The Beginning: Angel Island Part one of the Julie Series
#4- Story of a Lifetime
The mine cart came out of the tunnel and stopped on top a high cliff. Knuckles hopped out and opened the door to the cart. Julie came out and looked around. "Wow..." She said, admiring the jungle tree tops, made even more beautiful by the reflection of the sunset off the leaves. A little further off, near the edge of the island, was a huge, mythodical-looking temple. "Neat, iddn't it?" Knuckles walked up to stand beside her. "Yeah..I've never seen anything like it..." She looked around and then looked up at the sky. "Well..I take it back.." she sat down on the edge of the cliff next to the ladder, her legs dangling. "I have." Knuckles didn't understand what she was talking about. "What do you mean?" he asked. Julie didn't answer right away. She kept staring at the sky. Then she turned to Knuckles. "Do you really want to know?" "Um..if you don't mind telling me." Julie turned her head and looked back at the sky. She closed her eyes. "Alright...but it'll take a while..sit down if you want." Knuckles sat down on her left side and glanced over at her. She opened her eyes, sensing he was already there and looked back. Then her eyes darted to the left, and then to the right. Finally, she regained her focus and looked back at him. "Uh..I'm gonna haveta hold your hand..so you can see what I mean while I explain it." "Huh?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow, confused. "I can project my memories into an image inside your head..so you can actually see what I remember and such." "Oh, okay.." He reached over slowly and took her hand. "Okay, now you need ta close your eyes." Knuckles closed his eyes. "Julie," he opened one eye, "What if Robotnik shows up?" "We can take 'em. And besides, I doubt that he will." "Will this hurt?" "No..it shouldn't.." Julie closed her eyes. Knuckles kept his open for a second and then closed his too. And Julie started. "I was born with psychic powers, so my father, who was the mayor of our city, decided to train me to be able to use my powers effectively. Our city was called Fox City, and it was one in a three-city metropolis. The other two cities were Hedgehogville and Echidnatown. And you can probably figure out who lived in what city." "What was the name of the metropolis?" Knuckles interrupted. "Oh..I forgot ta mention that," Julie continued. "It was called Animalopolis. Now, naturally, the hedgehogs and foxes got along quite well, but neither one liked the echidnas for some reason. Not even my dad liked them. "My best friend's name was Rebecca. We got sick of everyone fighting, so me and Rebecca went over to Echidnatown. In the first alley we came to, we were jumped by this girl named Rachel-li. After we told her why we had came, she apologized. She said she had been raised to hate foxes and hedgehogs, but she trusted us. We quickly became friends, however, our parents wouldn't like the idea. We went and got our parents anyway and made them meet. They didn't really talk at first, but then my dad cracked a joke and got 'em all laughin'. My mom invited everyone over for dinner and they all left to go eat, leaving us by ourselves. "Me, Rachel, and Rebecca went walkin' 'round town and we came up to the highway. Rachel was the only one who knew the town, so me and Rebecca just followed her. There was a Super Burger nearby and Rachel and Rebecca were hungry, so they stopped ta get a burger an' fries. I left and walked around to explore. "I had only gone a little ways when I saw a human walkin' down the sidewalk. I had never really seen a human in our cities before, so out of curiosity, I followed him. He was a large man, carrying a relatively large box. I thought he mustuv been a CPD(City Postal Delivery) person, but I followed anyway. He kept walking until he came to the highway. It was empty because it was lunch break. He went to the middle of Hedgefox Highway and set the box down. He opened it and what he took out was a bomb. He did something to it, probably detonated it, and set it underneath one of the many bridges. "I took off, trying to find Rachel and Rebecca, but the town was unfamiliar to me. I had no idea when the bomb was gonna blow, so I just flew home. I told my parents, but they were still eating dinner so I got sent to my room for being 'rude'. I got mad and climbed out the window. I ran out of city limits, towards the desert. I was a good ways from the city when it exploded. I couldn't bear to look, and I could feel the heat from the explosion on my back, so I just kept running. "Soon I came across the oasis. Only one person, if you could call him that, lived there. His name was Coconut, and he was a squirrel. He had saw what had happened and was glad to know that I was alive. He lived of coconuts(the trees there were palms). "I stayed there until the next day. I left to go back to Animalopolis to see if anyone had survived. When it came into view, the once prosperous city was in ruins. Nothing was left standing. But for some reason, I still went. I came across where my house used to be..I searched but didn't find anyone. I returned to the oasis and lived there for about two years. I left because I got sick of eating coconuts 24-7. So I wondered off into the desert. I walked for a few days and then got so tired I just collapsed. The last thing I remember seeing is some green a little ways to my right. "Then when I came to my senses again, I was on a bed, in a cozy- looking room. I looked around and saw someone standin in the doorway. He came in and started talkin to me. He introduced himself as Matt. He said he was the one that brought me in. I had fainted outside their garden. He promised he wouldn't hurt me. I trusted him, so I followed him into the kitchen, where his mom was. Her name was Mandy Dingo, but she went by Nana. They let me stay, so I did for a while. Later on, I felt that I had to leave..go somewhere..you know that feeling you get when you know something's wrong, but you don't know what?" *Knuckles nodded* "Well, I had that feeling..plus the feel for revenge against the man who destroyed my city. So I left after two years. Partways between his house and nowhere, I hit some kind of portal and I was warped to another world. Of course, I didn't know where I was, and I ran into this guy who supposedly didn't want me on his property. The last thing I remember is yelling at him for something cause next thing I knew, I was in some cage- thing. I had tried to morph a tiger, but it came out funny..like a tiger crossed with somethin else. The guy who I ran into was obviously waiting on me ta wake up 'cause he was leaning against the wall across from the cage. He introduced himself as Myotismon. He was tall, and had on a blue and yellow suit, with bat symbols on the shoulders. He had a long black cape that was red on the inside. He also had on this eye mask that was red. His sleeves slightly flared out and turned up, the inside being a light green. He had gray glove and black boots that had a bat on the right one, and a skull on the left. His hair was blonde, and he sorta looked like a vampire. His little bat partner thing was in there too, which was named DemiDevimon." "Why do they end in 'mon'?" "Because, I found this out later, I was in the Digimon world, and there, I guess all the Digimon's names ended in 'mon'. "Myotismon thought 'Julie' was a weird name for the thing that I was until I morphed out. Then he asked me to help him with a crisis that was going on. Seven humans and their Digimon friends were trying to take over his world." *Knuckles growls slightly* "He told me he'd let me out if I helped, so I agreed. He gave me my own Digimon partner, and his name was Gazimon. He had been working for some other Digimon named Etemon and left because he got killed or something. When he stood on his hind legs, he was almost up to my neck. He kinda looked like a purple cat, with three long, sharp claws. He also had a chain- like tail cuff near the end of his tail. "Myotismon said I could go anywhere I wanted in his castle-thingy. His tone was always the same, all the time so serious. But later, I guess when he got to know me better, he started loosening up. DemiDevimon said that until I showed up, he was always that way. I guess I sorta rubbed off on him, since I was always polite. "Later I found out, thanks to Gazimon, that Myotismon was actually the one trying to take over the Digiworld, not the humans. But it didn't matter to me, I still helped him. "Then, in the middle of one of our battles, I was suddenly warped again. I had been in a Digimon morph, but when I was warped, I was turned back into my fox form. The strange thing was that I had been put on the exact same spot that I had been warped to the Digital World. "So I continued my journey through the desert until I came to a sign that said 'Angel Island Ahead', so I kept goin' and came to the edge of a cliff. I didn't see anything until I looked up. Up in the sky was a giant floating island. I figured that it mustuv been Angel Island, so I morphed a bird and flew up. I landed on the edge and morphed out. I began to walk and came across another sign that said 'Station Square City Limits'. I was excited to have finally found some other people. I walked into the city to find a bunch of humans. I was disappointed, but it was okay. Then I walked around a bit and ran inta Sonic, Tails, then you. And you know the rest." Julie opened her eyes. Knuckles opened his too and glanced at her. She was looking at the night sky, with only a few stars and Mobius's two moons. Then she turned and smiled at Knuckles. Knuckles smiled back and let her hand go. He leaned over towards her and lightly kissed her, closing his eyes. Julie was a little surprised, but closed her eyes as well. Then Knuckles suddenly opened his eyes and backed off. "I...I'm sorry.." He looked away, blushing. Julie blinked, and swayed her tail. Why did I do that?! He thought, wincing. It's only the first day! And I've already shown her I like her...jeez! What am I thinking?! "It's..okay Knuckles.." He opened his eyes in shock and glanced up at her. "W-what?" "I said it's okay.." Knuckles turned back to her. "You..didn't mind? It was..just...a relfex..." Julie smiled. "Yeah...you're just..the first guy to do that..." "Heh..well you're the first girl I've ever kissed.."Knuckles relaxed a little. "Really?" Julie swayed her tail again. Knuckles nodded. "Yeah..I've never really..liked a girl before...there's never really been one 'round to like.." Julie smiled. Then she turned back and looked at the sky again. Knuckles sighed, releaved that Julie had said that, and leaned back, propping up on his elbows. He..he kissed me..Julie thought as she gazed at the few stars that were out. I would've never imagined...our first day meeting and I've already found someone who likes me..well..I can't say anything cause I like him too... As they sat in silence, lightning bugs flickered down below and the occasional cricket chirp or croak from a frog breaking the silence. "Well..it's gettin' late..we should go." Knuckles stood up and stretched. Julie stood up slowly, not saying anything. They walked over to the mine cart and Knuckles opened the door. Julie smiled and jumped in. Knuckles climbed in and closed the door, the cart beginning to go. They reached the other side and got out, starting to walk towards the cave that led to the Master Emerald's temple. They walked through the cave and over the bridge to the temple. When they got there, Knuckles walked up to where the Master Emerald's jagged bottom was. He pulled out the three pieces he had and set them down inside the bottom piece. They glowed for a minute and then reattached themselves to the emerald. "There..well, we've got the first ones." Knuckles walked over to the steps and sat down. Julie walked over and sat beside him. "Where do ya think the other pieces are?" Julie asked. "I have no Mobian idea.." They sat in silence for a while, just staring at the sky. She has an interesting past..Knuckles thought. It must be rough losing everyone you know...but she doesn't haveta worry anymore..she's got us... Julie gazed down at the ground, watching how the moonlight reflected off the blades. Should I have told him? I mean..it was kinda personal...yeah....he's my friend and he wanted to know..I'm not gonna tell anyone else though..it's gonna be our secret..besides...I trust Knuckles.. "Julie?" Knuckles interrupted her thoughts. "I won't tell Sonic or Tails what you told me tonight..or what happened.." Julie glanced over to him. He had a smile on his face. "Thanks..I was gonna ask you not to...I've never told anyone.." Knuckles nodded and looked back at the sky. Julie did the same and they sat there in darkness, the only light the faint glow from the remaining emeralds. After a while, Julie dozed off, leaned up against one of the poles. Knuckles was trying his best to stay awale. He drifted off somtimes, but was quickly awakened by a cricket. Finally, he fell asleep sitting up, and a few minutes later, Julie woke up. She stretched and rubbed her eyes, glancing at Knuckles. Seeing he was asleep, she morphed a tiger to protect them if necessary. It was almost daybreak and Julie was slowly falling asleep again when Sonic came running up to the temple. "Hey! What's up?" Julie jumped to her feet, teeth bared. "Whoa girl!" Sonic backed up. "It's just me!" Though half-asleep, she recognized the voice and sat down. "Sorry Sonic..You just....kinda scared me.." She yawned and flopped down. "Yeah..I noticed..so whatcha'll been up to?" "Nothin much..you?" "Nothing really..just the usual." Knuckles' arm twitched and he lifted his head. He saw Sonic, but not Julie. "Hey Sonic..wuz up?" He closed his eyes and stretched. "Nothin." Julie closed her eyes and began to morph out. "Whoa!" Knuckles jumped back, surprised from the glow. Then he realized it was Julie as the glow faded and sighed. "Sorry.." Julie giggled. She was about to continue but stopped when she heard a loud hum coming from the Red Mountains. They all turned to look as the Tornado appeared. "There's my ride!" Sonic said, walking over to the edge of the island. "Your ride?" Julie asked, glancing his way. "Yeah. Me an' Tails are gonna ride around ta see if we can find anymore Chaos Emeralds." Tails slowed the plane down enough to where Sonic could jump in. Sonic ran and jumped off the island, landing in the second cockpit. "See ya'll later!" Tails yelled as the Tornado sped up and disappeared into the morning sky. Julie walked over to the steps and sat down. Knuckles stood in the same spot, staring at the sky. Julie turned around. "So...what are we gonna do?" "Huh?" Knuckles looked at her. "What are we gonna do?" She repeated. "Oh.." He thought for a minute. "I guess we could go look for more Emerald pieces.." He walked over to the stairs. "Alright..we need to find more anyway." Julie stood back up. "We could go back to the jungle and look some more." "Okay." They walked down the steps, across the bridge, past the huge boulders and through the cave. They went past Ice Cap and by the train station. Then they got into the cart and traveled to the jungle. Knuckles hopped out of cart while Julie hovered out with her tail. "Okay.." Knuckles looked around. "You go that way and I'll go this way. We'll meet back up at the temple. That alright?" "Sure." Knuckles jumped and glided down to the jungle floor. Julie started her heli-tail and flew down, landing in the middle of a trail. She followed it until she came to a stream. Julie was about to cross it when she heard, "Ribbit!" She looked to her left and there was a green frog. The frog turned around and hopped away. Curious, Julie followed. The frog hopped downstream until they came to a little clearing. In the clearing, the stream still flowed, but close to the mountain side there was a bamboo bungalow next to a huge tree. It had a roof of leaves that were weaved together and held up by four wooden posts. It had a bed, rather big, made of weaved bamboo and branches. It also had a little bamboo table. On the table was a red Chaos Emerald. "An Emerald?" Julie ran up to the bungalow. By the stream, a big cat was fishing in front of it. He turned around, hearing Froggy, and saw Julie about to grab his Emerald. He stood up as fast as he could. "Wait! Don't take my lucky charm!" Julie stopped and towards where the sound was coming from. A big purple creature, looking kind of like a cat, came running up, his run being waddle-like. Every time he took a step, the ground shook slightly. Julie jumped off the stairs as the gigantic feline ran up the steps and grabbed the Emerald. "Go away! I don't want any trouble!" His voice was rather low, and dull sounding. "I won't cause you any trouble..you say that Emerald is your lucky charm?" "Yeah, and you're not taking it away!" He sounded kin of dull, and he probably was. "Okay, I won't take your lucky charm. My name's Julie. What's yours?" "Big." He relaxed a little. "This is Froggy." He pointed to the little green frog. "Oh..and you live here?" Big nodded and put down the Emerald. "Do you know who Robotnik is?" Julie asked. Big looked at her for a minute. "Who?" "Ro-bot-nik?" She said it slower this time. "Who is he?" "He's a bad man who will take your lucky charm. You better hide it." "Okay." Big picked up his Emerld and put it under his bed. Julie rolled her eyes. "You're gonna haveta hide it better than that.." Julie reached under the bed and grabbed the Emerald. "Where are you gonna put it?" Big asked. Julie looked around. Her eyes stopped on the big tree behind the hut. "Is that tree hollow?" She asked, turning to Big. "Hollow?" Julie started her heli-tail and flew up to the top of the tree. Sure enough, the leafless tree was hollow, about halfway down. Julie flew over above the top and dropped the Emerald. There was a splash, because the tree was half-way filled up with water. There..Julie flew down and landed by Froggy. "You put it in the tree?" Big asked. "Yeah. Robotnik won't be able to get it there." "Neither will I.." Big looked up at the tree. "Well, as long as you know where it is." Julie looked over at the jungle trail. "Sorry Big, but I have to go. I've gotta meet someone at the big temple." "The big what?" Big looked confused. "Nevermind..bye Big, Froggy. See you later." Julie started walking toward the trail. Froggy croaked a 'goodbye' and Julie made her way to the temple. She continued to follow the trail by the stream until she came to a two-way fork. One trail went straight and the other curved, so she couldn't tell where it went. Which way..She thought to herself as she looked around. As she stood there, Knuckles was walking down the path. "Wonder how Julie's doing?" He thought out loud as he came to the conjunction where Julie was. Speaking of Julie.. She was to his right, so he was coming up from the stream. "Hey Julie!" He walked up to her. "Hey Knuckles. Find any Emeralds yet? I haven't." "Yeah, I only found one though. It was stuck in a tree." "Talking about trees, I ran into this guy named Big back there. He lived in some kinda tree house. He had a Chaos Emerald, but he said it was his lucky charm, so I didn't take it. He had a little frog too, it's name was Froggy." "Cool! So what did he do with the Chaos Emerald?" "I stuck it in a tree so Robotnik won't find it." Julie pointed up to the tree. "Butchu can't get it either 'cause I promised Big." "Okay..I won't. Let's head on to the temple. Maybe we'll find some more Emerald pieces." Julie smiled and flicked her tail. They started walking down the trail, heading straight, towards the mystic temple.
To be continued...
The mine cart came out of the tunnel and stopped on top a high cliff. Knuckles hopped out and opened the door to the cart. Julie came out and looked around. "Wow..." She said, admiring the jungle tree tops, made even more beautiful by the reflection of the sunset off the leaves. A little further off, near the edge of the island, was a huge, mythodical-looking temple. "Neat, iddn't it?" Knuckles walked up to stand beside her. "Yeah..I've never seen anything like it..." She looked around and then looked up at the sky. "Well..I take it back.." she sat down on the edge of the cliff next to the ladder, her legs dangling. "I have." Knuckles didn't understand what she was talking about. "What do you mean?" he asked. Julie didn't answer right away. She kept staring at the sky. Then she turned to Knuckles. "Do you really want to know?" "Um..if you don't mind telling me." Julie turned her head and looked back at the sky. She closed her eyes. "Alright...but it'll take a while..sit down if you want." Knuckles sat down on her left side and glanced over at her. She opened her eyes, sensing he was already there and looked back. Then her eyes darted to the left, and then to the right. Finally, she regained her focus and looked back at him. "Uh..I'm gonna haveta hold your hand..so you can see what I mean while I explain it." "Huh?" Knuckles raised an eyebrow, confused. "I can project my memories into an image inside your head..so you can actually see what I remember and such." "Oh, okay.." He reached over slowly and took her hand. "Okay, now you need ta close your eyes." Knuckles closed his eyes. "Julie," he opened one eye, "What if Robotnik shows up?" "We can take 'em. And besides, I doubt that he will." "Will this hurt?" "No..it shouldn't.." Julie closed her eyes. Knuckles kept his open for a second and then closed his too. And Julie started. "I was born with psychic powers, so my father, who was the mayor of our city, decided to train me to be able to use my powers effectively. Our city was called Fox City, and it was one in a three-city metropolis. The other two cities were Hedgehogville and Echidnatown. And you can probably figure out who lived in what city." "What was the name of the metropolis?" Knuckles interrupted. "Oh..I forgot ta mention that," Julie continued. "It was called Animalopolis. Now, naturally, the hedgehogs and foxes got along quite well, but neither one liked the echidnas for some reason. Not even my dad liked them. "My best friend's name was Rebecca. We got sick of everyone fighting, so me and Rebecca went over to Echidnatown. In the first alley we came to, we were jumped by this girl named Rachel-li. After we told her why we had came, she apologized. She said she had been raised to hate foxes and hedgehogs, but she trusted us. We quickly became friends, however, our parents wouldn't like the idea. We went and got our parents anyway and made them meet. They didn't really talk at first, but then my dad cracked a joke and got 'em all laughin'. My mom invited everyone over for dinner and they all left to go eat, leaving us by ourselves. "Me, Rachel, and Rebecca went walkin' 'round town and we came up to the highway. Rachel was the only one who knew the town, so me and Rebecca just followed her. There was a Super Burger nearby and Rachel and Rebecca were hungry, so they stopped ta get a burger an' fries. I left and walked around to explore. "I had only gone a little ways when I saw a human walkin' down the sidewalk. I had never really seen a human in our cities before, so out of curiosity, I followed him. He was a large man, carrying a relatively large box. I thought he mustuv been a CPD(City Postal Delivery) person, but I followed anyway. He kept walking until he came to the highway. It was empty because it was lunch break. He went to the middle of Hedgefox Highway and set the box down. He opened it and what he took out was a bomb. He did something to it, probably detonated it, and set it underneath one of the many bridges. "I took off, trying to find Rachel and Rebecca, but the town was unfamiliar to me. I had no idea when the bomb was gonna blow, so I just flew home. I told my parents, but they were still eating dinner so I got sent to my room for being 'rude'. I got mad and climbed out the window. I ran out of city limits, towards the desert. I was a good ways from the city when it exploded. I couldn't bear to look, and I could feel the heat from the explosion on my back, so I just kept running. "Soon I came across the oasis. Only one person, if you could call him that, lived there. His name was Coconut, and he was a squirrel. He had saw what had happened and was glad to know that I was alive. He lived of coconuts(the trees there were palms). "I stayed there until the next day. I left to go back to Animalopolis to see if anyone had survived. When it came into view, the once prosperous city was in ruins. Nothing was left standing. But for some reason, I still went. I came across where my house used to be..I searched but didn't find anyone. I returned to the oasis and lived there for about two years. I left because I got sick of eating coconuts 24-7. So I wondered off into the desert. I walked for a few days and then got so tired I just collapsed. The last thing I remember seeing is some green a little ways to my right. "Then when I came to my senses again, I was on a bed, in a cozy- looking room. I looked around and saw someone standin in the doorway. He came in and started talkin to me. He introduced himself as Matt. He said he was the one that brought me in. I had fainted outside their garden. He promised he wouldn't hurt me. I trusted him, so I followed him into the kitchen, where his mom was. Her name was Mandy Dingo, but she went by Nana. They let me stay, so I did for a while. Later on, I felt that I had to leave..go somewhere..you know that feeling you get when you know something's wrong, but you don't know what?" *Knuckles nodded* "Well, I had that feeling..plus the feel for revenge against the man who destroyed my city. So I left after two years. Partways between his house and nowhere, I hit some kind of portal and I was warped to another world. Of course, I didn't know where I was, and I ran into this guy who supposedly didn't want me on his property. The last thing I remember is yelling at him for something cause next thing I knew, I was in some cage- thing. I had tried to morph a tiger, but it came out funny..like a tiger crossed with somethin else. The guy who I ran into was obviously waiting on me ta wake up 'cause he was leaning against the wall across from the cage. He introduced himself as Myotismon. He was tall, and had on a blue and yellow suit, with bat symbols on the shoulders. He had a long black cape that was red on the inside. He also had on this eye mask that was red. His sleeves slightly flared out and turned up, the inside being a light green. He had gray glove and black boots that had a bat on the right one, and a skull on the left. His hair was blonde, and he sorta looked like a vampire. His little bat partner thing was in there too, which was named DemiDevimon." "Why do they end in 'mon'?" "Because, I found this out later, I was in the Digimon world, and there, I guess all the Digimon's names ended in 'mon'. "Myotismon thought 'Julie' was a weird name for the thing that I was until I morphed out. Then he asked me to help him with a crisis that was going on. Seven humans and their Digimon friends were trying to take over his world." *Knuckles growls slightly* "He told me he'd let me out if I helped, so I agreed. He gave me my own Digimon partner, and his name was Gazimon. He had been working for some other Digimon named Etemon and left because he got killed or something. When he stood on his hind legs, he was almost up to my neck. He kinda looked like a purple cat, with three long, sharp claws. He also had a chain- like tail cuff near the end of his tail. "Myotismon said I could go anywhere I wanted in his castle-thingy. His tone was always the same, all the time so serious. But later, I guess when he got to know me better, he started loosening up. DemiDevimon said that until I showed up, he was always that way. I guess I sorta rubbed off on him, since I was always polite. "Later I found out, thanks to Gazimon, that Myotismon was actually the one trying to take over the Digiworld, not the humans. But it didn't matter to me, I still helped him. "Then, in the middle of one of our battles, I was suddenly warped again. I had been in a Digimon morph, but when I was warped, I was turned back into my fox form. The strange thing was that I had been put on the exact same spot that I had been warped to the Digital World. "So I continued my journey through the desert until I came to a sign that said 'Angel Island Ahead', so I kept goin' and came to the edge of a cliff. I didn't see anything until I looked up. Up in the sky was a giant floating island. I figured that it mustuv been Angel Island, so I morphed a bird and flew up. I landed on the edge and morphed out. I began to walk and came across another sign that said 'Station Square City Limits'. I was excited to have finally found some other people. I walked into the city to find a bunch of humans. I was disappointed, but it was okay. Then I walked around a bit and ran inta Sonic, Tails, then you. And you know the rest." Julie opened her eyes. Knuckles opened his too and glanced at her. She was looking at the night sky, with only a few stars and Mobius's two moons. Then she turned and smiled at Knuckles. Knuckles smiled back and let her hand go. He leaned over towards her and lightly kissed her, closing his eyes. Julie was a little surprised, but closed her eyes as well. Then Knuckles suddenly opened his eyes and backed off. "I...I'm sorry.." He looked away, blushing. Julie blinked, and swayed her tail. Why did I do that?! He thought, wincing. It's only the first day! And I've already shown her I like her...jeez! What am I thinking?! "It's..okay Knuckles.." He opened his eyes in shock and glanced up at her. "W-what?" "I said it's okay.." Knuckles turned back to her. "You..didn't mind? It was..just...a relfex..." Julie smiled. "Yeah...you're just..the first guy to do that..." "Heh..well you're the first girl I've ever kissed.."Knuckles relaxed a little. "Really?" Julie swayed her tail again. Knuckles nodded. "Yeah..I've never really..liked a girl before...there's never really been one 'round to like.." Julie smiled. Then she turned back and looked at the sky again. Knuckles sighed, releaved that Julie had said that, and leaned back, propping up on his elbows. He..he kissed me..Julie thought as she gazed at the few stars that were out. I would've never imagined...our first day meeting and I've already found someone who likes me..well..I can't say anything cause I like him too... As they sat in silence, lightning bugs flickered down below and the occasional cricket chirp or croak from a frog breaking the silence. "Well..it's gettin' late..we should go." Knuckles stood up and stretched. Julie stood up slowly, not saying anything. They walked over to the mine cart and Knuckles opened the door. Julie smiled and jumped in. Knuckles climbed in and closed the door, the cart beginning to go. They reached the other side and got out, starting to walk towards the cave that led to the Master Emerald's temple. They walked through the cave and over the bridge to the temple. When they got there, Knuckles walked up to where the Master Emerald's jagged bottom was. He pulled out the three pieces he had and set them down inside the bottom piece. They glowed for a minute and then reattached themselves to the emerald. "There..well, we've got the first ones." Knuckles walked over to the steps and sat down. Julie walked over and sat beside him. "Where do ya think the other pieces are?" Julie asked. "I have no Mobian idea.." They sat in silence for a while, just staring at the sky. She has an interesting past..Knuckles thought. It must be rough losing everyone you know...but she doesn't haveta worry anymore..she's got us... Julie gazed down at the ground, watching how the moonlight reflected off the blades. Should I have told him? I mean..it was kinda personal...yeah....he's my friend and he wanted to know..I'm not gonna tell anyone else though..it's gonna be our secret..besides...I trust Knuckles.. "Julie?" Knuckles interrupted her thoughts. "I won't tell Sonic or Tails what you told me tonight..or what happened.." Julie glanced over to him. He had a smile on his face. "Thanks..I was gonna ask you not to...I've never told anyone.." Knuckles nodded and looked back at the sky. Julie did the same and they sat there in darkness, the only light the faint glow from the remaining emeralds. After a while, Julie dozed off, leaned up against one of the poles. Knuckles was trying his best to stay awale. He drifted off somtimes, but was quickly awakened by a cricket. Finally, he fell asleep sitting up, and a few minutes later, Julie woke up. She stretched and rubbed her eyes, glancing at Knuckles. Seeing he was asleep, she morphed a tiger to protect them if necessary. It was almost daybreak and Julie was slowly falling asleep again when Sonic came running up to the temple. "Hey! What's up?" Julie jumped to her feet, teeth bared. "Whoa girl!" Sonic backed up. "It's just me!" Though half-asleep, she recognized the voice and sat down. "Sorry Sonic..You just....kinda scared me.." She yawned and flopped down. "Yeah..I noticed..so whatcha'll been up to?" "Nothin much..you?" "Nothing really..just the usual." Knuckles' arm twitched and he lifted his head. He saw Sonic, but not Julie. "Hey Sonic..wuz up?" He closed his eyes and stretched. "Nothin." Julie closed her eyes and began to morph out. "Whoa!" Knuckles jumped back, surprised from the glow. Then he realized it was Julie as the glow faded and sighed. "Sorry.." Julie giggled. She was about to continue but stopped when she heard a loud hum coming from the Red Mountains. They all turned to look as the Tornado appeared. "There's my ride!" Sonic said, walking over to the edge of the island. "Your ride?" Julie asked, glancing his way. "Yeah. Me an' Tails are gonna ride around ta see if we can find anymore Chaos Emeralds." Tails slowed the plane down enough to where Sonic could jump in. Sonic ran and jumped off the island, landing in the second cockpit. "See ya'll later!" Tails yelled as the Tornado sped up and disappeared into the morning sky. Julie walked over to the steps and sat down. Knuckles stood in the same spot, staring at the sky. Julie turned around. "So...what are we gonna do?" "Huh?" Knuckles looked at her. "What are we gonna do?" She repeated. "Oh.." He thought for a minute. "I guess we could go look for more Emerald pieces.." He walked over to the stairs. "Alright..we need to find more anyway." Julie stood back up. "We could go back to the jungle and look some more." "Okay." They walked down the steps, across the bridge, past the huge boulders and through the cave. They went past Ice Cap and by the train station. Then they got into the cart and traveled to the jungle. Knuckles hopped out of cart while Julie hovered out with her tail. "Okay.." Knuckles looked around. "You go that way and I'll go this way. We'll meet back up at the temple. That alright?" "Sure." Knuckles jumped and glided down to the jungle floor. Julie started her heli-tail and flew down, landing in the middle of a trail. She followed it until she came to a stream. Julie was about to cross it when she heard, "Ribbit!" She looked to her left and there was a green frog. The frog turned around and hopped away. Curious, Julie followed. The frog hopped downstream until they came to a little clearing. In the clearing, the stream still flowed, but close to the mountain side there was a bamboo bungalow next to a huge tree. It had a roof of leaves that were weaved together and held up by four wooden posts. It had a bed, rather big, made of weaved bamboo and branches. It also had a little bamboo table. On the table was a red Chaos Emerald. "An Emerald?" Julie ran up to the bungalow. By the stream, a big cat was fishing in front of it. He turned around, hearing Froggy, and saw Julie about to grab his Emerald. He stood up as fast as he could. "Wait! Don't take my lucky charm!" Julie stopped and towards where the sound was coming from. A big purple creature, looking kind of like a cat, came running up, his run being waddle-like. Every time he took a step, the ground shook slightly. Julie jumped off the stairs as the gigantic feline ran up the steps and grabbed the Emerald. "Go away! I don't want any trouble!" His voice was rather low, and dull sounding. "I won't cause you any trouble..you say that Emerald is your lucky charm?" "Yeah, and you're not taking it away!" He sounded kin of dull, and he probably was. "Okay, I won't take your lucky charm. My name's Julie. What's yours?" "Big." He relaxed a little. "This is Froggy." He pointed to the little green frog. "Oh..and you live here?" Big nodded and put down the Emerald. "Do you know who Robotnik is?" Julie asked. Big looked at her for a minute. "Who?" "Ro-bot-nik?" She said it slower this time. "Who is he?" "He's a bad man who will take your lucky charm. You better hide it." "Okay." Big picked up his Emerld and put it under his bed. Julie rolled her eyes. "You're gonna haveta hide it better than that.." Julie reached under the bed and grabbed the Emerald. "Where are you gonna put it?" Big asked. Julie looked around. Her eyes stopped on the big tree behind the hut. "Is that tree hollow?" She asked, turning to Big. "Hollow?" Julie started her heli-tail and flew up to the top of the tree. Sure enough, the leafless tree was hollow, about halfway down. Julie flew over above the top and dropped the Emerald. There was a splash, because the tree was half-way filled up with water. There..Julie flew down and landed by Froggy. "You put it in the tree?" Big asked. "Yeah. Robotnik won't be able to get it there." "Neither will I.." Big looked up at the tree. "Well, as long as you know where it is." Julie looked over at the jungle trail. "Sorry Big, but I have to go. I've gotta meet someone at the big temple." "The big what?" Big looked confused. "Nevermind..bye Big, Froggy. See you later." Julie started walking toward the trail. Froggy croaked a 'goodbye' and Julie made her way to the temple. She continued to follow the trail by the stream until she came to a two-way fork. One trail went straight and the other curved, so she couldn't tell where it went. Which way..She thought to herself as she looked around. As she stood there, Knuckles was walking down the path. "Wonder how Julie's doing?" He thought out loud as he came to the conjunction where Julie was. Speaking of Julie.. She was to his right, so he was coming up from the stream. "Hey Julie!" He walked up to her. "Hey Knuckles. Find any Emeralds yet? I haven't." "Yeah, I only found one though. It was stuck in a tree." "Talking about trees, I ran into this guy named Big back there. He lived in some kinda tree house. He had a Chaos Emerald, but he said it was his lucky charm, so I didn't take it. He had a little frog too, it's name was Froggy." "Cool! So what did he do with the Chaos Emerald?" "I stuck it in a tree so Robotnik won't find it." Julie pointed up to the tree. "Butchu can't get it either 'cause I promised Big." "Okay..I won't. Let's head on to the temple. Maybe we'll find some more Emerald pieces." Julie smiled and flicked her tail. They started walking down the trail, heading straight, towards the mystic temple.
To be continued...