Chapter 8-Fragmented Spirit Protected by Chaos

The Twins soon set off on another hunt after the remaining 6 Chaos Emeralds. They were even thankful that Knuckles did let them get close to the Master Emerald in order to get the Spirit Shard in it, making their Shard count two out of eight, and Tails soon finished tuning up the Emerald Radar to make it easier for them in their search. Jet kept up with his end of the truce even more by giving them rides across the ocean when needed.

And they needed it since the second Emerald was in Abadat.

When they set foot in the desert country, with the radar showing that the Emerald was in the main city, Sonic noticed Dusk was looking even more cheery than usual. "Hey what's with you all of a sudden?"

"Oh nothing, except the sight of this country makes me feel comfortable. Probably because of the fact my main territory as a Twilit Elite is the Gerudo Desert that's east of Lake Hylia where the Arbiter's Grounds are."

"And that's where that Mirror of Twilight is, right?"

"That's correct!" Dusk replied, happy that Sonic remembered him mentioning it, and then noticed a young, brown-haired man in a green-grey suit that seemed to be a university student running towards them. "Sonic who is that?"

"That's Professor Pickle's assistant! I wonder what's up."

The assistant took a moment to catch his breath then began to talk. "Sonic I'm glad you're back! Something really strange is going on here! The Professor and a new assistant will fill you in when we get to the lab."

"Whoa-whoa-whoa…a new assistant? When did this guy appear?"

"Well he came around just yesterday. A strange, quiet fellow with sandy blonde hair and I think red or copper eyes as well as an accent I can't quite place. He was dressed up in a light cloak that covered his outfit that had this mark on the front that looks like a crying eye."

"The Shadow's Tear!" Dusk said in sudden surprise knowing who it was. "Sonic the new assistant is Sheik! He must have come out here looking to lend his assistance in a different way and most likely heard of this Professor from the local townsfolk!"

"Hey your friend has that same accent! Who is-" The assistant started but then Sonic cut him off by grabbing the both of them by a wrist each and speeding off to the Pickle Labs.

Sonic hasn't seen the infamous University Professor since the Dark Gaia incident where he first gained his Werehog form so he was both happy and determined to see him in the light of recent events, especially since Sheik was now with him. They soon went inside to see the kind old Professor sitting down enjoying a plate of cucumber sandwiches looking at an old book, while in the back, high on a ladder reaching for another book, was a very slender young male assistant with sandy blonde shoulder-length hair that covered most of his ears, dressed in a light blue suit of his own. When the Professor called for him after he noticed the Twins, the blonde turned to face them with copper eyes and Dusk noticed a pair of small blue hoop earrings on the part of his ears that weren't covered which gave him away as Sheik in disguise.

"I'm glad you have arrived Sonic." Prof. Pickle started in relief just as the Sheikah gracefully leapt down from the ladder and came over to join in the conversation. "As you can see I got some unexpected help from your new friend here."

"I sure can! Nice to see ya again Sheik!"

"As it is to you Sonic and Dusk," Sheik replied back with a smile, and then laughed at the confused look on the Elite's face at his current outfit. "Oh this was the Professor's idea. He figured that it might be easier for me to get around looking like an assistant student of his rather than a foreign member of a tribe nobody around here has heard of before from a land that most would believe to never exist. Frankly I'm glad it works."

"As do I, Sheik," the Professor added before he continued. "Now then, as you both are aware, a sorcerer by the name of Vaati has been around causing a great deal of trouble from that Twilight around South Island to various creatures in the areas outside of the other countries' towns and cities, making it unsafe for the people to be out of town. I understand from Sheik that he is looking for a treasure gifted to Artemis the Hedgehog, whom I learned you both are descended from, known as the Triforce of Spirit so I decided to help out by finding out what I can about the subject from a series of old tomes and manuscripts I just got last month but I never had the chance to go through proper until now. I'm sure you might have something to help me study from as well?"

"Indeed I do," Dusk replied before reaching for his translated version of Artemis' Journals in his pouch and handed it to him. "This is the information from my ancestor's journals about the Triforce of Spirit that I translated from Hylian. It says that it was fragmented but it doesn't say where the Shards are until a Light Spirit told Sonic and I where they were."

"Oh? And where are they?"

Dusk soon whispered in the Professor's ear about their locations and how they already have two of them, in case there were any unwanted ears listening in. "I see. Very interesting. And now the hunt has started again if I understand correctly. Well then, if we find anything else about the Shards or of Artemis or of any more connections between Hyrule and Mobius, we'll let you know. Oh and before I forget, I think I need to give you two this."

He went back to his desk and pulled out the Yellow Chaos Emerald! Sonic took it and brought the pendant close enough for the Spirit Shard to fly out of the Emerald and into the vessel, bringing the Shard count to three. He soon handed the Emerald back to the Professor and Sheik for safe keeping before he and Dusk thanked them all for their help and left for the new signal that appeared on the radar that would lead them to the eastern country of Chun-an.

(In Chun-an)

The Professor wasn't kidding when he mentioned that outside every city and town in the various countries there were monsters keeping everyone in town and out of danger! Every creature they met as soon as they arrived and left town was one Dusk knew from Hyrule so it was easy to combine speed and weapon smarts to defeat each one that came their way. Sonic also had the chance to impress his twin again by getting a sword in town and showing his own skills with the blade that gave him the upper edge against even the Bokoblins and their clubs or blades.

"I had forgotten you also had some skill with the sword," Dusk commented as they got close to the Temple of Gaia where the Radar showed the Emerald to be nearby.

"I sure do!" he replied as he started to fondly remember Caliburn, the sacred sword that doubled as his mentor in swordplay when he had an adventure within the stories of King Arthur.

"But I also can see it needs to be refined," Dusk added, interrupting his thoughts. "Some of it is still quite basic and might not save you from something with a shield or heavy armour. I'll help with that as well as your problem with water if you'd like. I know some skills from even the ancient times that might help."

"Really?" Sonic asked as they got closer, not noticing the large spider web in front of them. "Like what? A special-oh yuck!"

Sonic got himself caught in the web and was about to struggle to get loose when he heard something get closer to him as a Skulltula skittered in for the kill! Dusk acted fast and managed to knock the giant spider off the web and onto its back with his Clawshot, revealing the weak spot which he stabbed with a Finishing Blow, instantly killing the pest before freeing his brother.

"Whew! I thought I was spider food for a minute there! What was that thing?"

"Skulltula, a large spider monster with a venomous bite. Attacking from above is useless due to its hard shell unless you find a way to strike its soft underbelly like you've seen me do with one of the Ancient Skills; the Finishing Blow. There are also the smaller Skullwalltula which are found on any wall that can be climbed with vines or stone. Ladders too. They are far weaker than the Skulltula, thankfully, and can be easily killed with even a bullet from a slingshot."

"So when we see a huge web, watch out for big poisonous spiders. Got it. Hey can you teach me that skill now? I think I could use it!"

"Of course, as soon as we get that Emerald right there and I set things up."

Dusk pointed to the Aqua Emerald in the reeds before setting up some logs to teach Sonic the deadly skill. When he was finished, the fourth Shard was already in the pendant and it didn't take no more than half an hour for the blue blur to not only learn the Finishing Blow, but also a back stabbing technique that makes good use of his agility to handle armoured foes that keep their rears unguarded known as the Back Slash. They soon turned on the radar and saw that they still have another Emerald in Chun-an, in the temple surprisingly, and went off to look.

To only again run into trouble once inside the temple that caused Dusk to curse harshly in Hylian as an armoured foe with a ball and chain held the Green Chaos Emerald but seemed to have trouble in getting the precious Shard inside. "For the love of the Goddesses did we HAVE to run into that one?"

He was answered with a close call at it launched its weapon at them and they leapt out of the way. Sonic noticed that its tail didn't have armour, plus it was pre-occupied with trying to hit Dusk, so he sped in front of it to roll behind and use the Back Slash on his target, stunning the creep long enough for the Twilit Mobian to land a few blows of his own. They kept this up a few more times before Dusk landed a Finishing Blow at the tail, killing the target. Tired, but triumphant, they picked up the Emerald to collect the fifth Spirit Shard and soon returned to town to rest and recover before continuing the next day.

(At Vaati's Hideout)

Meanwhile at Vaati's hideout, the sorcerer was NOT happy at the turn of events as he viciously blasted various statues that looked like a maiden into pieces out of fury, scaring the Wolfos pack.

*THAT BLASTED ELITE! HE'S NOW TEACHING THE FOURTH THE ANCIENT SKILLS FROM THE HEROES OF THE PAST! THIS MAKES THEM BOTH STRONGER! Not only that, but those BLASTED CHAOS EMERALDS are keeping me from REACHING. MY. GOAL! AAAAARRRRRRGGGGHHH!*

*And here you are having a temper tantrum like a spoiled child,* a quiet male voice with a Mobian accent sounded from behind him as he whipped around to see a short animal-like figure in the shadows with glowing dual coloured eyes; the left one was grey and the right one was an amber colour. *I'm surprised you underestimated the Twilit Mobian and his twin brother this much.*

*And who are you?* He growled through clenched teeth but his only answer was an amused chuckle from the other before it spoke again. *Oh, just someone who is enjoying your failures.*

Its presence soon faded from the room without a sound, as if it melted in the shadows it hid in, and Vaati growled again before storming off to think up another plan of action against the Twins.

(In Holoska)

The next morning led the Twins and the Rogues to the snowy northern country of Holoska where two more Chaos Emeralds were detected by the Radar.

Unfortunately for Dusk he already had problems after putting on a white, furry snow cloak as the male Rogues tried, and failed badly, to keep from laughing as Sonic smacked a hand to his face at them. "So I don't have a proper snowsuit! At least I'm warm in this!"

"O.K cut it out you two!" Wave stepped in the room with a wrench in hand and they instantly stopped. "I have to agree with him, though, he does look nice and toasty in that! What is it made of anyway?"

"Would you believe it's freshly shed Yeti fur?" He asked with a smirk and soon began to explain at the perplexed looks on all of their faces. "In Hyrule there's a Yeti couple that lives on a cold peak known as Snowpeak. I nearly froze to death until Yeto, the larger male, found me, brought me to his home in the Snowpeak Ruins, and warmed me up with his creamy Reekfish Soup. His wife, Yeta, made me this snow cloak and I've kept it since as a sign of gratitude. And like I said, it's nice and warm so I don't have to worry about the cold, even in this country!"

"Well then let's go!" Sonic said and they soon stepped off towards an icy wasteland to find the Emerald.

The villagers were very helpful when it came to information, especially since one of the children had the Purple Chaos Emerald in her hands that held the sixth precious shard inside and she also mentioned she saw the White Emerald beyond the plains of ice in a cave where a pack of white wolf creatures took residence.

"White Wolfos!" Dusk concluded at the sound of them. "We'd best be careful! They attack by leaping out of the snow, darting back and forth to confuse their opponent, then leaping in for the kill! The best way to deal with them is countering their leap with a slash of your blade a couple of times, though they are trouble in a pack."

"Sounds like Vaati's sending out his pets even more either way," Sonic commented as they left the village. "He must have found out about the Shards being in the Emeralds from those freaks since we didn't say anything back in Professor Pickle's lab."

"That is a possibility since we did find a fair amount of Shards already. Let's keep on our guard and not take any unnecessary risks."

And that's what they did as they reached the cave where the White Wolfos pack was lying in wait for them. The leader, the one with the collar, kept to the back with the White Emerald in its mouth in case it needed to make a quick escape. It knew its master was watching and would be willing to forgive it in case it failed in bringing the jewel to him. The Twins were as quick and fierce against the pack so it dashed away deeper in, not knowing the Radar picked up the signal.

"Hey one's getting away with the Emerald!" Sonic shouted after the pack was dealt with and he checked the Radar. "Let's get him!"

Dusk nodded as he went into wolf form again and they dashed away on the ice after their prize. It didn't take them long, despite the various detours Sonic took, to corner the wolf and just as they were about to strike, an icicle surrounded by an aqua glow and a large fireball came from above and struck the ground in front of it. The Wolfos leader was so scared of the combo attack that it dropped the Emerald before escaping.

"I know that glow!" Sonic said as soon as a young male white hedgehog dressed in a light blue snowsuit came floating down in the same glow and a purple female cat dressed in a dark violet snowsuit of her own landed gracefully from an opposite ledge. "Silver and Blaze! Boy am I glad to see you guys!"

"Likewise," Blaze replied with a smile as she picked up the White Emerald and brought out the Blue Emerald from her bag. "Tails told us about what was happening when we came to do something here so we decided to help! I found this Emerald in Spagonia and Silver used it to get us here!"

"We also saw those wolves find the White Emerald," Silver added as Dusk transformed back, "and saw you guys coming so we decided to give that pack leader a good scare in hopes it would drop it and the plan worked!"

"Well thanks for the help!" Sonic replied then asked, "So what were you guys planning on doing back here?"

"Well I found this pendant that I haven't seen in a while and I was hoping one of you guys might know something about the runes on it," the white hedgehog answered as he lifted out a small, round silver pendant with an aqua edge and Dusk recognized the Hylian runes etched onto its smooth surface that translated to Silver's name.

"By the Gods…Silver, how long did you have this?"

"Since I was a kid. My parents found it on me when I was adopted."

"I think I know where to find your real family then. These runes are Hylian for your name. I met a hidden tribe that takes refuge behind a place called Arbiter's Grounds in the Gerudo Desert in Hyrule. They recently lost a child by this name so they asked me if I find you, to bring you to them."

"Whoa wait a minute!" Sonic soon interrupted. "So Silver's a Hylian hedgehog and not from the future? How did he get there then?"

"I'm guessing this would also be Vaati's doing but for what reason I don't know of sadly. But we'll find out some other time, for now let's retrieve this world's last two shards and return to South Island so we may prepare for a journey to Hyrule in order to make the Triforce of Spirit whole once again."

As Sonic did that, Blaze took a very surprised Silver aside. "Are you alright?"

"I think so, I don't know. All this time I thought I was from the future but to hear this? I wonder why I was taken away."

"I'm sure we'll figure it out, and no matter what I'll be there for you, always."

Silver looked into her eyes in gratitude and soon kissed her cheek. "Thanks Blaze, I know I can count on you."

He soon went over to the Twins as Blaze lightly touched where he kissed her and smiled before joining the boys. *You sure can, Silver.*

They made it back to South Island without incident with half of the Spirit Pendant, as Sonic calls it, glowing brightly to show they were done. Everyone else welcomed them back and it was decided they would leave in the morning since it had been a long trip around the world. Sheik was there as well, back in his tribal clothes, with more information on the Triforce. It turned out that Vaati DID get to the Shards in Hyrule already and a message from Midna stated that they had been cursed to force his fellow Elites back into their monster forms. So it was agreed that the others would come along to help, with Cream, Cheese and Charmy staying behind since it was too dangerous for them being the youngest and Tails was coming along since he was able to protect himself with his namesakes and his smarts.

Dusk soon sent a reply back with the Sheikah warrior saying that help was on the way, but he couldn't shake a dark feeling in the back of his mind that stated there will be grave danger ahead for even himself.

Author's Notes:

ACK-CHEE-WAWA! HOW LONG WAS IS SINCE I LAST UPDATED THIS STORY?

*Faints*Yeah sorry for the long wait but Writer's Thwomp kept coming onto me on and off but I finally finished this chapter.

Oh and the part of Silver being a Hylian hedgehog is OBVIOUSLY something I made up for the sake of a future plot part! And that figure laughing at Vaati is part of it so pay attention!

Aren't I sneaky for slipping in those kind of surprises? XD And there's more to come!

So basically the Twins have to travel halfway around the world to find the Spirit Shards on Mobius before preparing for a trip to Hyrule! And that's where a REAL good chunk of the story will be!

Sadly the good news turns bad as Dusk finds out his fellow Elites (the TP bosses excluding Zant and Ganon-DORK if anyone was paying attention) fell to the Spirit Shards being cursed and making them monsters again which raises fears for himself.

Will they stop Vaati or will the darkness reign? We'll have to see!

Next Chapter: A trip to Hyrule! New friends will be made but Vaati will be up to something!

Enjoy and leave comments!

Sonic and related are © SEGA/Sonic Team
Legend of Zelda characters and concepts © Nintendo
Dusk and everything else is © me so DON'T STEAL OR ELSE!

P.S. Skyward Sword rocks though one of my little brothers have almost beaten it! Sad right? I need to get back on the Wii when I get home!