Mobius Destiny (A Sonic Boom Fanfic)

Chapter Four

Chapter Four

In a flurry of movement, the circle of light was suddenly flooded with two dozen more bodies. More soldiers had arrived on the scene...but they weren't Storm Clan warriors. At first Kay was confused by the seemingly endless amount of arms each of them had. Almost all of them carried two or three or even four weapons each. It baffled her. But then she remembered: one of the four clans of the Dragon Kingdom was made up entirely of spiders – a rare kind of insect Mobian.

The Gossamer Clan had arrived on the scene. And as she watched, she realized they weren't fighting with the Storm Clan, but against them. They were here to support the prince.

Kay let out a whoop, unable to help herself. The assistance they'd needed had arrived just in time, and with their extra weapons in hand, they were taking the Storm Clan down easily. Lynx after lynx fell to the forest floor. Gradually their attention shifted away from Espio's troupe entirely, though it did them little good. Five Gossamer warriors formed a protective circle around the prince, refusing to let him fight any longer. As quickly as they'd arrived the fighting was over entirely. The last few Storm Clan warriors retreated, and all was silent in the small clearing.

Breathing a sigh of relief, Kay started toward Espio as the Gossamer warriors dispersed from around him, battered broom handle at her side. But stepping away from Nikōru drew attention to the rogue lynx, and instantly two spider warriors were rushing at her, weapons drawn.

Realizing they thought Nikōru was part of the Storm clan, Kay cried, "Wait!" But her voice was drowned out by Espio shouting even louder.

"Kanojo ni furenaide kudasai!"

The Gossamer warriors skidded to a halt, turning to look at him in confusion. Espio pushed his way past the group that was still nearby and lifted a hand toward Nikōru. "Kanojo wa aijindesu. Kanojo o kizutsukenaide kudasai."

The spiders that had rushed at Nikōru bowed to the prince, then turned and bowed to her apologetically. She said something to them in reply, and just like that, all was peaceful in the clearing again.

Two warriors approached Espio, bowing low to the ground and speaking with obvious respect and reverence. Espio nodded at them, and the three began conversing. Li Yuen moved to stand nearby. Kay knew she would not be able to understand anything that was being said, so she instead turned her attention to the two members of their troupe that had fallen in the initial battle. One of them was stirring, but the other lay perfectly still.

"Nikōru," she murmured, getting the lynx's attention. She pointed first at her, then at the man still lying unconscious on the ground. "Can you go help him? I'll help the other."

Nikōru nodded her understanding, then scurried away to do as she was asked. Kay turned to the man who was just beginning to get to his hands and knees, and went to help him up. It wasn't much, but at least she was doing something, and right now she needed something to distract her from the reminder that this surprise attack could have been prevented if she'd just stayed put instead of letting Shadow lead her away.

~

The sun was rising by the time Kay was finally updated on what exactly was happening now that backup had arrived. She was sitting against the base of a tree with her wounded broom handle, watching the organize chaos going on around her. The two members of their troupe who had been hurt in the battle had been attended to, and the fallen Storm soldiers had been dragged out of sight by the Gossamer warriors. Kay had watched as Nikōru retrieved what arrows she could from the ground – even from some fallen lynxes – and put them back in her quiver for future use. She had way less now than she had before the ambush, but at least it was something. Just in case.

After a while, she saw Espio go to Nikōru and gently get her attention; she'd been a bit jumpy after her clan had attacked so viciously. A moment later, Li Yuen was approaching her.

"Are you all right, shiriai?" he asked as he sat beside her.

"Yeah," Kay replied, eyes still on Espio and Nikōru. "How are the others?"

"They'll live. Their wounds were not fatal." Yuen paused for a moment, then continued. "The Gossamer and Shinobi clans have allied themselves with Prince Shinobi. The kingdom is evenly split now. The warriors who came to our aid this morning were sent by their Bride. She foresaw this attack."

She did? Kay thought. Then she remembered – the Gossamer Bride's web was able to (in part) tell the future. More accurately, it told her what possible futures awaited depending on what choices she made. She must have consulted it to discover what would happen if she did not send assistance immediately. Thank goodness she wanted to help at all.

"The Shinobi Bride sent two of her warriors to inform the Gossamer Bride of her continuing loyalty to the prince, and that she is sending more warriors as quickly as she can. Soon Prince Shinobi will have an army at his command. In the meantime, the Gossamer clan has set up a camp nearby, and they have invited us to join them there for better protection, as well as more supplies."

"That's good," Kay replied, nodding. We definitely need it.

"The prince is sending his remaining men back to the refugee haven so they may inform the others about what is happening here in the capital. The rest of us will follow him to the Gossamer camp. They say it is about half a day's journey from here."

Kay nodded again, processing what she'd been told. After everything they'd been through the past couple days, a half day walk sounded exhausting, but knowing there was a camp at the other end with food and water and more protection certainly made up for it.

"When do we leave?" she asked.

"The sooner the better, so the enemy won't have time to regroup before we're gone," Yuen replied. He stood up again, brushing off some dirt. "The prince may give the signal at any moment, so be ready, shiriai."

"I will be."

Another half hour later – during which Kay was given some rations from a Gossamer warrior and she could not stop herself from thinking once again of Shadow and how he'd distracted her from her watch – the three remaining men from their original troupe bowed to Espio and started off back the way they'd all traveled days before. They had barely vanished from sight before everyone else was preparing to leave as well.

Kay stood, feeling like a joke with a broom handle while all the Gossamer warriors around her had real weapons attached at their hips and along their backs. Still, she followed Espio's direction as he called her over to him. The prince, Li Yuen, Nikōru, and Kay all stood in the center of the Gossamer soldiers, and in organized columns they began to march away from the scene of the ambush, toward the next stage of the war.