A/N: Alright… I admit I'm really bad with estimating the number of chapters x.x. But I'm almost sure that there will be ONE MORE, two max. I currently have forty-five reviews… That means that, to reach my goal, I need five more. I've got my fingers crossed :D! Actually, I was pretty sad that I went to a wedding in Victoria for five days, expecting to come back to at least a couple of reviews, and came back to none. Don't get me wrong, I got three awesome reviews before I left (thanks to the three of you), but I was sad to see my mailbox empty of everything but JUNK xP. Ahh well. You're forgiven… you naughty, wicked little people. Only kidding. You know I love you guys!!

--LA

Hemhem… since this is almost the last disclaimer I will have the pleasure of writing (in this story), I'm gonna make it simple… I don't not own any of the characters in my story except for Hina, Malam and Pella. However, feel free to pelt the last two with obscure pointy things. They only need to survive for one or two more chapters, after all.

The bat strained and fought every time the wind shifted or something in the environment changed. Although her eyes were pinned shut, Rouge's acute senses of hearing told her that, throughout the last two hours, another unfortunate person had been trapped beside her in the black substance, which was both spongy and rock hard. In fact, this other figure was strung so close to her, it pressed onto her body with a pressure that was almost painful. She knew the other person was in the same situation as her because of the sickening crawling sound the dark stuff made when growing.

She wished that she could speak, to ask the identity of the one who shared her predicament. However, she could neither open her mouth nor get his or attention in any other way. She was almost certain he was male because of something he had muttered before joining her in her prison. She was afraid, and beginning to feel claustrophobic from being cramped in such a small spot.

She could feel her elbow pulse painfully each time blood pumped through the veins, and the pain was steadily growing because the other person was pushing up against it. To comfort herself, she imagined that she was pressing her body against Knuckles'. In her mind, he held her close and tight to his body. Their eyes met. His, usually so hard and impenetrable, softened and a tender smile graced his face. Her face was snowy white and free of cosmetics, her teal eyes gazed at him free of everything else in the world.

That perfect moment of bliss, however, was short lived. Soon, Rouge's daydream came crashing down as she returned to full consciousness. She immediately became aware of the crisp sound of footsteps on snow.

"Eww!" A shrill voice squealed. The bat recognized it as Cream. "What is that, mother?"

"I'm really not certain." Vanilla's voice answered. "Please come along. It could be dangerous."

"Just another moment, please mother. It looks so familiar."

"Well, alright. But please don't touch it."

There was silence for a moment, then Cream gasped.

"It looks like a statue of Miss Rouge and Mr. Knuckles, but it's fallen over!"

"I think you're right." said the mother rabbit thoughtfully. Rouge felt something on the shoulder which was not tightly entwined to the other person… Knuckles? Could the figure stuck weak and immobilized beside her truly be the echidna she admired so? She simply couldn't imagine him being completely overpowered. It made her feel shaken and confused that the one who had saved her from death's cold arms could be conquered. He had always seemed so strong and brave…

She then remembered the incredible binding strength of the web around her, even though she hadn't had a proper chance to fight it, and felt reassured that, perhaps, Knuckles had put up an amazing, inspiring battle trying to fight off what trapped his love. Her heart skipped a beat when she materialized herself as "his love". Even if this was not the case, she felt warm and safe imagining that it was so.

And then there was an earsplitting scream, followed by a second, louder one.

"Mother! What's going on?" came Cream's panicked voice from close to Rouge's face.

Vanilla rushed to her daughter's side and tried to pull away. The bat heard Cream's breathing quicken as she sobbed.

"Cream? Cream! Honey, stay with me." Vanilla's usually calm and resigned voice sounded frightened and she was taking deep, shaky breaths. Rouge felt nauseous; it was her instinct to try and help the two rabbits, but, of course, she couldn't do anything to aid the struggling mother and daughter.

She heard a final shriek from Vanilla, and then it was silent again. The bat felt horrible for Cream; the poor bunny was certainly petrified. Of the four captives, she was the only child. This was, of course, not including the unfortunate hedgehog dropped to the ground who had gone unnamed by their captors, but Rouge had nearly forgotten about him. And so, the four immobilized figures entwined tightly together sat, slowly sinking into the powdery snow below them.

A branch snapped, and the two trespassing figures froze in their spots. Malam smacked the mouse with a hiss.

Pella mouthed an apology and they continued to trudge through the dense jungle of potted plants. Both the slender mouse and the cat were carefully watching the ground for more sticks or roots. Malam pointed a finger towards a door, and slunk through it. Pella followed, cautiously peeking through the doorway. The cat led her into what was evidently a modern kitchen.

Streams of black just visible in contrast to the general darkness made their way through the room, opening drawers and cupboards. Malam casually observed the contents, keeping an eye out for anything which could be helpful in their undertaking. Finding nothing more useful than a few butter knives, he silently returned the objects to their original places.

He then turned to Pella and nodded his head towards a second doorway leading into a hallway. They slid through the doorframe and quietly opened every door they came to; first was a bathroom, then a living room through which they could see another door leading back into the garden room. The third door, however, showed them exactly what they wanted. Malam slunk inside and skillfully crawled below the bed frame, and just out of sight of its sleeping inhabitant should he wake up.

The cat assumed that this was the fox Pella had told him about. He could see his goal clearly asleep in a crib at the other end of the room. When he was about a meter from the baby's bed, he got to his feet and peeked in. The infant girl's eyes were closed tightly, and the stone which was so important was mounted on her tiny chest. Malam glared at her. How had this insignificant child ended up with such a valuable part of their plans? It was required to be destroyed. If anyone old, strong, or intelligent enough to use it managed to get their hands on it, everything would be ruined.

Malam shot a stream of darkness around her tiny form, wondering with a stab of annoyance why he hadn't simply grabbed her from the door. His though was interrupted by the baby screaming. The cat winced and snapped his head in the direction of the bed, where he saw the fox sitting up and rubbing his eyes.

"Alright, alright. Hush, Hina. I'm coming." His voice was thick and tired, but Malam was surprised how young it sounded; certainly no more than ten years. The cat roughly recalled his arms and slunk under the bed. He saw Pella slip back into the hall just before two bare, yellow-orange feet dropped near his face. The baby was still crying as Malam watched the fox shuffle towards the crib.

"What's wrong now?" He asked her with a cavernous yawn.

"Wait for it…" Malam whispered under his breath, waiting for the fox to enter a spot where he could see him clearly.

"What is it? Everything's alright." The baby continued to whimper and pointed a short finger towards the bed. "What are you pointing at? That's just the bed."

This was the ideal moment. Malam sprung out and the fox was engulfed in a black net, roughly dropping the little baby back into the crib. She began to scream in protest and banged her hands, clenched in tight fists on the railing. Malam sent a second beam of black to wrap itself around her, but the gem on her top lit up brighter until it was blinding. The crying halted, and the light disappeared as suddenly as it had appeared. Malam blinked as Pella dashed into the room, his eyes aching.

"What was that?" She cried, pushing the stiff body of the fox to the wall. The cat tried to blink away the purple and orange splotching his eyes. They slowly faded away and he scowled.

"You tell me. That stupid baby does know the basics of using the rock." He rubbed his eyes and glared at the crib, only to see it empty.

"WHERE IS SHE?" He exclaimed, grabbing Pella's forearm in an iron grip.

"Ow! I didn't see… She's just a baby, how far could she go?"

The cat released her arm and scanned the room. His ears perked up suddenly when he saw a misty white-blue cloud hovering in a corner. Atop it sat the baby, a look of terror in her electric blue eyes.

"There." He approached quickly, cornering her. "Get by the door, Pella."

The mouse intently obeyed the command and stepped in front of the door, blocking any unlikely escape. The little girl whimpered, eyeing the fox's black silhouette lying in an awkward position on the floor. She shut her eyes tight and the mist rose into the air until her sea green hair brushed the ceiling. She opened an eye and looked around, looking proud of herself.

Choppily at first, the cloud moved across the room, keeping one hand on the wall for support. When she reached the doorway, where the ceiling went down nearly a foot, she dropped nearly to the floor, but quickly caught herself and pulled back up, zooming out into the hallway at a considerable pace.

"Why didn't you catch her?" Malam cried, pushing past Pella in pursuit of their escaped captive. He chased after her, following the trail of evaporating mist it left behind for a few seconds. It led him into the indoor jungle, then flew vertically until reaching the ceiling and above the trees.

Malam cursed and dove into the forest, keeping an eye on the sky. The baby and her cloud were nowhere to be seen.

"Malam? Where did she go?" Pella asked, jogging up behind him.

"She's somewhere in here. Go shut all of the doors, then come find me."

The mouse nodded and ran back in the direction she had come. The room was so large that after a moment, Malam could no longer hear her padding footsteps. He strained his ears for the tiniest sound, ready to pounce. He looked around, trying to find a tree with a trunk thick enough to support his weight. Around him, he saw only ferns and massive flowers but as he trudges deeper, he found an abnormally huge, fruitless grapefruit tree with thorns longer than his forearm.

He took a breath and let his ebony claws out of the skin between his fingers, then slipped of his shoes and did the same with his toes. He shook his limbs and backed away from the tree, eyeing the topmost branches. After a moment's metal preparation, he bolted towards the tree, scaling it with dexterous skill.

At the top, he scanned the corners of the gigantic room. Grateful that his climb was not in vain, he saw the bright mist through the other tall plants which reached the tall ceiling.

"Do you see her?" Pella called from the base of the tree.

"Over there." Malam said, pointing clearly to the corner where their target floated. Retracting his claws again, the cat jumped to the ground landing gracefully on his feet.

"Let's go. She's not getting away this time." He said, a cold look in his eyes which made them look extremely ominous and sinister. He marched in a precisely straight line to get to the objective as quickly as possible. If she had already learned to fly with the stone, she was cleverer than one would expect someone of her age to be. Who could know how long it would take her to learn to command its other powers, if she hadn't already. In moments, they reached the corner where she hid. Squinting up above their heads, they could see her through the semi-transparency of the mist.

"Can you get up the tree?" Malam asked suddenly. Pella looked concerned as she eyed the intimidating height of the plants surrounding them. She frowned.

"I doubt it…"

The cat rolled his eyes and flicked his wrist, lifting Pella on a cloud like the baby's, only black. He conjured a matching one for himself and lifted them both up to just below the icy blue one. Their eyes met, and Malam mouthed "are you ready?"

Pella nodded, and they slowly rose until their heads were inches below the light mist.

"Go."

They shot up and cornered the tiny child. She was surprised, and let out a scream of terror, letting her guard down and losing control of the levitating cloud. It vaporized into nothing, and she fell towards the hard, tile floor.

Malam swore loudly, and followed the dropping baby. If the gem was destroyed improperly, he knew the least it would do would be to emit a blinding light too bright for any eyes to withstand, especially his sensitive ones. And this was the bare minimum of what it an improper fracture or crack would induce.

To his great relief, the baby caught herself with an even brighter cloud and zoomed through the foliage. She was becoming more confident in her abilities. The cat, who was controlling Pella's cloud, brought her level to him.

"We need to get it off her fast." He said, referring to the blue stone.

"What do you want me to do?" Pella asked, looking devotedly at her leader.

"I'm going to send you around the front door to make sure she doesn't get out. Can you promise me you won't let her escape?"

The mouse nodded, a determined look on her face.

"I trust you."

"Good."

He shot her along the wall to the large garage style doors and followed the flying baby into the flora. After a few moments of aimless gliding, he caught a glance of the glistening cloud trail as it headed towards the main door. Malam swore again and sped up to follow her. He arrived at the door and saw wide-eyed Pella watching the misty cloud in concentration. Obeying his first instinct, Malam sent her cloud flying at breakneck speed in the direction of the valuable baby who was hovering by a metallic table.

It happened too fast for him to fix his mistake. The baby stealthily floated higher, dodging the shooting mouse. Pella let out a blood freezing scream as she crashed into the table with a sickening crack. Perhaps it wouldn't have been so bad if she had crashed with her legs or torso, but it was her neck that made painful contact. Everything below the shoulders flew forward and her forehead banged on the table as her body pivoted on the neck.

The baby froze; looking at her age, this was likely her first encounter with blood. And there was much blood.

Malam was blind with rage. He flung himself at the mesmerized child and caught her when her attention was on the mouse who lay still on the white tile with pools of crimson forming around her.

The cat wrestled the baby to the ground with ease, not fully aware of his furious actions. With a livid roar, he snapped a thick spine off of another grapefruit tree with horrendous strength. The baby was screaming again, but he was unaware as his ears were not functioning properly; he just kept hearing an echo of Pella's last devoted words 'I trust you", "I trust you"… The thorn was impressively thick and covered with a leathery skin barbed at the tip.

His mind was not working correctly. With a cry of fury, he stabbed the spine into the baby. It didn't give the satisfying feeling he had imagined. Instantly, the room filled with a blinding light, then all was dark.

A/N: WOOWOO:D This one is the longest yet by far. I really hope you liked it, and I'm sorry it took such a long time to update :). I'm now sure there will only be one more chapter… and the update should be coming soon (cross your fingers)!! Thanks so much for reading, and please review!

--LA