Chance encounters and where they lead chapter ten.
Good Morning Everybody!
Gatekeeper here, sorry for the extended delay on chapters. I'm still fleshing out what I want to do with the future of this story so I figured I would give you a chapter about what happened on Rouge's side of things after they split.
Please leave any comments or suggestions in either a PM or a review here or whatever you wish.
Hope you all have a wonderful day.
Sincerely,
Gatekeeper
Chapter 10: Of Sorrow, Song and Sleep
Vanilla's House, shortly before the call to Shadow and Eggman.
Cream the Rabbit was crying, tears falling down her face as the wails continued.
There are, indeed, many types of crying that exist in this world and that are perfected by children. There is the tantrum with its tears of anger spent in a desire to loudly proclaim a want, the wail of pain that a child might receive after a spanking, the adorable but often confounding tears of tiredness that bring along grumpiness and a ever increasing refusal to rest and the cries of fear that echo in the night after a frightful dream. Each is unique to a child and every parent and adult soon learn to adapt and deal with said tears.
However, there exists a cry of such power and emotion that no mortal can conquer it, no soul can escape. It changes reality as it rings, its meaning universal and its effects unchangeable.
These are the tears of Sorrow. It never fades from the heart of those affected, it can scar the mind and the soul with the reason behind them. Death will always bring them, separation will call them forward and adversity advance them on. The profound sadness burns the incident into the mind, refusing to leave. Mourning wails will follow and tears that will never be dried by the hand they call for.
It is, ultimately, the sound of earthly separation. And only the advancement of time and help of others will eventually soothe the pain it brings,
And this was the sound of Creams cries.
Rouge the Bat was proud to say she was a expert on many fields of life, particularly regarding influencing and persuading those around her. She was a actress, as well as a thief. (Though she preferred the title of "professional asset diverter") She knew how to change people's minds and implant ideas of her own through a well made dress and a few expertly placed glances, movements and words.
What she wasn't an expert at was matters of emotions. Sure, she was well versed in using and recognizing the more… physically connected emotions and actions, but things like reconciliation and comforting were out of her area of expertise.
Which was why when she arrived at the Rabbits homestead, narrowly avoiding a speeding car on her leisurely stroll on the tail end of the trip, she was more than a little shocked when she saw the door almost ripped off the hinges and a pink pajama clad Cream bawling her eyes out.
After a short panic attack Rouge decided to cautiously approach Cream. The sight of the little Rabbit so despondent was breaking her heart.
"Cream?" Called Rouge. "It's me, Aunt Rouge. What's wrong honey?" Though she had a pretty good guess that a mysteriously missing Vanilla was likely the source of it, she needed Cream to confirm what happened.
Creams sobs briefly stopped as she looked at the bat. "A-Auntie! Help!" She cried out. "Momma is... Momma's g-gyaaaah!" The poor child couldn't finish the harrowing statement as she continued to cry.
Three layers of bulletproof glass would have shattered under the weight of her sadness.
Rouge's heart was no exception. Though she wasn't really a Aunt (The title being given to her by Cream when she showed revulsion at the word "Miss" as it made her sound old) or a great one at that she had gradually began to love the little Rabbit over their time together. Seeing her like this was unbearable.
And so she did the only thing she knew, kneeling down in front of Cream and grabbing the little one tightly, pulling her gently to a nearby wall and sitting down while clasping her firmly in a hug. She started rocking gently, humming a small tune from her own rough childhood and the one that would hold her like this when the sadness became too much.
Gradually Cream started to calm down in the embrace as she buried her head into Rouge's neck, her cries declining to a series of hiccups and moans before going silent.
Rouge smiled softly at this, and brought the child off her chest a bit to face her.
"It's gonna be okay sugar." Said Rouge softly. "I know it's hard but I need you to be a big girl right now. And what do big girls do?" Queried Rouge.
Cream looked at her confusedly. "Umm… ride bicycles?" She said cautiously.
Rouge's mind went blank for a bit as she processed the very unexpected response.
"Well… umm… you're not wrong sugar but… never mind. Rouge shook her head. " I need to know what happened honey, can you tell me?"
Cream sniffed, wiping away a stray tear before beginning to tell her story.
~Flashback~
It had been, for the Rabbits, a normal evening. Cream had gotten done with her homework while Vanilla was making dinner, which then led to a small food fight when a certain unnamed Chao thought to bring Cream a "treat" made out of watery dough, and they had cleaned the rest of the house before settling into Creams' favorite part of the night: Movie Time. It was one of the only times Mommy allowed her to stay up late as they watched a film or two from the expansive collection in their house.
After an exhilarating action film and a bag of popcorn the two had retired to bed, though they did not sleep. Cream was awake because the excitement of the movie hadn't quieted down in her mind, but she knew that Mommy was up for a different reason. Every couple of nights she would catch her mother sobbing in the living room, looking at some old photos. This had started up after they had met "Mr. K" of which Cream would not give any details, only saying that he was a very nice man and had helped Mommy a lot.
Well that night was no different, except that as soon as Mommy was going to go back to her room to sleep after looking at the pictures again (and Cream resting her head against the pillow while "sleeping") there was a crash.
Cream jolted at the sound as she heard Mommy fighting off someone who had entered the house, and quickly ran to the door, peeking out to see what had happened.
Two bad guys had broken down the door and were busy trying to pin down Mommy when she poked her head out. Luckily they had their backs towards Cream's door, otherwise she might have been seen. After flailing around a bit Mommy had seen her, and in what must have been a telepathic voice told her to hide in her room.
Doing so she hid under the bed, with Cheese right beside her, holding a miniature frying pan in case one of the goons tried to get her.
She heard Mommy be hauled off by the bad guys and as one of them left she heard him saying "alright, here's the tape. C'mon let's scram! I'm sure the Boss will want ta hear from us about this."
After a slamming of doors and the roaring of an engine there was silence.
Unbearable, unbreakable silence.
Cream shuffled from underneath the bed and went to look for Mom, hoping beyond hope she was still there.
As she opened the door from her bedroom to the living room her eyes beheld a room turned into chaos. Broken plates and glass strewn about as furniture was tossed everywhere, and without a single person to be found.
She had bounded towards what was the remains of the front entrance to her home, and looked onward over the hillside as she saw a small pair of red back-lights trail off into the distance.
Farther…
And farther…
And farther away…
Till at last, the car blinked out of sight as it took a corner into the city, leaving her alone, and her Mommy with it.
End Flashback
"Oh Honey I am so sorry. You must be so scared" whispered Rouge as she softly stroked Cream's head. Cream whimpered a bit and hugged Rouge tightly, trying not to think about what had happened.
Rouge carefully scooped up Cream and brought her inside. She found a not-quite-as-trashed rocking chair and some blankets and quietly settled herself down. She then wrapped up Cream a little and sat holding her for a bit.
Out of an instinct she started rocking, its swaying motions calming both of them down. Rouge wasn't sure what to make of this, she didn't really have much experience of her own when it came to kids, but it felt right. They sat peacefully for a while just like this.
"Ok sugar." Said Rouge, stopping the rocker and looking down at her charge. "You have had quite the day, more than anyone should have. Let's get you to bed."
"No!" cried Cream "We gotta go find Mommy!"
Rouge raised an eyebrow. "We are not letting you go anywhere tonight little lady. And that's final."
"But…" started Cream
"Ah Ah!" tsked Rouge. "Don't you start with me. I do have every intention of getting Vanilla back here, before tomorrows' out if we can. But you need to sleep. It's not good for you to be out and about so late while you are so young."
Cream started to whine and Rouge sighed.
"Okay… okay, tell you what. Let's make a bet." She grinned. "I know a song that has, every time, put a kid to sleep. If you manage to stay awake through it all you can come with me to a safe place while we plan to find your Mom. If you can't then I'll get you tucked into bed and in the morning I'll be here to keep you updated about what happened. We got a deal?"
Cream thought about it a bit. "Deal. I am so awake right now that nothing could make me fall asleep!" She said, trying to hide a small yawn.
Rouge smiled "This is gonna be sooo easy." She thought.
"Ok, now I want you to go get another set of pajamas on and to make sure you don't have any splinters. Make sure to wash your hands too. I need to check on something really quick and then I'll be back in the rocker."
"Ok!" Cream scurried off to her room, turning on her bathroom light.
Shaking her head, Rouge moved to the kitchen table and looked at the note that was left. It was very plain, in typed letters that said "For Eggman Only" with a CD in a small nondescript case right by it. Swearing under her breath she moved out of the house and flicked open her comms-link letting it ring.
"Shadow, can you hear me?" Asked Rouge. A soft reply came from over the link.
"Good. I need you over here ASAP. Vanilla is missing and the house has been ransacked. Yes, Cream is safe, I'm getting her tucked away now. Bring Eggman. I don't care what you think there is a note for him from the kidnappers, he is involved. I got some details out of Cream about the attack, it was definitely planned, and it's not a money scheme. I'll fill you in when you get here."
Rouge shut off the comms-link
No sooner has she shut it off that Cream came bounding back into the room yelling "I'm ready!"
Rouge chuckled, "And so am I. C'mon sugar, let's get this started."
And so they started rocking again. The gentle swaying of rocker set the tone of the song, as she gently tapped a finger on the end of one of the chair arms to keep the rhythm steady. Rouge looked back on her memories, back to when she wasn't too much older than Cream herself. Unfortunately, she hadn't had a mother to care for her like Cream did.
But she did have Miss Owler.
She had been one of the many orphans under her care, albeit a little older since she had been brought in from the streets when she had been caught pick-pocketing instead of brought to the orphanage. Due to her street life she had a hard time dealing with the little kids and living with them, but she was grateful for the time Miss Owler took to teach her and let her stay, so she tried to help. One of the first things that Miss Owler had done was assign her to night duty, which meant dealing with runaways, nightmares and shenanigans. She had hated it. But now she was grateful for having learned the "Steady Song"
Before she knew it the familiar old humming that was the prelude to the song started buzzing in her throat and started to sing:
"Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, bum bum ba-da bum
Steady as the river, the night is coming on
Steady as the river, the day has come and gone
Come, lay your head down child, down by the river
Come, lay your head down child, till the night is gone
Ooh, ooh, ooh, ooh, bum bum ba-da bum"
Cream was doing pretty well by the end of the first verse, but as it continued to the second, and then the third, Rouge noticed that slowly Cream was falling asleep.
Unfortunately for Cream the deal was somewhat rigged: The Steady Song was called such not only for a title, but because the song could go on for over an hour. Miss Owler had actually shown her the lyric sheet for the old song, which she claimed had been handed down by nurse-maids and housewives for over a century, each adding a little more to it, and it had contained over 15 versus. Rouge was actually the one that held the record for the longest time awake during the song, at a astonishing 14 versus. To be fair, she had drunk an entire can of energy drink right before it but she still surrendered to the songs' relaxing chorus.
And Cream was nowhere near that when she started snoring gently.
Lifting her up, Rouge transferred her to her bed and wrapped the blankets around her tightly before closing the door.
"Works every time." she chuckled, before yawning herself. She moved out of the house and started pulling up her mobile data-base, sighing softly.
"And here I thought I was gonna have some girl-time with Vanilla. Oh well, looks like it's gonna be a long night for me."
She hovered softly to the roof of the house, looking towards the winding road leading towards the city and started to wait.