[DISCONTINUED + REWRITTEN] The Infinite Stars

Chapter 7

After saying bye to the residents of Windmill Village, and a few minutes of Tangle crying because she wanted to stay longer so Nil had to drag her out, they finally made their way to Mystic Jungle.

A place that held a very unsettling feeling, especially for Nil. He never thought he'd step foot here again, but here he is. He knew the jungle, from the tallest tree to the smallest rock. How could he forget when it burned such a painful memory?

"Nil? You look really tense right now. You good?" Tangle snaps him out of his thoughts.

He perks up and looks at her, "Yeah, sorry,"

She tilts her head at him. She wants to believe that he is okay, but something keeps screaming at her that this place bothers him.

"You know, you can tell me if you want. I mean, we're completely alone and no one else is gonna hear us anyway. Unless you're...you know, not ready to share, which I totally get! We all have this problem where we don't want to talk about certain things sometimes!" she tries to reassure as best she can.

Nil sighs. Tangle is just like that old fox back in Spiral Hill. Amanda, was it? Too nice for her own good.

But to be honest, he does feel like he should just let it out.

"I...have actually been here before," he says, "With a few friends of mine. Jackals like me,"

Tangle got excited, "Ohh! Really? So you know where to go, right?"

He nods, "Yes,"

"Where are your friends now? I wanna meet them!"

Nil paused. Should he even say it at this point? Well, she's asking, and it'd be a shame if he were to lie to her even though she placed so much trust in him. They only knew each other for a few weeks, and yet it feels like they've been friends for a long time.

"...they died here, Tangle. Truth be told, that's why I was tense," he answered, truthfully.

Tangle panicked, "O-Oh my gosh! I'm so sorry, I shouldn't have asked that! Please don't be mad at me, I never thought this place was a huge impact in your life!!"

Nil saw one of the four jackals as her. They were so young and cheerful and always looked up to him as if he was their father. To be honest, it was a small joke between those four.

"It's fine," he sighs, "I didn't want to bring you along because of..." a fear. Fear of losing someone again.

Nil despised that word. Why was he so scared of losing someone? His squad was a whole different story as they had known him for a long time and they almost never had a moment apart unless it was part of a mission they were doing.

And yet he's afraid of losing Tangle, someone who he'd known for a few weeks. Has he really become this soft? Did that blue hedgehog's words about friendship really stick with him?

Nil just looked away.

"Oh no! Don't you start saying you're afraid of losing me!" Tangle yelled, "A friend should never push away another friend when they need help!"

"I feel like I'm being scolded by an angry parent..." his thoughts growled.

"If you don't want me to come along, then too bad, I'm still following you because you're my best friend and I'll be damned if something happened to you!" Tangle practically has tears in her eyes, "Friends help friends, and they pick each other up when the going gets tough!"

Nil would be lying if he said he didn't care about what she just said about friends. He just sighs and looks at her with a small smile, "Thanks, I needed that,"

Tangle smiles brightly. She immediately goes to hug Nil, "Wait, boundaries," she realizes.

"Nah, we're at that point," he chuckles.

"Yay!" she lets go of him and puts her hands on her hips, "Now, how about we get outta this creepy jungle and head to that city we need to be in?"

Nil nods, "Yeah," he then tenses again as the feeling returns. That same feeling back at Windmill Village.

Suddenly, a twig snaps and the two immediately turn to where it came from. They weren't able to see who it was from here, but one things for sure. They are definitely not alone. Nil could hear two more sets of footsteps. There's three of them.

"Let's get out of here, Nil!" Tangle whispers, "I think we shouldn't risk it!"

Nil agrees. They're going in blind, and he knows they're powerful. They quickly run away from the spot they were standing in and Nil turns around briefly.

There were three Mobians, just about the same height as each other. Their masks matched their eye color. Green, purple, and white.

The two had ran quite a distance, even after they left the jungle. Better safe than sorry, after all.

Tangle was out of breath once they stopped to take a breather for a moment.

"We should be at a safe distance now," Nil says, then turning to Tangle, "Once you're ready, we can go,"

Tangle raises her shaking hand in a thumbs up as she panted. They shouldn't be too far now. If they continue, they just might make it before night arrives.

Once Tangle was ready to get up and moving, they continued their walk there. However, when they arrived, they found practically nothing.

"Uh...did we take a wrong turn..?" Tangle questions.

Nil takes a look at the map. There's no way. They definitely went in the right direction. The city was supposed to be right here, yet there's nothing. Maybe the city was destroyed in the war?

No, not this badly damaged. Everything was destroyed on sight. Not a trace of debris. Just a big crater in the earth.

"And what's up with this purple looking...smoke...thing?" she then says, once noticing a little aura that still remains on the ground.

Nil looks to what Tangle was looking at. His eyes soon widen once he catches a glimpse of something he wished he never saw. The slightest glitch effect within it. Not only that, he could've sworn he heard the sound it would occasionally make once used.

He was right. That feeling. Those three Mobians have the power of the Phantom Ruby. Someone did remake it.

His expression slowly turns to slight anger and irritation as he turns to where they just came from. They had to go back and question those three Mobians about it.