Chapter 4: The Simplistic Beauty of The River's Edge (And The Rest of The World, Too)
THIS CHAPTER CONTAINS: Swearing
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Whisper flinched, surprised by the sudden noise, but then looked down and saw the unsuspecting frog at her feet. She watched as two big hands gently grasped the frog, looking up to see to whom the hands belonged.
"Ah! Whisper, this is Mr. Big! Big, this is Whisper!" Amy said, quickly introducing the two to one another. "Mr. Big", as Amy called him, was the tallest, and largest mobian Whisper had ever seen. He towered over even the unnaturally tall Amy Rose, nearly blocking out the sun from Whisper's view as he stood.
"You... certainly are big." Whisper mumbled, it was the only thing she could say, really.
"Yup! Even the humans that hang around this place sometimes say that about me!" Big replied with pride.
"Wow... I-if you don't mind me asking... how tall are you, exactly?" Whisper asked, becoming more comfortable around the large cat.
"Last time Ms. Vanilla measured me, she said I was six feet and six inches!" Big answered. "I've always wondered though... why do they call it "feet", anyway? Feet size is different from person to person! Also, human feet are bigger than mobian feet, because humans are bigger than mobians! Unless you're me!"
"And this is why people have been asking the United Federation's government to switch to the metric system..." Amy sighed, giving a slight giggle.
"And yet... here we are." Tsunami replied, shrugging.
"Is that your frog...?" Whisper asked, pointing to the frog that Big held in his hands.
"Yup! His name is Froggy!" Big answered happily, "Would you like to hold him?"
"N-no thank you..." Whisper said as she stood herself up.
"That's okay!" Big smiled, placing Froggy on his shoulder. "What brings you to the jungle?"
"Ah, well... Whisper and I were visiting Ms. Vanilla with our friends, but the two of us needed to talk about something in private, so we came here!" Amy explained.
"Oh, I'm sorry for... for-" Big began to respond, but Amy stopped him.
There was a moment of quiet, as everyone waited for a new conversation topic to come to one of their minds.
"Who's your friend?" Big asked Amy while pointing to Tsunami.
"Oh! This is Tsunami! I know she doesn't look like it, but she's my mom!" Amy responded.
"Oh... Well, that's a pretty name!" Big spoke hesitantly, before beginning to wander off into the jungle,
"Wanna go fishing with me?" He asked, turning to the girls.
"I don't see why not!" Amy responded. "What do you two think?"
"I'd love to get to talk to Big some more..." Tsunami admitted with intrigue.
Whisper merely nodded.
"Oh goodie! I'll get more rods from my house!" Big beamed with excitement, taking off to his hut, with the others in tow.
As the four walked through the lush jungle, Big's home began to come into view. It was a clearly amateur build, made from logs found in the area, but that was it's charm; it was a house perfectly built for someone like Big. When they all arrived to Big's home, they perched themselves at the side of the small river that was nearby, but as Amy took her seat, she felt a dark energy surge through her. Something was off.
At first, she feared that the Black Arms had returned once more, to once again ruin her vacation plans. But no attacks were made, no new faces revealed themselves, it was just her, Tsunami, Whisper and Big.
"Everything alright, Mom?" Amy inquired.
Tsunami sighed, showing a bit of sadness as she looked into the water, which was ever so slightly murky, being given a green tint by the algae within. "I'm fine."
"You sure?"
Tsunami did not respond to Amy's question, but she did speak as she looked away from the river. "Big... you remind me of someone I knew once."
"I do?" Big questioned, sitting beside Amy.
"Yes... They were a big ol' fella, just like you! Never really liked all the violence, no... They just wanted peace for their fellow Black Arms... A real noble effort, if you ask me..." Tsunami explained.
"Huh. That does sound kinda like Big, in a way." Amy noted.
"Good, good, I'm not off base here." Tsunami said with relief. "It's also that little frog of yours, if I'm honest."
"Really?" Big asked, to which Tsunami nodded in response. "Hmmmmmm... I think I know who you're talking about!"
"You do?!" Amy and Tsunami asked in unison, both taken by surprise.
"Me!"
"O-Oh- we weren't saying they were you Big, we were just saying that-" Amy nervously tried to explain, but she was interrupted.
"Black Onyx!"
Tsunami and Amy were speechless, both of them unsure of how to react. Whisper on the other hand, jumped in front of Amy, taking aim at Big with her wispon, a look of fury on her face.
"You're one of those aliens too?! Let me guess, you were planning to force Amy into your hive like the rest of them, huh??" She yelled erratically.
"Whisper! Wait! At least let Big explain! I've known Big for so long-- He really isn't the type to trick people like that!" Amy pleaded, pulling on Whisper's arm.
"You once trusted Sonic and Shadow like that too, and look where that got you!!" Whisper argued.
"What happened with Sonic and Shadow..? Is everything okay?" Big asked innocently.
"Don't act dumb! You won't fool me, you-!" Whisper lashed out in response, glaring at her target with rage.
"Whisper, I understand why you feel the way you do, but I can tell that Onyx... Big, speaks the truth. He means no harm, truly..." Tsunami explained, putting herself between Big and Whisper.
"Then why hide the fact that he's a Black Arm?!" Whisper questioned.
"No one asked me if I was!" Big answered, "I didn't mean to hide it, really!" Whisper lowered her wispon and covered her face with her mask, feeling embarrassed. "Isn't that why Amy didn't ever say that she's part Black Arms?"
Amy jumped, not expecting the call-out.
"A-Ah, that's part of it!" She spoke nervously, but took a moment to breathe, and then calmly explained all that had happened to Big, who was certainly concerned by what he heard.
"... This is what I didn't like about the Black Arms. The constant fighting, all the hurt and pain... As Ms Tsunami said, I simply wished for peace." Big said somberly through the hivemind.
"I could imagine how hard that could be, especially for a big softie like you." Amy replied, softly placing her hand on Big's back in solidarity.
"I wasn't the only one that felt that way, as I'm sure you already know. Ms Tsunami had noticed the inherent flaws within the Black Arms structure, and that view of things quickly began to bleed into those of us who were created by her, as well." Big continued, starting to trail off into a full-blown monologue, if it wasn't for him being interrupted by Amy, that is.
"W-Wait... You were... created by... my mom? Doesn't that make us siblings, then?" She questioned.
"Maybe that's how Aerth would define it, but not in the eyes of the Black Arms. You were created with Ms Tsunami's DNA, you have a biological tethering to her. I, as many others were, was simply put together by Tsunami's hand, but the parts that make up me do not contain any genetic material from Tsunami herself." Big explained to the best of his ability.
"Correct. There's a defined difference between simply being made by a certain leader and actually being a descendant of them. The difference between you and Big is the same as the difference between that of Shadow to any Black Arm assembled by Black Doom... that which there were many." Tsunami added.
"Huh... Uh, thanks, I guess. Ya don't really get this kind of info from living most of your life on Aerth, ya know?" Amy responded, feeling grateful, and yet, somewhat uneasy.
She felt a bit of excitement as she learned these things about the Black Arms, but why? Was it truly just because of catharsis, a sense of relief that she gets to finally understand this side of her that she never knew before? Or was it something more...
No. Amy knew she couldn't think like that, not at a time like this. If she allowed herself to fall down the same rabbit hole Shadow did, then what would the Freedom Fighters do? Would Aerth even be able to be salvaged at that point? She had to stand strong, for her friends, for her home, and for herself.
"Hey... if you three are saying something, mind saying it out loud..? You're not the only ones here, you know..." Whisper sneered, not appreciating the feeling of being left out.
"Sorry, my English isn't so good... There were a lot of words I had to say, so I said them in the hivemind. But I forgot you aren't in the hivemind, which wasn't very nice of me." Big immediately apologized.
"I can paraphrase what Big said, if you like!" Amy offered, to which Whisper nodded.
After a few minutes of Amy retelling Big's words to Whisper, all was calm once again, and only the sound of the jungle trees rustling in the wind and the sound of Froggy's ribbits could be heard.
"... Big... Do you prefer that name? Or do you wish to be referred to as Black Onyx once again?" Tsunami asked.
"Big is what everyone here calls me, and I don't mind it, so why change it?" Big responded.
"I do suppose that's a fair point. Very well, Big."
"How... how did you start going by "Big", anyhow...?" Whisper inquired, trying her best to contribute.
"In a broader sense, when did you first come to Aerth, Big? What made you decide to stay? Did you have a choice in the matter? I know that I didn't... and yet, I'm incredibly grateful for being here." Amy added, going on a bit of a tangent towards the end of her addition.
"Oh... well, I...." Big tried to formulate a response, but fell short.
"If you need to say it through the hivemind, I can paraphrase for Whisper again." Amy offered, but Big refused.
"I want Whisper to feel like a part of the group!" He insisted, which made Whisper smile.
"I have an idea. I can tell the part of how you first got here, and then you can tell the part of how you garnered your name. Does that sound good with you, Big?" Tsunami suggested.
"I like that idea!" Big answered with excitement.
Amy and Whisper huddled closer to Big as he and Tsunami prepared to tell the tale of how Big became... Big!
"A few years before the Black Arms' big invasion of Aerth, a small group of scouters were sent to the planet to make one last assessment of the place. Among those scouters was Big, still going by Black Onyx at the time, joined by his trusty hawk sidekick; Obsidian. Big immediately took a liking to this world... is what I can assume from the info I'm getting from the hivemind?" Big nodded, giving Tsunami the go ahead to continue, "Big took on the form of a very large mobian cat, and he gave his little friend the form of an ordinary frog, which was to be called Froggy. These forms were originally only meant to be temporary, just so they may blend in with the Aerthlings as they investigated."
"Froggy's a Black Arms too?" Amy asked, surprised.
"Yup!" Big replied, giving Froggy a pat on the head. "But I know he'd never leave my side!"
"Becoming incredibly fascinated by the Mystic Ruins in particular, Big and Froggy soon became separated from the rest of the group, as the rest had taken off to Station Square without them!"
"Didn't bother me, though! I needed a break anyway!" Big interjected.
"But that break would become a permanent one, as the group was forced to return to the Black Comet despite missing two crew members. Not that Big minded that much, however. Life on Aerth was calm, it was peaceful, it was everything Big wanted, so here on Aerth he stayed."
"Aerth is very pretty, too!" Big noted, to which Amy agreed.
"How many years before the invasion was this...?" Whisper questioned.
"Ah... I do believe it was right on the cusp of the new millennia." Tsunami answered.
"A good bit of time passed with it just being me and Froggy, but one day I was looking at all the cute little chaos in the chao garden, and I was seen by Ms Vanilla for the first time!" Big began to explain the part of the story he was to tell, "She said I was the tallest mobian she'd ever saw! She took me to her house and gave me lots of lovely sweets! Back then, Cream was just a baby, and she couldn't say many words... even less than I could at the time! She pointed at me and said "Big!", so I decided that would be my name!"
"That's... adorable???" Amy couldn't help but tear up a little as she spoke.
"Thank you!" Big responded cheerfully.
".... I still kinda feel a bit... alienated." Whisper admitted suddenly, gripping the grass in her palm.
"Is there anything we can do to help?" Big asked.
"I mean... probably not anything that'd be a good idea..." Whisper responded, giggling slightly despite her sadness.
"Well, I mean, I can think of something that'd be a good idea... I think." Amy proposed.
"Oh?" Whisper's grip on the grass loosened as she became less tense.
"We've spent a lot of time talking about us, so why don't we talk about you some more to balance it out?" Amy continued.
"Ah... But I've already told you about what was bothering me..." Whisper mumbled.
"... Should we just head back to Vanilla's place then?" Amy suggested.
"Maybe..? We did accomplish what we came out here to do... And then some." Whisper replied.
"Yeah but..." Amy began to respond.
"... You're worried that Sonic will be there...?" Whisper guessed.
"Well, yeah, but... I honestly like spending this time with you, Whisper." Amy admitted, blushing slightly.
Whisper didn't respond verbally, and instead gave Amy a hug, which sent the two of them onto the grass below them. The grass was soft, but Whisper's hug felt softer.
"Well aren't you two becoming quite close?" Tsunami teased, to which Whisper and Amy chuckled.
"... Do you want to just lay here?" Whisper asked Amy as she unintentionally began to run her fingers through Amy's long, thick braids.
"... For a bit, yeah. But after that I think I'll be alright, as long as I have you guys here with me." Amy replied, pulling herself away from Whisper's hand as she looked around at the friends that surrounded her.
