Returning Home

Screech had a moment of confusion when Clash said that her eyes would readjust.

'Readjust to what?' she thought as her vision was momentarily impaired.

When her eyes returned to normal, she saw two more hedgehogs standing next to Clash.

After Clash introduced the hedgehogs, Screech locked her eyes on Carter.

"Eeeee! You are just adorable!" Screech said as she attempted to hug the young hedgehog, but she just phased right through them.

"Huh? What just happened?" Screech was dumbfounded by Carter seeming to be non-existent.

Pyra felt rather annoyed with herself when she came out of her funk, caused by her temporary visual impairment before noticing Carter and Kane.
She pulled away almost immediately once she could see the other hedgehogs, and groaned with a small pout across her beak and a furrowed brow as she stared Clash down for a bit, before finally looking to the other two hedgehogs.
Let's pretend what she just did, didn't happen.
Okay?

As Screech jumped through Carter, Pyra looked at Kane.
"Cool name, what are you staring at me like that for?"

Carter was blushing profusely at the fact that someone, a very nice lady no less, had called him adorable, and a little more after the attempted hug. 

"O-Oh! Are you ok?!" "I-I'm a ghost, so you wouldn't be able to touch me... S-Sorry..."

Meanwhile on the Pyra side of things, Clash seemed even more embarrassed than he had before at Pyra's reaction, giving a silent "Ok..." to Pyra.

She then asked Kane why he was staring at her, of which he replies:

"Hmm, Nice shade of red, nice clothes, SOAP shoes, plenty of moxie, great at that parkour thing, hot in more ways than one..."

"K-Kane wha-"

He then ceases his staring and looks at Clash.

"Yo Clash, have you considered on asking this girl out?"

"K-KANE!" "You idiot! Right in front of her?! What are you thinking?!"

Clash rants at Kane while he smiles a devilish smile back, awaiting Pyra's reaction.

After Carter explained to Screech why he was untouchable, she said,

"O-oh. Um..." Screech was trying to figure out how to respond to out of the blue finding out that supernatural beings existed.

Screech then took note of the talk between Clash and Kane about Pyra.

'Uhh... Awkward!' She thought to herself.

Finally, Screech got the courage to ask Clash,

"Soooo, do these two just follow you around everywhere? And why couldn't I see them before?"

What.
Pyra wasn't sure how to respond. Clash was cool and all, but they just met! They just over a spar that nearly heard Screech, and after being embarrassed this happens?!
Pyra stares down Kane, breathing heavily, clenching her fists/wings, but her blush never left.
Maybe... Pyra did feel something despite their short time together, and didn't want to admit it?

Eventually, she let out a frustrated sigh, stomped up to Kane, and pointed a feather at him.
"Let me tell you something, Kane-and-not-able,", ha, got'em, "It's none of your business who he asks out. I don't know what your deal is, but if I could touch you I'd kick your ass right now."

Clash was a little pissed as well, and the mention of ass-kicking gave him an idea.

"P-please! Allow me!"
Clash says with a voice of flustered frustration.

Clash stomped his foot to the ground which made Kane descend enough to follow-up with a roundhouse kick to the lower back, which Kane responds with an out-of-breath chuckle

"Totally worth it..!"
Kane then disappears into the anklets.
It was then that he went to respond to Screech's question.

"Yeah, they're bound to my soul, with these things called soul anchors, which can look like anything but I went with bracelets and anklets."
"You couldn't see them because your eyes didn't have the function to see into the spiritual plane, but I'm able to give them that function so you can see ghosts now!"

Clash hoped this wasn't too confusing or boring to explain to his new friends, as he had noticed last time he was pretty hard to listen to.

"So let me get this straight. Spirits are real, you can't touch them, they can bind with people using soul anchors, and you can only see them if you're given the ability to do so?"

Screech pondered these questions to herself before finding a clause.

"Wait a minute. If you can't touch spirits, then how did you just stomp and kick Kane?"

She calmed down after Kane's butt was kicked, causing her to snicker a little in response as she backed off.
After hearing his explanation, she only really had one question.
"Is it permanent?" Pyra asks, with no hint of concern whatsover. Being able to see ghosts would be awesome!

She had a guess that him being able to kick Kane was because he was anchored, but that's was merely a guess.

"Yes, most of the time, yes, and most of the time."
Clash responded as Screech listed off her questions

"From what I know, only people like me can make soul anchors." "I am a Tri-Spirit, a kind of person that gets born every decade or so, and like the name implies, I am able to naturally house three souls, including my own with no problem."
Clash says, elaborating on the anchors.

"Other people can gain the ability to see or touch spirits through other means, or simply being born with it, but I can readjust people's eyes to be able to see them."
"And yeah! It's permanent, unless I take it away from you, but I see no need."
Clash continues, answering Pyra's question in the process.

"Oh yeah, and about me kicking Kane's ass there, I can touch them because, well, they are bound to me, you can touch them if you had some kind of device, or magic that lets you do so, I assume."

"Any other questions?"

Screech took in all the information that was given, and then once Clash was finished, she replied with,

"Uhh... Nope! I think that's pretty much everything."

Pyra tried to pay attention but he just kept going on and on - gladly though, her suspicions about the anchors were correct, and she was curious.
"Alright, I got it. In that case, think you could make me something like that so I can get physical with ghosts?"

Clash was surprised at the notion that someone else would want him to make soul anchors for them.

"You want me to make you a soul anchor?" "Y-Yeah, I could definitely do that, I don't have any way to manipulate souls though, so you'd have to get someone to do that for you if the soul in question isn't doing it themselves."
"And even then, there's no guarantee that your mind and/or body would be able to handle it..."

Clash decided that this was enough talking about his powers for right now, he stretches a bit before saying:

"T-That's enough about me for now, let's get to exploring shall we?"

"Agreed! Let's see what we can find. I remember reading on a pamphlet on the train that there should be a place nearby called the Chao Shrine." Screech said. She began running deeper into the ruins.

"C'mon! Let's see who can find it first!"

Pyra hadn't heard about this "Chao Shrine", and was genuinely curious. Plus, it sounded like a challenge!
"I'm sure to find it first!" She caws out before running after Screech.

She is a very game-like avian, so even if Screech was leading the way, Pyra would probably see it in the distance first.

"Chao Shrine"
Clash assumed they meant the local Chao Garden, which he was aquainted with as he heads towards a mountain cave on the right of the station.

He then gets into a minecart leading into a dark tunnel, and pulls the lever as the doors would creak open and the cart would start moving.

As Screech ventured on, she heard,

'A train? No. Smaller. A minecart!'

She looked back over her shoulder to see Clash going down a track through a pair of doors.

'He seems like he already knows where this place is.'

She slowed down from her run, and then started walking towards the doors Clash had just gone through.

'Hmm. How to open them.' Screech thought. She then saw a lever nearby. As she pulled it, the doors slowly opened.

"Ah ha!" Screech exclaimed as she started running along the tracks through the cave.

Pyra entered in after the other two upon finding the cave from following Screech, and saw the whale girl pull a lever and go through the doors.
She walks over to the doors as the switch clicks back into place seemingly on its own and the doors shut behind Screech like they had for Clash before her.

Pyra stands there thinking a bit, before she steps back, then runs up to the rails, jumps over the bumpers, and lands on the rails by tbe indent in her soles.
As she slides along the rail she slaps the switch to open the door, crouches, and activates her Flame Step causing sparks to fly off from the now dimly glowing rails as she blasts off at high speed after the others.

"Wooo!"

Clash notices the fast approaching duo start to catch up to him, prompting him to take off his anklets, jump onto the edge of the minecart, and fires a pulse, making him be launched towards the Chao Garden at a high speed.

Screech noticed Clash send out another wave of energy. This time she was ready.

Screech screamed and sent out a shockwave to counteract the energy wave.

Just then, she noticed that Pyra was speeding past her. And she was, 'Grinding on the rails? No fair!'  Then Screech had an idea. She activated her energy spear and jumped onto the other rail, riding the spear like it was a skateboard. She slid down the tracks closely behind her two friends.

Oh? Energy blasts and shockwaves? Awesome, seems the fight is still on!
Looks like this race was about to get more interesting...

Pyra saw Screech flying on her spear along the other rail and grins. "Alright then, coming through!" She caws as she jumps from the rail, opens her wings, and gains a little extra speed.

Clash eventually tumbled back into the garden and bumping into the chao machine, he was able to see that Screech had countered his pulse, even if he had no intention of slowing them down, it was impressive all the while.

Clash puts his anchors back on and picks himself up.

"Guess I made it here first! haha- ow..."

Once Screech neared the end of the rail, she tucked down and grabbed her spear before doing a 360 spin and then rolling on the soft grass of the Chao Garden.

"Aw man. Guess I lost." Screech then looked around. A few chaos were playing happily, splashing in water and playing chase in the air.

"These things are so cute!" Screech said as she admired the little creatures.

It wasn't long before she saw a light at the end of the tunnel, and came in for a landing by flipping her body upright to touch ground with her shoes.
She skid acrosd the ground a few inches, before turning to face Clash and give him a thumbs up.
"Good job getting first place, dude." She chuckles, though secretly she's kinda annoyed she lost. The race didnt matter in the end though.

Besides, at least she beat Screech~

Pyra looks around and sees the chao. Her posture softened and her smile began a little more genuine as she slowly walked over to one to try and pet it.
"Aw... they're so adorable..." She gets on one knee, and reaches a wing out to show the chao she meant no harm and ask if she was allowed to pey them. The chao brushes up against her wing and she chirps softly, before petting them finally.
"Julie's always wanted one, it's the one pet we never owned. And I'll admit, for as cute as they are, I know they are surprisingly powerful and would make a great partner." Pyra stands up, holding her chin as she thought out loud.
"I wonder who owns these? I heard some people use these spaces to raise their chao, rather than taking them home like a normal pet."

Clash quietly watched the chao playing around with a smile, he hadn't raised chao in years, wonder what ever happened to his? He then noticed what Pyra had said.

"They're usually people who either don't really have space for a chao, or are just REALLY dedicated to making them the strongest they could possibly be, since these gardens are perfect for that sort of thing."

"Why don't you get a chao? They're awfully cheap to raise if you're doing it casually, and like you said, they can be seriously powerful."

While Screech loved the thought of having a pet chao, she decided, 

"While I love the thought, I already have too much responsibility taking care of my dad and my brother. Not to mention my royal guard training."

Screech sat for a while as she pet a chao that came up to her. Then a thought came to her.

"Hey! I'll bet my brother would love taking care of a chao! I'll be sure to find one for him on my way back."