"It's getting late," he said, which easily translated into "I've been away from the Master Emerald too long can we stop worrying about things that could kill us?"

"Right," Shell said scooping up the dragonet in her talons. She spread her azure wings to the maximum.

Knuckles nodded and broke into a sprint.

Shell beat her wings once, twice, thrice and was airborne. A few moments later the northern and eastern ends unfolded before her. She gasped. It was beautiful up here. Vivid greens glowed from the forests, purple and orange streaked across the afternoon sky, and the fiery sun's rays bounced of the master emerald sending beams of rainbow colored light in every direction.

(thrice. is that even a word?)

Over logs and weaving through familiar trees, this was an older path, one Knuckles took so often he actually had cleared a bit of a trail. He let out a sigh. It's nice until something tries to kill you, he thought.

(thrice is a word it means three)

Shell's head bobbed up through the clouds and then snapped down the her talons as she folded her wings halfway and angled her tail and body to make a steep banking turn and a dive downwards.

Knuckles was already there. "What took you so long?" He asked just for the sake of being annoying.

Shell shook her head and mouthed the question back. The dragonet wriggled free from her talons and pounced on the M.E.'s stone pedestal squealing with glee.

Knuckles glanced at the dragonet as if to say "You better not touch it,", though he didn't seem too concerned.

The dragonet ,oblivious to Knux's hard glare, bounced along into the grasses that swayed gently in the breezes. Shell tucked her wings in and sat down, curling her tail around her front talons.