PyroHedgehog4Ever: Thanks. Heh...no, the seida didn't make him sick; you're thinking of the lactoberries :P

Maverick87: Hmm...not sure sedatives count as drugs...then again, maybe they do :P

Pyrokinetics: (bows) I am indeed evil ;) As for apologising to save Knuckles' butt...erm, were you talking to me or him:P

Asher Tye: (shakes head) At the moment I think the only road Tails is contemplating is a somewhat terminal one :( Still...maybe it'll all work out in the end :P As to the food situation...I'm not sure, to be honest. I think Robotnik might have to go on a diet ;) Tails and his feral episodes...maybe I'll explain that and maybe not :P

Riven K. Daniel: Thanks :) Tails...well, at the moment he's very mixed up inside. He'll probably get back to his old self pretty soon ;)

Hawk's Soul: Hmm...well, it was of average length, particularly for the early chapters ;) To be honest I'd rather write a short chapter and make it good than drag it out ten or twelve pages just for the sake of it ;) (Knuckles: Look, how was I supposed to know the kid meant it?)

Matri90: No, it's not. I've made this point before in early fics, and I'll make it again for all those who missed it the first time; although I have nothing against the concept, I do NOT write slash fanfics. Not now, not ever. Particularly not slash fanfics featuring a relationship between a sixteen year old and an eight year old.

And for future reference, none of my Sonic fics – this one, sequels or random fics – are going to turn slash at any point. Ever. It just doesn't work for me :)

TC Chan: I live to scare people :P And yes, Knux did tell Tails about the seida seeds...I just never wrote that bit ;) As for Tails...you'll find out in due time...probably :P Dying keyboard...ooh, not fun :( I remember when my last one went; the Ts were fine but the spacebar packed in :)

Shadow-spawn180: Thanks; glad you liked it :D

FriedBrickWall: Maybe he is and maybe he isn't; you'll find out very soon :P (Knuckles: Forty nine? After everything I did for Tails, I only ranked forty nine?) Ignore him; he's been in a bad mood lately :P

Parslie: Thanks :D

Private somebody: Ooh, looks like I've been busted :P Seriously though, like I said before, about ninety percent of cliffhangers don't blatantly deal with life or death situations...although in Tails' case in the last chapter, since he's deliberately attempting to overdose on a kind of natural sleeping pill, I'd say that's just what it was ;)

Matt Lans: Heh...I think you're right (Knuckles: I have a WHAT up my butt?)

Owl: Thanks; I'm glad you enjoy them :)

Shin-Ashura: (shrugs) Sure I do :P weg stands for Wicked Evil Grin

Guardian's Log no. 11493

I found Tails in Marble Garden Zone. The kid had overdosed on seida. I wish I'd never told him what that stuff did...then again, how was I supposed to know he'd do something like that?

I managed to sort him though. I think. I'll know for sure when he wakes up.

If he wakes up.

--Knuckles the Echidna

Tails forced open dry eyes, still groggy from the seida.

"Thank the Emeralds!" someone said from off to his left.

Squinting, the fox glanced around at Knuckles...or at least, at the big red blurry thing that he presumed was Knuckles.

"Wha...?" he managed.

Knuckles gripped Tails by the shoulders, hauled him upright and shook him hard, relief making him rougher than usual. "Don't you ever, ever scare me like that again! What in the Master Emerald possessed you to do such a crazy thing?"

Tails stared at him dully for a few minutes, then turned away. "Leemelone, Knucklehead."

"Oh no." Knuckles shook his head. "That's the one thing I won't do, Tails, not until I can be sure that you're not going to do anything stupid."

"I wanna sleep."

"You can sleep later. Just tell me why, Tails. Why'd you do it?"

"I on'y ate th' seida, Knux."

"You ate enough to kill a grown echidna, and if I hadn't got you to throw up, we wouldn't be having this conversation right now." Knuckles shook his head, then pulled Tails into a tight hug. "Damn, kid, don't do that to me again, okay? I thought you were dead!"

"'M no' dead?"

"No, but it was damned close. Tails, what the hell were you hoping to achieve?"

"Nothin'," Tails mumbled, the seida still making him drowsy.

"Oh, right." Knuckles raised both eye ridges. "Nothing. Well, you sure missed that one, kid, because I've been racing around like a spider in an insect farm trying to keep you alive!" He paused. "But please, Tails, don't feel you have to try again on my account."

"Huh?" Tails blinked up at him owlishly and Knuckles gave up. Seida wasn't toxic, didn't do anything except make you sleep, but it was incredibly strong.

"Alright, kid. Go to sleep. We'll talk about this when you wake up."

The fox was already asleep and didn't answer.

It was two days later when Tails finally woke up ravenously hungry, but feeling better and more rested than he had for a long time.

"Knux?"

The echidna glanced at him. "You're awake? How are you feeling?"

Tails' stomach rumbled loudly. "Hungry. C'n I have something to eat?"

Knuckles rolled his eyes. "Alright. Here." He passed a bowl of fish, vegetables and rice – his own supper – over to the fox, who seized it and wolfed down the contents, even going so far as stuffing his face inside and licking the bowl clean afterwards.

"Thanks!"

"You're welcome," Knuckles told him, somewhat taken aback by the fox's voracity. "You also have a slice of pepper on your—" he broke off as Tails' tongue ran out and licked the pepper off his snout. "Never mind."

Tails chewed, swallowed, sighed contentedly and then coloured as he remembered recent events. Rubbing the back of his neck awkwardly he said, "Uh. Knuckles?"

"Yeah?"

"I was thinking...um...well...we need to talk."

"You're damn straight we do. I think something broke inside of you when you were down in the mines, Tails, and I'm not talking about bones. You need to talk and I'm not letting up until you do."

Tails yawned widely and curled up, hugging his knees to him. "You're not setting me a very good example, Knuckles."

It was only with a supreme effort that Knuckles managed to refrain from slapping the fox, and slapping him hard at that. Instead he said tightly, "And what is that supposed to mean?"

"You never talk about what happened to your father. Not to anyone. How is that any different from this?"

Knuckles tightened his lips. "That's personal, kid."

"So's this pers'nal!" Tails protested. "How come it's okay for you but not for me?"

"We're not talking about me!"

"I am."

The echidna folded his arms. "You wanna know how it's different? I'll tell you how it's different! It's different because my father's death never turned me feral and made me try to kill myself, that's how!"

Tails looked away. "Lemme guess. Something like that messes up echidna honour."

"Unless you have some kind of terminal disease, yes it does, and quit changing the subject! What happened?"

"I don't wanna talk about it."

"I don't care," Knuckles informed him bluntly. "That worked before, but now...you go feral on me for the third time, you launch into me and on top of all that, you try to commit suicide! Tell me if I'm wrong. What happened?"

Tails opened his mouth, shut it with a snap and then opened it again to say, "You wouldn't understand."

"I don't care," Knuckles said again. "I don't need to understand it, kid, but you need to talk about it! I don't care if you talk to me, talk to a complete stranger, talk to Robotnik – if he ever comes back – talk to the CDA or pretend a rock is your new best friend and talk to that; you need to start talking."

Tails blinked at him. "A rock? You want me to talk to a rock?"

"I want you to talk to something. Who or what is down to you."

The fox hesitated, an idea occurring to him. "Knux, I'm gonna go out, okay?"

"No you're not." Knuckles pulled out the red Chaos Emerald and pressed it against Tails' arm. "Swear to me first that you're not going to do anything except talk to something and when you're done you're gonna come straight back and find me."

Tails scowled at him. "You don't gotta babysit me all the time, Knucklehead!"

"I dunno about that. Seems I do if the first time I turn my back you're off doing crazy stuff. Swear to me, Tails."

The fox sighed. "Okay. I'm not gonna do anything except talk to something and when I'm done I'm gonna come straight back an' find you. Where're you gonna be, Knux?"

"Either here or just outside."

"Okay." Tails fixed him with a comically stern look. "Then I want you to swear by the Master Emerald that you're not gonna sneak after me an' listen in!"

Knuckles, who had never intended any such thing, shrugged. "Fine."

Tails punched him on the arm. "Say it, Knux!"

The echidna rolled his eyes. "Alright. I swear by the Master Emerald that I'm not going to follow you and listen in."

Satisfied, Tails pushed himself off the bed and left, whirring his namesakes for extra speed. The suddenness of the departure surprised Knuckles, who had half a mind to follow Tails before remembering his promise and settling back with a scowl. Well...if the kid wasn't back in twenty four hours, he'd go out to find him anyway.

In fact it was less than two hours before Tails returned, looking strangely tired but more like himself than Knuckles had seen him since Scrap Brain Zone.

"C'n I have some more of that fish, Knux?"

"If you go out and catch it," Knuckles retorted. "I wasn't sure if you were coming back tonight or not. Are you alright?"

Tails hoisted himself onto the echidna's table, swinging his legs. "I guess. I feel kinda tired but real light, like I could fly."

"You can fly."

"You know what I mean!" The fox studied the wall for a few minutes. "Knux?"

"Yeah?

"D'you think we're gonna see Sonic again?"

No, Knuckles didn't think they were. Sonic had vanished from Mobius, taking Robotnik with him.

"If anyone could get back," he said carefully, "it'd be him."

"But if the Void took him away and only the Void can bring him back...Sonic wouldn't come back if it meant the Void came too."

That much was true, Knuckles admitted. Sonic would sacrifice himself in a heartbeat if he thought it would save his friends.

"It can teleport itself, remember?" he said aloud. "Who's to say it's taken Sonic anywhere? It might have just reappeared somewhere else on Mobius and if it has, all he has to do is escape and come back here."

"Across an ocean? Sonic?"

"Y—" Knuckles broke off. "Hm. You may have a point there."

"Can't we move the island through the water?"

"No, for two very good reasons. The first is that if we move it to land, someone's going to find it, and I don't much like that idea. The second is that my ancestors – although they were technologically advanced enough to harness the Chaos energy and send Angel Island into the sky in the first place – forgot to fit it with an outboard motor or even a pair of giant oars."

Talking about other echidnas reminded Tails of the one down in the tunnels and he frowned slightly.

"What're we gonna do 'bout the puggle, Knux? 'Cause you an' him are probably the last of your race and he probably wants to get out of the tunnels. I know I would."

"She," Knuckles corrected automatically. Tails' face contorted.

"You mean he's a female?"

"Yeah." The echidna took a long, deep breath. "And – callous as this sounds – we got more important problems, Tails. The Master Emerald's burnt out. Protecting us and healing you must have drained it entirely."

"What's that mean?"

"Well, in layman's terms it means that we are now the proud owners of a seven hundred and fifty pound emerald-shaped paperweight," Knuckles said bluntly. "It also means that we need a new one."

Tails snorted. "You mean we're gonna go down the local Master Emerald store and pick one up?"

"Worse," Knuckles informed him. "I mean we have to go find the Chaos Caves and get one from there."

Tails shifted his weight. "You mean..."

"You bet I do." Knuckles threw an empty bag at Tails. "Start packing, kid. We're going back to the tunnels."

Okay...admittedly a short joining chapter, but it was needed :P Hope you enjoyed it and if you read, please review:)