[Cielmira]

Bits and pieces of remains from what used to be a small part of a ship lay strewn about the area, small branches and torn shrubbery littered among the synthetic material. No piece had enough mass to create a grand impact but a couple did well in dozing a path through the canopy to where they lay in a heap of heavy soil and moist air. A clear set of tracks are visible in the ground beginning from one of the larger piles of debris. They circle the immediate area in careful steps but at a point become suddenly heavier before racing off into the brush.

At a distance growls can be heard from several beasts amongst what could only be some sort of fight. Some are well recognized but one stands out as a creature that doesn't belong in a jungle.

[WolfEx]

Two bright red boots with white and black trim came trampling through the moss and wooded area of the Destroyed Treehouse. Upon a more closer inspection, a black hedgehog is running at top speed towards the large structure of a tree house cutting through like a sharp wind. It was much like that of a chase scene from the small underdog running from the giant monster, Shadow had the same urgency, except he wasn't running from anything. He just seemed to be in a hurry, perhaps it was because the amount of toxic fumes in the area and the extreme amount of time Shadow had been gone from the Life Sphere already. Worry was starting to overcome him. But he had heard someone needed to be rescued, and if there was a chance this person or creature was still alive, he needed to be quick on the punch to get them back to the Life Sphere safely before they get poisoned from the air. Shadow knew the outside lands far too well at this point in time, he had spent too long on the planet's surface to not understand enough. He knew that time was of the essence when anyone ventures outside the protection of the Life Sphere, he knew that he had been exposed plenty already to the surface and he constantly had to check his toxicity levels upon returning.

The hedgehog smiles as he ran closer to the destination trying to remember when he actually became a hero, the good guy, the one to take such responsibility as to actually help strangers. "Maria..." He was a fool to even imagine the idea of being selfish and ignorant as he once was. His best friend, his soul mate had died, and she was all of the reason why he changed for the better. She would do the same. He had to keep on the path of righteousness for her, and for everyone in the Life Sphere he was going to fight for. Shadow screeched to a halt when he arrived at the trunk of the gigantic tree house. He remembered the last time he was here enemies flooded the area, this time it appeared alot more quiet, though he wondered if there would be any other threats lurking nearby. It was then when he heard a growl and looked down on the soil to eye some tracks that seemed strange to him. The tracks lead him to large pieces of a mysterious ruin, Shadow suddenly began to feel both confused and alert. He changed his pace to a careful and sneaking walk listening in as the growling got louder. He followed the sound all the way to its source, and stopped only to find something even stranger.

[Cielmira]

White ears down the wolf was doing its best to appear frightening and not something to tangle with. Snarling whilst bare pearly whites sparkled with saliva, the well kept fur puffed and rigid, tail still and down, large menacing claws drawn and digging easily into the soft dirt beneath them. Yet the strange creature before her took no care in her warnings. It stood fearless while the dark aura surrounding it flickered and shifted. It was a sign of evil Amaterasu had a familiarity with; though not this one specifically.

There was another nearby she could see approaching from the side so she adjusted her angle, but held her ground. She released another harsh barking snarl as she did but again it deterred them none. Perhaps it could tell she was lost, alone, confused. Only minutes before now she had been on her way home; finally home. But something had gone wrong and within seconds she found herself falling, blind and disoriented. This whole place was strange, its feel and its scent. Even the sun was wrong; now how could that be?

She couldn't wait any longer, within moments the things friend would be in the fray and her outnumbered. With no idea of the capability of this alien thing she dared not touch it directly. Still holding her ground with the one nearly within swiping range she readied her beads and made a lurch to bite the air in front of the beast. That was a mistake on her part.

The creature hopped backward and shot something at her. What she couldn't be sure as it was enveloped in the same misty darkness. She did discover however that it was a hard shell that burst with a loud snap and sprayed its inner contents upon bursting on contact. Though she moved the moment it hopped and fired the initial round of beads in its general vicinity, the shot impacted her back leg. A momentary look to the hit showed no open wound amongst the translucent goo now splattered across her white coat.

The second creature coming from the brush hastened its pace, and it turned out to also have a friend as they broke through the nearby line of plants. With barely a glance to the rushing attackers a tree suddenly sprouted immediately in their path, the two smacking into the newly formed nine foot trunk. One stopped in its tracks while the other collided but bounced back to the side. The first attacker fired another shot, which would appear to the nearby hedgehog to impact the air in front of the white wolf. If one looked closely they may also notice a wave in the air as if it was heating up around the shining beast, mild scorches on the dirt below barely discernible.

[WolfEx]

Shadow wasn't counting on engaging in a battle so soon. Sometimes following one's curiosity wasn't entirely the best way to go. All he had on his mind right now was finding out who was in distress and how to get them out of here. He walked into several creatures battling eachother and wasn't entirely sure why. He used common sense, however, that the primary attacking creature who appeared a darker color with a strange aura surrounding it was Infected, and the colorful wolf trying to defend itself was more than likely in need of aid. Shadow was unsure whether this wolf was the one who put out the distress call, but he figured it wouldn't be wise to just let it be outnumbered like it was with the other foes hiding in darkness, he felt that he needed to help somehow. He was glad he surveyed the surrounding area and spotted the threats nearby before chiming in. He thought about the tactic to use, and went with a simple yet effective plan. He pulled out his two pistols and fired at the two enemies who were halted by a tree beyond the brush and aimed at their heads in a focused triggering. He fired his guns in a steady accuracy hoping they wouldn't see the bullets coming. He then shifted his attention to the one attacking the wolf creature without stalling before it could react to Shadow's sudden appearance.

The hedgehog saw it firing some strange shell attacks earlier, which lead him to believe these were creatures originating in Mario's home turf, the Mushroom Kingdom, but he could be wrong. If he was right, however, what were they doing so far away from their origins? He didn't have time to peruse the purpose of it all, and fired a rapid burst of bullets from his pistols at the creature who was nearly at close range, so dodging them didn't seem possible. He expected it to splay to the ground in an instant. If bullets didn't do the trick, he had other methods of attack to use. He wasn't sure how many more were in the area, or if the wolf had good intentions or not, he was more than anything going off of instinct and what his gut was telling him. He could only hope that he was right in his actions and not causing more harm than good at this point. He gazed at the wolf briefly to get a better look at it without keeping his attention off of the enemies nearby if they were still alive.

He noticed the wolf's leg was hurt but also, just barely, noticed a strange pocket of heated air as if it was almost a mirage surrounding the wolf. His eyes widened, he didn't quite know what it was up to, but he shouted out to it before it registered him as an enemy for any apparent reason. "I'm not here to hurt you! Just tell me what's going on before these foes react in case my aim isn't what it used to be. Even worse, in case more show up." His voice even screamed urgency, he didn't want to be so far away from the Life Sphere with just himself going alone on the mission. He was very antsy because of that thought, and he wasn't going to stick around if the wolf wasn't going to be honest or prove that it was friendly in any way.

[Cielmira]

Fireworks? The sudden blast of sound through the air was familiar yet very unexpected. The startled wolf backed from the immediate threat before her with another growl. The sound hadn't come from it or the ones she had just delayed, yet with another shot coming at her there was little opportunity to look at the origin of the gunfire. This one she dodged, lunging forward and off to the side so she would have all her enemies in her field of view once she pivoted. As she twisted upon landing to once again face her attacks she released another round of her resurrection beads, three of the ghostly objects connecting with the fleshy creature.

There was another shot that echoed through the air preceding a faint squish from the dark being she had just attacked. It wobbled for a second, looking like it was going to retreat, then collapsed in a wet splat. Amaterasu immediately looked to the newcomer, still hunched in her offensive stance, then to the two reptilian things that had been coming from the bushes. She saw one laying motionless, the dark shifting aura beginning to dissipate in time with Ammy's tree doing the same, and the other had adjusted its course in a daze. Whether it was moving slower due to a wound given by the black rescuer or by a change of tactics she couldn't be sure as any blemishes were hidden under the matte of black aura. It continued to scuttle about but was now making noises as if it was calling out.

Swiftly she darted for the smaller creature. It froze and opened its long maw to reveal rows of jagged teeth and Ammy returned the display. However she did not contact the reptile with anything but the heated disk on her back, the green oval coming down on the scaled body in a wave of heat. A low caw emanated from the thing as the wind was knocked from it and it lay still in the place Amaterasu's divine instrument pounded it. The thing moaned quietly but appeared unconscious. Still, the wolf proceeded to back from it before regarding the remaining life form in the immediate vicinity.

The wolf had heard his call to her before she struck down the reptile, about his offer of aid. It was something she had assumed given his careful attack on all three of her attackers, though she was still unsure of how he had accomplished it so subtly. The wolf was used to much larger impacts occurring with the loud bang. Tension removed, her disk resumed its less active state and she assumed a less hostile position. She did not approach but sniffed the air. There was still nothing she recognized wholly but this black hedgehog didn't reek like the last three things she had met here. Her tail lifted and wagged lightly as she gave a soft friendly bark at him.

A few rushed steps were taken indirectly nearer the hedgehog but she stopped abruptly as she was reminded of the sticky substance on her upper left leg. It itself was doing no harm, but with the stretching of the area while she walked it pulled at her fur rather nastily as it began to harden. She gave a gruff noise of disapproval, moving her head around to sniff at the goo only to recoil with a shake at the strong rotten aroma.

[WolfEx]

Now that the enemies around them seemed to be taken care of, at least for now, Shadow put his full attention towards the wolf creature. He wasn't sure exactly what specific kind of wolf it was, or why it looked so colorful, and judging by the attacks he just saw it pull of, he figured it definitely wasn't JUST a wolf. But one thing he noticed above all else, was the black goop on its leg. He scanned the area with his eyes one last time before kneeling down to tend the creature's wound. He was still very much out of his element being so far away, and he didn't want to be ambushed when fixing up the dog like specimen. After he was satisfied that they were alone, he knelt down and analyzed the goop. He didn't really have anything to help with it, so he knew that using his hands to yank it off was his only option. Luckily he had white gloves on naturally, and he had extra pairs in his apartment. He cracked his knuckles and grasped the goop and began to pull as hard as he could. It was already stiffening at a rapid rate and he didn't have much time before it bonded with the body overtime turning the creature into an Infected. He took a deep breath. "This might hurt a little." Using the leverage of his jet boots, he kicked them on and let the acceleration dig into the ground giving him more power as he pulled at the goop. After three big tugs he managed to retrieve the black entity and stuck it at the bottom of his boots as the fire from them burned the goop to dust. He then quickly removed his now contaminated gloves showing his bare and blackened hands.

He felt pretty naked at the moment, and very awkward without his signature gloves warming his palms. But he had to do it, and in the end the wolf seemed to be alright. Knowing now that the creature was friendly, he sat down next to it as if he has been exhausted from all the hubbub that occurred earlier. He looked around at the environment, the dying trees, the dark grey and vile green sky caused by the contamination in the area, and looked over at the eerie black moss growing up the tree trunks and all around the brush in the area and sighed. "You know, I bet this place used to be so beautiful and so colorful. Now I just see death and misery. Fitting I suppose, for a hedgehog still trying to find redemption." He didn't know why he was so comfortable around the beast next to him, but he felt it could relate well to nature and the concepts of beauty and what it meant to be forgiven and redeemed. That balance of punishment and irony has lead Shadow for many years to work up to this moment, the moment of seeing himself partake in an act of goodness. Although he's done so before, for whatever reason it really registered to him now more than ever.

He supposed being trapped on a decaying planet full of disease was his punishment for all the wrong he has caused in the past. All that bottled up hatred he let go so long ago. He constantly reminded himself he had to find a silver lining in everything, even in death he had to see a righteous purpose. There were small saplings and plant life that were still young, but they would never see the light of day, nor would they ever grow in the harshness of the planet. A dark coat of purple and black goo constricts around many of the trees in the area, and broken branches as well as fallen and tattered leaves lay scattered about on the ground as if things were only giving themselves away to the planet to die instead of thriving and reaching the mighty skies to evolve. Vines hug eachother as they hang from the canopy like they know their stretching life would end very soon, and they held each one's stems for one last goodbye. Nothing was fair on this planet, and Shadow was forced to live with the odds constantly stacked against him. "The only gift we have now is survival, because nothing else matters anymore." This was a feeling Shadow had kept inside for a while now, and he couldn't hold it in anymore. All those missions he has been on, all those innocent creatures he has killed because they went mad from Starvia, he felt it all. Perhaps it was the toxic air that made him feel this way, or perhaps it was just venting, but he couldn't help remembering the things that once were. He wanted badly to hear words of comfort from the creature, something to reassure him that all this fighting and venturing off into unknown lands was leading to something. He wanted it to be over. He wanted peace.

[Cielmira]

The other's discomfort with the area was noted by the wolf as she intently watched his approach. Curiously she sniffed at him when he knelt. He didn't smell of the forest. It was of a city, heavy with powder; though that was likely just from his recent usage of the stuff. Before she could investigate further the source of the gun powder the cracking of knuckles sounded in her ears, causing her to perk and turn her attention back level with the black being. Her eyes followed his hands to the gunk stuck in her fur. As the hedgehog grasped and began to at yank the detestable substance she released a small yelp and widened her stance to counter the pull; digging her claws into the soil.

A brief growl emanated from her gullet shortly before he paused in his efforts to free her from the goo. His words of warning made her inwardly cringe and what she suspected he was about to do. The wolf looked down and made to anchor her body in preparation. The activation of what seemed like rockets on the flats of his shoes caused Amaterasu to hunch lower and dig deeper, yet despite her efforts the force he exerted still caused some sliding all the while light complaints trickling from her maw. Finally the hardening substance relinquished its hold, or rather her fur did. Prickles of pain tore through her leg as a decent sized patch tore from her to leave with the goop in the hands of the stranger. Amaterasu whined and sidestepped to balance now that she had no opposing force to deal with.

Concerned at the dispersed assortment of missing hairs she took to a strange sort of noisy mumble as she inspected the area. At least it was off. Ammy looked to the hedgehog during the removal of his gloves and stepped forward, raising a paw in thanks for a couple seconds before sitting on her haunches; finding he had about the same idea as he seated himself. It seemed a bit strange to be sitting here, in this place, with the strange aura creatures laying still about them. The sun goddess noticed the darkness about them had also ceased shifting completely, but their forms still looked tainted; as with parts of the plant life around. As the hedgehog viewed their surroundings Amaterasu returned to stare at her missing patch, sensitive as she was to such flaws about herself; vain some may consider it at times.

After a few moments of staring at it in attempt to restore the area with her celestial brush she discovered the extent of her detachment. She had felt significantly weakened but this cinched it. Not even a simple restoration was within her grasp at this time. The wolf lowered herself to rest on the smelly greens. To think, just a few hours ago she was at her grandest commanding the elements and slashing apart the lord of darkness. Now she was back at the beginning, as if she had just woken from her statued slumber. This being beside her probably couldn't even see her true form thus she likely looked as a plain wolf to him. She recalled Mr. Orange's comment of her apparent intellect upon her previous awakening and snuffed.

Her new ally's next spoken words brought her head around first to himself and then to the objects he was referring. It was a sad place, and its predicament so familiar. Amaterasu continued to listen to him, returning her gaze to the black being to observe his visage. There was a deep sorrow there, even ignoring his words. Amaterasu understood the exhaustion of always fighting, and though lacked a true understanding of the loss and redemption he spoke of there was no scarcity of empathy.

Standing, Amaterasu hopped in front of Shadow and pawed at the slick greens at her feet. She leaned down and sniffed a moment before raising her head and settling her gaze above them. There was a few moments of her walking in a half circle as she thought, head still raised. Bringing it down she twisted back around to stare intensely at the hedgehog. Within moments there began a noticeable change in the immediate plant life around them. Any open soil assumed a more healthy brown, the blackened moss creeping along barks paled to a sick green before brightening into an almost healthy color, new buds split and cropped throughout the area, the existing blades of grass and bush thickened and greened before growing about an inch upward. The place, if even for only a few moments, appeared a pleasant glade dotted by what little light penetrated the canopy.

Amaterasu resumed a seated position after shaking her body as if to rid it of wetness and visibly sighed. It was one of both relief and fatigue. The scene wouldn't last though, she knew. Already she could feel the dominating taint of this jungle tangling its way back in slowly. There was even a distant rustle from the underbrush. Still, it would last enough to hopefully brighten the spirits of this bereaved individual.

[WolfEx]

Once more noise in the area became apparent and figures of enemies started to appear out of the corner of Shadow's eyes he knew it was time to book it. As he stated not long ago to a fellow colleague in Dr. Eggman, the Infected were getting smarter each and every day. He didn't know how, and he didn't know why, but they were growing in numbers, evolving in their intelligence, and slowly creating a pact mentality sticking together for team assaults and foul play. It might be the planet causing such evolution to them, or the possibility of the disease itself being a living entity and controlling the minds of innocent exposed beings and changing them to be the mind of the disease itself. This was all the more reason for Shadow and the wolf creature to run even quicker, no matter how nearly out of breath each may be. Balls of goop began to be tossed at them from some tree hanging enemies as well as a bombardment of more goop from the bushes. They just had to keep running, thinking about nothing else than getting to the Life Sphere.

As Shadow ran he shot some more bullets out of his pistols to the enemies around him, aiming for the trees first to shoot down the aerial assault, then blind firing to the bushes surrounding them to get the foes to back off at least a bit. It was lucky for them that they could both still move well after the battle a bit of ways back. The more they ran though, the more violent and relentless the Infected behind them and around them became. Overtime a large group of hoarding Infected took chase to hit right on the trail of the two warriors, if they looked behind them they would see nothing but a wave of baddies out to get them. Shadow reassured the wolf to keep her focus on the objective to escape. "Don't look behind you. Whatever you do. Keep running, I'll catch up." Shadow took out a Chaos Emerald that was hidden in his tuft of fur and shouted; "CHAOS CONTROL!" And in the blink of an eye Shadow vanished and teleported behind the hoard of enemies without them even realizing he was at their rear.

His hands then began glowing a bright green and he fired off a powerful attack. "CHAOS SPEAR!" With a great frustration and desire to blow the enemies away Shadow fired a lance of burning hot energy at the Infected group cutting it straight down the middle and eliminating a good amount of them as they were still running after the wolf. He then rolled into a ball already with the adrenaline of boost of running and pulled off a Spike Ball Charge N' Roll to knock away the remainder of the moving enemies like a balling ball to a row of pins. He managed to veer the rest of the enemies off course sending them flying into the brush at the sides of the jungle trail the two had been running. He continued rolling in his ball until he was caught up with the wolf. Once he was caught up, he repositioned himself back onto his feet and remained in a running stride.

All the fighting and running was really taking its toll on the hedgehog as he began to sweat and his fur began to bristle as if he had been in an obstacle course, which in a way, he was. His breathing started to sound heavier and his movement began to be more jagged as he ran. He wasn't sure how well the wolf was doing with her own breath support and movement, but he figured she was in the same boat. He pumped his arms forward kicking his jet boots on full blast so it was more like a glide than a run giving him a bit more freedom of movement and comfort than stomping the ground all the time with his quick feet. Already he heard some more Infected return from the brush and continue their pursuit on the two. But as they kept running they heard a large rumbling sound that shook the ground. This threw the hedgehog off balance during his stride and sent him tumbling. The Infected behind Shadow and the wolf stopped chasing them and instead ran in fear of the sound. Whether the wolf was still running despite the shaking of the ground or not was not going to stop whatever caused the quake to keep coming towards the two.

The rumbling sounded like that of giant foot steps trampling through the jungle and thundering in the direction the hedgehog and creature were. The worst part was, it was coming from in front of them, and any minute now it would show up and the two would have to decide whether to take a detour or stay and battle. Shadow's tumble to the ground caused him to twist and flop all over the moss and soil of the place making his fur and his skin much messier than before and his black coat turn into a mix of light brown and grey. He rested on the ground for a moment before slowly pushing himself up and trying to remain coherent after such a fall. "What the hell was that?" He trudged a step or two forward to eye the horizon ahead and saw nothing yet, but his ears were hearing a terrifying noise heading towards him and he cursed under his breath bracing himself for the coming threat.

[Cielmira]

Amaterasu returned a happy bark to his initial question of cause, tail raised and wagging in obvious pleasure of his reaction. If negative emotions could ever have a visible weight this was an instance of which they could be distinctly witnessed lifting from someone's shoulders. The hedgehog appeared dumbfounded at the display and the wolf padded over to him with light steps; content with the scene. This was what she did best, she figured besides felling evil beasts. He likely didn't realize it himself but the appreciation that trickled from his being was a rejuvenating energy to her, though not physically. However she hadn't done it for herself.

Unfortunately the scene couldn't last, as they were still within a tainted jungle populated with these 'infected' as he called them. She could also tell of the rustles' increasing volume, not just due to shortening distance but of the added bodies to the apparent march of whatever was coming. Frankly she didn't believe dealing with the coming opponents would make enough of a dent in the unbridled strength of this darkened place to be worth sticking around even to attempt to rid the area of their presence. The source was not them, wholly, and she was a pitiful shadow of her previous self at this moment along with a tired ally; he was correct, they needed to flee. Normally in a running situation she would haul her typically slower ally onto her back and charge off, but she had a feeling that someone with rockets at the bottom of their shoes would have no difficulty in keeping considerable distance between himself and something unwanted.

The white wolf growled lightly and released half a low bark before nipping the fingers resting on the nearest holster of the hedgehog. With his attention drawn she took a few steps in the direction of which he had come from initially. Surely he came from somewhere a bit safer than here, hopefully that city she smelt on him, so it was her best guess on which direction to run. Luckily for them it was away from the unwanted company approaching, though not so lucky enough for it to be the complete opposite direction. Her intentions in plain agreement to his words seconds earlier she began accelerating to a run into the jungle beyond their small clearing; thus answering his other question concerning her mobility. Besides the slight ache of something having impacted the area followed by her fur being pulled she was in rather good condition considering fall preceding. Thank goodness for all the trees, and those additional she supplied.

As the pair twisted and dodged blips of purpley-darkness popped in and out of areas about them. Some behind bushes far away, others up high ahead, bodies poking out from still waters. While they were so far easy to avoid, given the two's great speeds, it did result in a lot of path adjusting. Amaterasu relied on her new ally's guidance through the wood and mush, her paws occasionally slipping on wet moss or sinking a bit further on soft spots than expected thus further slowing their progress. Every time she would grumble during her recovery back into a run tailing the faster of the two. The canine only hoped none of these contaminated beasts were smart enough to set up a trap.

[WolfEx]

Once more noise in the area became apparent and figures of enemies started to appear out of the corner of Shadow's eyes he knew it was time to book it. As he stated not long ago to a fellow colleague in Dr. Eggman, the Infected were getting smarter each and every day. He didn't know how, and he didn't know why, but they were growing in numbers, evolving in their intelligence, and slowly creating a pact mentality sticking together for team assaults and foul play. It might be the planet causing such evolution to them, or the possibility of the disease itself being a living entity and controlling the minds of innocent exposed beings and changing them to be the mind of the disease itself. This was all the more reason for Shadow and the wolf creature to run even quicker, no matter how nearly out of breath each may be. Balls of goop began to be tossed at them from some tree hanging enemies as well as a bombardment of more goop from the bushes. They just had to keep running, thinking about nothing else than getting to the Life Sphere.

As Shadow ran he shot some more bullets out of his pistols to the enemies around him, aiming for the trees first to shoot down the aerial assault, then blind firing to the bushes surrounding them to get the foes to back off at least a bit. It was lucky for them that they could both still move well after the battle a bit of ways back. The more they ran though, the more violent and relentless the Infected behind them and around them became. Overtime a large group of hoarding Infected took chase to hit right on the trail of the two warriors, if they looked behind them they would see nothing but a wave of baddies out to get them. Shadow reassured the wolf to keep her focus on the objective to escape. "Don't look behind you. Whatever you do. Keep running, I'll catch up." Shadow took out a Chaos Emerald that was hidden in his tuft of fur and shouted; "CHAOS CONTROL!" And in the blink of an eye Shadow vanished and teleported behind the hoard of enemies without them even realizing he was at their rear.

His hands then began glowing a bright green and he fired off a powerful attack. "CHAOS SPEAR!" With a great frustration and desire to blow the enemies away Shadow fired a lance of burning hot energy at the Infected group cutting it straight down the middle and eliminating a good amount of them as they were still running after the wolf. He then rolled into a ball already with the adrenaline of his running and pulled off a Spike Ball Charge N' Roll to knock away the remainder of the moving enemies like a bowling ball to a row of pins. He managed to veer the rest of the enemies off course sending them flying into the brush at the sides of the jungle trail the two had been running. He continued rolling in his ball until he was caught up with the wolf. Once he was caught up, he repositioned himself back onto his feet and remained in a running stride.

All the fighting and running was really taking its toll on the hedgehog as he began to sweat and his fur began to bristle as if he had been in an obstacle course, which in a way, he was. His breathing started to sound heavier and his movement began to be more jagged as he ran. He wasn't sure how well the wolf was doing with her own breath support and movement, but he figured she was in the same boat. He pumped his arms forward kicking his jet boots on full blast so it was more like a glide than a run giving him a bit more freedom of movement and comfort than stomping the ground all the time with his quick feet. Already he heard some more Infected return from the brush and continue their pursuit on the two. But as they kept running they heard a large rumbling sound that shook the ground. This threw the hedgehog off balance during his stride and sent him tumbling. The Infected behind Shadow and the wolf stopped chasing them and instead ran in fear of the sound. Whether the wolf was still running despite the shaking of the ground or not was not going to stop whatever caused the quake to keep coming towards the two.

The rumbling sounded like that of giant foot steps trampling through the jungle and thundering in the direction the hedgehog and creature were. The worst part was, it was coming from in front of them, and any minute now it would show up and the two would have to decide whether to take a detour or stay and battle. Shadow's tumble to the ground caused him to twist and flop all over the moss and soil of the place making his fur and his skin much messier than before and his black coat turn into a mix of light brown and grey. He rested on the ground for a moment before slowly pushing himself up and trying to remain coherent after such a fall. "What the hell was that?" He trudged a step or two forward to eye the horizon ahead and saw nothing yet, but his ears were hearing a terrifying noise heading towards him and he cursed under his breath bracing himself for the coming threat.

[Cielmira]

Besides keeping a sharp eye out for anything uncomfortably close to them there was little Amaterasu could do to aid in deterring the infected whilst the pair ran. If that little display back in there took focus she could only wonder about the accessibility of her more complicated brush techniques. It was such a weird sort of detachment from her abilities, and as for a cause she was beginning to suspect these tainted beings and intoxicating atmosphere; they weren't so unlike the cursed zone she dealt with in Nippon.

As they traveled through the wood it was like the jungle itself was becoming alive with all the noise caused by the imposing enemies. Even for her ears it was difficult to pinpoint any one patch, however it wasn't hard to hear the hedgehog's words. With side glances she inspected the object he pulled from hiding, glints of light catching more and more of her intention as he lifted the precious stone... and then was gone with a shout. Shocked, Amaterasu began scouring the area with her eyes. Her pace slowed a minimal amount as the worried animal desperately searched for the friendly black shape among all the rest.

His voice echoed from behind and she turned her head around as best she could to see a flash tear through the ranks of the pursuing beasts. An urge to cease her run and go back to aid bubbled within her but she resisted. If he was able to teleport around she should expect to see him back any moment. A face full of grassy blades brought her attention back to where she was headed, just in time to avoid a harsh dip in the terrain. She easily timed her steps to soar over the miniscule ravine of roots and water, only to then find on the other side of a set of trees a few of the infected beings racing to get into a position to ambush. Luckily they weren't quite ready, allowing the wolf to skid, twist, and jump into a new run. The wolf had been taking note of the directed twists that her ally had been taking before this time so still had a vague idea of which direction to be heading despite the necessary adjustment.

Then just as she expected, and hoped, the black furred individual was back at her side, though in a manner she hadn't foreseen. If it hadn't been for the flashes of red spotted during his rolling approach she would have assumed him an enemy that needed some deterring. Even so, her divine instrument floating just above her back required some cooling when his familiar form unwrapped itself to begin gliding along beside her once again. She released a brief bark, what she could manage whilst retaining such a speed and focus on avoiding any more trips or slipping anyways, timed such that it seemed to trigger the next event.

Reverberations made their way passed her padded paws and up her legs, but she managed to stay upright; momentarily. The hedgehog's spiraling at the quake connected with her at a point and so she accompanied him in a painful tumble. With her legs out from under her she tucked herself into as much of a ball as she could manage on such notice then proceeded to roll awkwardly over her sides and back until she was slowed by a thick palm of greenery.

Disgruntled noises radiated from the white wolf as she righted herself and made a low crawl out from the wet greens, not trusting her balance with both the tremors and recovery from all the spinning. The retreat of the Starvia infected beings went unnoticed by the disoriented canine. Instead she was giving her head mild shakes as she made slow progress toward her ally. Once she was within a few feet and he stood to prepare, she paused and remained still in her lying posture; head raised, eyes closed, and ears flicking around to get a better read.

There was a crack of splitting wood as the seeming giant still approached from the cover of jungle between them and it. The pounding of its weight becoming heavier and heavier as it neared. Soon the sounds were no longer muffled by distance and a darkened shape reared around into sight. By this time at least Amaterasu was able to stand without feeling as if she was going to topple over, and of course assumed a low growl at the massive beast that emerged from the clumps of jungle. Or rather, tore through. In comparison to the two heroes standing just above three feet each, the thing was a giant. Not only in height but in mass. Thick arms hung at its toned body, trunks for legs supporting its weight with a wide span of toes. In its hand it held part of a tainted tree. The thin piece of rotted trunk bore no leaves but was obviously once the top of a tree with peeled scrapes of where branches used to reside.

In its last strides it jumped and swiftly bounded along the ancient trees as if it was light as a feather. The giant ape landed with quite the literal shaking of the world and a resounding thump to drown out any thoughts. It bellowed angrily at the pair of trespassers and flung its arms up menacingly. Huge pearly whites easily large enough to skewer the wolf flashed beneath the dark aura surrounding encompassing the being.

Amaterasu resisted returning a warning, knowing with her experience of the last ones that this creature wouldn't follow the normal patterns of stand-offs. Her growl still resonating she triggered the activation of her divine retribution, bristled her fur, extended claws, and curled her lips back. They wouldn't be able to straight outrun this giant, or at least she wouldn't given she had no capability for teleportation, but in its rage they may be able to outsmart it if not fell it. Her judgement of the difference in scale and power between them and it was likely inaccurate so she had to continually remind herself to overestimate.

The giant infected ape gave them little time after its initial scream, taking a swipe with its tree along the ground after lurching forward.

[WolfEx]

Once Shadow saw exactly what it was that was coming there wasn't any time to react for what came next. It helped a little that Shadow braced himself expecting something treacherous to trudge towards them, and because of that, he was able to quickly analyze the situation and plan for evasive action. He speculated that because the other Infected ran away, the creature must be rebellious, uncaring and unaware of any allegiances, it must have went rogue on its fellow Infected brethren with the disease in its bloodstream being too great to offer anything more than insanity and rage. The beast was massive, it was a gigantic ape that must have been mutated or evolved by the Starvia disease and drove it absolutely mad and ripe to attack. And attack it did. A tree trunk swooped down whirring at the two individuals in a surprisingly fast motion. Shadow did not expect such a large beast to be so quick. With an already preparatory posture, however, Shadow followed his instincts to dodge and leaped into the air to land on the base of the trunk and then began running up it like an insect climbing a high surface.

Thankfully his small size and already in tune senses with quick reflexes and fast speeds gave the hedgehog a slight advantage here. The only way to deal with a giant, was to aim for its vitals and get up close and personal, and the vitals in this case happened to be the face. Shadow didn't know where else to attack, and since he saw a chance to strike and strike quickly he took it. Still running up the trunk Shadow pulled out his pistols and began firing at the beast's eyes hoping to blind it. He knew his bullets were too tiny to make much of an impact compared to the scale of the monster, but he saw it at least had an effect.

The monster swiped at his face with his free hand that did not contain the tree weapon trying to swat away the volley of gunfire. Shadow kept shooting until he was able to reach the top of the tree the ape carried and then jumped from the tree tip to the monster's noggin landing on his head. Black goop began swishing around all over the head of the beast showing that it had meshed with his fur. Shadow's feet began to get stuck in the goop with the hedgehog not expecting the ape to be so full of such disease to the point where it blended with its fur and caused a stickiness to ensue. The goop started to slowly ride up Shadow's legs as if to overtake him. Shadow kept it off by firing his bullets at it shrinking it down before it engulfed him.

He had to find another area of the face to land on since the head and the fur were too difficult to stand on due to the goop infestation. He jumped off the beast's head the moment it slammed a fist on it to try and squash Shadow, this caused the monkey to hit itself and almost lose its balance. Shadow used the opening to jump down on the beast's cheek bone and was able to keep himself standing on the fat of the cheek with one of the beast's large eyes pinpointing on Shadow's location. Before the ape could react Shadow began doing a furious punch and kick combo to the eye ball of the beast hoping to damage the retina. He even shot a few bullets at the cornea to irritate even more.

The ape cried out in major pain and used his thumb and forefinger to flick the hedgehog off of his face. Shadow was too focused on inflicting pain that he didn't see it coming. This caused Shadow to go flying into a nearby tree and toppling to the ground. The hedgehog tried to maintain consciousness but only managed to go in and out of it. He was struggling to hold on as he grasped the soil scratching his way to his feet, but toppled over again turning it into a crawl. He began to flinch and twitch as the pain was too intense and got even more unbearable. Luckily the monkey was too busy trying to cope with his new eye injury to really go on the assault again. Shadow screamed out to the wolf from pretty far away since he had been flicked a great distance and urged his colleague to attack now. "YOU...MUST...GO FOR..THE ATTACK NOW! WHILE YOU CAN!" Even yelling out was difficult for the hedgehog to do, he felt the pain everywhere coursing through his body. He was vulnerable, and he needed to keep himself together to help the white haired dog creature to win this fight.

He did all he could to help his new partner in this battle, at least all he could in his present state, now the wolf had to buy him time to recover for a little while before he could attack again. He put complete faith into the creature he rescued; or at least tried to rescue, since it was still in trouble, and leaned himself up against the trunk of the tree he crashed into. He shut his eyes trying to get as much rest as he could before jumping into the fray again to take down the monster and struggled to keep conscious throughout his torment. He didn't like the odds right now, not at all, but he bites his lip trying to stay in the fight.

[Cielmira]

Her growing exhaustion almost cost her, the tree swooshing just below her as she went in the air. It tore at the ground as it went throwing up debris of all sorts in the wind it generated. Her dodge being such a near miss the wolf could feel the light tug of air below her as it moved by, rushing her decent causing a stagger upon landing. Looking up she spotted her black friend stealing up the tree, the giant moving its eyes up to follow and made to move to begin shaking the hedgehog off before he made it up. Amaterasu darted toward the momentarily ground tree with thick fingers still wrapped around its form. Now was the time to see what power she had available.

Willing a single invisible stroke across the tree and fingers of the ape of her celestial brush a viscous tear erupted across the goopy skin and scratched the bark of the tainted plant. It wasn't much, and appeared to cause no damage through the seemingly protective layer upon the monster, but it was felt. The ape lessened its grip the tree with a twitch of his fingers and ceased moving his arm so as to again grip his weapon tightly; thus giving Ammy's ally an undisturbed travel to the head. Still in motion toward the hand however the white wolf hopped onto the tree following her celestial slash and before the goop could fully close back around the fingers Amaterasu sent her fiery disk across them.

The simultaneous pain inflicted by the hedgehog made for good timing as the ape had no choice but to release its weapon and try to deal with the more immediate problem. Other than a quick look above to see how her ally was fairing, finding him moving to the beasts face, Amaterasu began development of her next idea. She ran toward its legs and prepared a round of her ethereal beads. Once close enough to ensure all five of the spread would contact she fired them off at one leg, ran under, turned, and fired a second round at the same leg. Next, she glanced up and around to check the nearby nature around. Finding an abundance of the vines she needed she focused on promoting their growth specifically before setting out on the next phase.

The wolf ran to the undamaged leg and made the flames of her disk burn intensely beside its flesh. Awkwardly the monkey teetered to switch his weight to the other leg then set it down slightly further away; which just happened to be a rather mushy area. Muck bulged under its weight and swiftly grew around its toes, of which then became the target of most of the growing vines. She made sure to keep them loose so as to not raise the beasts awareness of them until she was ready to act; otherwise it would just snap them instantly.

Amaterasu was about to enact the final parts of her plan but heard a sickening smack above her following a loud scream from the beast. A blur went flying through the air only to incur more damage as it hit a tree and fall to the ground. An excited yelp escaped the wolf as she watched the hedgehog lay still. The beast above was waving his arms around as if to ensure that nothing else was around his head, still bellowing angrily. It pounded the ground with one of its fists before moving both to its face. Shadow's words pierced the area, Amaterasu almost visibly flinching at the pained tone; though quickly her concern was replaced with anger and urgency.

She mustered up whatever else she could of her power and made for a fiery onslaught on the other leg. The disk swung about her form sending licking flames all across the thick 'hide' of the beast. She even released the final two of her resurrection beads in the open sections of the goop. Vines spread across the area and all at once snapped harshly across and between its legs constricting tightly. The wolf swiftly dodged out from underneath the creature whilst it was still busy tending to its eye damage inflicted by her ally. It crashed to the ground in another tremor, smacking its head harshly on impact. The vines seemed to be holding for now, the green ropes fastened uncomfortably tight in such a way as to use any pulling to tighten their grasp. The beast would need to use its hands to get free, of which it instantly began moving to having not noticed the white creature before it likely due to some blinding.

She wasted no time in using the opening to attack the other eye, a flurry of claws and her divine retribution an unwanted surprise to the ape. It roared and brought its hands back up to its face and thrashed. Amaterasu backed early enough but was still nicked by one of its hands upon retreat. She was sent skidding off to the side with a surprised yelp, but in the end was in better shape than when the black hedgehog had received his smacking. In a rushed and slightly unstable recovery Amaterasu trod toward her ally's location with a mild limp. She nudged him with her nose and laid beside. She made half a bark, looked to her back, then nudged him once again.

[WolfEx]

Shadow watched from afar wincing in pain as his colleague was putting up an impressive fight with the giant foe. The hedgehog was no more than inspired by the way the wolf fought with such elegance and grace giving everything she had to ensure the monster was getting a run for his money. The thought of a great fighter in the making etched across the hedgehog's brain while watching the dog creature display such calculated battle tactics. There was heart, energy, resilience, sincerity in the motions of the wolf to strive for victory, and it was quite the sight to behold. Shadow thought of himself as a leader, someone who was always willing to fight alone if he absolutely had to, and in that moment of reeling pain he saw another creature just like him giving it their greatest effort to stay in the battle, lost, alone, but never losing track of their objective, their importance...their uniqueness.

He never dreamed of finding someone else like him, but this wolf's morals were not far off and its fighting spirit was nearly identical in every way. He smirked coughing a bit afterwards as trickles of blood dripped from the edge of his mouth. Was this how he was going to die? If it was, at least he would die seeing the glory of battle with the knowledge of being able to say he died fighting. He noticed something strange, though, as he faded in and out of a conscious state that the wolf looked scared at one point, and the large ape managed to land a hit on it despite its pristine plan of attack during the brief opening it had to do so.

Shadow did not expect the furious ape to get out of such a well implemented attack, it was capable of more than he thought for a being on the verge of insanity. Luckily the wolf managed to keep him busy for a short time with a continued action to its eyes. But the wolf was sent plummeting towards Shadow and managed to just barely land to muster up the strength to make its way to the injured hedgehog. It nudged him several times, but he was simply too weak to stand or push himself to keep in the fight. He tried to move, but he just hurt himself worse that way as his ribs pressed firmly against his skin as if almost wanting to cut through the tissue and lacerate the body. They were definitely broken. He looked around trying to find anything to cling on to to help him stand. He found a vine hanging down from the tree he rested on. He yanked it and helped himself up. He put one hand on his head trying to calm an infuriating migraine while the other was resting on his ribs putting pressure on them to keep them from protruding out of his sides.

His brain was still in tact at least. He focused what energy he had left on thinking up a plan in his weak state to bring down the giant nuisance. He had to think of something, or else they were both doomed. He could tell the poor wolf didn't have much left to offer in the battle, for it too was starting to feel the signs of the Infected's power. If it still had an idea on how to act in the situation, it would have kept fighting by itself and left Shadow alone to recuperate; or try to. They needed to work together to finish this hideous beast off. Shadow looked at his feet as they wobbled, he couldn't run anymore, that was obviously out of the question, he was far too impaled and injured to attempt an escape or even pull off the same maneuver he did earlier. He thought about what he had for a projectile attack thinking he could be a distraction, but then he remembered how little such distanced attacks had on a large creature, he needed to stay in close combat. He noticed the wolf however could still at least move semi-quickly. And Shadow could still attack at a somewhat decent level, he just needed someone to help with maintaining movement. He then struck an idea.

"I don't know...if you'll...if you'll agree with this idea, but if you can still manage to move, allow me to be mounted on your back and take me to the enemy. Then you must catapult me into the air so I can reach his face once more, and I will summon the power of the chaos emeralds from time and space, to turn into my Hyper form. My origins allow me to summon the emeralds but only for a very short while, and unfortunately since I am severely weakened, it will only be for no longer than a second. That should give me enough time to finish the beast off point blank with a Chaos Blast once I am airborne in my Hyper form. Afterwards, however, I will faint. So if that doesn't kill the damn monkey, you have to run. As fast as you can and leave me if you have to." Shadow paused to think about the high risk involved in such a decision, and shook off the single moment of fear he just felt, knowing that only the strong survive, this risk was all he had and all he could do at the time to take down the Infected.

"Do not argue with me about this, either. It must be done. If I die, I die taking that thing with me. As soon as it is defeated, run North and don't look back. You still have the energy to make it to the Life Sphere, it's a giant bubbled city, you can't miss it. Now let's go. Do not try and change my mind." Shadow had to be somewhat forceful with the wolf so that it could understand the sense of direness in his voice and follow the order. Shadow came here to rescue the four legged victim, and that's exactly what he planned to do, with or without escorting it back home. It had to be done. And he wasn't going to take no for an answer.

[Cielmira]

Amaterasu awaited almost excitedly for the other to stand and take her offer. For a brief couple of seconds she wagged her tail when he stood, relieved he was still capable of it; no matter how wobbly it may have been. Her ears perked attentively when words trailed from the black and red hedgehog's mouth, the wolf's head focused on his form above her. A grumble resonated from her soon thereafter, only just barely audible over the thrashing infected a dozen steps away. Being that she had been offering her back to him she eagerly awaited his motion to mount, but she had been planning to then escape. The ape's feet were injured by several burns beyond the beating they had taken, it was currently tangled in vines that would only hold tighter the more it struggled, and it was also blinded in both eyes with a rage filled fear of them still being in its immediate vicinity; thus the thrashing.

Glancing to its position the beast was now pounding the ground with an open fist and curling its fingers to pull at whatever it could from the ground and flinging it randomly in the air. There were no projectiles to speak of yet, as it hadn't quite managed to reach its nearby tree, having only pulled dying grasses and mud with the occasional bit of vine or root. Amusingly it had remained on its stomach as it floundered about. Even if it did resume snapping the tangle of vines with its hands and righting itself they could be a fair distance away, and its likely-hood of gaining back ground slim thanks to its own wounded legs. Still... there was an enticement to finish it off so it would no longer be a danger to anyone.

Her grumble diminished during his speech and she adjusted her positioning to allow him an easier time of climbing onto her back. She remained in a laying position, angled so he merely needed to move or fall forward a little ways; the curves of her thin body easily taking care of the rest when she would make to stand. She moved her divine instrument to hover above her head, planning on setting it just behind the hedgehog once they started moving. She could use her instrument to give him a good launch when the time came. And he wouldn't have to worry about his time unconscious; he would not be left nor would they fail. Ammy tore her eyes away from him to look at the tree tops, releasing a short barking howl, then back down onto the ape; of who had begun to slow its arm movements due to the lack of their presence. It must have begun to feel a bit safer.

Once the weight of her companion set itself down on her back Amaterasu slowly stood, ensuring that he was settled first. She could feel his hands steadying his being on her neck near her scruff and the canine had shifted her disk around, cooling it to a pleasant warmth and angling it down upon herself so none of the flames tickled his fur. Plus she would need it in this position in a few moments. The stand successful the wolf took a moment to assess the best point of approach. At the moment the giant seemed to be listening, which would have been bad for them if the thing hadn't just spent the last few minutes throwing things every which way. There was enough alternate sources of noise that could cover the pair's approach, just needed to keep track of which random noise the ape decided to lash out at.

Being that it had yet to free its legs she determined going around would be the safest, and so she set along her planned path though slowly at first to not jolt her passenger. Her steps were light and smooth despite her limp, making a conscious effort to make the ride a simple thing regardless of her own pains. They were nothing in comparison to what he was experiencing. Ammy put light bush and trees between them and the monster as she circled, weaving in long fluid motions around objects ahead until there was need of a sharper turn to get back to the ape once they were far enough. Before she made it however she looked back to her dark friend and barked a warning a good few moments before she made the turn.

This noise also caught the attention of the ape, but it was relying on old information by the time it had snatched up soil and rock and thrown it into the jungle. Again it went to listening, to hear if it had hit, but it also knew of a distance between them and it; or so it assumed. The giant put both hands to the ground and lifted itself, bending its knees forward as it turned itself over into a sitting position. This was their chance.

Amaterasu had brought them around and was now charging the ape as it reached into the vines and began its attempt to rip them off a fistful at a time. Again she gave a warning before her next move, though this time not with a sound. The disk lightly set its large flat surface against Shadow's back as they neared and she turned her head to him momentarily. Then, after a few more bounds, she dipped and positioned for a spring mid-run. Seconds later they were in the air. At the height of her jump she ducked her head and in the instance of beginning a somersault the disk slid between herself and the hedgehog then launched the latter with the force necessary for him to reach the giant's head; just as he had instructed.