"Should we fight them or what?" whispered Sonic, getting on his stance.
"No," Sonica whispered back sharply, "Your goal should be the hammer, not to hurt anyone unnecessarily."
"But why should we surr-" Sonic cut himself off as half the tribe members pointed their spears at him.
"Just don't do anything stupid." She whispered again, glancing around.
She counted 12 of them.
"We just want to talk-"
But-!
"Haiii ya!" Sticks lunged and headbutted the nearest one.
"STICKS, NO-!"
-TIᗰᗴ - ՏKIᑭ -
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
"..."
// I warned them not to do anything stupid-! Wait, why am I helping again? //
...
// I just want my hammer back... //
...
// They are to sacrifice us! They are going to sacrifice us! I have to do something! //
...
// ...The world is upside down. //
...
// If I could somehow reach this toolkit of mine, I could use my grappling hook to pull myself free, the multi-tool to cut through the ropes, the smoke pellets to distract them, and the scanner to figure out where the hell we are! //
...
// This is great. Just great. We're all gonna be roasted meat soon. //
...
// I don't wanna be barbequed!!! Get this thing off me! //
...
The six were hung upside down. Ankles and wrists tied to a bamboo while getting carried by the tribal people.
After that time skip, everyone just arrived at an odd village with cottages shaped like upside down pineapples. The walls were made of bamboo and wood. The roofs were made of straw. The cottages were aligned in two neat columns, giving plenty of room to walk. The little ones were playing around with blunt wooden spears.
They were at their odd village. They were led to a comparatively big shack. Inside was a bamboo throne and seated on it was someone who had a colourful mask on and colourful imprints on their arms.
And to the left, was a (pink & yellow) hammer. Placed on a miniature throne.
"MY HAMMER!!!" Amy shouted.
The others winced at the voice.
Amy, struggling against the ropes, continued, "Give me back my hammer, you thieves!!!"
The tribal people looked at eachother. Their wooden masks didn't allow any exposure of emotions.
Then one said to the other, "Tahw si ehs gniyas¿ Taht gnireviuq eciov si egnarts."
"..." Sonic, Amy, Sticks, Knuckles and Tails looked towards them.
"What in the holy language is that???"
Then one of them said, "Ew t'nod dantsrednu reiht egaugnal oot, redael."
The supposed-leader raised a hand and gestured for someone to step forward.
Sonic and Sonica recognised the person instantly- the one they had been chasing.
"You..." They narrowed their eyes.
"How do you know this person???" Amy screamed.
The six of them held their breath.
And the person said, "Who are you?"
Their wooden mask made their voice undisguisable in terms of pitch.
They, except Sonica, exclaimed relieved sighs then they all barked.
"Give me back my hammer!"
"Untie me!"
"The world is upside down!"
"Tell your leader I won't be your sacrifice!"
"Guys, guys, hold on." Sonic interrupted his friends and turned his head to the tribal member. "Tell your leader we don't mean any harm. Just return the hammer. It's ours."
Sonica simply blinked.
The person simply tilted their head, god knows what face they were making behind their wooden mask.
"Tahw did eyht yas¿" asked the leader, voice monotone.
They turned back to their leader and replied, "Yeht mialc hyht naem on mrah tub yeht tnaw eht ylnevaeh tfig, redael. Yeht yas ti sgnoleb ot meht."
"What are you telling him?! You better not twist out words, you brat!"
𝗦𝗢𝗡𝗜𝗖𝗔'𝘀 𝗣𝗢𝗩
What gibberish is that?
I shouldn't have come here.
What must be Vinnie doing?
Looking around me, I saw:
Too many people wearing masks and their tribal attire. But the only colourful mask was worn by one and only person. Must be the leader.
This happened because I had chased them. There is the hammer. But now I am stuck. Why did I agree again?
Amy looked the most furious, no wonder why. To my left was Sonic. He looked annoyed as always.
But at least he was supporting her, no? How lucky.
Then the Leader spoke.
"Srail. Eht ylnevaeh tfig seod ton gnoleb ot meht. Enoyreve was ti llef morf eht yks nehw ew erew gnilttab tsniaga eht dliw retsnom. S'ti ylraelc a tfig morf eht Drol ot su. NOSIRPMI MEHT!!!"
"HM!" The others responded in unison whike raising their spears.
Then the one we had been chasing reported immediately with more gibberish.
"Tub, radael. Siht si ruo lavitsef nosaes, os ew tsum ton tca ylriafnu. Fi ew nosirmipt meht won, ti lliw gnirb a esruc ot ruo ebirt."
I will call them Z for now.
Amy glared at the two, throwing her bound hands up, "What are you saying?! Translate for us!"
I added, "And untie us."
"Shh!" Z snapped. "I am talking, okay?! Stay quiet!"
Woah.
We blinked in surprise.
Amy opened her mouth then shut it again.
The others murmured;
"Eht era os ysion."
"Dluohs ew deef meht ot eht elidocorc?"
"Woh erad yeht klat ot ruo radael taht yaw¿"
The leader then raised his hand up in a HALT gesture, everyone turned quiet.
The ones, who were holding the bamboos, let go abruptly and we fell on the ground.
What a hospitality.
I sat up and shook the dust off my quills.
"Finally the world isn't upside down!" Knuckles said with a smile as he looked around.
"Run while you can! They are gonna sacrifice us!" Sticks yelled, chomping the ropes with her teeth, growling.
"Ssh!!!"
They went quiet again.
They looked at Z then at us and said, "Eivis si thgir. Neve fi eseht... lufroloc hcnub yam ro yam ton eb lufmrah ot su, ruo lavitsef nosaes lliw teg rettib. DnA ew nac ton tel eht nevaeh esruc nopu su rof ruo ytilatipsoh. Redisnoc sevlesruoy ykcul"
I tsked, growing frustrated by my inability to understand, "What is your leader saying?"
Z turned to me and looked back-and-forth between me and their leader.
"Well," They started, "Leader says that the 'hammer' which you claim as your belonging does NOT belong to you. 𝘉𝘶𝘵 it's festival season, so you won't get imprisoned."
Z gave two thumbs up. "Congrats."
"..."
What...?
For a moment, nobody said anything.
Then-
"PFFT-!"
Sonic, Tails and Sticks burst into laughter, rolling on the ground.
"HAHAHAHA-!"
Knuckles immediately joined in, "I don't know why you're laughing, but it's funny! Hahahah!"
---
I coughed to suppress my own laughter.
Sonic froze, "Wait..."
He stared at me and I slowly looked toward him.
"What?"
"Did you just laugh?"
I blinked, "...No."
"You totally did."
"I did not."
A small grin spread across his face, "Sonica."
"What?"
"You're smiling."
My hand immediately went to my face.
I was not.
My lips were pressed into a thin line.
"Quit lying."
"I am not lying, you literally just laughed." He said with a playful eye roll.
"It's just a stupid situation. What can I say?" I muttered, turning away from him.
Sonic tilted his head, that stupid little smirk still plastered across his face.
"Told you you aren't so emotionless as you try to be."
He sounded so genuinely pleased, it pissed me off.
As I thought of a comeback, my eyes lingered on him for a second longer than they should have.
Ugh...
Wait... I squinted a little.
His eyes are green?
Is it emerald green?
His nose is funny.
Hold up- what are you thinking, Sonica?!
"Finally ran out of words, Ms. Edgy?" He smirked.
I turned my head away sharply.
Don't give him the satisfaction. Ignore him.
"Cut it out, you two! It's a serious situation!" Amy snapped. At us.
---
Sonic immediately burst into a second wave of laughter, "Yes, very, very serious! Your hammer has become God's gift after all!"
Touché.
Tails chuckled, "This is more ridiculous and unbelievable than Sticks' hypothesis."
"They aren't hypothesis!" - Sticks.
Amy looked between them, utterly baffled.
"Ugh! Stop laughing!!! It's not funny!!!"
Sonic looked away from me and towards Amy, wiping a tear from the corner of his eye.
"Sorry, Ames. It's just-"
He pointed toward the miniature throne, "Why didn't you ever tell us your hammer apparently has divine ancestry?"
Tails nodded, chuckling. "A sacred heavenly artifact chosen by the gods."
Amy's eye twitched. She gestured animatically.
"It's. A. Hammer, guys. MY. Hammer!"
The others immediately started laughing again.
Then Z stared at them like they had committed crimes.
"Yhw era yeht gnihgual¿! Siht si lutcepsersid!" The leader roared, slamming their fist on the armrest of their throne.
Everyone else turned their spears towards us.
Z waved their hands frantically at us, "SILENCE! STOP LAUGHING! YOU ARE MAKING LEADER ANGRY!"
I looked around, imagining the furious expressions behind their wooden masks.
"Era yeht gnihgual ta su ro eht ylnevaeh tfig¿!" The leader said angrily.
"Enon, radael. I tsum evah detalsnartsim gnihtemos-" Z tried to say.
Felt like they were somewhat on our side...?
Sonic, Tails, Knuckles and Sticks were going on about the same jokes and laughing. Amy gave me a look of frustration and worry.
These airheads!
Then the leader slammed their fist on the armrest again.
"NOSIRPMI MEHT!!!"
Judging by how Z facepalmed against their mask, surely something bad was about to happen.