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

Sheff · Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 7:44 pm

"Seeing how some of us just got back from our own 'vanishing', I don't see why there's a reason to have doubt," intruded Geoff, frowning lightly at Aga. "C'mon. Should be at least happy we've got some significant force on our side now."

Sides. He was already thinking in that way. Guess the whole rebel-group business was already settling down in his head. Wasn't like he could go back to whatever life he considered normal with the world in the state it was now, so he might as well fight the good fight.

Diluss · Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 10:32 pm

"Yeah," said Tails, puffing out his tiny chest, "Sonic blew up once and then came back and saved the earth, so some plane crashing isn't going to stop him, he jumped out of a helicopter, too! Fell all the way down to the city and everything."

He beamed for a moment, before adding:

"I should probably go look for him, though! I mean, if he's going to get started on Eggman, I have to help!"

Kazz · Posted: Wed Oct 05, 2011 10:51 pm

"We don't need to rely on Sonic, anyway, even if he isn't coming back."

Rodolf stepped up and commented with his usual level of emotion, folding his arms. He sighed, then, and massaged his temple with one hand. "That came out more... abrasive than I meant it. I don't mean to sound unsympathetic, but it's not the end of the world if something's gone awry." The unicorn shrugged one shoulder, and wrung a bit of the remaining water out of his hair. "However-many-of-us there are should add up to one of him, at least."

Big, meanwhile, sat back behind Tails, looking between all of these new people with a sort of mixture of curiosity and blank confusion. They were using big words and talking fast, and he wasn't entirely sure what they were talking about. Regardless, the fisherman cat stood up and lumbered up behind the fox, dwarfing him even further by comparison. He blinked a couple times.

"What are we going to do?" he asked quite simply, looking at Tails. Between the events in the Twilight Cage, crashing, and now all this... it was a bit much for him to take in.

psikeout · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 3:50 pm

As most of them could likely already detect, Midian was probably the most laid back individual of the whole group. However, even he was looking a little aghast at what Rodolf had said, which was basically the (probably unintentional) equivalent of, "It doesn't matter if your best friend is dead, little boy, because we will save the day."

Cutting in (even physically, like, stepping in the way), the jackal very abruptly interjected with greater empathy, kneeling eye-to-eye. "What I think this... gentleman meant to say," he began, following with a deep breath, "is that while it is certain your friend is okay, now is probably not a safe time to be out and about looking for him. Do as you like, but you and your friend," insert gesture to giant, unmissable cat, "as well as all of us, would probably be safer here at least until the fleet moves on. It'would be dodgy for any of us to be seen in the middle of the desert now, nè?"

He urged it with a smile and dip of his head, looking out the tops of his eyes.

Mie · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 6:43 pm

It would have set new records in ignorance to somehow fail to notice the tawny feline's growing discomfort with the situation. Her empathy for the kit was all but palpable, and as the conversation went on and on, the furrow in her brow set deeper and deeper. At Rodolf's insensitive comment, her mouth fell open, caught half-way between rushing to intercede and simply being aghast, but thankfully, Midian stepped in to smooth things over. Deflating inconspicuously, she nodded in agreement, and cast a pensive look upward, edging closer as she unnecessarily lowered to her voice to concur, "He's right; you and I both know Sonic's made of tougher stuff than whatever Egg-gut can throw at 'im."

There was a brief pause on the edge of hesitation, before she added with a small, growing smile, "Not that you can't take care of yourself, but I think you'd be doing him a favor, not putting yourself in unnecessary danger just to go looking for him."

Diluss · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:20 pm

Tails looked…

slightly bug-eyed. His chin jutted out. His mouth was compressed. He had the look of someone attempting to focus emotions into some kind of potentially lethal energy ray. His gaze TRAVERSED the group. Moooved back. Focused on Midian.

"..."

"Ok," he said, with intensity.

Greens · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 10:28 pm

The serval of the bunch seemed to be taking Midian's unspoken advice, sitting seemingly listlessly on a nearby chunk of rock and dirt. Though his eyes were on the river (how long had it been since he'd had a proper shower, anyway?) his ears remained on the conversation. It seemed like he might've been the first to adapt to these outlandish circumstances, afterall, but with the latest revelations, he saw fit to throw in his two cents.

"Was thinkin' the same thing," he admitted from his rock-stump, finally sharing his gaze with the rest of the crew. "We really all just oughta chill out, for now. This seems like a fine spot to make camp right here, anyway. Least until the scouts get done with their patrols." And with that, he rested his eyes back on the stream, as if it was the soothing darkness after staring into the sun. "Ya'll gotta make this $%@& all stressful."

Mie · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:05 pm

While probably meant to be an inaudible comment, Ace's potty mouth earned him a scandalized, but brief glare from the other cat, whose attention succinctly flew tentatively to the little fox and his surely pristine ears... you know, since he ran with such immaculately clean blue and red buddies.

Diluss · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:33 pm

Tails seemed relatively unfazed by the obscenity, although whether this was because he did not hear or merely because his tiny heart was already bubbling over with indignation was not readily obvious.

He diverted his attention to Big.

"I guess," he said, "we can help them for now. You could maybe lift rocks and things they need moving around — if they're going to set up camp," he said. He approached the cat to take a better look at him, "are you okay?"

Kazz · Posted: Thu Oct 06, 2011 11:54 pm

Rodolf, in return to the response his ever so tactful comment had received, merely shrugged and let out a sigh. It was true, at any rate, as far as he knew.
...
Regardless.

Big flexed and un-flexed one arm as though to test it. The other arm followed suit. He rolled his head (as best he could with such an impressive lack of anything approaching a neck), and then looked at the little fox that stood before him. One of his big ol' ears was flopping awkwardly, and perhaps his head was still in pain, but it seemed that for the most part, he had absorbed much of the shock relatively well.

The gargantuan cat beamed, and rolled himself up and onto his feet.

"I'm okay!" he said, before he paused and looked at the remnant of his fishing pole that he held. Big's face slowly fell and his ears drooped, until he looked entirely crestfallen.
"But I don't know where Froggy went," he added, shaking his head. "Do you think he's with them?"

'Them' could safely be assumed to mean 'Sonic-and-the-rest '

Diluss · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 1:38 am

There appeared on the fox's face an expression that — while existing only for a moment — left little doubt as to what the fox was thinking, i.e. what state of integrity or indeed corporeality Froggy could possibly be occupying.

Then Tails rallied tremendously,

"If anyone could take care of Froggy, Sonic could!"

He punctuated the statement with an enthusiastic fist shake. He looked around at the group with a blitheness it was possible he did not feel.

"So," he asked Midian, "have you started building any tents or shelters or anything?"

psikeout · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 1:46 am

"No, not yet," replied the jackal, shaking his head and standing back to full height. He moved some still-soppy dreads out of the way of one of his eyes. "We only got here after..." He gestured vaguely skyward, with a sort of spin of his finger. "All of this. As all this started."

NPC · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 1:48 am

Any particularly attentive sky-watcher who actually happened to look where Midian was absently gesturing would have noticed that the search party overhead was suddenly roaring away, full-throttle. The immense formation of gently-passing airships all at once aligned themselves on a slightly adjusted heading, then rocketed off loudly, racing westward and vanishing from view because of the obscuring nature of the high, canyon-like walls of Dry Lagoon's gorge.

Then came the sound of a distant full-on bombardment. Cannons, bombs, missiles, energy weapons, you name it—it sounded like a full-fledged war in the distance, raging off toward Gigalopolis. Someone had been found.

Diluss · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 2:15 am

Tails froze, looking up at the sky.

His mouth opened into a shocked O.

"Sonic!" he blurted. He leapt into the air, floundering in his attempts to get aloft too quickly.

Franky · Posted: Fri Oct 07, 2011 12:25 pm

Hearing the unicorn even more bluntly lay out what he was trying to say actually managed to make Aga feel a little bad. Not super bad, but a bit guilty. He even still shrugged off his new green hedgehog associate's frown before then, but now he was wondering if he was out of line.

Then the attack started, and Aga found all of his ego suddenly vanishing under the weight of what was happening. Like he somehow jinxed it by being the first to question it, an extension of his me-focused universal view but, hey, whatever made him realize he was being a jerk.

He held up a hand, waving it to try and get the fox's attention. "Hey! If you go in there, you'll be getting yourself destroyed too!" For what it was worth, he was trying to not sound harsh this time. "And then they'll wonder where you came from, and they'll start looking even harder. Sonic should be fine anyway, right?"

Truly there had never been a quicker total 180 of an opinion before.

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

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