Chapter 16 - CH XVI: A Mistaken Identity

“Locke! This is a test!” Ekyt shouted. The older echidna turned slowly. “It is not your place to determine that guardian.” “If it is coming in a direct violation of my current orders, it is. My last standing orders were from Athair and Poile-La. I am to serve Linda-Su until the end of the war. My loyalty is to lie with her, not with the Brotherhood.” Locke looked angry, but Ekyt didn’t back down. He stared back, kneeling next to his master’s feet.

His jaw was decorated lightly with stubble from days on the road. Linda-Su thought that it was attractive on him, though she would prefer him to be smooth-shaven. Her thoughts returned to the present. A stare-down between two guardians was a rarity, and it never ended well. She prayed that it would be an exception.

Locke finally smiled. “Very astute guardian. Indeed, this WAS a test, one that you passed. You have just proven to me that you know when to stand up and fight for what is right. You are not dismissed from Linda-Su…unless that is to her liking.” Locke and Ekyt bowed to each other, with Linda-Su in total shock. “Linda-Su will be your…master, of sorts…you are to guard the chaos emerald. Congratulations.”

“You went against the council!” she exclaimed. Ekyt was still kneeling next to her. “There are worse fates than guarding and serving you.” Ekyt said, managing a small smile. “You seemed…disappointed…that you weren’t the one chosen for the position in Haven.” Ekyt’s small smile disappeared. “Oh…that…it was foolish of me…I thought that if I served in Haven, I might somehow earn my mastery level. And…” He hesitated, until she motioned for him to continue, “I…have never been the elite…Just for one time, I would like to feel as though I’m good enough.” Linda-Su had never seen her guardian so emotional. He spoke again, this time with anger behind his words.

“I didn’t earn my mastery…I’m not sure I earned being a guardian…I’m just a body that knows loyalty…nothing more to them…I sacrificed so much to get to where I am…and I’m still…unchanged.” He got up, pulling his outer robe off. “The ceremony will be tomorrow…may I attend master?” he asked her. “Of course! It’s your ceremony!”

The ceremony was set to take place. Ekyt was to wear his normal clothes to the ceremony.

But there was a problem.

As Locke began the ceremony, the chaos emerald turned black. “It will not accept a human as it’s sole guardian…Ekyt, there is a choice you must make…you must either embrace a transformation and become an echidna in order to prove your loyalty to the emerald, or you will be dismissed.”

Ekyt was floored. He was beyond anger or grief. “I will accept the transformation, provided it can be reversed, should I find the change unsatisfying.” Ekyt said clearly. “Agreed. The transformation will take place once you have removed your clothing.”

Ekyt wasn’t about to change in mixed company, so Linda-Su left.

Ekyt laid on the emerald, feeling it’s strange warmth on his bare back. “Guardian, you must only lay still, the rest will be performed by out actions.” Laying there naked on a big rock was uncomfortable, but Ekyt had worse. The nudity really bothered him.

As he lay still, Locke took some red paint and wrote symbols on Ekyt’s forehead and chest. Then, with black ashes from Mount Fate, he marked under Ekyt’s eye with it. “The process is gradual guardian. Do not open your eyes.” Locke’s voice told him. “Understood.”

Linda-Su paced outside. The guardian has certainly become a part of my life…I’m unsure how I feel about him…a human and an echidna…His loyalty is one of his greatest attributes, one prized among the guardians…and myself. The last thought made her laugh. Linda-SU calmed down suddenly. No matter HOW she felt about him, she knew one thing: The young man had been through worse, and he would surely be fine this time.

“Guardian, you may open your eyes now.” Ekyt opened his eyes and sat up, not knowing what to expect. He saw that he was an echidna. He appeared to be a red color (most echidna males are red on Angel Island), and had the curiousity of having brown tips on the ends of his dreadlocks, in addition to a black stripe on each dreadlock. He looked at his hands. Five fingers, no spikes. He looked at the rest of his body in amazement. “Now the ceremony can be completed.”

The ceremony itself was hazy for Ekyt. He was still shocked he was an echidna, and, even though he now had the fur of an echidna, he still felt naked. But the white guardian’s crest on his chest stood out more, and for once he felt he had earned it. Ekyt was presented with black gloves. They had spikes on them, just like Knuckles’. They handed him a strange pair of long “Pants,” like a cross between a tight hakama and a kilt. It was black in color, decorated with intertwining red and green slashes.

“I hope he’s okay…” Linda-Su muttered to herself. The door opened, and an echidna that Linda-Su had never seen before came out. The echidna immediately knelt before Linda-Su. That’s when she realized that Ekyt had returned. She tried hard not to stare. I believe I’ve just fallen in love…no, it’s wrong! I will NOT love based solely on looks! She could sense that her guardian wasn’t entirely comfortable with his new body.

“Before you begin guarding…it is time Linda-Su met her mother.” Locke declared. “So, you are to escort her to her Mari-Su’s abode. It is on the edge of the Mobian Jungle.” Ekyt bowed to convey that he understood. His tail whacked him in the back of the leg.

“Whenever you are ready master, we can depart. I am told I can glide, which will save us time on our trip.” He said this carefree, but Linda-Su sensed there was emotion behind his voice. She chose not to bring it up, as she already guessed what it meant.

The young man dislikes some qualities of his species…But that does not mean that he wishes to change himself. He wants to change others…

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