Concepts Ancient Chapter 4

The population of chao made upset cries and sounds, strengthening the feeling Tikal had, that the guardian was being attacked.

Near the emerald shrine the water creature shot a threatening glare at the black hedgehog. Shadow bared his teeth, and stood his ground. The water creature made slow progress of advancing towards Shadow, while in bodily form. But then he stretched his arm out at an incredible length, and made a swift and powerful swing at the hedgehog. Shadow had barely eluded the strike, but swiftly moved out of range, and now stood on one of the bridge pillars. The creature made another strike, but once again it barely came close to hitting the black creature, and nearly destroyed the pillar he was standing on. The world seemed to disappear, from sight and sound, as Shadow kept his focus on this new foe.

The being that had descended from the pools around the shrine showed to have no approval of the stranger being near this place. There was a sense of power he had detected somewhere within this hedgehog, a strange power that he must have over the sacred gems of the shrine. In any case, he believed that this hedgehog was an absolute threat to the balance, and tranquility of these grounds.

He stretched his arm out again, as he went for another attack at the black hedgehog. Once again, Shadow just managed to avoid the hit, and zoomed out of range of the creature's sight. He converted some of his energy straight into his palm, and threw a chaos spear at the watery part of his opponent. Since being attacked several times, the hedgehog felt that there was no greater sense, but to fight back now. The water creature nearly collapsed from the hit, but it wasn't enough, as he quickly regained bodily form. Shadow stared in disbelief. His attack nearly had no effect on this thing he was fighting with.

The hedgehog made a blind charge at the water creature, out of anger and wonder as to how this was possible. He thought he heard a voice right then. It seemed to call out his name, in some desperate tone. But it was too distant to penetrate his conscience. As he was drawing near, the arm of his opponent stretched out yet again, seeming to be his only way of attacking, while everything else seemed useless. This was almost too close, and Shadow could never run out of range on this one. Thinking quick enough, he jumped over the creature's head, and that's when Shadow spotted the creature's only weak spot.

Right there, inside creature's transparent head, was a brain. The one thing that was probably giving him a purpose to be alive like the way he was. Shadow knew where to attack him now, but as his feet began to touch the ground a great pain came straight to the back of his head, and he felt himself airborne again. The creature must have kept his swinging arm all the way around, and actually hit Shadow when he was somehow off guard.

Shadow hit his front on the stone laid path that was just near the foot of the shrine. This pain felt so horrible on his head. It was just about as bad as his crash landing injuries, when they were fresh. "That thing is so powerful and determined!" he said in his mind. He got up rather quickly, and turned to see that creature advancing towards him. He was almost on top of Shadow, when he jumped into the air again. But this time, he made an attack to the head of the water creature. His attack made it through to the brain, and the creature screamed out in pain as he collapsed into a puddle of water.

Shadow zoomed out of sight once again, and now stood near the bridge. The voice called his name again, this time being a little closer. But Shadow was still too focused on his opponent, to hear it clear enough. After a few slow seconds, the bubbling puddle of water managed to regain form. This creature could make no face expression, but Shadow had somehow detected rage in his eyes. Shadow's fist started to glow again, as he was ready to strike with another chaos spear, and this time make the shot at the brain. He had taken a few steps, which almost turned into a sprint. "Shadow, stop!" the voice called, this time loud and clear, as it went ringing through his head. The hedgehog came to an immediate halt, and froze in place.

He stared at the figure of a young girl, and the world seemed to come back to him.

The sound of water went rushing down through the ravine, and birds chirped through the few trees that were nearby. But Shadow was in too much shock to realize anything more. Standing between him and the water creature, was Tikal. She faced the hedgehog with her arms spread out on both sides, and seeing for the first time an upset look upon her face. "Please don't hurt him!" she said a few moments later, her voice sounding majorly upset.

"What!?" Shadow answered, out of confusion. Tikal's face seemed to look more hurt by the second. "But he attacked me!" Shadow answered a moment later. It seemed childish for him to say something like that in his defense. She retracted her arms back, and clasped her hands together near her chest. "Chaos is my friend. He is the guardian of this place, and all who live here." she told him. Shadow's look slowly softened, and he came out of his fighting pose. He looked at the Chaos creature, who was now standing calmly behind Tikal. He remembered hearing about an ancient water creature known as Chaos, mainly from being an inspiration of one of the professor's creations, known as artificial chaos. But he did not come to realize that it was him until now.

Shadow looked back at Tikal, who still had an upset expression on her face. "Please Shadow; he was only trying to protect the emeralds from harm." She told him, in a tone that was asking for forgiveness. "I… I didn't know…" was all he could say to her. Tikal's facial expression softened, to some look of understanding.

The sun started to turn red, as it began to sink behind the valley. Shadow felt so confused now, but at the same time he felt a bit of fright in his heart. Remembering the dangers he could cause, then and now.

But there was something else, he felt. A question; was Tikal wondering about why he was headed up to the emerald shrine, when he was only curious at first and second something else? Would the echidna girl ever trust him again as much as she did, after what's happened today?