The last guardian
I am a warrior.
I am a warrior, who comes from a tribe of warriors. The Angel Island echidna clan, the guardians of the master emerald, who float high in the heavens above the planet. Thousands of years ago, our ancestors once ruled a great empire on the surface, until our ajaw (chief) Pachacamac, angered the great spirit Chaos, and he destroyed most of our tribe in an angry wrath. The master emerald chose to take our island high into the heavens, and we lived above the world in the ages to come. It was into this world I was born.
My father was Pakal, one of our tribe's greatest warriors. It was he who taught me how to hunt, fish, and fight. My mother Yohl taught me things such as how to read and speak, how to cook and groom, and how to take care of myself. We were a diminished clan in my childhood, and the death blow came when my people sought out Longclaw, the last of the owl warriors, to finish her off, and end an old tribal grudge. when I was but ten years old, every member of the tribe besides myself went down to the surface, and none ever returned.
I was alone, left with only with the shaman Athiar, my great grandfather, to watch over me. He was from another clan, from an island on the surface,and he came to the island with my mother when she married into our tribe. He finished my education, and from him I learned the lore of our people, how to read and write in the glyphs of our ancestors, as well as how to identify the constellations and chart the stars. When I came of age, I saw my grandfather less and less, as he retreated to the hidden palace zone to bury himself in his ancient tomes and potions to study Chaos magic. I can find him there at study still, though I know not if he is still flesh, a spirit, or somewhere in between.
My grandfather and I lived alone, until the day the doctor's death egg crashed on the island. He made the false promise of being friends, and when he spoke of the hedgehog, I saw my chance for revenge on Longclaw's apprentice, for what his mentor had robbed me of. But I found myself betrayed by the doctor, and the hedgehog I had seen as my enemy, soon became my greatest ally. We drove the monster off my island, and I entered a grudging friendship with the blue one. Trusting others and making friends did not come easy to me. I would occasionally team up with the hedgehog and his other friends, but there were a few times I let the doctor fool me again.
Eventually, I was able to make a group of friends from the surface, and for a time we formed our own team- the chaotix- and protected the island and emerald, while also solving crimes on the surface. My first group of close friends- Vector, Espio, Charmy, Mighty, and Ray. They were closer to me in temperament- willing to get their hands dirty in battle- and we worked well together. But we all had different goals in life, and Mighty, Ray and I left the team, with vector taking over. These days, he runs the Chaotix as a detective agency on Westside Island,and I've heard a butterfly girl and an echidna princess named Alucion from another tribe have since joined the team. Hm... perhaps the day will come when Knuckles will rejoin the chaotix once more.
Making friends with Sonic... was not easy. Every time I saw his face, I saw the owl who murdered my tribe. And every time he saw me, Sonic saw the tribe that killed his adopted mother. It took a lot of effort on both sides, overcoming our personal prejudices, and learning we are not the people who raised us, and are not responsible for their actions. Once he and I were able to get past our own bitterness and anger, a slow friendship began to emerge. It was around the time of the incident with the phantom ruby occurred, that we realized despising each other would not change the then, we have built a true friendship- a brotherhood of trust between himself, myself, the pink one, and the fox.
We are a band of warriors, who will do anything to protect this world, and all who live in it.
I wish there were others of my kind for me to spend time with, warriors who would understand me. There are other echidnas, of course; the forbidden Zone tribe, that princess Alucion was originally from. The Nocturnus clan, an army of evil echidnas banished to the twilight Cage. Sonic and my other friends defeated them and sealed the clan away there permanently. One of their Procurators, Shade, came back with us to this dimension, and stayed with me on Angel island. For a time we considered... restoring the angel island tribe together. But it did not work out, and she left to join the Forbidden Zone clan. But I am the last of the Angel island clan, and preserving my people's history and legacy falls solely on my shoulders.
It is so quiet and serene up here, few try to take the emerald any more. It gives me time to relax, and time to think. occasionally, that bat girl who works for G.U.N. comes by and tries to take the emerald, and we have almost made a game out of her attempted thievery, and my pretending to despise her and her attempts to steal it. She is... very attractive, and I have considered from time to time asking her to stay on the island, and becoming my consort. I really doubt she'd turn me down- being near the emerald all the time, not needing to steal it as she already posses it by marriage, a floating island to stash everything she steals- plus a guardian to watch over it, I hardly think she's turn it -or me- down.
But then, there is also that archeologist girl, Relic, who now lives on the island with me. I allow her to stay here to study the history of my people, and she is' fangirling' (a term Amy tells me means she is obsessed) over anything and everything echidna- which seems to include me. She tries to spend a lot of time with me, invites me over to dinner at her hut, and serves me wonderful dinners while asking all sorts of questions about my tribe's society and culture. When she's not pestering me, she's either annoying my grandfather, or pestering Tikal, an ancestral spirit of my people bound to the great emerald- with all sorts of questions. She appears to be quite nubile, as well. Perhaps I could ask her to-
Yes, it does seem odd that I think of such things, but I am the guardian of the master emerald. I must do my part to ensure my emerald- and my island- are protected, even after I am long gone. Producing heirs who might choose to become the next guardian is important, as is staying vigilant over the emerald's safety. although I may live a life off of the island and have fun occasionally (thank the ancestors the spirit Chaos watches the emerald in my absence) watching over this island and the ruins and legacy of my people is ever my top priority. Perhaps I will one day find away to balance desires and duty... to be both guardian, and just Knuckles. But until that day comes, I remain the last echidna of Angel island, guardian of the master emerald.
I am a warrior...