Lights, Camera, Action!

Chapter 12: Stunt Double

Once Honey had finished practising the make-up on them both Shadow headed off to check up on his mum and Blaze was left on her lonesome. She didn't mind her own company but she did wonder what to do next, she'd never worked on a big film production like this before. Blaze suspected however that in the weeks and months to come there would be a lot of preparation before filming could actually start to commence. Honey walked out of her preparation room and nearly collided with the aspiring actress. "Woah, careful." She informed Blaze as she hurried off to wherever she was going next. Blaze had come to observe that the assassin was always hurrying somewhere or that there was always some way to describe her movements. Everything she did had a purpose that could easily be described.

Blaze decided that standing around like a lonely, lost and ridiculous person wouldn't help her so she checked her map. She ticked off the places she'd already been to and realised she'd easily spent a good six hours here already. There was so much to do that Blaze hadn't even felt bored in the slightest. There was a rapid pattering of feet above her on the metal platforms and Blaze looked up to see Sonic and Amy cuddling. They were always cuddling or kissing, like they had been glued together. Still, she didn't mind the cute and sweet romance between them that was obviously loving and joyful. It was the cold, mature, indebted and angry relationship between Honey and Shadow that frustrated her.

Even thinking of the pair earlier today made her skin crawl. Not out of jealousy or anything but more like bittersweet exhaustion at what could have been compared to what it was. Blaze considered that either Sonic was in great depths of denial or they were ready good actors for him not to see the chasms in their relationship. Blaze quickly shook her head to vanish those thoughts from her mind and focused on improving her work, that's what the Twins did and they were the happiest people she'd seen so far. Looking at her map, she looked over the areas where she hadn't visited yet which was in the upper northwest area of the site. From the diagram, Blaze could see that this area contained set design, a state of the art gym and a large, empty warehouse. The only thing labeled on that was mechanics. Curious, the aspiring actress started to make her way over.

------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

Branch kicked the bamboo stick up into the air and spun on the point of his toe. Keeping the pace of his spin, his eyes followed the stick as it arched and curved high up in the air before starting to fall. Branch didn't slow his movements but instead started to lift his other foot from its position outwardly and caught the stick with his toes. Using his hands as he stopped spinning, Branch propelled himself into a cartwheel before throwing the stick up with his foot and catching ot in his hand once upright.

Breathing heavily from an hour of training, his dark green tank top stained with sweat, Branch grinned up at the fluffy white clouds populating a beautifully clear sky. "How was that? Pretty impressive if I do say so myself." He chuckled to himself before a strong breeze ran through the open window and twirled his stick so much that Branch had to hold it in a different position. This new way was a lot more fluid in his transition from spin to cartwheel to upright. He groaned once he realised this new position was better. "Show off." Branch muttered to the open air as he slammed the window shut.

Although he wasn't an assassin like Honey, growing up on the streets alongside her had allowed his ears to evolve to become sensitive to even the quietest of whispers or footsteps. Branch would never even dare to think he was as good as his best friend but he took pride in his abilities. Right now, they came in useful as he heard someone approaching. Female, wearing soft ballet flats maybe? Velvet or silk? Wait! There was a bow. Interesting. In his mind, Branch ran through all the people he knew whose personal foot choice matched the description. Honey wouldn't need to question her predictions but Branch had some room for error.

However when they poked their head around the door, he gave himself an imaginary pat on the back. The newest recruit called Blaze if he remembered correctly, stood shyly at the doorway. "Why hello there." Branch greeted her with a smile, taking a drink of water. "How can I help you?" She looked to be a mix between all three of the women around her. There was a kindness and curiousity to her expression that was reminiscent of Starlight yet her slight frame and slightly nervous demeanour reminded him of Amy. However there was a fire in her eyes, a passion that burned from a world that scorned her. Branch nearly laughed at that observation due to the fact he'd seen that same inferno raging inside sea blue eyes for a decade now.

Realising he was staring, Branch averted his gaze and focused on the bamboo. Blaze didn't seem bothered though as she stepped closer, looking in awe at the room. It wasn't much, a simple training studio with dark blue mats, a wooden bar running along the mirrors and a series of ropes and hoops to train with. The walls were a marron colour that highlighted the trampoline in the corner. Branch supposed that the equipment was actually quite good and probably a lot better than what this young women had seen on jobs. "I was just curious what this place was. Honey has finished with my make-up and Shadow went off somewhere so I went exploring." She turned to him with a smile that suddenly took on a concerned look. "That's okay right? You're not too busy." Blaze started to back out but Branch laughed and chucked a skipping rope at her.

As the young woman looked mildly confused, he wondered if she knew what to do. "You are perfectly welcome to be here. I'm a stunt coordinator so I help with all the cool things in films where people jump, fly or fight in really cool ways. Angela, your character, does get herself into a few scraps. We can practise a few of the easier moves if you want, but you'll have a stunt double who does the really tricky bits for you. They can get dangerous sometimes, especially with Beauty directing." Branch meant it as a joke but Blaze's face clouded over and he wondered if he'd crossed a line. He gently nudged her with the rope. "You okay?" He asked gently, concerned

Blaze blinked at his level of concern because it had crossed her mind more than once today if they was an emotion people here felt. She considered the possibility that Branch may have just been being polite and didn't really want to know about her current mental state but she also supposed that he could just tell her to shut up if desired. "Does Beauty kill people a lot? Why did no one do something?" These had been questions that had been weighing on her mind heavily since the briefing.

Branch sighed and grabbed another skipping rope. "Beauty doesn't do that a lot. Not a public execution. I think she was just in a bad mood today because it was the first briefing and they were talking over her." He chose to omit the part where she was also probably tense that she hadn't had a chance to survey their latest member yet. Branch imagined that Blaze didn't want the potential guilt of the writers deaths on her conscience. "She is vicious and can get violent at times but I imagine that's all the death you're going to witness." Blaze had started to skip now as well but he noticed that she was awkward and clumsy with it. "I'm sorry, one of us should've thought of you before now. We have an excellent phycology and therapy unit on the second floor." He pointed to the main studios and up to the second floor which had a bright blue pained on the outside.

Blaze nodded as she took all the information in. Yet she still needed her second question answered. "Still, nobody intervened or seemed particularly shocked. Even the writers themselves seemed to know what was happening! Petal full on blocked them in while the rest of you formed an execution ring! Surely you can see how inhuman that this?!" Branch had the decency to look away from her as he started to spin and do some tricks with the skipping rope.

"We are all very grateful to Beauty for not only hiring us but giving us a place on her star team. Death is an occupational hazard." Branch stopped skipping for a moment to look at her. "I understand that all the death seems weird. I've just gotten used to it over the years. It isn't all doom and gloom however. Once filming actually starts, I promise you will feel much better." Blaze smiled gratefully at him as they continued to skip in sync. Perhaps things wouldn't be so bad after all.

I hope you enjoyed this chapter, I liked what Branch told Blaze about working in the studios. This was quite a long chapter I thought. I will update again tomorrow most likely so bye, bye.