Another day, another chapter gets written up, edited and posted.
Chapter Summary: Sonic discovers a secret talent that Tails has, and there's a pleasant surprise for both of them afterward.
"The sky and the strong wind have moved the spirit inside me till I am carried away trembling with joy."
- Uvavnuk
The Prayer of the Wind and the Sky
The sun was already high up in the clear sky when Tails was finished cleaning the living room, despite Sonic's constant protests that he need not have exerted himself with anything and that he should be chilling out like a child he was. If there was one among the more dominant traits that defined the fox, it would be stubbornness – one that was also shared by a certain speed demon of blue.
Speaking of Sonic, the hedgehog was currently somewhere in Station Square on a grocery run for some necessary supplies around the house – mainly for Tails, of course, and lots of chilidogs. Even though he had insisted countless times that Tails should join him, the latter had, quite understandably, fervently objected to the idea of being seen in public so soon.
"I'm not ready yet. What if they don't like me?" Tails had uttered in a frantic manner, hands trembling and body shivering as if he had been standing in the middle of a blizzard with nothing on his being to shield against the bitter cold. And Sonic had at last given in to Tails' pleas and respected his decision, albeit with some reluctance and a hint of sadness in his soft tone.
Therefore, inside the small house atop the barren hilltop, only Tails and his pet were present, and both of them had been doing their best to make sure the entire place was scrubbed until it sparkled for quite a while – approximately one and a half hour according to the fox.
"Alright…" Tails exclaimed joyously and reasonably proudly as he stood up and stretched, feeling the indescribably great feeling of tired bones and muscles drawing out and relaxing after a good labor. "Spotless!" he added with a smile. Beside him, a hovering T-pup, whose feet were individually equipped with various cleaning tools, let out a bark in agreement.
"You did well, too, T-pup" Tails commented and gave his robotic partner an affectionate pat on the head. "Now that we're done, I suppose the only thing left to do is to wait until Sonic returns from town."
He grew silent for a while, mind thinking back at the hedgehog's reassurances that the people in Station Square would not hurt him, and contemplated on whether or not he should accept the invitation next time the occasion arose. The idea was then abruptly dropped with a shake of his head.
Turning to look at his robot, Tails offered T-pup a small half smile when he noticed the worried expression on the little creature's face. "I'm okay, just a bit tired from all the cleaning, that's all," he lied. "How about we go outside for a while for a change of air?"
Hearing the instant reply, Tails chuckled and reached out to pull his smaller creation in before heading outside.
The moment the fox was out in the open, he was immediately greeted by a rush of comfortably cool breezes and surrounded by the warm rays of sunlight from above. Coupled with the pure, undefiled air of the Mystic Ruins, Tails quickly felt the tiredness get sapped out of every fiber of his body and deflated, allowing himself to melt into the subtle kisses of the whimsical winds as well as the invisible embraces of the sunrays.
"This feels amazing!" the fox muttered as he got closer to the cliff while greedily taking in long sniffs of the uncontaminated air. He could also detect the faint scents of some wild flowers carried by the playful gusts from the forest nearby. "I can definitely get used to this" he continued with his monologue, smiling contently as he briefly closed his eyes and resigned himself to the mystifying lulls of Mother Nature.
A sudden woof next to his location caught his attention, and he saw T-pup running towards him from the small area next to the house where some vegetation grew, a leaf tightly held in his mouth. Letting out another amused chuckle, he gently retrieved the green object from the robot's hold and held it tenderly in his hands.
"Heh heh, it's been a while, hasn't it?" he asked, his voice conveying a sense of nostalgia and mostly to himself, as he carefully eyed the leaf. "You want me to play something?" he asked T-pup and quickly received an affirmative yip.
"...Okay then, to my most dedicated fan…" said Tails briefly before he picked up his friend and located a shade. Once again, he felt the rustles of the wind against his hair and marveled at the exquisite shadow patterns cast upon the earth by the tiny rays of light that managed to bypass the leafy defenses of the great oak tree under which he was currently seated.
With his eyes closed, Tails placed the leaf he held against his lips and began to blow on it, producing a series of soothing and varied sounds that almost perfectly harmonized with the serene rhythm of the breezes in the air.
In the midst of the raw, untouched beauty of the scenic one-man stage and the bout of inspiration provided by nature itself, Tails conducted his solo on his leaf flute, his flow completely unrestrained and unhindered by the lack of a corporeal music sheet. Eventually, as time quietly idled by, he began to immerse and tune in with the noises of the wind, letting his mind go empty until no foreign thoughts remained aside from the notes he was to produce.
Each note came out beautifully and naturally with each controlled breath that escaped his lips, resounding and echoing within the empty and desolated environment. The sounds he made were all so tenderly sweet, to the point of silencing even the proudest and most artistic of birds dwelling within the nearby forest, and each free-flowing note demanding to be succeeded, to be complimented and to be completed by the ones to follow.
At times, the notes would soar, reaching toward the highest of the heavens above, and others, they would occasionally drop to the level of barely audible snatches, somehow mimicking and replicating the gentle, soft whispers of the intangible gusts that were joyously dancing around the lone player himself, quietly accompanying him in his enchanting performance.
In that one magical moment, everything tangible around Tails seemed to slowly fade away into nothingness, replaced by a world where only the wind and the sky existed. Within that world, only Tails and his pet remained afloat, drifting through the endless space toward an unknown destination.
Completely detached from the outside world, Tails continued to pour every piece of his soul into his untitled song, eyes tightly shut.
After a relatively long time had passed, the performance was no longer the intended solo. He suddenly heard another sound enter his domain, uninvited yet somehow rightfully belonged. The fox felt like someone was joining him, happily and merrily whistling to his music to further perfect the liberal and harmonious melody of the wind and the sky.
With newfound vigor and inspiration, the flutist picked up the tempo, his notes ascending and descending in quick and rapid succession. The verse at that moment in time was not dissimilar to a powerful whirlwind, introduced in all of its stages from the moment it began to form until the moment it reached its strongest and finally desisted, returning to its original gentle and harmless whiffs that traversed the lands still.
Another indefinite amount of time had passed and the song entered a refrain before it slowed to a complete stop, effectively shattering the lonesome illusionary realm created by the seemingly random combination of sounds and returning tranquility back to the real one.
Lowering the instrument down, Tails sighed somewhat sadly, as if regretting that the song had at last reached its end, and expected to be greeted by the empty silence that had for so long haunted him. However, to his utter surprise, he heard the faint clapping of hands nearby. In an instant, two sky –blue eyes shot open and spotted another audience, who opted not to announce his presence so as not to disturb the young artist in his private period of unrestrained genius.
The clapping soon stopped, and was replaced by a familiar voice.
"That was beautiful, Tails" said Sonic excitedly as he approached the stunned addressed and sat down next to him, a proud smile present on his face. "I didn't know you played the leaf flute."
"How long have you been there?" the fox asked, having at last bypassed the initial shock but not the growing embarrassment.
"After I got back and brought the groceries in," Sonic replied, "And then I heard this delightful sound coming from outside and went out to investigate. What I found, well, I don't think 'amazing' quite does what you did justice, bud. Why didn't you tell me you could play the leaf flute?"
"Well" the fox replied, face flushed and abashed, "I didn't want to brag. Besides, it's not exactly playing – at least not in the professional sense. It's more like, uh, free flowing, I suppose…" he answered, looking away and scratching his head awkwardly.
"Still, it was incredible, kiddo" Sonic quickly said, "I must say I'm impressed, you never cease to amaze me. First you're a flyer, then you're a pilot, then you're an inventor and a mechanic, and now you're a what, virtuoso? That's neat! All that in one adorable fuzzy little package."
"…I've had practice," Tails said, trying in vain to hide the blush on his cheeks and remembering the hedgehog's words from the day before. "And lots of free time…" he muttered under his breath, but Sonic was still able to hear it.
At the sound of those vainly hidden whispers, Sonic's smile faltered for a brief moment before getting wider again. Throwing one arm around the smaller creature's shoulders, he pulled Tails into a casual side hug. Needles to say, Tails was surprised by the unexpected physical contact, but found himself enjoying it nevertheless.
"You looked like you really enjoyed yourself back then, Tails."
"Oh?"
"Really! You looked very peaceful and calm playing with that leaf" Sonic continued, smile radiant still.
"...It's a good distraction, I suppose" said the fox in reply, cheeks getting hotter due to the foreign compliments.
"So, what's the song called anyway? I don't think I've heard it before, and coming from a seasoned traveler like me, that means something."
"It's actually a piece I composed when I was messing around. I sometimes play it just for fun when there's nothing else to do" Tails began, fiddling with the leaf in his hands, "I never even thought about naming it, however."
"That won't do" Sonic said, tapping his chin pensively, "Every great thing deserves a good name and some form of recognition…Let's see…What to call your masterpiece…"
"Really, Sonic, it's fine, and I wouldn't call it a master..." Tails began, but an excited yell from the older creature silenced him almost immediately.
"Oh I know," Sonic exclaimed, looking at the fox directly in the eyes, "How about 空と風の祈り (Sora to Kaze no Inori)?"
"The Prayer of the Wind and the Sky?" asked Tails with a dumbfounded expression.
"Told you I'm good at naming stuff" Sonic said with a proud smirk, inwardly congratulating himself on the new name. Tails, on the other, looked a bit skeptical, but chose to say nothing and allowed his friend to act at his own device. "...Alright then, if you insist."
"And thus a new song is christened" the hedgehog spoke with a certain amount of enthusiasm, successfully making the corner of the cub's lips twitch upward a little bit in amusement, "But seriously, you play this every time you get bored?"
"Well yeah, I guess. Normally when I'm done assembling stuff. Why? Is there something wrong with it?" Tails questioned curiously, head slightly tilted.
"No, of course not. It only makes you all the more amazing spending your free time like that."
"Oh? What do you normally do in your free time then?"
"Nothing much, just running through new places and enjoying different scenes and countries and trying out new food and all that jazz," Sonic answered as he put both hands behind his head and pressed his back against the soft grass underneath the ancient oak tree. "Running helps me calm my nerves. Don'y exactly know why, but I guess it's in my blood or something."
"That sounds like a great pastime," Tails commented, and in a more subdued tone, he continued, "But isn't it a bit exhausting sometimes, you know, to always be on the move like that?"
"...I guess it does get a bit tiresome every once in a blue moon, but I've never really had a reason to stand still in one place for too long. My feet get itchy if I don't get enough of my daily dosage of vitamin D," the hedgehog shrugged and looked at the bewildered child sitting beside him, both knees drawn into his chest and arms around them defensively.
"D?" Tails asked, confused, and Sonic replied with a smile and a simple utterance "Dash," Tails nodded his head in understanding and lied down next to his friend, T-pup now contently entering sleep mode on his stomach. The two buddies stayed still for a while, listening to the soothing sounds of the leaves getting rustled by the occasional breezes and allowing both their minds and bodies to blend in with the tranquility.
Suddenly, Sonic let out an audible sigh and spoke in a hushed voice.
"You know what" he began, capturing the cub's attention, "I've never really had a reason to stay in one place for too long, but now, I suppose staying still like this every once in a while sounds pretty alluring to me."
With that, he turned to his side and threw an arm around Tails, pulling him into a warm hug. When he was comfortable enough, the hedgehog closed his eyes and steadied his breathing, instantly falling into a peaceful midday nap with a cuddly bundle of fur against his body.
Despite the initial surprise, Tails soon found himself relaxing once again to the sound of his friend's steady heartbeat as well as the lullaby of nature around them. Soon enough, he too resigned himself to the irresistible call of a blissful slumber underneath the shade, a content smile gracing his lips.
Note: That's all for now. I sure hope I did an adequate job describing the moods of the song (unreal by the way, so don't bother googling it), but as usual, I'll let you be the critics. Also, I would like to thank the readers who have spent a bit of their precious time visiting this series of drabbles. If anyone has any special request, don't hesitate to tell me, and I'll see what I can do. In the meantime, ciao.