Black Petals: Chapter 21 ~ Phase 2 Begins

"Wow! New venue!" Amy exclaimed as she and Shadow arrived in Soleanna's Tropical Jungle Zone, which was true to its name. Big trees, raging waters and the appropriate wildlife. It was truly quite the spectacle to behold. "It's not exactly 100% safe," explained Shadow, "but otherwise perfect for the next phase of your training." Amy glanced at Shadow curiously, and he tossed her the green Chaos Emerald. "First," he said, "focus on that Emerald. Sync yourself with its energy and form." Amy nodded and concentrated, putting all of her focus on the gem. After 15 minutes, the Chaos Emerald began flashing. Within moments, it lifted into the air and began hovering. Amy smiled proudly, happy that she was able to do something never even thought was possible for her.

"Very good," Shadow commended, before snatching the Emerald and using it to create a blinding flash of light. While Amy rubbed her eyes, he reared back and chucked it into the deeper parts of the jungle. By the time Amy could once again see properly, she was shocked to see that the Chaos Emerald was gone. "Huh? Where...?" Shadow simply said, "Now you have to find it, using the energy sensing you've learned thus far." Amy was gobsmacked. "You really expect me to find it way in there?" Shadow nodded. "And you have until dusk to do so, or you don't eat."

"WHAT?!"

Shadow folded his arms at her antics. "I'd get busy. You're burning daylight yelling at me." Amy stared at him blankly, still unbelieving of the task set before her. "...This is payback for making you lug all those bags, isn't it?" Shadow smirked and replied, "Of course not." He then disappeared via Chaos Control.

"Hey!" Amy shouted, "Get back here!"

She was answered with silence.

"Shadow! I know you're still out there!"

Silence followed.

"Damn it, Shadow!"

The accompanying silence became obnoxious and Amy groaned in irritation, pacing back and forth as she fumed. "That jerk! And I finally had the nerve to snuggle with him!! He's probably laughing at me right now! He just wanted to mock me!! When I find him I-!"

She suddenly stopped pacing and mentally went over her rant. 'Wait a sec. He will laugh as long as I'm giving him something to laugh at. I get upset too easily and jump to silly conclusions. Ugh, damn it all, this is exactly what Sonic was talking about. I need to take a step back and calm down.' Amy remained still, inhaling and exhaling. After a minute or so, she felt calmer. 'That's better, Amy. Now, to find that Chaos Emerald.' She closed her eyes and focused. 'Try to remember how it felt to have it in my hands. Tune myself to its energy...concentrate...concentrate...' A few moments passed before her eyes flash open and she looked to the west. "There!" With that, she was off!

Hours passed as Amy rushed through the forest, leaping gracefully through the trees. She searched high and low, but had little luck. Every time she felt herself getting closer, she would search a spot, but come up empty, forcing her to center herself again and sense its energy. By the time the sun began to set, she had learned to continually sense it. Finally, she found the Chaos Emerald, hanging in a tree branch overreaching a cliff. Amy rolled her eyes. "It figures." As she approached the branch, Amy's spines stiffened, then flared, and she glowed with a teal light for a split second. She then said to herself, "The branch is weak. It could give way at any moment." Looking at said branch, it did look rather weak. This new information puzzled Amy. "Wait, what? How did I know that? Huh." She then shrugged. "Well, whatever."

Amy precariously climbed the tree and balanced herself upon the branch like a tightrope walker, breathing evenly and keeping her posture steady. When she reached the Emerald, she slowly bent down (unintentionally giving a great view of her toned rear) and plucked the Chaos Emerald from its resting place. Amy held up the green Chaos Emerald, closely inspecting it. 'You know, every now and then, I can't help but wonder where these things came from. I know Knuckles' clan has had them for the longest, but they didn't make them. These gems had to have come from somewhere...'

Suddenly, a breeze blew through, breaking Amy out of her musing and reminding her where she was. "I can ponder this later. Right now, I need to find Shadow so I can eat." Carefully, Amy turned around and went back the way she came. However, she wasn't even halfway before she started glowing again. At that moment, a vision came to her: The branch snapped and gave way, sending her over the cliff. Quickly, she leapt off the branch, grabbing a large root. From there, she jumped back to the top. The vision ended there and Amy was brought back to reality. Then, the branched snapped and Amy saved herself...just as the vision directed.

Once she was safe on the cliff, Amy looked over and watched the branch fall to the river below. "Ok...that was weird," she mused. "That was my first psychic vision in forever! But, I don't have my tarot cards with me, so how did I...?" She tried to figure out how she did such a thing, but could not come to a conclusion. "Hmm. Well, I guess it doesn't matter right now," she decided as she held up the Chaos Emerald with a proud smile. "I got what I came for! Now to find Shadow!" Amy focused on the Emerald and, after a minute, her eyes shot open once more and another vision flashed in her mind's eye, this one showing Shadow's exact location. She did not question it this time. "There you are, baby..." With a smirk, she began running.


Shadow stood waiting high in the ruins. Feeling bored, he decided to test his speed and jumped down, hovering to the ground. Once meeting terra firma, he turned off his Air Shoes' propulsion systems and started running. He rushed past many trees and old pillars, going faster and faster. Coming up to a random spring, he launches himself high above the shallow water to the ancient architecture ahead, grabbing airborne Rings before landing on a vine sturdy enough for grinding. A slide here, a jump there and he was back on the ground, blazing a trail on his own speed. As he ran, he came across several instances where he could have used his Chaos abilities, but he forced himself to use his natural abilities to make it through. A smile soon came to his face, as Shadow began enjoying himself. 

As he came to the exit of an enclosure, he sensed a Chaos Emerald coming towards him. "Hmph. Took her long enough." He skidded to a stop and waited. "3...2...1.." Quickly, he used a spinball jump to narrowly dodge an attack from Amy, who landed onto the nearby wall. "Shoot!" she exclaimed with a pout. "I could've sworn I had you that time!" Shadow scoffed. "Who do you think you're dealing with here? I'm not one of the Doctor's useless pawns. Anyway, judging from the Chaos energy radiating from you, I'm assuming you got the Emerald?"

"Yep!" Amy happily displayed the green Chaos Emerald with a V sign, beaming with pride. Shadow gave her a barely noticeable smile. "Well done, Amy. A deal's a deal. Let's find something to eat, shall we?"

"Indeed we shall, babe," Amy said, walking on ahead.

Shadow blinked. '"Babe?"'