A system does not mean control

He didn't know what to believe anymore, what to expect, what to even think about!

He tried shoving it away, tried to concentrate on where he was going since they were still down here, but the assassins ran away and was most likely the reason why they hadn't stumbled into any, and they were down here, and they had been trying to kill them, but Sonic had stopped them with the emerald and nothing made sense!

"Calm down! Calm down – you can't panic now! Don't think about it just – go. Walk and ask questions later. Put it aside and think about it later. You need to concentrate. Listen Tails."

But there was nothing to listen for.

There was nothing anymore that could threaten them he was pretty sure. With their ambush, the assassins were running their way either out of the sewers or deeper into it, meaning that they would leave an empty trail behind for anyone that might follow them.

He hadn't known if assassins even existed, and a part of him had convinced himself that they were merely a myth and a story that the men told their wives so they wouldn't walk out in the city at night. Now, he was very glad that he hadn't betted eating his cloak if they existed like he had considered doing. He always held a promise.

Despite his own attempt at calming himself down he could feel the others still being as rattled. Ray had tried asking questions, but was shushed every time by the armadillo, reminding him that they were still in danger and that he could ask later. Mighty hadn't questioned anything just yet, but a look alone told the fox that he was almost startled, surprised and at the same time he was completely confused. Like he had witnessed a ghost or something.

Espio was still walking in front of him, didn't have to look at his face to understand that he was bewildered as well. His walk was slower, his head shaking a couple of times and he caught a mumble every now and again. He was thinking, and pulling himself out of those thoughts every time, since they needed to concentrate. Sonic was once again walking behind him, though he felt his presence much clearer than before. Despite the footsteps and the occasional arm that brushed briefly against his tails, he could feel him.

He didn't know what he could feel or what his senses was going on about, if it was energy or if it was his mood, he had no idea. He suspected the emerald had activated something, but he wasn't sure. All that he knew was that Sonic – the prisoner who was send out to do something because his village's chief had a vision about him – was a Chaos Wielder.

Something he had read about, believed in, and dreamed of being one. And now that the hedgehog had proved that theory true, there was a part of him who wanted to try it himself. Though, now was not the time and he had no idea how, and neither did Sonic.

A look at him revealed that he was thinking very hard, the white Chaos Emerald once again hidden in his quills, arms drawn to his sides while he was looking at his sneakers. But besides that, he had a small grin, and his green eyes were shining. He was amused. He thought that it was a joke, if his exclamation of saying what he did was cool was anything to go by. He thought this was funny – like some Chaosdamn carnival!

He wanted to be mad at him, why he didn't know, but either way, he figured that he for some reason couldn't. He didn't know if he should be amazed, be glad, happy, angry or begin to cry, he had no idea. He was so sure that his life had ended a couple of minutes ago, that the female assassin had either cut his head of or pulled his head underneath the brown water to drown him or something but he was alive. And he had one person to thank that for. And that mobian was not himself.

Instead he opted to sigh, suddenly felt his right eye thumping from the rough treatment of being shoved into the brick, could feel his bruised skin become warmer but didn't seem to swell more. He still had that water bottle in his tail that he could use, though that water was lukewarm at this point, and he hadn't had the time to swipe something before they had taken off, suddenly thinking about what he was gonna eat for later. He could try out those two small things that had been wrapped in the green paper, but that was most likely not going to fill his stomach entirely. He felt his heart beating from the thought, but shook it off him, looked ahead while turning his ears around to do something.

The only sounds that remained were their walk, louder in their mist of surprise and bewilderment, none of them taking any action to make themselves quieter. They were pretty sure that they were fine for now.

Espio turned a left suddenly, and as Tails followed in his steps, he saw the tunnel suddenly stop, the end of it having a metal grating of some sort. What surprised him the most was the light, the end of the tunnel where he could see the sun, low in the afternoon. He couldn't see much, other than the brown liquid that travelled into a stream on the other side of the grating, as well as noises and grass and something in the horizon. His eyes got absorbed in trying to figure out what the small picture of the metal grating gave him that he almost stumbled into the chameleon as he stopped in front of him.

"There," He said, though it sounded like he had said the word merely because he wanted to make some sort of sound.

The fox didn't hear him, his blue eyes fixating on the landscape behind the grating now that he was standing up against it. He could see it – the trees

And not just the three or four he had seen inside the city, no, an entire pine forest!

There were a lot more than he had expected, very tall and very slim, branches expanding out and created umbrellas of needles and pinecones, the gigantic beasts standing solid in the ground, dark green and slowly waving in the wind. It was beautiful. His ears didn't catch the wind, no it caught the sound of the stream underneath his feet, the grating having a wide hole in the bottom that let the water travel out. The stream wasn't that wide, the bank on its sides covered in tall grass, blending into grass that travelled out to the forest ahead of it. Somewhere he could hear faint noises of people talking, mobians shouting and the life he was used to echo in the sight ahead of him.

"There is a road that leads directly to Kroxburg," Tails blinked out of his daze, looking back at Espio who had turned around towards them, a concentrated and stern expression on his face. "Croford traits directly with the city, but I think it's wiser to stay away from the crowd so close to the city. Walk in the pine forest close to the road to give yourself a guide. When you reach the market, then you know what to do yourselves. This is the last advice I can give you," He said, fishing something out from his pocket and turned around towards the lock that was on the grating, preventing from anyone to escape out of it – until now.

Tails found himself swallowing something in the back of his throat, he didn't know if it was a lump or something, he just knew that his earlier thoughts travelled back to him.

What now?

He didn't get to decide right then and there, as the fellow pick pocketer in front of him let the lock fall to the ground and pushed the grating open. It made a cranking sound as it swung open, sounding really loud so close to them, the thought of soldiers hearing this penetrating his careful thinking mind. He didn't get to voice it out loud as Ray sprinted past them, emitting a happy exclamation that he had most likely kept inside, leapt out of the tunnel and jumped up on the bank, crawling to the grass.

"Thank you Espio!" –

"Ray wait!" Mighty quickly interrupted, walking past the others, and jumped out as well, catching up to the squirrel before he managed to run out.

"Hold up a minute," The armadillo said, putting a hand on Ray's shoulder and turned back to the chameleon. He wore an appreciative smile and relief was shining in his eyes as he looked at him, nodding.

"Thanks for the help. We wouldn't have made it out without you," His tan ears twitched once, but his smile was genuine, and his eyes didn't change. He was appreciative.

Espio merely nodded back at him, turning around towards the hedgehog who was still grinning to only himself.

"Sonic," The chameleon said, biting his lip. "Be careful. I didn't know that you could harness that kind of power," –

"Dude me neither," The hedgehog smirked, the same amusement still painted all over his face. Tails couldn't hold back the urge to roll his eyes into the overhead bricks. The chameleon nodded again at him.

"Whatever you have just discovered, it is something that someone wants. We were ambushed by assassins for a reason. I encourage you to be wary and take care of yourself on your travel," He said, gave the hedgehog the same stern expression, though his yellow eyes were shining with truth. Sonic smiled back at him, a warm and genuine thing that the fox couldn't ignore, as he walked past him, planting a solid hand on the chameleon's shoulder.

"Thanks for your help man. We couldn't have gotten out without ya," He winked at Espio, before he took back his hand, took a couple of seconds to merely look at the water under him, before he jumped and landed on the banks, his feet frantically trying to get grip of the ground.

When he did, he climbed out where Ray immediately asked him something that Tails chose to ignore, since the chameleon had turned back to him. Their eyes were locked in place for a couple of seconds before Espio sighed.

"Tails – I'm sorry - no we're sorry that we didn't believe you. And that we hadn't taken care of you – maybe you should have stayed with us in the beginning," He said, biting his lip and the corners of his eyes twitching. Regret. And a deep, deep guilt settling into his stomach, knotting together, and radiating through his face.

The fox had no idea why, didn't know why he was apologizing let alone why he felt guilty about all of this. He had been alone; he had chosen that path on his own and made sure that the others were safe because of that decision.

"Don't be sorry," The fox said, making the chameleon look back at him. "There was nothing else you could've done. I was meant to be on the street Espio, I can't change that. I just – made some stupid decision and now I have to start over. Like you said," Tails said, his eyes darting around the chameleon's face, suddenly felt the fear.

The fright that had settled underneath his fur coming back to him, his hands feeling numb and his heart beating. He didn't know what to do. He felt lost more than anything now, and he had no one to support himself against. There was no one but him now.

He was almost startled by the heavy hands on his shoulders, looking straights at Espio's yellow eyes. Stern, and yet concerned.

"No one is meant to be on the street Tails. There are just too many small people in this town, and I hope that Kroxburg or any other city is more open minded. It is not your fault that you became a part of the system, don't ever think that!" He almost sounded angry, shaking the young pick pocketer a couple of times.

"Not everywhere is like Croford. There are some cities, some people out there that wants to reunite all of us. Don't make your experience here overshadow the possibilities of what is out there. You're free now kid. Get a job, start a new life, find someone who wants to have you around. You have been alone for too long – do what you want but stay away from this system. Alright?" At the last word he narrowed his eyes slightly, like he was warning him about something happening if he ever thought of returning to becoming a pick pocketer.

But that warning did not overshadow the words he had just released, the fox in this moment seeing a whole other part of the chameleon he had never experienced before, his young mind suddenly coming to a conclusion he couldn't accept.

Espio cared about him. And not just him, Vector and Charmy did to. And now – the only people that had cared about him he was now leaving. For – Chaos knows how long.

With the revelation, he felt that the urge to cry was so much harder to pull back, but he did, forcing himself to not unleash what he wanted. There was no reason to.

"Okay," He instead said forcefully, nodding to hopefully negate the feeling he had in the back of his throat. Espio looked at him for a bit, before he padded his right shoulder, taking his hands back.

"Good luck out there. And when you have turned a new leaf, come visit. The thieves need us," –

"I will," Tails said, found himself smiling at him, before he turned around and jumped, landing on the banks and looked back at him.

"Thank you for everything," He departed, making the chameleon nod, a faint smile on his lips. The fox watched as Espio closed the grating again, picking up the lock and put it in place. He stood, looked at the four criminals now standing in the wide-open world before he turned around, disappearing from their sight.

Tails stared at the grating that had been opened seconds beforehand before he sighed. What that sigh entailed he had no idea, other than the fact that he had no idea what to do now. Instead, he turned around to find the others looking at him, Ray having a wide grin on his muzzle, Mighty looking somewhat stern and Sonic merely was confused about something. The hedgehog was the first to scratch the back of his head, looking around himself and then back at the other three.

"So – where are you guys headed?" He asked, looking at the previous thimble riggers. The squirrel blinked at the hedgehog before he turned to the armadillo, clearing expecting him to give them some sort of answer. He merely shrugged, putting his hands on his hips.

"No where particular. Though getting to that market sounded interesting. I've heard of Kroxburg, and there should be central of roads out to other cities. Making our way there sounds logical," He decided, his brow quirking in a question. "What about you?" Sonic shrugged, looking around himself.

"Eh, dunno. I was sent out to collect these gems, so I guess that I need to keep searching. Starting in a city sounds good," He rationalized, sending a grin towards the pair. "If you don't mind me tagging along," Mighty shook his head, while Ray bounced on the spot, as if a trampoline had suddenly emerged underneath his blue sneakers.

"Sounds awesome! Maybe you can do that wind magic again!" The squirrel exclaimed, while Sonic laughed, a light thing that suddenly made Tails' stomach fell warm inside, a laugh he hadn't heard from the hedgehog just yet. It wasn't fake, not filled with mockery or overconfidence, no it was true and pure amusement. Something the pick pocketer hadn't experienced a lot of times before.

"If I knew how, I would. Maybe I'll experiment later," He said, suddenly turned his head around towards the fox, said fox finding himself in the center of attention. "And you? Wanna follow us to Kroxburg? I think Espio wanted you to at least," He smiled, that same lighthearted thing that made everything feel not so terrible.

Tails bit his lip, finding himself not knowing what to do. He didn't know why he was going to the market, he wanted to head there for the sole reason of someone telling him to go there not himself. And yet, he didn't know where else to go, and the pine forest ahead of him seemed big and easy to get lost in. And there was a small part of him, something that he didn't fully admit to himself, that didn't want to be left alone. Therefore, his decision was made, and he nodded to the other three.

"Yeah. I'm headed there too," Sonic's grin widened, turning back to the others.

"Well then. Decision taken! Let's go!" He said enthusiastically, a little too enthusiastic in Tails' taste, as the hedgehog began walking, Ray unleashing a sound of happiness as he sprinted ahead of them. To the fox's surprise the armadillo merely shook his head at him, before he started walking as well.

Tails looked after them, before he turned around to see the walls of Croford tower over him, the entrance to the city not far from where he stood. The life he had grown up in, the system and the cobweb he had obeyed, the rules he had defied. All of that was gone, from one day to the next. Now he was truly on his own. No one to support himself against, no clear way of getting food and shelter and no telling what was gonna happen tomorrow. But he was safe.

Right?

He sighed, shaking his head from his thoughts and started walking as well, the dark green cloak still fluttering around his feet, pulled over his ears, and yet his twin tails were wailing side by side on his behind.

He sighed deeply, a long thing that brought out all the desire that was settled in his mind.

He didn't like just looking at it, didn't want to merely stay here. He wanted to be out there, explore, find new things, meet new people. Look around the city, explore the walls, go beyond the walls, go into the forest which he could see from his window. He wanted to be there, and yet – he was stuck here for a reason he couldn't understand. In all honesty there was nothing that made sense anymore, letting a hand run through his face, his thoughts yet again scrambling together.

Leaning on the windowsill of the small room he had been assigned to hide in, he could do nothing but just stare out of the glass pane and admire the sight. The west side of the castle was showing him the city instead of the courtyard, a decision made consciously. Here, he could see the houses, the whitewashed bricks, red roof tiling, the old gables and framework that almost glowed in the afternoon sun, the west side of the sky occupied by the shining star. The road was filled with mobians, walking in different clothing, stopping at various carts, and grouped together with other mobians, doing their daily things, living their life.

Soldiers walked to and from, keeping them safe, the bridge that crossed over the river that flowed through the middle of town creating a barrier between the two worlds that existed. The other side of the bridge had houses that was dilapidated, run down – windows were missing, the painting peeling off and some of the structures were looking like a good candidate for falling over every minute that passed. It was like a portal, another dimension, the fact that these two parts of town existed within the same walls was incomprehensible. That the other side of the bridge couldn't live like the lives he saw right underneath his elbows he had no idea.

Blaze had tried to explain to him that it wouldn't work in giving them money, or houses or something, since their 'mindset' was different as she put it. But still – there must be something that they could do. He had no idea how they lived, but a part of him was pretty sure that the poor side of down lived worse than the rich part. Why it was split up like this he had no idea. Why society had been forced to make this diversion and create two different lifestyles, the one easier to obtain than the other, he had no idea. Why they couldn't just all live with the same quality of life, the same amount of money and the same amount of happiness he had no idea. All he knew was that he wanted to be out there and explore it for himself, ask around, find his answers, and figure out what kind of world he was in.

He shook his head, standing up right again after leaning down on the windowsill, looking around the room like he had done so many times now. Blaze had told him that he needed to stay here because the world wouldn't accept him, and they weren't ready to meet someone like him. He could partly understand from his look alone. After days and weeks of looking out this window, he had been observing the mobians, looking at them and tried to find answers for himself. None of the looked like him, none of them came close to what he looked like. No one had spikes in the back of their heads and none of them was greyish colored like he was – they were white and grey sure, but they missed that shine that made out his name as well. But he knew that his appearance wasn't the main problem, at least Blaze told him that it wasn't because of that.

It was because he was special, he had a kind of power that she had explained nobody else but him had. He found this peculiar, because if he existed in this world then surely, there must be somebody else with his abilities and not just him. And at the same him, he wondered if he belonged here at all, seeing how much he stood out from the rest. He didn't know, and in actuality didn't know where he came from in the first place.

The only thing he remembered was waking up in a heap of trash, weird and strong smells of liquid as well as broken items. After that, he had walked around, confused, and bewildered, someone calling him out and then Blaze had encountered him, talked to him and now he was here. Everything else past waking up he had no memory of. It was like he had been born a fourteen-year-old, already knowing the proper ways of walking, running, talking and simple mannerism. All that was before his eyes opened to the sun was pure blackness. His mind was empty, which for him mint that it could be filled up with something. And the only desire he had to fill it up with was the exploration that he wanted to do. Especially now that something had happened.

He had no idea why it had happened, let alone who or what had made it happened, but he had felt a surge of something in his stomach all of a sudden. Some time ago now, his abdomen and his heart had felt warm, his fingers tingling and his spines flaring out in some sort of instinct. There had been nothing near him and yet he had felt some kind of energy, something that was somehow familiar to him and something that had made his body react to the sense. It had lasted for a couple of seconds, only to ebb out leaving behind his heart beating with adrenaline, and his eyes searching the room. He couldn't shake it off as a simple chill of cold wind or the thought of hearing someone coming near his room. It had been too real for him to shake it off as nothing since he hadn't felt that kind of energy before. The best word he had to describe it was that it had pulled at him, trying to either show him something or tell him something. In those few seconds that it lasted he had experienced something different, something that was calling for him. And now he had the desire to explore the world more than anything.

But alas, he kept to his promise – had told Blaze that he wouldn't go and would stay until she figured out what she could do with him. That promise had lasted for months now and he was getting fed up with staying in this one room and eating the meals that the princess brought him every day. The closest he had gotten with civilization was opening the window and hear the faint conversations and laughs of the servers running around for something he didn't understand. He didn't feel trapped per se, he just – felt like he was missing out. Because of something as trivial as him being different from anybody else.

With that, he found himself sighing again, looking at a vase that stood perfectly still on a dresser in the corner. He looked at it for a bit before he stretched his hand out towards it. His fingers stared glowing a turquoise color, as the vase got that same hue, and with a small movement of his hand the vase was lifted into the air, without him touching it. He could somewhat feel the ceramic, the light object in the air, feel its density and how fragile it was. He looked at it floating in the air before he put it back down, crossing his arms over his chest and emitted a deep sigh.

He couldn't stay here forever. He didn't want to stay here forever. It was like - he was needed somewhere else.

He could feel it.

Not a lot of time passed when they reached the river. Or he thought at least, he wasn't sure how much time had actually passed, since he hadn't been aware of it.

Ever since they had started walking, he had used his time to think – doing a completely clean-up of his mind, using his IQ points, using his common sense and rationality. He needed to have a plan, needed to figure out what to do from here, but that was much more difficult than first imagined. First of all, there was nothing here that he could relate himself to. Walking around the pine trees was fantastic and he had taken his time to properly observe them now that he was here, but they were nothing that he had ever experienced before. Those and the fresh green grass, moss, and general life that his sneakers were making indents in as he took his steps, walking on the occasional cluster of needles or crushed a pinecone or two. It was downright calming, something he hadn't allowed himself to be for a long time. But he knew that this wouldn't last.

Because second of all he had no idea what he was going to do once he reached Kroxburg. Espio had told him to get a job or something of the sorts, and stay away from the system, but the chameleon had failed to see the one fact that had made the fox bound into the spiderweb in Croford. There was no one who was going to give him a job, not even a simple thing like transportation or number work, because there was no one who wanted him. No one who wanted to accept him. He knew this, no matter which city. He knew that Espio had told him the opposite, but what did he know?! All Tails knew was that he had become a criminal for a reason, and he was pretty sure that his destiny was to stay that way. He had developed tactics, senses, and his special skill for a reason – all of that couldn't just suddenly vanish. It didn't make sense to the scientific mind.

And what about the others? Mighty and Ray, would they reach Kroxburg say their goodbye's and that was it? He really didn't think that there was no other option than that one, especially because he didn't feel like they owed each other anything and he had a suspicion that Mighty was still mildly mad at him. Something he didn't blame him for. He wasn't worried about the performers in actuality, he was more bewildered about Sonic. He was a Chaos Wielder.

Something he had been searching for and dreaming about for so long and now that it was walking right in front of him, he had no idea what to do. A part of him wanted to blurt out the questions Ray had done, ask about what he did, how, why and if he could do it again. He wanted to scan him, the emerald and whatever he did with his handheld device, something he had been working on for the sole purpose of the Chaos Emerald he had found. It was interesting, fascinating and he was curious. The fox wasn't curious about a lot of things since curiosity could be really dangerous, but this – this he thought was somewhat safe.

He didn't trust Sonic; he was too reckless and absentminded to understand and didn't seem like the type that quiet understood the situations he got himself into. He was somewhat sure that he wouldn't attack him, but he didn't succumb to the idea completely. Simply because the thought of Sonic not wanting him to do harm came from his actions and his facial expressions alone.

He had saved his life twice now – once by the ally, and now in the sewers. And he had grinned and smiled at him, a thing which he couldn't get out of his head. It was so warm, so welcoming and at the same time he felt almost protected in a way around him. But the rational part of him thought otherwise well-knowing if the hedgehog hadn't attacked his opponents in both situations he would have lost as well, and that facial expression he did could be from the simple reason that he was a kid. That he didn't think of him as something else was the question that nagged the young fox.

Though all this speculating, all of these thoughts seemed to crash against a wall the moment he saw the river emerge from a line of pine trees. The water had a pristine blue color, the current slow and interrupted with small white circles of fish taking in air. There was no bank, the river completely melting together with the side of the grass, separated by a line of dirt from erosion alone. It was inviting and seemed cool and a nice change of action.

He didn't seem to be the only one thinking it was inviting as Ray, who had been half-way walking and running in front, had laughed upon seeing the water, throwing his sneakers, socks and gloves to every which way and sprinted towards the water, only to jump into the air in a ball and uncurl to flail out his arms, the wind carrying him underneath his armpits. He glided over the water only to suddenly dump into the river, creating a loud splash while Mighty pulled off his own attire and stumble into the water, laughing at the sight of the squirrel as he emerged.

Tails couldn't help it, his mind wondered if soldiers had followed them, then he thought that was ridiculous and then found himself grinning at the friends swimming and diving in the water. The fox hadn't ever swum in his life, let alone actually having his entire body submerged under water, since the closest he had gotten to a full bath had been throwing water over himself from the occasional well. He didn't like smelling, and right now, if he sniffed his arm, his nose scrunched up from the smell of … muck.

He briefly looked at the hedgehog to see if he did the same performance, though instead sprinting at it, he settled for taking of his cloak and gloves, crouching down by the edge of the river and throwing water at his arms and face, rubbing his tan fur on his arms. Tails knew he couldn't settle for that, and a childish part of him smiled from seeing Ray kick water at the armadillo, making the former laugh and spray the kid with water as well.

With one swoop of his hand, the hood went off his head before he took off his cloak, somewhat glad he did since his tails were free to move around as they wanted. Taking off shoes, socks, and gloves as well as taking his electrical devices out of his tail, he placed them by his cloak and jogged down to the water. He looked at it for a moment, poking a careful toe at the liquid. It was cold, but a part of him really didn't think that it mattered, taking one step at a at time into the river.

The riverbed felt completely different from the previous dry grass and dirt, his feet hitting several pebbles as he walked through mud and dead organic material, taking careful steps. He shivered when his tails hit the water as well when the water went past his waist, the cold settling into his fur and a part of him wanted to go back. But he kept going, briefly considered how deep this water was, as it got higher. It was like nothing he had ever felt before, since the splashes of water didn't completely drench him, but here he felt like he was almost weightless, was pretty sure that he could be bouncing in slow motion if he tried jumping. It was fun.

He stopped once the water reached his chest, not wanting to test if he knew how to swim or not in this moment. Right now, he enjoyed the very feeling of the cool liquid going through his fur, his inner pelt getting completely drenched in a way that felt nice. The dirt and grime got washed out as he rubbed his arms, the cool liquid penetrating any dirt or smell, making him feel clean like never before. He swirled his ears around when Ray laughed again, turning his head to watch the two still playing tag or something, he wasn't quite sure, the armadillo submerged underneath the water, only to reappear and laugh.

Curiously, he felt the ground with his feet, looked at the water before he grinned to himself. Pinching his nose, he took in a big gulp of oxygen, held it, and removed his own feet underneath himself. Quickly, his head was thrusted underneath, his ears throbbing from the quick movement and yet he couldn't help but feel amazing. His eyes scanned the underwater world, could see the riverbed being deeper until it rose again on the other side, the bottom filled with stones and mud, some branches here and there as well. He could hear nothing and at the same time he could hear a lot of sounds. Incoherent, and almost like tiny explosions, the sound of the current passing his sensitive ears, the movement of oxygen itself sounding surreal to the fox. He was used to hearing shuffling, small-talk, and mumbling, not this pressure of a tranquil sub reality he had no knowledge of before now.

He emerged when his lungs began hurting, putting his feet on the bottom of the riverbed again as his head broke the surface of the water. Shaking his head on instinct and flicking his ears to get the water out of them, he rubbed his eyes as they stung slightly. He immediately felt the water drip off him, his fur on his face and collar clumping together almost unpleasantly as his hearing came back with a 'pop'. His felt his right eye suddenly heat up, realizing that the coolness of the river was enough to cool his bruise.

He quickly fished out the bottle he had in the tail that somehow remained, emptying out the water that he had in it before dipping it into the river and collected it. He was experienced enough to know that it was beyond drinkable, but it was cold enough to act as a temporary cooling unit for his eye. He rubbed at his face and head to get the worst water out of his pelt, could start to feel the shiver down his spine from the cold.

Deciding that he didn't need to get the flu, he turned around and stumbled back towards the edge of the ward. He saw Sonic further away from the river, had taken off his cloak and folded it together into a makeshift pillow, that supported his back against the pine tree he was laying against. Hands behind his head and legs crossed at the ankles, he looked just as relax as he ever had, though now Tails understood why.

He got up from the water, in fox instinct alone shook his body free of the water, the worst of it leaving his fur. Though his inner skin was still drenched, rolling down his fur, making him cold and his fur clumping together almost unpleasantly. He briefly considered returning to the water to negate it, but thought that it was a dead end, since he then needed to stay there forever and instead opted to walk further onto land before he sat down on a piece of dry grass in the middle of the sun.

Feeling both tails being heavy he picked up his right and twisted the fur around in his hands, making a whole heap of water leave his pelt, like a towel getting dried. With the same procedure to the left tail, he leaned back on his hands, looking at the river and the sun that was indicating it was around two or three in the afternoon. A small part of him yelled at him to pick up his stuff and get going, but another part of him thought - why rush?

He had no time to lose, no deadlines he needed to keep schedule off, no time he needed to pay attention to if he wanted to get back to his hideout safely. There was nothing he had to make, and therefore – in a very rare moment of tranquility and peace – he found himself relaxing. For the first time.

Letting his thoughts become thoughts for now and let out a sigh of relief. If this was what it was like to live outside of the system, he really didn't want to get to Kroxburg at all.

"Feeling better?" Not getting startled by the voice like he would have back in the city, Tails turned his head to his left, finding the hedgehog yet again grinning at him. The fox was unable to return it from the question alone, unaware that he tilted his head slightly at him.

"What do you mean?" Sonic shrugged casually, switching his ankles around as he looked back out at the water, the grin widening slightly.

"You were awfully tense in the city and even more in the sewers. This is the first time where you actually seem somewhat relaxed," He explained, clicking with his tongue before he looked back and smirked at the pick pocketer. "You're not the only one who can read body languages," He winked.

Tails smirked back without knowing, looking briefly at the water, his ears still turned towards Sonic.

"I highly doubt you can tell if I lie or not or when I have something to hide," He found himself saying, rubbed his arm in one quick swipe in an attempt to remove the water at his inner pelt. He turned his head when the hedgehog suddenly snorted, fully turning his head towards him.

"Do I have any secrets?" The quirk of his eyebrow was filled with nothing but amusement, not testing him like in a duel but for fun. But Tails was quick to shake his head at him, wiggling his toes in the warm sun.

"It doesn't work like that. I'm not a mind-reader, I can't read your thoughts. But I can read your face – you have to think about your secret, your action or whatever you did that you want to hide from everybody else. Because you can't control the pulls that your face makes. The thoughts kinda – merge together with your face. You can't avoid it since you aren't actively thinking about it," He tried to explain without knowing why, felt as relaxed as he could be and could tolerate the hedgehog in this moment as well.

"That is seriously cool," Sonic praised, admiration clear in his eyes as well as the smirk that transformed into a grin. He was impressed, something that made the fox feel a little bit of warmth inside his stomach, despite his cold body.

"Not as cool as being a Chaos Wielder," He somewhat mumbled, as he found the bottle from his tail again as his eye began to throb, putting the plastic against his eye socket. Sonic had heard him, nonetheless, laughed shortly before shaking his head.

"You guys keep calming me this Chaos Wielder just because I could control the wind while using the Chaos Emerald," Tails head whipped towards him, curiosity highly peeking.

"Say that again," –

"What?" –

"The wind part," Despite the confusion clear in the hedgehog's features, he blinked and obliged to the request.

"That I can control the wind with the Chaos Emerald?" He said, though formed in a question. Tails blinked at him, before putting a hand to his chin, humming a bit to himself without knowing.

"Control the wind. So, you didn't create it? You manipulated it?" He asked, looking back at him. The blue one blinked back at him, looked at the river thoughtfully before shrugging his shoulders.

"I think. It was like – I could feel the wind more clearly, with the power. I knew it was there and that I could – grab it," Even though he was explaining it, you could hear alone the clear confusion of his own words, biting his lip and kept thinking about what he had done to save all of them. Somewhat satisfied with the answer Tails looked back out at the river, theories and considerations about the mystical powers filling up his mechanical thinking mind.

The more he thought about it the more sense it made, since the book had specifically said 'bend nature' and not create it. Wind couldn't just emerge from somebodies' body or hands or something of the sorts that didn't sound right. But getting to control it was something else, using the Chaos Emerald's energy, to manipulate the energy, in the air and the atoms that the wind consisted off to make it obey to the wielder. It was fascinating!

How that power from a simple jewel could make the laws of nature itself obey to the mind of an energy manipulator, the process being nothing but math and physics. He had a couple of theories in mind he wanted to test, could feel the excitement slowly erupt in his abdomen.

"Your tail was glowing you know that?" –

"Huh?" Tails sputtered out before he had time to stop himself, looking back at the hedgehog with a perplexed façade. Sonic grinned from the expression, nodding towards his left tails, resting against the yellow left leg.

"When I used the emerald, I saw your tail glow in a blue color. I think it was the emerald," The fox had pulled out the emerald in question mind-sentence the jewel resting in his yellow hand, fingers clasping around the sharp edges. He could still feel the energy, the way that it tingled in his hand, begging to be released, wanting to be used.

He frowned at it for a couple of seconds but had no idea what he should do. Instead, he looked up at Sonic.

"Do you think – this does something different?" The hedgehog was staring at the light blue Chaos Emerald in Tails' hand, his green eyes shining with something that the fox couldn't quiet read. It wasn't an emotion.

"Dunno," He shrugged. "But I can try," Sonic explained, then reached out his hand for the jewel.

Tails bit his lip, looked down at the gem, briefly wondering if he was going to get it back. He didn't want to lose it, since he wanted to scan it now that another one of these had been 'activated', and the hedgehog could easily keep it for himself. Instead of asking, he thought that he could just tackle him to get it back and therefore threw the emerald to the hedgehog.

He caught it easily in the air, sat crossed legged on the grass instead, and looked at the emerald in his hand. Tails watched him curiously, tail tips whipping in anticipation, as Sonic merely looked at it. But the pick pocketer could feel it – could feel the energy that was radiating out of both of them, could feel his fur puffing up a bit without his consent.

The hedgehog then frowned at the jewel, like he got mad at it, but suddenly it started glowing. Not as bright a light like the white one had done down in the sewers, this was much more dimmed, much more controlled. Tails' eyes widened in fascination, as Sonic looked at his other hand for some reason, then out at the river.

"I think I can-" He trailed off, the fox not sure if he was talking to him or not as his eyes were fastened onto the river. His quills rose in the back of his head, and his hand seemed to be shaking when he lifted the one that didn't hold the jewel, jerking it upwards.

Tails head whipped around when a sudden 'splash' occurred from the river, his eyes not registering what had happened. Then it happened again, and to his amazement saw a sphere of water held in the air, about eleven feet tall, the current of it still flowing in the line, like a miniature waterfall. The fox felt a gasp escape his throat and would under any other circumstance had convinced himself that he was dreaming.

He pinched his arm just in case, but he didn't wake up.

Sonic suddenly laughed beside him, couldn't take his eyes off the seemingly alive water as it suddenly fell backwards, like a tree falling from getting chopped and keeled over, making a wave of cool liquid hit the stunned squirrel and armadillo, staring just as much as Tails had. The splash that occurred from the mass of water falling, upset the river, water going over the edges and splashes of water going every which way. Tails held up his arm when it hit him, ears drawn back but looked back at the river. A couple of seconds passed, and it was calm again, a black and yellow head suddenly emerging from the water, the younger sputtering and coughing from swallowing some, while the armadillo whipped his head around.

"What the hell just happened?!" He yelled across the river, began swimming towards the edge. Tails looked back at Sonic, his entire face filled with surprise, mouth standing agape as the emerald had stopped glowing, his quills relaxing.

"I – dude, that looked cool!" He exclaimed, throwing his arms out like a child excited on their birthday as Mighty climbed out of the water, Ray following behind his steps.

"Did you just control the river?!" The squirrel asked amazed more than anything, shaking his body to get any kind of excess water out, still staring at the hedgehog wide-eyed.

"Not the entire river but part of it, man this is! This is awesome!" Tails couldn't help but sigh, not knowing if it were filled with annoyance or jealousy as he got on his feet to collect his things. His fur was still damp and his inner pelt not at all dry, but he didn't want to sit around anymore and pulled on his gloves, socks, and shoes.

"Was it the same emerald?" Mighty asked while Tails pulled on his cloak again, without having his hood over his head, walking over to the small group that had conjugated around Sonic, still clutching the cool bottle at his eye. He saw the hedgehog shake his head, looking briefly at the emerald before his green eyes turned to the approaching fox.

"No, this one Tails had, " He explained, said pick pocketer stopping in front of him, while he got a stare from the other two. He chose to ignore it, instead his mind was fixating on what had happened beforehand instead.

"Did you feel the wind at all?" –

"No! I – I felt the water! It was like, I knew the current was there, I could grasp it and control it, I could feel it!" Sonic sounded bewildered more than impressed at this point, not following along the logic in it.

Neither did Tails, but that was his goal.

"They have different colors," He muttered to himself, though the others heard him. "That one is light blue, the other is white," Sonic blinked at him, looked at the jewel resting in his hand before he reached it out to the fox.

"Think the color has something to do with the element?" Tails looked at the emerald for a couple of seconds, surprised that he was getting it back, but happily obliged, hiding it back in his tail.

"I'm not sure. But you said you could feel the water rather than the wind," He speculated. "Maybe the energy output has a certain element that makes the atoms in the either the wind or the water reacts specifically to that kind of field. After all the atoms react differently in different mass," Tails explained, as if he was talking about the weather.

Sonic looked at him, and you didn't have to be an expert body reader to interpret the confusion plastered onto his face or on Ray's for that matter. Mighty on the other hand was scratching his chin thoughtfully, though it looked like he hadn't heard the fox talk at all.

"If your chief Tikal had predicted that you were a Chaos Wielder then she was spot on. What she wants you to do with them is the question," Apparently Sonic had told them about everything while they had been walking, Tails unaware since he had been inside his own head. The hedgehog shook his head as he got up on his feet, stretching his arms into the sun.

"She didn't – she only said that I should collect them. But yeah, I don't know why," Tails quirked a brow at him, only really listening now as Sonic bended down to pick up his cloak, the same time the armadillo told Ray to find his garments and put them back on.

"You don't know why you need to search for them and yet you do it anyway?" Sonic turned around towards Tails at the question, while pulling the black cloak over his shoulders, shrugging.

"Yeah. She's our chief and it sounded like fun," –

"Then what? When you get them all then what are you gonna do?" Instead of either giving him an explanation or a look of 'I don't know' the hedgehog merely grinned at him, turning his head towards the other two.

"I don't know. Might go back, might visit some other cities who knows. I don't need to know what happens tomorrow, as long as I have my feet then everything can't be too bad," He simply said, a simple sentence that Tails didn't understand in the moment.

You can't be so nonchalant about it – you have to think about tomorrow, think about where your food comes from, whether or not you can travel out or if you can come home safely. Just letting the plans become the plans as time went was idiotic. And yet, he didn't know what he was going on about since he didn't need to worry about that anymore.

He let out a frustrated sigh and started rubbing his left temple, his thoughts seemingly becoming more and more sporadic by the minute.

"You alright?" He looked up to see Sonic looking at him, specifically at the bottle held up to his swollen eye.

"I'm fine," He said, with less heat than expected, looked past the hedgehog's shoulder as the armadillo was looking at him with hands on his hip, waiting impatiently from the expression on his face. For a moment it looked like Sonic didn't believe him, though Tails didn't have time to call him out on it as he instead turned around towards the other two.

"Ready to go?" He asked in a more chipper tone, thoughts from beforehand seemingly gone from his mind. An answer of a simple 'yes' came from the older thimble rigger, and an excited 'absolutely' from the younger thimble rigger made the hedgehog begin walking again, the black cloak shifting around his feet.

Tails walked behind him again, could feel his namesakes wailing freely without cramping up, sending a curious gaze towards the water.

Bending nature. That was fascinating.

Something he would like to investigate, research and scan with his device. But among these thoughts, the common sense once again won the fight, thinking that they weren't going to reach the city before tomorrow.

But when he gets there – then what?

Author's note: And thus, ends the prewritten chapters - this has no meaning to the story whatsoever other than the fact that uploads will be slower at this point. I want to make every chapter live up to my own standards and make sure that they fit in with every plan I have and that it somewhat follows the plot.

With that being said, to the current viewers and intrigued readers, you will most likely have to wait longer now for an update. For the future, when this story finishes, you can ignore this because the next chapters are already written XD

With that being said: Thank you for the current likes, followers, reviews and views! And I hope the story is as fun to read as it is as fun to write! :D