Big The Cat kicked himself up from the makeshift bed he called home, now in an isolated cave near Seaside Hill. After Station Square fell and all the craziness involving the Ark, he was ready to move somewhere quiet, and go back to the peaceful relaxation that defined his lifestyle. Sure, Froggy always said he'd make way more of a profit selling fish to humans than to mobians (as mobians were far more physically able to do things for themselves), but both of them needed some time to relax. Seaside Hill thus far proved peaceful enough, and seeing as this was a mostly mobian populated region, it made for a refreshing change of pace. Froggy never did like humans much, probably thanks to the Doctor...where was Froggy, anyway?
"Froggy…?" He lifted the bed, looked around the covers on the ground where Froggy usually slept, checked outside, shook the trees, and quadruple-checked the Cave again. He let out a long sigh and grabbed his fishing rod, setting out for the mainland.
If there were any other advantage to living around humans, it was that information was much easier to come across. It didn't matter if you were in a small town or a bustling city rivaling Grand Metropolis, you could always find a newspaper or TV with recent events on it. In the non-urban mobian areas though, you mostly had to rely on word-of-mouth.
"Have you seen my friend, Froggy?"
"Uhm, no, sorry, good luck though!"
"Where's Froggy? I can't find him!"
"Come child, what did I tell you about talking to strangers…"
"Help me, please!"
"Get off of me, you creep!"
He didn't find much help. Froggy always told him he was better off doing things on his own, but Big knew Froggy was a troubled soul. Everyone needed some help every now and then. He found himself in the middle of a small fishing town on the coast, and he took notice to an armadillo with a red shell and tired eyes approaching him.
"Hey big guy...you out soul-searching too?"
"I guess so...I lost my little buddy, Froggy."
The armadillo scratched his chin. "Heh...buddies. You think you've got friends for life, then all of a sudden they tell you to hit the curb. 'Budget cuts'…what a load. Hey, where ya goin'?" He grabbed the departing cat by the tail, backing up a little when the 600-pound force of nature made eye contact with him.
"I have to find Froggy," Big declared, a hint of annoyance behind his dopey dialect.
"Easy, pal. Listen...I heard someone caught a photo of somebody running with a frog and a chao. Think that might be-UHRK"
The large cat had scooped the armadillo off his feet just a bit too suddenly, bringing him to eye level. "WHERE?!" He asked, desperate yet hopeful.
"Ack...could ya..loosen up?"
"Oh, sorry," he said, gently letting the armadillo down and scratching his neck out of embarrassment. Sometimes he didn't know his own strength.
"Phew..it's cool, I know ya didn't mean no harm. That's about all I've got, but there's this girl named Amy who's visiting, looking for her boyfriend or something. Her friend knows all about Chao, I'm sure they can help you way more than I can."
Of course, Amy and Cream! Big smiled at fond memories of the duo - they'd helped him and Froggy settle in here after the whole ARK fiasco. He'd been in this village before now that he thought about it, and he knew exactly where he could find his old friends. "Thank yoouu!" Big called, already running down the boardwalk, rocking the whole thing with every stride.
"Any time, big guy!" the armadillo called, wondering if the cat knew where he was going. He stared for a while, debating on whether or not to take off after him, maybe join him even, before deciding that four would probably be a crowd. Mighty figured it was probably about time he'd take a break from his adventuring days, anyway.
Big spotted Amy's distinct pink fur right away, and readied his fishing rod when he saw Cream the Rabbit flailing helplessly in the wind. She was an easy catch, letting her down safely as Amy came to join them.
"Nice catch, Big!" she exclaimed, smiling broadly at the gentle giant. Big had always been like a big brother to the two, having gotten them out of numerous situations in the past, and always lending an ear and helpful advice when needed - and when it came to Amy, that was often. Taking the freshly-recovered news flyer from Cheese, Cream's Chao, Team Rose examined the photo of what was unmistakably Sonic the Hedgehog, running off with both Froggy and Chocola, Cheese's twin, in tow.
"Froggy…" Big mused, recognizing his best pal.
"Chacola…" Cream stated.
"Hey you guys, cheer up, you know we'll find them. No time to waste just standing here, let's get going!" Amy chimed, bursting with energy. Big and Cream agreed, following closely behind as the trio took off to look for lost friends.
