Sonic and The Chaos Kingdom
Ch.5
(GUESS WHO'S BACK!? :D)
'General Knuckles and King Sonic found a spot for us to set up tent and camp for the remainder of the night. The King is worried we may be stopped if we camp for too long, and after our brave General's often times loud discussions of that concern rang through the tunnels, we were up and early the next day to avoid any possible halting of this covert mission. We continued along the path that never strays, a long and endless tunnel. I worry for Cynthia back home, I know this could damage my families generational honor, but what the General had said… we have to do this. For King and country. For freedom from war. For the sake of all mankind… if only our hearts were prepared for the dangers that lie in store… My good friend, Kip Cunman, just read over my shoulder and told me to write that- no battle is without the fear of disappointment, but no battle is won on thoughts of regret. Meaning, to give it your all and not look back! It may get challenging… even frightful at times, but don't let your inadequacies keep you from miracles! I'm proud to fight alongside such an amazing man, and I hope to learn a lot from him, just like the Battle at Angel Cove. I have great men to follow too, though, may I not be framed as traitorous for this comment, I have yet to see the King truly prove his love for his people and country… that may sound harsh, but Kip assured me it's what everyone is waiting for. Will it be in a speech? Like his crowning debut? Will it be on battle, though that time was a little confusing… but he did save us all from the thunder-driven and powered technology that High Councilmen Prower had once spoken of. I never want my dear Cynthia to have to see such cold, unblinking for life eyes that those beast had contained in one… single… stare. Nevertheless, the orders are out, we are to scout out the remainder of the tunnel. As a loyal countryman and solider, I've volunteered while taking my writing break. If anything happens, I love you Cynthia. Tell our boy he's making me proud as he's training to be a blacksmith, and tell Kip's wife he's happy to have been her solider. For King and Country… Adieu, until I write again.'
"All out? Forward!" Knuckles cried out, moving his large axe forward on his horse, as a few men, about 3 or so, took off down the narrow tunnel, carrying torches for light along the way.
One solider looked back, slight worry and sorrow in his eyes, but another solider (Kip) caught his stare, and started banging his left shoulder's plated-armor with the hilt of his sword, as others saw and followed the expression.
Sonic looked around, confused at the noise that was being echoed through the tunnels, and looked to Knuckles, "What's going on?" he asked.
Knuckles smiled, and bowed his head in reverence at the actions of his just men. "It's a battle-cheer. They're telling their brave comrades to keep their swords close to their hearts, so they can meet again, in a time of hopefully, peace."
Sonic slightly gawked, "Oohh.." Never seeing a scene so touching as brotherly love like this before, as his mouth hung in an 'o' shape as he looked behind him again, and saw how the scouts up ahead called out a cheer of 'yahoos!' and 'yehaws!" as they strode away on horseback; Showing they understood the expression and were comforted by it.
The noise stopped as Sonic got fired up, smirking and getting the reins of his horse, rearing Wind Rider up. "Alright then! Let's charge too!"
"Not yet." Knuckles stood firm, unamusement in his face.
"Huh?" Sonic looked to him again, confused, as his horse settled down, but looked upset at being fired up only to stand still, and huffed his head a moment or two, before stomping on the ground in anxiousness. "What do you mean, 'not yet'? Is that even a phrase?"
"Maybe not in your tongue." Knuckles gave him a fed-up look with drooped down eyelids, almost rolling his eyes down and to the side, but continued, "We have to let the scouts get a head start, that way, they can warn us of any danger lining the tunnels. It's more important to protect us all than just a few of us, agreed?" Knuckles looked to Sonic.
"Oh, agreed." He nodded, but then looked forward and slouched, not liking to wait. "Come on already…"
after a few seconds, Knuckles laughed.
"Hahaha! This is where the true test of 'king' comes in! Let's see if you're truly fit to be one of the-"
"CHARGE!" Sonic commanded, and took off with a bustling motion of swift speed. Wind Rider acted like the very doors of a racetrack had opened up, and its freedom from this confined tunnel was soon to be in reach, and bolted for that light of day.
"W-wah-WHAT!? YOU IDIOT! I GIVE THE COMMANDS HERE!"
His men had already taken to the command, and were dashing off after Sonic, their king after all, knowing full well that even though they needed to protect all of them, their king was still the most important to keep safe.
"Bunch of obedient traitors…hmph! Let's go, Red!" Knuckles had anger marks all over his head, but quickly subsided his annoyance at Sonic in respect for how fast his men obeyed command. He kicked Red to move, as the horse seemed startled, whining at the sudden pressure to advance, and started trotting.
"W-Wha? No, boy! Move, move!" he started to lean into it, back and forth, as if trying to 'scoot' his poor horse forward.
Red yanked his head up with another whine, and started to bolt after the rest of the men and their noble steeds.
"Atta boy!" Knuckles cried out, "At least you listen,… even with a bit of resistance.." but it wasn't so much 'resistance' as lazy and slow reactions to the call of command.
As Sonic charged down the tunnel, the light started to grow dim, as now the scouts were too far ahead to see.
Sonic squinted, before he heard a man behind him, calling out for him.
"…-ighness….Your highness..!...YOUR HIGGGGHHHNNNESS!"
Sonic looked back in curiosity and slowed his pace on his horse, looking back with a smile, "Yellow!"
"Uhh… sir, what's with the color? Is that some sort of code for a command?" the solider blinked, but was actually the fastest out of his group of soldiers to reach Sonic.
"Nah, it's just a cool way to greet people." Sonic looked to his horse, really booking it. He whistled, "You got yourself their a fast horse! Want to race?" He grinned.
"A-a-ah… N-now sir? In the heat of a mission?" He asked, a little confused at how his king could ask such a silly thing in a military situation.
"Yeah! Why not? The scouts haven't said anything! Let's see if you can beat a royal steed!" He narrowed his eyes at the look of a fun challenge, and kicked his horse to move faster.
Wind Rider's nostrils flared, and he lowered his head, a wild horse's instinct to propel itself faster!
"Y-your highness! W-wait!" The solider outreached his hand, but seeing as his king was swiftly moving farther and farther away from protection, clenched his teeth, and then smiled, letting his youthful heart take his military wisdom for a moment. "Alright, to make sure you're not going to hurt yourself, I'll play along. Hyah!" he also gave a swift kick to his horse, as it cried out a battle-cry of sorts and dashed forward.
Sonic looked back, fired up again as he noticed the solider speedily coming up on his rear. "Heh-heh. You think you're faster than the wind?" he smirked and saw a puddle coming up in the dim lighting, since they were really moving away from the rest of the army, which held torches in the dark for light, and steered his horse to jump over a slight, upraised crack in the stone flooring.
Wind Rider whined out as it leapt, and a pretty big splash flew out, mud and water back lashed at the solider, who momentarily lost his hold of direction on his horse, as the horse came to an abrupt halt and reared.
He was experienced enough to hold on, and calmed down his frazzled horse. "Oh, so you want to play games like that, eh?" The solider was getting competitive now. He grabbed the visor of his military helmet, a grey look to it with the symbol of the Chaos Kingdom in gold on the front of it, and tugged it down. "Well played, my King." He smiled, knowing he shouldn't really 'play around' with the King, but something was boosting his morale inside of him. He at least respected the king enough to make a good strategic move of offensive play.
If the King was willing to sport around with his men, then maybe that means he really does care about them all?
Sonic looked behind him, and for the first time, the Solider noticed a comradery in his eyes.
With that boost of morale and spirit of kinship that Sonic emanated, the Solider quickly got the courage and motive to continue on in the race, and continued the charge to keep up with Sonic.
Sonic was now testing this little solider, curious of his skills and limitations. He wanted a good test of speed, and kept racing ahead.
"GET BACK HERE!"
Suddenly, Knuckles shot through the swarm of men behind them, as the men and their horses yanked back or moved quickly out of his way, being frazzled and pretty scared of Knuckles in this state of anger…
Sonic maneuvered his horse through more rough stones that pointed up or down in their square patterns on the tunnel floor, helping his horse to know where to go next, and also trusting his partner's animal instincts to know where to advance next.
The look of the tunnel was now old and the shadows more apparent. Sonic was really having to strain his eyes to see, but that didn't hold back his determined smile as he continued to scale the poor terrain to get across.
"My king!" The solider shouted out in concern, halting before tackling such a dangerous upheaval of stone tiles on the tunnel floor.
Sonic landed safely to the other side, and looked back at the solider, his horse flicking his tail after the safe landing. "What? It's easy." He teased, and motioned for the solider to follow, "You coming or what?"
The playful banter of the clearly crooked way that seemed almost impossible to get through so quickly and skillfully as Sonic did, made the Soldier's sense of adventure scale in height, and he grinned again in his boyish excitement. "Wait right there, my liege!"
His horse seemed cautious; as it slowly began it's decent and then rose up the uneven ground.
"Hyah!" the Solider encouraged, as the horse began to nervously move more swiftly.
"There, that'll do it." Sonic smiled, watching from behind him at the Solider taking courage and moving forward. "What's your name, son?"
"I'm actually quite older than that." The man stated, and smiled while looking up to Sonic. He didn't seem to have an issue with the comment, only correcting that he wasn't as young as he looked. "I'm sergeant Banks. I'm a close associate of General Knuckles."
"Ohhh, a right hand man, eh?" Sonic was impressed, but didn't really care about titles. He was more interested in the man behind the title… "How'd you win that lucky job?" he teased, seeing as the man might not be able to maneuver as quickly as Sonic did, and just put a hand to his knee, and the other on his horse's back, twisting to see the man.
"Heh, you could say I straighten out the details to his liking. Hyup!" he caused his horse to slightly leap over to another stone. "And catching you miraculously, when you try to escape, helps with bonuses too."
But as the horse moved forward, a stone started to slip. "Ahh!" the solider was caught in an unexpected stone-slide! (rockslide)
"Oh no!" Sonic jumped up and spin dashed to the man, grabbing him off the horse as the horse tottered down.
The horse whined out in fright, and began to start running up the other side, dodging smaller pebbles and pulling more stones out of their way. It slid to a halt at the bottom of a dirt ditch, and ran in circles, before seeing there were no more crumbling rocks, and started to walk to the other side.
It almost seemed to try and look up for it's master, and then shook it's head on the bottom, but besides a few scratches and a racing heart due to fright, it looked pretty sound and alright.
Sonic landed on the former side where the Solider and him first started out, and looked back.
"You… you saved me." The Soldier's two arms were out stretched over Sonic's shoulders, making the Solider look a bit ridiculous as his eyes blinked in surprise.
Sonic moved away from the Solider and scratched his head, "Well, it was kinda my fault for egging you on like that." He then gave him a friendly look and outstretched his head to help him up.
The Solider was in awe at Sonic's true ability for speedy recoveries like in his predicament. He took his King's hand, and rose up. "I've… I've never seen a soul move so fast like that." He stated.
"A gift of mine, I guess." Sonic put his hands behind his head, and looked nonchalantly away, but on his face was a proud and arrogant smile. "It's really nothing, no need to thank me." He stated, as the Solider continued to marvel, as Knuckles and the rest of them came up from behind.
"WHAT WAS THAT?!" Knuckles roared onto the screen, halting his horse, leaning forward, huffing and puffing over his horse's head, as Red slowly… gently sat down on the ground from the immediate stop.
The sound of the 'plop' was comical to say the least, but the moment didn't call for attention on the humorous horse…
"Cool your horses, Knuxs. We were just-" Sonic calmly spoke, still pride in his eyes, as he gestured to the other solider before-
"YOU COULD OF RAN OFF INTO THE DARK AND HAVE NEVER BEEN SEEN OR HEARD FROM AGAIN!" Knuckles's voice rang once again through the tunnels, as he got his horse up off his rear-end and began chastising Sonic, who gave him a frown and lowered his head at him, folding his arms in defiance. "That's my Sergeant you almost killed right there! My favorite one at that." He huffed out. "What were you thinking!? You're reckless behavior could of killed us all! And ruined the mission!"
"Woah, calm down, for the second time today, Knuckles…" Sonic held out his hands, before looking exhausted at Knuckles's shouting. "I had everything under control."
"Oh, under control, did you? CONTROL!? WITH HALF YOUR MEN FALLING HELPLESSLY BEHIND YOU!? You should be glad we had just enough light to see the backend of Banks's horse!"
"It's a straight road, Knuckles! Where could you have lost me at-?"
"-Lost you?! I'm not talking about yourself, Sonic. I'm talking about YOUR LIFE!"
The noise rang out again, this time, the echo traveled further down the tunnels…
"WE'VE ALREADY ENTERED ENEMY TERRITORY! YOU REALLY THINK YOU CAN JUST SPEED OFF AND ENJOY YOURSELF WHEN THEIR COULD BE TRAPS OR EVEN WORSE! A-"
"AMBUSH!"
The whole party turned.
"AMMMBUUUSH!" The three scouts raced down the tunnels, as it almost seemed a flock of shadows traced the way behind them, leaving not even the slivering blue of the tiles of the floor noticeable anymore.
So many hooves pounding steel and stone raced through the tunnels as Knuckles's face rose into horror and fright, tightening around his face as he clenched his teeth into an open frown. "RETREEEATTT!" he quickly flailed back to his horse, repeating, "get up, get up, get up!" doing his little back and forth movement again to lean the horse into his command. Red slowly got up in startlement, still relatively slow, and looked around before a sharp whine and turned around, darting forward.
"Uh-oh…" Sonic slowly turned around.
"SONIC?! WHAT ARE YOU DOING!? RUN!" Knuckles turned around, already fleeing with his men to prepare a counter. He turned to move a hand off one of the reins, and sweat dropped when he heard Sonic's reply, blinking slightly.
"..My horse." Sonic looked across the gulf of the broken up, ditchy, earthquaked ruin of stones at Wind Rider on the other side, moving back and forth, before rearing up in frustration at not really knowing how to get away from the on-coming chaos.
"Sonic!" Knuckles cried out, but the flow of the stream of rushing horses forced his horse to continue on. "Grr..!" he tried to fight the current, but it was no use.
"Dratt!" Sonic raced back down the stones, riding one as he jumped to it, kicking it loose to skid down safely.
"You're highness!" Banks called down, before seeing the light down the corridored tunnel and jumped down after him. "It's not safe!"
"I'm not leaving my horse!" Sonic rolled to a stop after leaping off the stone onto the dirt of the bottom, and the other horse panicked and reared up too. Sonic speedily ran past the frightened filly and started to climb and scale up the other side to get to Wind Rider, seeming to wait for Sonic, although, Sonic knew better. He just didn't know how to get down…
"Like me in water." He looked up from a stony cliff and climbed up, struggling a bit as he did use a lot of energy to save Banks. "Come here, lil' guy." Sonic grabbed Wind Rider's reins, as he kicked and reared again, not easily tamable as before seemed to be. "Come on, buddy..! Don't break under pressure!" Sonic struggled to keep him down and even able to get himself an opening to jump on before…
"Your highness!" The scouts stopped right at him and his horse, as the shadows surrounded the four, and held up their weapons.
"Stand down!"
The scouts raised their hands up in retreat, and looked to Sonic, unsure if that was what they were meant to do.
Sonic sighed, and did the same action. "Great. All this over a dumb horse."
Wind Rider whined and turned around, almost bucking Sonic in the head, but he was, luckily, able to dodge it fast enough. "H-hey!"
"Highness?" a shrilly kinda voice spoke out, as a hooded cloaked man stepped out from the crowd of shadowy figures, holding a crooked saber.
Sonic glared, his 'forfeiting' hands slowly turning to fists, but twitched open again slightly as the figure dismounted and quickly flicked his sword toward Sonic, as if threatening him to not make a move.
"This is the legendary KING of Chaos?" The voice stated, he tilted his head to show a rather yellow beak… "Can you believe this, fellas? He really thinks he's a king!"
The whole group behind him started laughing, as Sonic's pride was pricked, and his anger showed apparent on his face.
"WHO ASKED YOU!?" Sonic shouted out, as the hooded figure turned back to him, silence ensued, and the figure grinned.
"I'm the real king of this land." He motioned with his sword for his men, "Take them, bind them up, will you? And don't diddly-daddle! I'm not risking loosing this booty…"
"H-hey! Let go of me! A-and them!" Sonic was overtaken by a couple of crooks, trying to fight back but their were too many of them.
His scouts were also caught.
Banks slowly slipped down the ditch area of the floor, and calmed his horse as it tried to make some noise, listening…
"HAHAHA!" The hooded man, seeming to be the leader, put his hands to his sides and lowered his sword, tilting his head back and laughing with that big beak of his. "This is priceless! The Chaos King… reduced to shambles!"
"Who are you?"
"Abandoned by his army, and captured by a thief king, ohhhh~ This really is too good to be true! But alas, it sooo is~" The figure smirked, leaning forward, threateningly…
Not just for pride's sake either…
"You know who I am, but that's still not good enough for me." Sonic glared again, hands tied behind his back.
"Heheh… I'll tell you." The hooded man lowered his head and flung back his hood. "I'm Jet the Rogue! THE KING… OF TRUE CHAOS!"