Sonic and Tails: An Origin Story
by milesprower06
Island of Angels, Part 1
After the Tornado cleared the field of falling debris, and continued to lose the Death Egg over the horizon, Tails had to rely more on the trailing smoke that the damaged space station was leaving in it's wake. But now that they were out of immediate danger, the fox eased the throttle back just a bit to a more fuel efficient speed, and took the time to enjoy the ocean breeze.
As the next thirty minutes passed, he was also realizing how long it had been since he had slept. His last full night's sleep had come just before they had arrived at Emerald Hills. Since then, they chased Eggman and his badniks across West Side Island at a breakneck pace, and were now following him out to some unknown destination, and right now, the fox was wondering what would last longer, him or the plane's fuel. He was about to ask Sonic how he felt about taking over while he slipped back to the navigator's seat to catch a few winks at the least.
"I think I see something!" Sonic called out, pointing towards the horizon and bringing Tails' mind into focus again. The first thing to pop up above the endless expanse of ocean was towering rock faces, the top of a volcano, which expanded down to an enormous island, easily twice the size of West Side from what they could see. From the plumes of smoke rising up from the other side, it was a good bet that the Death Egg was close, and only hidden by the titan volcano rising up from the center of the island.
"Should we see if he's on the other side?" Tails asked.
"I think it'd be safer if we got closer from the ground. Land on the beach, pal." Sonic replied.
Tails got a good look at the approach. There seemed to be enough space to land before the sand gave way to incredibly thick jungle. He adjusted the throttle and flaps, and began a steady descent. The moment the wheels touched the sand, he cut the throttle and steadily applied the brakes, coming to a mostly smooth stop. Now, all he heard was the rustling of leaves, tree branches, waves, and distant waterfalls.
"Wait here buddy, I'll have a look around." Sonic said, hoping off the wing, Chaos Emeralds in his arms, running into the jungle.
Tails unbuckled his harness, and hopped out of the cockpit, stretching his limbs. He looked at the sky as the sun began to dip towards the west. He wasn't sure how far they had come, but they had been airborne for about an hour. With another stretch, he let out a mighty yawn just as he heard Sonic grunt in pain through the trees.
"Sonic?!" He called, running towards the trees Sonic had run into. He saw seven trails of light rocket into the sky before splitting off and disappearing behind the tree cover. Down the path, about 200 feet in, laid Sonic, unsteadily getting to his feet.
"Sonic are you okay?" Tails asked, running towards him. As he helped Sonic to his feet, he saw some sort of red creature running farther into the trees.
"What was that?" The fox asked.
"A local would be my guess. He just caught me off guard." Sonic replied, brushing himself off. "I'm going after him, see if I can find any of the Emeralds again."
"Alright, lead the way, Sonic."
"No. No, you stay here, Tails." Sonic told him, shaking his head.
"What?"
"You need some rest, pal."
"No, Sonic. I'm fine. I'm not about to let you chase after him alone. Eggman's out there too and—"
"Tails," Sonic interrupted, placing both hands on the fox's shoulders. "I'm not used to counting on others. But we wouldn't have gotten this far if it wasn't for you. You've been absolutely amazing with that plane, you know that? And you also haven't slept in over a day. So I need my amazing mechanic, pilot, and friend to stay here, get whatever rest he can, and make sure that plane is in the best shape he can make it... So when the moment is right, when it matters most, I can count on you again."
Tails swallowed, not quite ready to let Sonic bolt off again, but knew the hedgehog was right.
"Alright, Sonic."
The blue hedgehog smiled at him.
"That's my buddy. Stay here, stay safe, and keep a watchful eye. I'll be back when I can."
Tails watched as Sonic bolted off deeper into the jungle. After he lost sight of him, he let out another yawn, and walked back out to the beach, deciding to set the alarm on his watch for about 90 minutes, and see how he felt then.
One thing was for sure; this place was absolutely beautiful, and they hadn't even scratched the surface yet. He climbed into the navigator's seat and stretched out as best he could, giving out another yawn as he settled in for an afternoon nap.
"Be careful out there, Sonic."