Here's the next chapter all! Enjoy!
When Britany came to, she was sore and bruised, but otherwise unharmed. She yelped as she tried to stand up but was yanked back by her hair. She realized she'd gotten her hair caught in a dead short tree.
"Kinnley!" She yelled. When he didn't answer panic rose in her chest. "Kinnley! Where are you!" Regret burned in her throat. Why did she have to be so mean to him this morning? What if he was dead? "Kinnley!"
Then, she saw him. Or his arm rather. He had been thrown halfway up the next slope behind some rocks.
Tears blurred her vision as she struggled to get her hair loose, but the more she tried, the more tangled she got. "What do I do?" She sobbed, "I don't know what to do."
Green eyes rested on a sharp, flat, stone. She wiped her face, she knew what she had to do now.
Her hands grabbed it and she raised it up to cut her hair loose. She hiccuped back a few sobs as she cut her long hair that she and Kinnley loved so much.
Once she got free she tossed the stone away and scrambled up the other slope to reach him. "Kinnley," she cried, "Kinnley."
She tripped, tearing a hole in her leggings. Scrambling to her feet, she finally reached him. "Kinnley? Are you ok?" Knowing she shouldn't, she turned him on his back. Blood coated the whole side of his face, there was a tear in his ear, and a huge chunk of flesh was missing from his side. His leg looked broken too.
Quickly, she tore fabric from her shirt to try and stop the bleeding. "Baby I'm sorry," she sniffled. Tearing more of her shirt, she pressed the fabric to the side of his head. "I'm sorry, just stay with me. Please."
His whole body was limp, and she didn't know how she would get him back. But she had to. There was no way she could carry him, so she slid her arms under his armpits from behind and started dragging him back to the base.
Once she reached the top of the slope, another explosion rocked the ground, causing her to fall. Kinnley let out a weak groan as she dropped him.
She got to her feet to see where the other bomb had hit. Her heart sunk as she saw the jackal village in flames. But there was nothing she could do except tell Sonic when she got back to the base. He could go look for survivors.
Turning back to Kinnley, she continued to drag his limp body back home. She could only pray he would survive.
About fifteen minutes earlier, a little jackal was hurrying back to his home. A large desert bird was between his teeth. He was so hungry, and moving as quick as possible in order to get home before his father got back from the hunt.
He stumbled into the hut, slamming the door closed. He yelped as he was grabbed by the scruff of the neck and yanked into the air.
The bird was dropped and he whimpered as he came face to face with his father. His tail tucked when he heard a low growl come from his father's throat. "What do you think you're doing boy?" He snarled.
"I-I..." He was so scared he couldn't get the words out.
He was given a rough shake and his teeth knocked together. This was it. He was going to die this time.
Before his father could do anything, an explosion rocked the building. He was dropped and the adult swore.
The pup screamed and scrambled to hide behind a collapsed piece of the wall. There was only one small hole to get inside. It had fallen in the shape of a den.
He got halfway through the hole then he was grabbed by the tail. "Get back here!"
The hut was still shaking and fire and smoke filled the air. The pup squirmed, trying to get his tail free. He could hear screaming from outside. Tears rolled down his face, he was afraid.
There was a cracking sound as part of the wall crumbled and fell. He heard his father yell and he got free, scrambling under the rubble.
He backed into the corner and pulled his knees to his chest, whimpering as he listened to the sounds of destruction around him.
"Come on Kinnley," Britany grunted as she struggled to drag him in the door. It was starting to get dark out by now.
By the time she got in the hallway, she couldn't drag him any farther. She just sat down beside him on the floor and sobbed. She frantically pressed the fabric against him as his wounds were bleeding again. "Help!" She shouted, "we need help!"
Lilly stuck her head out of her room, she was feeling better now. She gasped and tightened her robe around her waist as she hurried over to them. "Chaos," she gasped. "What happened?"
Britany looked up at her. Her shoulders heaved with sobs and her makeup ran down her cheeks in black clumps. Her blue top was tattered and torn from where she had ripped pieces off. There wasn't much fabric left of it actually, just enough to cover her chest, and her beautiful long hair was choppily cut, resting around her shoulders. "He needs help," the chipmunk sobbed. "Th-There was an explosion...and..." she couldn't finish.
"I'll hurry and find someone."
Before she could get far, Maybree came around the corner. She was on the way to her room to get ready for bed. The blonde stopped when she saw Kinnley on the floor, covered in blood, and Britany trying to stop the flow while sobbing. Lilly looked like she was going to pass out.
"Maybree," Lilly gasped, "it's Kinnley. I think he's dying."
Before the sentence left her mouth, Maybree was shoving past her to help her friend. She scooped him up bridal style, thankful she still could now that her father stopped training with her. "I'll get him to the medical bay." She turned to Lilly, "you help Britany. Looks like she could use a friend right now."
Lilly nodded, determined.
Maybree hurried off and Lilly turned to Britany. Her heart sunk. The strong chipmunk girl was in shambles. She was holding her shoulders, sobs racking her body.
The vixen was at her side in a second, gently putting her robe around the other girl's shoulders. She put her arms around her in a hug.
Britany clung to her, still crying. Crying for her love. Because she couldn't take back those awful things she said to him, and that could easily be his last memory of her.
Lilly rubbed her back gently. She couldn't tell her it was going to be ok, because she didn't know that it was. She bit her lip, at this point it was highly likely he wouldn't make it through the night. But she couldn't tell her that either. So, she just held the other girl until she was all out of tears.
Maybree burst through the doors to the medical bay, "he's hurt!" She shouted, "badly!"
The next few moments were a blur. Kinnley was taken from her arms and rushed to a bed. Maybree was pushed to the side so they could work on him.
The blonde sent a quick text to her mom to let her know that Kinnley was hurt, and the next thing she knew, Keelie came flying through the doors in hysterics. Gadget was right behind her.
Maybree rolled her eyes. This was the last thing Kinnley needed right now.
"What happened?" The female jackal shrieked, "where's my baby?" She was in a robe, so she'd obviously been in bed already.
The nurse walked over to her. "He's stable right now, but still unconscious. We're not sure what happened, but he's been through it."
"Can I see him?"
"We're still monitoring him right now. Check back tomorrow, you should be able to see him then."
Keelie obviously didn't like that answer, but she acquiesced. "Ok, just promise you'll take good care of him."
She dipped her head, "of course."
It was late by the time Lilly got Britany calmed down enough to get bathed, get Rouge to even up her hair, and tell Sonic about the village. She'd filled Lilly in on what happened between everything.
Currently, she was curled up on the bed, holding her pillow to her chest. She was hiccuping lightly, wishing she could take it all back.
Lilly looked sadly in her direction as she hung up the girl's towel. She could only imagine how she was feeling right now.
"This is all my fault," Britany said while sitting up.
"No it isn't," Lilly soothed as she sat beside her on the bed. The albino's hands gently smoothed her now chin length hair. Rouge had to take it shorter to even it out.
Britany rubbed her eyes, "but it is. I never should've been so mean to him." She began sobbing again, "and now I might lose him, and he'll never know how sorry I am. I wish I could've told him how much I love him instead."
Lilly hugged her again for probably the thousandth time that day. The poor girl was so tore up. Lilly could only imagine how she would be in the same situation. If something like that happened to Ace she would be beside herself too. Speaking of which, she needed to text him and let him know what was going on.
As Britany finally fell asleep, she told Ace what happened, and that she was going to stay with Britany tonight, she really needed someone right now.
The next morning, Lilly sat with Britany for breakfast. Ace was with them too. The chipmunk had gotten dressed and put a brave face on, but it wasn't the same without Kinnley. She sighed. She'd grown used to him beside her, his hands on her legs, his laugh, and just how much he was a part of her life.
It wasn't long till Sonic sat down at their table. "About that village," he said. "I went out there, most everything has been destroyed." A grim look was on his face.
"Were there any survivors?" Asked Lilly.
"I only found one. It's a pup I think." He frowned, "can't get them to come out from the rubble though." He held his hand up, "got a bite to show for it too."
Lilly looked at Ace, how long would the pup survive on its own?
"I was thinking it might respond better to a jackal. Or at least a canine." He gave Lilly a knowing look.
The vixen stood up, "let me go."
"Is it safe?" Ace asked. He took Lilly's arm in his hand. She frowned, knowing he didn't want her to go out there.
"For now," the hedgehog responded. "We're not sure if Eggman is planning on more bombing in the area, so we need to move quick."
"Let's go then."
Ace took her hand, "be careful ok?"
She nodded and leaned forward to give him a light kiss, "I'll see you soon."
Sonic set her down when they got to the village. Lilly followed him through the wreckage. Sadness filled her heart as she stepped over the remains of a house.
As they picked their way through, Lilly saw several bodies laying haphazardly along the road. Her eyes watered at the sight.
"Here we are," Sonic said as they stepped into a building that was still half standing. The top half was gone, and part of the walls had collapsed. "In there," Sonic gestured to a pile of rubble with a small hole in the bottom.
Lilly carefully went over. Her ear twitched as she heard shuffling. As she crouched down she heard a snarl. Looking in, she could see one golden eye glaring at her from the corner. The pup had pressed itself against the wall, growling a warning.
"Hey," Lilly said as gently as she could manage, "are you ok?"
She got no answer, the pup just showed her their teeth.
"We're just here to help you." The pup just snarled again, but she could hear the fear behind it. She decided to try something else, "Are you hungry?" The vixen unwrapped a piece of chicken she had warmed up earlier.
When the smell met the jackal's nose the growling stopped and ears perked up, but they made no motion to come out.
Lilly tore a small piece off and tossed it in the hole. She heard the pup scramble to grab it. The vixen peeked in the little cave, the pup was still against the wall, eyeing her warily, but less hostile than before.
She tore off another piece and tossed it in their direction, closer to her this time.
The pup still hurried to get it, then retreated back to their spot. She repeated the action a few times.
She jumped when Sonic tapped her shoulder. "We really should get going soon, we're kinda pushing our luck right now."
Lilly nodded. She tore off another small piece and tossed it right in the entryway to the cave. She watched silently as she heard footsteps. They were slow this time. Quickly, two hands snatched the piece of food and she heard the pup scarf it down. Sadness rested in her heart. The poor thing had to be starving.
She sat down in front of the rubble and held the half of the chicken that was left in front of her. She could tell the pup was right inside the hole. "If you want the rest you'll need to come out for it," She coaxed.
A long stretch of silence. Finally, the vixen heard some shuffling. The pup stuck its head out. She was taken aback at first. Only one of their eyes were functioning. The left eye was fogged. Obviously the pup couldn't see out of it. And they had gray fur.
She gave a warm smile and they quickly squeezed out the rest of the way, reaching for the rest of the food. She gently placed it in his hand, "Here you go."
She watched with sadness, she didn't think she'd ever seen anyone eat that fast before. He was a scrawny little thing, probably about Spade's age, but about half the size.
"My name is Lilly, and this is Sonic," the vixen smiled. "What's yours?"
"Kane," he said quietly.
She held her hand out, "well Kane, would you like to come home with me? I don't think your family is here anymore." She added sadly.
A smile was the last thing she expected at that news. He took her hand, although hesitant.
She scooped him up in her arms, "Come on. We'll get you some more to eat when we get back. Ok?"
He nodded and rested his head on her shoulder as she carried him out of the house he'd lived in all his life. But he wasn't going to miss it at all.