Warning: Nothing too major, but a few pieces of glass gets removed from a hand. Nothing gory or described too detailed but faint of heart should beware
Author's note: EDIT 11/23-2020: I swear I proofread these before I upload them. But apparently I still miss major stuff and therefore have gone back and made things more clear. Nothing changes storywise, but I'm just going to leave this piece of dialogue here to remind myself to reread it just one more time, before uploading :D
"Amy taught me to how be nice to other people,"
- Enjoy :3
The unexpected is not always bad
He bit his cheek in thought, frowning at the wooden ceiling and briefly wondered when it was going to fall down on them. The wood was old and looked damp, and he was pretty sure that mold had settled in the corners somewhere – he was rather glad that they were only going to stay one night.
He let go of his cheek with his teeth and instead sighed, propping one foot up on the mattress, socked feet released from the prison of his shoes, said sneakers shoved off by the nightstand. His hands were laced behind his head, the blanket being under his back rather than over since he hadn't been tired enough to sleep.
He turned his head to the right, faintly grinning at the squirrel who had crashed immediately, eyes closed and curled together, completely entangled in the green comforter, with his own blue sneakers kicked off at the base of the bed on the floor. Quiet snoring was coming through his nostrils, his tail hanging on the side of his bed, sometimes twitching from dreams.
The armadillo didn't feel as tired – or, he might be he wasn't sure, since his thoughts had been occupying his head for the most of the evening, the night sky now visible out the small window in their tiny room, starts twinkling with only a few clouds obscuring the sight.
The room wasn't that impressive and was a good representation for how much they had paid for it anyway. Two simple beds, nothing spectacular, and the mattress was a bit hard, a tiny passage between the beds pressed up against the wall, and then a very small space between the ends of the beds and the door to the hallway. He could hear the life of the tavern under the floorboards, mobians laughing and talking, sometimes shouting for more beverages, the female or the male most likely happily giving them one drink after the next in exchange for money. Noisy but efficient business, he thought.
He realized that he was biting his cheek again, let out a small breath and craned his neck to look out the window again. He wondered how they were doing. He wasn't worried about them per se, he was just – thinking about them.
If it had gone as smoothly as they had hoped for or if something had happened. He had battled back and forth whether he should do something or not, in the sense that he had both wanted to think that they would be all right and go to sleep, another part wanted to search out Amy and figure out if they made it and a whole third and most likely crazy part of him wanted to go search for the warehouse himself.
Though the latter thought he quickly cast aside, thinking that he had no idea where they were, let alone how he should find it. His fingers were fidgeting with the thought, but still he didn't know if he should do anything at all. The rational part of him was winning at this point, thinking that there was nothing they could do since, he somewhat knew that they would be fine, especially Sonic.
He hummed thoughtfully from the thought of the hedgehog, his propped-up foot rocking his knee slowly from side to side. He had heard about the Chaos Emeralds before, magical gems which possessed the powers of bending nature if the wielder had the touch to do so. It was an urban legend where he came from, a laughable matter and a mere myth that had been passed down from mouth to mouth for entertainment to the younger kids, a mere bedtime story. And yet again, there had been a young part of him which had wondered whether it was true or not, since he had an open mind about what this world entailed.
And now, the myth, the legend, had shown to be true. He hadn't been able to really see what happened down in the sewers, had somewhat agreed with himself that Sonic had been able to tackle one of them and the wind being a mere illusion or something. He hadn't known what to believe, let alone now knowing if he should have believed anything. He had been skeptical when the hedgehog had told him about his chief Tikal and his pursuit of the gems, thinking that it was just an old lady whose memory was about to fade.
But, when he had been playing around with Ray in the river and the pillar of water had stood erect only to fall over and hit them, he had been convinced. Sonic was a Chaos Wielder. Now only one question was left behind for the adolescent armadillo: What did that mean? He had hardly believed in them, had never met anyone up until now. He didn't even know if it meant anything, if it were pure coincidence and just one of the many roads' life could give him, making him stumble upon the hedgehog.
But there was a part of him, something inside of him, which knew that this wasn't just random.
It meant something.
Both because he had seen Sonic do it and because he could feel it himself. The two times the hedgehog had used the gems he had felt – something. He didn't know how to describe it, either a surge of energy or something tingling at his fingers. Maybe warmth was the answer he didn't know. All he knew was that he had felt something, and Ray had told him that he had felt the same when they had gone scavenging yesterday's night. What it meant for them he didn't know, let alone what it meant for Sonic.
If he was a Chaos Wielder, then he was destined for something right? If anyone really had a destiny, a purpose to do something. He shrugged his shoulders in thought, not knowing if there was a purpose like that. His purpose and his roads on his life were incoherent and flexible. He had done a lot of things in his life, ventured out to Chaos knows where, went almost all over the world, only to stumble upon one of his most sacred experiences.
A smile came to his lips from the memory, looking over at the squirrel who was still sleeping. He wouldn't forget the day where he met him, all the way up in the cold north, winter being a constant weather phenomenon and the squirrel's way of living life.
He had stumbled upon a small tree house community, wooden houses insulated with wool, connected with rope bridges, flying squirrels of different colors and sizes gliding around tall maple trees, the long branches had almost concealed the houses. He had been welcomed into a warm house by a red male flying squirrel, saying that it would soon become dark and they had some soup over the stove they would like to share with him. And in that house he had met Ray, the small yellow squirrel, four years old at the time with sneakers too big for his feet, almost tackling him into submission, being the most inviting and kind mobian he had ever met.
During dinner, Mighty had happily talked about his travels, the yellow squirrel listening with awe and asking about a lot of details which he more than happily answered to. Afterwards, when Ray had been send to bed, the two flying squirrels that were there had explained that Ray's parents had died two years prior, and had been living among various families in the small community, travelling back and forth between whoever had enough food to share.
Despite not being able to remember his folks, he was the most positive bundle of joy the community had known, kids of all ages playing with him, being the most daredevil of the bunch, falling from great heights to see if he could catch himself with his tail. But the adults had explained that he was curious, that they had caught him in the morning standing and looking out the window, wondering and thinking about what else there was but this community. And that was the moment where Mighty knew.
A moment where he had shrugged and thought 'that could be fun' and the next day asked if Ray wanted to accompany him. The answer had been a choking hug followed by an incredulous sounding 'yes!', and then that settled it. Afterwards they had received some supplies and food, the kids had tearfully said goodbye to the yellow squirrel who had waved at them and promised that he would come back to visit. The armadillo wondered if they should make that visit soon.
He grinned at the thought of the amount of trouble him and Ray had gotten into, the hyperactive squirrel pulling himself into incredible dangerous situations and somehow coming out with only a splinter in his finger. He was amazing, and his dearest friend. Mighty found himself smiling, looking at the squirrel again, thinking that five years was after all a long time. Ten years old was still young, which meant Ray still had a whole lifetime ahead of him.
The smile slowly fainted with his next thought, shaking his head, thinking about the fox that was following Sonic around. He was eight. At best, he had guessed thirteen, since he had directly refused that his young look was as young looking as he had thought. He was too mature for his age, which in actuality only told him how much he had to sacrifice in order to be alive to this day. It wouldn't surprise him if he had lived on the street his entire life – how he had survived it he had no idea.
Him and Ray hardly managed a week, and he had done it in eight years. He wondered where his folks were. If the criminal life got them, but not him. He didn't like the thought, and a part of him hoped that the fox would stay away from the streets here, and instead either find a job or continue following around the hedgehog. No matter what, no kid deserved to be living on the street, though a darker part of the armadillo thought that Tails wasn't most likely the only kid surviving on the streets of Croford, maybe also in Kroxburg.
"Mighty?" He blinked out of his thoughts, looking back at the squirrel, cobwebs hanging around his eyes, as a pair if tired flints for eyes looked at him.
"Do you think they're okay?" The armadillo smiled warmly, yawned, and fished his blanket out from underneath himself.
"Yeah, I think they're going to be just fine," He said, putting the blanket over himself, scrunching up his nose from the smell of mold. He grinned at the smile Ray gave him back, yawned and snuggled back into his pillow, closing his eyes.
"We're gonna say goodbye to them before we leave right?" He asked, almost drifting back into sleep, but stubbornly stayed awake until he got an answer.
"Of course, we are," Mighty said, laying his head on the pillow. "I was thinking about travelling east tomorrow. Is that alright?" He asked, looking back at the yellow squirrel.
Though, he had already drifted back to sleep, deep breaths leaving his nose. The armadillo snickered to himself, before closing his own eyes, having quieted his own mind.
They were fine. He was sure of it.
The reality of the situation was slowly getting to him.
They. Had attacked. A group. Of kidnappers.
Attacked them – they had directly infiltrated their ground, beaten eleven of them and walked away like it was nothing. This was bad. If he wanted to live on the street here, he needed to stay far away from the warehouses, learn their pattern and make himself as anonymous as he could. And even that was almost not possible since one of the wolves had clearly given him a characteristic which he couldn't run away from.
What if he stayed with Amy? Try out the job life, asking her if she could find anything for him, maybe ask if he could rent a room in her house. She would be grateful that they had saved Cream, maybe he could teach her something – math, reading, writing – maybe he could stay with them until he found his own place. Was that worth it? But wouldn't he bring them into danger?
He sighed out his frustration, shaking his head, in all honesty not knowing what to do at this point. Everything had gotten worse according to himself. He had done something which could actually make it more dangerous for him to stay here than in Croford. He had completely disappeared from that city for two days, if he waited around two weeks or something then maybe people would think he was dead or something and he could start anew?
He didn't know, instead he continued in Sonic's steps, the girl throwing worried glances towards him, as they rounded another corner, getting closer to Amy's. His hand had started hurting the more they walked, the adrenaline now gone, and his heart and breathing had calmed down by now.
He was somewhat glad to be back in the darkness, cutting around the corners of the alley, since they wanted to make sure they weren't being followed. His ears were at work as always, twisting and turning around at every little sound, the night being not as quiet as he was used to. Taverns and inns were still open, people laughing and talking, shouting for the most part despite it being early in the night. For now, nobody had followed them.
It wasn't long until he recognized the broad road that Amy had led them to when she had led them to her house, heard as Cream quickened her steps. Sonic glanced over his shoulder at the fox, the purple splotch more visible in the oil lights from the street, some underpaid mobians walking around during the evening and lit them and during the morning turned them off. Tails didn't look back at him, merely looked out for the house they had been invited into earlier that day, getting potential eyes off them. He easily saw the home in the distance, one of the only ones lit, the female hedgehog most likely waiting for their arrival.
Cream squealed suddenly, letting go of Sonic's hand and ran towards the house, flinging the door open and sprinted inside. The pick pocketer heard the blue one chuckle lightly, taking their last steps towards the door as well. Tails closed it behind him as they made it inside, easily saw the siblings in the kitchen. Amy was crouched at the floor, Cream all but hidden in her chest, arms flung around each other, hugging each other to oblivion.
A part of the fox's heart warmed up, a faint smile coming to his lips.
"Oh, I'm so glad that you're okay!" The female hedgehog had tears in her eyes, hugging the rabbit tighter who's breath was shaking.
"I'm sorry that I worried you," She said thickly, at the same time that Amy pulled back and put her hands on the rabbit's shoulders, eyes watery but pure surprise radiating through them.
"Don't apologize for something as ridiculous as that! I'm supposed to be sorry! It was because of me that they came for you! I'm so, so sorry Cream!" She engulfed the rabbit into another hug, Sonic having the courtesy of pulling out a chair by the dining table and sat down, rubbing his face with his hand.
"It won't happen again," She whispered afterwards, loud enough for the others to hear. Cream nodded against her shoulder, snuggling her face into her fur.
Tails stood back and watched for a bit, looking at his hand in curiosity, the wound starting to burn. As if Cream had read his mind, she suddenly gasping, making both blue hedgehog and fox look back at them, the rabbit having pulled back.
"You have to help Tails! He cut his hand!" He didn't know what he got stunned by – either it was because she remembered his name, wanted for him to get help that badly or her running over and taking his other hand, dragging him over to Amy.
The female hedgehog was partly stunned at the same time, when Cream made him stand in front of her, green eyes meeting blue, before they averted back to the makeshift bandage. Being the child that she was, Cream didn't give it a thought that they were still mere strangers to each other – if they were anything then it could be acquaintances.
Amy lifted her hand, but stopped her movement, bit her lip, and looked back at him.
"May I?" She asked politely, her eyes quickly going back to the makeshift red bandage. Tails was partly surprised by her actually wanting to help him, taking an extra second to look at her face, though all that was there was still the lingering relief, surprise and amicability. He swallowed something before nodding.
She was quicker than expected to carefully take his hand and untie the knot he had made with his glove, her eyes widening when the cut was visible.
"Chaos, what happened?" She asked, was merely observing his palm, the bleeding having stopped at some point.
"He broke a window to get inside a warehouse," Sonic asked from where he was sitting, the female hedgehog turning her head to look at him, saw him rubbing his face with his hand. She blinked at him before she looked at the more red than yellow hand again, putting it closer to her face as she squinted her eyes.
"There's still some glass sitting there - we need to get that out," She said with a sudden determination, turning around towards the rabbit. "Cream, get a bag of ice to Sonic and fetch the bandages and tweezers from the bathroom."
Immediately the girl was at work, darting over to the fridge while Amy pulled out a chair by the end of the table, persuading Tails to sit down by pulling in his arm. The fox was too busy watching Cream, since he was well aware that water froze at temperatures below zero and fridges weren't that cold.
The rabbit was standing on her toes, opening a second door to a freezer in the top of the machine, much smaller than the rest of the space. He was almost amazed, thinking how fascinating that was, as Cream closed the fridge again after pulling out a white bag, wrapping it in a cloth and gave it to Sonic.
He had hardly taken a hold of it as she darted up a set of stairs and disappeared. He hadn't noticed Amy walking away from him over to the sink, finding a small bowl and poured some thick liquid into it, before turning on the faucet. He was wondering how much water she was wasting, most definitely a gallon as she was merely standing with an ungloved hand under the water as it poured down the drain.
Quick steps sounded from the stairs suddenly, a roll of white bandages and metal tweezers placed beside Amy who looked at Cream.
"Thanks, now get the oil lamp from the living room, I need to be able to see what I'm doing" She said, putting the bowl underneath the faucet, as Cream darted off again, shoes running quickly into the living room. Tails looked at Sonic briefly to look how he was doing, was sitting across from him, the packet of ice put against his face.
He opened his mouth to say something when Amy came back into his view, placing the bowl on the table with a small cloth in it, a pair of tweezers in her hand. She took the oil lamp that had been lit from Cream, placing it on the table, the amount of light in the room almost making his eyes burn.
"Thanks Cream. Can you prepare some tea while I do this?" The rabbit flashed a pair of anxious hazel eyes towards her, before she nodded quietly, walking back over to the kitchen.
"This might hurt," Her voice got across his thoughts, looking at the pink hedgehog who was smiling, apology already sitting in her eyes. "But I'll be gentle," She said, and without warning took his hand again, the palm as close to the oil lamp as possible.
He hadn't noticed it before, but in the new light, he saw small pieces of glass shining from the living flame, sitting in his flesh. Carefully with slightly shaking hands, she neared the tweezers close to his open wound, Tails being well aware that he needed to sit still. He froze when the metal pincers closed around a small piece of glass and with a careful but quick pull of her wrist, the glass was out. He hissed and flexed his fingers without closing them around his palm, the now vermillion colored glass placed on the table.
"What happened out there? How'd you find her?" There was a slightly alarmed tone to Amy's voice, either because she was partly shocked that they had achieved what they had set out to do, or because she was uncomfortable pulling glass out of his hand.
Tails didn't answer her, his eyes glued to the tweezers that was making its way over to the second piece of glass.
"We found the guy that you were supposed to meet," Sonic started, as the fox clenched his teeth. "We, uh, got him to talk, found a warehouse where Cream was in a cage, and-" –
"In a cage?!" Luckily, she wasn't in the works of pulling out the third piece, as her head whipped back to the blue hedgehog, the rabbit merely preparing something over by the faucet. Sonic shrugged, shifting a bit in his chair to lean against the table.
"Yeah. We went in there, pounded on them a lot, got into some trouble," He nodded towards Tails' hand as the sound of glass hit the table yet again. "But we got Cream out, unhurt," He added afterwards, moving the ice a bit on his face, watching as Amy pulled out the fourth piece, the hand steadily beginning to bleed again.
It was thumping as well, the sensation not being there beforehand, though he figured it came from the blood coursing to the open wound. He had gotten hurt before like any other mobian, though he hadn't tried getting glass in his skin before.
"I'm sorry that you had to get hurt because of it," Amy said quietly afterwards, let out a breath she had been holding, as the last visible piece of glass was put beside the other four, turning the palm towards the light to be sure there was nothing else.
"It's okay," Tails felt like he had to say. "We could have been more careful," He rationalized afterwards, thinking that there most likely had been a better way than to break a window, thinking that Amy was now wasting water and bandages on him.
"I don't know how you can be careful in a fight," She mumbled, as she let go of the tweezers not seeing any more glass, and instead picked up the cloth from the bowl, the fox now realizing that white foam was decorating the top of it.
Soap? He hadn't seen much soap on the street, mostly because it wasn't a luxury among the thieves since food and currency were the most valuable items. The soap he had seen was the occasional but rare foam that was lathered on windows to get them cleaned, remembering the same fruity smell from the windows that was coming from the bowl as well.
She twisted the cloth around to get most of the water out, before she folded it over and washed his palm, gently rubbing at the open wound.
"Nah we managed didn't we Tails?" The fox's ears twitched and looked up, had been busy looking at Amy since the soap was stinging. As much as he wanted to tell him that it went badly, he couldn't help but think that they actually had come out of it pretty well.
He had cut his hand and Sonic had gotten a nasty bruise on his face sure, but the wolves were left behind with most likely broken noses, sore ribs, and splinters in every crevice of their bodies.
"It went – better than expected," He decided to answer, making a satisfied smirk cross the hedgehog, leaning back into the chair with a small sigh.
"Better than expected? What's that supposed to mean?" Tails shrugged his shoulders, feeling an unfamiliar warm comforting feeling erupt in his stomach.
"You're just reckless that's all," Sonic laughed, a light thing that made the fox come up with a faint smile, looking back down at his hand, as Amy cleaned the cloth a second time, the previously see-through water now turning red.
"It's not too deep so I think you'll be fine," She said, looking up from her work, and gave the fox a light smile. "Cream cut her hand once on one of my knives. We had to go to the doctor and get stitches."
He frowned at the thought, thinking that getting stitches must be unpleasant and hurt since they most likely needed to be taken out again.
"The tea's ready Amy," Cream said from the fireplace, having lit the fire in there at some point, the fox being too concentrated at what the hedgehog had been doing to his hand. The girl had but three mugs on the counter by the faucet, as Amy turned her head around.
"Thank you Cream - just let the fire burn out," She said, afterwards as the rabbit was about to turn on the faucet to put out the fire in the fireplace, but her hand pulled away from the handle from the female's words. Amy was unrolling the bandages with both hands, took the fox's hand again and rolled it around the wound, the hand still bleeding but not as quickly as before.
"Thank you," He said, felt timid and subdued, having let Amy do what she wanted to do with his hand, well-knowing that she was just trying to help him. Probably because he and Sonic had saved the girl from the kidnappers. The female was tying a small knot and hiding it under the bandage as she looked up, a genuine smile on her lips.
"You're welcome," She nodded, glancing at the dried blood on the beforehand white glove, left crumbled and beyond saving on the table, since there was a cut across the palm. "I have an old pair somewhere that you can have," –
"Oh no, that's okay. I'll manage," He was quick to dismiss, not wanting her to spend anymore on him that she already had.
"Nonsense, with a wound like yours it's good to have some extra protection. It's fine - they don't fit me anymore," She said, while she had gotten up from her chair, making her way towards the stairs without turning her head towards him, going up.
Tails blinked after her, biting his lip but didn't get to think the thought before Cream walked over to him with a steaming mug of hot tea.
"Here you go Tails. I hope it's good," She smiled, a childish and soft thing that spread all the way over to her ears. He smiled back, not having the heart to decline, as he took the mug with his good hand, placing it on the table. He hardly had the time to thank her as she got over to the other mug, handing it to the hedgehog.
"And one for you Mr. Sonic," He took the mug from her with a light chuckle.
"That's alright Cream, you can call me Sonic – I'm not that old," He winked at her, taking a good sip of the warm beverage, a small sigh of satisfaction leaving him. The rabbit was smiling but shook her head at him, her hands joined behind her back.
"Amy taught me how to be nice to other people," She simply explained, the childish smile on her face remaining where it was, most likely relieved of coming back home.
Tails didn't hear what Sonic answered back to her, instead took the mug and sipped the tea. It wasn't what he had expected, the taste being rather bitter, like the tea had sat there longer than meant. He kindly put it back on the table, looked up when Amy came back down, a pair of gloves in her hand.
"They're a bit old and roughed up but they should do the job until you get a new pair," She was smiling again, leaving the pair of gloves on the table beside his mug, before she walked over to the last mug left behind, taking it in her hand and leaned against the counter.
A deep sigh left her as she took a sip, a frown on her forehead confirming that the tea had sat there a bit too long. She didn't comment however, another thought settling into her mind as the frowned deepened slightly and wrinkles appeared around her eyes. She was worried about something. He couldn't blame her, thinking that she was most likely thinking about what to do now, since the kidnappers might as well come back to try for a second attempt.
"I – have something to show you," She said instead, the worry apparently regarding something else, as she looked at Sonic and then at Tails. She bit her lip, hesitant, before she opened a drawer beside her pulling out two pieces of paper.
They were darker browned pieces that was cost-efficient, easy to mass-produce and was often used to spread information around quickly. She looked at it, frowned again, her eyes apparently reading something before she shook her head, and left them on the table in front of the duo. Tails only had to glance at it, eyes widening, and pushed back the gasp in his throat.
They were wanted posters – one having Sonic's face on it, crudely drawn with spikes that were too long and his eyes too narrow. On the bottom was crooked letters, done by some kind of high profile mobian, the sentence saying:
CROFORD CITY - WANTED for royal theft and jailbreaking, 5000 mobiums, alive.
The other paper made his stomach tie into a knot, looking at a representation of his own face, three bangs in his forehead, though his muzzle was too broad and his head too large. Another line of letters was at the bottom:
CROFORD CITY - WANTED for high treason and criminality, 4500 mobiums, dead or alive.
His head temporarily swam around the numbers, thinking that there was a total of 9500 mobiums plastered onto their faces, a number he had never imagined someone owning at the same time. Though, that kind of money could be rewarded whether he was alive or not. Apparently, they wanted some answers from the prisoner before they executed him themselves.
Sonic picked up the paper with his face plastered onto it, Tails carefully looking over at Amy. She didn't look mad or something of the sorts, rather concentrated with the frown in her forehead.
"Dude, they totally got my nose wrong! It's not that long!" Sonic ludicrously said, lifting the paper beside his head pointed at his nose, an amused grin on his lip.
The fox had no words for it, leaving his mouth agape, the mother of curse words coursing through his head rather than his mouth, the six-year-old glancing over Sonic's shoulder to look at the table. Though she giggled softly at his protests, the hedgehog smirking and placed the paper down on the table.
"Well. I guess we can't hang around too long anymore," He shrugged, looking over at the fox with a confident smile. Like everything was going to be alright.
But how could it be? He was supposed to stay here! Now he was hunted! People were going to come after him because he was wanted for 4500 mobiums dead or alive!
"No, you can't," He whipped his head around towards Amy, feeling more than panicked in his mind, though the pink hedgehog saw it, giving the fox a comforting smile.
"Don't worry, I haven't turned you in. I don't know what happened in Croford with you two, but you saved my sister tonight. You're turning a new leaf," She shrugged her shoulders. "Everyone deserves a second chance," Amy smiled, Tails' eyes frantically going over her face, trying to find either a lie or something that she indeed had turned them in
But nothing appeared – her lips were wide in smile, eyes shining and the wrinkles beforehand had disappeared, her body relaxed against the counter, not standing stiff. She was telling the truth.
"By the way Amy I was wondering – Cream's your sister?"
The fox didn't really hear Sonic's question, a black pit starting to erupt in his stomach. He wasn't safe anymore. People were after him, people could kill him, and they would get the money for it. There was no way that he could stay here!
"Oh – yeah. Maybe I should have told you that Cream's a rabbit. I adopted her when I found her on the street. Her parents was-" The pink hedgehog cut herself off for some reason, Tails looking over to see her bite her lip, glancing at the rabbit who had deposited herself in the couch, currently cleaning up the game of chess which hadn't been finished.
"Was dead. She doesn't know what happened," Amy explained, the gloomy expression that had washed over her face slowly disappearing with another smile. "So, I took her in, and has been living with me for three years," She explained, crossing her arms over her chest.
Tails looked at her for a minute before looking over at the rabbit, the same panic from before seemingly only rising. She was saved – she had been on the street, but someone had taken her in. He had lived on it for eight years, and now there were people actively searching for him.
He couldn't stay in Kroxburg, not even go back to Croford like he thought about! Where could he go?! Kroxburg was the central market area, if this place had the wanted posters then he could be sure as hell that any neighboring cities around them knew it too.
Dammit what was he going to do?! There was no Chaosdamn way that he could even get out of the city without anyone seeing him! He could be-
"Tails, you alright?"
He was pulled out of his thoughts, unaware that both Sonic and Amy was looking at him, the former asking the question. He swallowed something in his throat, clenched his fingers with his good hand, realizing that he was shaking.
"Yeah, I'm good," He lied, resisting the strong urge to pull his namesakes around himself, an extra layer of protection which wouldn't work out. The animalistic and childish mind were on a mutual agreement that it would, the rational side yelling at himself. Sonic quirked an eyebrow, not believing him as he looked down at the two papers on the table, looking up again when Amy cleared her throat.
"Anyway. You can sleep here tonight if you want, but then I. I don't want to be rude or anything but I don't know about-" –
"Amy it's okay," The blue hedgehog was quick to soothe, waving a hand at her with a wink.
"It's alright, we don't wanna bring you trouble," He said, glancing over his shoulder at the girl. "Though, you may think about what to do. I can't promise that they won't come back," His voice had lowered, but it was still loud enough for the two in the kitchen to hear.
Amy bit her lip, wrinkles appearing in her forehead as she nodded.
"I know. I just – need to consider a few things," She explained, the frown on her forehead giving away that she needed to take some drastic measures.
Tails bit his lip as well, now well aware that the plan of staying with them for a while were thrown out of the window, let alone all plans of staying in Kroxburg were now unattainable. Unless he wanted to die or be taken back Croford for prison. He had no idea how long you sat behind bars for high treason, but he was pretty sure that it wasn't an overnight thing. Plus, he was also accused of the swiping he had done in the city, though he highly doubted that any of them knew how much.
"But thanks again. I – I wouldn't have known what to do if you hadn't showed up," Amy looked at the fox with a smile before turning to Sonic, her smile widening a bit.
Tails raised a brow at her.
"Don't worry. It was a good deed," The blue hedgehog said, winking at her.
The female's eyes shone, a blush coming over her cheeks which she didn't managed to hide quick enough as she turned her head towards the faucet. But the fox had read it, the blush in her cheeks, the warmth coming to her face as her eyes had relaxed, green irises shining.
… Really? She liked him?
Tails sighed, shaking his head slowly, as Amy cleared her throat turning back towards them, her eyes avoiding Sonic for the moment.
"Anyway. I think you wanted this in exchange, right?" She reached behind herself and found, yet again, the gem they had seen beforehand.
Shining dimly in the light, the dark blue color seemingly swirling around itself in the crystal edges. Tails felt the tips of his fingers tingle again, the power from the gem radiating out in the room, his fur almost standing on edge. Sonic nodded with a grin, reaching out for the gem were Amy placed it in his hand. Yet again, it looked perfect there – the dark colored gem fitting in his hand like a key in a lock. He threw it once in the air and caught it again, before stashing it behind his quills with the other he had.
"While you were gone I got curious and did some research," Tails' ears perked up from the explanation, watching as Amy walked through the kitchen and over to the bookshelf, smiling at Cream who had found some paper and crayons, drawing by the coffee table. The hedgehog pulled out a book, quickly going over a wide stack of papers before flipping more slowly through the pages. She walked back over to them, placing the book on the table between the duo, a single finger quickly going along a couple of lines.
She was mumbling the sentence she passed, until an 'ah!' escaped her, tapping at the desired spot.
"-these gems are known as the Chaos Emeralds. The Chaos Emeralds' powers are enormous and can only be released upon touch by a Chaos Wielder, a mobian whom is Chaos gifted and has the ability to manipulate their true nature."
Sonic interrupted her by whistling impressed, the fox narrowing his eyes at him slightly.
"The Chaos Emeralds' origins are unknown, although their place of creation has been tracked back to the west side of Mobius, in the mountain regions. This area is unexplored and any travelers being upon this area has never returned. Thus, the emeralds remain a mystery and a legend to those who have not seen them," She said, the line ending there.
Tails had been listening, despite his eyes travelling over the page where she hadn't read, this book being much more thorough than the one he had found back in Croford.
"Well. Looks like I know where I'm headed tomorrow," Sonic announced, shifting the packet of ice around again on his face. Amy flashed him a confused stare, blinking at the blue hedgehog.
"Where? To the mountain region? – But the books said that no one has returned from there," –
"Pfft, that's alright. It only says that because nobody has been there," He shrugged casually, his eye passing blue irises. "I've always wanted to go there, maybe there's some more Chaos Emeralds."
The fox only looked back for a second, his eyes looking back down at the book, reaching out a careful hand and placed it on the page, reading along a line that spoke of the power's durability.
"You can have it if you want," He stopped his reading from Amy's suggestion, the female shrugging her shoulders. "I only bought it because I was curious. I don't think I'll ever read it again," She smiled.
Tails frowned slightly, conflicted between feeling like he couldn't take it from her now that she had bandaged him and given him tea, and the fact that she had bought something because she was simply curious. Couldn't she spend her money on something more important than curiosity? He refrained from asking, not wanting to offend her since she had helped them tremendously and instead looked back at the book, nodding to himself.
"I would like that," He said, found a smile and looked at her. "Thank you."
Her smile widened, before she nodded and gently closed the book, another sigh leaving her. She looked over her shoulder at the rabbit, Tails following her gaze and saw that Cream was dozing off at the couch.
"Maybe it's for the best that we go to sleep," She announced, leaving the book on the table as she took the still somewhat full mugs on the table, well aware why they hadn't drunken all of the tea. Tails followed her movements, flicking his ears from the sound of the mugs hitting the metal sink, looking back at his red crumbled gloves and the new pair.
A new pair of gloves were nice. But - how much long were they going to last if he couldn't stay here. Where were he to go? His mind wondered to one option, frowned at the thought but looked at Sonic who were grinning at Amy as she gently nudged Cream, asking her to get ready for bed as the hedgehog opened up a chest further back in the room.
The fox looked at Sonic's features, that grin making his stomach fell warm inside, welcoming, and a sense of something he hadn't felt before. He had saved his life, he had given him meat, and now the fox had saved his life. Well maybe – could it be too bad?
He had nowhere else to be, no one else to support himself against. He could just, go along and then they might stumble upon some unknown village who had no knowledge of them. There was a possibility, wasn't there? Well, Sonic was annoying sure but, there was something else there that overshadowed that attribute. Something that he – liked. Enjoyed having around. Company? He didn't know, all he knew was that if he stayed here, he could die or taken back to Croford, as he had no idea how to survive out in the forest by himself. Plus. There was a part of him who really didn't want to be alone again.
Company was something he was still getting used to but, he enjoyed it the more he had it. The more he realized that it was a necessity he had been neglecting for years because he didn't want to bring people into danger. Now that the danger was somewhat gone, certainly the kind from Croford, then there was nothing that could harm him. Also, because Sonic could take care of himself. And, at the same time – the emeralds were exciting. And he was curious.
He was still hesitating as he opened his mouth, emitting a sigh at the same time.
"Sonic?" The hedgehog gently moved his head towards him, that grin still plastered onto his face. "Can I – can I come with you?"
To Tails' utter surprise, Sonic's grin slackened a bit, his emerald green eyes darting around the fox's face. It was hesitation, briefly there for a reason he could not fathom. Though it fated, the grin returning with more force than beforehand as he nodded.
"Sure – as long as you can keep up with me," He grinned, green eyes once again relaxed.
Tails furrowed his brow from the hesitation beforehand before he mused about what he meant about keeping up. He didn't have the time to answer, as Amy let out a huff, the fox not registering that Cream had went up the stairs.
"There. You'll have to fight over the couch," She announced, having placed two blankets on the end of her vermillion colored furniture. "I'll provide breakfast tomorrow, and then I think you know what to do from there," Amy finished, giving the duo a soft smile, suddenly interrupted by a yawn.
"I'll head up as well. Turn of the oil lamp when you sleep," She said, her eyes briefly fastened onto the blue hedgehog again. He smiled back, taking the glance as a good night.
"See ya tomorrow Amy," He finished with a wave of his hand, the other still clutching the ice to his face. The female hedgehog's smile widened, blushed again and then went up the stairs, a wave of her hand was a final goodnight. Tails rolled his eyes into the ceiling, thinking how that was possible.
He watched as Sonic let out a sigh, getting up from the chair and walked over to the faucet with a strange familiarity to the facilities, unrolling the ice out of the cloth and placed it in the sink, the fabric left to the side. His arms went over his head, stretching out his back, making his spines flare out on his head, the rest of his body still covered by the cloak. They went back down as he turned around, beelining to the living room and picked up one of the blankets Amy had left out for them, practically falling into the armchair with another sigh.
"Man, these blankets are soft!" He giggled, tangled himself into the fabric, the fox's ears catching the sound of shoes getting kicked off and left on the ground.
Tails looked briefly at the book and dirty glove, picking the former up and looked around to throw it somewhere. Standing up and walking over to the fireplace, he threw the glove in, the dying flames eagerly licking up the fuel, a foul smell temporarily making its way out. He wrinkled his nose as he picked up the new pair he had gotten, pulling one glove over the bandages. With the roll over his wound, the glove was stretched and if you looked close enough, his hand looked bigger than the other, though it fitted nicely. He left the other on one the table, picking up the book and still lit oil lamp, walking over to the coffee table. He put the two items down as he looked at Sonic, the purple splotch not swollen, but still covering a good bit of his face.
Sonic's eyes travelled over Talis' for a bit, grinned with some sort of thought as the fox deposited himself into the couch, could suddenly feel the exhaustion overwhelm him.
"Why though?" Tails looked up from Sonic's question, the hedgehog's grin widening. "Why do you wanna come?"
The fox's eyes darted over the prisoner's, picking up the other blanket while he thought of an answer.
"I can't stay here, now can I?" He asked, an obvious tone in his voice, temporarily surprised how soft the blanket actually was.
"Because of the wanted posters? Don't worry about that, they're not," –
"Don't worry?" Tails echoed, had been in the process of taking off his shoes, when he looked up at the hedgehog. "Sonic don't you realize that people want to capture us? That I can be caught dead or alive?!" He didn't raise his voice enough for the girls upstairs to hear.
Sonic had a clear retort ready in his mind, having opened his mouth to say it out loud though Tails' expression apparently made him falter. He closed it again, frowned and made wrinkles in his forehead.
"Alright. Let me rephrase," The fox sighed, as he got one snicker off. "You only have to worry about it if you stay. But you don't specifically have to come with me. What about Mighty and Ray?"
Why the hedgehog was interested he didn't know, as he got his other shoe off, running a hand through his face. He was too tired to think further on the matter, having settled on being allowed to come with him and that was it. The reasons he really didn't know yet. Other than one.
"Because I think the emeralds are interesting. I wanna figure out what they are as much as you do," He explained, looking back at Sonic, who let out an 'aah' before he chuckled to only himself.
"So, I'm a research project for you and your little device?" He smirked. Tails found a smirk of his own, shrugging his shoulders as he laid down on the couch, not questions why the hedgehog had given it to him.
"You could say that," He rationalized, pulling the blanket over him, as his head rested on the armrest, the softness of both the couch and blanket might as well just be a bed all together. He curled together, one tail slithering down the side of the couch, while Sonic laughed from his explanation, his head resting in his palm, elbow supported by the armrest.
A silence came over them afterwards, the events of the day running through tired and excited minds, cerulean irises observing the small flame in the oil lamp, while hearing his own quiet breathing. He glanced over at Sonic, the hedgehog not in a position yet that suggested sleep, his eyes travelling around the room, quick but curious.
Tails had a request, though he felt too timid to ask. He had asked earlier when he had tried distracting himself, but he was interested. Too interested to not ask, he decided.
"Sonic?" The hedgehog turned his head again, the curious expression not disappearing. "Do you mind. Telling another one of your travels?"
he refugee's curious façade faltered, turned into a wide grin instead, shifting around in his seat to face the eight-year-old.
"Sure," He smiled, putting a hand to his chin, the 'thinking hard' expression for show, the fox could read it. "How about the time I fell off a cliff and landed in a giant mushroom? I'm talking bigger than this house," Tails rolled his eyes around his skull, snickered from the overexaggerating, though he nodded against the armrest, curious blue eyes looking at Sonic as he tugged the blanket closer to himself.
He began telling, using his arms for emphasis at certain points, telling how he was speeding through a forest filled with red oak leaves, the autumn making his spines freeze. He fell down a cliff, landed in a mushroom like he had said, suddenly realizing that he was in an entire forest. He had never seen such a place, the colors, the smell, the animals, and everything that he had ever imagined possible growing was there.
Tails listened with interest, the panic and the rational part of him dimmed from the soft light of the lamp, Sonic's voice travelling around the room, dancing and spelunking, having its own party with the tale of his travel.
Blue eyes started to droop, despite the valiant fight at keeping them open, listening intently as Sonic told him about that village he had visited only to not remember what he said afterwards, since his eyes had closed, drifting into a dreamless sleep, with the knowledge that he was going to be okay.
For now.