Sonic - Explore (F)Uncautiously
Tails taps away at his tablet, taps echoing in the abandoned mine the duo finds themselves in. Dust clouds rolled after each step.
âThereâs no sign of the Oasis for Thermos.â He said, as Sonic walks besides him, sliding his hand across the wall. He stops, eye twinkling in excitement.
âBut there are traces of the guiding lines like the locals said.â He rubs his fingers together and see faint blue pigment smudged across his gloves. He squints down the hallway, but isnât successful in seeing through the darkness. The only light source was a floating lantern developed by Tails that shimmer brightly yet not enough to clear away all the shadows of the mine.
The yellow fox glanced at Sonic, studying him for a second. He shakes his head a moment later, continuing to walk on, waiting for his scan to finish interpreting data.
âCanât believe youâre fluent in their language.â He claps his hands of the pigment and stretches his leg against the wall, intently staring at it like there was more to discover if he for once waited long enough.
âYou run long enough to hear it all.â
âThatâs not how it works.â He retorts.
âIt does for me.â He shots back at him, flashing his signature smirk and fingergun. Tails only rolls his eyes and tap at his tablet again. Results of his latest search finally appeared.
âOkay after a mini scan, thereâs definitely plenty of cave systems around and in the direction weâre going there seems to be an anomaly? Itâs irregularly shaped and overlaps with a cave system so it could lead into one.â Tails glances back up to Sonic, who jogs after him. âHowever, I still have my doubts on this, maybe weââ
âWe can handle this like we handled that thorn beast from earlier.â He frowns and stops, reaching a fork in the road.
âThatâs a terrible example.â
âNonsense!â Waving him off. âLes get moving innnn this direction!â He points to the right and jogs, feet echoing past the fox.
He sighs, flying to catch up. Tails plucks a thorn out of Sonicâs quills. âLast time I checked said monster almost prickled you alive.â
âBut I dodged it.â He winks at him. His best friend rolls his eyes. âBesides you know closed spaces arenât my strong- no- my strongest suit.â The fox rubs his temple.
âThere are easier ways of doing this, you know.â He drags his hand back across the wall again.
âYeah, but would any of them be as fun?â He claps the dust, sending Tails flying back in a coughing fit. He grimaces.
âSo fun trumps safety?â
âYup.â Popping the P and Sonic jumps rock-to-rock protruding through the ground, careful of the sharp edges.
âYou didnât register what I just said didnât you?â
âNope.â Popping the P again, he rolls into his signature ball and bounces off the cave wall where another fork lies.
âYouâre gonna get us stuck one day.â
âAnd Iâll get us unstuck that day and that very hour.â He fingerguns, smiling infectiously this time. Tails shook his head but smile himself. His endless energy must come with endless confidence. He wishes he could have that.
âWhich way Tails? You wonât lead us astray.â The fox smiles playfully, tugging his tablet out of his backpack.
âUnless I did it to teach you a lesson, right?â
âWell you are smart enough to full me.â He says, rubbing his nose, smiling softly.
âYeah, yeah, flatter wonât get you anywhere. But my tablet will. We should probably take the left, it might lead to the cave crack.â He points. They return on to the path. As the tablet said and the lantern illuminated, there was a crack in the wall that lead to a cave large enough for them to shuffle through, earning him a gently punch to his arm. âAtta boy.â
Sonic slides down the slope, feeling the the dirt and lumps under his fingers and feet. He looks up, beaming.
Crystals dotted the cave in shades of blue, yellow, and green. Foliage curled around them in a bright shade of forest green. Moss and grass spread across the walls and edges of the ground, forming a winding path in the middle that must of been followed a long long time ago.
The best part as Sonic skips ahead, is the light, seemingly sunlight cascades over the cave, illuminating in colorful array when light reflected off the crystals. It was a warm light show. His eyes sparkles. He looks down and sees his foot already in blue light from the teal crystal above.
Indulging, he steps in the blue light, his glove a light shade of teal. He giggles and espies a green circle a few feet from him and another teal light and a yellow one and a green one andâ He skips to one after the other, staying in the colored radiated light and avoiding the rest as a personal little game of his.
Eventually he reached a big yellow one and looks up. Before the hedgehog was a giant yellow crystal reflecting most of the light in the room. Above was the crack in the cave, allowing actually sunlight. There as also a door with faded scribbles, that he could only guess leads to the chamber theyâre after. Turning back around, he noticed the blue lines on the wall. Theyâre more vibrant. It was a shade of cobalt and decorated the door before him. âWowâŚ.â
Sonic steps down and readjust, dusting off his shoes and moving something among his quills. He puts his hands on his hip. Eyes catch the rocks near the door-way with craved lettering. Amy would have a field day with this stuff. He inhales the air, itâs more minty than he expected, with a slight hint of salt.
There must me more foliage up ahead, unnatural too or maybeâ
Tails lands beside him, untwisting his tails and rubs his brow. He asks. âHow ya holding up buddy?â
âExahuasted. Thereâs so much heat built up down here.â He sips water from his canteen, staring at the door & giant crystal above and pulling out his tablet once more.
âTake a break, Iâll look ahead.â Tails eyes widen and shake his head, puffing his chest fur and waving his hands.
âNo, no, I can keep up.â The blue blur grabs firmly his shoulders and gently pulls him down to a rock. He replies softly.
âI know you can keep up, so sit down.âTails couldnât refuse. He shifts to a comfortable position on the rock. Sonic pats his shoulders, smiling brightly again.
âBesides, if I donât get there first, Rouge will and I canât have her bragging.â Ugh, Tails rolls his eyes.
âRemind me who started the bragging rights competiton again?â
âYours truly, and that means I have to stay one step ahead of her.â Tail raises a brow.
âBut you already are?â
âFiguratively not literally, Tails.â Wagging his finger. âNow lets go down there, and by letâs, I mean me, opening the door and peeking in there for booby traps.â
âI doubt there are any booby traps down there, it seems no oneâs been down here for a while thanks to the thorn monsters.â
âYou never know. Better safe than sorry.â He sketches his legs, leaning side to side once again then takes off with a cloud of dust behind him. Tails coughs and waves it away.
âAlways chasing something.â He mumbles before coughing. The fox wipes his brow again for sweat before opening his pack again. He drinks water from his canteen and eats an apple in one hand with the other tapping at the tablet. The lantern drone lands in a sunny spot, reflecting the yellow crystalâs light. The inventor smiles to himself, happy that the solar power mod works properly.
It was mostly quiet, a light hum seem to be trapped in these caves. He looks around curiously like his spiky friend.
The crystals gleamed and glow, bigger than average crystals. Are they connected to that large crystal up there somehow? He reaches to one below the rock, it was green and twinkled between his fingers. His lips twitched up to a small smile, then takes another swig.
How come none of the villagers mentioned or have any tales about these crystals? He knows he doesnât have the right to know if itâs sacred and all. But it was vastly absent in everything.
He taps at his tablet, scrolling through each photo of murals they either were shown to them or came across in the caves. None of them have scratchings of crystal. But they DO carry their color. Green, blue and yellow. Maybe these crystals were used as pigments in older days and the colors were passed down throughout the years? If he could get a few of them, he could analyze them and gift them to the village.
His ears twitch. Something big either fell or slammed into the wall.
Tail stands up, dusting off himself and taps his pad, his drone wakes up. He flutters his tails a few times. Theyâre not sore yet but will be tomorrow. He runs them. âHopefully Amy has some cream when we get back.â
The fox twirls his tails and darts into the cave, drove following closely. He calls out to his best friend through the darkness that not even the drone can penetrate. âSonic! Sonicccc!â
His voice bounces of the walls as the path heads steeply down while the ceiling grows fangs. He maneuvers around them, noticing some were rock, some were crystal, specifically a deep opaque blue. âLapis lazuliâŚ?â He murmurs. His ears twitch again, something banged against the walls again, shaking the cave. Tails dives down until the path levels out. His eye catches the blue streaks on the wall. âHm.. Oh!â
The streaks lead to another mural. A great on if that. âA47-C-Light on please.â
The drone flashes the wall in a wide and intense light. Crystals and carvings craft an image of blue, green, and yellowing spilling from a large sitting crystal under the sun where water flows into a small white bowl then a bigger one. Natives surround it on their knees, extending their hands. Finally⌠there wereâŚ. dots? The fox wipe his eyes and flew closer to it, almost touching. These dots had wingsâŚTheyâre not dots, theyâre beetles in the air, surrounding all of them. He flies back to take it all in again.
The blue streaks lead to hereâŚ. Tails takes a low-flash photo, marveling it. âAmazingâŚ. This must be centuries old.â
He peeks at the plants curling around the edges, covering the entire wall, and leaf lines all pulsating a soft blue. âIt must be a fountain⌠A fountain of life. These plants have no sunlight nearby yet-â His fingers bush against the leaf, which leans into his touch. âTheyâre so aliveâŚâ
Of course, the touching moment doesnât last as another bang echos down the cavern. Tails perks up.
âSonic!â He rushes away, drove in suit. The leaf waves an unseen goodbye.
The blue blur hits the wall once more before rolling on his back, smiling.
âTails.â He rolls out of a rock smashing into the ground. He hops on top sitting on it. A beetle twice their size hisses in their direction, their hide made of black granite as green crystals protrudes in spikes along its back.
âCan you help me crack this big rock, please?â The drone shines light in itâs eyes, showcasing every rocky detail.
âUmm, I donât think we can crack open this one.â
âOh ye, of little faith. We just need to get stuck in a little hole.â He points to a mini cavern hole on the left to it. They nod, go in sync.
Sonic charges in with his signature spin dash, the beetle dodges, hissing. Trained on the blue blur, and shoots out spikes to retaliate. Sonic flawlessly dodges each spike that penetrate the wall. âIs that the best you can do?â Tails flies to the wall, grabbing the cascading vine. The drone accompanies him and he ties the end around the drone, the other end in hand.
It only takes a moment of calculating the best angle to run the vine at. He whistles, flying towards the hole.
Sonic repels a spike with his air dash and nods. âCome on beetle boy, you have to just be warming up, right?â It hisses louder, sputtering in fury.
âDonât worry, itâs my turn now.â The hedgehog rolls back up and starts bouncing around the cave elegantly. The bug stuck darting around to anticipate his attack and slowing backing up.
In a blink of an eye, Tails & drone pull the vine straight, ready to receive. And all it took was one hit to send it toppling over the edge. They hear one last hiss before the echo carries it a few moments later. âBing bam boom.â The duo fist bump.
âBeing down here with the fountain, if itâs still here, must of made it mutate.â
âYa donât say?â The fox unwraps his hands from his palm while the other unties the vine from his drone.
âIt also must be the guardian of the fountain.â
âThere was a mural that depicted some beetles in it,â He shows him the picture on his tablet. âThey seems to matter on the mural so it makes sense with the bush creature before hand.â
He hums in agreement. They glance over to the other hole the beetle was blocking. They smile and head down the slope.
âCome on Tails, isnât this better than sitting in some stuffy lab and sending a signal to find where it is, and head staight there?â The fox coughs before responding, keeping up with him.
âA stuffy lab has air conditioning.â The path winds downwards, in a curve, follow with ease.
âI dont know what to tell you, it feels great down here.â He says, while wiping his brow. Tails deadpan.
âFor you and your quills, not for my fur.â
âShut up.â Sonic rolls his eyes, smiling but wipes his brow. He wonât lie, the heat is starting to build up down here. He isnât completely immune to heatâŚ. yet.
They reach the end of the slope, back on their feet. As they slid down, the vines were decorating the walls, and they were thicker which culminated in a spiky thick wall of tangled vines in front of the adventurers, ready to prick and stab anyone away from their most sacred treasure.
âShould of seen that coming.â The drone scans the wall, and the tablet comes to life again. âItâs several inches thick and more vines are hiding behind, that are just as thick if not more. Weâre not getting thought without protection. And the laser on this model will die after cutting one maybe two.â He looks up to Sonic, whoâs staring off at the hole they came from. His ear twitches. He was listening. Tails leans in, now hearing a sound getting louderâŚ. Like it was barreling down the tunnel⌠to them. The hedgehog smirks. âGuess who caught up to us.â
âUnfortunately.â Tails slips his tablet away, and hovers, ready to evade.
âDonât be like that, who else is gonna open the door?â Tails perks up, realizing that would work perfectly.
âYouâre right, letâs give it a warm welcome. A47-C-Light on please!â
The drone shines brightly above them, pointed ahead just as the rocky beetle arrives. Blinded, it dashes forward as the duo dodge to the side. Falling through, it hisses in confusion, and bumps against the wall, shaking the cave. It stumbles to the left, to the right, before laying on the ground knocked out. There was a small crack in its hide as the cave settles.
âGuess we cracked the caseâŚ!â He wipes his nose.
âWrong time, wrong place, Sonic.â
âAnytime is the right time.â
Tails rolls his eyes once more and flitters ahead of him. Sonic follows with a light jog. They peak to the final cave below where their unwilling friend resides.
âThatâs it, isnât it.â
The mural didnât do the fountain justice regardless of the wear and tear it received. A crack of sunshine rains down from above, illuminating the fountain before them. Fully intact, made from basalt and carved through weathering.
A bowl held the yellow crystal sparkling from the sunlight, crystal clear water splash around in the basalt bowl and rolled to the basin below. Blue, green, and yellow prisms spit all over the gray rock, top to bottom.
Smaller beetle-sized beetles flew around or drank dew from the grass skirting the fountain. Life flourished from it as eggs could be seen sitting in the water. Some cracks allowed water to slither out and grow this mighty field.
Both hop down and take care steps around. Tails goes to a large brilliant yellow crystal, double his size, feeling the smooth and cool surface, taking in his reflection. It even looks like there were crystals inside that crystal. He chuckles. âFascinatingâŚâ
He glances down to see baby ones sprouting from the base. Gently he cups it in a container and stores it away while his drone takes aerial shots above.
Sonic inhales deeply, taking in the thick mint and tingling in his nose. He sighs, rolling his shoulders back, grounding himself there as if heâs been there since it was forgotten.
Another low-flash photo was taken by hand this time, to cement this occasion. His scientific companion smiles ecstatically as he flies down, swiping at the reel of photos on his tablet.
âGot what you needed, Tails?â
Sonic untucks a battered flower hidden beneath his quills. Only one petal remains, and that petal drops. Tails tilts his head. âHey, whatâs that?â
âA flower I step on earlier, I couldnât leave this little guy behind if the fountain was truly here.â
âThink itâll work?â
âAbsolutely.â He reaches over carefully and slowly lowers the flower into the water, careful to not get his finger wet.
âItâs an adventurer like us.â
âIt did technically explore the caves with usâŚâ
âExactly.â He replies with a pat on the foxâs chest. âNow letâs go before our friend wakes up.â Nudging over to the corner were the beetle lies.
âActually, letâs patch him up.â That caught Sonic of guard for once, blinking before immediately shaking his head rapidly.
âIt was our fault after-all and they were just doing their job, ya know.â
He sighs dramatically, âFineeeee.â He follows Tails over. The fox hovers over, observing the damage.
The crack was on its head and the size of his hand. He rumbles through his bag, taking out a tube and pops the cap. The hedgehog watches cautiously for any sudden movements as his brother squeezes cream on to its head and rubs it in carefully. The beetle hitches for only a moment, before going back to normal.
âAnd all patch up, the gel should heal it quickly. I donât see anything else.â
âGood, now letâs scaddle. Iâm pretty sure the beetles can keep this place up and the vines will regrow.â He says, wiping his brow again.
âYep!â That catches the guardianâs attention as they open their eyes and rise to their feet again. The stumble for a few moments, steadying itself and immediately sights the two. It glares them down, scanning them, ready to charge.
Both glance back, Sonic raising a brow while Tail waves with a smile. It hisses, sputtering spit that may or may not be acidic. They blink, shrug and continue walking out.
Now it was their turn to blink, hissing confused, down right floored by the duo. It glances to the crystals and fountain, undisturbed except a budding flower attaching itself to the basinâs wall. Not a single-
Wait, its head wasnât⌠hurting??? It catches its reflection in a blue crystal, seeing the crack filled with gel. It felt good, soothing actually-
It chirps at them, baffled by the duoâs abrupt visit without stealing a drop of water from the fountain of life. They chuckle in return as if it wasnât invaluable. At last, the guardian sits peacefully aloneâŚ.
Theyâre crazy. On the other hand though, it must be fun to explore uncautiously.
