Alone
By Milli Jasamine the Cat
A one-shot
They had all left him.
He was alone now, alone on this forsaken island in the sky. He knew that it was up to him to keep it afloat, and that if he left, evil forces would take the emerald. Until now it hadn't been a problem. He had had friends, good friends, who had stayed with him and kept him company. They knew that he could hardly ever leave, and they had helped him.
Then they had left.
It was somewhere around midnight now. The wind was cold, blowing and chilling him to the bone. Stars twinkled in the navy blue sky above. The moon was little more than a thin crescent in the air. He looked at it with empty violet eyes, not seeing the beauty, but only the emptiness around it.
Does the moon ever get lonely? he wondered vaguely. Do the stars keep it company, and then abandon it?
There was no answer. The moon twinkled faintly, passing clouds not quenching its perseverance in disseminating a bright, white glow. He sighed and looked away. Even if the moon was alone, it still kept on shining. He didn't know if he could do that anymore.
Even the one he had formerly loved had gone. She had been the most stunning, determined creature he had ever met. She was always there for him when he needed someone to talk to, and she could always calm him down when he got worked up over nothing.
And now she was gone too.
His hands clenched into destructive fists, he glanced up at the sky again. The urge to talk crept into his throat, and a hoarse whisper in a voice that seemed not to be his own erupted from his mouth.
"Sometimes, Father, I wonder if this destiny you promised me, guarding the Master Emerald to save our island, is not a joy and an honor, but a curse and a burden. If this is truly how it is meant to be, me being alone forever, then it most certainly is!"
By the end of his rant he realized he had been shouting, and a warm, wet liquid was running down the sides of his face. He clenched his fists tighter and felt an instinctive urge to punch something.
Or someone.
They had all left him. They didn't deserve to be his friends anymore. He didn't need them! He hated them!
His violet eyes wild with pain and fury, his fists a roaring blaze, he descended the steps that lead up to the Master Emerald and slammed his fists into the ground. Tears flew from the corners of his eyes with each rapid hit.
"This is for leaving me!"
SMASH. A rock crumbled into nothing but a few pebbles. He whipped around, panting, and screamed as he jabbed his sharp knuckles into a tree.
"This is for being terrible friends!"
He couldn't stop. It was impulsive, instinct, unavoidable. It was impossible now. He doubted even she could calm him down now. Before, all she had to do was place her hand on his shoulder and whisper in his ear. But if she were to do that now he would slap her away and growl.
"Do you hear that, 'Su?" he screamed to the midnight sky. "I don't need you! I can live on my own! I can han-ha-handl-handle i-it…"
What was he saying? What was he implying? How could he live without the beautiful echidna he had called his partner? It was so simple: he couldn't. And now she had left him. Alone, forever.
He looked back up at the Master Emerald, in all of its glimmering glory. It was so beautiful…but it had condemned him here. For eternity.
Without 'Su he was nothing. She was everything to him. No other girl had ever meant this much to him...
…well, maybe one. But Sonic hadn't mentioned her in over a year. He had gotten over the loss of her, hadn't he?
His feet climbed back to the Master Emerald, and he sighed, placing his hand on it. Its energy radiated throughout his whole body, and again he wanted to cry, even though he knew that that wasn't common for his often sullen personality.
Alone.
He was alone…
Forever.
Knuckles began to sob. He couldn't help himself. This was how it would end for him, honor-bound until the end. He wanted to curse and yell but couldn't move his mouth; couldn't get the words out. He just cried and cried.
Then a soft, tentative voice called out from behind a tree, "K-knuckles?"
At first he thought it was her. Julie-su, the beautiful battling echidna that he for so long had called his love. But it wasn't.
It was the one he hadn't seen in what seemed like centuries ago.
She was picking her way through the dust and rubble that had exploded when he had had his rampage, her boots stained with dust and her clothes ripped in torn in some places. Her hair was a bit longer, and messier, but it was her all the same. He choked out her name, hardly daring to believe it.
"S-Sonia?"
The hedgehog grinned with delight and scampered towards him, climbing the stairs with delicate ease and touching him lightly on the shoulder. Her touch was like water on fire—instantly cooling. The last time he had felt like that was when 'Su had touched him. Knuckles felt the tears stop as he looked into her eyes.
She smiled and leaned down next to him. Her high-pitched voice was just as he remembered—bright and cheery, yet deadly serious at the exact same time. "It's been a while," she said. "Have you forgotten I exist?"
"Me, forget you? Never." He was so happy to see her that words couldn't describe it. He hadn't laid violet eyes on her since the day they had defeated a beast of chaos with her brothers, Mani and Sonic.
And now she was back.
"I'll just say that I'm glad," he mused, laughing and placing his hand on her shoulder. Worry and panic suddenly flooded his body and he yelped anxiously, "But you wouldn't leave me again, would you?"
She looked genuinely surprised. "Leave you? And just why would I do that? I just found you again! Manic is with Sonic in New Mobotropolis, but I already got the tour from your friends—Amy, Cream, and Blaze. They told me I could find you here." Sonia blushed and looked down at the ground. "I couldn't wait to see you again."
Knuckles smiled, his cheeks still wet from the tears over losing Julie-su. But she was an old boat now sunk at the bottom of the lake in his mind. Sonia had just sailed in, glimmering, beautiful, and brand-new, but so familiar.
Maybe his spirit wouldn't die out after all. Maybe, with Sonia's help, he would persevere and keep on living.
At least, with her always by his side, Knuckles knew he would never feel alone.
*~End~*