Chapter 18: Inseparable

Cream still couldn't sleep with the light turned off. The nightmare machine had taken a greater toll on her than her friends. She chided herself for being so fearful, but when she closed her eyes, she saw beady red eyes and glowing, spiky teeth. She opened her eyes again, locking eyes with Cheese.

She smiled at her companion. Cheese was always there for her. Through peace or fear, he was by her side in all of it, ever since they had met. They were inseparable. He always provided comfort and companionship, and she was always happy for it. "Thank you for being by my side…" she whispered before closing her eyes again. She felt the little chao give her a hug in reply.

.

The tiny rabbit was bounding along the shoreline, collecting shells in a small bag. She adjusted the red bow that sat atop her right ear and gazed out at the tide. That's when something caught her eye in the distance, something she hadn't noticed before. She peered more carefully. There was something out there… an island. She grinned at the prospect of the adventure it would be to explore that island, so she flapped her ears as hard as she could. She had been working on flying and was finally getting the hang of it. Though she shook a bit in the air, teetering here and there, she made it to the island.

It was small, which was perfect for her, and round as can be. And it was filled with tiny creatures the likes of which she had never seen before. One such creature flew right into her, causing them both to fall into the grass. It was a soft, cushioned landing. When she sat up and shook her head, it was covered in moss and loose grass.

"Are you alright?" she asked the little blue creature.

It smiled at her and did a flip in the air.

"Oh good. I'm glad."

The little creature looked her up and down. It had never seen anything like her before.

"My name's Cream!" the little girl extended her hand. "What can I call you?"

The blue being smiled a goofy grin.

"What a cheesy smile!" Cream giggled. "I should call you Cheese!"

The creature seemed to like his name. He flipped around again and landed on Cream's head, playing with the red bow on her ear. Soon, he pulled it right off.

"Hey!" Cream chuckled. "Do you like that bow?" She took him down from his place at her ears. Cheese was holding the red bow, peering at it curiously. "You can have it. It would look cute on you!" She took it and put it on his neck. "Perfect!"

.

Cream woke in the middle of the night. Something had disturbed her sleep. Her eyes were wide. It wasn't a nightmare. What was it?

Her eyes traced the edges of the ceiling. The furniture in her bedroom was casting elaborate shadows across the white paint. Each shape was different from the next. Soon, her eyes fell beside her, where Cheese… was.

She screamed.

.

Sonic's ears perked up in his sleep, ripping him out of his speedy dreams. "What?" he mumbled groggily. Then, his mind cleared as he remembered what the sound was that pulled him awake. "Cream!" He jumped out of his bed and ran toward Cream's room.

Cream rarely raised her voice past barely audible, so when Cream screamed, it was probably about something terrible. He bolted through her door without a knock and saw her curled up, crying on her bed.

"Cream! What's wrong?!"

The rabbit continued to sob into her hands, which seemed to be clutching something. As he approached hesitantly to comfort her, he noticed what it was—a small red bow.

"Cream…" he started, afraid to ask, "where's Cheese?"

Cream's sobs grew louder, and she suddenly clutched onto him and cried into his chest, startling him.

Amy entered sleepily, "What's going on?"

"Cheese is gone," Sonic whispered, placing a hand on Cream's back.

"What? How?"

Tears were now pouring down Sonic's stomach, soaking his skin and fur.

"Come on, Cream," he tried to ease her off of him, but she had a tight hold on him now.

"Well, however it happened, we're going to find him," Amy said matter-of-factly. She was now wide awake and had her hammer in hand.

"And how do you propose we do that?" Sonic asked.

.

"So… this place is your home?" Cream asked her new friend.

He continued to dance around with his new bow.

"What is this place?" she continued, not really aiming her question to anyone.

She was surprised when she heard an answer: "Chao Island." The voice seemed to come from the core of the island itself. Its voice was neither male nor female, and it was calming and soothing to hear. "Home of the chao's, birthplace of the Chaos Emeralds, former domain of their Master…"

"Wow…" Cream gaped. She was mystified, and she spent the day with the little creatures, which she learned were called chao's. They were cute fairy-like creatures that hovered on angel-like wings. Though they didn't speak, Cream could understand her new friend perfectly from his gestures and smiles.

Eventually, though, the sun began to set. She knew she would need to go home. "Good-bye, Cheese!" she called, waving to her new friend. "Thank you for showing me around!"

But her new friend wouldn't let her go off alone. He tagged behind her as she started flying across the ocean again.

"What are you doing?"

Cheese smiled his cheesy grin and floated around her. He clearly wanted to come along with her.

"You want to come home with me? How sweet of you!"

He dove at her with a chao-sized bear hug.

.

Amy had heard the story of how Cream and Cheese met. "I'm sure we can find Chao Island if we look for it."

"Chao Island?" Sonic asked.

Amy nodded. "Maybe Cheese went home."

Sonic looked down at Cream. Though doubtful, he wanted to reassure the crying bunny. So he added, "Oh, Cheese was just homesick. See, Cream? We'll find him."

She sniffed and looked up at him. Her eyes were glossy and tears still hovered beneath them. "Y-You think he will be there?"

"Yeah," Sonic smiled for her sake.

She didn't want to doubt him, but she didn't think Cheese would have left without waving goodbye—and certainly not in the middle of the night—and certainly not when she was still reeling from the nightmare machine. No… something happened. Something sinister. And she had no idea how to approach it.

.

The next morning, without much delay, she, Sonic, and Amy piled into Tails's helicopter with him at the helm. "So we're looking for a little round island with a bunch of Cheeses?" he asked.

"Something like that," Sonic confirmed.

"Alright…" Tails started it up. "Let's go!"