26. No Echidna is an Island: Chapter 5: Raising Defenses

by NetRaptor1

Chapter 5: Raising Defenses
______________________________________________________________________

Knuckles and Zephyer were sitting on the front porch in the shade, reading through a sheaf of papers
from Orphan Aid. Zephyer read without moving, twirling a dreadlock in her fingers, but Knuckles
kept setting down his papers and looking out at the horizon. He rose and without a word marched off
across the yard and into the trees.

Zephyer watched him go and sighed. She knew that Knuckles was still adjusting to sharing his home
and island, and sometimes he needed solitude like food and water. She kept reading.

After a while Knuckles returned and thumped down in his chair. He looked at Zephyer, curled like a
cat in her chair. "How can you sit still for so long?"

She looked at him. "I don't suffer from Sonic-syndrome, that's why."

Knuckles muttered and looked at his document again. For a while neither of them spoke. Then
Knuckles said, "Do you understand all this?"

"I guess," said Zephyer. "It's not hard to understand, it's just that there's so much of it."

"That's the problem," muttered Knuckles. "I had no idea families were so much work."

Zephyer stifled a laugh. "If you can call it a family. Two echidnas, two chao, and an anteater. And
the Chaotix."

"You don't have to be the same species to be a family," said Knuckles. "Look at Knothole."

"Yeah," said Zephyer, looking thoughtful. "Everybody looks out for everybody there."

"That's one reason I let them coax me from the Floating Island," said Knuckles, gazing at the
treetops. "I never had a family."

Zephyer looked at him and saw his eyes were fixed and distant. She remembered the look on his face
when Locke had left, and rested a hand on his arm. "You have a family now."

"Right." He looked at her. "And it's worth fighting for. Talon belongs with us as much as the chao
do."

"You're not alone, you know," said Zephyer. "I'm here now, and I'm going to fight this battle with
you." She picked up his paper. "If you like, I'll read all this and summarize it for you."

Knuckles looked at his wife a moment, then grinned. "It'd be a load off my mind."

"No problem." Zephyer kissed his cheek. "I've seen Sonic go stir-crazy, and I know the signs. Go
smash some rocks or something."

Knuckles stood up and opened his mouth to reply, but was distracted in the incoming teleporter dish
flashed. Two figures appeared, one of them doubled up in distress. "Uh oh," said Knuckles, and
bolted off the porch. Zephyer threw aside the papers and tore after him.

Espio was pea-green and clinging to Mighty with hands, feet and tail. His eyes were wide, breath
coming fast and shallow.

"What happened?" asked Knuckles as he reached them.

"Espio saw something," said Mighty, grunting as he half-dragged the chameleon along. "He's
choking me, grab his arm."

Knuckles pried Espio's arm off the anteater's throat as Zephyer reached them. It took all three of
them to get Espio to the house, and they deposited him on the couch. He curled up at once and
closed his eyes. The echidnas and armadillo stood looking down at him. "What did he see?" asked
Knuckles.

"I don't know," said Mighty. "He said it looked like a bug."

"But he's not afraid of bugs," said Zephyer, watching the chameleon as he wound his tail around
himself.

Mighty shook his head and explained about Mori taking a blood sample from Talon. Knuckles and
Zephyer exchanged glances--Mori kept getting weirder.

"I should have packed Talon a gun," muttered Knuckles.

"You packed him a whistle," said Zephyer. "That's just as good."

Knuckles gazed at Espio. "I hope so."

* * *

Talon couldn't get Espio out of his mind.

He lay in bed that night, the chameleon's voice echoing through his mind. "Don't you dare go down
in that basement, you hear me?"

He had never seen Espio turned white--it was a color Espio hated. What had he seen? And why had
Uncle Pendel needed a blood sample?

Talon curled up in a ball, his imagination running wild, filling the basement with half-imagined
shapes and monsters. He wished he was in his own bed on the Floating Island, where Knuckles and
Zephyer were only a shout away. Then he wished for Max, his chao. While gentle-natured, Max
would fight to the death to protect his young master. He thought of the whistle for Slasher, and
wondered what he was more afraid of--something in the basement, or Slasher.

As he lay there, he heard footsteps in the hall outside his door. He recognized his uncle's shuffling
gait, and tensed. Then he heard a rustling, tapping sound, and the house creaked. Then his uncle and
the tapping sounds moved off down the hall. Talon lay perfectly still, his heart beating so hard he
couldn't breathe. He heard the back door open and shut, and without even thinking about it, reached
under his pillow, pulled out the whistle and blew it.

It made no sound, and Talon hoped it was not broken. He thrust it back under his pillow and
watched the window, wondering what would happen if instead of Slasher, something came that
made a tapping when it moved. Then he wondered if he should have blown the whistle, because
what if Slasher tried to eat him?

A shadow fell across the windowpane, and a voice outside said, "Talon?"

For a second he thought about faking sleep, but he had called her, so he might as well let her in. He
got up and opened the window. Slasher looked down at him, her green eyes reflecting the porchlight.
"You have Knuckles's whistle?" she asked in surprise.

"He loaned it to me," said Talon, looking up at her with his instincts panicking. "For if I ... I got
scared."

Slasher thrust her head through the window, sniffing. "Scared of what?"

"I don't know." Talon knew it would sound silly if he told her he had heard a tapping sound in the
hall.

"Can I come in?"

"Uh, sure." Talon backed away from the window and Slasher squeezed her wings to her sides and
climbed through. She turned around once to pull her long tail through the window, then moved to
the door and sniffed the crack under it. "Hmm," she said after a moment. "Your uncle was here a
few minutes ago."

"Yes," said Talon, dying to ask her if she smelled anything else. "I heard ... something."

Slasher lay down in front of the door with a grunt. "Nothing will bother you while I'm here."

Somehow the sight of her bulk against the door reassured him. Talon climbed into bed and lay with
the blankets pulled up to his chin. He watched Slasher's head turn this way and that as she looked
around his room. "Is this where you lived before?"

"Yes."

"How long?"

Talon thought. "Almost a year."

"Do you like Marshill?"

"Um ... I guess."

"I've been exploring it," said Slasher. "I like the weather, and the people, and the food. But I've
noticed nobody lives on the south side adjoining the Quadrangle."

Talon had heard the stories of the Quadrangle all his life. "They're afraid of it."

"Why, I wonder?" asked Slasher, fixing an eye on him. "I'm tempted to fly out there and see if
something happens."

"It only hurts machines," said Talon.

"Maybe I could take some instruments," said Slasher. "But not now."

"Why?"

Slasher extended one wing across the room, and motioned to the gaps in her primary feathers.
"Molting." She sounded dismal. She refolded her wing and muttered, "It's worse this year."

"Why?" Talon wanted her to keep talking. As long as she talked, he could hold at bay the nagging
terror of having a predator in his room.

Slasher rested her head on her forepaws. "Growing feathers is painful. My wings are implants, and
maybe the feather hormone is leaving my body or something ... but every year it hurts more and
takes longer." She sat up and chewed a spot on one wing before laying down again. "What are you
afraid of?"

Talon thought of Espio's warning and the tapping in the hall. "Espio says there's something in the
basement. And I ... I heard something."

"Really now." She fixed both eyes on him and sat up. "What did you hear?"

"Kind of a clicking ..."

"Have you told anyone else?"

"It was only a minute ago."

The pair watched each other. Then Slasher got up and padded to the window. "I'm going to
investigate. Close and lock the window--I'll guard the house for the rest of the night."

"Okay." Talon waited until she had left, then closed the window and turned the lock. He jumped
back in bed and burrowed under the covers, glad that she was gone, and feeling a little safer with her
patrolling.

* * *

At dawn Zephyer was awakened by Knuckles moaning and thrashing in his sleep. She sat up and
shook him. "Knuckles, wake up." His fur was damp with sweat. Suddenly his eyes opened, and he
grabbed her and kicked her off the bed.

Zephyer landed on all fours, stunned, and sat there looking at her husband. He sat up and blinked
down at her. "Zephyer? What's the matter?"

"You just kicked me down here," she said. "I take it you were having a nightmare."

"Oh Zeff, I'm sorry," he said, helping her up. "It's this dream I keep having!"

Zephyer was wide awake now, and sat on the side of the bed, watching Knuckles warily. "Care to
share it with the class?"

"It's nothing big," grumbled Knuckles, looking embarrassed. "I dreamed I came home to the island
after two months, and I found everybody dead."

"That's your oath haunting you," said Zephyer. "I wondered how long you could keep up this
furlough stuff. I know I can't."

"I don't know," said Knuckles, getting up. "This latest thing with Espio must have set it off."

"Oh, I forgot about him," said Zephyer, picking up her shoes from a chair. "I hope he's okay, the
wimp."

"Nothing scares Espio like that," said Knuckles. "Not to the point of losing his self control."

"I'm going to check on him," said Zephyer.

Knuckles followed her into the living room, where Espio had spent the night on the couch. He was
still there, snoring and the same color as the cushions. Zephyer smiled at Knuckles, who shrugged
and headed for the door. They could talk outside.

Knuckles opened the door and jumped. Slasher was lying on the porch, and as the door opened her
head jerked up and she snarled, baring her teeth to the roots.

"Uh, Slasher?" said Knuckles, wondering if slamming the door was wise. Her eyes were bright
yellow, and her jaws were caked with black blood. Her teeth were stained with it.

"Knuckles!" whispered Zephyer, grabbing his arm.

Slasher snarled and growled at both of them, then jumped to her feet and loped into the trees, still
snarling and looking over her shoulder.

Knuckles shut the door and stood staring at it.

"What in the world happened to her?" whispered Zephyer. "Her eyes changed colors! That was
Slasher, right?"

"Yes," said Knuckles, horror growing inside him. "Something must have happened to her." Black
blood on her jaws and teeth. She had been killing.

Espio sat up and looked at them. "Morning, guys. What's with you?"

"Slasher was on the porch," said Zephyer. "She snarled at us and ran off."

"Snarled at you?" said Espio, folding the blanket they had loaned him. "Was she hurt?"

"She'd killed something," said Knuckles. "Her eyes changed colors because raptors do that. The
fiercer the raptor, the hotter their eyes." He glanced at Zephyer, and a twinge of electricity danced
between them as they thought of the velociraptor tribe on the island where they had first met. Even
there Slasher had retained her reason. The thing on the porch was an animal.

Espio's color had returned to purple, but now it lightened several shades. "She saw it," he said. "The
thing in the basement. I saw its leg and flipped. I'll bet she saw it all and lost her mind."

"You don't know that," snapped Knuckles. "We don't even know if she was on the mainland." He
wanted to defend Slasher somehow, since Zephyer was wearing her I Told You So look and Espio
was ready to believe anything. "We woke her up suddenly, that's all."

Zephyer and Espio said nothing, and Knuckles remembered his dream of finding them dead.
Suddenly he wondered who Slasher had killed, and why of all places she had come to the porch to
sleep? He opened the front door and strode out. "Stay here," he told Zephyer. "I won't be gone long."

* * *

Slasher's memory was a blur. She paced around and around a boulder in the woods, fretting. She
barely remembered visiting Talon, because when she left the house, she had encountered something
that sent her into pure survival mode. She had escaped to the skies and the Floating Island with its
blood polluting her teeth. She spent the night on the porch as her mind and body cooled, but when
Knuckles opened the door, her frayed nerves nearly induced her to attack the echidnas.

As soon as she entered the trees she calmed down, and was now pacing, burning with shame and
fear. She had never lost control like that before, never! What had she done in that blur the previous
night? By concentrating she could remember hearing the whistle and responding to Talon by staying
with him for a while. Then he told her about hearing strange sounds, and she went to investigate, and
she woke up on the porch, snarling at Knuckles.

Around and around the boulder she went, head bobbing in agitation. What should she do? Go home?
But what if Talon blew the whistle again? She almost regretted making it, because the whistles were
connected to her subconscious in such a way that she had to respond to them, and could hear them
no matter where they were blown. It was a great tool to give a friend, but it left Slasher vulnerable.
She hoped they had told Talon that.

But what should she do? What if she lost control again and hurt someone she cared about? She
knew her eyes must be yellow, and she could still taste the blood in her mouth. She turned aside and
rubbed her muzzle in the grass, trying to wipe off the taste and scent. It clung to her, heavy and
musky. She tried to remember fighting, and felt a terrible urge to kill welling up inside her. Perhaps
some things were best forgotten. She resumed pacing, willing the fury within her to calm.

She scented Knuckles and whirled to find him watching her from among the trees. There was a large
box beside him, and he was wearing his steel shovelclaws, which doubled as both tools and weapons.

"Hello Knuckles," she said in a low voice. "It seems I've broken everyone's trust."

"What else can I do?" said Knuckles. "Zephyer's half-afraid of you to begin with, and Espio's
convinced you saw whatever he saw. And then you snarl at me! What do you expect me to do?"

"Pitch me off the island," said Slasher, lowering her head. "Something happened last night, and I lost
control."

Knuckles walked forward, but he did not remove his shovelclaws. "Like what?"

The big raptor told him the little she remembered, aware of the contrast in their sizes--his head only
reached to her shoulder, but Slasher felt low enough to crawl under a snake's belly with a hat on.

When she finished, Knuckles stood gazing off through the woods, thinking. "You probably did see
whatever Espio saw," he said. "I hate to tell him he's right, he'd gloat forever."

"We have to get Talon out of there," said Slasher. "But I don't dare go back. I don't know what'll
happen if I snap again."

"Talon has your whistle," said Knuckles, giving her a sidelong look. "If he calls you, you'll go."

"I know!" Slasher whirled and began circling the rock again. "Why did you give it to him? Don't
you realize what could happen if someone used it against me?"

"It looks broken," said Knuckles. "Talon won't let anything happen to it. I told him I want it back."

Slasher muttered under her breath and kept pacing. "What's in the box?"

Knuckles gave her a hard look. "The Emerald Sword."

Slasher stopped and stared at him. Slowly she turned her back, closing her eyes. So even Knuckles
didn't trust her anymore. Not if he brought out the Emerald Sword and risked using it. She felt his
hand on her neck.

"Slasher, I have no choice. Part of the Guardian's oath is that I must defend my island, and that
includes its inhabitants." He chuckled. "You'd probably kill me in a fight, anyway."

She looked at him. "Not if you had the Emerald Sword. Nothing survives against it. I've seen Sonic
use it."

They looked at each other, the echidna and the yellow-eyed velociraptor, and understood that silent
battle lines had been drawn. For the time being Knuckles couldn't trust Slasher, and Slasher couldn't
trust herself.

She was the first to turn away. "Do what you have to do." She kept her eyes on the ground as
Knuckles picked up his box and walked away. She resumed pacing, but this time walking slowly
with head down and tail dragging.

* * *

Knuckles returned to the house looking grim. Zephyer was sitting on the porch waiting for him, and
jumped up when she saw him coming. He set the box on the bottom step and embraced her. "What
happened?" she whispered.

He withdrew and looked into her eyes. "She said she met Espio's monster and snapped. She thinks
it'll happen again."

Zephyer looked at Knuckles's shovelclaws and knew that he had taken steps to protect everyone
from the velociraptor.

Knuckles turned and opened the box, which resembled a small coffin. Inside was a suit of armor,
plated with green crystal. "Wasn't that Kardot's?" said Zephyer, eyes widening.

"She used it, yes," said Knuckles, "but she stole it from Talon's parents." He handed Zephyer the
breastplate, and she grinned and put it on. The armor was simple, and each piece fastened to the next
with a hinge. There was also a girdle, shin guards and a belt to support the sword sheath.

In the box under the armor were two swords, each wrapped in burlap. Knuckles removed the first
and handed it to Zephyer. "This goes with the armor," he said as Zephyer unsheathed it. "It was
Kardot's."

Zephyer held up the yellow crystal blade and watched the sun shine through it. "Does it glow?"

"Yeah." Knuckles removed the other sword from the box without touching the hilt. "This is the
Emerald Sword. If you pick it up and it glows for you, it'll make you into a killing machine." He
unsheathed it four inches. A thread of green light was concentrated in the center of the crystal.
Knuckles resheathed the sword and hurriedly laid it aside. "Yep."

Zephyer swung the yellow sword a few times and jogged in a circle, the armor clanking around her.
"This stuff weighs a ton."

"It's not as heavy as the thirty pounds of biometal you were packing around," said Knuckles.

"That was different," said Zephyer. "The machinery did part of the work for me." She twirled the
sword from hand to hand and dropped it. "How come there's no helmet?"

"There never was," said Knuckles, but he looked at Zephyer doubtfully. It did seem odd that there
was no protection for the head.

She looked at him. "No point in wearing all this into battle if your head's gonna get chopped." She
spun the blade a few more times, criss-crossing with both hands. After a moment she stopped to rest,
panting. "This sword does everything for me," she said. "It's kind of neat."

"But you can control it?"

"Sure. I'll bet I could get really good if I practiced."

Knuckles looked at her for a long moment, then picked up the Emerald Sword and unsheathed it. He
swung it a few times, the glowing blade feather-light. He felt its thirst for blood and battle, but it was
dim. It did dictate how to swing it, however, and he went through the same exercises that Zephyer
had. He turned and faced her. "Care to duel?"

"Knux, these are sharp!" she exclaimed. "And you're not wearing any armor!"

"Hold on," he said, retreating into the house. He reappeared a moment later with two pieces of wood.
He stuck one on the end of his sword, and Zephyer did the same with hers. "There, all safe," he said.
"If I get too aggressive, yell 'stop', and if I don't, run for it."

Zephyer's eyes widened, but she nodded.

They faced each other, swords held before them, watching each other's eyes. Knuckles swung,
Zephyer blocked. She danced forward and counter-attacked, and Knuckles dodged and circled,
grinning. "You hit like a girl."

"Sue me." She sprang at him and he countered, their blades clashing.

Espio walked out on the porch and watched. The two echidnas, one in armor and the other without
it, circling and battling all over the front lawn, was quite a sight. "Oh man, the others don't know
what they're missing!" he thought. "This is better than cobra wrestling!" He leaned on the railing and
watched.

It looked like they were trying to kill each other, and both their faces were grim and unblinking. But
after a few more minutes Zephyer said, "Stop!" and they lowered their swords. She doubled over,
panting, and Knuckles realized sweat was running into his eyes. "You're pretty good," he told her.
"For a girl."

"It was the sword," she puffed. "It told me what to do."

"Mine too," said Knuckles, wiping his forehead. "That's the first time the Emerald Sword didn't try
to eat me alive."

Zephyer noticed Espio. "Well, how was it?"

"Awesome," he called. "I didn't know you could fence, Zephyer."

"Me neither," said Zephyer. "But I want a helmet. Having a blade flying at your face is unnerving."

"I'll call Talon this afternoon and ask if there was one," said Knuckles, sheathing the Emerald
Sword. "Hey Zeff, our appointment with Orphan Aid is in an hour."

"Heck." Zephyer sheathed her sword and began shedding armor.

"Zeff," Knuckles murmured to her, "keep the sword with you. I'm keeping mine."

They exchanged an electric glance--they were to be armed at all times. She nodded, and Knuckles
went inside in search of a belt.

* * *

"Test today!" said one of the teachers, waving to attract the attention of the students. Everyone
looked up and grew quiet. Talon felt a sick wave of fear wash over him. "You know what happens
during tests!" bellowed the teacher. "Each class will be hunted in turn by the various group teachers.
You will have to display the qualities you have learned in previous classes to pass. If you lose your
armband, you fail. Tests are over when the horn sounds. Go!"

Simple rules, but so horrible in practice. Talon followed his group into the trees, knowing he would
flunk. He always failed his tests--the only reason he had progressed at all was because he had
somehow lived to thirteen.

The Antelope group was quiet and jumpy. Even the bold ones hated tests, for the teachers were
experts at guerrilla warfare and sometimes flunked whole classes by taking their armbands.

They stayed on a path for a while, then the group headed into the shelter of the brush, watching and
listening for danger. Talon thought of using his shoes to hide in the treetops, but then the avian
groups would spot him and his shoes would be confiscated. Better to take his chances on the ground.

Someone raised their hand--the signal for danger. As one the group turned to run, but the class
ringleaders knew how to pass tests. A lanky kangaroo aimed a kick at Talon's legs that knocked him
down. The rest of the class escaped, and the 'predator' pounced on the fallen victim.

Talon felt claws in his back and lay still as the dingo unsnapped the maroon armband. "Failed,"
grunted the dingo, and ran after the herd. Talon picked himself up, brushing sand off his fur. At least
the teachers weren't as violent as the students. And since he had failed, all he had to do was go back
to the entry area and wait. Flunking tests was a relief, really. It meant he could sit still without fear
of being hunted.

The young anteater returned to the trail and walked back. Once another teacher found him, but he
saw Talon had no armband and passed him by.

Suddenly the bushes parted and three wolves jumped out and surrounded him. Their armbands were
gray--Wolf group. They were all bigger and taller than Talon, and he looked at them with despair.

"Well well, it's a little flunky," snickered the leader of the group, a burly wolf with yellow eyes. "Bet
the teacher didn't hurt you much, did he?"

Talon didn't answer.

"Do you know what happens to little anteaters who get caught by predators?" grinned another wolf.
"They get eaten! I think we need to educate you in the ways of the wild." The wolf shoved him, and
Talon covered his face. "Aww, not going to fight back?" laughed the ringleader. "We got us a
coward here, guys! A little--yellow--coward--" With every word they shoved Talon around until
they knocked him down. Then they gathered around, kicking him savagely, yelling for him to get up
and fight.

They were interrupted as one of them hissed, "Teacher. Run!" They fled, leaving Talon lying on the
path with the wind beaten from his lungs and blood in his mouth. The teacher jogged up the path,
jumped over him and was gone.

Talon sat up, tears running down his face, and slowly climbed to his feet. It hurt to move or
breathe--they had kicked him in the arms and sides, and he wondered if his ribs were cracked. He
hurried up the path, hoping he met no one else.

There had been a time when had tried to fight back, but the pounding he received was just as bad.
When bullies caught him now, Talon gave up. There was no way he could win. All he could do was
take it and go on. Hey, everyone was bullied, right? It made them stronger, right?

He reached the entry area and sat down, aching all over and breathing shallowly. "I just want to go
home," he thought, thinking of what Knuckles would have done if he had caught someone kicking
Talon in the ribs. He wiped his tears and sat there, waiting for the horn to blow.

One by one other flunked students trickled out of the woods and joined Talon. All of them looked
angry, and they didn't speak to one another. All of them waited for the test to end.

Finally the airhorn sounded, and the groups and teachers filed out of the jungle. The flunkees were
written up, given back their armbands, and sent out for another lesson with their group.

By three o'clock Talon was in real pain. His bruised muscles had stiffened, and he could hardly
move his arms. He rode the school bus in a daze, and got off at his uncle's house with the single goal
of taking some aspirin and going to sleep. He walked up the driveway, which seemed steeper than
ever, and glanced at the shrubbery, thinking of the Chaotix. "Hey guys," he said in a low voice, "call
Knuckles and tell him I'll call at seven."

A hand emerged from a bush in the thumbs-up sign, and Talon went inside. He located some aspirin,
took two, and entered his room. He painfully dragged his dresser in front of his door, made sure his
window was locked, then stretched out on his bed.

When he awoke hours later, it was pitch black in his room, and he was freezing. He lifted his head
and pain rippled over his torso. The aspirin must have worn off. He sat up and heard his
communicator clicking. He pulled it out and realized it was after nine o'clock, when he had meant to
call in at seven. He pressed the receive button and rasped, "Hello?"

"Talon?" Zephyer's voice sounded relieved. "Where were you? I've been calling and calling!"

"I was asleep," said Talon, realizing he was hungry, and remembering he would have to move his
dresser to leave his room. "When can I come home?"

Zephyer sighed. "Not for a few weeks, at least. Did you sleep all afternoon?"

"Yeah."

"Are you sick?"

"No ..." Talon was reluctant to admit he was hurt.

"Why, then?"

"I got hurt at school."

"Hurt? How?"

"Bullies."

There was a pause, and Talon heard Zephyer's muffled voice in the background as she talked with
her hand over the microphone. "How long has this been going on?" She sounded angry.

"Not long," Talon lied. "I wandered off and they found me." He didn't want to admit that he had let
them pound him--not to an echidna, who never dreamed of walking away from a fight.

"Well, if it happens again, call me," said Zephyer. "I won't stand by and see you hurt so bad that you
sleep for--for six hours!"

"Okay." Talon wondered what Zephyer could do, but didn't say anything.

There was a mutter in the background, and Zephyer said, "Oh yeah. Talon, you know that emerald
armor your dad collected? Do you know if it had a helmet?"

"A helmet? I think so. He kept it locked up somewhere."

"Did Kit and Kardot get it?"

"No." Talon tried to remember. The shock of losing both his parents had turned that period of his life
into a nightmarish jumble, and he hadn't cared what happened to the armor. He remembered
something about his uncle receiving whatever belongings of his father's that had survived the fire.
"Uncle Pendel might have it."

"Could you look around the house for it? Knuckles let me try on the armor, then he assaulted me
with the Emerald Sword, and I started thinking about helmets."

Talon nearly laughed, but it hurt his stomach. "I'll look for it."

"I guess that's all. Be careful, Talon. If anything happened to you, I'd ... I'd ..." She trailed off.

"Thanks," he said softly.

"Bye Talon."

"Bye Zephyer." He turned off his com and looked at it, a rush of homesickness wrenching his heart.
Then he moved his dresser back and ventured out into the dark house to get something to eat.

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