Knuckles and the Chaotix finally arrived to a small clearing in the jungle, panting with the effort of their rapid escape. A small lake rippled in the middle of it, the clear water inviting to the tired four. Espio huffed exhaustively, and collapsed at the shore on his back, arms flung out carelessly beside him.

"I sure as hell hope they don't wake up too soon, and come after us."

"No worries, m'man!" Chuckled Vector, joining the chameleon, and also letting himself slump unceremoniously onto the sandy shoreline. "They're probably still oblivious, thinkin' he's just bein' quiet."

"He?" Grinned Mighty, still holding the girl in his arms. The other three raised their eyebrows, in mild astonishment. They were so concerned with getting out of there, that they hadn't even stopped to notice that the person they rescued was, indeed, female.

"So it's a chick?" Grinned Vector, wolfishly. "Sweet. We could use some females 'round here. Is she hot?"

Mighty sent him a firm glare, walking to a boulder, and setting the frail woman down, propping her up against the solid surface. "She's horribly thin, and she's out like a windblown candle. I think that's our main concern right now," he added, coldly. Vector shrugged, smiling vaguely.

"Spoilsport. Well, let's see what we got."

All four gathered around the girl, taking her in from top to bottom. She was actually quite pretty, now that they could all see her clearly. She was a feline, in her late teens perhaps, her fur a dark, ashen brown. Even though she was thin from lack of food, she had some nice curves, accentuated by the dirty white midriff tee she was wearing, and low-hanging khaki pants, baggy around the leg. She wore white sneakers on her feet, also dirty and worn. Her hair was platinum in color, and cut short, framing a beautiful little face with exotic, dainty features. They couldn't determine the color of her eyes, as they were still closed. She wore a harassed look on her face, even in her sleep, and Knuckles was concerned.

"She's in a bad way, guys. We need to rouse her, and get some food and water into her. Those assholes probably used some sort of sedative to make her chill out- and without having had food, those meds are likely to have some bad effects."

The other three looked at him, growing concerned, as well. Even Vector looked serious, and bit back his perverse comments on the pretty girl.

"So how to we wake her up?" Asked Mighty softly, reaching a hand out to brush a stray strand of hair from the girl's eyes. "We don't have smelling salts, or any stimulants handy. I didn't think of taking the stuff in the test-tubes, 'cause I didn't know what it was."

Knuckles took a step forward, frowning. "Let me handle it. Maybe I can wake her up, by channeling some chaos energy into her." Espio winced, visibly fretful of the idea.

"Isn't that dangerous?"

"Not in small amounts, it isn't."

"How do you know you'll give her the right amount?"
Knuckles glowered at the chameleon, narrowing his eyes in annoyance. "Dude, I live with Chaos Energy. If anybody knows everything about it, it's me. Just trust me on this, okay?"

Espio sighed, but nodded, taking a step back from the girl. "Do your stuff then, mister Guardian."

Knuckles smirked, and waved his hands at the other three, ushering them back a few steps. "Give me some room, I need to focus the energy into myself first, before I can channel it into her."

Knuckles closed his eyes, kneeling by the girl, a look of intense concentration on his face. The other three looked on, anxiously.

"I hope this works," whispered Mighty to the two at his side, voicing what they were all thinking at that precise moment.

"It will. Knux knows what he's doing," Espio assured them, nodding. "He wouldn't do this, if he knew it meant putting her life at an even greater risk."

"She's pretty damn cute, don't you think?"

"Vector, shut up."

"No, I'm serious!"

"Exactly," said Mighty, in a droll sort of voice. "So shut up. And don't you dare go hitting on her the moment she wakes up. The poor thing will probably be disoriented and afraid of us. We don't want to give her a bad impression from the start."

"Chill dude, I'm not a sexual deviant!" Argued Vector, indignantly. "I'll be good. Jeez." Mighty muttered a few things to himself under his breath, while Espio looked on, clearly amused. Vector glowered to himself, arms folded, staring at Knuckles' back.

"Are you DONE yet?" He snapped, irritably. Knuckles glared shortly back at him, an emerald-green aura outlining his body, emitting a low hum.

"What did I say about being quiet?" He barked out. Vector started a little, frowning, but said no more.

The echidna turned his back on the other three again, inhaling deeply, and sighing heavily through his nose. He looked down at the girl lying before him, and hesitantly reached his hand out, placing it against her forehead. The green aura intensified around his hand, and flashed once, before dimming down again, and continuing its eerie, energy-induced humming. Knuckles opened his eyes, watching for any signs that the girl's body might reject the energy. He didn't know anything about her, after all. After a few seconds of surveyed channeling, he slowly removed his hand from her forehead, and shuffled back a slight, staring at her expectantly.

C'mon… wake up! He pleaded mentally, as the other three scuffled closer again. Please wake up…

Surely enough, Espio's sharp eyes noted a twitch of her right hand, the ever-so-slight shift of her arms- the furrowing of her brow. His voice rose excitedly, catching Knuckles by a shoulder, and giving him a shake, pointing.

"She's waking up! You did it, Knux!"

Knuckles grinned to himself, also noticing her movements. "Quick, prop her upright. She might feel a little nauseous when she regains full consciousness."

Mighty hastily obliged, stepping over to the other side, and kneeling beside her, warily propping her up straighter into his arms. She gave a sudden cough, and for a minute, he thought the girl was going to be sick- but instead, her eyes snapped open, and she stared up at the guy holding her, with wide, astonished eyes. Her eyes were like gemstones- a mixture of orange and crimson, a color somehow attractively offset with her dark complexion, and pale hair.  Mighty felt himself blush at her fixed stare, but he managed a small, nervous smile.

"Hi. Don't be scared, you're in good hands now…"

The girl seemed to relax at the soft, warm voice, and the friendly expression on Mighty's face. She trembled a little, and he suddenly felt compelled to hold her tighter. It didn't seem right that such a frail creature should feel unprotected at any time. He dared not hold her tighter, for fear of scaring her, or breaking her somehow- but the girl seemed to take things into her own hands, and shifted closer, snuggling herself against him, reveling in the warmth. Her trembling died down a little, but a look of alarm was still etched on her face, as she gazed shyly around at the others. Mighty's cheeks reddened a little more, but he swallowed, and smiled kindly at the girl.

"It's all right, they're with me. You're not at the camp anymore. You're among friends, now."

Author's Note: Sorry this second chapter is so short. X.x I wrote it as a little bit tonight, to add on to the story, and not leave it hanging all weird. x_@ ~ Third part's to come soon I'm hoping, as soon as I make myself coherent again. =3; Ah. And because I think I suck ass at describing appearances, I thought I'd link to a little sketch I drew of Lani, a while ago. o-o; so here she is: www.deviantart.com/view/3331615/ ._. yearrrr.

Oh, and just so you know, the Frangipani is a flower. C_c you'll see wtf I mean later on in the story. Why I gave the story that title, anyway.