Chapter 4 – Into the Green Hills
Sonic sat on the top of a stone arch, watching the sun rise over the ocean as he ate his breakfast. The stark morning light bathed the island's coastal cliffs in pale gold, outlining every contour and gilding the tops of the waves that lapped the shoreline.
The green hills of the island's outer fringe reached inland a fair distance, most of it visible from the young hedgehog's vantage point, before finally giving way to steeper forested foothills that led up to the island's central mountain range. Sonic couldn't spot any villages on the coastline, but that only meant they were well tucked into the valleys between cliffs, as so many Mobian communities tended to be. Further up into the foothills, Sonic could just barely make out what looked like buildings among the thick tree cover, and in the mountains sat a dark smudge that, from this distance, looked like it might be the island's sole city. While the sky over the ocean was cloudless, above the mountains the first puffs of wispy clouds were visible, drifting in with the west wind.
Sonic finished off the last bites of the fruit he'd scavenged for breakfast, flicking the fruit's stone off the side of the arch to the water far below. He hitched his rucksack onto his shoulders and peered over the edge of his perch, gauging his descent before hopping down a series of ledges to land nimbly on the grass. Not far away sat the little hollow he'd camped in the night before, rolled up in a blanket with little more than a few shrubs to shield him from the rest of the world. He hadn't dared to build a campfire. Too risky with those Mobian-piloted robots wandering the region. The last thing he needed was for one of them to find him while he slept.
The young hedgehog took a deep breath of the crisp morning air, gave his socks a tug to make sure they sat right, and ground one sneaker-clad toe against the ground. Dark eyes plotted a path through the hills deeper inland toward the just-visible buildings. Sonic tapped a foot, then crouched, then rocketed forward with the wind whistling in his ears and his laughter streaming behind him.
—
Around noon Sonic stopped to take a long pull from his water bottle, then hunt around for more fruit-bearing trees to supplement his dry rations for lunch. Running was invigorating, but it sure drummed up a hefty appetite.
The narrow paths of the coastline had given way a few hours ago to more dense landforms. Wide bays and coves became cramped inlets and river-filled gorges, slender ridges widened to broad avenues of dirt and grass, and scattered copses of palm trees became thicker groves and patches of tall flowers. Cliffs rose to either side, pillar-like stone protrusions dotting the summit like clustered fingers, forming deep chasms through which Sonic navigated and occasionally emerged via ramps and ledges, peppered liberally with glistening waterfalls like jewel-bright ribbons in the scenery. This part of the island showed a bit more evidence of habitation, log-and-rope bridges spanning gaps between the stone outcroppings, the occasional carved platform suspended by cables above pits filled with jagged stone or murky water. Lampposts lined one shadowy partial tunnel beneath overhanging cliffs, the jutting rock above reinforced with wooden supports carved with plant motifs. Sonic wondered about the power source for the lamps, before spotting the coated power lines bracketed to one support, leading to cleverly disguised solar panels just visible above.
Sonic now walked along one of the gently swaying bridges, munching on a plump amber-colored fruit, enjoying the warm sun on his quills and the scent of flowers and fresh-crushed grass beneath his feet. Flowers swayed along the cliff's backbone, appearing to dance in the steady wind. Shadows dotted the landscape as clouds—thicker than the tiny puffs that morning—slowly coasted across the blue sky. Up ahead, leaning totem poles bearing exaggerated faces marked the approach to another remote hamlet, visible at the bottom of the next hill, nestled against the uneven bluff. Like the village of Ridgetop, it was little more than a collection of simple cottages, and even from this distance Sonic could tell it was abandoned. Where was everyone?
Sonic suspected the mystery robots had something to do with it. He'd been lucky enough not to run afoul of any patrols on his morning run, but he didn't expect that to last long. Not if what he guessed—that the missing Mobians were inside the robots—was true. Maybe he should try cracking open a few more bots, just to see. After all, those "motobug" things had been ridiculously easy to outwit. He would just have to be careful how he attacked them, so as not to get another killer headache. Once was more than enough.
Tossing aside the remains of his lunch, Sonic broke into a leisurely jog—what would be a full sprint for most Mobians—and skirted the abandoned town. Not far beyond, the natural road wound down through more twisting ravines, snakelike and winding. Sonic maintained his slower pace for easier navigation, and took the opportunity to enjoy the scenery in detail rather than as a blur of color. The distinctive checkered stone of the cliffs cast shadows even at this time of day, this deep in the ravine, and everything had been worn smooth by the passage of wind and water through the narrow space. A single lonely totem pole, a stack of orange and red stylized faces with green and white wing-like shapes flanking it in places, leaned against one wall, a small pile of wilted flowers at its base.
The ravine opened up further on into a wide tunnel. The ceiling, floor, and one wall were water-slicked stone, but the other side of the space consisted of a series of carved columns holding up the roof, the rest open to allow an impressive view of a massive wall of water cascading down from somewhere high above. Rings collected in abundance through here, a sparkling gold contrast against all the blue surrounding the hedgehog, and the air was thick with humidity. Sonic's sneakers splashed through puddles as he jogged down the tunnel, letting the rings snag against his arms and chest and disappear with a burst of energy.
He finally exited the tunnel at the other end, picking up speed as the path looped around a large circular lake and slowly gained altitude. As he began to round the reservoir, he glanced out across the glistening surface at the waterfall he'd just passed behind. It was a great sheet of water, pouring out over the cliffs and emptying into the lake beneath. It churned up the water at its base, but the rest of the lake was still enough to reflect the thickening clouds above with near-perfect clarity. Sonic couldn't even see through to the lake's depths, and had no clue how far down the water went.
The path carried Sonic around the lake's shoreline, weaving between low flowering shrubs and the taller yellow and blue flowers. Opposite the waterfall, the lake's outlet stream flowed between narrow stepping stones and cascaded down over another ledge, and Sonic handily hopped the stones and rounded the rest of the slope on the far side. It angled upward, finally bringing the young hedgehog full circle back to the massive waterfall, only at its crest rather than to the tunnel behind it. A bridge of logs and woven rope spanned the torrent, hanging streamers of moss clinging to the edges like a curtain.
At Sonic's first footfall on the bridge, a rumble of thunder rang overhead, and Sonic nearly stumbled as he glanced up and skidded to a stop. When had the clouds grown that dark?
A second grumbling from the sky above, and the clouds opened up in a sudden downpour. Raindrops pelted down to the bridge, darkening the wood and soaking Sonic in an instant, and he yelped and tried to shield his head with his gloved hands. His pack would be fine—it was lined with waterproofing and his supplies were double-wrapped in oilcloth—but Sonic still didn't like to get wet if he could help it, and the rain was cold. He darted forward, hoping shelter would present itself on the far side of the waterfall.
Halfway across the hairs on the back of his neck tingled, instincts stirring. He glanced around, trying to find what had raised his hackles so sharply.
Something dark leaped out of the water so suddenly that he barely had time to duck and slide beneath its bulk, saved only by the intuitive reflexes that had prevented many collisions in the past. He caught a glimpse of razor teeth, wild eyes, and deep red shell, and realized whatever it was, it was plenty large enough to swallow him whole and have room for dessert. Then it crashed back into the water with a massive splash, and Sonic skidded to a stop and turned to look for it to return. Rainwater streamed into his eyes from his quills and dripped from his ears and he irritably swiped it away with one gloved hand.
A shadow loomed beneath the surface of the river, moments before the river bulged and parted around the bulk of the thing as it leaped out again, and Sonic got a clear look at his attacker.
A fish.
It was a massive fish, made of red and silver metal chomping wildly as it tried to angle toward its hedgehog prey. Sonic sidestepped out of the way and the fish-bot slammed back into the water, splashing Sonic and drenching him further.
"Oh, that's it," Sonic muttered.
When the fish-bot breached the surface again, Sonic leaped out and met it with a pair of red sneakers to the jaw-hinge. He knocked the machine off-course, sending it crashing down to the wooden beams of the bridge in a tumble, and landed with a slight skid of his own on the rain-slick logs. The fish-bot chomped its jaws a few more times before grinding to a stop.
Sonic approached cautiously. If it was like the motobugs there'd be a Mobian inside, and Sonic wasn't about to leave someone trapped out here in the rain, but he didn't need to lose a limb to those serrated teeth, either. After a cursory glance, he found a panel just under the back fin that he could work his fingers around, and with a yank he pulled it free.
Just as expected he found someone inside it, another rabbit, connected to the bot with wires and harness straps. He started to pull her loose.
Somewhere overhead, amid the grumbling thunder and constant static-like noise of rain hitting everything, a low, steady buzz reached Sonic's ears. He looked up in alarm. The last time he'd heard a sound like that, the motobugs had showed up. Only this sound was higher in the air.
A flash of lightning illuminated five hovering shapes approaching at speed from across the lake, waspish profiles angled to intercept the hedgehog. Sonic groaned. "This day just keeps getting better." He turned back to the rabbit inside the bot, shaking her shoulder as he finished pulling all the straps free. She groaned and blinked her eyes up at him. "C'mon, get moving!" he urged, eyes darting between her and the approaching bots.
She shakily pushed herself out of the shell of the fish, stumbling to bare feet and instinctively pushing away from him. He didn't mind, for once, and pointed up at the wasp-bots. "If I were you I'd get out of here," he said. She nodded, turned, and started down the path the way Sonic had come at a stumbling lope.
Sonic ran the opposite direction, crossing the rest of the bridge in a flash. He did not want to face the wasps over running water, especially not with the bridge slippery from the rainfall, so he headed for higher and, hopefully, firmer ground.
The buzz became an angry grinding noise as the five wasps closed the gap, and Sonic glanced over his shoulder at them. On an impudent impulse, he stuck his tongue out at the bots. Not that he expected them to react to such a taunt—they didn't seem to have the programming for it—but he felt like channeling his annoyance at the attacks into something that amused him.
Then the lead wasp's abdomen swung down with a clunk and its stinger began to glow with an ominous hum, and Sonic just barely dodged as a hot projectile fired down at him. It impacted the ground where he'd been just a second ago, searing the grass and leaving a small crater. Four other clunks and four more glowing stingers, and Sonic found himself honestly wishing he could trade his speed for flight even as he dodged a quartet of sizzling bombs. The area around him was too open. The bombers were too high up, and without ledges to jump on to even the playing field, he was outnumbered and outgunned.
More missiles peppered the earth around him as he tried to sidestep each one, a deadly hail of plasma amid the incessant rain. The torrential downpour and cloud-choked sky made it difficult to see the route ahead and kept his speed slower than he'd like, and he was forced to divide his attention between watching the terrain and trying to watch the bombers. He still ran fast enough for his sneakers to kick up a spray of water from the wet grass, but the bots were able to keep up with him and that was no good. He needed to be able to go faster.
His split focus betrayed him. Amid another spray of searing projectiles, Sonic sidestepped just a little too slowly and found one clipping the heel of one bright red sneaker. It threw off his balance and he stumbled, and the next missile scored along his left side and arm. He smelled burned fur before the pain hit like a hammer blow. What little balance he had left fled him, and the ground rushed up to meet him. He tried to roll and only succeeded in turning what would have been a faceplant into a bruising tumble across the ground.
The wasp-bots, overshooting their target when he fell, swung back around for a second pass as Sonic pushed himself back to his feet, teeth gritted against the fire that raced along his nerves. A fall at speeds like that should've broken bones, but Sonic's were denser than most and could take more of a beating—built-in safeguards against his own super-speed, or so his uncle had explained—so Sonic merely had to worry about massive bruising and road rash.
The bombers' stingers lit up again in prelude to the next volley, and Sonic quickly took stock of his surroundings. The area still lacked sufficient structures to reach where the wasps flew, and the young hedgehog probably wouldn't come out of the next missed sidestep intact. He needed to get away, to lose the bots and quickly.
He spotted a narrow side track winding down through bushes, and while it wouldn't be pleasant to run on in the rain, it did provide more cover than the top of the ridge.
The bombers fired. Sonic didn't even think, he just snapped forward, rolling painfully under the salvo of missiles and ducking down through flowering bushes. Thorny branches snagged at his fur and quills and he held up his arms to shield his face, trying not to wince at every new scratch or when branches scraped across the burn on his left side. Where were power rings when you really needed them?
The angry buzzing of the wasp-bombers roared overhead, and he tucked into a roll to gain some speed against them. Plasma missiles burst against the cliff wall around him, but he maintained his momentum and just barely managed to outrun the shots, wishing for all that he was worth that bots could tire.
In his headlong flight, he almost missed the outcropping and narrow gap beneath it. A sudden dark patch among the bushes was his only indication that it was there, and acting purely on instinct Sonic tucked and rolled into the space, hoping it was deep enough to shield him.
It turned out to be a tunnel.
The space opened up ten feet inside, just tall enough for Sonic to stand up though he could touch the ceiling with his fingers without having to stretch. Despite the darkness within, he followed along it at a steady jog, one hand on the wall and the other stretched out in front of him to keep him from running into sudden obstacles. He didn't know if the bots could follow him in, and didn't want to find out. Outside sounds—rain, buzzing bots, occasional thunder—all muffled away until his only soundtrack was his ragged and uneven breathing and the steady patter of his sneaker soles on stone.
Then the scent of rain and the hiss of it falling in bucketfuls washed over him again, and he turned a corner to find gaps like windows carved out of the right-hand wall. He paused just out of sight and strained his ears to listen over the steady drumming of the rainfall. No buzzing sound, no sign of the bots.
Still he sat and waited, ears standing at attention, quills slightly bristled, tail twitching involuntarily, even as he pulled his first aid kit from his pack and took stock of its contents. It only contained the basics—gauze, tape, a small packet of antiseptic gel—but it would have to do for now. What he wouldn't give for access to a burn remedy. He gingerly inspected the burns along his arm and side, wincing at the damage. Fur singed clean off, skin underneath red and blistered and very tender to the touch. But Sonic was lucky. It could've been a more direct hit, and that would have been game over.
His mind raced over how he could deal with the bombers the next time, because the way this trip was going there would be a next time. They flew too high for him to get at, and used that to their advantage. Maybe next time he would luck out in terrain and could use that to bring the fight to their level. Maybe.
Hopefully.
He gritted his teeth and dressed the burns, breathing shallowly by the time he finished, then curled up and lay there, listening to the rain and hoping that would be the only thing he heard for a long while.