Shadow stalks back into the enclosed area, exiting the tunnel with winding passages and more false paths than he would think to be necessary. Just as he does, though, he sidesteps to avoid colliding with Tails. The young Mobian steps back, mumbling an apology. "Are you going somewhere?" Shadow inquires. Not because he actually cares about what the fox does, but if he ends up needing to find him again at some point, it'd be useful to have an idea of where he is. He seems to be in a slightly better mood, too. A little hopeful, in comparison to the sadness and confusion he'd given off before. "I'm-uh, I saw-I'm going to..." Fumbling over his words, Tails makes a few gestures with his hands, looks back at the pool, then stops himself and tries again. "I spoke to Sonic. In the pool." He states simply. Shadow raises his eyebrows, and while this announcement has come as a surprise to him, the longer he thinks about it the more it makes sense given what they know. He indicates for them to sit down, leaning against the stone walls. "And? Anything useful?" He prompts. "Well, he confirmed that the Starfallen is a different entity, it's just taking on a form that looks like him. He said it's also still connected to the lake, and he can see what it sees, adding up with what it was telling me, about being able to hear him. Sonic didn't tell me where it was, though. Only that it was running at a normal speed rather than his speed. He also mentioned that he's able to speak through reflective surfaces. I'll need to make sure this works, but I'd assume if we carried around a mirror, we'd have a quick way to talk with him again if we needed to." Tails explains, leaving 'and we probably will' unspoken and hanging in the air. Shadow makes a note to find something that would help achieve that goal later, and continues to focus on the young fox's explanation. "And at the end, he said he had a plan, or at least an idea: he wants us to collect the Chaos Emeralds, even if only to keep them away from the Starfallen. There's a group he said he saw; he thinks they might be able to help us, too. They're somewhere in the Mystic Ruins, so maybe they're treasure hunters, like Rouge. Or maybe they're archeologists or something." Shadow falls silent, considering. "Well, it's not his worst plan." He admits. "And we already have one here, with me." As he speaks, Shadow produces the Chaos Emerald, glowing and green. "It's a start. Do you know where any of the other ones are?" Tails asks, twitching his ear. "I might..." The hedgehog begins, only to be interrupted with the arrival of Rouge and Knuckles, who's watching the bat carefully. Shadow and Tails stand up to greet them. "Well, that's the best we could think of for now...what have you been up to?" Knuckles inquires. Tails swiftly debriefs them on the plan, and Rouge smirks.

"I do know where one is." She announces confidently. "Really? Where?" Knuckles asks. "Eggman has one. I saw it when I was there earlier. I didn't try to steal it because he was there at the time, and this seemed slightly more important." She answers. Shadow sighs quietly. He'd rather not deal with the Doctor, but whatever must be done. "If we're looking for Emeralds, it'd be a good idea to spread out. But not alone; the Starfallen will undoubtedly try to stop us if it knows our mission. If you're going out for Eggman's Emerald, or to find these people, I could use the Master Emerald to see if it can help pick out any others, in the meantime." Knuckles offers, getting a grateful nod from Tails. "On that note, I'll see if I can find this trio Sonic wanted." He decides. "Your logic is sound, but there's only four of us. If we want to do three things at once–I assume you don't want to leave the Master Emerald unguarded with such a threat around–two of us are going to be alone." Rouge points out, a valid setback. "Then we'll have to do it alone. We don't know what this thing's after specifically, and we cannot risk it getting an Emerald. We must do what we can to ensure that." Shadow states, changing his stance, and pauses for a moment. "But, I will go with Tails. I trust you can get yourself to safety on your own, Rouge." The fox flicks his two tails, confused but accepting. "We meet up back here when we're done?" He suggests. The others nod, giving their assent. "Good luck." Knuckles says, pounding his fists together. "We'll need it." Rouge mutters, before spreading her wings and flying off. Without saying any more, Knuckles leaves, too. "Well, I guess that leaves just us. Again." Tails says wryly. This is all moving quite fast, even for Shadow's liking. Without another word, he takes the fox's offered wrist, and uses Chaos Control to send them to their destination. This whole ordeal is going to take a lot out of him, he can already tell. "Any idea what we're looking for?" He queries, looking around. Nothing but a thick forest of tropical flora and fauna around them. "No...He left before I could ask." Tails sighs, looking around, too. "You see what you can find on the ground, and I'll see what I can spot from above. If I find something, I'll come find you." Shadow accepts this, reasoning that it'll save time, and this gives him a chance to possibly intercept the Starfallen without worrying about the fox too much. Assuming it's in the area. "Stay out of trouble, I don't want to have to rescue you again if I can avoid it." He advises, picking a random direction and speeding off without a farewell.

The forest is very quiet; it's the first thing Shadow notes on his search for the random group he has practically nothing on. As the hedgehog began his search, he eventually came to the conclusion that his best bet is to look for the shrine and see if they're snooping around there, and as a result, has changed course to head in its direction. Though he's not spent much, if any time here, Shadow doubts they're going to find anything, so why they'd try confuses him. On his way, he thinks he spots Tails in the sky for a moment, maybe having had the same thought as the hedgehog. Finally, he spots the ancient structure looming in the distance, making a sort of arced approach, rather than coming toward it head-on. When he gets close enough that he can see it through the trees, he slows down, intending to locate this mystery group before they locate him, assuming they're even here. After about 20 minutes, Shadow halts, listening. There's voices up ahead, not exactly engaged in an argument, but some terse conversation nonetheless. He approaches carefully, debating how to go about meeting them. He can't exactly say 'This person I'm not entirely fond of has a friend who told me that he said to find you so you can help us find Emeralds' after all. "...here. if it has a reason for being so drawn to this place, shouldn't we at least try to investigate? For them?" The voice is female, and when Shadow comes into sight of them, he sees the speaker is a cat, with a red jacket and washed-out gold wristbands. She wears dark blue jeans, and has dull and faded beige fur, a singular earring on her right ear. Standing opposite of her, a taller girl. She's a wolf, deep saturated grey fur and emerald eyes, three earrings on her left ear. She has small, cloth wristbands attached to long, pale lilac ribbons. She stands with one hand on her hip, deep, deep blue at the edges of her hair and in two circles, each on the top of her shoulders and bottom of her upper arms. "I understand, but this place has a strange feel to it. Like there was something awful that happened. I can sense it." She waves her other arm around as she speaks, indicating to the ruins they stand among. "Whoever died here, it was probably a long time ago." The cat points out, flicking her tail. "I know that, but...Amber, what are you doing?" 'Amber' is a hedgehog, though Shadow has to steel himself from any physical reaction. They look exactly like Shadow, except without the white on their chest, and the points on their quills are at a sharper angle. Another difference is that their wrists have something unlike his inhibitor rings. Instead, they have what look similar to actual shackles, they are simple and grey, and across their body, bright amber-orange where Shadow's red would be. When they turn to look at the other two, they give a mostly blank stare, like they're somewhere else. "Amber." They state. At least their voice is different from Shadow's. Despite that, it sounds off. Lifeless and empty, lacking emotion or depth. "Yeah, you, buddy. Stay here, okay? We'll go check the ruins out soon." The wolf promises gently, getting no response from the hedgehog. "What if there's nothing there? Then we're just back to square one." She worries, turning back to the cat. "Then there's nothing there. But if it helps us figure out anything about Amber, then it's worth it." She assures her friend, clapping her supportively on the shoulder. "Now come on, Amber might not wait much longer." Calling the hedgehog back, who was staring at some carvings in the stone, they start to move on.

Recognizing his opportunity starting to slip away, Shadow stands, announcing his presence with the bushes he has to walk past. The wolf reacts first, ear swiveling in his direction before the rest of her follows suit. Her eyes widen, and she looks at Amber, then back at him. The cat has much of the same reaction. Amber, realizing their friends are no longer following, stops. Still with a blank stare, they walk back over, silent. "Who are you?!" The wolf demands, stepping forward. "I'm Shadow. Who are you?" She narrows her eyes, clearly distrusting. "I don't know why I should tell you that." She replies coldly. The cat rolls her eyes and also steps forward, hand on her friend's shoulder. "My name's Elizabeth. This is Ash, and that's Amber." She says, calm and relaxed. Ash opens her mouth to argue, but closes it without saying anything, though shoots a frustrated look at Elizabeth. "What brings you here?" Elizabeth continues, ignoring the glance. "I was told there were people here." Shadow answers, being cautious of how much to say. "Really? Interesting. Are you here about the ruins, too?" She indicates to the structure nearest to her, a singular post covered in vines. "I suppose." A shadow develops on the ground, and Tails lands in between the two. Ash's fierce gaze is replaced by surprise and wariness, though Elizabeth remains unbothered. "And who might you be?" She inquires. "I'm Tails." The young Mobian replies, eyes catching on Shadow as he shifts position. "I assume you've already met Shadow." Tails does see the similarities between the two hedgehogs, he gives Shadow a quizzical look, but doesn't dwell on it. "Yeah, we did. How did you come from the sky? Foxes don't fly." Ash asks, clearly wanting to ask a different question, but smart enough not to. "I can use my two tails to fly." The fox explains, twirling them around as proof. "That's quite the gift." Elizabeth comments, then moves on. "You say you were looking for people?" Tails nods. "Yeah, we think it might be you–I scoured this place, didn't see anyone else." The last part is mostly for Shadow, who nods, crossing his arms as he addresses the trio. "We need your help. Are you treasure hunters? Historians?" Ash twitches her ear, posture challenging. "And what if we are?" Tails cuts in before Shadow can respond. "We're looking for something...a gem known as a 'Chaos Emerald.' Have you seen it, or heard of it?" Ash and Elizabeth exchange a confused look, but Amber turns their attention to Tails. "Emerald?" They say, with a hint of some emotion, causing Ash to look between the two. "What was that? They don't repeat other words. Not from other people, anyway. Only their name. What's so special about this thing?" She demands sharply. "They're gems of great power. We need to collect them for something important." Ash snorts. "Next you'll tell me that the planet's in danger. Again." There's a silence, in which she realizes and groans. "Whoever's trying to keep us safe isn't doing a very good job." Tails frowns. "He hasn't let us down before!" He points out defensively. "Then why won't it stop?" She counters. Sensing a potential argument, Shadow steps in. "Because there's always someone trying to cause trouble." She turns her burning gaze to him, which he holds with no issue. "If we can help, we'd be happy to." Elizabeth decides, a look of outrage on her friend's face. "Just one moment." She pulls Ash to the side, the two engaging in a genuine argument in hushed voices. While this happens, Amber stares at them, head tilted to the side. "Emerald?" They ask, more clearly a question this time. "Yes." Tails assents, still puzzled but unquestioning. "Okay, fine, we'll help. But we have our own interests, too." Shadow raises an eyebrow, but nods nonetheless. "Now, we should keep going. We're wasting daylight." He sighs, then pauses for a moment. "What were you even looking for, here? It's abandoned for a reason." Ash hesitates, glancing at Amber. "We had our reasons. Why don't we leave it at that, hm?" She answers, a certain gravity beneath her words. "Can one of you make a drawing of these Emeralds? Are they square, or ovular?" Elizabeth inquires, and Shadow unfolds his arms to bring out the gem. "We're looking for something like this." He explains. Ash looks much more invested in helping find another once she sees it.

"We've seen something like that before, haven't we?" She notes, looking to the cat, who nods. "You did? Do you remember where?" Tails says hopefully. "Eh...was a few months ago, at least, but I'm sure it's somewhere between that Soleanna place and...what was it? Some kind of...Square?" Ash looks to Elizabeth again for help. "Do you mean Station Square?" Tails guesses. Ash nods, ears moving in accordance to the sounds around them. "Yeah, somewhere between there. We don't really go into populated places." Tails looks at Shadow, who's more focused on what Ash said to return the eye contact. "Well, to get the Emerald, we'll have to go there." He inhales deeply, pinching the bridge of his nose. "Is something wrong?" Ash stands a little straighter, ears pricked in an alert position. Both Tails and Shadow hesitate, before the dark hedgehog waves his hand dismissively. "We don't have time for that right now. What's important is the Emerald." He tells them, shutting down any attempts to object to this. With the speed things are progressing at, he wouldn't be surprised if Rouge is done and waiting by now. While Shadow puts the Chaos Emerald away, he notices how Amber's gaze tracks the green object. They have some sort of interest in the Chaos Emeralds, but whether that's a good or a bad thing, Shadow has yet to figure out.

Rather than waste energy and use Chaos Control, Shadow decides to let them all walk. Sure, it's slower, but he refuses to risk it. "Look, we came along, despite the very valid reasons not to..." Ash doesn't look at Elizabeth, but it's clear the comment was pointed at her. "And I think we deserve to know at least SOMETHING. What is going on? Why are these emerald things so important? And why are you and Amber the same??" She demands, after they'd been walking for about an hour. "Your friend and I are not the same. I can say that with absolute surety. Other than that, I have no answer." He replies, then adds, "And if you're so keen to understand what we're doing, then here: Something has come up, and we're not even sure yet what it wants. All we know is that it's deadly, and our plan is to stop it before it hurts people." Ash closes her mouth, processing this information. "What do you mean? If it wanted to hurt someone, why haven't we heard about it? We did stop in a small village recently." Elizabeth, who apparently is also referred to as 'Lizzie', asks. "Well, it only appeared a day or so ago." Tails answers. Indeed, it had only been at most a day and a half since Shadow had first seen the Starfallen. "Does 'it' have a name?" Ash inquires, crossing her arms. "Amber." The odd hedgehog says. "No, no, not you, bud." Elizabeth murmurs. "We call it the Starfallen. If it has an actual name, we haven't been told." The fox explains, which is enough to satisfy Ash for the time being. "Well, you never asked!" Shadow stiffens, turning to his left to face the cursed entity. It looks much the same, the only major difference being the small smatterings of blood across its hands, limbs, and torso. It's standing in a tree, one hand on a branch above it.

"Bit early for halloween, isn't it?" Ash remarks, and the Starfallen snorts. "I don't see the point in such meaningless events." It states, hopping down from the tree. "By the way, I was wondering...there's a hedgehog, small, pink, obsessed with your friend. Have you seen her recently?" The question is aimed at Tails and Shadow, it barely glances at the new trio. "She has something I want. As do you, Shadow the Hedgehog." The Starfallen takes a step forward, and even Ash and Elizabeth tense up, sensing the danger. "Come on, make this easy on yourself! I'd hate for someone to get hurt." It says, in a falsely sweet tone. The second voice even leaves, returning it to Sonic's voice for a moment. "I will give you nothing." Shadow states, a flicker of annoyance crossing the entity's expression. "Really? That hurts, Shads." The Starfallen shakes its head, voice returning to its normal two-layers, then shrugs. "Well, fine. Have it your way." Before it can move, though, a tree slams down in front of it, followed by several more, and other pieces of rubble and objects to make a cage. Shadow steps back, caught off-guard, and looking around.

"Are you guys okay?" Silver asks, running into view. Ash's eyes widen, arms going slack at her sides. "I hope I'm not too late–we don't have long. Shadow, can you get us out of here?" Shadow nods, drawing out the green Emerald. "We have a temporary refuge on Angel Island." He informs Silver, who nods, pulls out an Emerald, the clear one, causing Amber to become alert again. Before they can do anything, though, Shadow steps forward with his own Emerald, and the two hedgehogs use Chaos Control to transport the group back to the floating island.