Chapter 3 – Curiosity and the Cat
A steady, engine-like drone hummed through the stepped terrain near the island's shore, a sound like angry bees but magnified many times more. Curled up in a hollow beneath an overhanging cliff, shaded from the sun by a curtain of hanging vines and the solid lines of his biplane, Sonic barely twitched an ear. Noise was commonplace in his uncle's workshop, and he simply rolled over.
Then he sat up sharply, nearly smacking his skull against the underside of the Tornado's wing. He wasn't in his uncle's workshop.
The buzz outside his shaded nook grew steadily louder, a faint vibration in the ground beneath Sonic's shoes joining it and making his blue quills stand on end. The young hedgehog crept to the hanging vines and cautiously peeked out, shading his eyes against the afternoon sun—had he really taken such a long nap?—looking for the source of the sound. Beside him, the Tornado sat half-hidden beneath the overhang, extra branches and vines draped haphazardly over the tail and part of one wing in an attempt to conceal what didn't fit. Sonic had hidden it as soon as he'd returned from the abandoned village, hoping that whatever had driven off the residents wouldn't find the bright red biplane. He'd found himself wishing he'd thought to pack a drab canvas cover for it, like the one Uncle Chuck had used to keep dust and rain out, but the notion had slipped his mind back when he'd left home and now he had to make do with local foliage.
The sound grew louder still, and Sonic was able to guess its direction better now. It was somewhere up on the ridge above his hiding place, and judging from the way the ground trembled ever so slightly, whatever made that noise was land-bound. Part of Sonic wanted to stay hidden—the scared, young part so far from home and safety.
But another part wanted to go check it out.
Sonic found himself scrambling up the mossy ledges leading to the ridge top before his more timid side could even protest. He could almost hear Ol' Mags back home muttering, "Curiosity killed the cat" in disapproval, but he was already halfway up the cliff face and it was too late to back down now. Or so he told himself.
Thick underbrush lined the edge of the ridge, obscuring Sonic's view at first. He crouched low as he reached the topmost step-like ledge and listened, ears swiveling about to pinpoint the turbine hum. Somewhere further uphill still, inland from his hiding place. Hugging his belly low to the ground, Sonic cautiously poked his nose out from under the shrubs, glancing out at the hilly slope of the ridge.
He didn't see them at first. A rocky outcropping blocked his view initially, and he almost crept out from under the bushes to look for a better vantage point when the sound increased in pitch dramatically, reverberating off of the nearest natural loop of earth. Three shapes rolled around the bend moments later, shiny red and blue shells winking in the warm sunlight, long shadows thrown on the cliff wall behind them. Each had a single wheel beneath their round bodies, a pair of wicked-looking claws extending from their front ends, and oddly insect-like faces complete with eyes, which appeared to scan the ground ahead of them. Small exhaust pipes to either side of them spat out greyish-white smoke, and a stray breeze carried a whiff of chemicals across Sonic's hiding place. He wrinkled his nose in disgust.
The three motorized beetles spread out as they rolled down the top of the ridge, antennae sweeping the surroundings. Sonic remained where he was, stock still, hoping the robots wouldn't find his plane. He was pretty confident it was well out of sight, tucked away in its nook below, but he had to admit he wasn't sure how much these things could explore. What were they, anyway? They looked like robotic insects, but Sonic didn't know of any engineers who built their machines to look like real creatures. And what were they doing here, anyway? According to Sonic's notes, South Island wasn't known much for robotics or major technological advancements. It was more of a natural retreat, with only one main city on the whole island.
Then he realized one of the bots had stopped just a few feet away, and was staring right at his hiding spot.
It beeped loudly and the other two whirled around to join it, and Sonic could've kicked himself. He'd been found! He pushed himself up and out of the bushes, dashing away from the edge as quickly as he could manage to draw them away from his plane. The lead bot made a loud, alarmed clicking noise, not unlike a typewriter with an electronic screech, and Sonic heard the bots rev up their wheels, scraping through grass into the soil beneath. He wondered just how fast they could go.
He found out seconds later as the first roared up behind him, claws outstretched to snag at his quills, exhaust pipes blowing flames behind it in an effort to keep up with the hedgehog. So, Sonic thought, struggling already. Then a claw clipped one of his sneakers, sending him tumbling end over end. He came to a stop face-down a few yards further, and the bot roared just past the tips of Sonic's ears before skidding around in a wide circle. Still fast enough, Sonic amended, spitting out sod and pushing himself to his hands and knees. He could hear the other two bots closing the distance as the leader revved up again.
The lead beetle squealed toward him with a spray of dirt clods. Sonic crouched, tense, ears back to listen for the other two. The bot raised one claw to strike at the hedgehog.
Sonic jumped toward the bot, startling it with the brash maneuver, and placed a hand on its metal-plated head, vaulting over its cherry-red back like they were playing a game of leapfrog. He hit the ground on the far side of it a little unsteadily, but pushed forward into another sprint before he could fall, letting momentum balance him. Behind him, the motor-bug-things scrambled to recover from surprise and give chase again. At their speeds, this was going to take far longer than Sonic would like. He needed to find a way to wrap things up quicker.
An opportunity presented itself just ahead, a small stand of scattered, spindly palm trees. Sonic leaned forward to cut through the air and ran for them, fingers outstretched, snagging one rough trunk with both gloved hands. His momentum swung him around in an arc, red sneakers streaking around like a meteor to connect with a deafening clang with the side of the lead bug's head. It spiraled off in a dizzying whirl, head knocked partially loose and sparking by the blow. Sonic let go of the palm tree, the thrust of his kick sending him sliding feet-first between the other two bots.
They whirled around to go after him again as he rolled to his feet, laughing with adrenaline. Dare he say it, this was fun! He jeered at them and took off in another direction, darting for one of the stone arches and smiling in satisfaction when he heard the bots follow. Dust fanned up behind his blurring sneakers as he raced up one side of the arch's inner loop, crested the top, and tucked into a roll down the other side. Both pursuers tried to keep up.
One insect bot successfully negotiated the narrow strip of stone at the top of the arch, but the other, knocked slightly askew by its cohort, slowed down to keep from flying off the side of the stone margin and instead lost its necessary speed. Sonic heard a satisfying crash behind him as the bot fell to the base of the arch. Two down, one to go.
Sonic rolled forward, his spin accelerating him off of the down-slope of the arch, and he managed to see just barely enough to recognize a bowl-shaped depression ahead, like an inverted hill. He angled himself into the basin at a slant and rolled around the upper lip, coming back around just as the final bot crested the shallow valley's rim. Quills met metal with a ghastly shriek.
The bot gave way first, collapsing in two pieces as Sonic found himself flung to the side, spread-eagle and limp, his head ringing from the din that had accosted his ears just seconds ago. Already the beginnings of a vise-like headache were eating at his skull as he pushed himself to his knees. But he'd broken the bot. He hadn't actually expected that to work, and not even his pounding head could take the edge off of his ego trip.
Nearby, someone else groaned.
Sonic jerked his head up sharply, regretting it immediately as his temples throbbed in protest. He doubled over, hands clapped to his forehead to apply pressure as he tried to convince his brain it didn't want to thud its way out his eye sockets and run off screaming. His ears perked, though, listening again for the sound.
Sure enough, the pained grunt came again. Sounded like someone else was hurt as much as Sonic. The young hedgehog cautiously moved one hand, squinting against the sunlight, and looked over at the split insect robot. Something moved amid the torn metal and shorn wires, and Sonic tensed up in case it was hostile. But then it stood up, and Sonic sighed in relief, followed closely by confusion.
A light-furred squirrel stood there, bent double and wearing the tattered remains of a shirt and gloves, his feet bare. His fur and tail were matted and ragged, and he groaned again as he pulled electrodes off of his chest and neck. Then the squirrel looked up at Sonic, brown eyes widening in surprise.
"Um...hi," Sonic started, lifting one hand in a small, puzzled wave.
The squirrel looked down at the remains of the bot in shock, then back up at Sonic. Then he turned and ran downhill as quickly as he could.
"Hey, wait!" Sonic said, pressing a hand to his pounding head again when the headache reminded him of its presence. The squirrel ignored him and kept running.
Sonic immediately turned to look back where he'd felled the other two bots. If this one had a Mobian in it...
He dashed over to the one that had fallen from the arch, gritting his teeth against the ache behind his eyes, and skidded to a stop in a cloud of dust. This one was smashed up worse—gravity did that to bots—and without thinking Sonic grabbed one of the large carapace panels, stamped with the word "Motobug." Bracing against the frame with one bright red shoe, he pulled back on the panel. It peeled away with a grating scrape, revealing what appeared to be some sort of cockpit and another Mobian, a male rabbit this time. More electrodes connected him to the interior of the bot, and he seemed to be stirring slightly. Sonic carefully disconnected the rabbit and pulled him clear of the bot housing, setting him against a grassy mound to the side beneath the swaying palm trees, then dashed off to the third bot.
Sonic found the third machine lying where it had collided with a cliff face, insect head completely knocked loose and a skinny young bird, a girl, staggering to her feet next to it. She glanced up in alarm when Sonic approached—slowing down to a reasonable jog—and held up her feathered hands defensively. "Stay away!" she cried out, edging away from the bot housing.
Sonic held up his own hands, smiling in a way he hoped was charming. "Hey, it's okay. I'm—"
"Leave me alone!" She broke into a run just like the squirrel, and dumbfounded, Sonic just stared after her.
He trotted back to where he'd left the rabbit, mulling over things in his head. Could they have been driving the bots? But why would fellow Mobians try to hurt him? They attacked first, after all. And then to run away after getting out...
The rabbit was sitting up when Sonic returned, holding a hand to his head and wincing. Sonic moved to his side to try to help him, only for the rabbit to shove him away, fear in his eyes as well. "Stay away from me!"
Sonic backed up a step and made a "take it easy" gesture. "It's okay. I'm not gonna hurt you."
The rabbit struggled to his feet, nursing a limp, and regarded Sonic with suspicion. The young hedgehog noticed the rabbit's eyes flick briefly downhill, as if contemplating running, and he sighed. "The others went that way," he said, gesturing in defeat. By now his head felt like someone had dropped a bushel of rocks on it, and he didn't feel like arguing with strangers. It wasn't worth it.
The rabbit didn't even thank him as he limped away, glancing back constantly to make sure Sonic wasn't following him. Sonic threw his hands up in the air in irritation, immediately regretted it as his headache nearly floored him with renewed misery, and walked in the opposite direction, back toward the Tornado.
Something was very weird on South Island.
A few collected rings took the edge off of the headache with a brief burst of energy, and then Sonic carefully negotiated his way back down the step-ledges to his hidden biplane, thoughts wandering. What to do now? He could bail, run away from the island and leave it to whatever this weirdness was. That was probably the safer option. Or he could explore, maybe figure out what was up with the unusual insect bots and their Mobian pilots. Solve the mystery and all, like a regular spiky blue detective.
Safety or adventure?
"No contest," he said, flipping open the storage panel behind the pilot's seat of the plane and pulling out his rucksack. He checked its contents—journal, food, first aid kit—and slung it onto his back, then closed the compartment and double-checked the plane's camouflage with a critical eye. It would have to do, and Chaos keep more bots from finding it.
He scrambled back up the cliff-face and looked around to get his bearings. The shadows were growing quite long, the sun dipping low over the western edge of the island and painting the sparse clouds a rosy gold. A few stars had already winked to life in the lavender blanket of sky.
Ol' Mags' voice crossed his thoughts again. "Curiosity killed the cat." What did Curiosity have against cats, anyway? Sonic had met far more inquisitive Mobians than cats. Case in point: one blue hedgehog far away from home with only a pack on his back and sneakers on his feet. No, curiosity didn't kill the cat. It awoke the lion.
He pulled his journal from his pack and flipped it open again, maintaining a steady walk so he could look things over once more. Uncle Chuck had done most of the research, collecting what information he could on South Island's tales of special wish-granting rocks. The adventure had been his idea, a chance for his nephew to see the world, have more room to run—and get out of the villagers' fur—and see if maybe these "miracle gems" were more than just a story.
Sonic's eyes got a distant look for a moment at the thought, before he shook his quills, careful of his headache, and waved a hand dismissively. "Pfft, wishes. Whatever. Bet they're just very shiny."
He glanced at the journal one last time, reading over the list of translated names his uncle had deciphered from one of the books. Ancient Mobian was a tricky language; each word usually had anywhere from three to seven different possible meanings, depending on context, pronunciation, and the alignment of the stars, or so it seemed to Sonic. This list was no different, and Sonic found himself murmuring them to himself, almost like a mantra, as he read them. "Miracle gems, sovereign stones, power crystals, dominion jewels..." His eye was drawn to one particular entry, circled in red by his uncle's hand.
"Chaos Emeralds."