughts; of the nice boy that had taught her so much, going so far as to teach her a language. Of the young man who had designed these amazing tools for things that no one else in Ikan'Thoa could have ever seen.
But the hated thoughts never came. There was no thought of giving herself up, no thought of doing what was right for the village. There was still something there, some loyalty she knew she would always have, but it had scarred up by now. Slowly, she staggered down one side of the cave, fully anticipating another fall soon. She definitely was hurt something bad. She had seen how Blaze had slowly healed after over extending herself; would she heal that fast, too?
They didn't have the weeks of time that Blaze did though. She barely had any time at all. Still, she forced herself to walk down the endless path, embraced in shadow, and impossible to see much further than her own nose.
If Extinguish is hard for me to read, I can't imagine how it is for all of you. Thank you all for sticking with me. My initial editing pass definitely shows I was too tired for this originally.
Until Next Time.
