Chapter 7-Halved Paths to Begin the Search!
The Twins were shocked beyond reason at the sight after they transformed. On the walls of the canyons were what seemed to be paintings of a hedgehog tribe from long ago, all with blue fur and quills, just like them! But the shock was short-lived as they found themselves penned in and surrounded by another pack of Shadow Beasts again. The difference was that one was singled out from the other three in a weird spot so Sonic easily destroyed it, just after getting a small shock on his right arm from the wall, as Dusk finished off the others with his force field.
"Vaati's getting smart with his pens," Sonic commented with a slight growl as he shook his arm from the pain. "I know for sure I'll be feeling that in the morning!"
"Indeed…just like Zant tried with similar tactics but failed," Dusk replied with disgust in his voice as they continued through the canyon.
Oddly enough it was eerily quiet, save for the sound of the Light Spirit coming from an alcove close by. There was no monsters, no other Shadow Beasts, only the insects they would soon detect which they found was strange. The Spirit sadly had little strength to speak, but when they got the Vessel of Light, the words were clear and they began their hunt.
Sonic managed to help kill off 9 out of the 16 insects they needed, but he also noticed Dusk looking increasingly tense with each insect they kill, which in his mind was NOT a good thing as his brother muttered, "Keep on your guard."
Thunder rumbled at these words as Sonic thought, *What the heck is wrong with him? Is there something going to happen with this hunt that's different from the others? Like something big?*
Rain poured heavily, making the ground soft enough for them to dig up 4 more insects before going deeper in to what seemed to be a lake at the end. The last 5 insects were mostly flying around the shore, but as soon as they dispatched them for the Tears of Light as well as another group of Shadow beasts for a Portal, a larger spark of electricity was seen jetting around in the middle of the lake. This caused Sonic's hair to almost stand on end if they weren't so wet from the rain as the spark got closer to them then shot up from the water.
They activated their senses once again as Sonic shouted in fear, "GREAT CHAOS THAT BUG'S GIGANTIC AND CAN MAKE EVEN DARK GAIA WIN A BEAUTY CONTEST!"
His comparison was not all that unreasonable as the Dark Insect Queen was the most ugliest cross between an ant, a beetle, a caterpillar, and the Dark Insects as she attacked by charging at them with her electricity sparking. He noticed that Dusk wasn't going to move in time so he jumped into the way and took the full hit, feeling the charge throughout his body before finding the strength to stretch an arm and smack her to the ground. Dusk didn't hesitate as he leapt onto her and started to bite her fiercely until she started to fly again. They continued this pattern, dodging her charges after Sonic recovered from the first assault, until she was stunned long enough for Dusk to use her force field at the legs to destroy her at last, freeing the last tear.
He suddenly heard a loud "THUMP" and saw that Sonic was finally feeling the pain now that the adrenaline was fading and was lying on his side. "Ah! St…stupid b…bug!"
Dusk looked closely and saw the wounds beneath the singed fur that the Queen left on his brother after he saved the Twilit Mobian's life. Without hesitation, he changed back to his original form and dug into his pouch for a bottle that seemed to have a small ball of pink light in it, but it was actually a healing fairy.
*Please little one,* Dusk spoke in Hylian to her, *could you heal my brother?*
She giggled and nodded before she was let out. At once Sonic felt the pain leaving, his wounds fading, and his strength returning as he leapt up and gave a howl in joy.
"Boy does that feel GOOD! What was that you let out?"
"One of many healing fairies from Hyrule. I always keep at least 3 with me in case something happens. They aren't very strong but you already felt how useful they are."
"I sure can! Thanks Dusk!" Sonic said as the last Tear entered the Vessel and they were transported to the Spring just as light returned to the canyon. "You're a really cool brother!"
Dusk smiled at this, then realized they were back at the Spirit Spring as the sun shone down on them. The spring glowed with a familiar light and the spirit, which looked like a female hawk from the ancient times, appeared and sat on her orb.
"Twins of Twilight and Wind," she started with kindness, "I am Aria, the Light Spirit of this canyon which holds your ancestral history. I thank you both for restoring my light in time before true darkness consumed me. What can I do to help you both in return?"
"We'd like to know about the shards to the Triforce of Spirit so we can get to them before a sorcerer named Vaati does," Sonic answered.
"Ah!" she replied with such excitement in her eyes, like she wanted to share such a secret for a long time. "I can share this with you; the Spirit Shards have been divided between the two worlds in order for them to be safe."
"The shards are in both Mobius and Hyrule?" the Twins shouted in amazement at such a strong precaution.
"Indeed, and the ones that are here are in the servers and controller of Chaos. I'm sure you can figure out that little riddle! Good luck!"
She soon faded with a giggle of amusement as Dusk started to think about the riddle. "'The servers and controller of Chaos'? What does she mean by that?"
Sonic, on the other hand, remembered a certain chant that gave him an epiphany!
"The servers are the seven Chaos.
Chaos is power, power enriched by the heart.
The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos!
That's it! The shards here are in the Chaos Emeralds and the Master Emerald!"
"Really? Come to think of it, I did sense something back at the lake where we fought the Dark Queen. Could it be one of the Emeralds?"
"Probably so let's go see!" Sonic replied as he grabbed Dusk's arm again and sped towards the lake, stopping suddenly when he got too close to the edge. "WHOA! Too close for comfort!"
"Sonic is something the matter?" Dusk replied as he started to dig into another pouch for some sort of blue armor with flippers and Sonic replied, "Yeeeaaaah I should let you know now that water and I don't mix. And how can you keep your stuff in such small pouches anyway?"
"That's a secret," he replied with an impish gleam after he got dressed, "and I'm glad you told me of your problem with water now and not later in case we had to go to the Lakebed Temple. I will help you overcome it if you like. Now excuse me."
With that Dusk took a dive into the water, causing some sort of mask to slip over his muzzle, and swam around for a while until he saw an unusual red glow where the water was deepest. He dove deeper while he noticed a large red jewel no bigger than his hand half buried in the mud, assuming that this was a Chaos Emerald his brother mentioned, waved away the mud before grabbing the Emerald and swimming back up to the surface.
"Geez does that suit keeps you from drowning or something because you've been down there for over an hour!" Sonic exclaimed in amazement as Dusk swam back to shore with his prize.
"Well this armor is made from the scales of the Zora, a tribe that can live underwater. They are almost like the merpeople that you probably heard about, but they are actually more human-like in appearance and…well I have a few sketches to show you better than what I can describe in words."
He set the Emerald down, dug into another pouch and brought out some pieces of parchment where he started to look through them and found the one he needed before passing it to Sonic. On it was a sketch of a human-like creature with strong fish and dolphin-like features, especially with the fins, flipper-like feet, and the tail coming from the back of the head. Overall he could see they were beautiful and he could see how their scales made that armor that helped Dusk underwater.
"I made those in my earlier days," Dusk commented just after he quickly got dressed back into his modern clothes and Sonic looked up. "I wanted to keep some images of Hyrule's wonders so I made sketches using parchment from an old journal I used to have until Fyrus accidentally burned it to ashes. Oh well, I could always buy a new one from the market at Hyrule Castle Town."
Suddenly the Chaos Emerald glowed with an unusual silver light, as did the pendant. Before the two of them could try to figure it out, the light shot out of the Emerald and rested into the pendant, causing a small spot near the bottom point to glow softly before fading. The Emerald, on the other hand, resumed its gentle red glow, as if nothing happened at all.
"Sonic…" Dusk breathed in amazement, "you were right…the first 8 shards are in the Emeralds…"
"Well then," Sonic said with his eyes shining with excitement as he picked up the Emerald, "let's get back to the Rogues' ship and start the Emerald hunt!"
With that he grabbed Dusk's arm and sped off to meet the Rogues.
(At the canyon entrance...)
Unfortunately, someone else made it to them first as the Sonic stopped suddenly and glared at a familiar black cloaked enemy he now loved to hate. The same went for Dusk as his eyes actually narrowed into a rather threatening glare that could easily rival some of Shadow's worst ones. Two out of three of the Rogues got a good beating as Wave did her best to keep back, all of her spunk and attitude smothered by the fear she had thanks to Vaati's intimidating aura.
Sonic gave a high-pitched whistle to get Vaati's attention, which worked before the sorcerer got a taste of his spin-dash attack in the back. "Take that Vaati!"
The attack sent him sprawling on the ground behind Wave, who took the time to duck inside the ship to keep out of the way of any other attacks from either side. He was about to prepare a spell when he suddenly met with the tip of a dark blue blade as well as a dark green glare that, strangely enough, sent chills down his spine. He regained his composure enough to curse then disappear, leaving the Twins to help Wave with bringing Jet and Storm back into the ship.
Dusk took it upon himself to help bandage their wounds and check for any curses or side effects, giving a sigh of relief when he felt none with his Twilight magic. "It will be alright; they will live."
Wave breathed a sigh of relief but his brother's attitude was far from that.
"Seems like Vaati wanted to scare us by goin' after our friends and rivals!" Sonic concluded with a look of anger on his face.
"Indeed," Dusk replied quietly, then noticed Sonic was about to turn on the communicator when it never beeped. "Making sure, I see?"
"Yeah I am. Who knows how long we've been out here, leaving our friends to Vaati's tricks."
A familiar beeping came up from the device as soon as he turned it on and Tails' panicked voice was heard. "Sonic? Dusk? Are you guys O.K because Vaati was here making death threats so Shadow had to use his full power to scare him off!"
"Say what?" Sonic shouted, his fear rising. "Are you alright? Is everyone O.K?"
"Yeah we all are, thanks to Shadow!" Amy's voice sounded this time, much to Sonic's relief for some odd reason. "He scared off Vaati just before that creep attacked with a spell!"
"How is Shadow?" Dusk asked with concern.
Tails perked up again. "A little tired but that usually happens when he uses his full power. He just got over it a moment ago and is now keeping lookout with Espio."
"Heh, good ol' Shadow. Anyways Tails do you still have that Emerald Radar of yours? We're going to need it!"
"I sure do Sonic! I was fine tuning it this morning so I still have it on my workbench. Is there anything else you need before I go because the battery on this end is about low."
"Yeah could you see if Knux could let us get close to the Master Emerald? I'll explain when we get back!"
"Will do! See you guys later!" And with that it beeped off.
"Talk about lucky!" Wave said in relief, but it was short lived when Dusk muttered, "Yes but how long will our luck last? We must hurry since Vaati is becoming more active as we speak. I can only pray to the Goddesses we will find all of the Chaos Emeralds in time."
(In an unknown location)
Vaati appeared at his own hidden sanctuary, highly sore and badly cursing in Hylian at both failed attempts to try to weaken his enemies. One of the white Wolfos he kept as pets sensed its master's tension and came over to see what it could do to comfort him in any way possible. The sorcerer's eyes softened at the beast's actions, thankful that this one was most loyal to him out of the pack he tamed after it was left abandoned at Snowpeak. He kneeled down and stroked the rich white pelt as the Wolfos nuzzled the tension out of him.
*Hmmm my pet…* he purred at it in Hylian, *you have been most loyal and do you know what loyal ones get? They get a reward…and I got a special reward for you.*
It stopped its nuzzling and looked deep into its master's eyes in anticipation and excitement.
*I see you are curious on your reward,* he replied in satisfaction as he pulled from his cloak a black rhinestone collar decorated with white crystals, causing the Wolfos' red eyes to light up in gratitude at its master.
*This will mark you as my most loyal one in the pack…you deserve it my pet since you never hesitate whenever I return home angry or upset and that pleases me greatly,* he explained as he slipped on the collar around its neck.
It wagged its tail in happiness, until an unwanted scent reached his nose and he whipped around growling at the source. Vaati stood up and soon noticed a young Sheikah warrior appearing from the shadows; Sheik.
*Ah Sheik, what have you come to bother me with again? Still trying to convince me otherwise? You know my mind is made up.*
*I do realize that,* the warrior replied in disgust and kept his distance when he noticed the Wolfos' growls getting worse. *I actually came to let you know the Twins of Spirit and Twilight have found the way to the half of the Triforce that's here on Mobius. It actually didn't take long for Sonic to figure out the Light Spirit's riddle.*
*WHAT? He did already? How can this be? How did he do it?*
*If you think I'll turn traitor then you are mistaken. How he found out is up to you to discover, Vaati.*
And with that he disappeared in a Deku Nut flash, leaving behind a very frustrated sorcerer and his pet glaring into the darkness.
Author's Notes:
I actually had this finished for a couple of days but I wanted to make sure it was done before posting.
Here we finally make it to the Twins' place of ancient origin behind the Twilight, and time's just about up for the poor Light Spirit! So while the hunt continues, Dusk gets uneasy until the last bug is the queen of the insects herself! They managed to beat her and the light's restored for them to earn a riddle from the Spirit that reveals the Spirit Shards that are hidden on Mobius are inside the Chaos and Master Emeralds!
So now the hunt is on for the Emeralds AGAIN, but not without Vaati coming around to cause trouble! Thankfully luck and timing was on our heroes' side so he went home a literal sore loser. XD
But he and Sheik seem to know each other well. And the deal with that will be revealed in a future chapter.
I wanted to get the plot moving so I made the Twilight bit a little longer than the rest and we find more about facts about Dusk! Namely he's a good artist and he can swim! Will that help out Sonic and his Hydrophobia? We'll see!
Plus I figured Vaati could use a pet so when I saw the White Wolfos designs for Twilight Princess I immediately thought of Vaati!
Next chapter: The Emerald Search continues! (AGAIN!)
Enjoy and review!
Twilight Princess, Legend of Zelda character and concepts are © Nintendo
Sonic and related are © SEGA and Sonic Team
Dusk and everything else is © me so DON'T STEAL OR ELSE!