Sand and Rings and the Southwest Sun (Ch. 4: Day 2)

Sheff · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:29 am

It wasn't long before Geoff himself was flung over the edge by his own actions, determined to escape the giant armada en route to their location.

This wasn't the first free fall situation the hedgehog had been found in, and he faintly recalled the last one. Fortunately, a giant pool of acid was not involved for this occasion, and he almost felt calm as he fell, though there was still the exhilaration of such a maneuver. He caused his body to rotate forward after a few seconds, and eventually, he pulled his quilled form into a tight spin. Even a muted whir resonated off the crevice's walls as he descended.

The spinning ball that was now Geoff soon met ground, and upon contact, he shot forward for a few yards. The protection of his quills managed to cushion the fall some, and so, a couple bounces across solid ground later, he eventually came to a stop, standing steadily on two feet, albeit giving his head a slight shake. The impact still had been solid, but at least he was in one piece.

Noticing he was in the general vicinity of Tabitha, he too glanced skyward.

"No kiddin'..."

Franky · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 11:18 am

With no other decent options for avoiding detection, Aga readily joined the jumping-off-a-cliff party, which is not a party he expected to have anything to do with it. Diving for his life was not a new concept for Aga, but with all the robots and general havoc, this was a little more action than he was used to. Not that he would consider himself in over his head, though. No, running from evil robots because you joined a rag-tag rebel group was well within his astounding range of competence. The only question was what he would title the book.

Once he hit the water, the title Alexander Axolotl And The Too Damn Cold Ravine occurred to him.

Still, it beat the desert heat. He surfaced, taking stock of their surroundings and doing his best to remember everything about the area.

Kazz · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 12:45 pm

Falling down soon after was a little cannonball of hair and grumpy attitudes. It was better, of course, than being destroyed by a robot armada, but he still looked as grim-faced as ever, if anyone were to see his face. Flinging himself down with a feet-first dive towards the water, Rodolf fell for mere moments before he landed in the water, sinking a good distance down -- and he was thankful that he did, instead of hitting solid ground in shallow water.

The resurfaced a second or two later, his silhouette a lot less... hairy than normal. Yes, his long silver hair was now completely plastered down, and he looked somewhat ridiculous for it. "I hate getting wet," he muttered, treading water as he looked around himself. He cast a look to where those who had landed on land now stood, and Aga near him in the water.

"What now?" he inquired dryly (ironic, considering his current state as an incredibly soggy horsey), looking up at the sky.

psikeout · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 6:40 pm

Midian took a little while to surface. He had done a little better than expected at diving into the pool, and had in fact feet-first lawn-darted very deeply into the water. When he emerged, it was with a huge breath, and a certain haste to grab the stony edge of the pool.

He took his time getting out, though, just chilling and quietly observing what was happening—literally. The water felt fantastic after a desert sprint. Nonetheless, he eventually did drag himself out, shirt water-darkened, and drenched black dreads hanging flat.

The jackal was, much like everyone else, momentarily preoccupied with staring upward, but it didn't take him long to notice their bright purple and orange neighbors not far away. Still mostly out of earshot, Midian gestured toward them. "Someone did fall from the ship."

Diluss · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 8:38 pm

Tails hopped up with as much energy as he could muster, and gingerly trotted over to where Big sat.

"A-are you okay?" he asked, uncertainly, scanning the cat for any signs of damage. There was a moment or two while his focused was limited to the cat, and then it began to widen to include the immediate situation, including where they had crash landed, their company, and—most importantly, the situation.

As the deep, flanging boom of engines rumbled closer, Tails looked up, staring intently at the sky.

"Sonic…" he spoke softly, as his gaze filtered the tumbling debris.

"He'll—he'll be ok," he said after a few moments, ostensibly to Big. He looked back at the sky.

"Yeah, they should all be okay. They have Knuckles with them, too, and Rouge, and, and, and everyone'll get to the ground safely..." He looked at Big.

"We'll have to find them when those ships have gone."

He had seen the rest of the arrivals, prior, but it was only at this point that the fox seemed to genuinely notice any of them. He turned to face them, staring at them with blank puzzlement.

"What are you doing down here?" he asked.

Greens · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:21 pm

Yeah, okay, so hitching a ride on the flying member of their party wasn't such a bad idea after all. Few things did Ace hate more than jeans wet and squidgy with river water, and the chill of the wind managed to do away with the desert heat in the mean time. (But for whatever reason, he kept the shirt off. It was still pretty hot, and it was oddly liberating. Perhaps he was starting to see whatever it was Rock saw.)

Regardless, he hopped off the eagle's back with his eyes on the sky, largely disbelieving, yet somewhat apathetic at the whole spectacle. It was sort of like driving on the road-- the ships didn't really register as 'people' until the people came out. And when one of those people to crawl out of the wreck was none other than Tails, boy genius, his interest was piqued.

He answered the fox with a 'pff, your guess is as good as mine' sort of shrug. “Running for our lives?” he shouted back.

Mie · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:44 pm

Understandably on edge, Tabitha's attention jerked away from the sky and its tumultuous occupants at the first sound of company; tensed from head to toe after a subtle recoil, her fur even stood slightly on end until she recognized at least one of the pair her eyes fell on. As they were all generally addressed, the marginally more relaxed feline stepped closer with a supporting nod to Ace's reply, but rather than adding to it, asked "Are you two alright?"

Concern lined her brow as her head fell to a cant, and she briefly looked back upward. "Wasn't exactly a gentle drop for us; can't imagine you feel much better."

Diluss · Posted: Sun Oct 02, 2011 10:50 pm

"Um, I'm okay," offered Tails weakly. He looked back up at the sky, unhappily, and stared at the gargantuan carrier-like vehicle as it and its legions of complement crept slowly overhead.

As he watched, his expressed shifted into one of resolve. He rubbed a sore spot on his back and stared around the canyon intently.

NPC · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 8:18 pm

It was a sort of uneasy moment, maybe almost awkward. There were so many people—so many who were essentially strangers, all in one place, but no one seemed certain of what to do or say. The air traffic overhead didn't seem like a merely passing thing. Even when there was nothing visible straight up out of the mouth of the great crevice, the distant rumble of huge jet engines, rockets, and turbofans was ever-present.

For the time being, it would have been utterly reckless to venture back out. It seemed they were relatively safe where they were, but even that was uncertain.

"They seem to be out in force today," uttered the jackal at last as he walked up, still watching the sky. His eyes soon fell on the fox, though. "And if you are here,... it must mean Sonic has returned, as well?"

He sounded half-hopeful, but also hesitant to get his hopes up. It was almost a little too good to be true that first, a ship would crash giving them all much-needed backup, then another ship would crash, dropping Sonic the Hedgehog himself right onto the island.

Diluss · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 9:36 pm

"Yes," said Tails, "we—"

"We didn't mean to be… quite so long," he said, deliberately, "I don't know what happened. Maybe since—since the twilight cage was moved to another dimension…"

After a few seconds of introspection, the fox returned to the present.

"Uh," he refocused on the group, and had the grace to look slightly embarrassed before he gave them a proud smile, "anyway! Sonic's back, so, I guess Eggman won't be around too much longer!"

He waved at the sky.

He turned his attention once again to their surroundings, with a new interest.

"So, have you been hiding out here for a while? Where's your base?"

Mie · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 9:52 pm

First confused by the all but Greek explanation the fox had volunteered for their absence, and then bolstered by the affirmation that the world's only professional Eggman-thwarter had indeed returned, it soon came time for yet another shade in her diverse emotional climate with the fox's otherwise perfectly innocuous question.

"Er, base?" she asked, with a brief, pleading glance to the jackal, her ears drooping slightly. She suddenly felt like a very poor rebellion coordinator as she glanced around the ravine.

"Well. When it was just Mr. Asamenew and me, it used to be my apartment. I guess. But we just got like a ton of new members since yesterday, and I really don't have enough chairs, so... here? Maybe?"

The cat coughed somewhat uncomfortably, before drawing her shoulders, pursing her lips, and adding almost apologetically, "I'm kind of new at this."

Sheff · Posted: Mon Oct 03, 2011 10:46 pm

"Here might be suitable," said Geoff, having stepped forward to address the fox and feline. He gave a glance of recognition towards Tails for a brief moment as he did so. "Seeing how we haven't had an Eggman horde dive bomb us yet..." He jerked a nod upward, glancing to the opening high above.

"But, uh, yeah. Sonic is back. Good." The hedgehog nodded slowly, appearing to ponder over the notion of the speedy, blue hero of the planet returning. Not like he'd been given much time to actually come to full terms with the world's desperate situation, seeing how it barely had been a day since their own arrival back on Earth. "Nice thought about not needing to worry about this Empire business for too much longer then."

Franky · Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 4:15 pm

This was maybe not the best time for Aga to mention he was sure the hedgehog and all associated parties were super dead, nor was it the best time to point out that Sonic or not they were still up against an enemy who had the entire planet under his control.

However, being himself he felt compelled to point out the latter as he approached, half-focused on making sure his grappling gun was in perfect working order after his quick plunge while he spoke. "Wonderful, assuming he manages to stay in more pieces than your ship." He holstered the device as he stepped closer to Tails, not-so-subtly standing on his tiptoes in order to appear taller than the fox child. "Until we know for sure that it's safe to find him, then we should continue with the plan as before. Examining the area and forming our base."

No, he wasn't the leader, but he liked to think of himself that way.

"Provided there are no objections, of course."

Diluss · Posted: Tue Oct 04, 2011 10:03 pm

"Heeeeeeyyy," said Tails, in growing indignation as the implications of what Aga said sunk in, "now just one second!"

"Sonic's fine," he said, pointedly, "okay?"

Franky · Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 2:56 pm

"And you're sure about this?" Aga sounded less than convinced, but given the fact that...well, it was Sonic, then maybe the whole surviving-a-ship-crash thingie was easier to accept. He shrugged. "If you say so. I just don't think we should rely on someone who mysteriously vanished while his arch-nemesis conquered the planet."

Sand and Rings and the Southwest Sun (Ch. 4: Day 2)

Who is online