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Post by DB on Jul 15, 2009 11:00:00 GMT -5
With a blink the echidna was pulled from his thoughts, and with a glance over to the girl he regarded her request. "A story, huh? Alright," Knuckles replied, slipping off the bed's end to his feet, "What kind do you want to hear?" While waiting for her reply, he circled around the bed, coming to stand before one of the two end tables and the lamp that sat on top of it. Now, how to turn this on? It probably had a switch like the lights on the ceiling did...
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Jul 16, 2009 19:11:34 GMT -5
@amy@ It didn't take long for Amy to come up with an answer.
"About Little Planet."
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Post by DB on Jul 16, 2009 21:33:22 GMT -5
Finally finding the method of turning on the table lamp, Knuckles switched it on before wandering off to turn off the main cabin lighting. "Something about Little Planet, huh? ... hmm..." With another flick, the cabin darkened, only the flower-like lamp sitting on top of the end table illuminating the hut. "How about one my mom always used to tell me?"
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Jul 16, 2009 23:42:03 GMT -5
@amy@ Amy brightened.
"Okay!"
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Post by DB on Jul 17, 2009 14:52:28 GMT -5
Reclaiming his seat at the bed's end, the echidna smiled slightly to himself as he rubbed his chin in thought. "A long, loooooooong time ago, there was a Guardian named Thunderhawk. He was everything a Guardian was supposed to be. He was brave, strong, and took good care of the Little Planet. One day, when the Little Planet was above Mobius, Thunderhawk made a terrible discovery while on patrol: a group of humans had somehow made their way up onto the planet! Now, this was a problem because they were running a muck!" To emphasize, the echidna waved his arms in the air. "They were making the water dirty, and hurting the plants and animals! It was a disaster!" He paused, then wagged a finger. "BUT... Thunderhawk was a wise and loving Guardian, and he knew that the wild humans just couldn't help themselves from causing trouble! But he still needed to get them off the Little Planet, for their own good and the wildlife's!" Now the gesture changed, and instead he tapped his head, as if thinking. "Now, I said that Thunderhawk was wise... so he had a plan. He wandered deep into the Land of Metallic Madness, fighting off the ferocious metal golems that prowled there..." He paused again, and with a grin, checked on his charge. Hopefully she was enjoying the story as of so far...
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Jul 17, 2009 20:58:55 GMT -5
@amy@ Knuckles would probably be impressed by the wide-eyed stare Amy was giving him. She was so engrossed into the tale already that she didn't even register that he had paused to look at her.
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Post by DB on Jul 17, 2009 22:31:14 GMT -5
Ah, good. It was good to know a change of location didn't change her love of stories. "... so he fought off golem after golem," he continued, punching at the air slightly to emphasize, "it was hard, but he finally found what he was looking for!" Another pause, as he smirked playfully to the small girl. "Can you guess what it was?"
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Jul 17, 2009 23:02:18 GMT -5
@amy@ Amy wriggled excitedly, her eyes still extremely large and locked onto Knuckles. By now she had pulled fistfulls of sheets up over her muzzle.
"Was it a power stone?" Amy asked, her voice muffled by the sheets.
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Post by DB on Jul 17, 2009 23:17:11 GMT -5
The echidna shook his head. "No, not a power stone," he replied, "but a magic urn! Once he had it, he went all around little planet looking for the humans. When he found one, he opened up the top of the urn..." He gestured as if he were doing that himself, "and WOOSH! The human shrank to the size of a bug and got sucked up safe and sound into the urn!" This was punctuated by exaggeratedly closing the invisible 'urn'. "So Thunderhawk searched day and night, night and day, finding all the humans and WOOOSH! WOOOSH!" Again, he gestured as tiny little imaginary people where sucked into an equally imaginary vase. "... until they were all in the urn, every last one of them! Once he knew he had all of them, he went back to Mobius, turned the urn around and shook it!" Shake shake! "And they all fell out and turned back to their normal size and ran off to their real homes! After that, Thunderhawk went home himself, knowing that he made the Little Planet safe again." The story over, he looked over to Amy, awaiting her opinion. Credit to Leda for writing the story for me~ I wasn't actually creative enough I just translated it to Knux-speak.
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Jul 20, 2009 10:20:23 GMT -5
@amy@ Amy struggled to not look disspirited. The ending had felt very... anticlimatic... to her. Honestly, it boggled her to think of a reason to explain why there was a magic urn deep in the depths of Metallic Madness. Wasn't that place all creepy and full of machines? Despite Little Planet being filled with magic in all of its places, the lamp just seemed out of place.
"Another one!" Amy piped up, hoping to glaze over her opinion by suggesting the guardian tell another story. The golems in Thunderhawk's tale had given her an idea. "Tell me how you beat up that Sonic golem!"
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Post by DB on Jul 25, 2009 22:41:26 GMT -5
Knuckles frowned, for two reasons. One, it was obvious that she didn't care too much for the story. Usually she was much more enthusastic about these things, but why not this one? He'd enjoyed it himself as a child but... well, maybe it was just one of those girl things? Or a hedgehog thing? Or a girl hedgehog thing? Either way, it wasn't really anything to worry about, since he could tell her another story. But therein was the second reason- the particular story she was requesting was one he couldn't tell, as it was something that hadn't occurred. "I never got a chance to do that." His frown deepened as he looked away from Amy, his nose wrinkling at the memory of the mechanical creature that had snatched the young girl away. However, the anger of the memory continued to bubble, his teeth gritting and his muscles tensing. The hedgehog golem had been bad enough on it's own, but then the audacity of that... 'Robotnik', attempting to extort the emerald out of him, using Amy as leverage. With a slight hiss, however, he continued his earlier statement. "... as much as I would of liked to."
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Jul 27, 2009 23:18:39 GMT -5
@amy@ ... Well that backfired horribly. She hadn't even considered that it wasn't Knuckles who had defeated the horrible golem that had captured and hurt her. It led to other questions that she was reluctant to ask, as Knuckles was obviously upset at the memory, and Amy did not want to hurt him further. There was an awkward silence from her part as she tried to respond, though all she could manage was to blurt out a very saddened "Oh."
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Post by DB on Jul 28, 2009 20:12:03 GMT -5
The sound of Amy's voice seemed to jar the echidna from his angry reminiscence, and with a shake of his head he went about displacing the rest of the thoughts. "I'm sorry," he apologized to the girl with a sigh, his gaze returning to her. "Is there something else you'd like to hear tonight?"
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Jul 28, 2009 23:18:22 GMT -5
@amy@ Amy was quiet, her thoughts muted after Knuckles' display of tense anger. She still did want a story, yes. More than ever she wanted one since the memories of her capture had begun to creep up on her. And they were scary.
"Well... I was wondering why there are a lot more mobians than just echidnas..." Amy mused aloud to the Guardian, thinking back to earlier that day when she had seen all sorts of mobians. Some she didn't even know what they were. And, as far as she knew, there had only been echidnas (barring Geist) during the time of Astal and Lidah. Where'd the others come from? Where'd hedgehogs come from?
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Post by DB on Jul 29, 2009 9:42:39 GMT -5
Knuckles smiled lightly. " That I have a story for." Stretching, his gaze wandered to the ceiling as his thoughts wandered to the stories his own parents had told him. How did this one go again? It wasn't one he'd told Amy, or at least, not one he remembered telling her. Hopefully he'd tell it passably. "Back when Astal and Lidah were around there were only echidnas," he began, "All created by Astal and Lidah themselves from jewels Antowas left them, living both on the Miracle Planet and Mobius itself. In the beginning, they all lived in harmony, helping Astal and Lidah tend the worlds that Antowas had created, and everything seemed to be a paradise." The echidna paused then, leaning onto an elbow and peering at the hedgehog. "They all worked their hardest to make the worlds beautiful, helping spread the plants and animals Lidah and Astal created to all corners. And they did their jobs very well, and they were all very proud of their work. But..." He allowed the last word to hang, waiting to see if he'd hooked the younger girl's attention yet.
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Jul 29, 2009 23:48:55 GMT -5
@amy@ The girl's bright green eyes were locked attentively on him, waiting for the rest of the story. What had gone wrong, if the echidnas were doing such a nice job creating the world? And how would this tie in with the creation of other Mobians? SHE MUST KNOW.
And then tomorrow she could tell her knew friends what she learned!
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Post by DB on Jul 30, 2009 10:14:56 GMT -5
"... Some were too proud of their work, and began to think that what they had done was better than their neighbors. They began to gloat, and it made their neighbors jealous and angry. It became worse and worse, and they began to fight amongst themselves, each one trying to out do the others. Astal took notice and spoke up..." Knuckles stood straight where he sat then, placing a hand forth as if gesturing to someone to halt. "STOP!", the echidna proclaimed in a voice slightly deeper, more regal than his own, " You are all equal, and none of you are any better or any worse! Cease this foolish fighting at once!" Allowing his hand to fall back to his lap, he looked again to the youngster, his normal tone returning. "And so they heard him, and they stopped their foolish fighting, but they were still bitter and angry at each other, but they knew that what Astal had said was the truth- they were all equals, and begrudgingly they went back to tending the planets." Knuckles shook his head as he remembered the words his own father had told him, the sound of the older echidna's words etched into his memory from when he had heard the tale himself. "But they could not forget how it felt to believe that they were superior, and they did not wish to be equal. So to Lidah they went, who was unaware of the fighting that had gone on, and they begged her-" Again the echidna's voice changed, his gestures that of pleading to some imaginary being above him, "Lidah, please! I am just like all my neighbors, and my neighbors are all like me, I want to be different! Please change me!" Turning to give a stern look to the hedgehog girl, the pleading gesture turned to a thoughtful rub of his chin. "This confused Lidah, as she didn't understand why they wanted to be different. There was nothing wrong with being an echidna, she thought, but she did want to make them happy... so she agreed. Each person asked for many things, some wanted to have spots or stripes that they could show off. Some wanted a longer tail to wave about, while some wanted none at all to keep it from being caught. Some wanted to be very tall, to reach the very highest things, and some wanted to be very small, to squeeze into the very smallest places, and Lidah gave them all what they asked for. But still they were not happy, for there were too many others with spots and stripes, with long tails and without, tall and short... so they asked for even more." Cupping his hands above his head, the echidna mimed the presence of ears. "Some wanted big ears, so that they could hear better." The gesture shifted, now pointing to and away from his muzzle, "Some wanted long whiskers to help find their way in the dark." Again the gesture shifted, his hands now held in front of him, as if he were about to pounce on some imaginary prey, growling and baring his teeth. "And OTHERS wanted sharp teeth and claws!" Resuming a more natural posture, he gave an exaggerated sigh. "So Lidah gave them what they wanted, but the more they asked for, the less and less like echidnas they began to look, to the point where you couldn't even tell they were echidnas to begin with! It saddened Lidah that they wished to change so much, but she hoped to make them happy, and it seemed to work, and they all returned to their places in the world, and Lidah was left very tired from making such exhausting changes." Knuckles paused again there, allowing himself to resort his memories of the story and also allowing the younger girl a moment to give any questions or statements she may of had in mind.
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Jul 31, 2009 23:51:01 GMT -5
@amy@ It was truely facinating to discover that she was originally a decendent of echidnas, who had turned themselves into hedgehogs... or at least one of them did. In fact, if all the echidnas wanted to be so different, how did the new looks stick if there was most likely only one echidna who became a fox, or just one echidna who became a bear?
"But were some of the changes more often than others?" Amy asked. "I think there would need to be lots of hedgehog-looking echidnas for the creation of true hedgehogs... but then wouldn't they ask for more changes since there were other hedgehog echidnas, and they didn't want that?"
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Post by DB on Jul 31, 2009 23:55:00 GMT -5
The echidna blinked. It was a good question, but it did make good sense as well. "Well, I don't know for sure, since it's been a long time since I heard the story myself, but I think more than one of each were around... I think it was more important to them that they and their families were special..." He pondered over the girl's question, rubbing thoughtfully at his nose. "At least, that's what I think. It seems to make sense..."
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Aug 1, 2009 0:07:25 GMT -5
@amy@ Amy mimicked the Guardian, rubbing her own nose as she pondered his response. A whole family made sense, really. Maybe even a whole tribe looked similar to each other, and they just wanted to be different from other tribes.
"I see. The families still looked alike. They just didn't wanna look like another family," Amy mused. "It would be weird if a brother looked like a bird while his sister was a bunny."
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Post by DB on Aug 1, 2009 10:45:54 GMT -5
"It would be weird," he agreed, nodding to the girl's statement. "Families are very important things. I can see them wanting their family to be different. And when they asked Lidah to change them, they lamented that they looked like their neighbors-- nothing about their family. Maybe that's what happened." Scratching his head, his gaze wandered to the ceiling as he continued to think. "When we return home, maybe I can find the scroll for this story and find out for sure. For now, lets assume that what makes the most sense is how it was meant to be. Either way, Astal wasn't happy when he found out what they had done."
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Aug 1, 2009 23:02:30 GMT -5
@amy@ It didn't take long for the little girl to reimmerse herself into the story after that deviation.
"That's because they were still trying to be better than their neighbors, isn't it?" the perceptive hedgegirl commented, her eyes seeming to light up with the assumption. She stretched and shifted in the bed slightly, having not done so in a while, and knowing in the back of her head that she was growing more and more tired as the night waxed.
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Post by DB on Aug 1, 2009 23:22:28 GMT -5
Knuckles nodded in agreement to the hedgehog's statement. "That's exactly right." And now, he continued with the story. "... it didn't help that Lidah was so tired that afterward she fell into a deep sleep that she still hasn't awoken from," he stated, "which is why her soul is within a jewel instead of being reincarnated as Astal's was. When Astal learned that they had exhausted her so for their own petty arguments, he banished them all from the Miracle Planet."
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Aug 2, 2009 0:20:34 GMT -5
@amy@ Amy let out a little gasp as the story took a dramatic (though expected) turn. Her eyes had grown wide from the suspense.
"He banished them! They were banished forever!?" Amy parroted, assuming that Astal had in fact given their punishment a level of permanence. At least, until everyone realized that they were equal.
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Post by DB on Aug 2, 2009 0:22:22 GMT -5
"He did. Even the echidnas who didn't change, as he was so angry. And he sat up on the Miracle Planet all by himself, watching Lidah... Until one day Antowas came to visit..."
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Aug 2, 2009 0:26:57 GMT -5
@amy@ No wonder Little Planet was all lonely! Astal had even kicked out the echidnas that didn't request changes from Lidah! The force of that knowledge appeared to numb Amy, as all she could ask was, "And then what?"
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Post by DB on Aug 2, 2009 0:37:08 GMT -5
"Antowas saw Astal all by himself with the sleeping Lidah on the Little Planet, and all the strange people on Mobius. So she came to Astal and asked him, and he told her of what the people had done. Antowas listened carefully, and then pointed down to the people of Mobius." At this point, Knuckles pointed downwards, as if to some invisible planet. "'In a way, they remind me of you, Astal, before you learned. With time, they will learn too. Do not be so harsh with them, for eventually they will see what they have done, and with time Lidah will reawaken.' And Astal heard her, and begrudgingly he said he would try to be more understanding of them, but that their insistence to change still angered him greatly. But, before Antowas left again, she told Astal one last thing. That there is one thing, no matter how appearances may differ, that is still equal among them all, no matter what. And Astal was pleased with what he was told, and changed his banishment- that the people of Mobius may, someday, return to the Miracle Planet, when they come to understand and realize this one truth." The story was seemingly over then, and Knuckles gazed over to the young girl. "Do you know what it is that Antowas told Astal that is unchangeable??"
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Aug 2, 2009 1:07:39 GMT -5
@amy@ Antowas' wise sayings comforted the little girl, though at first she was surprised that She did not punish Astal as well for throwing out all of the people.
And it didn't take too long for Amy to think of an answer to Knuckles' question. Astal had kicked them out for trying to be better than their peers, and then Antowas had chastized him about it.
"Our feelings?" Amy responded, her sheets shifting slightly as the little hedgehog placed a hand over her heart. She smiled, having a feeling she was right, and also feeling warm and fuzzy from the end of the tale.
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Post by DB on Aug 2, 2009 1:10:44 GMT -5
Knuckles smirked, leaning over to rustle the younger girl's hair. "You are clever." He paused, before adding with a chuckle, "... and should be asleep by now."
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Post by Topaz Mutiny on Aug 2, 2009 1:37:57 GMT -5
@amy@ Amy giggled as her hair was tussled, a tiny grin on her face. It grew larger as Knuckles not-so-subtly told her to go to sleep now. There wouldn't be any more stories tonight.
Deeply satisfied, the small child closed her eyes, still grinning. Despite the very animated smile, it did not appear that Amy would open her eyes again any time soon. Very quickly, her wild thoughts grew muted and incoherent, and, slowly but surely, the smile relaxed as the little hedgehog drifted into dreamland.
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