'Easy,' Rogue thought, looking down to the strawberry all-in-one shampoo and conditioner she had snagged from a nearby store. The store clerk, a teenager trying to save for college, barely noticed her presence, focusing on telling a bunch of kids off for a little dispute. All Rogue had to do was get it past Knuckle's and his lecture about taking unnecessary risks, and she would be free. It's not like she could take it back now, no matter how much he complained. She hadn't had a proper bath in a month, and her fur was starting to lose its consistency and was beginning to tangle. She couldn't wait until she got back to base so that she could take up the bathroom for a good hour or so.
With a smirk, she placed it in the backpack with the rest before shouldering the stolen item. She was about to turn and leave when a small robot, that was the size of an earth cat, approached her. She groaned inwardly, wondering what the doctor wanted now, as she bent down to stroke the fur, feeling for the button to activate the hologram. As soon as she found it, she pressed it, causing three beams of light to come from its robotic eyes, revealing a see-through Eggman's upper body.
"Rogue, we... Have a situation," he started, looking distracted. His eyebrows were creased in worry and his gaze kept turning away to see something stationed behind him. Rogue was amused by this behaviour; the usually confident doctor looked almost anxious. It was a rare sight to behold. "Both G.U.N experiments have escaped, and one managed to stumble into my fortress," he continued. "I need you here... Human's are not his type. Maybe you can..." He trailed off as a groan was heard behind him. "... Don't forget, bat, you owe me...!" He rushed out before the hologram disappeared.
Rogue stared at the robot cat, caught between wary and amusement. If the doctor was asking for help, something big was going down. After all, he tasked her with infiltrating the 'Team Knuckles' ranks to gather intel on what they were up to while the doctor did his own thing. This worked out for her as she was handed information from both sides so that she could choose sides later should a situation escalated, all the while achieving her goal of getting closer to the master emerald. It was fortunate that the guardian secretly had the hots for her, even though he would never admit it. This arrangement left her with a lot of options for the future... and now, he wanted to risk her discovery?
Sighing, she spread her wings, hoping she wasn't making a mistake before taking flight. The cat started to move, running and weaving through obstacles only something its size (or smaller) could do as it leads her to Eggman's base.
'This better be worth it,' she thinks, bringing up a hand to clutch at the backpack strap so it wouldn't fall off.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
"Finally," Tails yelled, taking a breath of fresh air as they exited the maze of underground caverns and sewage systems. He wiped his shoes across the grass, trying to dispel as much dirt and water as he could with little success. Knuckles hummed, taking longer to climb up the incline of the bank with the deadweight of the blue hedgehog in his arms. He sighed, sitting down near the top of the slope and draping Blue across his lap.
The male still hadn't woken up, but that was the least of their problems. Soon after they fled the scene, they had been ambushed two more times, and someone nearly yanked the unconscious hedgehog's arm, ending up pulling too hard and dislocated the setting shoulder again. The blood had turned black again, and the pair had come to theorise that G.U.N had put something in it to make him heal faster.
They were not sure how the humans had stumbled across this miracle, but, apparently, they had. One thing was for sure though, is that it had something to do with the emeralds and that Blue had a definite connection with the Master Emerald. It's pulses resonated with his heartbeat, and there would be a heaviness to the air that was associated with the gathering of a vast amount of Chaos Energy in one area.
Knuckles had found himself racking his brain for a plausible explanation, but found nothing of substance. When exploring his home, Angel Island, he would come across memorials and carvings that would depict certain events, whether in the past, present, or future. Unfortunately, there was nothing that foretold this. This was either something new or a well-kept secret buried in the past by his ancestors. He had cursed, again, the fact that he was the last of his kind. Oh, how he would like to see another Echidna and ask them all the bizarre things that never made sense to him.
"Hey, Knuckles!" Tails' call brought his attention. He turned to see that his hand was covering his eyes, squinting towards the horizon. He made a non-comical noise, informing the kit that he was listening. "Do you know where we are?"
Looking around, Knuckles frowned, bringing the unconscious body closer as the early night air blew across the landscape, creating a chill. No, he didn't. All he could see was the outskirts of the city in the distance, the river and a long bridge. He cursed silently. "No," Knuckles deadpanned, feeling lost.
Tails slumped at the answer, coming over to sit down beside them. The last of the sunset was visible, leaving the sky an orange and yellow hue. He sighed, bringing his legs up so that he could encircle his arms around them and place his head on his knees. "I wanna go to bed," he whispered with a bitter smile. Today had been a whirlwind of emotions and unanswered questions. The adrenaline and awe had died down from everything that happened, leaving wariness and uncertainty in its wake. 'Was he ever going to sleep in a real bed tonight?' He wondered, briefly.
Knuckles snorted softly and reached out to ruffle his hair. "This has been one hell of a crazy afternoon, huh," he muttered, making Tails nod in agreement.
They stayed quiet for a while, enjoying the peace. None of them knew what to say, but they were just content, for the time being, watching as the sun disappeared, leaving the impending darkness in its wake. Overhead, street lamps flickered to life, helping the stragglers find their way home for the night.
Tails wondered briefly if they could guide them back home, before shaking his head. "We should get moving. If we can't find the base, we're going to have to set up a camp," he informed, standing up and offering his hand. Knuckles shifted a snoring Blue before pulling himself to his feet and smiling to the young kit, who rubbed at his eyes as soon as he let go.
"We'll find somewhere," he promised before picking a direction and going towards it. "... You never know. Maybe we'll bump into Rogue if she isn't back already."
Tails hummed, holding back a yawn. He looked up to Blue as his lips tugged down in worry. "How do you think he got here? Did he come with us or has he been here for a while?" He asked, trying to keep himself awake.
Knuckles followed his gaze and shook his head. "I don't know, Tails. Whatever the humans are doing, he's in the middle of all this. I've got a feeling that they won't give up. We'll have to hide and protect him until we find a way back to Mobius..." He sighed, letting out a puff of air as he straightened his back. The beginnings of a cramp were starting to settle in, and he wasn't looking forward to walking all night.
Even with the street lamps and lights from the evening and night venues from the city, it was still late and the chance of running into someone was higher with their visibility so limited. "We should set up camp for the night. Maybe sleeping beauty will be okay enough to walk in the morning and we'll find Sticks later to head back to base."
The echidna got a nod in return. Tails had started to slump over, wanting more than anything to rest and momentarily forget about the stresses of the day. "Okay," he mumbled out, changing direction to head to the nearest woodland.
-------------------------------------------------------------------------------
It didn't take long to find a clearing that is covered by bushes and trees. He settled down the blue hedgehog against the tree and allowed Tails to sit down. The kit shivered, pulling Blue into a one-arm hug, preventing them both from falling over. Knuckles quickly set up camp, using skills learnt over living in the wild to build the shelter and start a small campfire.
First, he gathered some nearby feathers and fungus, as they were both highly flammable. He rubbed two sticks together to start a flame. Next, he threw them on a few leaves and branches before putting more sticks and logs near Tails to throw on when needed.
That done, he moved on to some nearby birch trees, cutting them down and stripping it off its bark to use as a covering. The wood was used to make the structure, tying them together with string created out of pulling up and stripping nearby roots that had been bathing in water for about half-an-hour.
As soon as he finished, he turned back to them to see them both sleeping, leaning against each other. He paused, taking in the sight before smiling. 'They look kind of cute together,' he thought before going over and picking up Tails. He settled them both in the hut, where Tails cuddled up to Blue's side for warmth.
Before going bed, Knuckles set up a fireguard out of sticks, hopefully preventing the heat from escaping in the wrong direction, and put some more natural fuel on the fire. That done, he entered the hut, settling down on the other side of Blue to sleep.
------------------------------------------------------------------------
Tails groaned as something poked his cheek. He peeked open one eye, ready to give the person a piece of his mind, but stopped. A shy smile greeted him, emerald eyes staring at him curiously. The events of yesterday came crashing down as he remembered what had happened.
"Blue?" He inquired, shooting up to stare down at the strange hedgehog. A tilt of his head was the answer he received, followed by a blink. "Where you... poking me?" Lips pulled up in a silent laugh, his hand reaching out to do it again. Tails watched, taken back, and flinched slightly as cold fur made contact with his cheek.
"Hey..." Tails jumped slightly, moving away. Emerald eyes widened at his reaction, his laughing immediately seizing as he shrank back. The fox kit felt instantly guilty, seeing the hurt expression flash across his face. "Sorry," he mumbled quickly, wondering why the other wasn't talking, before adding, "it was just cold."
Suddenly, Knuckles poked his head in, causing Blue to turn to stare at him. Tails felt relieved and scrambled to his feet. The inside of the hut came just above his head but didn't fully hinder his ability to walk underneath. "We gotta go. I can hear some human's nearby," he explained.
"Oh... right," Tails started, rubbing his eyes before he froze, his brain finally processing what the echidna had just said. He tensed. "What? Oh, no!" Jumping to his feet, he grabbed his tool belt that Knuckles must have taken off before he put them in here, before running outside.
Blue watched him go, confused, before looking to Knuckles, who had moved over to kneel down in front of him. A dirty tin can was in his hand that had a stick resting out of it. He swirled it around with a sigh. "Sorry, I could only find pine trees, so pine residue will have to do. It's not the best, but it'll relieve some pain on your shoulder..." He trailed off as he looked up and gasped. The wound was not there! "What...?" Reaching out, he inspected the shoulder, searching all angles, but found nothing. "How! You broke it yesterday. We saw you!" He looked up. "I've seen fast healers... But, you? You are something else entirely."
Distracted by his discovery, he didn't see the panic in the hedgehog's eyes or the fact he had begun to shiver and back away from him. Knuckles retreated and saw the panicked expression. "Hey... I'm sorry. I'm not going to pry, I'm sorry," he quickly reassured, mentally slapping himself. The humans had already done that enough, he didn't want to give him a reason to not trust them. "We do have to go, though. Can you walk?" He asked, ready to push himself up.
The Chaos Energy concentration thickened again, making his airways constrict before quickly dispersing. Blue shook his head after a few seconds. "Okay..." Knuckles gasped, feeling slightly dizzy. It had happened before many times that morning, especially when Knuckles would ask him a question or when he disagreed with him. Knuckles had chalked it down to him saying no. "Just nodding or shaking your head will do," he informed, petting Blue's head before holding out his arms.
There was a delay as Blue looked at him, confused before smiling and leaping forwards. Knuckles quickly adjusted his stance, attempting to not fall over, causing the hedgehog to giggle silently.
Tails' head poked in, grabbing their attention. He looked anxious. "Hey, so there close. He bent down and put a finger on his lips. "Shush," he whispered to Blue, who repeated the action with a grin. His cheek was turned into Knuckles' fur as he rested against his shoulder.
"Tails, you don't have to. He can't speak," Knuckles informed, anxiously.
"What?!" Tails exclaimed, possibly too loud as his head snapped to the Echidna, who sighed.
"I've been trying all morning. Whether it is by choice or because of something the humans have done, he hasn't uttered a word," he elaborated. "The closest thing I get out of him is a 'yes' or 'no'. He also claims he can't walk."
Tails turned back, stunned. Blue had was draped over Knuckle's shoulder, messing with red dreadlocks with a look of intense concentration and awe. The owner's eye twitched, trying not to get angry and startle the poor kid. He normally didn't want anyone touching his dreadlocks, but he knew from experience in the past twelve hours that the hedgehog didn't take too kindly to forced denial.
He suppressed a yawn, remembering the four hours of sleep he got before being woken up by a hedgehog trying to crawl out of the hut, terrified. It took him another two to calm down, and he concluded the fastest way was to give him something to fiddle with or distracting him.
Before they could talk, a man's voice echoed in the forest. "Oscar! Come on, Oscar, we've got to go to grandpa's house!" This was accompanied by the shuffle of leaves and heavy breathing.
"Time to go," Knuckles decided, standing up and creeping towards the entrance of the hut without disturbing the leaves they had used to protect themselves from the ground. Tails hummed, following as best as he could. As soon as they were outside their makeshift camp, they started running towards the south, using the sun and moss as a natural navigator to find their way back to somewhere that was more familiar to the echidna.
----------
What they failed to notice was the young human had spotted them, and was starting to follow them. Unfortunately, he quickly lost their trail and bumped into more solid, who was patrolling the area. He stumbled back, rubbing his forehead and glanced up to the woman.
"Sorry, young man," she apologised and was about to leave when she turned back, an idea coming to her. "Oh, have you seen a hedgehog, a fox and one red creature, walking around the woods, by any chance?"
Blue eyes narrowed in thought. That was who he was following. He opened his mouth to tell her but decided against it. His hand tightened around the small communicator he had found while following their trail. The strange fox must have dropped it.
What animals could talk and carry around technology? This was too bizarre. He needed to get to the bottom of this. Especially if his grandad was after them. His family was full of secrets and he was getting sick of being left in the dark.
"No," he answered as sincerely as possible, shaking his head.
She hummed, not sure if she believed him or not, before noticing something. Her eyes lit up. "I know you... I'm sorry for what happened to your mother, she was a good agent. But, don't worry, we'll get her back," she said sincerely, reaching out to ruffle his hair. "Do you need a ride back to Commander Towers? I'm sure your grandpa should be finished for the day..."
A flash of hurt crossed his expression before it smoothed into one of annoyance. "No, I need to get back before farther knows I'm gone. We were out camping," he informed, stepping back before giving her a half-hearted wave. "Thanks for the offer, though. Bye!" And with that, he was gone.
She watched him go before sighing. "Worth a shot... Shame Oscar took the lesson about 'stranger danger' too seriously," she muttered before bringing up her communicator. "Kids a no-go. I guess we'll need another way in."
TBC:
Edge of insanity: by Anomalous123
Chapter notes:
Hi, guys. Sorry I was late getting this chapter out. The next should be also up in a few minuets.
Chapter end notes:
Hope you all enjoy it, and don't forget to review as I am trying to improve my writing style and story telling techniques.
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