Lost Cause

Knuckles was the sole inhabitant of Angel Island, a floating continent that was often obscured behind thick clouds, produced by machinery made by the echidna's ancestors, the Knuckles Tribe. For months now, he had been searching for some clue of why they had all disappeared, ever since his meeting with Knuckles-Alpha. However, the jungles had taken the temples and monoliths, and where they had been hidden to was known only by the occasional hunk of rock peeking out of the vines.

Not that it would have mattered anyway, if they were all in plain sight or not. He couldn't read or speak the ancient Echidnian language, and it would be quite useless to try. All he knew, and all he had ever known was that he was the Guardian of the rock, and that the rock was important, and linked to his Chaos Force, and that people were always trying to come and steal the blasted thing. He tried to throw it off the island once, when he was younger, and it almost put the island in the ocean... He had been stupider then.

The only sort of clue he had to go on was this same Emerald, which was connected with the island, and was probably around since the ancient time...

(OOC: Now... let the intense competition of posting begin...)

Knuckles stared at the slick surface of the Emerald, which faintly glowed at all times. It was shiny enough that he could see his own reflection, and he really tried to keep it as nice as possible. A little elbow grease never hurt in keeping his rock preeeeetty. He rubbed a gloved hand over it gently. "What secrets are you hiding," he asked, more to himself than to the rock proper. "What things have you seen? The fall of the Knuckles Tribe? Hmm?"

He sat down in front of it, and admired it. It looked like it was starting to grow some sort of crystal beryl by the bottom, a new generation of emeralds. "Everyone wants to steal ya... it can't be just your shine, or your size..." He smiled ruefully. "Or the fact you're the biggest gem I've ever seen..." Perhaps the whole Chaos Force was right over his head. He wasn't dumb, or at least, didn't mean to be. But it wasn't like he was some sort of super-hero. Sure, a few times he had left the island to help out with crises, but the island's strict security picked off even fruit flies when he was gone. The defence was airtight. Well... maybe not completely, since it got stolen so often... Grrrr... that pesky blue hedgehog's fault!

"Wish I knew," he reflected. "But I don't... an' everyone that wants to tell me so eager keeps on just trying to betray me or steal ya or make me do sumpin'..." He sighed and picked at the grass, having nothing else to do more than make a few grass necklaces. A very boring job, on then days when he didn't take it too seriously...

(OOC: HA POSTED FIRST! >D)

The echidna looked at the Emerald with interest, and then jumped back when the island began to rock, instead of sailing smoothly through the sky. "What the-?!" It wasn't like being rocked in a cradle, but sometimes the island lurched as it stopped motion for a moment, and went pendulum-ing in the opposite direction. Again, it wasn't so much a sweeping motion so much as a tilting, and he felt dragged by the momentum in those few moments. If it was faster, he might curse the gods or something, but this was just insane.

He stared as the Emerald seemed to get brighter with each swoop of the island. Oh gods. He had talked to it, and he was bringing doom to the world. Or something. Maybe he said a magic word. When the smoke came out of it, he thought he had broken it. "Oh f***!" He whined. The echidna clung to the grass, which was keeping him from flying up with the free fall he was now encountering as the island fell.

Then it just... stopped... and he did a rather clumsy faceplant. He watched, horrified, as a person began to come out of the Emerald, surrounded by the dark smoke, but through the stone like it was fluid, and he was surfacing from a swim. He stopped trying to hide, instead being overwhelmed by curiosity.

"..." Well, this person wasn't going to steal his Emerald, if he was a part of the Emerald. And if he was a part of the Emerald- He fell on his face in a bow. "Welcome, Spirit of the Emerald," he said respectfully.

(OOC: Damn filter... XD)

Knuckles blinked at him. "That was no earthquake... 'cuz... y'see... this island is in the sky. No tech-whatsit plates." He nodded sagely. "You can see it soon enough, Mr. Spirit... if ya wanna..." He jerked his thumb off in the direction of the clearing, which, just beyond, would be the island's rim.

He resumed bowing when the spirit talked again. Hmm... well, genii granted wishes... but perhaps spirits were powerful enough to ask wishes of mortals? Like... the gods getting mortals to do things for them? Quests, and such?

"Um... how about one?" He suggested quickly. One nasty task would be better than three long and troublesome ones. Best just get it over with. "If it so pleases you, Mr. Spirit of the Emerald..." He was burning up with questions though. The Spirit of the Emerald had come to answer his questions, right? For a price of a wish, or task? He tried to hide a grin bubbling up.

(OOC: Now Trick him! :D)

He followed the spirit to make sure that he didn't walk off the island. Not that he thought that the spirit would... fall off the island, on purpose, but it seemed wisest just to make sure...

"Um..." He shut up when he listened to the spirit talk about his time in the Emerald. "So... how long ago did this happen?" He wanted to know how much the hedgehog-shaped-spirit knew. Maybe he could help him out with his search for answers! He remained silent for the spirit's wish request, with only a raise of his other eyebrow. Well, he certainly had the swagger of a spirit. Nothing with that sort of swagger could be powerless.

"Okay... nooo problem..." He waved a mitt at him. "That's all? We'll go an' find this guy..." He just shrugged. "And then maybe you could help me out with my little problem? Would that be cool, Mr. Spirit?" He hoped so.

(OOC: Fail post...)

(OOC: Tried posting this once, and my computer conked out on me... so it's... just not the same... Too awkward >-_-< )

Years was a long time. It reassured him that it really was a spirit. He nodded in appreciation. Had to be the rub. Sure, he put his fair share of work into the Emerald, but it had to be more than that, or he would have rubbed out a spirit on his first day. Knuckles listened to him silently, considering. It was quite possible that this was true, but he doubted that the other guy was really dead.

"Seems, in my experience-" A book on fairy tales. "That things that were a part of gods, or genies, or spirits don't tend to die that easily. You'll find him. Ya just have to look a little harder..." He ecouraged, before resuming his laid back expression. He noticed how the spirit looked distant when he was thinking.

Ashura sounded like a proper name for a god/genie/spirit, and it only affirmed to him that this spirit was the real deal. "The name's Knuckles, and I'm the Guardian of that there rock you just stepped out of..." He gave a laugh-that-was-not-a-chuckle. "Almost picked you off when I saw you... No one touches my Emerood..." He looked shocked when the guy's stomach rumbled. Guess spirits got hungry too. "Um... sure... there's a stream nearby, and lots of fruit... You like grapes?"

(OOC: *criez* I'm so sorry, Ashura-mun! I'm not trying to go off and be all flip and 'oh, I don't need to post'... Please don't be angreh!)

Internally, Knuckles was freaking out. It did sound like the spirit wanted to take his Emerood away from him, and then what would he do for a living? There weren't so many jobs that required digging, or tunnelling, or a sass-mouth... Maybe he could become an illegal boxer? But then he would get bad hype about his fatality-causing knuckles...

Externally, he was as cool and collected as usual. "That it is..." The spirit didn't look like he was going to take it away. And spirits were by default either nice or vengeful... this one seemed a little mix of both, so the Emerood was safe for another day. "Shiny as heck too, so don' go messin' it up now..." The look in the spirit's eyes was another thing though... now that was an unearthly hunger there. Chili-brautwerst-things it was then... "Alright... come with me, and we'll cook some up... an' no, that's not your wish... you already asked for the whole 'find the guy an' kill him', right? Yeesh..." He waved at him with slightly less impatience than he normally gave a visitor. "C'mon."

(C.I., you realise you posted as Silver, dear? I don't think he's Rad Red...~Jack)

[[ OOC: It's no problem, Cecil. I've actually been EXTREMELY busy until today, so I would not have had the time to respond. I know we have that new post time requirement, but especially if you're having computer problems, it's okay. I do have other things I can do in the meantime while you're away. :) I think as long as we aren't too far behind everyone else (and we shouldn't be with how much we posted the first few days), it should be fine, hun. ]]

For now, no, he had no intention of taking that rock with him, so it was indeed safe. If only for the simple fact that he'd never been interested in such things before.

Kill him? Hm. Well, maybe that was what Ashura wanted, and maybe it wasn't. He had to think very clearly on the matter, but he did know for certain that he wanted to take away whatever powers that the selfish monster gained upon ripping Ashura from his soul. It was attempted murder, and Ashura was very lucky that he had come out of it, that he was no longer dead. Regardless, he was glad that didn't count as his wish. "Good," he said, still set to follow the Guardian. "You have an interesting attitude, though." Ashura finally observed, raising a skeptical brow. He probably hadn't left this island much if he was this obsessed with his shiny emerald, but that didn't give him the right to direct his ill behavior towards the green hedgehog, who as yet had given him no reason to be so sour.

Maybe everyone on this world just didn't know how to function in the presence of another. He could name one other that would have nothing to do with him, for certain.

(OOC: I feel stupid, and sorry about being a day before the time requirement... I just found out! -_- *will do better*)

That was just how it seemed to him. Guy wanted him to hunt down another for him? They obviously weren't going to meet with hugs and kisses and tender words, right? With spirits and gods and stuff, things were always super-serious too, like, not just death, but complete erasal from all time, space, and reality.

Bloke probably deserved it too, but he was sort of biased about people popping out of his Emerood.

"Interestin' attitude?" The sarcasm was not lost on him, despite what people thought about 'gullibility'. "It's not you, man. Try guarding that day in and day out, and have people tryin' to steal it all the time, and blue idiots always flyin' in to yammer and yap, and you'll be as receptive as I am..." He gave a wide shrug at him. And here he was trying to be nice! He might just have to step it up on those 'social skills'. After all, it wasn't every day that he had an important guest on the island.

He quickly approached the confiscated equipment from that stupid theme park, and frowned at it. What did the hedgehog do? He couldn't remember which button was pushed first, in which sequence, for how long, and really, it didn't matter, 'cuz he was never cookin' 'em. "Do you know how to work this? 'cuz then I can look for a drink or something..." Excuses were easier than admitting weakness.

Despite the fact that Knuckles said it wasn't him, he went on to add 'blue idiots always flyin' in to yammer and yap,' to his rant. Ashura shot the echidna a flat glare, lips curling in a short-lived snarl. He didn't choose now to come here, and he wouldn't have stayed trapped inside that rock if he had any choice, anyway. Some empathy this guy had! The snarl faded, but he continued to observe Knuckles coldly, "I guess you have something against 'blue idiots' then, though I wouldn't say 'idiot' is quite the word you're looking for."

"Yeah, I got it, babe." He shoved the Guardian aside and moved to the controls, flipping the switch on. He fully absorbed himself in his work, or at least looked that way, trying to avoid further eye contact with the callous echidna.

[[ Shortpost. ; ; I don't want to give empty filler post. ]]

Considering he'd been cooped up in a glowing green rock for an undisclosed period of time, he might be permanently stuck in that mood-swinging state. His last encounter with other sentient beings was so long ago, he couldn't even recall with whom he spoke. Add that on top of the previous suppression he endured, and he was highly unlikely to know how to interact with others. Given the circumstances, he was doing surprisingly well until Knuckles went and rained on his parade.

"Doesn't matter," he muttered to himself, half-heartedly. He would regroup and start from the bottom. If this stranger helped him, fine. If not, that was also fine. Once he had a little food in his belly, he would just be on his way. There had to be a place nearby, which he could turn into a nice pad for the night, if not permanently. An old abandoned building, crashed jet, or even a dead winnebago would function perfectly well as a new home. As he mused to himself, he finished preparing at least the sausages, but the chili was taking longer to warm through.

Knuckles's voice broke through the peace yet again with his drawling, dry tone, and Ashura flared his ears forward, furrowing his brow. "Green?" A slight curve graced his lips as he faltered between anger and dark amusement, challenging the echidna with every inch of his posture. "What does that even mean? I suppose it's something funny to you? First you throw insults, then you can't even get my color right!" Unless it was some kind of symbolism, like yellow-bellied or green with jealousy. He wasn't jealous. Maybe the echidna thought he looked sickly? Rude to point that out, though, wasn't it?

[[ |D Last sentence of dialogue is (c) Ken Pend-- I mean stolen from Rook. :D ]]

The hedgehog seemed to know how to go about making a super quick mess-thing, just like Blue. Exactly like Blue. He wondered which one taught the other, or if all hedgehogs had this internal... chili-hot-dog-make...ability... Gah. It didn't matter. Just showed he had sumpin' to eat, an' knew how to keep up a supply of it, that's all.

He was just walking back to his cave to fetch him something to drink when he noticed the spirit's little outburst. Big outburst, maybe. All that just to sit down? Wowie. "What what?" He countered, and then realised how ridiculous he sounded. "Um..." Okay, it was the green that did him in. Toldja so...

"Well, not that I'm an expert on these sort of things, or anythin', but seeing as you're the Spirit of the Master Emerood," He scratched behind his spines nonchalantly. "You would match? I mean, you're the em-bod-ee-ment of it, right?" It made sense to him, just not the whole... hedgehog part. Well, there had to be a balance of spirits, right? So there was an echidna spirit out there too. Such a genius he was~!

(OOC: Looking for new flat/'apartment' right now, a little late, I know.)

"Is that so?" Ashura raised a brow at the echidna before further scrutinizing his coat. He was pressing the skin on his belly back to test a section of fur on his waist in order to see if ... perhaps it was some kind of residue? Dye or stain? Or maybe it was just some bizarre radioactive glow. If that were the case, though, he expected to be glowing. He narrowed his eyes and ran his fingers through to see the roots, then plucked a single hair for observation. No, the roots were indeed the same color green as the rest of his coat. Was his very existence the power of the Emerald? Maybe he had become a spirit of the Emerald, despite having his own body before (even if he had to share it.)

That was absurd. This was his body, therefore...

But what if he'd gotten powers from that rock?

Ridiculous thoughts. He was still Sonic. Just ... green. But now his choice of name made little to no sense. "You." He pointed without shame towards the echidna's face. " What does my face look like? What color are my eyes? I'm still a hedgehog, right?" He felt like a hedgehog. His quills still weighed down his head, and after feeling around, he confirmed this. "I think." His body felt leaner somehow. Was he taller? Older? Just half-starved? There were a lot of questions on his mind now, too many to keep track.

[[ No worries about being late. I wouldn't have responded before now anyway. XDD ]]

"Well, you did pop out of the Emerood," he said, jerking his thumb back in the direction of the gem itself. "If that doesn't make you part of it, I dunno what..." Sure, Chaos had popped out too, and that strange chick with the skirt, but they had been shoved in there by some sort of crazy catastrophic event. This guy looked like the real deal. Well... except that he seemed to go into some sort of self-examination... It didn't look entirely right to the Guardian, and he looked away self-consciously with a blush growing on his face.

He was distracted from his thoughts that perhaps he ought to add a few more traps to this particular circuit by a finger pointing real close in his face. Strange questions... "Erm... Ah, well, you've got an average looking face... one nose, two eyes, a mouth, that good stuff... Eyes are, um, tealish... like the ocean. I dunno." It seemed that the Spirit had a habit of not being a hedgehog, to ask such a question. "Yeah, still a hedgehog. A right lil' skinny one at that. Maybe you should get out of the Emerald more often, y'know?" He shrugged broadly. "But you shouldn't ask me ta describe ya. Why don't you take a good look yourself? C'mon." He gestured impatiently for him to follow the Guardian to Mirror Lake.

(Ah gawsh, I don't know if Mirror Lake is that place in Mercia or not... I can change the post later...Sorry for such a gap in time... You're awesome... ^^;;; )