Outside the Great Forest, Void was resuming his search for Knothole. It had turned out to be a dreary day, and he was impatient to start searching the inner sectors of the area soon, for more reasons than just fear of Robotnik.

Bzzt... Visual systems on... Audio systems on... Motion Systems Activated... All systems online... bzzt

As Void started into the inner regions of the Great Forest, he considered his chances of getting a description of what he was looking for.

[I wonder if I should contact Robotnik and ask what it looks like... Probably not... He'd just get angry and might re-program me...] Void thought as he passed a small, crystal blue lake muttering Knothole... Knothole....

********

Moments later, a mysterious being garbed in a hooded gray robe and many shadows dropped down from the treetops that she had been observing Void from, taking care not to disturb the stillness that hung in the air. "Knothole? Could this be the Knothole I'm looking for?" wondered the newcomer as she set off after the robot, pulling her hood farther up over her ears to keep off the rain.

"Better check it out."

********

Tails had slept in somewhat late that morning, and was reluctant to get up. It was just one of those sleepy days, where the atmosphere seemed to slow everyone down. Looking out the window of his hut, he saw that winter would soon come. The leaves had begun to turn magnificent shades of brown, yellow, orange, red, and pink, with varying brightness, and the temperature was obviously dropping. Today though, they all seemed to look darker shades of their respective colors than usual, due to the rain. In fact, Tails wouldn't've been surprised if it decided to snow soon.

Slipping his running shoes on, he decided to go out for a bit, to try and shake off the sullen, depressed feeling that seemed to linger in the air.

********

The rain had even begun to get to Snively and Robotnik. Snively sat in his swivel chair watching the monitors half-asleep, and cursing the poor excuse for coffee that the robots made. In an aside to himself, he made a mental note to tell his uncle about that…but not right now.

King Cholesterol, meanwhile, snoozed fitfully in his chair, dreaming of all the times that blasted hedgehog had gotten in his way, and what he would do when the rodent was gone. At that thought, Robotnik grinned. Oh how he'd make them suffer for all the damage they'd done. Perhaps he might even make an example or two…yes…that's what he would do.

After some thought, he decided that Princess Acorn and that two tailed freak would do nicely, and went on to dream up how he would torture them in front of the handful of Mobians that called themselves 'Freedom Fighters'.

********

Back in the Great Forest, the mysterious gray-clothed figure was slowly making her way through the forest, shivering from the cold. Having lost track of Void some time ago, she wandered in a semi-random path, although considerably slower. She stopped before a small cliff and leaned on one of the many dull neon trees to catch her breath. A sudden dizziness spell came over her, forcing her to rest on an old hollow tree near the edge of the mini-cliff.

"Oooooh… I don't feel that good… I sure hope I find Knothole soon, then maybe I'll—"

********

Tails relaxed on the bank of a small lake, watching the ripples made by the falling rain upon the cobalt blue water. He had been out most of the day, and it was starting to get late, so he decided to head on back to Knothole. After making a mental note of how he had found the area, he started the trek back home.

Tails could only guess how close he was to Knothole since he'd gone a different way than usual, but he guessed that he was going in the general direction of the old oak slide that was a secret entrance to Knothole. Brushing aside some overgrown bushes, he stepped into a familiar small clearing with a pool near the center that bubbled not due to the rain, but due to the energy of the machine that created Power Rings. Some of them anyway, sometimes he'd find one that wasn't obviously created by the machine, but Rings were most common at the Ring Spring.

Pushing aside the greenery that hid the slide from view, Tails froze. Not a foot from the slide laid an outsider sprawled on the ground, having fainted. The figure's hood had fallen off, revealing the amber face of a fox. Something tugged at the back of Tails' memory at the sight of her, but was too shy to reveal itself just yet.

Part of Tails wanted to take her into the village for medical attention, but the other part of him was suspicious of what she was doing there in the first place. Eventually he decided that he'd take her to Knothole, but only until he knew who she was… and what she was doing here. Warily picking her up, he flew her down the small cliff, since the slide wouldn't be any help if she were hurt.

********

Sonic, Knuckles, and the Chaotix had been searching fruitlessly for the Emerald throughout the night. Knuckles was just about to call off the search until the storm blew over, when he heard Vector and Sonic's joint cry of 'Found it!'. Knuckles turned his glide so that he would land near the others, relieved that the Emerald had been found.

"Wait… weren't Sonic and Vector looking on opposite sides? Yeah… they were… So how could they both find the Emerald?" Knuckles thought, doubt rising.

Once the Chaotix and Sonic had found each other again, Knuckles asked to see the emerald. Almost simultaneously, Sonic and Vector held out two emeralds, Sonic's was a bright ruby red, while the one Vector held was a dark shade of emerald green that faded into black around the edges.

Knuckles stared at both emeralds, positive that only one had 'blinked'. Something about the darker one nagged at the back of his mind. It seemed vaguely familiar, even though he'd never seen it before. Too exhausted to be troubled by it right then, he decided to take them back to the shrine of the Master Emerald to look at later.

********

Her mind swimming through various states of consciousness, the amber colored fox felt a vague flying sensation, although whether from hunger or some other force she couldn't have said. After several moments of struggling to wake, images began to whirl through her head, some familiar, some new, but none were identifiable as real or dream-like. The two-tail seemed familiar, perhaps he was the one she was searching for. Beside him stood a half robotic rabbit, a walrus, and a pink hedgehog, among others, all obviously worried about something and all obviously new to her.

"Wha…? Huh…? Where am I…? Who are all of you…?" the mystery fox groaned looking around the room at the crowd surrounding her as she attempted to sit up, her gray cloak seemingly not noticed yet due to the fact she was still wearing it.

"My name's Tails." The two-tail replied. "I found you outside our village, and was worried you were hurt, so I brought you back with me. This is Amy, Rotor, Bunnie Rabbot…" he continued, introducing each of them in turn and pointing to each as he said their name. "Where are you from anyway? How did you manage to find our village?" he added as an afterthought.

The amber fox shook her head and tried to focus. "Uhhnnn… Sorry I'm a bit out of it right now… I have traveled so far and so often that I barely remember where I'm from. A few years back I heard rumors about one of the few people from my birth-village living here in Knothole. Over the past few years, I've been searching for this one… If I remember right, I think his name was Miles. I'm not sure though. Perhaps he knows of what happened to our home, if this is so, I wish very much to find out. As to how did I find this place, I was wandering, and was slightly tired and in need of rest. Past that, I couldn't say. But where are my manners? My name is Amber, I hope I haven't caused you too much trouble." the newcomer said. Feeling suddenly dizzy, Amber was forced to lie down, whereupon she fainted again.

"Oh mah stars, lookit tha poor gal… A bit out of it? She looks half stahved! Ah'll be right back, Ah'm gonna git her somethin' ta eat when she comes to agin." Bunnie whispered to Sally upon noticing how thin Amber looked, and promptly disappeared out the door.

********

The Mobian moon hung suspended in the dark sky, barely a sliver in the shadows of the clouds. Most of Knothole was dark, the only light being an occasional chance moonbeam that found its way through the dense forest canopy above.

Not far away from Knothole, Void continued his search of the Great Forest. He had recently found newly made footprints, and had decided to investigate. The tracks twisted and turned, as if the one who had made them had been half lost. Still, a lead was a lead, and this was the first sign of sentient life that he'd seen in the forest in the past several days.

Just when Void was ready to believe that the creature had indeed been lost, the tracks ended suddenly at a small cliff, and another pair began. Upon closer examination, he saw that the new pair of tracks had came from a similar direction, but the owner had been more sure of him or herself. There was a depression in the dark grass where the first pair of tracks, a fox of some sort by the shape of the outline, had lay down. Strangely though, there was no crushed grass or marks to show the creature had moved from the spot, except for several small depressions near the edge. They were too big to be finger marks, but not big enough to be footprints.

Perplexed, Void made his way carefully down the small cliff to see if the tracks continued at the bottom.

********

Tossing her pillow at the side of her hut, Amy gave up on sleep and decided to get some fresh air. Dropping to the floor, she silently crossed over to her dresser, so as not to wake Amber. There had been much debate about where she would stay until they knew what to do, and Amy had agreed to let Amber stay at her house. Tossing on her clothes, Amy slipped out the door and headed for a stump bench that she liked to use for thinking.

The small bits of moonlight that did make it through the trees cast eerie shadows on the ground, and the night air was crisp and still, almost as if Mobius itself were waiting for something to happen. With an involuntary shiver, Amy sat down, putting her head in her arms. She had only meant to do some thinking, but before she knew it, she was fast asleep.

********

After a slow, painstaking climb down, Void had indeed found the continuation of the trail. Moving with utmost care and silence, he pushed back the bushes to look around. What he saw made his metallic mouth twist into a smile. Small huts dotted the clearing that the greenery opened onto, and every sign of inhabitance was present. Void didn't know the place by sight, but he knew without a doubt that this was Knothole, the secret haven of the Freedom Fighters.

Activating his cloaking mechanism, Void walked slowly around the village. Curtains were pulled across the insides of all the windows. It would be too dangerous to just walk inside, the records he'd seen in Robotnik's database had told of thousands of SWATbots being torn to pieces in seconds by that hedgehog. What chance would he have alone? No. Better to wait it out.

Void searched, and recorded, every single detail into his memory banks for future reference as he searched. When he had collected enough data for the night, he decided to find a safe place for the night, one where he wouldn't be discovered. As Void walked, he pictured the praise that he would get from Robotnik. With any luck at all, he would get a place of honor among the elite ranks of 'bots.

Turning a corner, Void nearly ran slap bang into a sleeping hedgehog. Deciding to take no chances, he stunned the creature with a electro-pulse and grabbed it under one metallic clawed arm. He knew the stun wouldn't last long, and the hedgehog would attempt to gain freedom when it awoke. From Void's perspective, only one option remained. Setting his navigation system to display the shortest route back to Robotropolis, he turned on his boosters and flew off.