Disclaimer: I do not own any of the recognized characters or gameplay patterns within this fanfiction. Sonic the Hedgehog, Tails, Eggman, Blaze, and all related characters of such are owned by SEGA.


Blaze danced out of the way as another arrow struck where she was going to be. Of all the places to have traps, of course it had to be this place now. There hadn't been any in the first half, but the second half was someone shrugging and saying that they had double the amount to make up for it!

Pressure plates, wires, almost every possible method she could think of for trapping a place was used to their full extent. Holes, spikes, arrows and darts...everything. It didn't matter which angle it came from either. Up, down, left, right, diagonals, it was almost absurd how the creators of the ruins managed all this.

"Not what I was looking for!" Blaze muttered as another dart almost hit her hair. One had hit her hair tie, and now she had to deal with a broken hair tie along with all of these traps. It was rather annoying, as it kept itching the back of her neck. There was a reason she liked to keep her hair up! What she wanted to know though is who would set up all of these traps for seemingly no reason!?

She probably would have gone back if she could, but she had passed by another pressure plate that had caused a wall to collapse, preventing her from leaving easily.

Her current hallway had at least five ways that traps could be set and if she was only fairly certain that there weren't another five varieties! The pressure plates looked exactly like the regular floors, and the darts and arrows were in the shadows of the blue and red colors on the sides, making them nearly impossible to see.

She paused at her current intersection, glancing over the hallway. It looked innocuous enough. Fairly straightforward all the way to the end, with no twists or turns. No obvious black spots where sawblades or spears would come out and stab at her.

Then the plate she was currently on went down, and Blaze cursed loudly as the wall behind her started to collapse, a giant boulder the exact size of the hallway starting to chase at her. She burst forward, calling on the fires to make sure that even if she should hit a plate, she'd be likely to be out of the way already.

Her plan proved fruitful as despite the rolling boulder going considerably slower than her, the arrows and darts that poured out of the halls missed her by nearly thirty or forty seconds. Until she stepped on one, and the intersection in front of her turned into a hall of spears, each of them with sharp pointy metal pointing directly at her.

She sent forward a swath of flame, hoping to burn it all before she got there. The wood burned easily, showing it had been treated with something to make it withstand the test of time, but easily flammable. As in it exploded.

She felt the rush of the explosion around her, and it was only due to her control of fire that she wasn't burned instantly. The actual impulse of force that came with it threw her back a few feet and onto her back. She winced as her tail protested the landing, and she rolled onto her feet to get going again.

But the air was silent. Unlike just a few seconds before, the rolling boulder no longer could be called 'rolling', now just sitting in the middle of the hallway unmoving. The spears were on the ground, leaving only the metal tips, the fire having melted most of that off too.

"I hate this place. I really do," Blaze muttered under her breath as she got to the intersection. One way opened up to a large room, and suddenly she realized what all the traps were for.

A stunning treasure trove of gold and other precious metals. Silver and bronze stood out to her, with giant gold bars nearly the same size as her hand. Jewelry that was stunning was kept safely in the corners.

She cautiously stepped in, sending a quick swath of flame around. She paused before each one, wincing as the smell of iron hit her nose. Fake. All of them were fake, merely painted as if real. But why would anyone go through all this trouble just for fake treasure? Although the real question was, who made it, and where are they now?

Obviously this world had sapients on it, somewhere. The appreciation of gold and silver enough to hoard it and create traps for it spoke at least that much. But then that meant; who made all this fake treasure, and where was the real stuff?

She walked in, grabbing a few pieces of what looked like silver, only to be found staring at steel or iron, only polished enough to look like silver. Gold bars were iron bars painted gold. "I think Tails could probably use most of this iron..." Blaze muttered. The foxboy probably could. She reached for some bronze or blood colored bars, only to recoil back. That one was actual silver, rusted from the time. She grabbed one of her gloves, pulling it off her hand and carefully placing the bar in it. Silver had, if she was right, some decent anti-microbial processes to it. Long as they didn't do it for too long, they should be ok, right?

Then her foot stepped to the right, and she felt another pressure plate activate as the entire floor around her, far more than she could jump in the time needed, caved out from under her. Chunks and pieces of the fake treasure went with her, and she landed harshly on a water slide heading almost straight down.

She winced as her ankle and tail protested each movement as she slid down, the water getting straight into her tunic, bumping into the sides as it twisted and turned like she had paid for a thrill ride somewhere.

It dumped her a minute later unceremoniously into the lake, where she glared in annoyance at nothing in particular. Her hair was soaked now, as was the rest of her. She sighed, and started to swim slowly back. The current was swift but easy to power through, and it took only around ten or fifteen minutes before Blaze pushed herself ashore.

She stared at the sun, slowly dripping down beyond the horizon's edge. Assuming she'd be able to find her way back, there was a fairly good treasure trove of iron back there. Tails would probably appreciate it.

Speaking of, where was the fox? He'd been following her for a while, and he'd followed her to the fortress ruins, but now he was nowhere to be seen. She wondered if he'd given up halfway through, but knew that was probably not going to be the case. She knew the masculine ego too well for that.

Making sure the silver bar was gripping in her glove, she went about heading back to the campsite. The outside of the fortress ruins were easy to navigate now that she'd been there before, and she could find a kind of order to the pathways now. Red meant a certain direction, towards a certain building. Blue meant the other way, a kind of medical facility if she had seen right. But it was near impossible to tell from the amount of time since the civilization's power.

The trees were a lot darker than they had been that morning, but a simple flame in her hand lit it up easily. She could see in the dark just as well, but fire had two other purposes; it was a weapon, and a distraction. Most wild animals didn't like or understand fire, and most sapients didn't understand it the way she did. By keeping it in her hand, she'd be able to transition between nocturnal sight and diurnal sight at any moment.

She had to remind herself as she went past to grab the small pieces of ceramic bowls and plates that she'd found on the way in. They were light, and while not big would do their job nicely for them. As she stuffed the plates and bowls underneath her other arm, she huffed a bit at the reminder that she needed a bag too now. Maybe that was something she could do once she got back.

The thick trees parted, and she founded herself in the first building she'd found. It smelled a bit different though, more of dust and dirt than it had before. She grinned at the fox sitting on the roof, seemingly waiting patiently for her. "Tails," she said quietly, jumping with ease. He'd already gotten up, and was doing a few experimental stretches. Somehow he was soaking wet, and she could see a few more scratches and cuts on his legs and arms.

"Hey Blaze...remember how you told me to stay at the campsite?"

"I knew you were following me. I'll have to teach you how to be stealthy at some point," Blaze pointed out. His ears drooped and she had to withhold the giggle that threatened to come out. He looked surprisingly cute.

"I thought I was doing pretty well!"

"I was pretending not to notice. Subtle, you are not."

"Darn. But hey, I found a giant ring! But it closed before I got there. Found these though!" Tails said, pulling out two white crystals. He held them close together, and small sparks of electricity jumped off of them towards the other.

"Better luck than me. Interesting find. I did find a trove of iron, and a bit of silver," Blaze said, pulling out her glove and showing the small brick she'd managed to keep. "There were also a few ceramic pieces we can use," she said, gesturing to the others she had in her hand.

"Perfect. Head on?" Tails said cheekily.

"Certainly. You're not getting out of my disapproval though. I said to stay back. So why didn't you stay back? You managed to hurt yourself even more," Blaze answered.

"I did? You did! I'm pretty sure the tunic is meant to not show fur, but I can't even see that. Just blood! Your legs are covered in it!" Tails said, gesturing to her bottom half.

Blaze blinked, and stared down. The usual white of her tights that she used underneath her tunic were rustic red, small cuts made obvious by small splotches of blood. She hadn't even noticed when she'd gotten cut. "Huh. Guess we both need to settle down for a bit," Blaze muttered.

"I'll say," Tails said. He jumped down, rolling as he landed. Blaze was only slightly more competent at her landing, a small clacking sound from the plates and bowls.

"When did those stairs open up? They weren't here when I passed by here the first time," Blaze asked, gesturing to the small stairs heading down into the dirt. That was where the smell had come from, she realized.

"When I came through here. There was a bit of quartz that I touched and it suddenly lit up. I think it might've been something pressure-activated or-" Tails started.

"Wait, you went down here when it opened instantly, didn't you?" Blaze asked. Tails raised an eyebrow, but nodded slowly. "Then who was following me all the way to the other ruins? They were another sapient, trying to be stealthy. They matched you up pretty well, actually."

Tails eyes widened and he started to rush off towards the campsite. Blaze called upon the fire and was off in the same instant. If someone had been following them, then it meant their little site was probably not a safe place either. She raced the fox there, taking care to not hurt herself further.

The campsite was exactly as they'd left it when they reached it ten minutes later. Or at least, when Blaze last saw it. It still didn't have any walls, but there was a small roof and Tails' blanket was still there. "Looks like nothing happened," Blaze said with a hint of relief.

"No, something did," Tails said, raising his nose to the sky. "They took our food."

Blaze raised an eyebrow. A bit of food, oh no. "And nothing saying we can't catch more," she said, heading to the river and reaching down, grabbing one easily. "These things are easy to find. I'm not worried. Maybe some wild animal went to take off with it."

Tails' looked pensive, staring at the walls in thought.

-Side T-

Despite Tails' fears, Blaze was surprisingly good at catching fish, and in minutes had their stores and supplies back up to where it was before the day had begun.

While the cat was cooking them, Tails reached down for his Miles Electric, trying to turn it on to no avail. He'd have to wait until morning, and would have to make sure it got plenty of sun to charge. He had a few ideas he wanted to make it work, but he needed the thing actually on before he can do any of them.

"Thanks," Tails whispered as Blaze handed him a fish. If he could just get it to work then he knew he could do it, and setup some kind of sensor that detected the giant rings. Once he does that, they could go home easily.

"Fr hut?" Blaze answered questioningly. He looked up, staring as a fish was in her mouth, and she was eating it slowly and carefully. "For what?" she repeated.

"Just... the fish. Everything."

She shrugged. "Of course. We're teammates out here, now. We have to depend on each other if we're going to make it."

"But...I don't really do anything," Tails said, staring at the ground. "I can't do anything. I'm not Knuckles or Sonic, who can do anything they want, or Shadow..."

"Of course you can," Blaze retorted. "You can do a lot more than you give yourself credit for. Who was it who made those machines you were talking about? Who was it who made a translator that could translate aliens without ever seeing them before?"

"It had bugs in it though, and didn't work right-"

"And that's the same thing with everything and everyone."

"You're doing just fine."

Blaze looked pensive for a moment. "I'm fine because I have to be. I would have died, earlier. You know we only lose rings if we're about to die. I lost the ring. You know what that meant, right? I was going to die. And that was the second day."

"I...it's just the right thing to do."

"It wasn't, but I'm grateful you did it anyways," Blaze answered. She glanced up at the stars, and Tails followed her gaze. The stars were a giant trail of milky white shines, and although Tails knew what they all were, somehow their beauty didn't escape him. "You would have been fine. But we're stronger together. Tomorrow, we'll both take the day and rest. Both of us could probably use the resting time anyways."

She waved her hand and the roaring campfire deadened to large embers. It still gave off enough heat to make him start sweating if he was too close, and he wondered how far, in Blaze's mind, the concepts were from one another. Could she create heat in one object, or was it limited solely to fire? How did her powers work?

Questions on his mind, he almost missed when Blaze gave a cordial 'goodnight, Tails' as she curled up. He barely remembered to at least give a quick goodnight back as he dug underneath the leaves that acted as his bed at the moment.

He turned, staring towards Blaze and her uncomfortable bed, called the ground. She didn't have any leaves to soften her rest. "Switch with me," he stated flatly. "You get the good rest, I'll stay on that side. I'll try to find more tomorrow," he said.

"Tails, I'm alright. Seriously. Sleep," Blaze retorted. "It's easier like this for me."

"It makes me feel guilty. That you're there and I'm over here."

As if to answer him, Blaze sat up and somehow curled around herself, as if she was a sentient cat instead of a sapient one. "I'm fine," she answered back. The lack of the hair tie curled her hair around her face, giving the illusion that almost had dreadlocks in a way, similar to Knuckles. He could almost imagine the growl she'd give.

With those being his last thoughts, he eventually surrendered to the growing darkness that was sleep.

He woke up with a gasp what felt like a few minutes later. He knew it wasn't, because he was having a dream. The kind of dream that he really knew he shouldn't be having. The sun was high in the air, and the sky a crystal blue with a tint of greyness off on the horizon.

He took a deep breath and fully expected to feel some pain, only to find he didn't feel a thing. There was a soreness there, but the usual bruised feeling that would accompany being sent straight into a bear's chest wasn't there anymore.

Blaze was at the river's edge, her shoes and socks off to the side as she let one foot dangle into the running water. "Morning. As I said, today's a rest day. For a semblance of rest. We need the walls up," she said.

"Right, right," Tails said as he kept the leaves of his makeshift bed over his lower half, reaching out for the bail-bag. The Miles Electric fell into his hands, and with an urge to stare at everywhere except the object of his dream, he made sure that it was starting to charge in the sun.

"You alright?" Blaze asked from her resting spot. "You're moving weird. You didn't hurt yourself more, did you?" There was an odd tone that he could pick out, like she was teasing him or had an idea about it that he really wished that she didn't.

The dream came back unbidden, and he shoved it back. "Yeah, yeah I'm fine. No, I didn't hurt myself, just...yes!" Tails said, grinning as the handheld device's screen lit up. "Just needed this charged. Or charging, at least."

Blaze pushed herself up, and Tails unconsciously watched her as she stretched a bit, small pieces of lavender fur peeking out of the tights of her tunic. The holes had gotten bigger, now showing a considerable portion of her lower leg, and a bit of her outer thighs.

"You might need some new clothes here soon. Yours are getting torn up," Tails pointed out. Blaze looked down, casually glancing over her tights.

"Probably. Unfortunately I'm not the best at sewing, and I don't think we will find anyplace to buy them," Blaze answered. She sat back down a moment later, letting one hand fall into the river. "What were your plans for the walls?"

"I'm thinking a couple of logs horizontal at each of the posts. We can get a fifth one down too, move each of them. Pentagon's easier to fortify than a square," Tails said easily. He opened up the Miles Electric, highlighting another app he'd made; a simple blueprint drafting program. He had a more advanced one, but he only used that one if he needed all of its features. For this, a basic one would do. "Like this," Tails said, quickly plotting down his idea.

Blaze got up, a fish in her hand. She had a fire going in her hands as she made her way over, and by the time she'd made it to him the smell of fresh cooked fish filled his nose. "I see," she said, hovering over his shoulder. "We'll need at least five for each length then. We can cut them to the size we need if we find bigger."

"How? I don't have any saws or anything," Tails said. He should have to remember that for next time; to bring a hatchet or something in the bail-bag. Although he sincerely hoped he'd never need it again after this. Three days and he was already tired of sleeping on the ground. Or the leaves he used as a blanket, that were on the ground.

"I'm surprised. Usually most bags have an axe. We don't need to cut though, we can burn," Blaze answered. As if to illustrate, she took a small stick and held it to her hand, letting the fire start to smoke on the edges. Once it got to the length she needed, she waved it out and ripped off the charred side.

"That seems unsafe."

"Unsafe only in that it requires a pyrokinetic."

"That seems unsafe."

Blaze glared.

Tails grinned at his own joke, slowly pushing down the leaves that were covering him. He took a moment to gauge the air pressure, trying to see when the storm would arrive. Probably tomorrow, or the day after. It was definitely dropping pressure, so it was on its way. He pushed himself up with a small groan, feeling the flare from his ribs and back. Despite the supposed rest day, he knew he was not going to be getting much rest. Neither was Blaze, for that matter.

The forest was right there, and it took only a few hours before they found enough branches and sticks to act as founding parts of the walls. Each time that he moved he felt a small hitch, and he could see Blaze limping just slightly. Whatever they had done the previous day, it wasn't nice to them.

"We don't have any string or rope, do we?" Blaze asked, picking up a few of the bigger leaves. He wasn't sure what she was going to be doing with them, if she knew of a way to make rope with them.

It wasn't hot out, but it wasn't cold or cool either. Tails felt himself sweat out, and he was glad that his fur wasn't keeping him too warm. Blaze, too, was obvious. Her hair had gotten loose without the hair tie, and he realized why she always wore it; she was constantly pushing it out of her eyes. It worked a lot like his did, actually. A few of the bigger ones tied together and fell in front of her eyes.

"No, we do," Tails said after a moment. "It's right...here," he said, pulling out a small bundle. It wasn't the thick type that everyone thought of when someone said rope, but rather a type of thin material that he'd made ages ago, in much the same way as the expandable blanket. "It doesn't look strong, but it can be recombined if you cut it and you add water."

Blaze stared. "How were you planning on cutting it if you didn't have an axe or some scissors?" she asked after a moment. What was she thinking, he thought. She didn't look impressed, but at the same time as if he'd blindsided her.

"It works on tears, too. Like this," Tails said, grabbing a small portion and ripping it. "It's really strong, but it's designed to come apart and come back together."

"Tails. That's incredible," Blaze said quietly. "That...I thought the expandable blanket was incredible, but you had this one too? What else do you have in that mystery bag?"

"A small survival guide, and that's about it. A bit of food, water, and the Miles Electric," Tails said. He wondered if he should've left that one off, as it was back at the camp charging in the sunlight while it still could. They weren't too far from it though, barely a half minute's run. "Oh, and the crystals!" he said, grinning as he pulled out the two white crystals. He clashed them together lightly, trying not to flinch as their electricity soared towards each other.

"Survival guide? Can I see it?" Blaze asked. She held out her hand gently, the one that was ungloved. Had she actually put her other glove back on, the one with the silver? She hadn't, had she? It was a light lavender, her fingers lithe and small. It reminded him of a pianist's hand, honestly. Dexterous and long, lithe and thin, able to hit as many notes as it could. "Guidebook?" she said again impatiently. He'd blanked out again, hadn't he? Dammit.

"Sure, sure hold on," he said, digging through his pack. His hand gripped it easily enough. It was a small thing, barely the size of a wallet. He passed it over, deliberately avoiding touching her hand.

"I'm surprised you don't have money or rings in there. Wouldn't they be helpful if you had to bail in your world?" Blaze asked, flipping through the book quietly. She took a glance around her at one of the weeds and flowers, before looking back at the guidebook, and back at the flower. She plucked it a moment later.

"I carry my ID with me, remember?" Tails said, flashing out his two tails, "and I've memorized my card numbers and account information. Rings would be helpful, but unfortunately they're too chaotic."

"What do you mean, chaotic?" Blaze asked, bending down to pick at another white flower. She crushed this one, holding it in the same hand as a quarter of the sticks. Tails held the other ones.

"Rings...rings are a figment of chaos energy. Emotional energy, I guess. You've felt them; they make you feel calmer, more focused."

"More reckless."

"More of everything, actually. They're emotionally based, so they act on those emotions. If they sense panic, they react by strengthening the body. It's weird actually, no one is certain if they're sentient or not. I have no idea what causes them to act that way, except chaos energy. But as the only thing capable of containing chaos energy for a long period of time is a chaos emerald, rings can't be caught."

"I thought that was your monetary system," Blaze blinked. "Isn't it? That's what I saw at the Night Palace when I was there six years ago." Tails blushed as he thought what she would do in a place like that. "Not like that!" Blaze immediately retorted, a small blush evident on her face. "I mean, when I was at the Night Palace I saw advertisements for rings in the bank and such," she clarified.

Tails smiled. "Yeah, they are. But there's two types, the rings that we find in the wild, that help us, and the ones in the bank that don't. Those are sapient-made ones, and they're useless as anything except currency."

"Strange. I prefer my world. We use coins."

"Weird..."

Despite Frontier's coming out a few days ago, I'm still uploading a new chapter. Let me all know what you think! Until next time!