The Dimension Keepers (A Sonic Boom Fanfic)

Chapter Two

Chapter Two

This silent stranger seemed to know exactly where he was going. He walked with purposeful strides to an unknown location, glancing back every now and again to make sure Kay was keeping up all right. Her head was still hurting, but it wasn't as bad as before, and besides that she knew that he knew the land and its dangers better than she did. She could rest once they got to where they were going.

Eventually the silence grew to be too much for her, however; she still had many questions. As the terrain became rockier and rougher, Kay asked, "So did you just happen to be out here right at the time I was being attacked?"

The stranger looked back at her once more before replying. "I was on my way to the destination we are currently traveling to. I do not believe it was by mistake I happened upon you and your situation."

Kay had no idea what he meant by that. "Where are we going, exactly?"

"To a safe location. There are few of them now since the war started. I have friends there who will be able to help you, and to whom I must bring news of our enemies."

"How...how do you know I'm not one of them? Your enemies, I mean."

They came to a point in their climb at which they had to jump up onto a ledge to continue forward. The stranger scaled the short distance easily, then turned to assist Kay as she attempted to do the same. Once they were both safely up and walking again, he answered, "If the Yagyu were attacking you, you are either unaffiliated or on our side. They would not attack one of their own; rather, they would escort them safely through their territory."

Kay blinked. "Oh."

"If you've only recently arrived I can only assume you are unaffiliated with our war unless proven otherwise. Furthermore, though you are only a visiting our kingdom, in these dangerous times all guests are protected by the crown. That is why I am helping you, shiriai." He glanced back at her again. She could hear a smile in his next words. "Though from the looks of things you were fairing all right on your own for a little while."

Kay was so surprised that she stopped short. "You saw me fighting them?"

"I did. Very resourceful of you to use a tree branch as a weapon."

"Um, thanks." Kay suddenly felt silly for having thought that would work against trained ninjas. "It didn't do a lot of good though, did it?"

"It was a valiant effort. You must have known you couldn't outrun them, so you turned and fought instead. I was impressed, shiriai."

"Thank you."

After that they continued on in another bout of silence until at last the stranger began to slow his pace. They were walking along a rocky hillside covered in overhanging branches and vines. The stranger put one of his hands against the hill as they walked and occasionally pushed against it, as if testing its strength.

Now that their pace was slower and she could focus on something other than trying to keep up, Kay allowed herself to look around and take in her surroundings. Their particular location on the hillside met the tops of the trees of the forest. From here she could look out over it as though looking at the ocean. It spread vast and nearly unending before her eyes, but in the far distance she could see an end to the treeline, and the morning sun beginning to peek up over it.

This is Chun-Nan, she thought to herself with a small smile. It's beautiful.

"Ah, here we are." The stranger spoke again at last, drawing Kay's attention back to him. His hand had disappeared into the hill with its branches and vines, as though it had been sucked inside. He gestured to her with his free hand. "Come. We are close."

Kay took a step forward, watching in surprise as he moved into the hill completely, vanishing from the ledge as though he had never been there at all. She blinked, then put her own hand against the area where he had gone. It went straight through; there was nothing but open air on the other side.

Amazing. From this side the hill looks solid. Kay slowly continued forward until she was fully inside the small cave along with her rescuer.

"This way," he said, reaching a hand toward her. In the near darkness it was almost impossible to see him, but a few beams of early morning sunlight allowed her just enough brightness to reach for and take his offered hand. He held it firmly as he pulled her further into the cave, the darkness becoming more and more complete with each step they took.

Kay wanted to give voice to her awe, but somehow felt that breaking the silence now would be wrong. In the back of her mind she wondered if this was the new Mobius' equivalent of "the way of the blind" from the old Dragon Kingdom.

At last, just when she thought it couldn't get any darker in this cave, two small beams of light appeared in front of them. As they grew closer Kay could see that the lights were flames; two torches mounted on either side of a small doorway with no door.

And just as they were about to pass through this door, there was brief glint of metal and the stranger stopped short. Kay stopped with him. It took her a moment to realize that the glint she had seen had come from the tip of a spear that was just inches from the stranger's neck. She gasped aloud, then covered her mouth with her free hand and willed herself to stay silent.

The stranger did not seem bothered at all. He simply turned his head to the right, to where its holder stood in the shadows. "Sore wa watashi, watashi no yūjindesu."

In the next moment the spear tip vanished from its place and withdrew into the shadows. "Watashi no ōji!" A new voice exclaimed. Its owner stepped out into the torchlight and then fell to both knees, pressing his forehead against the floor of the cave. "Watashi o yurushitekudasai."

"Anata wa yurusa reta. Get up, Li Yuen. We have company."

Li Yuen? Kay frowned to herself. That name sounds familiar...

The newcomer rose to his feet and turned to her then. Kay's eyes widened. He was a lion! She'd never seen a Mobian lion in person before. He had bright yellow fur that gleamed in the torches' light, and a rusty orange mane that he wore proudly all around his head and down his chest slightly. She could hardly see his ears peeking through the fur. His eyes were brown – nearly black – and he regarded her for a moment before speaking again.

"A hedgehog?"

"She was being attacked by the Yagyu. I rescued her and brought her here so she will be safe. She is a guest in our kingdom." The stranger considered for a moment and then added, "She may or may not also need medical attention. She received a rather impressive head wound during the battle."

The lion – Li Yuen – bowed his head. "Of course, sire."

Kay was still so caught up in the fact that she was seeing a lion for the first time that it took her a few moments to register what had been said. When she did, she blinked and pulled her hand out of the stranger's. She hadn't realized he'd still been holding it. "Sire?" she asked incredulously, looking back and forth between both of them. "What?"

Before Li Yuen could speak her rescuer held up a hand and turned his golden eyes on her. They, too, shone in the torchlight. "Do not be alarmed. I am not fit to be called a royal so long as I do not have control of my throne. I do not require Li Yuen to bow, or refer to me as anything but 'friend.' In fact, I have asked him explicitly to do the opposite." Here he shot a look at the lion, who again bowed his head.

Kay took another step back, her aching head unable to process what she was hearing. "You're a king?"

The stranger sighed. "Not quite." He reached up to grasp the mask he wore, pulling it off slowly to reveal his face to her. Kay wanted to scream, laugh, cry, and leap forward to hug him all at the same time. As it was she barely stifled another gasp. Her rescuer held his mask at his side and said, "I am Prince Shinobi, heir to the throne of the Dragon Kingdom and its four warrior clans. But you may – and I rather insist that you do – call me Espio."