The Starfallen

New acquaintances

Shadow stalks back into the enclosed area, exiting the tunnel with winding passages and more false paths than he would think to be necessary. Just as he does, though, he sidesteps to avoid colliding with Tails. The young Mobian steps back, mumbling an apology. "Are you going somewhere?" Shadow inquires. Not because he actually cares about what the fox does, but if he ends up needing to find him again at some point, it'd be useful to have an idea of where he is. He seems to be in a slightly better mood, too. A little hopeful, in comparison to the sadness and confusion he'd given off before. "I'm-uh, I saw-I'm going to..." Fumbling over his words, Tails makes a few gestures with his hands, looks back at the pool, then stops himself and tries again. "I spoke to Sonic. In the pool." He states simply. Shadow raises his eyebrows, and while this announcement has come as a surprise to him, the longer he thinks about it the more it makes sense given what they know. He indicates for them to sit down, leaning against the stone walls. "And? Anything useful?" He prompts. "Well, he confirmed that the Starfallen is a different entity, it's just taking on a form that looks like him. He said it's also still connected to the lake, and he can see what it sees, adding up with what it was telling me, about being able to hear him. Sonic didn't tell me where it was, though. Only that it was running at a normal speed rather than his speed. He also mentioned that he's able to speak through reflective surfaces. I'll need to make sure this works, but I'd assume if we carried around a mirror, we'd have a quick way to talk with him again if we needed to." Tails explains, leaving 'and we probably will' unspoken and hanging in the air. Shadow makes a note to find something that would help achieve that goal later, and continues to focus on the young fox's explanation. "And at the end, he said he had a plan, or at least an idea: he wants us to collect the Chaos Emeralds, even if only to keep them away from the Starfallen. There's a group he said he saw; he thinks they might be able to help us, too. They're somewhere in the Mystic Ruins, so maybe they're treasure hunters, like Rouge. Or maybe they're archeologists or something." Shadow falls silent, considering. "Well, it's not his worst plan." He admits. "And we already have one here, with me." As he speaks, Shadow produces the Chaos Emerald, glowing and green. "It's a start. Do you know where any of the other ones are?" Tails asks, twitching his ear. "I might..." The hedgehog begins, only to be interrupted with the arrival of Rouge and Knuckles, who's watching the bat carefully. Shadow and Tails stand up to greet them. "Well, that's the best we could think of for now...what have you been up to?" Knuckles inquires. Tails swiftly debriefs them on the plan, and Rouge smirks.

"I do know where one is." She announces confidently. "Really? Where?" Knuckles asks. "Eggman has one. I saw it when I was there earlier. I didn't try to steal it because he was there at the time, and this seemed slightly more important." She answers. Shadow sighs quietly. He'd rather not deal with the Doctor, but whatever must be done. "If we're looking for Emeralds, it'd be a good idea to spread out. But not alone; the Starfallen will undoubtedly try to stop us if it knows our mission. If you're going out for Eggman's Emerald, or to find these people, I could use the Master Emerald to see if it can help pick out any others, in the meantime." Knuckles offers, getting a grateful nod from Tails. "On that note, I'll see if I can find this trio Sonic wanted." He decides. "Your logic is sound, but there's only four of us. If we want to do three things at once–I assume you don't want to leave the Master Emerald unguarded with such a threat around–two of us are going to be alone." Rouge points out, a valid setback. "Then we'll have to do it alone. We don't know what this thing's after specifically, and we cannot risk it getting an Emerald. We must do what we can to ensure that." Shadow states, changing his stance, and pauses for a moment. "But, I will go with Tails. I trust you can get yourself to safety on your own, Rouge." The fox flicks his two tails, confused but accepting. "We meet up back here when we're done?" He suggests. The others nod, giving their assent. "Good luck." Knuckles says, pounding his fists together. "We'll need it." Rouge mutters, before spreading her wings and flying off. Without saying any more, Knuckles leaves, too. "Well, I guess that leaves just us. Again." Tails says wryly. This is all moving quite fast, even for Shadow's liking. Without another word, he takes the fox's offered wrist, and uses Chaos Control to send them to their destination. This whole ordeal is going to take a lot out of him, he can already tell. "Any idea what we're looking for?" He queries, looking around. Nothing but a thick forest of tropical flora and fauna around them. "No...He left before I could ask." Tails sighs, looking around, too. "You see what you can find on the ground, and I'll see what I can spot from above. If I find something, I'll come find you." Shadow accepts this, reasoning that it'll save time, and this gives him a chance to possibly intercept the Starfallen without worrying about the fox too much. Assuming it's in the area. "Stay out of trouble, I don't want to have to rescue you again if I can avoid it." He advises, picking a random direction and speeding off without a farewell.