The Chameleon Chronicles

Chapter 5 - Situations

The three chameleons had ran deeper into the forest. They had no idea if Eggman would be back with another robot to finish them off. Either way, within the forest, nothing big was able to get them.
Night had fallen and the campfire had been lit. Espio had asked for the full details of why they were wondering the forest. Zoin had set about filling him in. Espio was informed of the party, which Krona had tried to gatecrash. He was told of the argument that arose afterward and the kidnapping of their sister. He was told of the decision to try and track down their sister. Throughout, Espio said nothing.
"And we was wondering the forest for days trying to find anything that might lead us to her," Zoin finished.
Espio sat in silence. Considering. Then he spoke after a short while.
"It is very interesting to hear you say those things. How you wanted to try and rescue your sister. But I assume that you asked the mayor for advise?"
Zoin remained silent.
"You did ask something of the mayor, didn't you?"
Again, Zoin remained silent.
"Not one single thing?" Espio asked, interpreting the silence correctly. "Surely you must have asked him to send out a search party at least?"
Even Krona looked at Zoin more avidly at the mention of asking the mayor to send a search party. Almost as though questioning why they hadn't done that.
Zoin did nothing but look at the floor.
"It is unwise to hide things," Espio said. "I can tell that your brother causes trouble in your home village, and possibly you are hiding something relating to that. Let us hear that part, and then maybe we can sort this mess out, and where we go from here."
Zoin sighed. "Well, Krona was planning to raid the party, and I was going out to stop him. He collided with me, and the mayor saw us both. As an act of kind-"
"The part you missed out. Not a retelling," Espio cut across.
"The next day, after not being able to sleep much, I set out looking for the mayor to ask him. I heard Krona's name spoken from the mayor. I stayed close by, hidden, listening. They were going to banish him. They'd give him one more chance, and then banish him."
Zoin didn't mention the mayor's distrust of whether Zoin really tried. He still couldn't believe the mayor had said that at all. He looked at Krona, and saw shock and worry on his face. Facing Espio, he looked concerned.
After a short minute of silence, Espio walked off a short distance without speaking to either of the brothers.

What did I do? Krona thought. What did I really do?
He thought back to all the misdoings he had committed, the market stalls demantled and the general chaos he caused. But that was still no reason to throw him out.
And then he remembered the party. Yes, he had wanted to crash the party without an invite. But he probably wouldn't have been found out had it not been for Zoin. And even then, there was still no reason to banish him for that.
Maybe it's not so bad though, he tried convincing himself. Maybe the mayor knows of my fear and wanted to... No. Why would he help me by banishing me?
Maybe the party had indeed been the last resort. Maybe the one last chance wouldn't have been a chance at all. The slightest little misdeed would probably have seen him banished.
Then an even more pressing thought occurred to him.
Looking over at Espio, who was still talking through his communicator, Krona stood up and walked over to where Zoin stood - also watching Espio.
"Why didn't you tell me?" Krona asked.
Zoin jumped and looked at Krona. "Tell you what?"
"Tell me I was so close to banishment!"
"Well... If I had, I was scared you might not want to come. And I didn't want to lose another sibling. Not so soon after losing Oreah."
And that's why I like him as a brother, Krona thought.
"That was a good answer," a voice replied, making both brothers jump.
They turned to see Espio behind them.
"After speaking with the Chaotix, one of them wants to meet you both," Espio informed. "He feels that both of our situations call for us to merge into one group. We will be meeting him now."
"Where?" Krona asked.
Espio just indicated for the two to follow him. It was dark, so they didn't move fast. Even so, it took them little time to reach the bank of the giant lake. Since the brothers had been moving in zig-zag fashion while walking through the forest, they hadn't realised how close to the lake they actually were. Within half an hour, they were back. And within ten minutes, a crocodile jumped out of the water. But this crocodile was one of the strangest ones Krona had seen. Wearing black, rubber cuffs with gold stripes and buckles, his shoes were also of the same material and design.
"Okay then, Espio," he said in a growling voice, "Let's see what we've got."