Chapter 41

Along the way, Sonic fed Pico some grass before they could get their hands on more substantial food. A few years ago, a human boy named Chris Thorndyke had told Sonic all about animals and their diets. Including woolly mammoths.

They were nearing the fire, and the storm had just stopped picking up pieces of land. The fire stung Sonic's nose, but, Tails, who Sonic knew had a superior sense of smell, didn't seem bothered. Tails was acting weird, but Sonic couldn't quite tell why. He didn't want to point it out. Maybe Tails was just tired.

Then, they found it. The fire. It was small and contained, but there was a big problem near it. No tents, no sleeping bags. But instead, people. Many of them. They weren't normal people, though. They looked to be Mobian, or some sort of unadvanced subspecies, but they wore undecipherable wooden masks of creatures Sonic didn't know. There were patterns on the masks and writing in some language Sonic couldn't understand.

The people danced around the fire in perfect synchrony. They chanted some unknown language as they sang a low, slow song. It made Sonic feel strange listening to it. Then, one turned its head in Sonic's direction. All of them stopped dancing and looked in the same direction. Everyone held back a gasp and ducked down behind a log.

"Slogmanbo tri srukui?" One masked figure asked in the foreign language. Its voice was raspy and deep. Not unlike Mr. Smuggles'.

"Slakeel colseel ecksee..." The one who turned its head replied in the same language and voice. It made a strange gesture with its arms that resembled shrugging. The embers from the fire made crackling sounds as they popped in the cold air. Everyone went back to dancing. Their hooved feet made wet stomping noises against the grass.

"Sonic, what are those things?" Sonja whispered into Sonic's ear.

"I have no idea..." Sonic whispered back.

What does Sonic do?

To not attack, go to Chapter 42

To attack, go to Chapter 43