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.
Exertion 4.4
Blaze looked around the jungle ground, hoping to see signs of the idiot fox who decided it would be a great idea to jump ahead into the middle of the jungle at sundown. She glanced around, trying to see the small hint of yellow or golden yellow or dirty orange that was his fur, but saw only greens and browns, along with a variety of other colors.
There were vines hanging down from every which way, and dozens of flowers of different colors etched their way into her memory. The blues and reds were dulled, but the pinks and purples were bright and vibrant. There were no yellow ones, she noticed absently. The tree trunks were rich in ivy and various other fungi, bent on taking out said ivy. The wind, far above her, blew on the treetops with fury, but didn't get them to bend even an inch.
She walked casually towards where she thought he'd come in to. The shadows were long at this point, covering the majority of the forest up in darkness. She made a small fireball in her hand, lighting it up so Tails could at least see her easier, even if it made her own eyesight worse.
A small glowing green light attracted her attention a moment later. She turned to stare at where it was; far off in the jungle to her right. Further in. She kept the fireball conjured, but as she looked harder the glow seemed to have vanished. It wasn't the yellow glow of a teleportal ring, but something a bit more...unearthly.
Her curiosity peaked, she took a few meandering steps towards it. The glow came back, further in than even last time, the quiet verdant glow that promised...something. She had no idea what it was, but it was something, and a large portion of her wanted to know what it was!
The glow ceased as soon as she got closer, disappearing out of sight as she rounded a tree. She dispelled the fireball, now wanting her natural eyesight back. Tails would be able to find her. All he had to do was sniff the air! He'd probably be hot on her heels before she could find out what this was. The glow returned again, this time a small orange light. Not too much further in, she thought. She broke into a run, only barely cautious enough to avoid tripping on the jungle floor. The plants almost seemed to give her a wide berth, welcoming her into their fold-
She stopped, staring at one of the plants. It was a long barbed vine, waving in the wind. Except there was no wind down here, although she could hear it far above her. And the plant actually was moving away from her. It seemed more alive than simply being a plant.
The glow came back, the dark green this time, and Blaze was starting to hear whispers with it, her ears rotating crazily. "Join us", it seemed to say. "Walk towards us."
Blaze took a step back, only to find the barbed ivy that she'd taken her eyes off of for only two seconds had somehow gotten behind her, pushing her onwards. The barbs got stuck in her fur, and she sliced the thing off with a hint of flame. The jungle recoiled, the plants slinking off in fear of the fire.
"You want to join us," the voices came back. "We will welcome you." "None care about you...but we do. Join us..."
They made an odd amount of sense, to Blaze's mind. No one did care about her, did they? Marine had overslept, and deliberately ignored her call for help. The earth elemental was as unhelpful as possible, a sure sign that it didn't care. There was someone else though, someone she was forgetting. Cream? Cream hadn't tried to visit or contact her world in years. Hadn't she? A minor headache bloomed in Blaze's head. No, she hadn't. Wasn't there someone else? Who else? Who else would have cared for her!?
"Join us! None care, but we do! We shall care, and you shall join, and forever more be together..." the voices sang. Her feet found themselves walking forward on their own.
The plants seemed wary of her, now that they knew of her pyrokinesis. They bent and weaved out of her way as she headed towards the glows and the voices. She was curious, and the voices were promising...Her parents, on all worlds, were basically leaving her to be forgotten. Her father was too busy being leader or king to know his own daughter, and her mothers were dead.
The branches above her webbed and weaved around each other. Natural arcs formed easy as the branches wreathed and writhed, the ivy and brambles getting into wrestling matches near her. "You're so close...now..." the voices said. They glowed with an ominous green light again. "None care, do they? What life you will lead? This life is your own, but not one cares!"
"No, none of them do..." Blaze said absently in agreement. The moon had risen now, far into the sky. Shouldn't it just have been moon rise? The sun hadn't set that long ago, although now it was completely dark, except for the green or orange glows...
"The life that you lead, is it yours or theirs? And yet here you are, alone. Join us, and never be alone again..."
"I don't want to be alone anymore..." Blaze agreed. She truly didn't. She was so tired of having to go between...islands. The life she lead...was never her own, had it? And now she had a chance to make it so. This was her choice. Her first actual choice, wasn't it? The choice to not be alone.
The fire in her chest lit up, and for the first time she felt heat from it. When had she gotten so cold? She shivered absently, holding her hands around her waist. This was a tropical place. Not even the wind above had chilled her. Was it because it was night?
"Join us...never be cold or alone. You have us to keep you warm, and to keep you company...the life you lead will be the choice you make..." the voices once again tried to edge her in.
Blaze's feet quickened a bit. The arcs and ivy held high over her head. The ground was clear from any obstructions though. Somehow she knew that if she ran here, she wouldn't get hurt. And the voices wanted her in. Wanted to keep her here, wanted to keep her company...
"There is nothing left for you out there. There is only in here. Join us..." it said.
"Nothing left for me..." she muttered. The fire in her chest kicked up again. She was too hot, now. But it reminded her of something else, something that she'd demanded of herself, something that was demanding of her. The sun, emeralds...
The Sol Emeralds.
The thought of the Sol Emeralds made Blaze stop, despite the hissing and the displeasure of the voices in her head. She was the Guardian of the Sol Emeralds, with all that required. People did care for her, beyond just her position. Marine had stayed up all night making sure the boat wouldn't leak, Cream and Cheese had tried to contact her not long ago, and even visited for a day or two! Gardon and Gordon both viewed her as a friend, and not just the Guardian or Princess. Her father wasn't too busy, he'd taken more than a week just a month ago when Cream was visiting!
And Tails. How did she forget Tails? He'd been with her almost the entire way so far. He'd tried to keep her well when she was sick, kept her company even in the dead of night. Had saved her life, multiple times, even at his own personal expense.
And the Sol Emeralds had been her life. And they still were! Blaze felt the fire in her chest burn away at the machinations of the voices in her head, overwhelming her headache instantly. It was burning pain, but it was the pain that led to something greater.
"Join us..." the voices whispered again, this time trying to worm their way back into her mind.
She burned them in her head. "No," she said resolutely. "I refuse," she continued. She summoned a fireball, a small stream of fire as the ivy and brambles tried to reach out to her. They pulled away in the firelight, which didn't help them any as Blaze let the fires connect anyways. "I am wanted, am cared for. I have duties that I must attend, responsibilities that I alone have."
"And yet you are here, by yourself? None may watch you now, and yet burn you shall."
The voices didn't respond as Blaze lanced her flames through the trees and ivy. It burned easy, as if it hadn't rained in a while. "Burn? Wrong choice of words, thing. I don't burn. I do the burning," Blaze answered.
There was no scream of rejection, no scream of agony as the trees lit. It wasn't until it hit the fungus, slowly glowing green at times, that she realized why.
The fungus itself was trying to control her. Trying to get her lost deep within the woods. She reached inwards for her flame, and reached as deep as she felt safe to do. Tall pillars of flame erupted from the ground around her as she burned the forest. It would take a lot out of her, she knew, but she felt...righteous. Her shoes cracked against the skeleton on the ground, invisible to her before now, another victim of the fungus.
"How...dare you..." the voices chimed. "For we are the forest, for we are the earth! We shall not let you live!"
The ivy and plants started reaching for her directly, regardless of them being on fire now. She ducked underneath one of the branches, just to have jump as one of the roots of the trees shot up next to her. She coated herself in flame as she shot backwards.
Several small figures emerged from the trees, small sprite-like things covered with leaves as their only clothing. They were humanoid-ish, similar to other sapients. They stared at her with cold, dead, black eyes, chanting in unison. "Kill the intruder! Kill the intruder!"
Plant elementals. There was another name for them, Blaze knew, but right now the only thing she could think of was how to get out. They were immune to fire it seemed, unless the tree they were on was lit. She gave another fire burst, trying to keep the ivy and brambles from grabbing on. A root came up and snaked around her ankle just in time to be lit on fire.
"Leave me alone! I don't want to burn you down, but I want out!" Blaze tried to diplomacize. She was usually better than resorting to threats, but she thought in this case, if Gardon ever knew, he'd forgive her.
"Kill the intruder!" Came the chant. Sticks and thorns came up, trying to hurt her feet and legs.
"Blaze!" came a very welcome voice to hear. She looked up, ignoring the feel of a piece of ivy grabbing her bare wrist. "Grab on!" Tails yelled as he jumped down from a burning tree. The plant elementals screamed in fury as he did so.
His tails whirled quickly, and Blaze lit the ivy that had wrapped around her wrist and was quietly attempting to snag her entire arm on fire, snapping it easy. Tails flew in front of her, small pieces of blood coming from when he had probably went through a similar crucible. She held up her arms, and Tails instantly grabbed on.
The roots that had snaked around her shoes lost their grip as Tails pulled up. The plant elementals screamed and rioted in fury. The trees seemingly answered their call, despite the fact they were on fire, their roots pushing them up to double their height. "This is gonna be a bumpy ride!" Tails shouted.
"Remind me to tell you how grateful I am for you to show up right now!" Blaze answered back.
"I think I caught that! These things aren't nice!" Tails said as he pulled up, quickly hefting himself to the left to avoid a branch that had come out of nowhere. He whirled his tails harder, trying to go up.
The leaves and branches with leaves formed a barrier, keeping them in the burning woods. "I don't think we can get out that way!" Blaze said.
"Kill the intruders! Kill the intruders!" The chants seemingly never ended, keeping up with an unknown rhythm that Blaze couldn't identify.
—Side T—
Tails wasn't sure why the sun had set as fast as it had, but it certainly seemed to go down in only minutes. His tails whirled as soared above the trees, buffeted by the winds in an attempt to spot where Blaze had gone. She probably hadn't intended to be flung off course like she was, or he had been the one to go off somewhere and hadn't realized it.
He hoped that she'd light a fire or something, or stick around in one place. He alighted himself onto some branches that were as thick as his torso, more than strong enough to hold his weight and that of all of his bags. He stared out into the forest and jungle, hoping to see a small flash of light that would tell him where Blaze was.
The jungle was silent. Even the birdsong that had been so prevalent during the day at the other forest was gone here, and there weren't any insects, either. And yet there was a feeling like he was being watched, and judged.
"Blaze!?" Tails yelled out, hoping for an answer. He let the silence carry it for a bit, before he sighed. She must not have heard him.
A small raindrop answered, landing squarely on his nose. He shook it off before looking up. There was a small set of clouds above him, barely see able in the darkness, that was dropping rain slowly. It wasn't a major deluge, but it was enough to be minorly annoying.
"Blaze!" Tails called out again, whirling his tails as he set out to find the lost cat. The rain continued coming down, forcing Tails to fly a bit lower underneath the growth of the trees.
He opened up one of the sacks containing some water, and drank from it eagerly before he landed, letting it stay open to gather some more water from the rain. The ground of the jungle was an odd experience; it was open and seemingly forgiving, and yet every few feet Tails found another pointed stick that was aiming towards his shoes. They were nearly impossible to see, and if Tails didn't know better he thought the jungle was doing it on purpose.
"Do you know who you are, little lost one?" a voice called out in his head. Tails stopped, looking around him for the source of the voice. "Join us..." it said quietly.
"No thanks," Tails answered near instantly. He felt a kind of wiggle in his head, a sign of mind-control that he'd been subjected to in the past. It might've been a long time ago, but it was one of those things that someone just doesn't forget. He shook it out, and wasn't pleased to hear a loud cry of shame and frustration.
"Seriously? That's all it takes?" Tails asked, a small smirk on his face. This place was creepy, no doubt, but judging by the sound of frustration he could reasonably be certain that he was going to be attacked now. Based on its last mention, probably a mental attack.
It wasn't. A root came up from the ground and tried to puncture through his shoes. Instantly he jumped, floating lightly as his tails whirled. There was another scream of frustration.
Not too far from him, a green shape started to emerge from one of the trees. It was vaguely humanoid, in that it had two arms, two legs, and a head. That was where the similarities ended. The legs and arms were short and small, and she had the bare feet of some plantigrade creature with extremely long toes. It was definitely a she, as the way a small mass of green emerged from her chest only belonged to women. Her eyes were twice the size of a normal humans, and her mouth was filled with razor teeth, open wide and screaming at him.
What was it that Blaze had once called these things? Nymphs? Or was that Sonic? It was hard to remember some times. He definitely thought it was Sonic, if anything. A wood nymph, he thought they were called.
She let out a pained roar as her back detached from the tree, and she immediately fell to all fours, staring at him, her back arched like a sentient cat's would. Her hands were small, but she had long fingers that ended with even longer nails.
That was about when Tails bolted for it. He whirled his tails harder, taking him up to the tree tops, only to find that the trees were actually bending to keep him from going up. Soreness ached from his tails, but he didn't have time to stop and sort it out. His tails weren't going to accept that, but he forced passed it anyway. "Of course, wood nymph, manipulating trees, yeah," he muttered to himself. A branch crashed down next to him, missing him by only a foot or so.
He swerved out of the way as the rest of the forest started to attack him. Branches fell or reached out to him, hoping to scratch him underneath his fur. Ivy was starting to find its way over the branches to snag him. "Blaze!" he tried to yell once more. If only she could hear him, then maybe she could alert him to where she was, and they'd both be on the next mountain. Or she could burn the place down. He wouldn't regret it in the slightest.
The nymph was chasing after him on all fours, her mouth full of sharp teeth, opening nearly three times as wide as any human could. She was almost snake-like in that way. Green hair trailed down her back.
Tails landed a moment later, shooting out to the right as she leapt to tackle him. Another roar of frustration as another nymph showed up off another tree, this one not fully dislocated from the tree. They weren't mirrors, this one being far more...goat-like. Like it was originally a sapient goat before whatever happened.
His mind roared to life over the facts as he kept dodging, going into the air whenever he could. His tails weren't liking it, but at this point seemed to have given up the game and just let Tails do as he needed to. He was grateful for that, because these things were loud and obnoxious, and he hoped that Blaze would at least be able to hear them.
A sapient goat, a sapient human child, in similar tones and clothes. If he had a third one, then maybe he could use it...he turned his head after he left the other two in the dust, seeing a female rabbit come out of a tree, its fur as green as the goat's was.
"Child-stealers," Tails said after a moment. "Or life-stealers, one of the two. I'm going to guess that 'join us' wasn't metaphorical?" he asked casually as the rabbit let out a scream. "Or maybe it was to me, seeing as how I'm male," he muttered.
Off in the distance, he heard another one cry out. The human, the goat, and the rabbits head turned as one to that direction, and Tails flicked his eyes for just a moment. A small glimmer of orange.
Of fire.
He grinned, and bolted off immediately. The forest came alive as the nymphs attempted to chase him off. Trees and roots tried to snag him, and the branches and ivy moved to slash him where ever he moved to. The dirt was moving with the roots, and he almost felt for a moment like there was something else there.
A rock. For just a moment, Tails felt his heart drop as a rock appeared in his sight. Was the earth elemental here? Or was it just a normal rock? And he wondered what he did to piss off both the nymphs and the elemental at the same time.
Then he felt it; the dirt and the earth underneath was moving back into place, ignoring the wishes of the trees around it. The nymphs screamed in agony as he saw the earth grip their roots tight. He took to the air, and smirked. "Sorry, but I gotta go! Other places to see, you know how it is!" he said, hoping to channel his inner Sonic.
There was another scream of rage as more of the nymphs started to appear from the trees. It wasn't one or two trees though; it was almost all of them. He bolted for it, aiming for the tree tops. They kept him in, and kept bending and moving as they attacked both him and the earth underneath their feet.
The orange glowed brighter as he got closer. In front of a small clearing stood Blaze, her fire working over the nymphs as roots and ivy grabbed her wrists and ankles. "Kill the intruder!" he heard one of the nymphs chant.
"Blaze! Grab on!" He yelled as he landed on a nearby tree branch. He only had a moment to get his act together before the branch curled up on itself, but by then he was already down where Blaze was, cutting the ivy from her wrists and ankles using his tails. Whatever he didn't take care of, her fire did. "It's gonna be a bumpy ride!" he shouted.
She shouted back, "Remind me to tell you how grateful I am some other time!". The trees were lifting themselves out of the dirt, standing on their roots with massive crashing as many of them fell.
"I think I caught that! These things aren't nice. Come on let's get out of here!" he said, pulling her up. She shouted something more, but he had to dodge to the right as the treetops merged together. On each of the branches was another nymph, bowing down and roaring at them.
Fire coated them as Blaze shot fireballs at them, leaving them with mild hissing in a cacophony as the fire licked at their bodies. And their trees. And their roots.
Tails didn't bother to try to stay. Blaze wasn't heavy, and her jacket had gotten shredded again, which left her with just the bags and her shorts. He sped off through the trees, watching as more of the nymphs crowded them through the trees, mindlessly trying to attack them.
Adrenaline pumped into his veins, and he was using every bit of it to his tails to make sure they kept them aloft. The roots of the trees weren't just dragging through the dirt, but fully on top of it now, similar to how he had imagined the ents of Lord of the Rings. The trees were walking, hunting, and stalking them through each other. The entire jungle was alive, and wanted to kill them.
Every time he thought he saw a way out, the paths converged to ensure that if he had continued to go that way, they would be strangled or torn apart. The ivy and trees were now reaching not just for their arms and legs, but heads and bodies as well. Blaze was still shooting out small fireballs, lighting everything she could on fire.
Which, Tails had to admit, was making things only slightly worse. He wasn't sure if it actually was, but if it was, it wasn't by much. "Pull up!" he shouted as another couple of branches tried to knock out her knees and his head. He went down, and curled into a tight ball, allowing the two branches to just barely miss them. Tails felt the wind go against his head as it missed him by only a couple of inches.
"I'm going to make a path! Follow!" Blaze yelled as she jumped off and let go of his hands. She shuddered for only a moment before a spear of fire engulfed around her, burning the trees and ivy that reached for her. Tails was only a second behind her, feeling the heat against his face as he raced with her.
The edge of the jungle was quick; It was as if someone had flipped a small switch. Where there was massive amounts of noise, now there was nothing, Tails found, as both he and Blaze bounced off a couple of rocks at the bottom of a hill.
He turned to look to see the trees filled to the brim with nymphs of all sizes, glaring at them with their oversized eyes. The trees at the edge weren't moving, and the longer Tails stared the more he saw the inside trees stop. The dirt of the jungle started to flatten out, as if the entire maze was nothing but a hallucination.
"Wow..." Blaze said quietly. "Let's never do that again."
"Yeah...let's get out of here. I don't want to be anywhere near here," Tails said after a moment. Blaze nodded, and she turned to look up at the brightening sky.
"We weren't in there all night...were we?" she asked.
"I...think we were," Tails said as he too glanced up at the dawn above them. The mountains loomed ahead, a small cloud cover above the top. There was no obvious path to avoid going over, nor was there any path at all it seemed.
"Let's...try to find a place to sleep..." Blaze said quietly as she pulled the bags over her shoulder again. "We'll eat on the way."
Tails nodded, and gave one last glance to the nymph's wood. It seemed eerily quiet and still, now. A memory of a hallucination.
I've said it before; Exertion is the longest arc. They haven't even made it to the desert yet. But this ends what I call the 'pre-4.5' set of arcs. I was stuck on 4.5 for nearly a month, due to certain life circumstances, and the tone after 4.5 is generally quite different from these ones. I hope that everybody still enjoys it nonetheless. Until Next Time!