Rainbow Valley Respite

[Espio]

[If anyone has anything I need to clear up about this, lemee know. Also further to the west is the marble garden zone aparently. Trying to go somewhat off the Rainbow Valley wiki page.]

Over the skies of the recovering angel island zone, a small hovercraft would be puttering along. A certain blue hedgehog was riding atop it as it sped past the scenery. The rainforest was showing positive signs of recovery after Robotnik firebombed the area years ago in an effort to eliminate the hedgehog, with trees breaking the six foot line again, the foundation of a canopy reforming.

Espio was at the helm, focused on keeping the aircraft steady. After all, he had rarely taken the time to commendeer one of the doctors vehicles for his own use. The ride would be a little bumpy as he pressed on past a certain landmark Sonic may well recognize, the waterfall he first battled the doctor on angel island. The blown out bridge was repaired now, bushes rustling as they flew by. Aparently they were being watched. A few minutes later he would land the aircraft upstream, at a small clearing that quicky gave way past the horizon to a vast forest, and what was likely mushroom hill further in to the north. The clearing, and in all directions from this point on were adorned by a multitude of various plants, flowers and shrubs of various colors. To the west was the point of intrest however; a hill that lead to a cluster of various huts, buildings and other facilities that were hidden among trees growing in that direction. Most of the roofs were were comprised of broad tree leaves, or had vines growing along the top of them as well to make them more inconspicious. The village was constructed in a manner that kept it difficult to see from the air without knowing its general location. In fact the buildings themeselves looked like part of the fauna and trees they were blending in with to make themselves near invisable from ground level as well.

The aircraft shook a little as Espio landed it, wiping his brow as he powered down the engines. "That was harder than I thought...", he commented to himself. With a button press the side doors opened as he got to his feet. "All right, everyone out. My allies shall arrive shortly." At that moment in fact, four blurs shot from the trees from the North, taking up positions around the craft to secure it. Two of them took up a stance by the rear corners of the craft, dressed in an emerald green ninja uniform that hid much of their appearance save for their eyes and horns. Both of them had a kunai drawn in their right hand. The two that took the front wore the same uniform, but in brown. It was pretty clear that they were chamealeons like Espio. As the ship hissed to a full shutdown, Espio leapt out the ship ahead of the others. The group immediatly recognized him, taking a bow in front of him as they put away their weapons. Aparently he was well respected. "We have one wounded and one incapacitated as I mentioned. Ready your stretchers and we will guide the others to the village.", he commaned to the others. Each of them nodded as both pairs walked to the nearby trees they came from, each emerging with a wood and cloth stretcher to carry Chadin and Gerald in. As the others made their way out, the pairs of ninja would begin to work their way inside the aircraft, one group easing Chadin into a stretcher, then Gerald. "The village is that way.", he said as he pointed to the sea of trees below the hill to the west. "As soon as your friends are secured we'll move out.", Espio said as he stretched, and took a moment to quickly reload his bracers.

It wouldn't be long though before someone brought up the issue of a strange energy field surrounding the nearby village that became visable as one grew close, with hues of forest green, white and the occosional patch of see through space. Fortunatly for the ninja, this was only visable to others in the village's immediate area from the ground, by about 20 feet or so. Should Sonic attempt to enter the village ahead of the others after Espio pointed in the village's direction, he would be greeted by...an invisable wall just outside the village's perimiter.

[Jijeka-Te]

Ji stumbled out of the hovercraft, Anu close behind her. They were both a little sick from the trip, but shrugged it off.

It didn't take long for the frilled lizard to notice the scenery around here. Instantly she was captivated; she'd never seen so much green in her life.

"Wow..."

[Gail Strafer]

Gail visibly flinched a bit when he saw the ninjas jump out of nowhere and immediately pop up in front of the aircraft, once they landed. Never in his wildest dreams did he expect to be visiting a real ninja village. Even given the rest of the day's events, this felt downright surreal to him. But at the same time it also felt very exciting.

He felt somewhat nervous about going outside to meet the ninjas though, but at least Espio went out first to let them know they were friends. Gail hesitantly stepped out into the open, feeling rather vulnerable even if these were allies. He figured that from this point on, he should count on not having any privacy and that he should be very careful about what he did or said.

So he politely waited for the other ninjas to finish their work before walking towards the village. Gail really didn't want to get out of line with these guys.

[Sonic]

Sonic kept fairly cool when the ninja’s came, only huffing a little to himself. He was off the ship before Espio could land it, still a testament that even at his age he was still somewhat impatient. But then again, he was far more on edge than usual. He knew some of the gist of what’d been going on, but he still felt clueless about the whole ordeal. It felt like pure, concentrated insanity. First off, Papa Eggman was somehow back from the dead. Secondly, Granpapa Gerald was some how alive, young, and still a complete nut-bar. Maybe a different kind of flavor, but a nut-bar none the less. And of course, the aliens were gone. It was happy new for sure, but it was strange that suddenly they’re presence had been completely eradicated. And not to mention the weird lim-bo he was stuck in for a while and the strange image he saw just before he got here…

He supposed he was expecting the worst-case scenario after all these years. And seeing something that was a tad bit brighter was pulling him off. Letting out a sigh, he looked towards the village.

“I certainly don’t remember seeing any of this the last time I was here…” Sonic said aloud.

[Gerald Robotnik]

As Gerald was moved the stretcher, it would be noticed that instead of his blank gaze he would have more of a lifeless stare. His expression looked dull, and with the dark bags under his eyes he looked exhausted. He didn’t make a sound, but his eyes did slowly move to look at the group to the side. He was finally reacting, but barely. Not to mention he had a throbbing headache from his glasses not being on.

[Chadin]

I was drifting in that surreal state of limbo of unconsciousness and full awareness; and in that state, my exhausted mind, still reeling from the days extraordinary events found myself in a waking nightmare. I saw myself back aboard Robotnik's factory ship, fighting for my very life.

The others would see me stirring restlessly as I was carried away on the stretcher; mumbling out incoherently bits and pieces. "...ngh... gotta do it... make him pay... Robotnik... nngh... can't breath... why... Gerald... never should have... so hot... gotta hide... gotta hide... no where to run... make... make him pay... so... so much blood..."

[Espio]

As the other Ninja took up positions behind the others, stretches kept at waist height, Espio began to lead the others down the hill. "Well the best explanation Sonic, is in that JUST barely avoided passing by our village twice. From the tale our scouts wove of your time during your visit here, you landed only about a mile or two to the north from here after being hurled clear of the Death Egg's support platforms after sending it crashing back down to earth. You then continued on further down the forest....", he recalled as he pointed in Mushroom Hill's direction. "And even before then, the Hydrocity Zone runs partly underneathe our village, where you were then uncerimoneously dumped out into the Marble Gardens further west after tripping one of the zone's hidden pressure traps. At least...thats what happened with the Sonic my fellow ninja and I know of.", he added on at the end.

"Now that I've given you a piece of information, how about you return the favor. Tell me of the condition of the land you've come from...and why your missing a quill or two", he said looking back at Sonic with his arms crossed as the party made their way into the sea of trees.

In the meantime the other ninja were keeping an eye on the two they were carring, and the others, their eyes constantly shifting between themselves, and the others.

[Jijeka-Te]

(...How many times now have I accidentally clicked "Preview Post" instead of "Post Reply", and then not looked twice before closing the window?)

Ji and Anu followed in silence.

[Gail Strafer]

Gail's pointy ears perked up as he heard Chadin's mumblings. Immediately the wolf was back at his friend's side. He laid one paw on the deer's shoulder.

"Hey! You waking up, buddy? How are you feeling? What happened inside the ship?"

He occasionally glanced at Gerald as he spoke.

[Sonic]

“Figures as much.” Sonic said with a sigh. He seemed to have a knack at not noticing things. Perhaps he was too caught up in the moments to really look around. But as Espio asked him a few questions, he gave him a strange look. Mostly because of the quill question.

“To answer the short answer frist, no clue. In a fight or something’? I can’t really remember. As for where I came from the conditions where…well…bad, but nothing apocalyptic. Old Egghead died while I was out fightin’ these Spectors. They’re these aliens who decided they’d take Eggman’s plan, but apply it to managing the entire universe. They must of started taking over when I was about nineteen…”

He placed his hands behind his head and looked up towards the sky. It was still a weird side not to see spector towars littering the skyline. He’d hadn’t seen clear skies for sixteen years. He had to stop thinking about this stuff, it was making him feel old.

“-We couldn’t win. No matter how much of there stuff we destroyed, we couldn’t destroy them. I mean, we call ‘em spectors for a reason. They got no physical bodies. So I’ve just been hangin’ around the rebellion with all my other friends, hopeing to find some way to beat em for good.”

He brought his hands down and looked towards Epsio. “Though seeing all of these, that’s something I don’t have to worry about anymore…”