In The Mist
(…)
A soft breeze blew across a solid stone structure.
The wind and time the only things to erode the surface.
Crumbling rocks scattered around the other stones that had yet to give way.
A lone pair of feet crunched along the ground.
Another few steps and the owner soon stopped.
The inhabitant of this place looked down, and saw the clouds below.
He kicked a small pebble and watched it bounce once on the ground before falling off and down to the world below.
"At least not everything has to stay on this island" Knuckles spoke solemnly.
He let the slowly moving clouds captivate him for a moment before his thoughts took over.
"Time for a treasure hunt" Knuckles said windmilling his arms one after the other.
The red echidna began walking back to his post.
He grabbed things from the island as he passed their hiding places.
"A good bag" He said pushing aside a boulder.
Knuckles pulled himself up a rock wall as a deafening sound grew louder.
He hung just underneath the jutting waterfall and reached into a surprisingly dry hole.
"My new hat" Knuckles said before jumping and gliding down.
He placed the hat on his head and smiled at the familiar pattern and wear.
"If this one gets burned like the last one..." He thought aloud remembering the time he had to out-dig lava.
Reaching the altar he was greeted with a ball of red light.
"There was a few flickies here, hope you don't mind" the orb spoke as it began to change shape.
"Not at all Tikal, I was going off on a treasure hunt, care to see some new sights?" Knuckles walked past the spectral echidna and placed his hand on the Master Emerald.
"Hmm... why not, I just wish I didn't get so cramped in there..." Tikal said as Knuckles started to concentrate.
Energy surged through him till his quills were blowing against the breeze.
"AHRAH!" Knuckles let out a small cry as the Master Emerald began to shrink.
The energy spiked and soon the emerald was the size of it's chaos counterparts.
Tikal felt herself being pulled closer to the now smaller Master Emerald.
Her body switched back to that of a red orb before being absorbed back into the emerald.
"Alright, lets go" Knuckles said as he gripped the altar and lifted the Master Emerald into his hand.
Immediately he felt himself grow lighter as Angel island began to fall towards the ocean below.
Knuckles was lifted from the ground and he held on with the Master Emerald still in his other hand.
"Now" he breathed while placing the emerald back on it's altar.
Angel island tried to rise to the sky again but the momentum from the fall was still against it.
Soon the island slowed to a halt a short distance above the water.
Knuckles pulled on the Master Emerald and Angle Island dropped the last stretch into the water with only small waves.
"Still a lot better then crashing" Knuckles breathed while releasing his grip from the altar.
He took a second to grab his bag, place his hat on his head, and then he put the Master Emerald safely behind his spines.
Knuckles looked for the old bridge and found it's creaking wood without much delay.
"This island has crashed down so much recently yet it still perfectly lands next to this bridge..."
Knuckles jumped across the mysterious bridge and let his arms flex a bit to limber up.
"I'll try the red mountains..." He thought to himself.
Several steps were punctuated with the soft wind blowing again.
(…)
Knuckles was slowly walking when he felt a slight ringing in his ears.
"Yes Tikal?" Knuckles said aloud even though he didn't need to.
The voice flowed from in his mind with a clear voice, "We're being followed..."
"Well then..." Knuckles breathed before whipping around and punching the air.
A short time later the air erupted in an explosion from the force.
"Fight me if you want, otherwise leave!" he called back with his stance set for a fight.
The wind blew slightly as Knuckles stood there.
Knuckles kept alert and soon saw a small grey object hurtling towards him.
He punched and felt as the rock crumbled to dust.
Knuckles turned to face the direction the rock had come from when he felt pain erupt in his head.
The echidna stumbled forward and fell to the ground shoulder first.
Tucking his arms in he rolled across his back and came to stop on his feet facing the direction the second rock had come from.
"LEFT" Tikal's voice came from his head and Knuckles barely had enough time to face and block the rock.
"Behind you" her voice came again and Knuckles turned to see a boulder rolling towards him.
Knuckles waited before jumping with an uppercut causing the bolder to spin backwards holding it in place.
He landed and spun around quickly before hammering the rock with his fist.
The punch had enough force to launch the boulder back up the way it came.
Before another assault could be launched Knuckles dove downward into the ground.
He dug as fas as possible and in the direction he had launched the boulder.
Knuckles soon came to just underneath the boulder then burst upward shattering the boulder and sending it in every direction.
"Ah" he heard with the sound of rock impacting something soft.
The voice came from behind him and Knuckles jumped backwards while spinning to face his opponent.
He landed with his fist curled and ready to go.
"WAIT!" Screamed Tikal in his head.
Knuckles looked down at the dazed figure of an echidna.
"Shade" he breathed before her hand fell to her belt out of reflex.
"Shade!" Knuckles yelled as the wind began to finally die down.
Knuckles quickly climbed the nearest spire of rock and looked out for any sign of Shade.
He saw a body a short distance away, from around where the first rock had come from.
Wasting no time, Knuckles began to glide over to her before she could stir.
After landing he inspected her but saw she was unconscious.
There was a large mark on her headband, "She must have gotten hit in the head..."
Knuckles ended up looking her over for other injuries but couldn't help but notice her body.
Her headband, bracelets, and boots were still the same, but the rest of her outfit was something new.
A soft purple blouse was under a violet waist length jacket while a pair of tough denim jeans were stained to be a lighter blue.
Knuckles felt his face heat up as he noticed the curves of her body and her soft face.
Turning from Shade he sat down as a voice came to his head.
"What now Knuckles?" Tikal asked sensing his confusion.
"I'll... use the emerald to try and wake her up..." Knuckles said thinking of a solution.
"Hurry, the night will be coming in an hour or so..." Tikal said wishing she could be free of the Master Emerald.
Knuckles looked to the slowly falling late day sun and let out a gruff growl.
(…)
Energy surged into his left arm as Knuckles moved his right hand to Shade's forehead.
"Master Emerald, we need your power" he said as he channeled what he could.
The energy washed over Shade and she stirred for a moment.
"Shade, are you... ok?" Knuckles asked feeling odd.
"Heh.. guess you won" She said before falling back asleep.
"I won... won what?" Knuckles said aloud in his confusion.
Knuckles tried to lightly shake Shade awake but it wasn't working.
"She's just tired..." Tikal seemed just as concerned as him.
"Why was she attacking..." Knuckles looked around and back to where the boulder had been destroyed.
"Why would anybody fight..." Tikal seemed to sadden and recede from his mind.
Knuckles now sat, as the night approached, and was left with only his thoughts.
"Alone... not like thats' something new..." He already felt the familiar state of mind.
"But i'm not alone... Shade is here..." Knuckles could tell something was different inside him.
A tongue of magma pierced out of the side of a mountain a fair distance away.
"It's not safe here" Knuckles said touching his hat at the sight of the molten rock.
"Angel island is back that way..."
"But, the ruins are just down there..." Knuckles thought as he jumped up to look towards the edge of the mountains.
"I can't glide with her in my arms... can I?"
A moment of thought was endured by Knuckles before he gathered Shade in his arms.
"I will" he said as he moved towards the edge.
Knuckles jumped and stretched his quills out.
His arms reached forward while holding on to Shade.
It was harder for him to go forward and found himself going down faster than usual but overall it was working.
Looking down he saw the strong winds that ran between the mountains.
"Knuckles, what are you doing." Tikal seemed to have returned.
He steeled himself for the winds but felt them rip his control away.
Knuckles was spun until Shade flew from his arms.
"Shade!" Knuckles yelled diving down to try and catch up with her.
He felt his hat fly from him as well but he didn't bother trying to catch it.
The mountains broke from the area as they plummeted towards the forest below.
Knuckles felt his heart sink as he saw Shade approaching a rocky wall of the side of the mountains base.
He punched downward doing anything he could to get closer faster.
Several seconds separated him from the mountainside just as he caught up with Shade.
Knuckles grabbed Shade in his arms before shifting her to just one arm.
With the other he punched into the wall face that was right in front of him now.
He broke into the hard, unforgiving surface and felt his hand hold fast.
The rest of his body continued downward and he felt his shoulder erupt with pain from trying to hold on.
Knuckles slid downward, his fist carving a impression on the rock for nearly half a minute.
His arm went numb but he refused to let go and have them both fall.
They finally came to a stop and Knuckles let them drop the short distance to the tree tops.
He brought up his still numb arm to cushion Shade as they landed on the branch and from there to the ground.
"Knuckles, that was reckless" Tikal seemed to have been a bit shocked.
"I... I needed to get her some place safe..." Knuckles could tell he had done something stupid.
Knuckles sighed and felt the cool thick air against his quills.
(…)
Shade stirred hours later.
"Good to see you awake" Knuckles tried to sound agitated but just couldn't.
"Uh... what hit me..." Shade said rubbing her head expecting to feel a bump.
She had a moment of confusion when no bump was found and she looked to Knuckles for an answer.
"Part of that boulder you threw at me" Knuckles still couldn't act angry and he didn't know why.
"That I... oh..." Shade returned to rubbing her head.
Knuckles began to walk away from the terracotta echidna.
"Wait" Shade said immediately.
Knuckles stood there for a moment before continuing on his way.
Shade scrambled to get up and chase after him.
Knuckles was already out of sight by the time she was to her feet.
"Wait!" She called again into the heavily wooded jungle.
"So you can attack me again" Came a remark from somewhere on her left.
Shade turned and ran after the voice.
She crashed through a few bushes and nearly tripped over a log on her way.
Shade's heavy breathing was the only thing that greeted her when she came to a stop.
"I wasn't attacking you..." Shade breathed a sigh of defeat...
"I was just..." Shade let her words fade into the early night.
Silence answered her and Shade knew that Knuckles must have already gone.
Her mood changed to pure disappointment.
Shade was so upset she began walking through the jungle instead of using her warp belt to get out.
Long dead twigs snapped underfoot as she wandered among her own thoughts.
The cool air seemed to get thicker and wetter as the night grew older.
Shade was deep in her thoughts when she tripped over the once great trunk of a tree.
She stumbled and mentally braced herself to hit the hard ground.
A moment passed and Shade felt the ground hit her but her face hit something soft.
Shade got up with small pain and blinked several times.
"A Hat?" Shade asked picking up the soft object.
"But this is..." Shade knew she had seen it before but couldn't remember.
"KNUCKLES!" She shouted in triumph as she placed the hat.
"He had it on earlier when I... attacked... him..."
Shade looked up and saw a layer of low clouds rolling closer.
"I am a high ranking member of the Nocturnous clan and a combat specialist... yet I can't even flirt..."
"and I've been walking around in the jungle when I can warp out at any time..." Shade instantly felt stupid as she realized this.
Holding the hat Shade moved her other hand to her belt and disappeared in a flash.
She expected to be on Angel Island but soon felt wind whipping past her.
"What!" she exclaimed as she saw herself free-falling.
Shade looked down and saw Angel Island below her, but not where it normally floated.
Panic never came to Shade, instead she just waited for the belt to be ready, held to the hat tight, and hit the belt one last time.
The soft grass of Angel Island greeted her as did the face of a red echidna.
(…)
"What are you doing here" Knuckles tried to get in a fighting stance but found his body unwilling to.
"I... you dropped this..." Shade said holding out his hat.
"Oh come on, take it like a battle, use a strategy, be logical" Shade heard herself yell as she blushed.
"You rushed in like a recruit and now you don't know what to do..." Her mind was just against her as Knuckles.
"Thank you..." Knuckles said gruffly before turning to head for the altar.
Shade was about to go after him when the low clouds blocked the moon casting the island into darkness.
Knuckles took only a moment to pull the Master Emerald from it's place and used it's light as a way to move forward.
Shade walked after Knuckles silently.
Knuckles heard her foot steps and wanted to tell her to go away but couldn't bring himself to do it.
He neared the altar and heard a voice sound in his head.
"She doesn't seem to want to le..." Tikal dropped off for a moment.
"Knuckles..." he heard the ancient spirit echidna call to him.
"What Tikal..." he asked in his head.
"You like her" She said as more of a statement then a question.
"What! What do you mean" He blurted out loud getting an odd look from Shade.
"I'm in your head, You like her... say something" Tikal answered wishing she could smile.
"Knuckles" Shade called a bit scared of his outburst.
He had been about to say something to Tikal when he turned his attention to Shade.
"I like you" he blurted out without meaning to.
Shade could barely see anything of him in the dim glow but had the oddest feeling he was blushing.
"Why did you make me say that!" Knuckles shouted in his head at Tikal.
"It was true, and you weren't going to say it" She said retreating to the Master Emerald.
Knuckles was unaware that while he had been arguing with Tikal Shade had come closer.
"I like you too" She whispered as she neared him and found her arms hanging around his neck.
"Uh" Knuckles let slip from his lips in confusion before his arms moved to hold Shade.
He wasn't sure why they had, but Knuckles suddenly lost the reason to care why.
A small tingling came to his head but Knuckles ignored it.
"Not now Tikal" he said as the spirit returned.
"Just helping" She said playfully and Knuckles felt his face dragged forward till his lips touched Shade's.
Knuckles was about to pull back when he felt an object push past his lips and wrap around his tongue.
Then pure bliss emanated from his mouth as Shade kissed him deeply.
Now, with passion pushing them together Knuckles added his all to the kiss.
Shade moaned lightly in pleasure as she felt Knuckles tongue fight back and caress her own mouth.
The two panted as their lungs gave and they had to separate.
Silence was shared as the two slowly walked back towards the altar.
Tikal sat in the Master Emerald enjoying herself.
"Last of the echidna's no more..." She thought contently as the two echidna's reached the top of the altar.
(…)
Knuckles placed the Master Emerald back in it's place and separated himself from Shade.
She felt a soft pang of hurt when he left so she moved to his side as he seemed to hold the emerald firmly.
"Isn't the Master Emerald bigger?" Shade asked noticing the small size of the emerald.
Knuckles let a small laugh come before energy started to surge through him.
His quills flowed with energy and Shade gasped at the power.
Knuckles kept one hand on the Master Emerald as he wrapped his other around Shade.
A smile graced his face and Shade felt the energy surging through his body.
Then, with all the emotion he could muster, Knuckles kissed Shade.
The power of the Master Emerald was immense as it coursed from him to her and Shade couldn't believe it.
Sparks played in her mind as her heart beat faster then ever before.
The Master Emerald grew to it's normal size and Knuckles released his grip on the gem.
Shade felt her legs give and then as Knuckles kept her from falling as Angel Island began to rise back to the sky.
"We won't be able to see much for a while" Knuckles said looking skyward at the clouds drawing closer.
Shade could barely think let alone speak.
"Till we get back to the normal height, we will be completely alone and unable to see."
"Alone in the mist..." Shade said as the soft clouds cooled the air and wetted the island as it passed.
"I'll hold on to you so you don't get lost in the mist" Knuckles said pulling Shade closer.
"And I'll hold to you then..." Shade said kissing Knuckles as the soft clouds cut off her vision.
Angel island rose in the sky.
It's inhabitants blinded but seeing more of the other then ever possible before.
The clouds rolled over the island turning to mist as some stuck.
And in the mist... were the two lovers.
Passion as a beacon to the other.
So that they would always be able to find each other, in the mist.
(…)
Dang that was a long one.
Well, time for a little notes.
The hat, it isn't from the blue but I don't expect most of you to remember it.
In 1999 a Sonic The Hedgehog movie was released that had no plot with the games and wasn't a huge success... so of course with it being a Sonic Movie, I have a few copies.
In the movie, Knuckles was dubbed as being a "mole" but that isn't the point.
For most of the movie Knuckles wore a treasure hunters hat that ended up being burned to cinders when he had to out-dig magma to save the planet.
So, even with it not being in any of the games... I listened to a request and gave him his hat back.
Now the Emerald, In Sonic Adventure 2 it was seen that Knuckles had the ability to shrink the Master Emerald to the size of a Chaos emerald.
I used this as a convent way to keep the emerald safe when he leaves the island.
And lastly... well... not much...
Guardian of Legend, here is your request.
Oh and, COME ON, I have to do TWO Knuckles X Shade stories and there still aren't that many out there!
(…)
Well.. now that i've calmed down.
Good Night, Live Life, And Look For What Hides In The Mist.
- One Psychopathic Maniacal Fox