Zik couldn't figure out where the time had gone. A year passed by so quickly and Jade's sickness seemed like a nightmare he had long ago. Each day since Sonic and Tails left the Hex Jade's strength came to her tenfold. She never once got sick and she even discovered a new power thanks to the Chaos Emerald that lodged itself in her heart and fused with her spirit.
He watched his pupils train. It was obvious Zavok was using half of his normal strength and sometimes even letting Jade win. Each time Jade would scold Zavok for going easy on her. She could tell he was letting her win because he wasn't at all hurt while she had scraps and sometimes bruises.
Zavok eventually made his way to the top of the hill and sat with the old Zeti while Jade trained with Zazz.
"It's hard to believe, isn't it?" Zavok finally breathed out.
"They'll be here to check on her soon. Assuming they even still remember her." Zik hadn't heard much about Sonic or his fox friend for the entire year.
Zavok growled under his breath. "Don't remind me." He lay down in the grass.
Below them, Jade had a hard time seeing through her fiery red hair. Sometimes it looked more orange than red depending on how the sun hit it. Zazz used the opportunity to try to attack but she was too smart for that, she easily turned the attack on him to take him to the ground.
He noticed her eyes were an off white color, almost like a grey. That only happened when she used the power of the chaos gem. When did she use it and on whom, he wondered.
When Jade and Zazz and the rest of the Deadly Seven ran up the hill to meet him he stood. "Done training already?"
Jade was out of breath but she was smiling that contagious smile of hers. It warmed the coldest of hearts and was brighter than the sun on its heavenly noon seat and was more beautiful than the cherry blossoms in spring. "What do you mean 'already'? We've been training for hours."
"I expected everyone else to train far longer than a few hours." He admitted as he walked toward the old house, long since abandoned. Jade still hated sleeping in it unless one of the other members were with her. Otherwise she slept outside with them. She didn't seem to find it uncomfortable, in fact she enjoyed sleeping under the stars and making up pictures in the sky with the stars.
"Hey, where are you going now?" Jade followed her.
"Well your friends should be coming soon, shouldn't they? I'm still waiting for them."
"I think they've forgotten all about me." She laughed. She didn't seem to care if they have or hadn't forgotten about her.
"Then I'm going to make lunch. You should play with your brothers."
"I don't want to. I want to hang out with you, Master Zik." She continued to follow him to the house.
The air filled with a familiar sound that was foreign to the Hex. They both looked to the sky and saw a yellowish object pass over them. Jade's face lit up.
"Go see them." Zik encouraged. She ran off immediately.
The sound of the plane was unforgettable to Jade. How could she ever forget the sound of Tails or Sonic? She slowed to a stop, however, and hid. The plane looked nothing like Tails' plane.
"What on earth are we doing back here, boss?" A circular robot asked while he lay lazily in the sun.
The one he called "boss" was a big fat man in a red suit with a mustache that was too long for his face, was looking at some device similar to what Tails had but a lot smaller. He told his robot friend, "I wanted to check some rumors." He started walking in her direction.
Quickly Jade moved to hid behind another tree to avoid detection. She recognized the man as the one who her brothers described to be the first person to ever see the Hex. What did they call him? Mustache Man? Danger Bearded Man? No…It had to do with a food.
"Hey Boss!" The voice came from behind her. When she turned she made a frightening discovery. She kicked the cubed shaped robot away.
"Well what do we have here?" The man had snuck up near her while she was busy kicking the other robot. The shape of his body reminded her of something she used to collect and eat but she couldn't think of it at first. Her mind should have been on escaping but she felt comfortable thinking her brothers were near by.
"So the rumors are true! A human girl really does live here. How have the Zeti not killed you yet?"
"An egg!" She screamed aloud without really meaning to.
"I think the girl has gone crazy." The circular robot got closer.
"I wouldn't get too close if I were you. Everyone else will be here soon but they'll be surprised when they don't see Sonic." But in truth she didn't sense her siblings or her Master. The bluff had to work just long enough for someone to notice she was gone, though.
"And I wouldn't make threats, little girl."
Jade heard it then, the sound of robotic guns. She looked up, her heart pounding in her ears when she saw seven robots, flying over them, and their guns trained on her. But she didn't know why, she was mostly harmless.
"I would come with me if I were you."
Fight, flight, fight, flight, fight…no I have to flee. Within seconds her mind made the decision. She started in the direction of the snow filled quadrant of the Hex. A pain traveled up her leg and she rolled down the hill. When she inspected it she saw a bloodied hole right behind her knee. The egg-shaped man came down to get her.
She could do nothing but scream but even that was cut short with a stabbing pain on the back of her neck.
Tails loaded up the plane. Sonic had never seen him so excited to see someone before. He didn't even get so excited to see him and he was Tails' best friend!
"You don't plan to leave tonight, do you?"
Tails shook his head. "No, it's way too late for that."
A year before Tails saved a young girls life. She still lived on the Hex with the Zeti she claimed as family. He'd never seen such an oddball family as the Zeti but they were the most functional family he's ever seen or been around with. However, he suspected that without Jade the family would hardly exist the way it did. She was the center of their lives and they would do anything to protect her. Much in the same way Tails protected him two years before when the Zeti attempted to make him into a cyborg.
"There, all packed! I can't wait to see Jade tomorrow. I wonder if she got any powers from that Chaos Emerald."
Sonic had almost forgotten that a Chaos Emerald merged with her, became a part of her. "I wonder if you'll find it in her."
"Unlikely. She's probably apart of the Chaos Emerald now." Sonic gave him a look, prompting his best friend to continue his explanation. "More than likely the only way to get the Chaos Emerald back is to force it out of her, which would be an extremely painful procedure. The other option would just be to kill her."
Sonic finally understood why Tails asked to keep the Hex, and Jade, a secret. Eggman would most likely want the power of the Chaos Emerald for himself and would do almost anything to get it. But was Eggman so cold as to kill a girl for it? Maybe not. Even he wasn't that cruel.
Night turned to morning so quickly, but, unlike his expectations, Tails' excited voice didn't wake him but his screaming did. When Sonic woke he was surprised to see Zavok, picking him up and throwing him against the wall. His head rang when it hit the wall. He looked around desperately for his friend.
"Where is she?" He heard a familiar, old voice.
"Who? Jade? Isn't she with you?" Tails' voice sounded tired and confused. The sun hadn't come up yet. Why would they attack this early?
"Do you think we would be down here if she was with us?" Zeena put her hands on her hips.
"Note taken. She isn't with us. We haven't been to the Hex yet. We were going to leave today."
Sonic finally had the sense to stand and run to his friend before Zavok could catch him.
"How can we be sure?" The darker Zeti toyed with his bangs. His hair looked somewhat different than before, maybe it was shorter.
Zik stared into Tails' eyes. Tails' never broke eye contact. Everyone looked at the two, confused of what was going on. It was like they were having a quiet conversation.
Finally Zik said, "Where could she have gone? Who could have taken her?"