[AMY]
It started out just like any other day on Planet Mobius...
I woke up in a good mood. Yawning sleepily as I opened my eyes, I could see the pale glow of the sun peaking through a small gap in my velvet curtains. I slowly climbed out of bed and did a few stretches to wake up my body. I then walked over to my window and opened it wide to let in some fresh air.
"Ahh it's a beautiful day!" I said to myself as I took a deep breath.
The sun always makes me feel happy. Today would be a perfect day to go on an adventure! There was this spot, deep in the forest near my house that I wanted to check out. I noticed it the other day when I was exploring, but I didn't have time to give it a suss, as it was already evening and the sun was setting. It looked like I had found some buried ruins of an old stone building or something. Whatever it was I was keen to find out!
I went downstairs and into the kitchen to make breakfast and have a coffee, my favourite part of the day. I loved the little home that I lived in. Although it was small, it was so cosy, and I had decorated it just how I liked it in pastel colours, and I had hung beautiful artwork of flowers and butterflies in every room to make it more homely.
I grabbed a fresh pack of waffles out of the cupboard, put them on to toast and switched on the coffee machine. Looking out the window at the clear blue sky I smiled to myself in anticipation of the fun day I was about to have.
I wondered what my friends were up to. Maybe I'll call round Blaze and Cream's house on the way out to see if they want to come with me.
The delicious aroma of fresh coffee filled the kitchen. I poured myself a cup and drank it whilst munching down my waffles. After I'd finished, I quickly cleaned up and went back upstairs to get showered and get dressed. When I was ready I made my way over to my friends' place.
"Hey Ames!" Cream cried happily as she opened the door. "Come in!"
I gave her a hug and followed her to the lounge room. Blaze was still in her pyjamas, sitting on the couch reading a book.
"Hey Blaze!"
"Oh good morning Amy!" she smiled and looked up at me. "You're up and about early. What's happening?"
I took the seat next to her and Cream sat down on the floor facing us. They both lived in this house together, just down the road from me. Their place was slightly larger than mine, with cool blue walls, wooden flooring and lots of comfy, fluffy rugs that made the place feel cosy. It always had a fresh, floral smell, like lavender.
"I'm going on an adventure today," I told them, "And I was wondering if you guys would like to come?"
"Ooooh what kind of adventure?" Cream asked excitedly.
"I want to explore the forest near our house. I think I found something exciting-"
"But Amy, you know that forest is off limits," Blaze cut me off. "It's too dangerous. Plus, it's riddled with Robotnik's badniks."
"I know we're not supposed to go in there, but I already have! It's fine, I didn't see a single robot..." I argued.
"I don't see the point in going looking for danger, but that's your choice!" Blaze said coolly.
"I'm not looking for danger, I'm looking for adventure!" I said happily. "Plus anywhere off limits is bound to be harbouring some secrets..."
"Well I can't come anyway," Blaze said. "I'm training with Sonic, Shadow and Silver today, we're working on some new battle moves."
"And I promised my mother I'd help her do the shopping for the barbeque at the weekend," Cream said, sounding slightly disappointed.
As it was the first week of summer, Vanilla, Cream's mother, had decided to throw a barbeque for all of our friends to celebrate the warm weather.
"Oh that's okay guys!" I smiled, happy to go alone. "Maybe next time! I guess I'll be heading off then."
I hugged Blaze and Cream goodbye and went on my way.
"Bye Amy!" they said in union before closing their front door behind me.
Upon reaching the outskirts of the forest I slowed down to look for these supposed badniks. Staying completely still, I used all of my senses to check for danger. I sniffed the air for any traces of metal and oil, but all I could smell was the earthy scent of tree bark and blossoms. The only sound around me was the singing of colourful birds as they flew over my head. The birds were calm, so that meant there were no immediate threats around.
Satisfied with my safety checks, I enthusiastically made my way deep into the forest in the direction of the ruins. Jumping over fallen logs and climbing over rocks, I felt at peace being alone in nature.
After about half an hour of trekking, I spotted the ruins. Excited to get to examine them properly, I rushed over and started pulling away tufts of grass and moss that had grown over the grey stone.
All of a sudden I heard a whirring sound coming from behind me. Summoning my piko piko hammer I turned round instantly to be faced with a wasp-like robot, a buzz bomber, flying right at me. Luckily thanks to my lightening quick reflexes, I smashed the badnik to smithereens with one smooth sweep of my hammer. Pieces of metal flew everywhere exposing a tiny bunny rabbit, who joyfully bounced off to its freedom.
"So there are badniks in this forest!" I said out loud. "That must mean they're guarding something here. I'll bet it has something to do with this mysterious old building!"
As my voice echoed through the trees, I noticed more whirring in the distance, quickly getting louder. I had caught the attention of more robots because all of a sudden I was surrounded by a circle of eight more buzz bombers.
"Heh you guys think you're a match for me?!" I mocked them, holding up my hammer in defence. "C'mon then, show me what you got!"
The first bot swooped at me from behind. I anticipated their strategy would be to play dirty and attack from where I couldn't see so I was able to manoeuvre my hammer around my body just in time to collide with the robot. One by one they all tried to attack me but I was too fast, and easily defeated them, relishing in the satisfying crunch of the metal when they collided with my hammer. In no time there were eight more happy animals freed from the bots and running off to find their families.
"Phew!" I exclaimed. "Now I'm convinced there's something here!"
Rubbing some beads of sweat off my forehead with my wrist, I went back to examining the rubble. It looked like here once stood a magnificent stone building, carved with precision and full of detail. Now all was left was a pile of interesting grey stones of all shapes and sizes that were slowly being forgotten, overgrown with plants as nature took over.
Upon a closer look I was surprised to find that all of the stone slabs had symbols etched all over them, like a code or another language. I got a shiver down the back of my spine. I knew that nothing on Mobius would be able to carve stone of this density with such perfection. I started getting the feeling that I was looking at something at something I wasn't supposed to see.
Suddenly out of nowhere a chillingly cold gust of wind nearly knocked me over.
"What was that?!" I exclaimed looking around. I couldn't see anything out of the ordinary but the forest was now eerily quiet. I began to feel uneasy and thought about heading home.
Before I could make a decision, I noticed what seemed like an opening in the ground a few yards away from me. My curiosity got the better of me and I couldn't resist creeping closer to get a better look.
As I approached the small hole I realised that it was in fact an entrance to a cave. I couldn't believe what I was seeing. The walls of the cave had the same carvings of the strange symbols that were on the stones outside. I could feel my heart beating faster in anticipation.
I can't turn back now!
Going against my better judgement, I pushed away my concerns and lowered myself into the cave's entrance. The first thing I noticed was that inside the temperature was a few degrees warmer than outside. It was a strange sensation as I thought caves were supposed much cooler compared to summer air. To my surprise it didn't smell like a cave either. There was a strange spicy and aromatic aroma that seemed to be coming from further inside.
This is so weird...
Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves I squeezed myself through the gap that seemingly lead to the rest of the cave. But nothing could have prepared me for what I saw next.
I found myself standing in front of a gigantic tunnel that stretched out so far in front of me I couldn't see the end of it. The walls were lit up with futuristic flame lamps and the same cryptic inscriptions were carved into the walls and ceiling the whole way down. The floor was neatly tiled with squares of marble, each one marked with a strange symbol of a flower. Never in my life had I set eyes on such a creepy place. It was out of this world, alienistic even.
And then I heard it.
Just when I thought things couldn't get any more bizarre, I was caught off-guard by the distant sound of... voices?! Whatever this tunnel leads to, there are actual people down there!
I need to find out what's going in here!
Refusing to let fear get the better of me, I began my descent down the chilling passageway.