Demon: (yawns) Welcome back to Love: Smells Like Vanilla.
Amy: You're not so chipper today. What's up?
Demon: I just feel crashed is all.
Falcon: Well, it's your fault.
Skagui: Yeah. If you didn't drink six cans of Mountain Dew in a row, maybe you wouldn't be this shitty.
Demon: Shut up, will you?
ANBU: Anyway, how's everyone been?
(Demon looks at ANBU, who's sporting a shit-eating-grin)
Demon: What's with him?
Cream: Take three guesses what he did at New Orleans.
Demon: What?
ANBU: I got some! Yeah!
(Snypo slaps ANBU across the face)
Snypo: Can you not be a pervert for ONE chapter you're in?
ANBU: Sorry, contractually obligated.
Demon: Damn fine print.
Snypo: You guys seen Rouge lately? She's been upping her game.
Bliss: Hey, what's up guys?
Snypo: Hey Bliss.
(Demon jolts awake at hearing this)
Demon: Bliss, what the hell?
Snypo: What's wrong?
Demon: Bliss isn't with LSLV anymore. She's specifically with AFIN.
Snypo: Then, who's … (looks over)
(Bliss pulls off her face, revealing Rouge)
Rouge: Got you, big boy!
(Rouge grabs Snypo and flies into the next room)
Falcon: Uh…
(Demon picks up the mask Rouge took off)
Demon: That bat's smart, I'll give her that.
ANBU: Why can't I get a girl to do that for me?
Amy: Alright, before I try to kill this guy, enjoy the chapter!
Chapter 11: Taste of Recovery
The rabbits finally managed to carry Chris into Knuckles's house, setting him down on the table. Knuckles walked in a few seconds later, dropping the weights onto the ground. He saw the unconscious human sprawled out on his table, with the two rabbits preparing the first aid kit. "I'll be back in a minute, okay?" He said, walking down the hall and into a bathroom. Vanilla managed to open a roll of bandages, while Cream got some disinfectant cream out for his cuts. "I hope Chris is all right. That looked like it really hurt." Cream said softly, yet loud enough for Vanilla to hear. "Don't worry, Cream. He'll be okay. He's been through a lot worse than this." Vanilla told her daughter. 'I should know. I've read about it.' She thought to herself, remembering the journal.
Knuckles splashed some water on his face before looking in the mirror. His face sported a couple cuts and bruises, mostly from when he went head first into that rock. The echidna looked inside his medicine cabinet, searching for some medicine Chris could use. 'I know I have some around here.' He thought to himself as he continued to scan the bottles. "Damn it, where the hell is it?" He asked himself, getting a little peeved. Finally, the red echidna gave up, slamming his fist on the counter. "Fuck. Now, I'm going to have to make some of it." Knuckles slapped his hand on his face, dragging it down. Knuckles exited the bathroom, heading towards his book shelf.
Meanwhile, Cream and Vanilla were busily wrapping Chris in bandages. "It's a good thing nothing appears to be broken," Vanilla pointed out, "but he will probably be sore for a while. Plus, I think his ribs may be a bit bruised." She finished, cutting the bandage and tying it off. "I hope he recovers soon." Cream looked at the sleeping human, worry evident in her eyes. Vanilla wrapped Cream in a hug, trying to reassure her. "Don't worry. He'll recover soon."
The rabbits looked to the source of the statement, Knuckles. He walked in carrying a large leather-bound book. "What's that thing Knuckles?" Vanilla asked. The echidna smiled and set the book down on the table next to Chris. "This is an old medical journal my tribe wrote." He explained, looking over to the book. "We used to write our herbal medicine recipes down and use them whenever needed." The rabbits watched as Knuckles scanned through a section near the end of the book. "The end of the book is full of medical recipes meant for battle wounds. Warriors in my tribe needed good medicine, so our elders would archive our remedies." Knuckles turned to a page marked "Mild-Moderate Battle Injuries".
Scanning through a paragraph, Knuckles memorized the materials needed before nodding. "I'm going to find what I need for the medicine. I'll try to return as soon as possible. He probably won't wake up for a while, but just in case, don't let him move." Seeing Cream and Vanilla nod, Knuckles ran out of the house, searching for the ingredients his ancestors archived. Searching quickly, the echidna found the first of the four materials, a ginger root, in his back garden. "Okay, one ginger root down, three items to go." The echidna muttered as he picked the root.
While the red warrior searched the island for the ingredients, Vanilla found a mortar and pestle in a cupboard. "He'll probably need this to mix up the materials." She reasoned, placing the tools next to the book. Cream, meanwhile, sat next to the human, holding his hand tightly with hers. She was clearly worried, and seemed like she was about to cry. Vanilla looked to her daughter, wishing she could relax her. 'She's so worried, it's making me worry. I hope Knuckles hurries up so Chris can wake up.' She thought to herself as he began leafing through the book, making sure to keep the page.
Twenty long minutes later, Knuckles bolted back into the house, panting. Vanilla looked up to the echidna, and immediately stifled a laugh at the sight. Cream looked up from Chris's body, trying not to giggle. Knuckles's face was covered with red bumps, and he had a pissed off look. "Mr. Knuckles, what happened to you?" Cream asked, luckily able to hold it together. "Well, the remedy called for some honey from South Mobian bees, and those bastards are aggressive. That's why I have a special greenhouse built on the other side of the island. They stay in there, without attacking innocent people." Knuckles explained, walking back to the rabbits and placing the ingredients down.
(Just a quick note: the South Mobian bees are the Mobius equivalent of the Africanized honeybee, also known as the "Killer Bees")
Cream and Vanilla looked to the materials. The items were a ginger root, a small honeycomb with honey in it, a small chunk of a reddish mineral, and a green berry. "These combined will make a special liquid concoction that heals internal injuries, including bruised or broken bones." Knuckles said proudly, knowing the mix would work. 'I should know. I've had to use it on myself quite a few times. Damn bat girl.' He thought as he began to fill a pot with water. "What are you doing, Knuckles?" The older rabbit asked, seeing him set the pot to boil. Knuckles turned to face Vanilla, grabbing the root in the process. "I need to boil the ginger root. The water is what's added to the mix, but the root has to be boiled in the water." The echidna dropped the root in the heating water and walked to the book.
"Let's see, the berry must be chopped and added to the water after the root has been used." The echidna mumbled the passage as he chopped the berry into small pieces. The rabbits looked on in interest as Knuckles took the mortar and pestle, starting to grind a part of the red mineral up. "Thanks for getting the mortar out." The echidna said to the rabbits, not sure of who did it. Vanilla smiled. "No problem." He nodded before going back to the grinding.
"What is that mineral anyway?" Cream asked. As he continued grinding, Knuckles explained. "Well, there isn't really an official name for it. My tribe discovered it's a renewable mineral that regenerates often, and can only be found on Angel Island. Since my tribe discovered it, they nicknamed it 'Echidine'. It's a dumb name, but I don't care. Apparently, it's what builds back broken bones." Cream nodded, watching as Knuckles poured the ground mineral into a small bowl. A few moments later, the echidna poured some boiling water into the bowl, making sure the mineral mixed with the root water. He threw in the berry pieces and stirred. The mix turned the water into a weird red mix.
Pouring the honey into the bowl, Knuckles stirred again and poured some of the medicine into a small glass. "Okay, the medicine is done. Now, we just have to get Chris to swallow it." Cream looked to the unconscious boy for a moment before mumbling "how?" The echidna put the glass to Chris's mouth. "With the work you guys did, he should be able to move a little now. Watch this." He whispered. The rabbits watched as Knuckles smirked. "Hey, Chris. Sonic got hit by a car today!" He said loudly. As he expected, Chris shot straight up, awake and aware, looking around for his fallen friend. "What, where, huh…" Knuckles forced his mouth open wider and poured the remedy down the human's throat.
Chris swallowed, immediately coughing after. Knuckles let his friend go, smiling. "Sorry, man. I had to wake you up and I knew that'd do it." Chris glared at the red echidna before laughing his ass off. Knuckles was stunned, unsure of why his friend was laughing at him. Seconds later, it hit him. "Those damn bees." He muttered, realizing Chris was laughing at the echidna's stings. Cream and Vanilla smiled, replacing their previous looks of shock.
After Chris calmed down and stood up, Knuckles covered the bowl with a lid. "So, Knuckles," Chris started, "how long should the elixir take to work?" Knuckles handed the human the bowl. "Well, you'll have to take the rest of the medicine to fully recover, but each dose should kick in after about fifteen minutes. That bowl has one last dose in it. Take it tonight before you go to sleep, and you should be back to normal before morning." Chris nodded, accepting the bowl happily. "You owe me big time for the honey." The echidna added, getting a look of wonder from the human.
"Why? Isn't it a part of the medicine?" Vanilla asked. Knuckles sighed. "Yes and no," he started. "You see, the medicine doesn't really call for the honey. It's just an edit to the recipe. Look at the bottom of the page and find out why." Vanilla looked at the bottom of the page and saw a footnote. She read aloud:
The honey of the South Mobian bee has no medicinal effect on the body, but it adds taste to the mixture. Early experiments with children showed the medicine worked without honey. However, the older members would commit suicide as a result of the horribly bitter taste of the mix. As a result, all subsequent creations will add honey from the local bees."
Chris, Cream, and Vanilla sweat-dropped, while Knuckles grinned. "Yeah, apparently, the taste was so bitter that those taking it would off themselves rather than accept it and heal. Go figure." He shrugged it off, looking back at the human. "This is why you owe me for the honey." Nodding in acceptance, Chris pulled out his teleporter. "Well, I'll see you again soon, Knuckles. Let's train again sometime." He winked, before the three of them disappeared. Knuckles smirked and sat down. 'Yeah, we'll train again. But, you bet your ass I'm not going through that again!' He thought as he turned on the television.
The trio appeared inside the house, noticing how late the time was. "Does anyone want to watch a movie?" Vanilla asked the two teens, who nodded. "Good. Chris, why don't you pick out something?" As the rabbits sat down, Chris looked at the discs on the shelf. "How about this? I haven't watched it in a while." Chris asked, pulling out "Deadliest Warrior, season 1." Cream squealed in excitement, having seen it before and enjoyed the show. Vanilla took Cream's squeal as a yes, nodding in agreement. They spent the next four hours watching half of the season. Each time, a mix of cheers, groans, and taunts were heard from the trio, debating whether or not the winners should have won.
After the fourth episode, Vanilla shut off the player for the night. "Alright, it's time for bed. Chris, make sure you take that medicine Knuckles gave you." She announced. Chris nodded and walked into the kitchen to grab a glass. Cream looked over to her mother with a happy look. "I'm glad Chris is alright. I was worried about him earlier." Vanilla laughed, knowing worried was an understatement. "Hey, mom. Can Chris spend the night with me again? I think he'd be better off in a bed than the couch." Cream asked and explained. Vanilla agreed before kissing Cream on the forehead. "Good night Cream." Vanilla walked towards her room.
Chris walked out of the kitchen, seeing Cream smiling. "What's up?" He asked, unaware of how glad Cream was that her 'older brother' was safe. "Oh, nothing. Come on, let's get to sleep." Cream quickly said, dragging the confused human towards her bedroom.
(Later that night, 3 a.m.)
Vanilla walked into the kitchen, making sure not to hit anything. She had woken up and wanted to get a glass of water. Silently entering the kitchen, the older rabbit got what she wanted and left. As she passed the living room, her eye caught Chris sitting on the couch, seemingly asleep. Walking carefully over to the human, she saw he wasn't sleeping, but writing. She saw the pages, as well as a red stain on one of the previous pages, and realized it was his journal. "Chris." She said quietly, as to not wake her daughter.
Chris jumped suddenly, hiding his precious journal from the older rabbit. "Oh, hi Vanilla. What are you doing up?" The human asked, visibly shaken. Vanilla smiled gently. "I was getting a glass of water. What's with you? Can't sleep?" She asked in a calm tone, trying to relax the human. "Actually, yeah. I was feeling a bit odd, so I called Knuckles. He told me that the medicine can sometimes cause restlessness at night. He also told me that it usually wears off after a few hours of activity." He explained, which was the truth. He, however, kept out the part about the echidna threatening to throw him into the bee area for waking him up at an ungodly hour.
Vanilla nodded. "Alright, but I think you should be going to bed. It's already 3. Good night." She yawned and walked back to her room. Just before she closed her door, she saw Chris open his journal again. 'I know it's not right, but I have to see what he is writing.' She thought as she drank her water and sat down. Covering herself up, she yawned again, ready for the comfort of sleep.
Demon: There we go. Chapter 11 is done.
Skagui: Hooray!
Falcon: About time.
ANBU: I wonder what Chris has in his journal. *wink*
Skagui: Once a perv, always a perv.
ANBU: Shut up.
Falcon: Oh yeah. Demon, where's my money?
Demon: What money?
Falcon: The twenty bucks you owe me for losing the bet.
Demon: Damn. I thought you'd forget. Here's your cash, bitch.
ANBU: Ha ha, he called you bitch!
Falcon: Shut up!
(Falcon slapped ANBU across the face, knocking him out cold)
Demon: Damn it, Falcon. Oh well, anyway. Read and Review!
Falcon: No flaming!
(Snypo runs into the room naked, a naked Rouge following him)
Snypo: Help me, dammit!
Rouge: Get back here, sexy!
(All others, minus ANBU, watch the two run out of the room)
Demon: (muttering) I always befriend the weird ones.
~DemonFiccer~
