— Tᕼᗴ - ᑎᗴ᙭T - ᗪᗩY —
𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗔'𝗦 𝗣𝗢𝗩
"Ekaw pu!" (Wake up!)
"Sey, sey, I ma ydaerla ekawa.."(Yes, yes, I am already awake..) I muttered, sitting up slow.
"Ekaw rht srehto oot." (Wake the others too)
I nodded and, with a sigh, stood up.
"Amy, Knuckles, Tails, Sticks and.. Sonic. Wake up!"
All I got was more snores.
"I don't have all day.." I muttered and snapped my fingers, summoning water balls in mid-air.
"I am warning you~ Wake up.."
No, huh? Alright.
So I dropped a water ball each on everyone's head.
"Ah! W-what!?"
"Is it raining?!"
"The roof is leaking?!"
I sighed and brushed my quills back, "Get up, everybody. They are calling us."
"Oo, is it breakfast time?" Knuckles, Sticks and Tails walked outside.
I glanced at Amy and Sonic before following after the three.
I rubbed my face in frustration. I was dying to know what Amy and Sonic were talking about. But I have to stay in line.
Then I heard Knuckles' stomach growl and I chuckled before looking at the Tribe Leader. "tsafkaerb?"
He paused for a moment, then nodded. Soon we were given some fresh, ripe fruits. They sure know what to serve, despite the threatening hospitality.
Wait, I just realised.. No flower bloomed when I had chuckled! It means I am improving.
Inner Sonica does the happy dance~
But after the breakfast, Amy, Sticks, Knuckles and Tails were sent back to the prison.
"Tpecxe eseht owt, eht tser lliw yats ni nosirp!" said the leader. (Except these two, the rest will stay in prison.)
"You guys.. have to stay in the prison.."
"Aww, fine!" Amy huffed and they all went back. "You better win, Sonic!!"
"S'tel nigeb!" said the leader in a stern voice. (Let's begin!)
FEW MINUTES LATER :
We were taken to a pool or lake.. or pond or.. whatever you call it. And there were two thick long ropes tied separately between the pairs of bamboos, forming a rope-like-bridge.
It looked like a rope-walking stunt/act in circuses.
And as its name is "Croc rope", there were crocodiles in the water.
I looked at Sonic and he looked at me. Then we both looked at the leader as he spoke :
"Uoy owt evah ot ecnalab sevlesruoy no eht sepor elihw gnilttab. Hcae fo uoy lliw eb nevig a gnol kcits dna uoy evah ot hsup ruoy tnenoppo otni eht retaw ro niur ecnalab. Eht maet ohw seganam ot ton llaf llahs niw."
Then, I translated, "We two have to balance ourselves on the ropes while battling. Each of us will be given a long stick and we have to push our opponent into the water or ruin their balance. The team who manages to not fall shall win."
Sonic nodded slowly.
"Tub eb luferac, ereht era selidocorc ni eht retaw."
As if we were blind!
Anyways.. with a sigh, I translated : "But we careful, there were crocodiles in the water."
Sonic blinked twice as his expression also said : "Do I look blind to you?"
"Eraperp neht" said the leader.
"Prepare then."
— TIᗰᗴ - ՏKIᑭ —
It took me two hours to learn to balance on this rope! The leader wanted the battle to be fair, but how is this fair?!
The audience aka other tribe members were laughing their heart out.
Sonic was still learning. But eventually, we got the hang of it.
Now Sonic was standing on one rope and I on another. The rope was swaying left and right as we stepped on it.
My heart was racing, both with fear and excitement.
Then our opponents stood on the other end of the rope.
But the one competing with Sonic said :
"Eb luferac." (Be careful.)
Then I realized that he was the same guy whom I had chased before and his mask was the same.
Then we were handed a long stick to battle with.
Then I looked at Sonic while he also held a stick like mine. He looked back at me and we both nodded.
"S'tel nigeb!" (Let's Begin!)
My opponent was unknown.. But Sonic's opponent wasn't.
No, focus here, Sonica.
I tightened my grip on the stick while balancing on the rope, looking at my opponent with a serious glare.
— Tᕼᗴᑎ - Tᕼᗴ - ᗷᗩTTᒪᗴ - ᗷᗴᘜᗩᑎ —
My opponent immediately started attacking me while I dodged them but the rope started swinging so much that I couldn't focus on fighting!
I tried using the stick like a sword 'cause I had no other idea what to do! I kept dodging his attacks till I got the hang of it. I learnt to swing along the rope and attack the opponent at the perfect timing. But he was still maintaining his balance and so was I. Then, I struck my stick at my opponent and he dodged it. Then I glanced at Sonic and my eyes widened-
H e l o s t h i s b a l a n c e ! ! !
"Sonic!!" As my instincts kicked in, I jumped from my rope to his rope without a second thought. And I immediately grabbed his hand with my left hand while grabbing the rope with right hand.
We were hanging now. . . literally.
"Sonic, you idiot! Stay still!" I tightened my grip on his hand, not letting go of the rope at any cost.
"I am sorry!" He shouted back, his ears flattened.
I grunted and tried to pull him up but couldn't.
The crocodiles also looked like they hadn't eaten in weeks!
Dammit! A life is more important than a hammer!
"Hang in there, Sonic-"
Just then- someone held out their hand. I looked up to see that it was the same guy! I felt so relieved! Sonic, quickly held his hand and got back on the rope. Then, both of them helped me to regain my balance on the rope.
"Knaht uoy.." (Thank you...) I said to him, still surprised.
Then he looked at the leader and the leader nodded. Then he also nodded and jumped off the rope. We followed after.
Now we stood in a row, facing the leader, but my head was low because...
We lost.
"Hugoht uoy t'ndid niw yltcerid tub ew eralced uoy eht renniw."
I looked up at the leader with a surprised look. "Yhw?"
"What did he say?" asked Sonic.
"He.. aid that we.. won.. indirectly..?" I replied, still looking at the leader in suprise.
Sonic started cheering, "Oh, yeah! Ha! We did it!" We did a high-five.
But I was still confused. "Tub woh did ew niw?"
"Uoy now esuaceb fo ruoy ecifircas and gnithgif slliks." replied the same guy who had helped us.
"Oh..."
"Gnihtyna gnorw? (Anything wrong?)" He asked, tilting his head.
And I shook my head slowly as a 'No.'
"What did he tell you?" whispered Sonic.
Aw, are you jealous? Let's play.
"..He told me a secret." I replied, hands behind my back.
"What? What secret?" He now stopped infront of me.
I held back my chuckle and stayed firm. "He told me not to tell anyone, especially not to a blue hedgehog."
He blinked in confusion. Then he rubbed the back of his neck while glancing away. "..anyways.. Thanks for saving me Sonica."
"You are welcome." I couldn't help but feel a little proud.
Then Sonic smiled and just stared at me for a while.
I got confused and tilted my head. "What?"
"..you really won't tell me what that guy told yoh, hm?" He leaned forward slightly, hands on his hips.
I couldn't help but chuckle coyly but then he suddenly pecked my cheek-
I looked up at him in surprise.
He glanced away, rubbing the back of his neck. "Consider it.. uh.. a 'Thank you' for saving my life."
And. My. Face. Instantly. Turned. Red.
I rubbed my cheek slowly, still surprised. No words escaped my mouth and I just gulped while looking away.
My stomach was now swarmed with butterflies.