To fix a Patchwork

[goldtaills 3]

  Water, a deep and heavy element. One which many forms of life have come from, and many more secrets it has hidden; almost as if it births new truths and lives into the world.

 

"Pwah! hhh...hh!"

 

  In this case, it would birth two more. Tikal was still gasping for breath from waking up inches underwater in the lake she was now swimming in.

"Im...actually here?" She said looking down at herself. She suddenly stopped and looked around.

"Chaos? Chaos?!"

 

  Chaos came out of the lake water and shifted over to her, looking at her with his green eyes.

"You're here...thank goodness." She said as she let out a sigh of relief. "But...why are we here?"

 

  Tikal swam to the shore of the lake both the world and she herself looked different. The fact that she was in between canyons was odd enough as it was, but there was so much forest on the bottom with a lake too. It was obvious she wasn't in a familiar area. Then there was her clothes. Her necklace and bracelets were gone, and her headband was now just white cloth with a gem on it. Her gloves were fingerless and she had bandage wrap, one small set just bellow her shoulders and one on her right forearm. She also had a white sleeveless half-top that was bareback meaning the way it stayed on was the material around her neck, a visible neck...even that was odd to her. Then there was the fact that she was wearing tan pants instead of a skirt, it even had a belt though she wondered why there was bandage wrap near the end off her pant-legs, or why there was bandage wrap on the middle of both of her poorly made tan shoes.

 

  Tikal stopped looking at her clothes and sat down to figure out why she was here, and not a ghost. The moment she tried recalling, something shot into her mind like a vision. The whole world going black like lights going out row by row in a bunker and then...nothing. That memory triggered the rest and she realized what happened.

 

"We....we reset again...." Tikal said with a face of shock and concern. "But then...where's Sally?" She said to Chaos as Chaos only blinked and tilted his head.

Tikal stood up. "Sally? Sally!" She shouted out only to be met with no response. This wasn't a good sign, but then again there was a chance that Sally was still here but couldn't do anything. Tikal would have to hope that was the case as there was bigger issues to find out about right now.

 

"Im going to take a look around. Can you stay here for me?" Chaos nodded his head and Tikal went looking around. She saw some abandoned tents and some empty boxes with rope and a big corked jug with nothing inside just outside the canyon entrance but not much else. It was just desert and what wasn't was ether unrecognizable ruins or forestry. If she wanted to find life she'd probably have to travel far, which she wasn't planning to do just yet.

 

  Taking the Jug on the way back she went up to chaos.

"I didn't find any people, but I didn't find any creatures like you ether. But I don't want to just leave you here while I go look for people. Think you can fit into this?" She said holding out now open jug. Chaos changed from his form into a more puddle state and then swirled into the jug with ease.

"alright." She took some rope and made it so she could fasten the jug to her back like one could a sword sheath and ventured off to find some people.

[goldtaills 3]

  After some walking Tikal finally came across an excavation site of sorts. There was many tents, equipment, but most importantly people. She came across a Beaver mobian working in a tent styled to be a kitchen and decided to approach.

"U-Uhm, excuse me, I--"

"I do not have time for chatter, if you want to talk to someone talk to Cliff. He's down that way." The Beaver replied pointing down to the pit not far from where they were.

"Right, thanks." She replied, and started to walk off in that direction. As she walked she saw the huge robotic ruin in the cliff face, it was just as intimidating as it was odd to her. Reaching the bottom she saw the old man talking to some workers as she approached.

 

"huh? Ah, welcome. I don't get many visitors out here in the site with all the mining about. Are you a recruit?" He said to Tikal.

"Eh? Oh uhh, no I was just passing through...I tend to travel around a lot." Tikal replied. Depending on just how different the world was, she figured she wouldn't need to say who she really was unless she had to.

"In fact, I was hoping to get some info while I was here. If you don't mind."

"Hmm, I don't see why not. What was it you needed to know about?" Cliff said.

"I need to know about someone, he's a friend of mine...We haven't spoken in awhile and i'd like to know how he's doing. His name is Sonic." Tikal replied.

"Sonic? Oh, no need to worry about him. He's often seen adventuring off with the friends he's made."He said.

"Who are they?"

"Knuckles, a boy who's got a lot of muscle but not a lot of brains. Then there's Tails, a really smart young boy, Amy is a level headed lady who tends to keep Sonic in check, and then there's Sticks...she's a bit...off."

The fact that Knuckles has been seen with Sonic a lot must have meant he lost his role as a guardian which was worrying. Then there was Amy, has she lost her love for Sonic? And who was Sticks?

She couldn't share that with Cliff knowing he wouldn't even understand what was going on. He'd probably never believe her.

"I see, thank you for letting me know this. If you can, please look after Sonic for me." She said.

"Did something happen between you two?"

"We...Kind of got in an argument last time we talked. It was pretty bad..." She replied looking down.

" Ah, say no more. Ill keep an eye on him."

"Thank you. By--!" While she was walking she raised her hand to wave but  in the process accidentally put her hand on the person walking by her. In surprise Tikal turned to the girl and removed her hand from her head. Before Tikal could apologize, the person dropped the items she was carrying. Her face expressed shock.

 

"Wh...what did I..?" The badger said.

"Sticks? Are you okay there?" Cliff called out to her.

"I saw things, many things, what did you do to me?!" She said in panic to Tikal.

"I-I don't know! What was it that you saw anyway?"

"I-I saw robots! Weird, Weird pirate like robots with boats and it had a mustache and--great scott it had a mustache! What the flip did you do to me?!"

"M-Mustache?" Tikal uttered out as she backed away from the hysterical Badger.

"Sticks, calm yourself! There are no pirate robots." Cliff said as he walked over.

"Then why did I see it?! I saw it you know! The mustache!!"

As Cliff and Sticks walked off, Tikal looked at her hands. She knew what Sticks meant, there is only one thing Sticks could mean. "She saw that place when I touched her...Can I do this to the others?"

 

  She felt Chaos stir in the jug, he probably wanted to be back with the chaos he grew up with in their old world, to enjoy their company like old times. Tikal knew she would have been happy doing that too. But they might not even exist anymore, and they don't even how if its possible to bring them back. If they had Sonic and the others....

"Wait."

  Sonic, he and his friends, they've done this before, maybe they could help again. Tikal knew that just leaving them alone would cause more trouble, but if she got them to remember, then maybe, just maybe...! "but how am I going to do it? I can't just walk up to them...They likely don't know me." Tikal said as she walked over to a nearby box and sat down on it.

But then again, she wouldn't have to be their friend to get them to remember.

Tikal let out a sigh, she didn't like what she was thinking. The last thing she want to resort to was violence, and drawing them out by making them think she's a villain would make fighting unavoidable. But what other choice did she have? She can't just walk up to them and say "Im a friend of yours from a previous version of your world, can I touch your head to make you remember what you forgot?" and if she did she could be labelled as crazy and they'd avoid her or everyone would think she was messing with their heads and try to stop her. There wasn't much room for choice.

 

"Chaos, what should we do? I just found out I might be able to restore their memories, but I don't think I can do it without being marked a threat."

Chaos came out of the jug just enough to let his head out, and then released more so his hand could hold hers. He looked at her and she knew what he was trying to say.

"You're not alone."

She smiled at him. "You're right. Thanks Chaos." She said. Chaos then let go of her hand and returned to the jug.

She looked up at the sky and took a deep breath. She already knew this was going to be the start of a long journey.

Edited 19 Jan 2015 by goldtaills

[goldtaills 3]

Tikal didn't hesitate to find what she would need to use to her advantage. This place had no cold areas she could see so far, and it was far too spread out to hide in the open. Knowing that she intentionally kept knowledge of fighting away from herself she planned for sneaking about; getting a cloak, and a bandanna from citizens who had no use for them and gathering dyes to mix so that she could blend with the shadows. Once all the items were gathered she went back to her canyon lake. She found a bucket outside to use for the dyes and filled it with water.

  Tikal looked down at herself and then looked around, slowly realizing something, "I...am going to need an extra set of clothes, aren't I?" She didn't see any extras near the lake, and it didn't occur to her until just now that the clothes she wore were the only things she had. Though it bugged her, she would have to ignore it for now. The dye was already in the bucket, and there was no telling when someone else would find this place, "You've have bigger problems than clothes right now. Come on, Tikal." That said she put her clothes in, wearing the cloak as she dunked them, making sure the clothes absorbed all the water it could hold before taking it out to squeeze out and dry. She would later wear her dyed clothes and repeat the process with her bandanna and cloak.

 The sun was beginning to lower itself toward the other side of the sky, signaling noon. Tikal was geared up in her dyed black clothes and ready. It was time to figure out where Sonic and company were, and how to turn them back. Making sure Chaos's jug was nice and secured on her back, she set out to Cliff's excavation site.

  Searching around for Sonic and company was no easy feat without asking people. But asking around too much would gain attention, anyone could figure that out. Tikal knew it wouldn't take much for her presence to catch Sonic and his friends attention, all it would take is a "hey do you know an orange echidna lady? She sounds awfully interested in you guys." and her anonymity would be done for. Tikal would have to search around, maybe Tails still had his Tornado around, or maybe Amy's hammer's could be found near a residence? Ether way, if it could be a clue, it would be worth it to look around for objects like that. Tikal searched around finding many odd contraptions laid about like they were intended for a specific person. There were bounce pads and floating orbs in the oddest of areas. It was no hint that this was what the world made for Sonic to explore with, but Tikal never found so much made for him before; In a weird way, it unsettled her. She smacked her cheeks trying to shake off the feeling and started to explore again, only to find a stone checkered pathway. It was old, and there were cracks in its stone but otherwise was stable enough to walk on, maybe even run.

"Chaos," Tikal said as she stared at the pathway, "brace yourself for anything." Having said that she started traveling on the path to the green forest ahead hesitant in what she might find, but more than willing to face whatever this world was going to throw at her. Luckily, there was no danger. The forest aside from some ruins and rings here and there was perfectly devoid of any enemies, but a forest..."A forest has much more places to search in than an excavation site." Tikal said with a heavy sigh. Chaos came out and looked around.

"Yes, its okay to come out. Though if anything im surprised, We haven't heard of any threat from Eggman, we haven't seen any robots...Is he even here?" She said, looking at her watery friend. Chaos only returned a blink before turning back to the forest around them. "Guess we won't know till we see him, huh?" With that said, Tikal continued her search.

 

 They went deep into the forest with their search until they came across an old cylinder shaped building made out of some sturdy material, on its doors were depictions of Sonic and Tails, though what they were drawn doing was unclear to Tikal. There was also a hand print upon a circle that protruded from the door. The detail of said hand print and the hand print's shape was enough to indicate that it was made for a specific person to use, though who it was for, and why it was made in the first place is unclear.

"But those pictures must be Sonic and Tails...Unless they have duplicates here too. What relation could those two have to this?" Tikal said tilting her head with her arms crossed. "Chaos, do you think you can slip through the cracks of this door?" She said to Chaos. Chaos went over and went into a puddle like form and went towards the door, trying to sink himself into the cracks or the ground and the door trying to find a way to slip in, but no luck. Chaos turned back into his watery form and shook his head. Tikal let out a sigh and then patted his head. "Thank you for trying, Chaos." Tikal said to Chaos before he slipped back into her jug.

 

*BOOM!!* *KRRSSSSHHH!!!*

"Huh?! Wh-whats going on...?!" Tikal shouted. It sounded distant but that was definitely an explosion. Something big was going on, and it wasn't far from here.