Hey y'all! I have some bad news… I won't be updating for a while. *Waves hands around* I know, I know. Y'all are all upset because I won't be updatin' every week or so.

I'ma really sorry y'all, but I'ma having a rough patch of Writer's Block. Its really messin' up my writin' and I can't focus long enough to finish a chapter, let alone the story.

Now, don't get any ideas about my leavin'! I won't be gone forever! I will not give up on my story! Or stories, as I have many, many ideas to keep goin' on! Of course, they'll all have our new, favorite OC characters: Knights, Knekelda, Flyer, and China!

… Okay, so maybe they ain't yer favorite, but a gal can dream! Anyhow, so, until further notice, I, JAF, will not be postin' anything new, so I decided that I'ma goin' to give y'all a miniature goin' away present! Two, really. This chapter, and a new, special one-shot story!

The story is called… well, yer goin' to have'ta look it up. *Eyes gleam mischievously*

So… moving on.

Summery: Flyer, Rouge, and Knuckles have been freed of their ice prison, and retrieved the purple Angel Diamond at the same time! Finally, things are starting to look up for our heroes. But what happened to Tails and Knights? Did Tails fall to a watery grave? Or did Knights save him? And what's this about them fighting for their lives?

It seems not everything's peachy in the Northern Lands. Will Tails and Knights survive the icy frost? Lets find out!

Disclaimer: I, JAF, do not own Sonic the Hedgehog. I own only my OC characters, plot, storyline, and my imagination. Thank you.

Chapter Nine: To the Ship!

Tails scrabbled on the ice, trying to find a grip. But it was useless. The ice was to smooth, to slick. To sleek. His gloved hands could do nothing for him, nor could his waving namesakes, thrashing around like they had minds of their own.

"Help me!" Tails called out to Knights, the only other person their that could possibly hear him.

Knights, who was staring in horror (she didn't normally freeze like this, but she was still recovering from her moment of insanity), shook herself like a dog (or wolf, in her case), before spurring into action. She shot forward, mindful of the slick ice, and lack of traction. If she wasn't careful, she would be in the same position as Tails.

"Hold on Tails!" Knights called as she ran. Tails opened his mouth to respond, but something stopped him. Something like a giant killer robot suddenly exploding into existence from beneath the ice a mere twenty feet in front of him. "Whoa!" Knights said, throwing her weight back and spreading her arms out to keep her balance as she skidded on the ice, trying to stop before she ran into the robot. It didn't work.

Swaa-CLANG!

Tails winced at the sound of Knights' unwilling ram into the squid-bot's body. The metal rang hollowly, and he could hear Knights mutter something in a language he didn't know.

"Scree!" the robot shrieked, lashing out its arms against Knights, who was still leaning against its body.

"Dumb mech!" Knights' voice shouted out as Tails slid closer to the freezing cold lake. Tails struggled to regain his balance, but it seemed that no matter what he did, it only sped up his journey. He could only watch Knights' battle and wait, vulnerable and helpless, as he slid to his doom.

Knights was not in the mood to deal with this mech keeping her from rescuing Tails. First she has that nightmare; then she goes temporarily insane (yeah, she admits it); now this crazed mech was trying to keep her from her friend!

Letting out a low growl that sounded very wolfish, Knights leaped straight up as the mechanical tentacles tried to grab her.

All the anger, fear, horror, terror, rage, frustration, and even the annoyance, bubbled to the surface. Normally, the young hedgehog would force these emotions down, refusing to let even a hint of them to show in her eyes or body language. But right now? Right now, Tails was in danger, because of her! And, he couldn't see her. He was behind the mech, and, therefore, unable to see her fight.

Just as well, Knights thought, flipping over another tentacle and landing gracefully on the ice without slipping. I don't think the cub would sleep easy for weeks if he did.

With that in mind, Knights made one last glance to make sure no one was watching, and let go of her emotions.

What happened next, Tails wasn't sure. One second, the robot was flailing its tentacles around, trying to attack Knights, the next, it was shrieking and being beat back by something.

Something dark.

Tails couldn't make out what it was, but he was sure it wasn't Knights. Knights was light purple, with her ears, tail, bangs, and quills tipped darker purple. Whatever was attacking the squid-bot was a blackish color, with streaks of red. If he didn't know better, Tails would have thought it was Shadow.

The squid-bot screeched, then ducked down into the hole it had made and disappeared. But before Tails could sigh with relief, something cold touched his tails. Horror gripped Tails as he realized what it was.

It was the ice water.

"KNIGHTS!" Tails shrieked, his voice high with fear. A streak of purple color flashed towards him. Tails' scrambling increased as his tails dunked into the water, soaking him to the skin instantly. His legs soon followed, then his lower half… Tails gripped the ice for all his worth, but the water was now to his shoulders. "KNIGHTS!"

Where was she?

The being watched out of the corner of its eye at the fox cub. It was scrabbling against the slick ice, vainly trying to stop itself from falling into the water.

"KNIGHTS!" the fox screeched, panic flickering across its face. It struggled as more of its body slid beneath the waves.

Tails! another voice cried out, though the fox didn't seem to hear. It clawed at the ice, its shoulders disappearing.

The being did not care about the fox. All it wanted was to finish its battle. But the Living Metal had fled, and was somewhere in the cold waters. It wrinkled its nose at the thought of diving into the liquid.

"KNIGHTS!"

The kitsune's cry was desperate, panicked… terrified. The being smiled, closing its eyes and relishing the sound.

Then something slammed into its gut.

Gasping for breath, the being watched with rage filled eyes as the purple hedgehog that attacked it raced to the fox's rescue, reaching her hand out to grab it.

The being smirked as the water bubbled behind the kitsune. Soon it would get to finish its battle with the Living Metal.

This so wasn't her day.

Knights swore in every language she knew Tails wouldn't understand (she didn't want to be the one explaining to Sonic where he learned such words). Why was it that she always ended up with the persistent, stubborn, and most dangerous mechs?

The half-hedgehog watched, her golden eyes narrow, as the squid-mech lifted Tails high out of her reach. The squid screeched, glaring at Knights with hate-filled eyes. Well, eye. The other one was completely destroyed.

Above her head, Tails thrashed vainly, but his struggles quickly grew weak as the cold, frosted air froze his wet fur. Growling again, Knights darted back and forth as the squid tried to slap her with the arms not constricting Tails.

Hold on Tails, Knights thought, looking for an opening to attack without hurting the cub. I'll save you. I promise.

This was the end, he knew it. His life would end in a cold, watery grave known as an ice lake in the middle of nowhere.

Well, technically, it was the southern tip of the Northern Lands beside the ice mountain. But that didn't really matter now did it?

After all, Miles 'Tails' Prower was about to be dragged to his death by a giant squid robot.

"Hold on Tails!"

Well, he would have been if Knights hadn't been there. The purple hedgehog spin-dashed the arms holding Tails, forcing the 'bot to release him with an echoing screech of fury.

Now free, Tails spun his namesakes as fast as possible to escape as soon as he got to his feet and took to the sky. Making sure to stay well out of the squid-bot's reach, Tails flew as far as he dared, his frozen fur dragging him down. Landing, Tails collapsed in a heaving mass of shivering, wet fox.

Behind him, Knights moved in a blur of purple light around the robot, somehow managing to tie its own arms around it. Leaping off its head, Knights spun around in mid-air and used the homing attack smack-dab in the middle of its forehead. The robot shrieked, then collapsed in a heap of sparks and metal.

"Tails? Tails where are you?" Knights called, landing in front of the fallen robot.

"Over here, Knights!" Tails called, then grimaced. He could feel the bruises forming on his skin. And man, did it hurt!

"Are you okay?" she asked, her eyes concerned and hands gentle as she looked over his arms.

"I'm okay, Knights. Really, I am," Tails lied, forcing himself not to wince as her hand brushed a nasty bruise. Knights gave him a knowing look, clearly unconvinced. Tails was about to say something else, in an attempt to convince her he was fine, when she let go of his arms and stepped back.

Blinking in surprise, Tails looked up at the female hedgehog, who nodded and gestured for him to lead the way back to the ship. Though no words were spoken, Tails immediately understood what she was saying. She was telling him she trusted his judgment and understanding of his own strength.

Surprised, and deeply touched, at Knights' faith in him, Tails felt a real spark of friendship towards the half-wolf. Don't get idea that Tails hadn't liked her before- he had! Tails was to kind to not like the cheerful and sometimes snarky female hedgehog. But if he was honest, out of the three Psymorians, Tails felt closest to Flyer, who shared much more in common with himself.

Right at that moment, though, as the cold wind bit into his fur and caused him to shiver, Tails thought that perhaps Flyer wasn't the only one that he could look to as a friend.

Knights shook out her fur and quills, her wolf side showing as snow flew everywhere and Tails raised his arms up to defend against the white crystals. "We had better get to the ship before the others. I'd rather not arrive to Knekelda's yelling at me that I shouldn't have left the ship," Knights said.

"Which you shouldn't have," Tails said, turning and heading towards the Sky Fox.

"I know that, but she doesn't have to know I left does she?" Knights asked, giving Tails a mischievous wink.

They walked back in comfortable silence, though they were surprised to see that they were at least two miles from the ship. So on they plowed, Knights moving ahead of Tails as the snow grew, now becoming a miniature blizzard to shield him from the worst of it.

It was when they could just make out the vague outline of the Sky Fox that Tails remembered the strange shape and flashes of light that had attacked the Squidinator II.

"Hey, Knights?" he called. She turned her head to look at him, her hands up to keep the snow and ice out of her eyes.

"Yeah?" she replied.

"What was that thing that attacked the squid-bot?"

Knights didn't answer for a moment, though she never turned her head away from him. He could see the thoughts swimming around in her golden orbs, as if she were trying to decide on a suitable answer.

"Nothing, Tails. Just me," she said finally.

"No, it wasn't," Tails said, wondering why she was lying. "It was blackish and red, kind of like Shadow. You're light purple."

"Like I said, it was nothing, just me. You must have imagined that I looked different, that's all," Knights repeated. She looked uneasy. "But… say there was something else there. Were you afraid of it? Did you see what it was?"

"Not really, just the color. And… no, I wasn't afraid. Why? Should I have been?" he asked, looking surprised. Knights gazed at him intently for a moment before shaking her head.

"No… no, its good you're not afraid… lets just forget I said anything, okay?"

"Okay," Tails said, feeling confused. Why did Knights look so uneasy? Had she seen something? Something that spooked her? And why did she want to know if he had been afraid?

What's going on? Tails wondered, following the comet through the snowstorm. Is something wrong? Does she know something we don't?

Then a thought struck Tails so suddenly and fiercely, that he nearly stumbled.

Could it be… could it that Knights was that thing I saw?

Ba-ba-BUM!

Sooo, my furry friends, what did you think of Chapter Nine? Love the no mentioning of anyone but Tails and Knights? Any guesses on who's going to get to the ship first? Or what will happen when they do? And what was that thing Knights apparently attacked? And Tails' suspicion that Knights might be something she's not?

Wait- when did I say that? Hmm… something to think about huh?

Well, my friends, will we get any answers in… Chapter Ten: Vacation Anyone?

But, before that, I must say one last goodbye- so, goodbye!

Until our next meeting my furry friends!- JAF logging out!