* * *
"Overlander?! MEGA bad news!" Sonic exclaimed.
"What do you think a bunch of Mobians are doing in an Overlander base?" Rotor wondered aloud.
"Good question. Maybe if we could understand them we might be able to find out."
"Aunt Sally! One of them is coming toward us. It looks like he wants to talk to us."
"Thank you honey. Maybe he knows some English." She turned to see a red fox walk over to them.
"Zdrast'ye, dobry den. Kak vas zavut?"
"Then again..." Sally sighed. She shook her head and studied her inquirer. He stood half a head taller than her and probably wasn't more than a year or two older than she was, but looked much older. His face was, in a word, gaunt. In fact, that seemed to be a pretty accurate description of him in general. His clothes seemed to billow around him, making him seem even thinner. He may not have been malnourished, but he wasn't all that far away. His shirt, vest, and trousers looked patched and worn, his boots scuffed and dirty and made him look as if he had been wearing handed-down clothing for some time. As he took off the red cap he was wearing, Sally saw his head-fur looking disheveled and his chestnut brown hair that he tied back in a pony-tail looking frayed.
"But his eyes..." Sally thought silently. Bright green-brown eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses that were too big for his face, shown with intelligence and curiosity.
"Kak dyela?"
"My name is Sally. What's yours?" She asked as politely as she could, hoping he'd understand her. "I wish had studied other languages more." She thought regretfully. She tried to place his accent, with little success. "Is that Polish? Serbian? Russian? Definitely Slavic. But beyond that..."
"What are we to be doing now, moi prinzess?" Antoine asked. Sally began to turn to answer, but paused when she saw the vulpine flinch. When she caught his gaze it was almost as if she were staring at a different person. His eyes, that looked so open, curious, and friendly a mere second ago now seemed veiled, betraying very little, except for anguish, hurt, and a cold almost accusatory fury that now seemed directed on solely on her. Had he caught any of that? Or did it just sound like something in his own language? She was about to ask when Tails pointed at a figure on the wall's walkway and shouted.
"Aunt Sally!" Sally turned and dropped her jaw in surprise.
"Oh my Gosh..." Standing on the walkway, armed to the teeth, was a party of Overlanders in uniform. And they did not look like they were in the mood to talk.
"Hands up!"
* * *
"Overlander?! MEGA bad news!" Sonic exclaimed.
"What do you think a bunch of Mobians are doing in an Overlander base?" Rotor wondered aloud.
"Good question. Maybe if we could understand them we might be able to find out."
"Aunt Sally! One of them is coming toward us. It looks like he wants to talk to us."
"Thank you honey. Maybe he knows some English." She turned to see a red fox walk over to them.
"Zdrast'ye, dobry den. Kak vas zavut?"
"Then again..." Sally sighed. She shook her head and studied her inquirer. He stood half a head taller than her and probably wasn't more than a year or two older than she was, but looked much older. His face was, in a word, gaunt. In fact, that seemed to be a pretty accurate description of him in general. His clothes seemed to billow around him, making him seem even thinner. He may not have been malnourished, but he wasn't all that far away. His shirt, vest, and trousers looked patched and worn, his boots scuffed and dirty and made him look as if he had been wearing handed-down clothing for some time. As he took off the red cap he was wearing, Sally saw his head-fur looking disheveled and his chestnut brown hair that he tied back in a pony-tail looking frayed.
"But his eyes..." Sally thought silently. Bright green-brown eyes hidden behind a pair of glasses that were too big for his face, shown with intelligence and curiosity.
"Kak dyela?"
"My name is Sally. What's yours?" She asked as politely as she could, hoping he'd understand her. "I wish had studied other languages more." She thought regretfully. She tried to place his accent, with little success. "Is that Polish? Serbian? Russian? Definitely Slavic. But beyond that..."
"What are we to be doing now, moi prinzess?" Antoine asked. Sally began to turn to answer, but paused when she saw the vulpine flinch. When she caught his gaze it was almost as if she were staring at a different person. His eyes, that looked so open, curious, and friendly a mere second ago now seemed veiled, betraying very little, except for anguish, hurt, and a cold almost accusatory fury that now seemed directed on solely on her. Had he caught any of that? Or did it just sound like something in his own language? She was about to ask when Tails pointed at a figure on the wall's walkway and shouted.
"Aunt Sally!" Sally turned and dropped her jaw in surprise.
"Oh my Gosh..." Standing on the walkway, armed to the teeth, was a party of Overlanders in uniform. And they did not look like they were in the mood to talk.
"Hands up!"
* * *