Mephiles had fallen asleep against a tree, the rocky weasel sitting beside him. The sun was rising and it filtered through the tree leaves, casting shadows on everything that happened to be under the treetops. Iblis stared out over the bit of forest he could see from where he was positioned against the tree. He blinked a bit, not having had the time to really admire mother nature at work since he was usually in the castle most of the time doing prince things.
He sighed, closing his eyes for a second and letting his head rest against the tree. Iblis held his tail, it having relighted from the cloth drying up. The weasel couldn't just make the cloth wet again since he had noticed that it was on fire too late and the cloth was now a pile of ashes.
Mephiles stirred once the sun hit his face, groaning. He turned his head a bit subconsciously to keep the sun out of his eyes. After a bit the sun simply traveled further over, irritating the hedgehog more.
Iblis chuckled, hearing the other grumble. The hedgehog moved and buried his face into the rocky weasel's poof of fur that came out of the middle of the rocks. Iblis blinked then snorted, shaking the other's arm a bit.
Mephiles opened one eye, looking at him with an annoyed stare. "We should get moving." Iblis suggested.
Mephiles sighed and sat up. He fumbled with his quills for a second then stood. Iblis followed, making sure he kept his tail off of the grass. He sneezed then grumbled.
Mephiles chuckled. "You wake me up, you get sicker. How's that for fair?" He teased. Iblis glared at him then sighed.
Mephiles started walking off, almost leaving the other behind. Iblis ran to catch up to him, ears twitching.
After quite a bit of walking they reached a road that had a roadside stand looking thing. A guard stood in the middle of the road.
Iblis looked to Mephiles. "Is this the border?" Mephiles nodded, sighing a bit. He and Iblis walked up to the post, Iblis sneezing while they did so.
The guard took one glance at Iblis then raised his sword. "Monster!" He growled, running at the weasel. Iblis widened his eyes. "W-wait!" He yelled before the guard slammed the sword down onto his forehead. Mephiles widened his eyes. "Iblis!"
Iblis groaned a bit, the sword was dented a bit from hitting the rock on IUblis's forehead.
He sighed a bit, glaring at the guard who was shaking a bit. Before the guard could swing the sword again, Mephiles grabbed the arm the guard held the sword with. He smiled nervously. "He's not a monster, he's my brother. Besides we just want to get out of Soleanna." He said.
The guard was hesitant but he let the two through, staring at his sword and muttering something under his breath.
Iblis rubbed beside the rock on his forehead, blinking. "Man that was close." "You don't say!" Mephiles sighed. "You could've been killed!" He said. "And I would've just watched him...I didn't react fast enough..." He said. Iblis blinked. "Mephiles, don't worry about it. It's my fault for not moving out of the way." He said, ruffling the other's bangs. Mephiles looked him in the eyes then sighed. He started walking again, not responding to what Iblis had said.
Iblis blinked, running to catch up with him. After a bit of walking they made it to a house that seemed to be in the middle of a forest, with trees and many other varieties of plants that Iblis hadn't ever seen in his life. He blinked, seeing Mephiles walk up the stairs to the porch of the house.
Mephiles knocked on the door, seeing Iblis standing away from the wooden porch so he didn't catch the whole thing on fire. He heard someone yell then a white hedgehog who appeared older than Mephiles answered. He blinked a bit then widened his eyes. "Mephiles?" He confirmed. Mephiles hugged him. "Silver!" He said, tail wagging. "What are you doing here? Where's Mom and Dad?" Silver asked, smiling. Mephiles froze. "You didn't hear then..." He said. Iblis blinked. "...What happened?" "I have no idea where Dad is but Mom...Mom is gone." Mephiles said, frowning. Silver blinked then chuckled a bit nervously. "Mephiles that isn't funny..." He said, hoping it wasn't true.
After the gray and teal hedgehog was silent for a bit, the white one hugged him tighter. "I'm sorry I wasn't here for you, bro. I honestly didn't know..." Silver said, feeling guilty. "It's fine, I ended up staying with the royal family for ten years." Mephiles said, gesturing to Iblis."Iblis was my brother during that time." Iblis blinked at the white one looking at him and not reacting as anyone else had. "Really? Man that must've been nice." Silver said, smiling. "It was." Mephiles said.
Iblis kicked the dirt with his foot, feeling a bit awkward.
Silver released Mephiles from the hug, walking down off of the porch. He walked up to Iblis, smiling. "Thank you for helping taking care of my little brother." He said, seeing the other look at him.
Iblis just nodded, twitching his tail.
Silver walked back into the house, leaving the weasel and hedgehog for a second before he cam back with a small cloth. He told Iblis to stay still and tied the cloth around his tail, the fire hitting it a bit. To Iblis's surprise, the cloth didn't catch on fire and the flame on his tail was smothered. "My baby girl is a pyro. I have a lot of these for when she catches something on fire." Silver explained.
Iblis blinked, twitching his tail. "Thanks..." He said, blinking. Mephiles smiled. Silver led the two into his house, closing the door after they walked in.
A light purple cat stood by a doorway. "Who are they?" She asked, feeling a little white cat tug on her pants. She picked the cat up, blinking. Silver sighed. "This is my little brother Mephiles and this is the son of the royal family, Iblis." He said.
The cat blinked, feeling the little one in her arms tug on her hair a little bit. "I didn't know you had a brother." She said, walking into the kitchen with the little cat.
Silver chuckled. "I never told anyone, really. But guys she's my wife, Blaze and the little girl she's holding is Topaz, my daughter." Mephiles smiled.
Iblis sighed a bit, twitching his ears. Mephiles went into the kitchen to look at Topaz, Iblis not following since he believed that he would scare the child. He sighed, standing where he was. Silver blinked. "Make yourself at home, Iblis." He said, smiling.
Iblis nearly shot a glare at him but nodded. "Thanks for letting me stay here with you and your family." He said, walking off to explore the house.
