The Missing Chao - Chapter 18

Sonic laid on the raft for a very long time, only seeing the pale blue sky and hearing faint ripples of the waves.

"When are we gonna get there?" Amy groaned.

Tails pulled out his GPS, "We are 2,000 miles away from Asia."

"So we have traveled 7,200 miles," Sonic chirped. "Time to run again."

He jumped off the raft, grabbed onto the wood, and immediately sped across the fluid water.

2 hours passed. Tails squealed, "800 miles left to go."

Sonic smiled and whispered, "Only one more hour to go." He ate a quick chili dog and continued his epic run. While Amy, Cream, and Forest played Go Fish, Knuckles lifted weights, and Tails glared at his GPS, Sonic just kept on running. Running.

Just before Cream cried out, "Goldfish!", Forest spotted a twig of land and screamed, "Land, land!"

Everyone else, but Sonic, stopped what they were doing and stared at the sand approaching. From an earthworm, the land transformed into a log of a sequoia tree, in under 1 minutes.

The raft rammed onto the shore and everyone set their feet onto dry Earth, along with their luggage. There were only sand and shells, along with trees guarding the beach. No people were sighted, it was pretty lonely under the gray sky.

"Which country are we in?" Cream asked as she wiggled her toes in the sand.

Tails gazed at his GPS again, 'We're on the shore of Huang-Xing, which used to be called China."

"That's 'yellow star' in Chinese, right?" Knuckles squealed. "I studied basic Chinese for a while, because it's the most popular language and a teacher recommended it for me."

"Neat," Sonic squeaked. "Maybe you could be the basic translator."

"I'm not fluent though. The Chinese characters look like unrecognizable squiggly lines."

"What shall we do with the raft?" Sonic pointed out.

Tails untied Cream's blanket and pushed the raft away. He abandoned it, simply.

"Welp, where shall we go next?" Sonic shrugged.

Cream pointed towards a distant city, "How about that?"

"Good idea!' Forest chirped.

"Hey, do you know Chinese?" Sonic replied. "You're wise, right? Not to brag, but I and Amy know a little Japanese."

"Konichiwa," Amy yelped.

"THat city is Wanxia, formerly known as Shanghai," Tails barked as the sea breeze tickled his fur.

"No," Forest replied to the Chinese question.

Sonic announced, "We should get going now, let's explore the nearby Wanxia city! I had enough of the dialogue."

Team Ring ran off the beach, bolted through the trees, and edged the urban area. Highways with cars rolling by lined up before them. Blue signs in Chinese, chirping cicadas, and smog accompanied the typical Asian scene.

"Let's enter the city and explore!" Cream squeaked. "I'm drowning in curiosity and adventure!"

Team Ring sped through the highway (at least the cars stopped fro them as they awed of eyeing Sonic) and landed their feet on the pavement. As colors of gray painted the sky, humans and Mobians alike walked and drove everywhere, admiring their daily lives.

"Why are there humans and Mobians?" Amy wondered. "I thought this was the Mobians' country."

"Well, the Mobians took the prized side that the humans owned," Tails answered, "so they made a compromise and lived together."

"I.. I.. need to be excused!" Knuckles shivered like a distressed rabbit. "Send me to the nearest toilet!"

Forest spun around and pointed to a restaurant, "This is the best thing I could find in the marketplace."

Knuckles, without any response, took off and fled into the diner. Murmurs of "Na-kul! could be heard outside. After a minute, Knuckles ran outside and joined the gang.

"Guess what they use!" he panted. "They use 'squat toilets'! I infer they find sitting on a bathroom object unsanitary."

"Correct," Tails chuckled.

Cream's stomach grumbled like a beat, "I'm feeling hungry, can we stop at a restaurant and eat, please?"

"Ha, right!" Amy squealed. "My stomach's empty too! Let's eat at McDaniel or United Fried Chi-"

"Let's not go to those Western fast food places," Sonic interrupted. "We can slurp noodles at an Asian restaurant instead."

"Agreed!" Knuckles yelped. "I've been to Giant Panda Stop and their food tastes like heaven."

Team Ring walked along the streets of Wanxia, seeking a high-quality restaurant. Cars zoomed by, people discussed their daily lives, cicadas chirped, pigeons plopped onto roads, and smog dominated the sky. At last, they stopped in front of a high-end Chinese restaurant and came in.

"Suo ni ke!" every patron shouted before talking in Chinese.

"Enough, enough," Sonic uttered.

Team Ring sat at an available table before a waitress passed out menus.

"What does this say?" Tails read the menu's unreadable text.

"I have completely no idea," Sonic was puzzled.

"At least there are pictures," Knuckles observed them. "Hmm... Would you like a giant bowl of fried noodles, chicken feet, and roasted poultry wings?"

"We need vegetables," Forest interrupted. "How about some black seaweed, a dash of bell peppers, and boychok?"

"Absolutely!" Amy squealed.

A waitress, who was a red panda, came up to their table and babbled in Chinese.

Knuckles exclaims, "Wo men yao this, this, this..." He kept going on as he pointed to the pictures in the menu.

The waitress smiled and wandered away. "She understood you," Sonic was astonished as a rabbit.

"Now all we gottta do is wait," Knuckles proudly smiled.

10 minutes of chattting and playing on phones later, a different waitress, a snow leopard, came over with many plates in her hands, as if she was carrying an elephant.

"My mouth's sure watering," Tails barked as the plates were settled on the wooden table.

"Hey, where are the spoons and forks?" Sonic stared down at a pair of wooden chopsticks and a small spoon in a giant bowl.

"You either handle the sticks," Tails held the chopsticks, "use the spoon, or grab them with fingers."

Team Ring had a fun time ripping meat off bones, talking (of course), chewing on crunchy plants, slurping 'oodles of noodles, wiping bits onto napkins, and guzzling water.

Once the lunch was done, Knuckles prepared to carry the plates off to somewhere. He lifted them up and dashed off.  After a while, he came up with the plates still on his palms.

"Where do I put these?" he cried.

Tails observed the area and responded, "Well, here, people leave their finished dishes on the tables, and wait for the waitress to carry 'em off."

"I would have conserved my energy if I learned that in the fist place," he settled the plates on the table.

Team Ring exited the diner and set off onto the streets of Wanxia. They sought something fun to do for the rest of the afternoon.