It all came back to that smell.
By the time Tempest returned, it was stronger than ever, inside the domicile he had been given as well as outside. As far as he knew, the southerners here didn't make use of Auxiliaries to attend to guests, which left Tempest inclined to view the intrusion as less than benevolent. With some time to spare, he tracked it down. His initial investigation led him to a loft in the city, furnished and well appointed, but otherwise empty.
He then followed the trail, reasonably fresh as it was, back out, and eventually into the forest. The route had included a rather circumspect tour though the old open air market that had almost thrown him, especially as it seemed to disappear at one point, only to pick up later. Tempest was well aware of the lockdown security system Knothole operated under, and whomever this was, she (and it was definitely female) had organized a secret route in and out.
Tempest exited by the appropriate means, circled around, and resumed the hunt.
He found his quarry several miles into the forest. The scent trail led to a small shack that, long ago, probably belonged to some hermit or reclusive woodcutter. The woods had done well to reclaim the land, though a few lingering tree stumps stood as mute testimony to the one-time presence of sentient beings in the area. Tempest was tempted to break in, but he could hear his Prey moving around inside, even from a distance, and waited instead.
He didn't have to wait long.
"…that's right. It has to be the locations of their Chaos Emeralds. I see." A long pause. "Casino Night? Tweed had it? Why didn't he… that idiot!"
Tempest strained to hear more. Something about Shadow. They had to mean that black hedgehog the boy had talked about…
"I don't think there's anything I can do here. No. But there's no way they'll let me in any secure facilities, especially not after that mess those idiots caused the other day. Yes? I suppose, but…" Another long pause. "I know that. Alright. Ok. I need to get going. I'll look into it."
Another pause.
'Oh,' Tempest thought, suddenly aware of something, intuition filling in the details of the ongoing silence. 'I think she's on to me…!'
Ducking under cover, he saw a shape emerge, hugging the side of the old woodcutters shack. It was his first good look at her.
'Well, she would be able to hear me,' he thought, 'with ears like that.'
His Prey came to him. She had a very small concealed weapon in her right hand, held close to her chest. Even from a distance, it didn't look particularly Mobian in design. A custom job, perhaps? The outfit certainly had to be unique: a heart shaped torso covering? Still, she moved with practiced grace, alert, but just a few seconds too late. Rouge abruptly turned, searching the trees for him. He knew her breed, though. Bats had good ears, but not great eyes.
"I know you're out there…" she finally said, still plainly looking for him, and opting for the negotiation route. "Why don't we talk about this? I'm sure we can come to a deal we can both live with."
It was an interesting choice of response.
"Let's talk, then," he announced, loudly enough to be sure she heard. Rouge lowered her weapon and held up her hands as a gesture of good faith, and a second later he emerged and hopped over to the shack's roof, and then to the ground near her. This was the first time he had seen a member of her breed. They were almost unheard of, this far from their time lost jungle lairs in Cat Country. Rumors during the Great War put them in league with the humans, too. Perhaps this one was a transplant from her homeland…?
He held up his hands, weapon free, as a similar show of good faith. Aside from her own small hand weapon, a concealable gun of some type, she seemed unarmed, but after his encounter with Nail earlier, Tempest wasn't inclined to be too unwary. The echidna had seemed unarmed, but had strange tricks at his disposal. Tempest approached this bat female with outward confidence. Inside, however, he was ready to strike to kill. He wasn't in the mood to be blasted, no matter who she was.
"I don't know who you are… or what you're doing out here… but I would like to ask why you've been going through my things." Tempest snarled, getting closer to her.
"Sure thing…" She suddenly jumped forward at him, leg spinning into a flying kick. Tempest instantly pivoted to the side, grabbed the outstretched leg in his left hand, and her right hand and concealed weapon with the other. He squeezed her wrist, causing her hand to open involuntarily. Her weapon fell from her fingers even as he took a quick step, pressing his elbow into her throat. The girl had a strong kick, but such blatant choreography of a blow would never work on him.
"I was actually sort of hoping you'd try something like that…" His tone was passionless, and she started to squirm awkwardly and desperately when she realized he probably had no intention of letting her go. A black wing smacked him in the face, but he hardly felt it. Luminescent blue eyes pleaded silently, and Tempest grimaced, letting the pressure on her throat lessen.
Finally, he let go.
Rouge fell onto her back.
"Owww…" She felt her bruised throat, and then her wrist. "You tried to kill me!"
"I did." Tempest confirmed. "But you tried to kill me first."
Rouge smiled, despite her discomfort, even managing a little laugh.
"I guess I should have expected that," she admitted, getting back to her feet. "Especially after the way you manhandled the Princess…"
His eyes narrowed.
"You've probably already guessed who I am, and what I'm doing here," Rouge continued, eyeing her fallen weapon, but not making a move for it. She shrugged. "There's nothing that says a girl can't look."
"What?" He didn't get that one. "Look at what?"
"At guys…" Rouge saw him just then understand, and slightly shook her head in exasperation. "It's an expression. Anyway, all I did was check in to see who the new guy was."
He looked at her sharply. "And?"
"That's it!"
His scowl deepened.
"And maybe take a few pictures."
"Rogue," he guessed. "Right?"
"You've heard of me!" she smiled happily. "From Sonic? Tails, maybe?"
"The Princess."
Rouge's smile turned into a pout. "Well, don't believe everything you hear."
His expression remained the same. "What are you doing here?"
"Unless you didn't hear that one, Sonic invited me to stay. We're old friends from Station Square, after all," she said the words with a throaty tone of voice that made him doubly uncomfortable. "And he trusts me."
'Why?' was the first thought that came to mind.
"Sorry about the little sneak attack there…" Rouge chuckled nervously and worked the kinks out of her hand, flexing the fingers. "That was just a reflex. I'm sure you know all about that."
"A few seconds ago, my reflexes told me to do something rather permanent to your upper spinal column," he replied, though in truth he wasn't especially angry about it anymore. He had snuck out and confronted her, after all. The little double cross only made things more interesting.
"Well, I'm glad you didn't. My spinal column is one of my best features, I think." She crossed her arms over the pink heart shaped plastic covering her chest (or the lower half of it, anyway). "So, why don't we talk about what I'm sure you overheard in there."
"An isolated area like this…" he motioned towards the trees. "A secret exit from the city. A clandestine means of communications…"
"You probably heard the story about how I, how would she put this, 'tried to sell out Knothole' to the enemy." Rouge scoffed. "It isn't accurate. Sonic knows I've always worked for Station Square. He knows I still do, even though that city fell."
Tempest looked at her with a dubious expression. "What does that mean?"
"You know about Station Square, don't you?" Rouge gave him the short of it, anyway. "The humans there were enemies of the Eggman, and allies of the Princess here. I worked for an organization called GUN, formed to fight the Eggman. A while back, a monster called Perfect Chaos destroyed Station Square. GUN had to evacuate, and a lot of them came here and joined up with this guy named Mastermind."
She rolled her eyes. "He's another one of those world domination loony types, but he had food and shelter and more than a few friends on convenient places. He sheltered most of the civilians so GUN could rebuild and keep fighting. Mastermind's a wacko, but there are good people working under him. Friends of mine."
Tempest also crossed his arms. "So you're feeding them information."
"We're still allies. Just… not openly anymore," Rouge finished. "That's it."
"Why don't you tell…"
"Who?" Rouge cut him off; lowering her arms to her sides, face frowning as she turned away. "Not like anyone would believe me. Things are different now than they were… even just a couple months ago."
"You're… telling the truth," Tempest spoke up, and made up his mind. "I'll leave it up to you, then."
He turned to leave.
Behind him, Rouge eyed the weapon she'd dropped.
"That's it?" she asked. "You're just going to leave?"
"You should tell someone," he said, speaking over his shoulder. "I think… the boy would understand."
"Tails?" Rouge asked. "Why him?"
"He seems to be pragmatic, when it comes to things like this. Do you think you can remain unhidden forever?"
Rouge considered it, even as he started to walk away.
Then he paused, and his ears perked up.
"What?" Rouge asked, genuinely curious.
Tempest, for the first time, seemed a bit nervous in his response. Pivoting, so she could see his full face, he bit back his question at first. But then followed through.
"What is your exact breed?" he asked, obviously expecting some kind of detailed answer.
"Duh… I'm a bat!" She flapped the small black wings attached to her shoulder blades.
"What type exactly?
Rouge looked at him curiously. This wasn't a question she got very often. Still, like any mobian, she knew the answer. "My father was Trachops…. My mother Desmodus."
"Trachops and Desmodus?" Tempest repeated. "I was curious, because I had thought most predatory bats to be a tropical species. You're pretty far north, aren't you?"
"What can I say?" Rouge shrugged. "My father liked The City."
The City obviously being Mobotropolis.
"Your father? Is he around here? Are there many of your kind near Knothole?"
"I don't know what happened to my father…" Rouge frowned. "As for you question, no: I haven't seen any other Phyllostomids up here, much less another Trachops. Why?"
Tempest cupped his chin and stared at her rather closely. "You seem very frail for a Predatory species, and yet you look mature enough, so I'm assuming you've already gone through most of your growth period. I'd assumed your kind got larger."
"Well, I like to keep in shape," Rouge said, watching him, a little surprised by the close attention. He hadn't seemed the type. "Not only would getting larger destroy my girlish figure, but it'd make it impossible to sneak around the way I need to."
"…a dishonorable, though unavoidable, profession," Tempest replied. "I take it then, that your kind are not, by nature, trustworthy? Or is it just the females of your species? You're the first I've yet met, and I'm curious about several things…"
"As far as I know only my father and I are… freelancers." Rouge smiled, slyly. "It's kind of the family business. I... I never did know my mother. I've never cared for the jungle, so I don't think I can help you that much."
"Hmmm." Tempest turned around again. "On second thought, it's probably best you put off talking to the boy for a little while. He's acting oddly, but still in the Turan'ha. You're not in heat, are you?"
Rouge winked at his back, putting on her best saucy smile when she saw him peek over his shoulder. "Why would you want to know that? Feeling lucky?"
"Are you in heat?" he asked again, not amused. "I can't tell by the unusual pheromones you're putting out."
Rouge sighed. "No, I'm not in heat. I just have a way with men. I find it sometimes helps in certain situations. Do the girls where you're from go around…" She paused. "They do? Well, that's kind of… weird…"
Tempest breathed a sigh of relief, ignoring her remarks about kitsune proclivities. "I'm just asking, because the last thing anyone needs is a bunch of halfbreeds running around. ...In any case, I'd like to stress that you should avoid the boy whenever he isn't working."
"The boy? You mean Tails?" Rouge blurted the name out. "Why would I have to avoid him? He's just a kid for crying out loud!"
Tempest eyes' twinkled dangerously. "He isn't in his right mind at the moment. I'm here to help him adjust."
Rouge's natural curiosity was obviously piqued. She had known something strange was going on with Tails, but any details were a particularly closely kept secret. "What's wrong with him?"
"Among our people, this point in life is very… how should I put this? Very febrile."
"Febrile?" Rouge asked. "I have no idea what that means."
"Very hot blooded."
"I still don't follow."
"Lascivious is a better word. Or maybe amorous? Randy?" Tempest groaned and raised a hand to massage his temple. "This is the point in his life where he looks for a mate, you see? Or he should, but shouldn't… Because his family up north already has an arranged marriage in mind for him. And… and what's so funny?"
Rouge held her sides as she tried to reign in her laugher. The expression on Tempest's face only made it worse. Then he said, "Oh, laugh it up. Real funny." And she had to fight to keep from falling over. Tempest just stood there, waiting for her to get it out of her system.
"Trust me, you don't have anything to worry about," Rouge said between laughs as she started to straighten up again. "He doesn't even like me! He'd… he'd probably chase after Mya before…" she broke into laughter again (what she found so funny, Tempest couldn't fathom).
"This is a more serious situation than you think," Tempest tried to reason with her, despite her apparent immunity. "I'm not kidding. I'd prefer other Second Racers keep away from him for the time being. Everything seems to be going well so far, and I'd like to keep it that way. Your pheromones would be like a drug, especially because he is more sensitive to it, growing up here among weaker scented prey. It would be an unhealthy situation."
"I get your point." Rouge nodded, finally forcing down her laughter. "I'll keep my distance from him."
"Good!" Tempest smiled. That settled, he started back the way he came.
Watching him go, Rouge inclined her head and took a long look. He wasn't exactly her type, but then again, her type was impossible to come by in this little neck of the woods. Still, he had some potential, and at the least could prove to be amusing. It was worrisome that he knew about what she was doing out here, but from what she'd heard he was an 'honor obsessed blowhard.' Granted, that had been from her overhearing Sonic, but it was probably mostly accurate.
Her instincts gave her a good impression of him.
And they hadn't failed her yet when it came to testing the waters of someone's personality. Even across species and breeds. It was one of the reasons why she still worked for Station Square, even though they couldn't even pay her anymore. She did have friends there: humans who had opened up to her, despite the widespread prejudice in their society against Mobians; humans who saw her as a partner and a friend, and not just another Mobian to use until she was no longer useful.
Not that Robotnick hadn't made any recent offers, too. But frankly, the Eggman's notorious tendency to backstab anyone and everyone he ever hired or worked with, and that creepy black furred monster he kept as an attack dog, weren't the best enticements. No: her days of playing for that team, even part time, were long since past. It was bad enough she had helped him get that one Emerald. It had been a moment of weakness on her part, and one she hoped to make up for in increments.
But she was almost positive Tempest wouldn't say anything.
Except… nothing beat being sure.
'Don't think this is the last you've seen of me, Mr-High-And-Mighty-Kitsune…' Rouge thought, and smiled. 'No one turns their back on me…'
Tails sat, motionless, reflecting on the most recent events.
It was the most difficult thing he had attempted all day, emptying his mind of thoughts and concentrating on his inner equilibrium. His natural inclination was for his thoughts to wander, often erratically, dwelling on non-Newtonian physics one moment, and information infrastructure the next. Like a swimming shark, he had to keep thinking, be it about strategy, technology, the past, the future, his friends or his enemies, but when he tried to stop, his mind rebelled, often sending his thoughts spiraling out of control.
It was worse, now. His focus threatened to dull. Unlike before, the culprit this time was not doubt in his own ability, but baser animal emotions. At his workstation, things went like they should – like clockwork. But now, when he moved among his staff, even when he stopped to try and get a drink, he found himself harboring base thoughts for peers he had previously only had a professional interest in.
Frustrated, he had taken a moment to see to a blood test.
Tempest had told him that kitsune had some sort of Tradition prohibiting the study of their 'blood' but Tails had no such restrictions. He was kitsune, but he was also a Mobian and a scientist. The idea that knowledge should be forbidden was an anathema to him, and understanding a problem was always the first step towards solving it. At the least, it would help him rationalize a response.
The results were incomplete, but not inconclusive.
His white blood cell count was extraordinarily high, and his system appeared to be doped with a mix of powerful sex and growth hormones. More troubling was the presence of what could only be called an as-yet undiscovered form of lentivirus. It wasn't just that he felt different; his body was literally changing, inside and out. Biology was little more than a passing interest to him, but even he knew this wasn't natural. No other Mobian breed underwent such a transformation.
'Is this the Turan'ha?' he remembered thinking, mind racing with the possibilities. 'Some sort of… trans-genetic disease? A forced mutation?'
Sexual dimorphism was one thing, but this…!
So he cleared his mind. In time, he would get the answers he so desperately needed, but for the moment, he focused on his breathing, on a state of existence devoid of mental distractions. His eyes closed, he saw darkness and color, and the simplicity of nothingness. Even his hearing and sense of smell faded.
How long passed? It was irrelevant. When he was done, he felt refreshed. The lessons in combing and history he could have probably done without, (the cooking though, he was sort of looking forward to) but so far Tempest had taught him two fundamentally important things. The first was that fighting an enemy meant understanding him, learning from him, and then dismantling him at his weakest point. This was the sort of thing that came naturally to him to begin with. The second was the importance of a pure and focused mind that could tune out any distraction.
When he finally decided to open his eyes and see again, he saw Tempest sitting opposite him, mediating calmly. Easing out of the meditative state himself, Tails gradually let more thoughts sink in again. He had an appointment with Nail later in the night, where he hoped to glean yet more data regarding channeled forms of Chaos Control. There was also that project that should be nearing completion over at the 'Fab,' or Fabrication Facility. Then, of course, there were the ongoing efforts to catch the Rogues and those two others.
The Babylonians would be after a high profile target, probably one of the two Chaos Emeralds in Freedom Fighter hands. Both were under heavy guard in secret locations, but he knew the Rogues had a way of getting where they wanted to go, no matter the security arrangements. The other two, his men were hunting outside the city. There had been promising reports about near misses, indicating they were after some sort of contraband or artifact.
'The scepter Fiona mentioned overhearing,' Tails thought. 'Not that there aren't any number of artifacts out there that could be called a scepter.'
Tails had an ongoing interest in the many ruins he and Sonic had adventured through over the years. Marble Garden had started the fascination, and after the Death Egg affair, he had gone back to check out the 'labyrinth zone' Sonic had found on one of his solo adventures. Those ruins had been from the pre-Mogulian era, fortunately dredged up largely intact by Robotnick's industrial explorations, and were thus of substantial academic interest (despite the many traps and few remaining badnicks).
He was also well aware that many artifacts, from ruins and from pre-war collections and museums were now in circulation on the Black Market. There was little to nothing that could be done about it – the war, resettlement, and rebuilding took up all the effort the cause could spare. There was little manpower to throw at a criminal underground that basically smuggled, but committed few physical crimes. So the traffic thrived, and would likely continue well into the future.
But that didn't explain why anyone would go through so much trouble to get this scepter. His men had uncovered the fact that the two expected to get the artifact via the Black Market, which left the question of why the raid on the data vault? Did they trade some information they obtained on it for the scepter? That was probable. Robotnick would certainly part with generous amounts of raw materials: platinum, gold, even power rings, for valuable information. But he had heard that even the Black Market wasn't keeping the Eggman in the loop anymore, thanks to his tendency to 'tie up loose ends' and liquidate business partners.
Were they just mercenaries working with the Rogues, spending their ill gotten gains on some more-valuable-than-expected artifact? The artifact trade could be profitable… but that still seemed unlikely. These two were no ordinary crooks. How they had gotten away from no less than three attack/recon helicopters and a battalion of police still baffled him. No: until he could see otherwise, it was best to treat them as being as dangerous as the Babylon Rogues themselves.
Tails propped his arm on one knee. "Food?"
By this time, Tempest was likewise up and alert. "A fine idea."
"How about deer?"
"Sounds good to me."
Tempest and Tails slowly stood up, stretched, and headed for the forest and one of the game trails they had identified.
"Interesting smell on you. Let me guess… Rouge?" Tails asked.
Tempest chuckled. "You can probably guess how we met."
"Did she flash her cleavage at you while you were working?"
That guess came as a surprise; Tempest soughed loudly.
"No. Not quite."
Tails laughed, this time. "Ah. That was how we met, that first time. One moment I was standing there, waiting to see the President, and then the next thing I know I turn around and I've got titties in my face. Of course, at the time I totally freaked out."
"Was it on purpose, or…?"
Tails laughed even harder. "No! No! She didn't even see me! I was like this!"
He held his hand out at around chest level.
"So she walked right into me. Quite an introduction!"
Tempest 'hmm'ed and asked, a little jadedly, "You interacted with her much after that?"
"Not really," the younger kitsune admitted. "She worked in GUN's MilIntel Department. Black Ops and the like. I only ran into her that one time because we were consecutive appointments, meeting with the President of the city. I did a lot of R&D for GUN back then, including their Black Ops division…"
He rolled his shoulders.
"Man, if they had built even half the things they had me design for them… that'd be one Hell of a sight to see! One time, they got me to build this drilling machine in a scheme to covertly insert troops anywhere in the globe! Nothing those humans loved more than a crazy wonder weapon!"
Tails seemed to regard the whole thing as quite a fond experience.
"Of course, I always had the thought: maybe one day they'll use these to fight us, you know? But beating the Eggman has always been the important thing. We outnumber the humans by 1000:1 anyway." He shrugged. "Rogue probably thought the same thing, I guess. But no, we didn't run into each other again like that for a while. Not until after I came back here."
"You mean here, as in Knothole?" Tempest asked.
"Yeah. I came back after Station Square fell..." Tails nodded to himself as he followed his mentor. "I'd gotten in touch with the King, and he'd shown an interest in modernizing his forces. So Rogue… she showed up almost a year ago when we were hunting for the blue Chaos Emerald. The sapphire colored one, not the light blue one."
"Anyway, Robotnick had put out a bounty on it, and a bunch of mercenaries and thieves got in on the fun. It kind of switched hands a bunch of times… Rouge ended up with it for a while, before Sonic and Sally managed to get it and spirit it back here. I wasn't there for that one – I was… meeting someone on Angel Island at the time – but I was around the second time we ran into her."
"The Yellow Topaz Emerald was rumored to be on this island resort type deal. Sally took Sonic and I tagged along to investigate and to provide the usual tech support since Sonic couldn't find his ass with both hands and a map. Then there's the fact that Sonic still can't swim, and Sally can't run, so… 'Let's use your plane, Tails!' And let's get crumbs on the seats, too, while we're at it!"
"Do you have any idea how hard crumbs are to get out of the seats on my Tornado Custom? I still find them in there to this day!" Tails gave an exasperated sigh. "Anyway, once we got there, it was actually a really nice place… reminded me a bit of the good parts of West Island… Sally signed us up as 'guests' staying there, along with a couple other bounty hunters who had heard the same rumors. Rouge was one of them, and of course she and Sally ended up fighting over something or another. Thank the Source Amy wasn't there, too. Long story short, Shadow and a legion of bots show up, firebomb half the island, and somehow get the Emerald."
Tempest had heard Shadow mentioned numerous times in passing, and always associated with some disaster or another. The kitsune could guess that he was some kind of evil Sonic like creature. He was another trouble making Chaos Adept, in other words.
"I didn't see her for a while after that," Tails continued. "Then a couple months ago we caught wind of yet another Emerald, this time in Downunda. Sonic was busy with Metal Sonic at the time, so I headed there myself. There were these… creatures called the Black Arms, and the local Freedom Fighters there need reinforcement. I got as many ships and men together as I could, and we took the fight to the Black Arms and the Eggman Empire. It's another long story…"
Tails shook his head, willing to remember the memories, but not the feelings they conjured up. "I managed to get that one, the purple Emerald – Amethyst, I guess - and bring it back to Knothole. But we lost… a lot of people."
He had cried when they died, even after everything with Barby…
"Anyway," he got back on topic, perking up a bit. "Rouge somehow tracked us back to Knothole. I've always suspected she can somehow sense Chaos Energy and that's how she did it. I wasn't really there for all the drama that followed, but the way I hear it, she threatened to blackmail us or something… you know: tell Robotnick about Knothole's secrets and defenses was unless we gave her a share of the royal treasury." Tails scoffed loudly. "Not that there IS much of a royal treasury at the moment. But she wanted money, and Sally was pissed off about the whole thing. She and Rouge got into a big fight, until Sonic jumped in and separated them."
"Sonic separated them?" Tempest asked, not believing it. "Those two?"
"Yeah! It was a real catfight!" Tails laughed. "But Sonic didn't want Sally getting hurt, I guess. He jumped in and ended up kicked in the balls! Sonic's a brave guy, but he doesn't always think before he acts."
"So, we thought Rouge would go to Robotropolis after that and spill the beans. Sonic, a couple others, and myself headed there to make sure nothing came of it. Turns out Rouge didn't have the guts to… well, that's not fair. Basically, she didn't tell Robotnick anything when push came to shove. She just fed him a bunch of lies, and naturally Buttnick got the old red-eye crazy madness. Really popped a vein. He was threatening to roboticize her when we busted in and saved her ass. She agreed to keep the secret, and offer her services at 'a discount.'"
"Wonderful." Tempest intoned.
"She's pretty handy from time to time. Sally still doesn't like her, or trust her, for obvious reasons. Sonic usually vouches for her, though, so he trusts her. Enough to give her an invite to his monthly house party, even. She might have a thing for him, after he saved her from Buttnick." Tails frowned a bit. "Females are stupid like that, when it comes to him."
"Feh." Tempest rolled his eyes. "It is not my concern what the Princess thinks of her, or that little blue rodent. I told you to avoid her, so you will."
"Sure thing. It shouldn't be a problem."
"Good." Tempest and his charge finally reached the game trail. "Take the lead. Concentrate on the hunt. We can worry about other things over the roasting meat of the kill."
The hunt was rather brisk - the prey in the area unused to being hunted, but despite that shortcoming, the young deer they caught had been lean and unusually good. Nearly the entire animal had been consumed over the course of their conversation out in the woods, and it would be another day and a half before they were truly hungry again. Tempest had spent a fair amount of that time talking with Tails about the specialization Nail would bring to his training, as well as the more 'spiritual' edge he knew the boy needed, even if he was reluctant to admit it.
They had spent the majority of the time practicing the kitsune take on telepathy, which Tails actually found closer to empathy. Tempest had described it as being principally another hunting and organizational tool: it allowed hunters to know where each other were and what they were doing. In both males and females, Tempest explained, it was common for emotional attachments to form the foundation of pack bonds, allowing groups of kitsune to operate almost as a single unit. The more Tails heard, the more he saw that it was also an essential link in kitsune society, keeping all the cogs and gears running smoothly and without interruption.
It was no wonder kitsune society had remained unchanged for thousands of years. The young fox was certain that almost everything about the kitsune was organized towards ensuring that they never changed. Their sexual mores and obsession with heirs formed a natural cycle of birth control, their ritual sire-killing and blood feuds, even their unusual traditions regarding food gathering, were all a normalizing population control. Kitsune respected strength in society, using it as the foundation of acceptable ethics. A 'good' kitsune was simply a strong one who did not deviate from Tradition. When Tails had asked where many of these Traditions came from, Tempest had simply shrugged and answered, 'from time immemorial.'
That sort of answer may have served for most kitsune, brought up as they were, but Tails could not be satisfied with half answers. Who had come up with these kitsune traditions? Who had taught them the techniques of sensing weakness in an enemy, and then attacking them, using the enemy's own fear against him? For his part, Tempest did not know what the amygdalae was, but he knew techniques for manipulating emotional and memory response that Tails, with his full knowledge of mobian physiology, had not even considered. Hours later, Tempest's training, as enlightening as it had been, left as many questions as answers. Still, Tails was confident that he would uncover the truth of his people, and of his own background, in good time.
The two walked back toward the Ring Pool and Nail meet them half way there.
Nail waved at their approach. "Back from a hunt I see."
Tails, unusually relaxed and content, smiled. "Yeah."
"Went well?" The echidna asked.
Tails picked his teeth with a gloveless finger. "Oh yeah. Learned how to cook ribs, too…"
"Glad to hear it."
Nail then turned around and was silent for a few moments. Tails looked at him oddly for a second, his finger finally picking the bit of sinew out from around one of his canines. Nail then suddenly spun around and fired an energy bolt at the young Kitsune. Shocked, Tails was barely able to dodge, then jumped toward Nail to tackle him, but was blasted in the face by another energy bolt. The fox fell to the ground; smoking slightly, but quickly picked himself up again.
"You walked right into that one!" Nails snapped. "…It's just what I thought."
"That you're a complete dick?" Tails still didn't get what was going on. "What'd you do that for?!"
Nail's frown tightened.
"These hunts you go on. They may be good for your reflexes and instincts, but you get so caught up in your victory that you lose track of any attack that may pop up. You need to learn to let go of past battles and focus on future ones."
Tempest crossed his arms. "He needs an outlet, Nail. And we only have this one meal for the entire day. The boy's just on a little blood high. It's healthy. We all get it."
"Yeah!" Tails jumped in on his own defense.
Tempest turned on his student. "Turo! Next time he does that, grab for the wrists, not the torso. Break his hands or arms and he's helpless. This isn't rocket science. And I know you're a rocket scientist."
"I... er…"
Nail spoke up, interrupting the boy. "All the outlets in the world won't help him if he doesn't focus on the here and now. An enemy can turn up anytime. And some of them can't be seen or smelt. You have to feel their presence. At all times."
"Still, you don't need to attack the boy right after he's eaten. Lords of the Ice knows what those energy blasts of yours are doing to stunt his growth! That's radiation!" Tempest pointed at him. "You're right, of course, but the approach leaves something to be desired. He's only about three-fourths through his Turan ha. Two or three days from now, you can blast him all you want, but for now, keep it to a minimum, is that clear? Unless you want him growing a third tail or something!"
Tails felt a sweatdrop roll down the side of his head. 'Third tail…?'
Nail sighed. "Fine. But don't expect that kind of sympathy from Robotnik, Mastermind, or any of their flunkies. Especially Shadow."
"Are you talking to me?" Tails interrupted, getting back to his feet. "You do know I've been fighting Robotnick longer than you've technically been alive, right?"
Tempest turned and started walking to the main huts in Knothole. "You can have the night off, Miles. Feel free to do as you like."
"Alright!" Tails flipped to his feet, and was about to also walk off, when Nail grabbed him by the shoulder.
"He may have given you the night off. But I didn't. Or did you forget?"
To his amazement, Tails realized that he had. He did an abrupt one-eighty. "Ok. You've got my attention."
"Good." The echidna smiled mysteriously. "There's some special training I want to work on tonight."
"What …kind of training?" Tails eyes narrowed very slightly, and then relaxed. It could be useful after all.
"You'll see."
"Ok, ok... I'm all ears…" Tails folded his ears against his head and back up again. The training began as they walked, with a review of several works of literature Nail had asked him to become familiar with. All of it was what Tails had normally considered to be of dubious scholarship. Nonetheless, despite his initial disdain for anything reeking of the occult or mysticism, had had read through the entire curriculum while working on other projects an overseeing arrangements for the capture of the Rogues and their two accomplices.
"I'm just a natural skeptic, Nail. You know that."
"You also know that the science of understanding the Chaos Force is incomplete. You never expected there was anything to learn from anything besides an academic paper or journal?"
"The books you suggested all contradict each other. Science does not contradict itself."
Nail agreed, however, "They are only the deceptive tip of the iceberg. What we will do together, is separate the grains of truth from the less than authoritarian whole. You studied the Mesmer Codex, didn't you?"
"Mesmerism doesn't exist," Tails insisted, if only by rote. "It's been debunked many times."
"Take a step back and consider the existence of a force, capable of manipulating the fluids in your body, the images you see, and even reality itself. You should at least be receptive to the possibility that the Chaos Force, which permeated all of Mobius if not the cosmos itself, is at the root of many belief systems. This includes the specific forms of Mesmerism outlined in the Codex."
Nail offered the technically older (he was a clone after all) fox a knowing look. "You are open to the possibility, aren't you? As a man of science?"
"Of course, its just as possible that the universe was created in a fit of pique five seconds ago, and that we were created with memories that never happened. Pretty much anything is 'possible.' I prefer what can be objectively proven, and repeatedly demonstrated."
"Reminds me of…" but Nail cut himself off.
"Mya, right?" Tails guessed, and Nail's expression turned down.
"You… knew her, didn't you? From before."
"I worked with her on a few things." Tails hesitated to say more. He didn't want to say either too much or too little about Nail's 'mother.' "She was always… ambitious. A genius, but the kind people naturally became somewhat wary of. "
They stopped at an area by the ring pool but up against the woods. They then sat and talked, primarily about different philosophies, and how different cultures saw the Chaos Force. In the latter respect, Nail outlined the differences that arose between Chaos Users from different backgrounds, especially the differences between the echidna and mainland mobians. Tails suspected Athair was behind a lot of what Nail had to say, but he listened carefully and with an academic mindset, searching equally for both connections and flaws. They then talked about the world's three principal religions: Source worship in its two main forms, the Mogulian Cults (including the Order of Ixis), and the Aurora and Walker worship of the echidna.
Only then, with theories in place (not that Tails enjoyed calling them that), did they begin to train. It was a give and take sort of training, as they explored different concepts, tested and refined them; Nail providing one form of insight, and Tails the other. The kitsune fox immediately began to delve deeper into the mechanics of Nails' own particular brand of Chaos Control, different as it was from what he was accustomed to. He began to see that Nail was both weaker and more refined than a pure Chaos Adept, like Sonic or Knuckles. Unable to actualize energy within himself, he had to form and sustain it externally as he channeled it.
Tails found it much more difficult than using the energy to augment his own natural abilities. It also reminded him of Shadow's "Chaos Spear" attack, a manifestation of chaos energy that Tails had never seen in Sonic, Knuckles, or even Mammoth Mogul (who vastly outstripped everyone in raw experience). After struggling to manifest chaos energy in any significant way outside his body, Tails was on the verge of giving up. Or to be more exact, he was on the verge of running off to build a machine that would do most of the work for him.
Nail stood up, walked a short distance, and returned, holding a small rock. "This should do. Take it."
"It's just a rock," Tails grumbled, but held out his right hand. Nail dropped it into his hand.
"Close your eyes and concentrate on it."
"What?" Tails looked at Nail like he was missing a few marbles. "Why?"
"Just do it."
Tails closed his eyes. Picturing the rock in his mind, Tails paused. What was he supposed to do now, anyway? For a moment, he gritted his teeth, frustrated. "Nothing is happening, is it?"
Opening his eyes, Tails confirmed it.
"Try again," Nail urged. "Imagine that the rock is an extension of yourself. Channel energy into it."
Tails did, or tried to.
'Focus…'
"You can do it. Just keep trying."
Tails grumbled, but tried again. And again. As the minutes passed, and passed… and passed, approaching an hour, it got easier to focus on the object, but still nothing was happening. Finally, Tails' patience ran out.
"This... isn't... working!!"
"Concentrate," Nail repeated.
Tails snarled, breathing deeply. It was fruitless just sitting around and failing at something! If he just had his lab, his workstation, some equipment…! Angry, but determined to get on with the rest of the night, Tails saw the rock again in his mind... sitting lazily in his hand, immobile, immovable. Gritting his teeth, clenching his fists, the boy imagined it splitting down the middle, cracking, heaving, EXPLODING!
"Wraah!" Nail stumbled back, his mind literally on fire. He didn't see it through the pain, but he did hear Tails hiss in similar agony and shock. Except, when he opened his eyes, Nail saw that the boy's cry wasn't due to the lash of telepathic chaos energy that had buffeted the echidna – in Tails' right hand, the rock was split into five pieces, and shards of it were stuck in his fingers.
In Knothole itself, Tempest looked out the window, feeling the surge of mental energy. For him, though, the wave of chaos energy seemed only a dull tingle of sensation, filtered through the lens of kitsune insensitivity. It was nonetheless significant enough to earn a curious look.
'It shouldn't have been…'
Back at the Ring Pool, Nail held the side of his head, in obvious pain.
Tails slowly opened his eyes. "So: that was it. Emotional response, just like before..."
And then, without warning, the fox passed out. Slowly, the soundless scream faded, and Nail's mind cleared. The world was still spinning, but slowly his equilibrium was returning to normal. Lowering his hand despite the headache he now had, Nail blinked a few times.
"Oh... Walkers... what was that?" The echidna looked down at the unconscious Tails. "Better bring him back…"
Picking the slightly larger-than-he-was kitsune up in a fireman carry and heading back to the city, Nail grimaced.
'I'm still not use to this kid being larger than me,' he thought as he walked. 'Now, where do I take him? I could take him to Sonic or Sally's but then I'd have to explain this whole thing… Hell, I'm not even sure what happened. Hmm, maybe I just better take him to Tempest.'
In the main room of his hut, Tempest sat down on the floor and closed his eyes. 'Odd... Chara... Chara?'
A second later.
A thought later…
'Tempest'
'Did you just call out to me?' he mentally asked.
'Why would I do that? Like I have nothing better to do than bother you on your little quest,' her thought/voice laughed. 'No, I didn't try and contact you. It must've been someone else'
'I see... did I catch you at a bad time, little sister?'
'Sort of. Errapel Se'Jando was trying to Claim me again. I just finished beating him up'
'You don't make it easy for them, do you?'
'Of course not! Besides, I'm almost positive that mother put Errapel up to it. She looks almost disappointed, standing there by the sidelines. No grandchildren for her this time'
'You'll have to mate someday, Chara'
'You will, too, big brother… oops. Gotta go…'
Keep well Tempest severed the link and took a deep breath. Mental telecommunication took more out of him than most purely physical activities. If it wasn't his sister then who was it? He didn't have a Bond with that many Kitsune. Mother seemed unlikely. He doubted it was Sakeri. That only left the boy. But as admirable as Tails' skills were, he hadn't been taught how to… Halfway through that thought, the door suddenly flew open and Tempest saw Nail staying there with Tails thrown over his shoulder. The echidna put the fox down in front of him, and then looked at Tempest.
Tempest stood up and looked down at the boy. "What's this?"
Nail did the same. "You tell me."
Tempest looked more closely at Tails. "At least he's breathing… I told you not to blast him anymore! What happened out there?!"
"I didn't blast him!" Nail countered. "I was training him. I thought he was... like me - constantly drawing power from the Chaos Emeralds, even remotely. But when I tried to get him to manipulate energy, focusing on a rock... something happened. It felt like my mind was on fire! I want to know what it was."
Tempest's eyes widened. "Oh…!"
Almost gently, he lifted Tails' unconscious form and laid him down on the hut's bed.
"Our mental abilities," he said, voice hollow. "We all have it, mostly for communication. Limited Telepathy. You know about that… But he shouldn't have developed it this acutely yet. Not beyond the basics. Damn it... Pray the boy did not end up with a Mind Wipe... If he did... We'd have to..."
"To what?" Nail asked.
"To be honest," Tempest's eyes closed. "I'd have to kill him."
Nail gasped. "What?! Why?"
"A mind wipe," Tempest said again. "I was told that if one of us taps into their psionics too early, to too much, it totally blanks the mind. He could wake up... a wild animal. No thoughts at all; only instinct. It's... it's not exactly like your powers, Nail. Your tricks come from those Chaos Gems, but we work differently. There are things we are capable of doing, and things we simply can not do."
Tempest rested his hand on Tails' forehead in an uncharacteristic display of affection.
"We'll… just have to keep an eye on him."
Nail lowered his eyes. "Tempest... Tails isn't just kitsune. He's one of the world's most powerful Chaos Users. He's transformed before, and I'm certain that's something kitsune don't normally do."
"I didn't expect there would be such a sharp conflict between the two." Tempest sighed heavily.
"I'd like to stay, if that's fine with you."
Tempest pulled up a chair and sat. "Then we will wait... Nail. I want you to know two things. First, if he has had a Mind Wipe, you'll know. Believe me, you will. We'll have to kill him, or he'll escape and likely kill others here. With his abilities, you can probably imagine the havoc that would result."
Nail could.
"You'll have to fight him without hesitation. Can you do that?"
The echidna thought about it for a second or two. "If I'm the one responsible for this, then I'll help deal with it. What else?"
"If he is a Blank..." Tempest didn't turn to face the echidna. "I'll kill you next."
Nail nodded solemnly. "If he is, I won't stop you."
Times passed. Unconscious, Tails neither thrashed nor moved in any way. He seemed almost comatose. Only his breathing remained, regular and stready.
"Pity he isn't Vidar…" Tempest broke the silence. "He's... he's a good kid."
Nail had also taken a seat, bringing it in from another hut. "Yeah, he is. Didn't complain all that much when I started training him, and with you here he's seems to be taking it even better… Athair always said he was special, unique, even among his peers. I can see he'll become something truly exceptional. Provided he survives this."
Tempest paused lengthily before he answered. "Maybe I'm getting soft. My father never pampered me like this boy is... he should be out in the woods, not in some soft bed... living among the Prey... like a… a… Keionah..."
"Keionah?" Nail asked. "What is that?"
Tempest barked out a short laugh. "Keionah. It is the name of someone in a story… a kitsune parable."
Nail didn't ask, but Tempest explained.
"The story is that a long time ago…" Tempest grinned a bit; these stories were always 'a long time ago.' Weren't there any contemporary stories? "There was a clever and crafty wild dog with a dark black coat, and his name was Keionah. One day, he left his pack to hunt on his own. After a few days of not finding prey, he smelled a ram nearby, and tracked it down. When he found the white ram, he attacked it. The prey fought well, but in the end Keionah subdued it, and made ready to kill it."
"He then told the ram, 'You have been great and mighty prey. What is your name, and where is your herd? Save me the trouble of having to track them down, and on my honor I shall spare one of your choice.' The mortally mounted ram thought about what the wild dog had said, and reluctantly agreed. He told the predator, 'My name is Mago. My herd lives to the south, and grazes in a sun-bathed field between three great wooded hills and next to a cliff. Though I was sent to scout for new areas to graze, you have killed me. I beg you now to spare my mate.'"
"Keionah agreed, because he had promised to spare one of the herd, and to never kill that animal in all his days. He asked the dying ram what his mate looked like, and the white ram replied, 'My mate is the most beautiful and fair of my herd. She is dark as the night, and gentle as the dawn.' The ram then died. After feasting on his most worthy kill, Keionah suddenly came upon an idea. He would disguise himself as the white ram, hide among the sheep of his herd, and never lack for food."
"Several days later, after fashioning a particularly clever disguise from the skin and white pelt, Keionah found the secluded field the ram spoke of. There in the field was the ram's herd, and there were many lambs there awaiting dispatch. Surely, he thought, he would never want for food in this place! He also saw the ram's mate – a black sheep, the only one in the herd. Keionah was pleased, both because none of the sheep saw through his disguise, and because the black sheep whose mate he was pretending to be had the same color of fur as he did. And her name was Yona."
"So Keionah stayed amid the herd, and pretended to be Yona's mate. He would pretend to eat along with the others in the field, but when he grew hungry, he would stealthily steal a young lamb from the herd under cover of darkness. Despite this, which he did to survive, he found himself becoming protective of the herd, and of his mate Yona. One day, when a lone wolf, Cho'vin, came to attack the herd, Keionah confronted him. The two fought, and Keionah chased Cho'vin into the nearby forest."
"There, one of the tree's branches caught on Keionah's disguise, and Cho'vin saw that this white ram was actually a black wild dog. Cho'vin introduced himself, his titles and his lineage, and Keionah did the same. Cho'vin quickly figured out what Keionah was doing, and admitting that it was, indeed, very clever, asked if they could share predation on the herd. This was because Cho'vin had found no other prey in the area, and was very hungry. The herd was large, he argued, too large for Keionah to keep all for himself. Keionah, however, did not want to share the herd, and he did not want Cho'vin to take even one lamb. So Keionah, who was very crafty, told Cho'vin to attack at midnight that night."
"Cho'vin agreed, and that night, he attacked the herd hoping to take a lamb. But Keionah had betrayed Cho'vin, and lied to him. He warned the other rams of the herd, and with Keionah leading them they trapped Cho'vin and trampled him to death. With the wolf dead, Keionah was happy and proud, and lay with his mate that night."
"Many weeks later, he learned that Yona was with children, and Keionah was again filled with joy. Soon he would have an Heir. He waited until the appointed day, and refrained even from taking the occasional young lamb under the cover of darkness. On that day, Yona gave birth to an Heir, and it was a white fleeced male lamb. In that moment, Keionah realized all he had done, and what he had become – not cunning Keionah the wild dog, be had become Mago, the ram of sheep. His Heir was not his own! Keionah yowled when he looked upon the lamb, and hungry as he was, devoured it. Then, overcome by grief and shame, Keionah threw himself from the nearby cliff."
"And that is the story of Keionah," Tempest said, and then added, "All kitsune children are taught that story at an early age."
Tempest reached out to the still unconscious young vulpine lying on the bed and placed his hand on Tails' head. "This boy… he did not hear that story until he was an adult. Which is why I fear for him."
Nail was silent for a few seconds. "Tails will survive this."
"Miles will survive this…" Tempest said, forcing the words through gritted teeth. "I will not fail in this Quest. The boy is strong… strong as iron… Miles Na'Turo will survive this."