Hello! It's me again with yet another Knuxikal one-shot! For this one I was a little meh on but hopefully it does the job. Again bear with me as this is a side hobby of mine so no negative stuffs. Please enjoy!
Disclaimer: All characters and locations belong to Sega.
A Day in Angel Island: A Knuxikal Story
Floating thousands of feet into the air, the enormous earthy atoll of Angel Island presented itself in the blue filled sky on a sunny day. Several birds that were able to fly at high altitude past its huge mountain range that sat in the middle with various biomes encompassing several areas of the island, from hot deserts to snowy valleys. In one biome, it consisted of dense forest with diverse wildlife that growled or squeaked depending on where they were at. Within this part of the island, several ruins from a past civilization presented itself to which its inhabitants were long gone from a terrible event. Its history was almost forever lost if it weren't for the only sole survivor of its species… which is not the case anymore as he now has someone… who is a her.
Tikal kneeled in front of the almighty Master Emerald, eyes closed and hands clasped as she spoke a silent prayer. Its majestic brilliance shined from its surface and radiant power filled the area around it, which sat on a large altar surrounded by seven smaller ones that each also had a smaller emerald which were different in color.
The orange priestess then opened her eyes and looked at the enormous gem. "The servers are the seven Chaos. Chaos is power… Power enriched by the heart. The controller is the one that unifies the Chaos."
A glow emanated from the Master Emerald, indicating that it heard her prayer. Tikal smiled at this, knowing that the old mantra her grandmother passed on to her was still important to harness the gem's power. With a small bow she got up and turned, walking towards the steps and taking a deep breath.
"I'm done Knuckie! Are you still-?"
BRUSH!
The echidna female jumped at the noise. She turned to the source visibly shaken, then let out a sigh of relief as well as a giggle. The guardian of the Master Emerald was present… though he was asleep on a small grassy patch of the altar and was turned over, hence the sound.
'I guess I'll be seeing this every day. It only makes me love him more though~.' Tikal thought adoringly. A week has passed ever since they met once again, except for the orange-furred girl she was resurrected into physical form once again upon the Master Emerald heeding Knuckles' wish to not be alone anymore. Their meeting was interesting, Tikal seeing the red guardian injured from one of Dr. Eggman's robots exploding upon him damaging it. From there they ate some fruit while she tended to his wounds after he cleared the area of debris and flames, and then they headed towards a dome-shaped house that he made with Tails making the inside modern. A storm arrived around that time and though he insisted that she stay inside while he guarded the Master Emerald outside, she convinced him to stay inside with her as well. They watched a movie… with Knuckles falling asleep and Tikal almost doing something near impossible. After that things got very interesting to which in the end, they professed their love to one another and are now official.
Tikal relished the feeling of being alive again and would always ensure that Knuckles remains at her side, the latter also wanting too as well. The next day after their meeting, Tikal wanted to explore the ruins to which Knuckles was happy to oblige. They walked with the echidna female having her arms wrapped around the emerald protector's bigger one as they explored the remains of the Knuckles Tribe. She also told him of the past based on the scriptures they saw on the walls, and for Knuckles it was valuable knowledge that he wanted since he couldn't decipher it wholly due to some fragments being lost. It took them the whole day and for both, loved every single second of it. At times did they find a nice spot in a still intact hut, made out, and then delve into the wonders of mating.
For the latter, they did it every day. When they woke up, Knuckles felt her silky lips upon his and realizing they were still naked his little 'soldier' was up and at the ready. They made use of several positions that Knuckles started learning and Tikal was taught secretly from her grandmother. Apparently Tikal had a very seductive personality that was very different from her sweet one he sees every day, and for him it adds more excitement. He relishes how he is dominant whenever they mate, and for her she loves it as she feels protected and cared for unlike back then where her father treated her cruelly.
Unlike her father, Knuckles was very sweet and treated her like a princess in making sure she was out of harm's way and helping her with heavy workloads. Also due to her return, the male echidna was more active and outgoing compared to just sitting there and keeping watch on the emeralds. When they leave the altar he makes sure Tails' defense system is up at the ready and when its inactive, they spend the time there talking with one another or playing around. All in all, Knuckles felt a weight lift off his shoulders knowing that he won't spend the rest of his life simply guarding a giant piece of shiny rock. Luckily for him Rouge or Dr. Eggman hasn't come and taken it yet, meaning he was in the clear unless a certain blue hedgehog came to annoy him…
Away from all that Tikal watched her lover snooze without a care in the world, using his arms as a pillow as he lied on his side.
'He's so cute. Alright time to wake him up.' Tikal thought as she approached Knuckles. Crouching a bit, the female echidna leapt into the air and pounced on him.
"ACK-MMMMFPH!" Knuckles woke up startled, his yell covered by his lover's mouth. His shock subsided after a bit and he kissed back, earning a squeal from her. She wrapped her arms around his neck with the latter around her waist, caressing her lower back. Their lips danced with one another in bliss, eyes closed and enjoying the time. She pushed further into him, lying down completely on him and sitting on his pelvis. Knuckles then slowly got up, not releasing his hold until their lungs demanded air. They separated, slowly opening their eyes as they grinned.
"Could've warned me ya know." the red guardian's deep voice let out.
"Well I wanted to surprise you~." she replied with a cute smile, her hands moving towards his quills and playing with them.
"You've surprised me everyday ever since you were revived. First it was a kiss, then it was tickling me, after that was waking up to you already starting that, and then after that-." he got caught off as Tikal kissed him again. He lowered his eyes in playful annoyance but reciprocated the action as they released a few seconds later.
"Well I have to make up 3,000 years of not seeing the most handsome, cutest echidna guardian now~." she purred batting her eyelashes. Knuckles huffed playfully and grinned. "That makes two of us, living my life without the most beautiful, gorgeous echidna princess I ever seen."
Tikal squealed and hugged him tightly. "I'll never get tired of that Knuckie." she said nuzzling his chest. The red guardian chuckled and nuzzled the top of her head. "I'll never get tired of you Tikie."
Feeling her move her head to gaze up at him, Knuckles moved his hands towards her hips. "So, what does my princess wanna do today?"
Tikal placed her hand under her chin in thought, until she beamed at an idea. "How about we go the snow!" she answered, hopping like a child on his lap.
"Hehe well I haven't been there in a long time. I don't normally deal with stuff like that but if it's you, I'll do anything to make you happy." Knuckles said, chuckling as his girlfriend squealed in happiness.
"Thank you Knuckie! C'mon I also have things I made for us!" And getting up, she grabbed her boyfriend and both made their way down the stairs of the altar. "H-Hey not so fast! I don't want you tripping!" Knuckles stuttered out.
A few minutes later…
"These… look pretty nice." the emerald guardian said to himself as he stood in the living room of his, or their, home. Ever since the day after she resurrected, she highly valued Knuckles' health and guilt tripped him into not staying outside to guard the Master Emerald at night anymore. It made full use of the defense system so they don't become dusty or anything and luckily he was still able to keep an eye on it when they don't have anything else to do during the day.
As for his small mumble, he was mentioning the attire he wore considering that his regular get up wouldn't be suited for frosty conditions. His wear included a green scarf wrapped around his neck with tribal patterns reminiscent to his race's clothing designs along with feathers at the ends, and leather snow boots with a bit of wild puff sticking out from the inserts which also had the same patterns. He retained his white gloves but other than that his look made him like the warriors back then in case they traveled to snowy areas.
"Okay Knuckie I'm coming out now." Tikal said to him coming out of their bedroom. The red guardian's jaw dropped at the sight: she had a green pom-pom hat and scarf that had matched Knuckles' scarf colors and designs along with a long-sleeved white blouse, her normal attire skirt which was slightly longer than the actual one she wears every day, and snow boots that matched his. She also kept her jeweled headpiece, necklace and gloves with blue bracelets as the finishing touch.
"So… what do you think?" she shyly asked, her hands behind her back as she watched his stunned gaze nervously. "Is this alright?"
Knuckles shook his head to compose himself and grinned. "I-It's more than alright! You look…" he blushed and looked to the side. "…r-really cute."
Tikal smiled innocently, making her way to him and kissing him deeply. He replied the same way, pouring their newly made love into one another. A minute after did they separate and laughed to each other. "Th-Thank you Knuckie." she said quietly.
The male echidna nodded as both made their way out the door and back towards the altar. Once they got to the top Knuckles extended his hand towards the small green and red emeralds, both watching as they levitated into the air and floated towards their guardian's palm. Tikal watched in amazement at this.
"I didn't know you could do that!" the female echidna spoke aloud. Knuckles smirked at her with a sense of accomplishment. "Well since I've been around the Chaos Emeralds for a long time, not only can I sense their energy but I can do much more than just harness it as well.
"Woah…" Tikal awed at the revelation. Knuckles chuckled at her expression. "I thought you'd know of this. I mean you are also a guardian right so you should know how to do this and know what Chaos Control is right?"
"Chaos Control?" she questioned, then frowned. "And sadly no. I'm not proficient in sensing Chaos energy like you can and I was mainly at the altar to care for the Chao and speak with Chaos from time to time."
"Oh, well that's fine. I mean Sonic and Shadow know how to do it and they aren't around the emeralds often so probably only a few can wield its power." Knuckles then presented her the two emeralds. "You see Chaos Control is sort of like what you did with us in showing us those visions, except we can actually go to those places. It's like time travel if Tails were to put it but it can also help us go from one place to another instantly."
Tikal listened in more awe, eyes widening at the new information she took in. "I didn't know one could do things like that. No wonder my father and the tribe wanted to take the emeralds."
"Well you don't have to worry about that now, not when I'm around!" Knuckles stated while flexing his bicep. Tikal giggled and pecked his lips. "And with me around we'll be unstoppable!" she cheered with raised hands.
Knuckles grinned "Hehe I thought you don't like violence?" Tikal noticed her predicament and lowered her hands, blushing in embarrassment. "I don't hehe, but with us around there wouldn't be anyone bad enough to take them."
"Alright well whenever you're ready." Knuckles brought both emeralds back and slightly clenched them, its radiance glowing more brighter.
"So how do I get ready?" Tikal asked him.
"You can either stand there and be left alone or just hold me. You need to touch the person with the emeralds so Chaos Control can work." Knuckles explained. With a nod and another blush she hugged the red guardian and kissed his cheek, nuzzling him with eyes closed. Knuckles smiled and held up the emeralds into the air.
"CHAOS CONTROL!"
A bright light engulfed them both, and they were gone.
At the snow biome…
A vast expanse of white fluff covered the ground of a large area filled with several trees and a couple of hills. A bit of breeze passed through some of the snow-covered branches on the trees and knocking them towards the ground, adding more to the enormous pile that covered the entirety of the ground. Mostly cloudy skies covered the atmosphere above but a bit of sunlight poked through its several openings, meaning that the day was still alive and will be several hours until night falls again.
A flash of light suddenly appeared in the middle of an open field, shining for a few seconds and then disappearing to reveal Knuckles and Tikal… except they were at least ten feet in the air.
"KYAAAA!" the orange-furred echidna screamed as both she and her boyfriend fell towards the cold plush below.
"OOF!" Knuckles let out with his body hitting the snow and the smaller girl landing on top of him. Luckily he turned in the air fast enough so he can take the brunt of the impact.
"Mguh… what…?" Tikal mumbled out of her dazed expression and looked down, seeing Knuckles recoil in pain. She panicked however and brushed off some snow on his face, cupping his cheeks. "Oh my goodness are you okay?!"
"Yeah ow, sorry about that… I haven't-gruh! used Chaos Control in a while so I still haven't mastered it yet." Knuckles let out as he got up slowly. He shook his head a bit and watched Tikal look at him in worry. "It's okay Tikie, I'm fine." he smiled softly.
Tikal did the same gesture and kissed him, another small makeout following which last a minute. After that minute they separated and the orange echidna looked around in astonishment.
"Wooow… this is incredible…" she said getting up while helping her lover as well. Knuckles looked around as well and grinned. "Yup, this is what snow looks like." he said.
Tikal walked forward more in the opening, her boots crunching into the snow and her legs sinking a bit. The depth of the snow was enough that it reached up to her ankles so she wouldn't lose her balance much. The cold air nipped at her nose to which she raised her scarf a bit higher to cover her face, doing a small twirl as her face morphed into a joyful expression.
"I've been gone for 3,000 years and now… this is wonderful!" Tikal crouched to grab a bit of snow and hurled it in the air. She did the same action several times, laughing at how she can experience this once again. Knuckles watched in happiness, seeing someone from the distant past able to relive one of nature's wonders. Though Knuckles is very dedicated to ensuring she has fun in life, that doesn't mean he can't find other ways to bring it about as well once he gathered enough snow in his palms…
POW!
Tikal stumbled forward, almost losing her balance. Instant cold was felt behind her head as she looked back in surprise, eyes wide to see whoever did that. No one else was there besides Knuckles… who had an outstretched hand and a devious smirk on his face.
"Kn-Knuckie?! W-Why w-would y-y-you…" Tears started coming out of the echidna girl's eyes to which Knuckles immediately regretted it, the look of horror appearing on his face. He ran up to her and got a hold of her as she kneeled onto the ground, hands on her face as she began to cry.
"N-NO I DIDN'T M-MEAN IT! L-LOOK I WAS JUST-?!" Knuckles couldn't find his words as his girlfriend started weeping into her palms. He panicked as well hugging her, rubbing circles on her back. "P-Please don't cry! I won't do it again!"
Eventually did Tikal settle down and nuzzle into him. The emerald guardian pulled back a bit to see her still looking down, luckily her hands weren't on her face anymore so he can take a better look. Though he should've paid more attention…
POW!
A white blast of frost smothered his face and he fell back landing on his butt. "GRU-WHAT THE?!" Knuckles' arms went towards his face as he wiped the snow out of it. He shook his head side to side and watched in shock at Tikal, her hands in the air with bits of snow on them and a small giggle coming out of her.
"Got you~." she revealed her face, eyes puffy from crying yet sticking out her tongue cutely. Knuckles couldn't believe it, he was fooled into it because of how gullible he is.
"B-But you were crying?! YOU MADE ME WORRY!" he shouted at her angrily. Tikal winched, Knuckles never being that furious towards her.
"I-I'm s-sorry Knuckie. I-It's just I d-don't like v-violence." she stuttered meekly, preparing to cry again.
The male echidna sighed and went up to her, hugging her again as he felt her nuzzle him. "No, I'm sorry. I thought we could've had a bit of a snowball fight that's all." he whispered to her. The smaller female looked up at him with a sniffle, hugging his neck. "I-It's okay. When you hit me with the snow it made me remember the terrible experience I had when the tribe rushed the altar. They trampled on me as they made their way to the Master Emerald and the hit felt as though I was gonna get stepped on again…"
'Way to go idiot. Ruining the day so far.' Knuckles thought, tightening his hold on her and the latter doing the same. He was prepared though as he thought of several other things while they got ready. "How about we build a snowman?" he asked her. Tikal pulled back a bit and looked at him in confusion. "A snowman?"
Knuckles pulled back and grabbed a pile of snow, though Tikal retreated back a bit and the former noticed. "Don't worry, I'm not gonna throw it at you." he said, rolling it up into a ball and placing it back on the ground. "From here you just push it until it gets bigger and bigger, like this." The emerald guardian then got up and started pushing the ball with it collecting snow and becoming slightly bigger.
Tikal became interested in this and mimicked his previous action, scooping snow in her hands and making a ball. "Like this?" she asked.
"Yeah, now just do what I do and roll it on the ground." he answered as he pushed more to gather snow for his ball. Tikal nodded and placed hers on the ground then started pushing it, noticing that it was getting bigger. "I'm doing it Knuckie!"
"That's great, now keep rolling it!" he yelled from the farther side of the area, his ball getting up to his knees in height. Tikal rolled her ball with each step making crunching noises in the snow. She giggled at how her ball got bigger and was actually having fun, not being able to do this in her time.
"I think that should do it on my part." Knuckles said to himself looking at his snowball. It was up to his waist and almost spherical, though for him it was perfect to act as the base. He looked back at his lover who started slowing down, knowing that it'd get heavier the bigger it gets. "Take your time, otherwise you'll get tired faster."
"But I'm having so much fun doing this!" the orange-furred female responded, her snowball almost at around her waist in height as well. She started panting however and due to not having strength or endurance compared to Knuckles, started to slow down.
"I *pant* think… that's *pant* enough." Tikal let out, hands on her knees trying to regain her breath. Her snowball sat at her side to which Knuckles nodded that it'll hold as well and with no effort, picked it up with one hand and brought it next to the other one. "This is perfect, so now we can have two of them."
Once she recovered, Tikal saw Knuckles do another snowball. "So we have to make another one?" she asked.
"Yeah, this one's gonna be the middle part. It's the bottom, middle, then head so we have to make three of them. We don't have to make the second and third one bigger because they'll be smaller." the red echidna explained. With that the smaller of the two gathered more snow and rolled it. She went over to Knuckles and pushed hers alongside his. "I want to make sure I do it right hehe." she said. Knuckles blushed a bit and nodded. "You'll do it right don't worry."
It didn't take long for them to create two smaller snowballs each and with Knuckles' impressive strength, placed two each on the two separate bases. Tikal watched with interest. "I really wished I was able to do things like this back then, but my father didn't even allow me to play with other children." she whispered sadly. Knuckles heard this and walked to her, raising his hand to her cheek and rubbing it softly as she looked at him. "Well I'll make sure you get to do all the kinds of things you want to do." he said with a smile. The female echidna smiled and pecked his hand with a nuzzle.
Looking towards the two snowmen, Knuckles proceeded to rub his hands together as he looked at the ground.
"Alright just give me one sec." and with that he jumped into the air and dived straight towards the snow, fists clawing into the white powder and disappearing into the earth. Tikal covered her face from the flying snow and looked back to see a hole where Knuckles dug through. 'That is amazing.' she thought looking into the hole only to see darkness. "Please be careful Knuckie!" she stated, her voice echoing in the earthen chamber.
It wasn't a minute later that the emerald guardian jumped out of the hole into the air then landed back down acrobatically. He walked up to Tikal who was happy to see he's okay and noticed that he didn't come back empty-handed.
"Why do we need those?" she asked Knuckles who was holding several rocks, two carrots and a couple of sticks. The male echidna smirked and handed her half of the items. "These are to make the face, arms and anything else that we want to add on it."
Knuckles went up to his snowman and placed two rocks on the upper part of the top snowball, then the carrot below them and finally several rocks in a curve below the carrot. "See, now it's got a face." he said with a grin. Tikal watched in awe at this and went to her snowman doing the same thing. She then stepped back and placed a hand on her chin.
"Hmm, I think I can make this look better." the orange-furred echidna said, going up to her snowman and molding the top part of the snowball to have quills. She did the same thing with the other one although she had to tippy toe which Knuckles found adorable and had to look the other way. Tikal peered from her shoulder seeing this action. "Are you alright?"
"O-Oh y-yeah, I'm fine! All good!" he let out nervously and quick. Not seeing it as a good answer, she stopped and walked up to him in concern. "Please my love, what is it?" she asked softly. Melting at how angelic she sounded, the red guardian looked back hesitantly and breathed out. "It's because you were on your tippy toes that I thought it was cute…"
Tikal blushed and hid her face with her scarf. "O-Oh, u-um do realize I-I have to do that too when I kiss you." she replied. Knuckles scratched the back of his head nervously. "I didn't notice that, then again I wouldn't pay much attention about it since I get lost in your eyes."
She sighed blissfully and tippy toed up to Knuckles, kissing him deeply before going back to finish the snowman. The bigger echidna smiled like an idiot as he watched her. 'Thank you Master Emerald.'
Moving her hands a couple more times on the snowman, Tikal walked back placing her hands on her hips. "And that should do it!" she said. Knuckles watched her work and was stunned: they both looked just like them and the detail on both snowmen were incredible. "H-How did you-?"
"I had a lot of time creating clay molds so with the snow it's not much different hehe." the female echidna stated looking back at him. "They look great don't they?"
Knuckles smiled at her and walked towards them, placing the sticks on both sides of the snowman with the ones in the middle touching one another, mimicking hand holding. "Now it looks better than great." he replied. Tikal walked up to him and hugged him from the side, nuzzling his arm. "Thank you for this my love."
The red guardian smirked down at her and kissed her forehead. "Now that we got this done there's another thing we can try and I've been wanting to do it. Sonic's done it when we were hunting the emeralds back then but he told me about it."
"What was this thing he did?" Tikal asked him. Instead of getting an answer, Knuckles walked forward and kneeled in front of her with arms behind him. "First we'll be going up the big hill over there." he gestured towards a half-mile tall rise to the right of them. Tikal was surprised looking at his action. "O-Oh no it's fine, I can walk up there."
"No way, I don't want my princess going up a tall hill like that and waste her energy." he said. The peach-colored girl blushed at this and knowing he wouldn't take no for an answer, walked up to him and wrapped her arms around his neck with her legs going over his arms as Knuckles stood up. Tikal gasped, this being the first time she was carried by someone besides the time when she couldn't walk yet. "I-I hope I'm not too heavy…" she whispered in his ear.
"You're not Tikie, there's no way I'll get tired carrying you and I'll do it forever if I must." Knuckles smiled a bit flustered. The smaller of the two returned the gesture and nuzzled his head with hers, wrapping her arms tighter as the larger male started walking up the hill.
At the top…
POW!
Throwing a solid punch at a fallen tree, Knuckles used his strength to tear out two barks of wood of decent size for the activity they were about to do. Tikal watched her boyfriend come over to her and hand her the smaller bark of lumber in confusion. "What are we doing with these?" she asked.
"We're gonna do something called sledding." he grinned.
"Sledding?" she questioned again. The red guardian nodded and placed his bark on the edge of the hill. "All you have to do is either sit or stand on your sled and you go down the hill, that's it. Move your body left or right so you can turn and careful not to hit anything because it's sort of hard to stop." he explained. The echidna female shivered looking down the incline; it was pretty high up but if she wants to impress Knuckles she'll have to be brave. "A-Alright let's do it!" she chipped.
Both of them lined up their sleds and got on with Knuckles standing on his. "I'll be standing. Can't let that hedgehog make fun of me if I can't do it as well."
Tikal giggled a bit and sat in her sled. "I'm sure you'll be fine Knuckie. Just don't let it get to you." she assured him. The echidna male nodded and leaned forward. "Alright get ready because it's gonna be fast!"
Gripping her bark tightly, Tikal looked down a bit frightened and used her leg to push forward a bit. Knuckles did the same thing and feeling adrenaline kick into his body, got a head start and began picking up speed. "ALRIIIGHT!" he yelled as he slalomed left and right.
The orange-furred female pushed once more and also began going down as she started going faster. "AAHHHH!" she shrieked with eyes closed at the first few seconds of the trek. She felt cold wind and bits of snow hit her face along with trembling going through her body, opening her eyes and gasping at how fast downhill she was going. Looking to her right she saw Knuckles naturally grinding on pieces of tree sticking out from the snow and doing a few flips. The sounds of joy coming out of him relieved her fear and now adrenaline took its place, looking forward with a big grin as well. "WHEEE!"
Knuckles looked to his left watching Tikal laugh happily as she caught up to him. Doing one more flip he swerved next to her. "I think I'm really good at this!" he yelled.
"This is amazing Knuckie!" she replied loudly looking down at the incoming bottom of the hill. Knuckles grinned and looked forward. "If I get to the bottom first I'll be guarding the Master Emerald at night from now on!" he yelled, leaning forward and picking up speed. Tikal looked shocked at the announcement, then looked ahead in determination. "OH NO YOU DON'T!" she hollered leaning in as well.
Knuckles moved towards the center noticing a dip there and used it to his advantage. Feeling his body go lower he moved forward and felt himself pick up more speed from it and by the time he came out of it, felt himself fly a bit into the air but was enough that he looked back noticing Tikal getting farther behind. 'Heh she won't catch up now!'
Tikal saw Knuckles getting further away from her but that wouldn't let her determination go down. She eyed a small tunnel to her left and turned towards it, disappearing inside and noticing that it was pretty dark. 'Please don't be a dead end please don't be a dead end…' she constantly thought.
The emerald guardian looked back and noticed that she wasn't there anymore. Believing that he gained enough distance he smirked and weaved through several obstacles in confidence. "Alright I got this in the bag!" he announced. The bottom was only a few meters away and he eyed it like it was a prized possession. "Looks like I-."
WOOSH!
"?!" Knuckles instantly felt his vision go slightly darker as a shadow formed over him. He looked up and to his shock, Tikal was flying over him in the air. The bad news as well is that she overtook him and is now very close to the bottom. Even more bad news…
"GAH?!"
Knuckles didn't watch his path, hitting a slightly elevated rock causing him to stumble in the air and…
POW!
Slamming headfirst into a tree, the snow upon its leaves falling onto his body.
"YEAAHH!" Tikal cheered as she slowly came to a stop at the bottom. Shaking in excitement she looked around gleefully noticing that the larger echidna was no where around. "Looks like I WIN!" she got off her sled and jumped around in happiness. "That means no guarding the Master Emerald at night Knuckie!" she yelled pointing at the slope, though her finger slowly went down. "Knuckie?"
The red echidna was nowhere to be seen. "Knuckie!" she called out to him with hands besides her mouth. "Knuckie where are you?!" she tried again walking up the incline. "I shouldn't have been that far ahead of you." she said to herself. Looking around for any sign of him, she started getting worried as she rubbed her arms due to how colder it is the more she went up the incline. "Knuckie if you're hiding because you lost don't be-." her words caught in her mouth. Looking to her left…unmoving gloved hand…body partially in snow…blood…
Fear shot into her. Horrified eyes open to the fullest. Mouth open and not moving. No other thought rather than what she is seeing in front of her: Knuckles on the ground, unmoving, possibly unalive.
"KNUCKIE!"
Tikal ran as fast as she can to him, the snow dragging her down but her incredible urge to get to him quickly outdid the need for her to take a breather. Tears streamed down her cheeks with the wind brushing them across her face and clenched teeth chattering, thinking of her love only.
"NO NO NO NO…" she yelled repeatedly, getting to him and moving him on his back. She almost fainted at the large purple bruise on his head which was cut open and leaked blood, his eyes closed and mouth slightly open. She choked back sobs placing her head to his chest: a faint pulse was heard. 'HE'S STILL ALIVE!' she thought.
Her heart couldn't calm itself as she placed his head on her lap, tearing off a bit of her scarf to use as a handkerchief and rubbing away the blood on his forehead. Her sobs got more noticeable, still terrified that this happened to her beloved. "P-P-Please K-Knuckie…n-not n-now!"
She managed to wipe away the blood and got it to stop leaking out, though the bruise will take time to heal. Tearing off more of her scarf she used that to wrap it around his head, serving as a temporary bandage. Tikal watched Knuckles still scared, caressing his cheeks with her thumbs and tears falling onto his face. "Knuckie…"
"MMrgh…"
Tikal jumped slightly but leaned more to him, hope appearing on her face as Knuckles stirred out of his unconsciousness. Her breathing elevated and she tried calming down, but him awakening was a miracle that he was still in her life. "Knuckie!" she said continuing to hold his face softly.
"…Wha?" the red guardian muttered, his vision was blurry but he was able to make out an orange blotch very close to him and soft hands holding his face. He clenched his eyes again, grunting at the throbbing pain his head was experiencing. "Wha…?" Opening his eyes again, his vision started returning and Tikal's terrified, teary-eyed face came into view.
"Are you okay..." he asked her softly, slightly raising his hand up but couldn't. The orange echidna tried holding back her sobs but more tears escaped, her face scrunching up trying to smile. "Y-Y-Yes, I-I-I'm o-okay…" she stuttered.
Knuckles couldn't think straight but did know that his lover was hurt because he was hurt. All he could do was bring out a pained grin. "I-It's fine… I'm tougher… than I look." he said with difficulty. Tikal sobbed, leaning down and hugging his head but not tightly to hurt him. "D-Don't e-e-ever d-do th-that t-to m-me…"
The emerald guardian felt incredible warmth from her body, but managed a nod while closing his eyes. "Hehe… sorry I got… distracted."
Tikal moved back a bit, calming down but still trembling from his state. "D-Does i-it hurt too much?" she asked him. Knuckles opened his eyes up at her and shook his head. "Not a lot… you make the pain… go away."
The orange-furred girl smiled and wipe the tears away from her face. "I-I'll always be with y-you Knuckie, to make your pain go away."
Knuckles grinned softly and breathed in. "So looks like… I lost eh?" he said. The female echidna nodded softly, grinning cutely. "Yes, but I don't care about that. You are more important."
A red hue settled on the male echidna's face and tears threatened to come out. Tikal noticed however and wiped them gently away. "It's okay Knuckie. We both win and that's what counts." she told him. "You won because you're able to do something Sonic can, and I won because I was scared of doing this but you made me brave that I can do it."
Her lover chuckled and sighed. "So I guess I can't… guard the Master Emerald at night then." he joked, his normal speech returning to him. The small female smiled and shook her head. "Like I'll ever let you be out there, even if you won."
A comfortable silence came afterwards, Knuckles resting with a smile on his face while Tikal watched him contently and caressing his face. The sky started casting a faint glow, meaning that dusk was well on its way. The wind died down fortunately but because the day was almost over, the ambient temperature started getting colder and for the pair, the bit of shivering they emitted was an indicator to that.
"C'mon Tikie, let's go home." he said slowly moving his body up. She was quick to his side and helped him up, grabbing under his arms and heaving him up. The guardian grunted a few times but was able to endure it due to his beloved pecking his face for encouragement. Upon standing, he wobbled a bit but Tikal held onto him. Taking out the two Chaos Emeralds he kept hidden, he looked back once more at where he laid and grinned.
"You saw what I made there?" Knuckles asked the orange-furred female, pointing to the spot. Tikal looked at where he laid and noticed the snow moved out of the way to create a picture of something. "What is that?" she told him.
"It's a snow angel." the red guardian answered. "I did it before I got knocked out. It's nothing special, but I was hoping we could've done this together."
The female echidna smiled and nuzzled him. "It looks perfect Knuckie."
Knuckles smiled and nuzzled her back. "Not as perfect as you my snow angel."
Tikal squealed and held him close, happiness surging through her body. Looking down one last time he held up the emeralds.
"CHAOS CONTROL!"
Back at their home…
"Ahh, that's better." Knuckles said coming out of the bathroom. His fur was slightly damp with a towel wrapped around his waist. His dreadlock quills drooped lower and a gauze wrap was around his head to heal his injury.
"So tired, Knuckie." Tikal came out afterwards, a towel wrapped around her body and a smaller one on her head. She wobbled a bit and fortunately the larger male helped her by placing an arm around her waist. "Hehe well we shouldn't have mated in the shower."
"But I wanted to help you feel better not just for your head~." she responded, kissing him deeply. Knuckles responded and brought her close, pulling back a bit. "You always make me feel better Tikie, no matter what you do."
Smiling at him, she held him and both made their way to the bedroom. A few minutes later they came out with Knuckles only in his socks and Tikal wearing a white night gown. They sat at the couch and cuddled one another.
"So what'd you think of today?" the emerald guardian asked. His princess beamed at him. "It was perfect. Though it could've been better without you getting hurt and the other things that happened, but other than that I loved it." she answered him.
Knuckles and Tikal looked at one another and passionately kissed, caressing each other tenderly. Pulling back a bit they looked at each other longingly. "I'm glad to hear it. Next time we'll plan it out even better." the larger male said, seeing his smaller female nodding cheerfully.
BEEP! BEEP!
Both jumped at the noise as Knuckles turned towards the TV. A red dot was flashing above the screen with the latter displaying 'incoming call'. "W-What is that?" Tikal was the first to say.
"I think someone's sending something." Knuckles replied grabbing the remote. Turning the TV on the source switched to a camera feed and it wasn't the regular TV channels: on it displayed a familiar yellow kitsune with two tails behind him.
"Hey Knuckles you finally picked up! I've been trying to call you for the past several weeks!" the young fox said on the TV. Knuckles grinned at him. "Long time no see Tails, and yeah it's because I don't do tech stuff like you."
"Hehe well that's fine, just as long as we know you're doing okay." Tails then noticed the wrap on his head. "Oh my goodness what happened to you?! Also…" his blue eyes drifted towards Tikal who watched him quietly. "Who's that?"
Before the emerald guardian could answer, a blue flash passed Tails almost knocking him over. "HUAAGH! SONIC?!"
Hearing his name, the famous blue hedgehog stopped next to Tails and shown himself on the screen. In his hand was a half-eaten chilidog which he was currently eating.
"Hey what's up Tails! Decided to drop on by and see how it's going." Sonic then look towards his side of the screen. "YO WHAT'S UP KNUCKLES!"
"Sonic, it's always a blast to see ya." Knuckles joked with humorous sarcasm. "I take it everything's going well with you guys."
"Heck yeah everything's going alright! Egghead hasn't done anything evil for the last couple of weeks and-." he stopped noticing the wrap on Knuckles' head. "Dude what happened to you?!"
"Long story." Knuckles murmured. Sonic grinned once again, however. "Ah the same ole Knucklehead I swear."
"Like you're any different you moron!" Knuckles got up from the sofa and shook a fist. Tikal noticed his distress and held his arm, calming him. "It's okay Knuckie." she said softly.
"Hey who's the… No way…" Sonic's words left him, stunned at what he was seeing. Tikal looked at him and smiled. "Hello Sonic." she said with a bow.
The Blue Blur stood frozen in shock, Tails watching the whole thing in confusion. "Uhh do you know this person?" the young fox asked him.
"DO I KNOW THEM?! SHE'S SUPPOSED TO BE DEAD?!" Sonic screamed at the top of his lungs. Knuckles clenched his head in pain from the loudness, his injury still present. Tikal motioned him back down and gently caressed his face. "I'm here Knuckie." she whispered, then turning towards the screen. "It's also a long story Sonic, and please don't yell. Knuckie's head still hurts."
"Alright well can do that BUT STILL-."
"SONIIIIIC~!" a feminine screech was heard from the distance which sent a cold shiver throughout Sonic's body. The blue hedgehog gulped in fear and turned around, raising his hands in the air with the chilidog dripping its sauce. "U-Uh h-hey A-Amy how's it-."
"DON'T YOU HEY AMY ME MISTER! WE WERE SUPPOSED TO GO ON OUR DATE HOURS AGO!" a pink hedgehog with a red dress and red headband then came in looking furious. A large hammer was also shown being carried by the vicious pink girl. "NOW YOU WILL TAKE ME OUT TO-." she stopped, looking at the screen. "OH HI THERE KNUCKLES HOW'S IT BEEN~!" she called out, her personality doing a one eighty.
"Hey Amy. Gruh, doing just fine." Knuckles said clutching his head with Tikal holding him. Amy looked concerned on the TV. "Oh my that wrap on your head. I hope you get better and-." she stopped again noticing Tikal. "Who's that?"
Tikal turned back to the screen and smiled again. "I'm Tikal and I'm Knuckie's girlfriend~."
Silence. Until…
"AAAAHHHHHHHHHHHHH~!"
Everyone including Knuckles and Tikal covered their ears at the fangirl cry Amy just emitted. "KNUCKLES I THOUGHT YOU WERE THE LAST OF YOUR KIND I DIDN'T KNOW YOU HAD A GIRLFRIEND I'D THOUGHT YOU WERE THE SAD LONER TYPE THAT ALWAYS GETS MAD AND-." she stopped blabbering, looking at the pair then to Sonic then back again. Until she hugged Sonic hard with the latter struggling to get out. "WE CAN HAVE A DOUBLE DATE~! HEDGEHOGS AND ECHIDNAS ON AN OUTING TOGETHER~!"
Knuckles and Sonic groaned in annoyance while Tails and Tikal watched in confusion. The yellow kitsune shook his head and turned to the two echidnas. "Alright well actually now that we've seen that you're doing well Knuckles, you mind if we stop by to visit?"
The red guardian was about to say no until a thought came into his head of Tikal being curious on meeting his friends. 'Then again this is a chance for her to explore outside of Angel Island.'
"Yeah sure, you guys can drop by anytime soon." he stated.
"That's awesome! Alright we'll come tomorrow and hopefully I can also check on the defense system to see if it's still good." Tails stated.
"Y-Yeah Knucklehead don't wait too long for us!" Sonic let out struggling to get out Amy's death grip and her incoming lips.
"When we get there we're going on a double date~!" Amy demanded, her lips getting closer to Sonic's who was mortified. Tails scratched the back of head laughing nervously then looked back at Knuckles and Tikal. "This will also be a great chance to get to know her as well! We'll be seeing you both tomorrow then. Bye!"
"Yeah, later!" Knuckles smiled while Tikal nodded as the camera feed shut off and the TV returned to pitch black. The orange-furred girl giggled softly. "Those friends of yours are interesting."
Knuckles huffed in annoyance. "Yeah, by 'interesting' I hope you mean whackjobs." he replied. The female echidna giggled again and wrapped her arms around him. "Whatever happens after today, know that I'll always be there for you Knuckie~."
The male echidna wrapped his arms around her waist and brought her closer. "The same with me Tikie, I'll never let you go."
With a squeal Tikal threw herself onto Knuckles and a night-long makeout session began. Whatever the path ahead takes them, they'll be in it together for whatever adventures and friends they interact and meet along the way. As Knuckles is no longer the last of his kind and Tikal getting another chance at life, they'll be with one another every step of the way. Through thick and thin, their love for each other will go on for the rest of their life. If anything it will be a very, very long time given they have the blessing of the Master Emerald to live an immortal life. For whatever future they get it is up to the readers to see where they go on from here but other than that, their love for one another will go on for eternity.
Fin.
And that's it! Like I said I was kinda meh on it since I was typing it after my long distance runs so my brain was kind of worn out lol. Some of my works will be like that but hey, not everyone's perfect. Til next time!
