Chapter one: Angel Island
Knuckles blinked his eyes slowly, his first thought, what happened? His second, we crashed didn't we?
He sat up, and then stopped, feeling eyes all around him. He looked up.
Echidnas, thousands of them, wearing tribal makeup and clothing.
He stood up, looking at their astonished faces in astonishment.
The rubble of the plane moved, and Sonic pulled himself out and away from it, "I've been in a lot of crashes, but that was a nice one."
"You okay?" Knuckles helped Sonic to his feet.
"I've been through worse."
Smack!
Knuckles was hit in the back of the head with, what felt like, wooden poll, and then someone hugged him. He looked at the person that was hugging him. It was a female echidna; with dark red fur that deepened to black as it went down her dread locked hair.
"Knuckles," Sonic waged his finger in mock accusation, "is there something you need to tell us?"
"She's not mine," Knuckles pried the girl off of him.
She had sparkling emerald green eyes, and a look of anger and yet relief on her face.
"In that case," Sonic smiled slyly, "can I have her?" he walked, smoothly over to her, "hey," he brushed back his spiked hair, "I'm Sonic, the hedgehog, and what might your name be?"
The girl looked at him with disgust, and then hit him over the head with her wooden poll.
"Girls just like to hit you don't they?" Knuckles smiled.
"Shut up," Sonic rubbed his head, "she hit you too."
"And that," the echidna girl finally spoke, in a melodic voice, "I apologize for, my king," She bowed low.
"Don't worry about it," Knuckles went over to the wreckage of Tails' plane and started searching for Rouge and Tails. Sonic ran over to help.
Knuckles found Rouge, who was bruised, but conscious.
"You okay?" Knuckles asked her.
"Perfect, except for my head," she touched it gently.
"Let me see," Knuckles looked at her head, "it isn't bleeding, it might just be a concussion.
"Tails!" Sonic pulled the unconscious fox from the wreckage. Knuckles and Rouge ran over to him.
"Is he breathing?" Rouge asked.
"Yeah," Sonic said anxiously, "can any of those echidnas help him?"
Knuckles turned to the crowed, "please, my friend is injured, can anyone help him?"
A group of female Echidnas ran over and took Tails from Sonic, and took him away.
That's when Jet's blip landed.
"Wait a sec," Rouge said, irritated, "how come the blip's okay?"
"Well, Jet and Julie-Sue were both in there," Knuckles explained, "I think the friend of water and wind would be able to maneuver through a storm."
Rouge gaped, "If I had known that I would have gone in the blimp."
"It's a Zeppelin," Jet said, stepping out of the aircraft.
"Jet?" an echidna girl, with short, pink, dreadlocks, looked at Jet, cautiously.
"Annali!" Jet ran over to the echidna girl, and wrapped his arms around her, and kissed her cheek.
"You have a girlfriend," Sonic said disbelievingly.
"Yes," Jet smiled, "yes I do."
"Knuckles, my king," The echidna girl with the wooden poll addressed Knuckles, "why have you brought lowlanders to our Island?"
"Oh, I guess they should be properly introduced," Knuckles answered.
"Can I introduce my self," Sonic asked, "I've been practicing," he cleared his throat, "I am Sonic, friend of fire, child of the sun," he smiled.
"Blasphemy!" the echidna girl with the wooden poll, started hitting sonic over the head with her poll, "do you have any idea who you a downgrading?"
"Stop!" Knuckles grabbed the girl's poll to stop her, "he's telling the truth."
The girl looked at Sonic as he rubbed his head, "that's impossible; he-he's a lowlander."
"And?" Sonic asked.
The girl said nothing.
"What's your name anyway?"
"My name is Flora, ritual leader, and this is my team,"
Four echidna girls, including Annali, stepped forward, "Annali, Adda, Geminight, and Rea."
The four girls bowed.
"Pleasure to meet you," Sonic said, "Unless you're all going to whack me in the head with your sticks too."
The girls giggled.
"Girls," Flora said sternly, "do not forget your position."
The girls composed themselves quickly.
"Now we must go, my king," She bowed to Knuckles, "because you have returned we must prepare for the festivities." Flora, and her group, left.
"I think I'm in love," Sonic said, sentimentally.
"Get out of my way!" a voice came from the crowed as someone struggled to get to the front of it. A female bird burst out from the crowd.
"Mom!" Jet ran over to the woman, and hugged her.
"Oh, Jet," Jet's mother said, tears in her eyes, "I missed you so much!"
"Julie-Sue!" an echidna woman walked out of the crowd.
"Mi'e!" Julie-Sue ran to her mother, and held her.
"Aw," Sonic cued, "I need to hug someone, hug me Knuckles."
"No, go hug Jet."
"Knuckles?" a weak male voice came from the crowd.
Knuckles looked over at the male echidna that had spoken.
He was old and tired looking, with a walking stick in his hands.
"I-I thought you were dead."
Knuckles recognized the echidna from his family's picture, "father?"
Knuckles father walked towards him, he faltered and fell. Knuckles caught him before he hit the grass covered ground.
Knuckles' father wrapped his arms around his son's neck, "I'm so sorry," his father wept, "I should not have treated you like a sickness, like a germ, I should have treated you like my son. I'm so sorry." Knuckles' father cried.
"Its okay father," Knuckles didn't know what to say; even after being confronted by his father he still couldn't remember him.