A black cloak covering most of his body, a face of blue dashed away from the castle, trying to be stealthy so not to be seen. He made his way into town, then slowly snuck into an alley, removing his cloak to reveal rather peasant-ish clothes covering his short hedgehog body. He stuffed the cloak into a bag hanging at his side, then attempted to leave the alleyway.

However, his plans were dashed as he felt a strong tug at one of his back quills. He yelped from the pain, then looked behind him to see two rather tall thugs staring back at him.

"Don't think you can hide fr'm us, prince-y," one of them said, a long piece of rope in his hands.

The blue hedgehog shot them a smug look. "Dunno what chu're talkin' about. Search my bag if ya want, I'm just like everyone else."

Inwardly, he was actually pretty concerned. He hadn't been taught combat yet, and he couldn't run away or attempt to attack while his quill was being held so tightly.

One of the thugs smirked. "Heh, you're not foolin' us, kiddo."

Though the blue hedgehog squirmed and struggled, he was forced against the wall and tied up, his legs bound extra tight to make absolutely sure he couldn't run off. He glared up at the thugs and wanted to make a snarky remark, but his mouth had been covered by a bandana that one of them had on hand.

He hated the confinement to no end. Heck, that was the whole reason he left the castle in the first place. But... maybe he'd tempted fate too much by leaving so often? He didn't know...

"Alright, so I say we hold him for ransom," one thug said to the other. His partner nodded. "Right, but first, I don't like that look he's givin' us. Should we teach him a lesson?"

The hedgehog gulped mentally. Okay, so he definitely tempted fate too much...

"Hey, let him go!" a voice suddenly called out.

The three looked to where the voice was coming from and froze. A tall and quite buff red echidna stood there. He was obviously a peasant due to the simple rags we wore, and his arms and legs were covered in bandages.

The captured hedgehog's ears perked up in surprise. The echidna wasn't the tallest guy he'd ever seen, but still, he was huge.

The thugs, though looking nervous for a split second, quickly put on brave faces. "H-ha! You think we'll let him go just 'cause you say so?" one of them asked. "This one's ours, bud, a-and you can't have him!" He was clearly nervous about facing the echidna, but maybe, if he worked together with his partner...?

The echidna approached them, an angry look on his face.

"Let. Him. Go," he said sternly, clenching his fists.

The thugs cowered slightly at the echidna's gaze. This guy clearly wasn't fooling around with them.

The hedgehog took a closer look at him; there were two spikes adorning the back of each of his hands. Sheesh, that guy's probably gonna give those two a real poundin' if they don't listen.

The thugs looked at each other, as if telepathically making a decision, then quickly fled from the alley.

The tied-up hedgehog only wished that the stupid bandana was away from his mouth so he could sigh in relief. There was always the possibility of this echidna being a bad guy, but... there was some sort of strange comfort he felt gazing into his eyes; he had a strong feeling he was safe with him.

The echidna went up to him and removed the bandana. The angry look had gone from his eyes, and now his face was caring and gentle.

"You okay?" he asked the hedgehog as he started untying the ropes that bound him.

The blue hedgehog nodded his head, stretching his limbs slightly. "Y-yeah, thanks," he replied. "Guess I wasn't too careful this time around." He seemed a bit ashamed that he had gotten captured.

"I've never seen you around here before," the echidna mused. "What's your name?"

"Sonic," the hedgehog replied, extending his hand out for a handshake. "I guess y'don't see me too often 'cause I kinda blend in with the crowd."

The echidna shook his hand. He was surprisingly gentle for someone so big and strong.

"I'm Knuckles!" he said. "Nice to meet you, Sonic!"

Sonic smiled. "Nice to meet cha too!"

He took a closer look at Knuckles' clothing, mentally frowning; it always made him a little sad when he saw nice people who were so utterly poor.

"So, what's a cool guy like you doin' lurkin' around here lookin' for blue hedgehogs to save?" he asked jokingly.

"Oh, you know, just trying to get by best I can," Knuckles replied with a sad sigh. "You know how it is, living on the streets 'cause you can't afford anything."

Sonic saddened. "R-right..."

He sighed along with Knuckles, but almost instantly perked up. He turned, then dug into his bag that held the black cloak, pulling out a few bronze rings. "Hey, how about I take ya out to eat? This should be enough, right?" he asked.

"R-really?" Knuckles seemed surprised. "You sure?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah! And hey, if ya feel bad about it, then we'll just say that it's a thanks for rescuin' me, alright?" he asked.

"Well..." Knuckles' stomach growled. "A-alright, I guess we can do that."

Sonic's smile widened. "C'mon then!"

He walked out of the alleyway and started heading towards the nearest place he could think of that sold food. He was pretty sure that he was getting some weird stares due to someone his height traveling with someone so tall, but he didn't mind all that much.

As they entered the building, Knuckles' eyes went wide.

"Wow, I can't remember the last time I saw this much food," he muttered.

Sonic grinned at the echidna's excitement, then found the nearest worker and waved them down. To someone reading this text in a time that was much more advanced than the time Sonic and Knuckles were in, she'd probably be called a 'waitress' or something, but to them, she was a 'serving wench'.

Sonic wanted to give Knuckles the best experience he could, so he decided to ask for the most expensive table around; the one near the window. Hoping that Knuckles didn't know about such things, like the price of a table, he secretly slipped the serving wench a silver ring as payment.

"Wow, this is nice!" Knuckles said as they sat down. "Man, I'm so hungry, I could eat, um... something really big!" He wasn't very good with expressions, it seemed.

Sonic chuckled. "Well, pick out whatever ya want!" he said, watching as the serving wench brought over their 'menus'. It was mostly pictures with the basic ingredients of what went into the dish, and then the price of the dish after that. Sonic hoped that Knuckles couldn't comprehend the higher prices if he wanted to order them.

Knuckles gazed at the menu for a moment. He looked confused.

"I'm not even sure what most of this is," he admitted.

"Just look at the pictures and see what looks good." Even though Sonic said that, he imagined that anything would look good to Knuckles; he was probably starving, poor guy.

"Uh, I think I'll go with that one," he said, a bit overwhelmed by the number of options he had.

Knuckles looked a bit longer, then pointed to something on the menu.

"You can pick more than one if ya want," Sonic offered, wanting to make absolute sure that his new friend had a good meal.

"N-no, the one is fine," Knuckles replied. He didn't want to make Sonic pay too much for his food.

"Y'sure?" Sonic asked. The serving wench came back, and he just shrugged and gave in, pointing to what Knuckles wanted and what he wanted. As he watched the girl walk away, he stared out the window and admired the scenery. "Nice view, huh? Ain't much, but nice."

"It is nice," Knuckles agreed quietly.

"...Soooo," Sonic began, not one to enjoy silence too often. "What do you do? What do ya like?" he asked, curiosity in his emerald eyes.

"Well, I work out a lot!" Knuckles replied. "That's how I got so big and strong," he added proudly. "Oh, and I really love nature!"

Sonic was pleasantly surprised of Knuckles' love of nature. "Yeah? That's way cool! I couldn't tell by lookin' at cha."

Knuckles smiled softly. "I may be a tough guy, but I can be a bit of a softie," he admitted sheepishly.

Sonic giggled. "That's a good quality. Keep hangin' onto that," he told him. "If ya never did, who knows what those two creeps woulda done t'me!"

"Don't mention it," Knuckles replied. "I couldn't just leave ya there, you know?"

Sonic nodded. "Yeah, I get that. Thanks again!"

The serving wench then brought over their food, and Sonic paid up immediately so the two could leave the second they were done.

"Yours looks good," he commented before promptly digging into his own meal.

Knuckles stared at his food for a moment, like he could barely believe that it was in front of him. Then, he started to dig in. Once his body realized that it was finally being given food, he couldn't stop himself from scarfing down the entire thing.

Sonic watched him eat, unable to help feeling a little sad at how absolutely starved he seemed. "Uh... when did you eat last anyway?" he asked. For a guy who works out so often, he probably needs a ton of food, right?

Knuckles swallowed his mouthful of food. "Gosh, I don't even remember," he said, just before taking another bite. "I can usually find enough scraps to get by, but they're not very..." He paused to think of the right word. "...satisfying."

Sonic put on a strained smile so not to seem too upset. "Y-yeah, I guessed that."

I just wish I hadn't been right about it...

Soon, Knuckles had finished his meal. "Oh, thank you..." He sighed in contentment, a smile on his face. "That's the best meal I've had in forever!"

Sonic smiled warmly, finishing his own meal and standing. "How about we get goin' then?" he asked. "Mind takin' a walk with me?"

"Sure!" Knuckles replied, also standing up.

Sonic led Knuckles outside and walked down the pathway with him. "So... you live out in the forest I guess?" he asked, wanting to make idle conversation.

"Pretty much," Knuckles replied. "It's not so bad, really. It's a great place for a nature lover like me!" He hesitated for a moment. "...but it's also really lonely sometimes," he admitted sadly.

Sonic was unusually silent at his words. "...yeah..."

He paused, then quickly perked back up, rushing in front of Knuckles to stop him in his tracks. "Y'know what place has the absolute best flowers ever? The peak of the Polly Mountains!" he exclaimed. "There's this huge garden of 'em laid out there! Wanna go?"

Knuckles gave him a confused look. "But that's really far away!" he pointed out. "It could take days, maybe weeks to get there!"

At this, Sonic gave Knuckles a smug smirk. "Wanna bet?"

He turned away, then lightly jogged a few meters away from Knuckles. He took a deep breath, then bent down to the ground, as if preparing himself for something.

Suddenly, he took off like a rocket, becoming a blur of blue that zoomed past Knuckles in milliseconds. As he reached the end of the pathway, he turned around on a dime and headed back in Knuckles' direction.

With barely a grunt, he picked up the echidna as he reached him despite his diminutive size, speeding out of the town in an instant and heading for the forest.

Knuckles let out a startled yelp. He was too dazed and confused to say anything. He clung onto Sonic for dear life, despite barely registering what was happening.

It was only taking seconds. Sonic sped through the forest, across water, and Polly Mountains was fully in their view in what seemed like no time at all.

He reached the base of the mountains, then ran up them like it was no problem at all. At the peak, like he had said, was a flower garden in the middle of a huge crater. Sonic slid into the crater, then finally set Knuckles down, smirking proudly as he allowed the echidna to catch his breath.

To say Knuckles was stunned would be an understatement.

"Wh-wha... how...?" he stammered.

Sonic laughed cheerfully. "Super speed," he replied, though knowing it wasn't really an answer.

Knuckles was quiet. "...w-wow," was all he could say. "That's...that's amazing!"

Sonic blushed a bit. "Eh, it's nothin' really. I was just born with it!"

He walked over to the flower garden, then smiled and flopped back to lie in some of the flowers. "I come here whenever I've got some spare time. I love the flowers." He curled up into a ball and rolled around in the flowers happily.

Knuckles stood there for a moment longer, then shrugged and joined Sonic in the garden. He knelt down and started smelling the flowers, a bright smile appearing on his face.

"Like 'em?" Sonic asked, uncurling and gazing up at the echidna. "You can take a few back with us if ya want," he told him. "Only when y'wanna leave though, a'course."

"This place is amazing!" Knuckles exclaimed. He wiped at his eyes as tears were starting to form. "It's...it's beautiful!"

Sonic stared at him with surprise at first, then smiled and got a little closer, placing his hand on Knuckles' cheek to wipe some of his tears away with his thumb. "I'll have to take you back here at night. I hear that the flowers can start glowin' if the moon shines just right."

"Oooh!" Knuckles said excitedly. "I've got to see that!"

Sonic nodded. "I haven't seen it myself yet, but I really want to!"

He paused, his smile growing a little weaker. "I heard that it's way better if y'see it with someone else, but I never had anyone to come along with me, so I've been waiting," he explained, trying a little too hard to keep his expression appearing happy.

"Well, you don't have to wait anymore." Knuckles smiled softly. "I'd love to join you!"

Sonic nodded. "Alright. How about tonight then?" He paused for a moment to think. "I'll probably have to go sometime between now and then though, so is there someplace I can meet cha?" he asked.

Knuckles thought for a moment. "How about back in the alley?" he suggested. "You know, where we first met each other?"

Sonic nodded. "That'd be fine by me!"

He relaxed back onto the flowers. "But for now, I think I'm cool here." He smiled, far wider than he usually did; it was clear that he was extremely happy.

"Me too," Knuckles replied with a grin.

He went over to where Sonic was and laid down next to him.

"This is nice..." he said quietly, as he began to relax.

Sonic's smile softened as he saw Knuckles laying next to him. "Mhm..."

The two hung out at the flower garden for at least an hour until finally deciding it was time to go back. Sonic picked Knuckles back up and sped back into town (being a little more gentle with his running this time as he was only showing off before), then set Knuckles down.

"Hopefully you're a little more used to it now," Sonic said with a chuckle. "'Cause we'll have to do it again later tonight!"

Knuckles chuckled lightly. "Just warn me next time, 'kay?"

"Don't worry, I promise," Sonic told him genuinely, giving him a thumb's up. He opened his mouth to say something else, but was suddenly interrupted.

"Prince Sonic! Prince Sonic!"

Sonic flinched at the voices, then turned, seeing some guards from the castle searching for him.

He sighed, but kept on a smile. "Well, looks like my cover's blown."

He sped into a nearby alley, abandoning his peasant clothing. As he walked back out to Knuckles, a small crown adorned his head.

He winked at the echidna. "Lookin' forward to tonight, Knux."

Without letting Knuckles respond, he turned and rushed off towards the guards. Knuckles could only stand there, staring with wide eyes.

This whole time, I've been hanging out with the prince?

For the second time that day, Knuckles was left completely speechless.