Sonic watched the clouds in the sky move over the blue skies. It was still hard for him to believe the Lost World was just over the clouds. It was even harder for him to believe the Zeti were just sitting up there twiddling their thumbs but until he had proof that they were up to something there was no reason for him to do anything.
In his hands he still held Amy Powers' missing poster. Something about this child made Tails want to look for her. Anything that was important to his best friend was important to Sonic.
Tails ran up to him at full speed. "Sonic!" When Sonic sat up, Tails was trying to catch his breath. How long had he been running just to try and find Sonic? "We have to go to the Hex!"
"Why? What's up?" Sonic tilted his head.
"I have a theory but we need to go up and check it out."
He was still confused. It was rare that Tails was ever vague, but whatever it was got the little fox excited. Sonic nodded and stood. "Let's go."
Jade watched with amusement as Zazz and Zeena once again fought. She wasn't sure how the fight started, only that it was annoying Zavok. They both sat on a hill, looking over the area Zik used to train Zavok at. It wasn't at all shaded but the clouds got thicker as the day passed by so plenty of shade was provided that way.
Next to her Zavok got more and more annoyed but Jade was too surrounded in her own enjoyment to notice. She watched Zavok storm down and try to calm down the situation which almost always ended in some way of violence.
She heard a noise that was foreign to the Hex, but she heard it before when she was sick. It was too far away for her brothers and sister to notice, but close enough for her to at least hear. Slowly, she stood up and jogged in the direction of the noise. As she caught up with it the noise got louder and louder until it finally stopped. She didn't stop trying to find it, though.
"What are you doing, Tails?"
Jade slowed to a walk.
"Well…I'm actually not sure where to look?"
She hid behind a tree and peeked out to see if the intruders were there. How they were able to land in such a small area she wasn't sure. The thing they rode in must have been the "plane" her siblings described.
"Then what are we doing here?!" The blue hedgehog didn't seem annoyed or mad or just baffled.
Slowly Jade came from behind the tree. Their backs were to her so they wouldn't notice her.
The two-tailed fox started to unpack things from the plane. "Well I had a theory that Amy Powers may have landed on the Hex. Years ago Amy and her father went on a plane ride, her father was a pilot at the time, but they both disappeared. Since we found the Hex I thought what if they landed here all those-" the one the blue hedgehog called Tails stopped as his eyes fell on her.
Jade's heart stopped in her throat. Nobody was supposed to be here.
"Tails?"
Tails never stopped staring at her.
"Jade!"
If Big Brother finds them…
She turned and ran in the direction she came in.
"Wait!"
Jade looked back. He didn't try to follow her. She found Zavok, Zeena, and Zazz where she left them. She felt her heart beating in her throat. She hoped Zor didn't see anything. He often followed her in the shadows and it was too hard to notice him.
"Guys! You won't believe it!" There he was, coming from the shadows again.
Her heart beat faster. She felt the cough coming on again.
"Sonic is back with is fox friend!"
"Why would he be back?" Zeena put her hands on her hips. "We haven't done anything for a year!"
The pain in Jade's chest was too great. She coughed violently into her hands for several minutes. She had to crouch down knowing full well that it wouldn't stop the coughing enough for her to breath normally. When it finally passed she took her hands away, afraid that the blood was back. There was only a little bit. She let out a relieved breath.
When she looked back up she couldn't help but feel bad. Everyone looked so worried. Even Zavok showed a hint of worry.
"I'm fine, guys." Her voice sounded more hoarse. "Who's this Sonic?"
"Nobody you need to know about." Zeena flipped her hair. "In fact you should probably go home."
"Well hang on, I wanna know!"
"Zeena is right, Jade." Zavok helped her stand. "Go home and rest. We'll check on you later."
"But…" It was useless, though. They weren't going to tell her who Sonic was. She looked around at everyone and sighed. "Fine. I'll see you all later." She walked in the direction of her house. It happened to be in the same direction as Tails and the blue hedgehog.
Jade followed the tiny indentations she made in the grass until she reached the tree she had been behind before. Tails was looking at a piece of paper in his hand and showing it to his friend.
"She doesn't exactly look like that but it's close enough."
She moved behind another tree and another until she was close to the plane.
"You saw her run that way?" The blue hedgehog pointed before taking off.
"Wait! Sonic!" The fox sighed.
Jade giggled a little too loudly.
"Are you back?" When Jade peeked from behind the tree she saw the fox moving slowly towards her. She slowly came from behind the tree. "Who are you?" Tails asked her.
She pressed her fingers to her lips. "Don't tell anyone I came this way. Especially Big Brother."
Tails nodded in agreement.
"I'm…" She stopped to cough in her hand. "Jade."
"I'm Tails. You sound sick."
She smiled. "I feel much better than I have been."
Tails still looked at her with worry, the look was something Jade was familiar with and one that she never liked seeing.
"Who was your friend?"
"That was Sonic."
"Sonic…" She knew Sonic from the stories Zik told her. "Thank you." She whispered the words before she knew what she was doing.
"For what?"
"If my brothers and Master Zik had destroyed the world below what would I dream about?" Jade sat near the fox child. "So did you come from below?"
Tails nodded. "Yes."
She grinned. "What's it like down there?" She leaned forward curiously. She didn't care that the sun was halfway down in the west.
"Well it's nice…not much different from the Hex, actually, but we have cities scattered around. The buildings are really tall. How did a human like you end up here?"
Jade's heart sunk in her chest. She didn't like being called a different species from her family, even if it was true. She didn't want to answer the question because she knew she would tell him she was a Zeti.
"Tails, who are you talking to?"
Jade jumped and turned around to run but the blue hedgehog was in her way.
"Is this who you were talking about earlier?"
Tails nodded. "Yeah but she seems a little timid."
Sonic looked her up and down, she supposed it was to make sure she wasn't a threat.
"I found her guys!"
How long had she been out for them to worry about her? She didn't know. She ran to the tree Zor was under. Out of the thickness of the woods her siblings appeared one by one. Zavok was really mad at her. She half hid behind Zazz, hiding from Zavok.
"What are you two doing back here?" Zavok growled.
Tails hid the paper behind his back while Sonic stood between them.
"We just wanted to make sure our favorite villains weren't up to no good again." Something under Sonic's voice told Jade it was only half a lie.
"We haven't done anything all year. What would make you even think that we were up to something?" Zeena folded her arms.
"That's exactly why."
She rolled her eyes. "I don't believe this."
"You aren't staying here." Zavok barked.
"I dropped something here the last time I came here." Tails was a better liar than his friends. "Please just let me look for it."
"Why don't we, Big Brother? I think it would be okay."
Zavok glared at Jade. She wished she hadn't said anything and hid more behind Zazz.
"You're out of here in three days." Zavok warned. As he walked away he roughly took Jade's arm. She looked back to see Tails and Sonic giving her questioning looks.
