Chapter 10: Uncle Knuckles
"So let me get this straight," Knuckles began, crossing his arms as the five fox cubs played together on the dirt path beside Sonic and Tails, who sat together on a large boulder, watching their babies from above, "you found these kids in a dumpster…and you brought them home?"
"Yep!" Tails replied with a smile, his namesakes fluttering from behind.
"You do know that's illegal, right?" Knuckles watched as Tails extended his leg, blocking a fast running Blitz from colliding with Clover admiring a small flower.
"Illegal?" Tails grabbed the energetic cub and cradled him against his chest. "What do you mean?"
"You basically kidnapped them, right?" The red echidna tapped his foot in impatience.
"What!?" Tails audibly gasped. "Why would you even imply something so terrible?"
"It's the truth, isn't it?" Knuckles scoffed. "Sure, you found the babies in a dumpster, but you didn't even bother to take them to the police. You just brought them home. Definitely sounds like kidnapping to me."
"It is not!" Tails shouted, raising his voice as he stood up in anger. Blitz started to cry in his arms. "I saved them from having to live in an orphanage! Do you know what it's like not to have any parents?"
"Don't talk to me about not having parents!" Knuckles shouted, flames growing in his eyes as the four cubs stopped playing and watched from below. "Sure, my life may not have been as difficult as yours, but I never had parents either."
"Oh…" The orange kitsune's eyes began to glisten. "I'm…sorry, Knuckles."
"No…it's fine." The red echidna turned away. An awkward silence ensued.
"Cheer up, Tails!" Sonic patted his younger brother on the shoulder. "I'm sure Knuckles wasn't offended." The blue hedgehog bolted up and zipped a few steps to face Knuckles. "And I don't think what we did was kidnapping. After all…" Sonic looked back at the orange kitsune with a warm smile on his face. "…that's kinda how I met Tails. He may've followed me, but I still took him in as my lil' bro." The blue hedgehog turned to the red echidna once more. "So…do you think I kidnapped Tails way back then? Should I have just left him at a foster home and called it a day?"
"Well…" Knuckles stammered, stepping back and clearing his throat. "I…guess I see your point."
"Then there ya go!" Sonic patted the red echidna against his shoulder with enough force to cause him to lose his balance. "So if I didn't kidnap Tails, then we didn't kidnap these cubs." The blue hedgehog wore an ironclad smirk, one emulated by the orange kitsune who smiled back at him, rocking Blitz in his arms. The cub was no longer crying.
"Hey Sonic," Tails interjected, "don't you think it's getting kind of late?"
"Yeah, I suppose it is…" Sonic peered up at the sky, watching the sun slowly setting below the horizon across the ocean.
"Should we get the kiddos home?" Tails handed Blitz to Sonic before picking up Amanda and Leo, cradling them in either arm.
The blue hedgehog plopped the cub on his head, who grabbed hold of his ears for balance. "Well…we've been meaning to go on a lil' family vay-cay, right?" The blue hedgehog lifted Clover and Screwy from the ground. "And we're already on Angel Island…so why don't we camp out?"
"Now that you mention it…" Tails stood alongside his older brother while admiring the sunset. "The weather conditions are pretty nice." The orange kitsune peered down at the cubs in his arms. "What do you think? Wanna camp out for the night?"
"That sounds fun!" Amanda replied in unintelligible baby speak, but her answer was clear from her enthusiastic nod of approval and accompanying bright smile. Leo, meanwhile, crossed his arms and looked away with a humph.
"How about you three?" Sonic asked the remaining cubs.
"A night outdoors sounds lovely," Clover replied with a smol yet adorable smile.
"This is gonna be fun!" Screwy added with a giggle while twirling a screwdriver between her fingers.
"I can hardly wait!" Blitz declared from above, laying across Sonic's head, looking at his papa upside down. His head was shaking in excitement.
"If you're serious," Knuckles stepped between the two brothers, "follow me. Maybe I can teach the cubs a thing or two about roughing it like a proper outdoorsperson."
The kits cheered as Sonic and Tails followed him down the path leading to his clearing.
"All right, kids," Knuckles began, pacing in front of the bonfire pit near his cabin, the edge of the floating island steps away. He adjusted his reading glasses, worn purely for effect. "Today, Uncle Knuckles will be teaching you how to start a bonfire. This is an important life skill that will serve you well if you're ever lost in the wilderness, as the flames can keep predators away and provide warmth in the cold."
"Hehe, he's kinda funny," Screwy said to her left, nudging Amanda.
"I think it's cute," she replied with a smile. Screwdriver was about to ask her other siblings for their thoughts, but Blitz was daydreaming, his eyes glazed over in boredom, Clover was backed far away from the pit, afraid of the impending fire, and Leo was sitting up front, his hands holding his head up as he watched his teacher pace around, eager to learn how to conquer the art of the flame.
"The first thing you need to learn about fire," Knuckles continued, planting his feet on the ground and pushing his glasses up his snout, "is that it is not a toy; it's a tool, a lifesaving tool that shouldn't be taken lightly. Be sure others are far enough away so they don't get burned, and always put out your fires when you're done."
As Knuckles was giving his lecture, Sonic and Tails were watching from several feet behind the cubs. The blue hedgehog, leaning back against the arms propping him up, turned to the orange kitsune who was vigorously writing in a notepad while staring intently at Professor Echidna.
"Whatcha doin', bro?"
"Taking notes just in case we're quizzed on this later." Tails stuck his tongue out the side of his mouth as he crossed out a spelling error and awkwardly wrote around it before flipping his notepad to its next page.
"You do know this isn't actually a class, right?" Sonic asked with one brow raised higher than the other. "We're not gonna be tested on this stuff." Tails stopped and raised the eraser end of his pencil to his chin in thought. He shrugged before returning to his pad, force of habit outweighing the actual need to take notes.
"Always a workaholic," Sonic replied with a smile, scooting himself in closer to his younger brother. The blue hedgehog wrapped his arm around Tails' back as the orange kitsune wrapped a namesake around his older brother while staring at the red echidna intently, writing his words down verbatim as the two kept each other warm.
"First things first." Knuckles continued, getting down on his knees and holding a rock in one hand and a small piece of steel in the other. "You will need some flint and steel to start a fire. You can find flint in the forest, but I always recommend keeping some flint and steel on-hand at all times." The red echidna tightened his grip, flint in one hand and steel in the other. "Next, just bang them together with enough force to make sparks." Demonstrating for the class, sparks flew off and landed in the pit. "Just do that a few times, and you'll have a fire in no time!"
Knuckles repeated this movement, sparks falling from the rock and landing in the pit, the twigs surrounding the logs failing to ignite.
"C'mon fire, work with me here!" Knuckles banged them harder between his palms. With a few more angry attempts, he inadvertently hit the palm of his hand with the steel. "Owwww!" He dropped the items and tended to his hand, removing his glove and blowing on the small bruise.
The five fox cubs laughed in amusement.
"You think this is funny?" Knuckles asked in annoyance, furrowing his brow.
"Yep!" they replied in baby speak, nodding their heads simultaneously as they giggled together. The red echidna did his best to suppress his anger, a vein forming on his forehead as his arms started to shake.
Calm down, Knuckles, they're just kids…
Yeah, I suppose you're right.
Thanks…umm…me?
With a deep breath, the red echidna returned his focus to the firepit, striking the flint and steel a few more times. While he was able to produce sparks, he simply couldn't get them to ignite into flames.
"Hey Knuckles," Tails stepped over to the red echidna and pulled a lighter from his namesakes, "wanna borrow this?"
"No way." Knuckles replied, swatting his hand away. "What would happen if your kids were stranded in the middle of nowhere with no food, water, or lighter? They need to be taught how to properly build a fire, hunt, fish, fend off predators, dress meat…"
"I think we'll just stick to the fire lesson today," Tails replied, nervously stepping back with his arms outstretched, a drop of sweat rolling down his face.
"Suit yourself." Knuckles shrugged. After a few more strikes, the red echidna jumped for joy as his final sparks ignited the twigs. He leaned over, carefully blowing against the small flame to help it grow, soon engulfing the nearby twigs before eventually igniting the logs, providing an ample campfire for the party to enjoy.
"Ah yeah! I still got it!" he cheered, pumping a fist into the air in accomplishment. The five cubs were confused, scooting backward to seek the protection of their fathers.
"Looks like he's scaring them," Tails whispered into Sonic's ear.
"What'd you expect?" Sonic replied with a whisper of his own. The two chuckled under their breath.
"Is someone laughing during class?" Knuckles asked with a stern look, eyeing the students before him.
"No!" The seven replied simultaneously.
"I know you're lying," Knuckles replied, folding his arms as the fire grew, smoke billowing from its top, "If I'm not allowed to chuckle, you guys aren't either." The party remained silent, eyeing the red echidna carefully. "Okay, fine…" Knuckles sighed. "If you tell me who laughed, I'll bring out the smore ingredients."
"Smores!?" The fox cubs asked in excitement. They instantly turned around and pointed to their daddy and papa.
"You traitors!" Sonic and Tails exclaimed. The cubs laughed in response, forcing the brotherly duo to shatter their angry façade. The happy family chuckled merrily; even Leo couldn't help but smirk.
"Sounds like you guys are having fun." The red echidna gave off some chuckles of his own, breaking his self-imposed rule. "I'll go grab the sm—" He was interrupted by the blue blur leaving the campfire and returning seconds later with smore pokers, graham crackers, marshmallows, and chocolate bars in hand.
"About 152 steps ahead of ya, Knucklehead." Sonic set the pokers down and handed the remaining stack of supplies to Knuckles before clapping his hands in satisfaction and sitting next to his younger brother once more.
The red echidna cleared his throat as he collected himself. "Well, how about it, kids?" Blitz, Screwy, Amanda, and Clover were enamored, salivating at the thought of trying what sounded like a delectable treat, their minds unable to comprehend the sheer deliciousness of the traditional campfire delicacy. Leo, meanwhile, remained transfixed on the flames, his hands slowly approaching the fire.
"Hey Leo," Tails pulled the cub away, "fire's dangerous, remember?"
"I'll show you who's dangerous…" Leo muttered in baby speak, putting on a pouty face as the orange kitsune picked him up and cradled him in his arms.
"You wanna join your siblings by the fire?" Tails asked in pretend baby speak. "You wanna learn how to make smores?"
"Nnnnnoo." Leo shook his head, folding his arms as he turned his face away with a humph.
"Don't be so grumpy, lil' man," Sonic said from the side. With a chuckle, he poked the edgy fox's chubby, furry belly with his finger, forcing him to crack a smile. "Ohhh, ticklish, are we?"
"You wouldn't dare…" Leo gave Sonic a wicked stare, one that didn't stop him from a multi-pronged tickling onslaught.
"Okayokayokayokay!" Leo swatted Sonic's fingers away. "I'll do it! Just promise never to do that again!" Tails set the baby down, who crawled over to his siblings who were sitting up, attentively observing their instructor.
"Alrighty then," Knuckles picked up a skewer from the grass. "It's smore time!"