Chapter 15 - Tutelage From a Cavy
"..." both hedgehogs spoke listening in silence.
Seeing movement in his peripheral vision, Sonic took a quick glance. Catching what it was, one was Speed's eye tracing something down the tunnel. Second, his ears were following the same direction the red ring was. Copying him and focusing, something was being heard over the hot spring sizzling. Sounding like soft planted hits on the ground, he couldn't tell if it were footsteps or not. Closing his eyes and concentrating harder, something of a small rock was knocking multiple times on the ground.
"...someone...kicked a rock..." the child breathed nervously. Opening his eyes and looking at the amputee, he turned back to him.
"..." the adult hedgehog responded with only a faint nod.
Observing him move, it made the boy watch him while remaining in place. Moving in slow motion, his movements were quieter than the hot spring atmospheric noise. Slowly rising out of the water, there was no indication of him leaving the water or liquid re-entering the pool. The droplets coming of his body were faint when hitting the ground. Lethargically moving his head towards the orphan, he made a small hand gesture to come towards him.
Nodding, Sonic looked at his position and thought about what he did. Curling his lips in and biting down, he tried to move as slowly as possible. Going at a snail's pace in the hot fluid was not something he would do. However finding that by doing so made him quiet, it made him focus on continuing to do so. Getting to the edge and putting his hands on the ground, the child slowly crawled out of the warm liquid.
'So that's it,' the young hedgehog thought in surprise. 'That is how that one kid could sneak through the water.'
Slowly standing up and blinking, he felt and heard the droplets roll off his quills. Each little pat heard on the floor seemed too loud for trying to be quiet. Seeing movement again near him, Speed had gone to where their boots and accessories were. Watching him only put on his shoes, Sonic followed him and put on his boots. Once finished, he observed what the one-arm man would do next.
Taking his cloak, he got up and moved to a hot spring pool. Stopping in front of it, he carefully laid the outerwear on top of the water. Seeing it float a little, the older hedgehog turned around and walked away. Slowly but surely, it began to sink. After a couple of seconds, it was not seen from where the boy was standing.
'Guess that is one way of hiding it,' Sonic mentioned in his head.
Seeing the amputee head towards the under passage opening, his footsteps were barely audible. Following and mimicking how he was walking, the two headed back to the living quarters chamber. Getting further away from the hot springs room, the illumination began to dim quickly. When the darkness made everything unable to see, Sonic had stepped closer to Speed. Concentrating hard on his hearing for his movements, he made sure to not move away from the dark silhouette to his right.
Reaching back into his chamber, both had stopped. Despite the darkness being high, the boy noticed that it didn't seem as scary as before. As if on cue from hearing something to their left, their ears perked up. Shifting them to the left where the tunnel was, they could hear something a little bit clearer. The sounds of people moving around further down it was coming through. Not able to tell how many there were, the intruders were not quiet. Their voices were being carried from the echoing in the tunnel.
'Those guys aren't being very...smart...!?' the child began. Stopping from hearing something to the right, he shifted his ears. Facing the underground hallway which was the opposite wall of where they came out of, there seemed to the same echo.
'...there are two search/patrol crews?' he wondered confused.
Blinking and glancing to his right where the adult hedgehog was, he was not there. Feeling alerted and concentrating on locating a figure moving around, there was a glow of crimson faintly on the wall to his right. Quietly moving to where he stood, the man was picking something up from the dresser. Seeing the red eye move to look down at him, they stared for a moment or two. Feeling like he should whisper to find out how to do the exercise, the ring lens shifted to the right.
'He's going into the tunnel that had the second scouting party?' Sonic wondered.
Looking down the main stretch of the cave, there was a small illumination. It seemed to dance with colors of orange, red, and yellow. Noticing that it was not from the ground, it seemed to be from a standing height. Knowing where a search party was, the child looked right. Seeing a fading black figure of the amputee, he cautiously walked quickly to catch up with him.
'There has got to be a trick to seeing in the dark if he says hedgehogs can,' the child pondered.
Getting close and seeing the adult's quills, they were not bobbing while he walked. The youngin thought about his since they were not as long. Making him wonder if was not being as quiet, the orphan's ears perked up. As they continued to go forward, the soundscape around them changed. It felt that they were no longer in a narrow passageway.
'...the egg smell...you can barely smell it,' he thought sniffing the air. '...smells like something else now...kind of like an abandoned home after it rains.'
Continuing to follow Speed in silence, there were an emergence of noises in the background. Still sounding like the invading party, they seem to be coming from different areas behind and to their left. However when looking in those directions, only darkness was seen. Turning back forward, Sonic stopped from seeing the one-armed man stop. Seeing him turn around, he lowered to the ground to be at his eye level.
"Now..." he whispered while staring at the boy. "...begin...deception..."
"Deception?" the child repeated quietly. Blinking and staring for a couple of moments, an awkward silence passed between them. Detecting a misunderstanding, he continued.
"You must...fool...others if they...can overpower you..." he clarified.
"Oh...you mean like making call sounds...right?" Sonic spoke in an airy tone.
"...define...call sounds..."
"Like being a predator...roaring and stuff like that."
"...can you...mimic primals?" Speed asked quietly. He saw the boy shake his head. About to open his mouth to explain, the man's face was closer to his. Still only seeing the crimson ring piercing at him, only a dark outline of the adult hedgehog was seen in the darkness. Including his head.
"...scream..." he asked flatly.
"...scream?...you want me to scream?" the boy repeated looking at him odd. He forced himself to not veer back from how unsettling he was becoming.
"Can you?"
"...well...yeah...b-but...not off the fly like that. I mean, the smaller kids and infants yell and scream all the time..." the boy spoke and continued to ramble.
"..." the amputee responded while staring. Feeling his right eye narrow, the right corner of his mouth began to twitch a little from annoyance.
More towards the entrance of the cave, four scouts total from Zorn and Oberi villages walked through the opening. Being as quiet as possible, they had brought torches along with other gear. Getting into the main cavern, the darkness inside began to be illuminated. Moving the fire sticks to shine light over everything, they saw the rock formations of the walls and the appearance of stalactites on the ceiling above. The two from Oberi village saw something to their right and motioned to the other two.
"Looks like there is a tunnel entrance over there," one stated.
"Yeah...there is also one to the left over here too," a scout from Zorn's village mentioned. Shining the crackling light to where they were pointing at, there was another under passageway.
"Should we split up or stick together?"
"Hmm," the lead scout from Zorn's village pondered out loud. "Let's stay as a group until we find something. If the killer is here, then we need all eyes on our sixes at all times."
"Alright," a dog breed scout began then motioned to the two pathways. "Which way do we take?"
"Well...you'd be up for picking which way we go."
"Me? Why?"
"Come on man. You got the best sense of smell than the rest of us," a birdman stated with a small amount of impatience. "Which way smells like the kid? Or the Killer? or is one dead."
"..." the canine man answered with a frowned. Sighing a little, he then turned around and looked at both tunnels. Going to the right underground hallway, he took a couple of whiffs. Identifying the smells to himself, he moved to the one on the adjacent corner. Smelling it, he veered back a little. Shaking his head as if to rid of a smell, turned back to them.
"Down the left path...it smells old...musky...stale...and eggy," he stated then pointed to the other opening. "This one just has moisture and stale air."
"Hmm...if there is an egg smell...then possibly a snake breed lives down the left path," the lead mentioned then pointed to the right under passageway. "It would be safe to go to the right one first before venturing into the left one."
"If we want to get this killer to come out and the cave is ultimately a dead end," an antelope species villager began then motioned the torch in his hand. "Why not we smoke the guy out. This would fill into the air of the cave and suffocate if no one comes out. We wouldn't have to venture deeper."
"We still need to check and see if the Oberi orphan is still alive. If so, then bring him back to the village. If not but remains still here, then bring the corpse back. Either way, we have to go in."
"Getting cold feet on a night raid?" the panther warrior from Oberi village spoke with a smirk.
"No...just trying to be smart and safe about this. If he can smell the aspect of a snake laying eggs from here, we should take every precaution to not disturb that creature," the herbivore countered with a small frown.
"It is all good points," the scout captain stated to interject. "Let's lay our torches here and get the portable lights out. That way we won't run the air out when we go in."
Putting their fire sticks down on the ground, each got out a handheld device from their perspective knapsacks. Turning it on, a pale white light illuminated the inside of the cavern. Feeling ready, they traversed into the right pathway. Going straight initially, it began to curve to the left. So far, none of them heard any notable sounds to be alarmed about. There was the occasional movement of pebbles falling, but nothing to indicate a threat or an animal lurking. Seeing an opening on the right wall, they stopped and looked in.
Appearing as if it was another open chamber, it was a little bit smaller than the one at the beginning of the cave. Shining a light into it, it casted many shadows from the large rocks and boulders that were lying around. There was no parting of rock to show that there was another underground hallway. Sticking his nose through and sniffing the air, the dog scout stated that the stale and humid smell was the same. Backing up and continuing on following the passageway they were in, they saw another opening up ahead. Once reached and stopping, it revealed to what seemed like an intersection.
"Great...now which way do we go?" the birdman asked quietly looking back and forth from the three openings.
"Who cares. We have to explore all of it anyways," the panther scout commented. "Why not just keep going straight?"
"Hold up," the canine villager whispered and took a couple of whiffs. "The egg smell is present...must mean these tunnels are connected."
"I can smell it faintly," the feline patroller mentioned then looked at the feathered man. "If it gets too intense and the kid is in the den, you'll have to be sent in to retrieve him."
"What? Why me?" the bird scout asked confused.
"Your sense of smell is the worst out of all of us," he reasoned with a smug look.
"Hey. Just because my species is not the best, doesn't mean we just have corks up our noses. You should tell that to Famin from the coastal town."
"Alright alright you guys," the lead spoke with hands up.
As he took a step forward, he kicked a small rock hard enough to launch it. It hit the ground with a clank that seemed to echo down each tunnel. All four froze and watched it as it bounced into the tunnel leading to the right. Waiting for something to occur, the only sound that was emitting was the fading sound of the large pebble hitting the ground. After a minute passed with nothing occurring or coming at them, all of them relaxed a little.
"Nice shot antelope," the catman stated with a frown.
"Sorry about that," he replied then addressed them. "Let's focus on what we came to do: find out if the child is here and retrieve what we can. If possible, eliminate the killer. Once those objectives or the main one is completed, get out of here."
"..." the other three scouts nodded their heads in silence. Moving to the center of the intersection, all took points of staring down a passageway.
"Anything down each?" the lead asked quietly.
"Based on the faint glow I see...this will lead us back to the entrance," the birdman stated.
"This way seems to lead further into the cave...can't see much beyond my light," the panther answered staring at the opening opposite of the one they came out of.
"...this way seems to go further as well...I'm also picking up a combination of things," the hound mentioned then smelled the air. "...grass...cloves...blood...egg...old wood...and others I can't identify."
"Can you detect if the blood was recent or old?" the antelope asked.
"Given the smell of grass with the blood...probably can say it was recent."
"Is your smell that good to detect if it is the blood of a child?" the panther asked with a small smirk on his face.
"Shut up," the hound retorted quietly with a little annoyance.
"Can it you two," the captain muttered then turned around. "Let's take this pathway. Maybe it will go around the-"
"AAAAAAAAAHHHHHHHHHHHH!" a deep, vicious sounding scream bellowed. From standing in the intersection, the echo and reverberation from the walls made the roar sound much louder and bigger. It shook up all four men as they froze in place.
"What the hell was that?" one asked stepping back.
"Where did that come from?" another posed a question and leaned away from the tunnel opening he was in front of.
"Can't tell...seems like it came from either directions," a third answered going backwards a little.
"Is that the killer...or a primal predator?" someone asked trying to go in the opposite direction of where he was staring at.
"It can't be that mutated hedgehog," the lead informed and took one foot backwards. All four bumped into each other then stopped.
"Why can't it be? You all saw what he looked like," the birdman spoke getting anxious. Them standing in place like sitting ducks was getting on his nerves.
"Probably was hiding his predatorial roars from the beginning."
"The kid stated to the Chiefs that he was mute...so he won't scream or even talk if his mute."
"You'd believe in what a kid states?" the panther man asked looking back and forth. He was trying to get his bearings and not let anxiety and fear eat at him.
"That butcher probably threatened the squirt to speak for him so that he didn't have to."
"Do you smell anything coming?" the scout captain whispered to the canine male. "I don't hear any movement coming towards us."
"...nothing different...except us sweating a little from the unknown," he spoke feeling tense still.
"...!?" Sonic reacted with veering back and covering his head.
Shaking a little from the sudden outburst scream, it sounded savage in the tunnels. Hearing it bounce off walls, there was a tapering effect that seemed to go deeper into the cave behind them. At the same time, the sound wave traveled toward where the invaders were. When the echo died down and he let go of his ears a little, the child concentrated on listening. Hearing the voices speak more quickly, it seemed like they were frightened.
"...!?" the boy reacted with a flinch. Feeling a hand on his shoulder, he traced it to where it was connected to. Seeing that Speed had not moved other than standing up, he looked down at him. Of what was illuminated in the darkness they were in, only his crimson ring eye stood out.
"...deceive..." the amputee stated in a low tone.
"...u-um...o-okay..." Sonic spoke then fidgeted with his hands a little. Breathing in and out a couple of times, he felt a little more ready. Looking up, the adult hedgehog still had not moved and continued to stare at him. Getting uncomfortable, he began battling himself within his own mind. Hearing him speak again, the orphan stiffened up quickly.
"...do...you...need...assistance...?" he asked in an even, raspy low tone. It had a hint of sternness.
"...w-what kind of assistance...?" the boy asked not looking up to meet his gaze.
"...do...you...need...pain...?" he asked as the red eye seemed to glow more. The boy immediately looked up scared and shook his head side to side quickly. Getting his head snatched at and gripped, the orphan willed himself to suppress from yelping in surprise.
"...then...deceive...won't...ask...again..." Speed spoke sounding grave and threatening.
"..." Sonic responded with breathing heavier and quicker.
Curling his hands into fists and closing his eyes, his mind tried to find something to conjure himself to let loose. Thinking about the mechanical clone in his dreams and the near fatal incidents he ran into, he opened his eyes. Seeing the lone crimson ring eye bore at him, its hue glowed hauntingly. Feeling goosebumps flare over his skin, it was enough for him to breathing in and open his mouth.
"L-look guys...why not we just head back to where our torches are? We aren't that heavily armed to deal with something like a killer or primal predator," the birdman informed feeling his nerves building to be rattled.
"You are just getting scared over something that probably isn't bigger than any of us," the panther warrior stated with a nervous tone.
"Something that screams that angrily would not be our size," the dog scout remarked having his ears up and moving to hear anything coming at them.
"Listen guys...let's refocus on-"
"RRAAAAAAAAHHHHHAAAAAAAWWWWWWWWW!" a higher pitched Bandshee screech blasted through the cave. The tone was enough to make all the men cringe as if they were hearing nails on a chalkboard. Seeing feathers moving the others' peripheral, the aerial animal began running down the tunnel he was staring at.
"Fall back! Fall back!" the lead scout stated.
Taking his cue, the remaining three ran after the one ahead of them. Last one to run, the feline patroller first pulled out a spherical object and turned it on. Dropping it on the ground, he immediately got out a large coin bag and opened it. Dumping a bit first next to the lit item on the floor, he began running. Catching a whiff of what was inside, what was coming out of the bag was to sand's consistency.
"Come on man! Pick up the pace!" the birdman stated from further down the tunnel. The panther man continued pouring and running while looking up. Seeing the feathered animal already reach the first chamber, he had began picking them up. Upon catching up to him, the four turned to the cave entrance. They continued running and passed it.
"Continue till we get up to the top of this incline," the antelope ordered. Doing so and getting further away from hill, the group began to slow down. Reaching the top and breathing harder, the lead scout recovered the fastest.
"Alright...so maybe a night raid was not the best option in this situation," he began looking at the others. "We should fall back and inform our...what are you doing?"
"Simple," the panther warrior answered. The others caught their breath and turned to see him closing up an empty small bag. Watching him tie it on his belt, the feline turned to the aerial animal with the torches. Grabbing on out of his grasp, he went back to where he was standing.
"Preventing whatever predator death machine in there from escaping and killing anyone ever again," he finished. Lowering the fire stick to the ground, sparks immediately ignited. Quickly, it trailed itself back into the cave.
"Why do you have a bag of gunpowder?" the captain asked surprised.
"You think going into a cave with a potential murder without any insurance is smart? Especially one that is faster than any of us?" he began then crossed his arms over his chest. "This mission to just recover and maybe knock off that one armed freak is suicidal. The best option for us is to just blow its den up or close off the only exit to trap it in the hill."
"There could have been survivors. What if the child is still alive in there?" the hound scout asked ambivalent from the action that was taken.
"The squirt is good as dead being out here with predators. He narrowly escaped the first time. A beast like that freak wouldn't make the same mistake twice."
"You don't know that for sure thought," the birdman remarked. The three men saw the panther smirk and continued to watch the cave.
"Well none of you were coming up with a plan of action. So sue me if I was thinking of preventing further lives from being lost to that killer."
"..." the others reacted with silence. Turning to the cave opening, they waited till they heard the explosion.
"...hah...hah...hah..." Sonic said while breathing. Still feeling his nerves being pressed with the hard hand grip on his head, it began to lessen. Flinching a tad from feeling his head being patted, he slowly watched what Speed was doing.
"...so you can..." he said in a low raspy voice. Waiting a bit, both heard fading running footsteps. The sound caused the child to turn around and stare in the direction of where the boot stomps were going away.
"...deception is taken...good effort..." he stated. Rustling the child's head a little, then put his hand back to his side.
'...he...he praised me?' the boy thought in surprise. The head patting startled him a little, but made him feel confident and good about himself. Though thinking there would be a smile on the man's face, only the stillness of the crimson ring bored back at him. Fighting against the apprehension from seeing only that in the darkness around them, it kept him alert.
"T-Thanks...I did not think my yelling would have scared off the scouts like that. I mean, yours was pretty frightening in how it bounced off the walls and made it seem louder and longer."
"...sound travels...and begins to bend...when focusing at a focal point...in a cave with tunnels," Speed stated then began to walk.
Following him closely, it seemed they were heading back to the main living chamber. Listening to their footsteps and for anything else, there didn't seem to be any noises or presences with them. Reaching the room that the amputee dwells in, the orphan could see outlines of black figures again. About to ask him a question regarding the exercise they did, he ran into him. Taking a back step and muttering an apology, it seemed he was staring down the long under passageway.
"...?" Sonic said blinking then turned in the same direstion. Thinking he saw something, he narrowed his eyes and concentrated harder.
"...sparks flashing on walls..." the man whispered.
"...yeah...and...there is a blue light down there too," he spoke quietly. About to wonder out loud, he felt the man's left hand go on his back. Feeling him go forward, he kept up with his pace.
"...do not panic...just focus forward..." the one-arm hedgehog stated evenly.
"Okay...w-what's going on?"
"...to survive...one must not anchor...themselves in one place..."
"Anchor themse-!?" the child began.
A loud explosion was heard somewhere behind them and caused the cave to rumble. Almost as if inducing an earthquake, everything began to shake. The ceiling and walls began cracking with the sound of rocks splitting. Seeing the glow from the hot spring pools, it indicated they were halfway there. Feeling his hand tap his back, he saw the adult male run.
"...watch your step...and for falling rocks..."
'They set off a grenade in here!? That will collapse this place!' the small hedgehog thought in shock.
Running to follow the adult, both got to the room that generated the egg smell. Hearing a crackling then a release, a boulder dropped from the left side of the chamber. Slamming into the ground near a pool, it caused a tremor to go through the room. Also, the hot water shot up into the air from impact spreading steam in all directions. Not stopping, both hopped over the large pools in the middle.
Both narrowly missed loose gravel and pebbles dropping down from above. Reaching the wall that had openings to the other side of the hill, both could feel cooler air coming in. Without saying anything, Speed turned to Sonic. Seeing the boy look up, the man motioned with his head to the opening that was above his head. Nodding, the child got under it and jumped.
Feeling a hand get under him and aid him up, he grabbed the edge of the hole. Feeling the rumbling of the cave in his hands, he hoisted himself up using his feet on the wall for leverage. Getting through and being now outside, the hill and surroundings looked different. There was no moonlight which casted much shadowy areas everywhere in front of him. Feeling uneasiness building in him front the unknown environment, he turned back to the hole.
"...!?" Sonic gasp from hearing a large crack from above. Looking up, a large rock began to fall from the chamber's ceiling. Thinking of where it would hit, the child looked down.
"Look out!" he shouted in worry.
Falling where the amputee was standing, a dust explosion erupted from the heavy impact. Fear crept into him from not being able to see if the fallen sediment killed the man or not. About to speak out, he closed his mouth from feeling his gut tighten. Blinking and slowly looking to his left, Speed was outside. Unharmed, he was staring at him near a larger hole.
"..." both spoke hearing more of the sediment destruction continue inside. Turning to their viewing ports, more boulders began falling down to the ground. Feeling more tremors go through the hill, Sonic saw a red light move. Seeing Speed turned around, he began hiking up the hill to the left side.
'...my village...kicked him out...now they destroyed his home,' the boy thought hurrying up to follow behind him. Feeling bitter about the actions the adults had taken, he was more afraid of the amputee wanting revenge.
'I hope he doesn't want to destroy Zorn village now.'