Another Lover

Chapter Four: Wandering Memories

Tails had showed Monica around Knothole and she seemed impressed with everything in sight. "Wow, this village is so much better than my own. I wish I could have known you sooner." Monica said. 'That's nice to know.' Tails thought and smiled. He tried to think back on the day he went to the desert. But in order to do that, he would have to go all the way back to the beginning, to why he left in the first place. He thought of the time he left so long ago.

Two years before…

Tails had finally given up hope; the war had just taken too much out of him. As he looked into the grave of yet another Freedom Fighter, he realized that he had to escape, even if it meant not talking to the others again. He would miss them very much, but he couldn't just stay here and watch as everyone died off one by one. But Tails decided to wait until nighttime. That way he could have a much better way of escaping the only home he had.

It sounded stupid to him, but at the moment it seemed like the right choice. He packed his belongings and wrote a note. 'I will miss you all.' it read. A little short for a long journey, but he tried to think that they would understand. He was leaving that night and nothing would change his mind. As he was about to sneak out of the entrance, he saw Bunnie Rabbot. He quickly hid and watched as she passed by. If he would have ran into her, she would have sweet-talked him out of leaving. This journey was his to make. He waited until she was out of sight and until the guard fell asleep to make his move. He got out of Knothole safe and sound. Now was the hard part, finding a new life.

As he walked out of the city, he noticed that he would have to be careful around the area that he was in. There were hover units everywhere he went. He made it out onto the outskirts of the city and thought he was free. "There is a young vulpine. The one with two tails. Get him." one of them said. They shot beams at him and he knew he just couldn't run away. They would follow him to his new destination, to his new home. So he flew into the air and hovered in front of one of them. The hover unit shot and hit another hover unit. Tails ripped another unit in half with his bare hands. The last one tried to run away, but Tails took out a phaser he had stolen from Dr. Robotnik last time he faced him. He shot the unit, it fell and it went dead. Tails didn't waist anytime in leaving the shattered pieces of destruction.

Six months later…

Tails had found a good place to settle in, a lagoon. The water was clean, it had a lot of flowers, and it was nice to just rest in. It was almost like heaven. He had found this place before on one of his missions to search all over Mobius for a device that Dr. Robotnik left. They came up empty handed, but Tails figured he would come to this place again, just not so soon. As he rested onto the grass, he thought of the whole Freedom Fighters and what they would be up to. They were probably devising plans to get at Dr. Robotnik, as usual. But that was the past now. He got up and did his regular training, (if that's what you want to call it) starting with his sit-ups. Then he went on with his fifty push-ups. Last but not least, he went to a brick wall that he set up a three weeks before. It had some cracks in it, but he wanted to break it down that very day. He started punching the wall as he moved around swiftly.

Thirty minutes later, he was sweating. He hadn't broken down the wall, but he was close to it. Not even as the sweat dripped down into his eyes, did he ever think about quitting. He kept punching it and with all his might, punched it one last time. The wall cracked in half and fell over into two pieces. Looking at his dirty gloves, he knew he had been working hard. He laid back down to rest some more.

Another six months later…

It has been one year since he left Knothole. But he tried not to celebrate. They probably thought he was a coward for leaving. Then he tried to think of something else. Like the fact that he was moving. Sure he loved his lagoon, but when he stayed there all by himself, it felt like he was the only one alive in the world. So he had to leave. He decided to move to the Great Desert. It seemed nice and he might meet some new friends. He rented a house and thought it was good enough. It had what he needed. A bathroom, a kitchen, a bedroom, and a study room. He got back into books when he moved to the desert, so he needed some space for him to read. A week later, there were some coyotes that was harassing the town. He never liked any pushovers, so he decided to help the people out. As he was walking to the group of coyotes, he saw them stealing a raccoon's purse. They started snickering and laughing at the raccoon girl as she cried.

"Give the purse back to the raccoon and leave, you seem to have worn out your presence." Tails said. "Ooh, lookie here. We got us one of those freak accidents." the leader said. He was missing several teeth and was dirty. They all seemed to laugh and point at his two tails. "I'm not going to tell you again. Please leave or else." Tails said. The leader became serious and pushed him down to the ground. "Why don't you make me… freak." the coyote said. Tails quickly got up and became furious. NO ONE pushed him around like that. Everyone in Knothole knew him for his short temper. He didn't even give the coyote a chance. He started swinging left and right, punching the coyote in the face. He made sure that the coyote lost a few more teeth that day.

When one of the other coyotes grabbed for his gun, Tails quickly kicked him in his gut and picked him up. He flew into the air and decided he would 'accidentally' drop the coyote. "Ah, please don't drop me, I have a wife and two kids." the coyote said. He knew he was lying, but yet that same old lie always got to Tails, but he still decided to drop him. He was about to, when he looked at the raccoon girl. 'What am I doing?' was all that Tails could ask himself. He quickly hovered over the ground and gently let the coyote go. "Come on, let's get out of here." the leader said. They all left and ran out of the desert. Tails picked up the purse from the ground and gave it back to the raccoon. "What's your name?" Tails asked. "Rebecca Sly." she replied. "Well, I hope you have a great day, Rebecca." Tails said and walked off.

Six months later…

Tails had finally had a reputation in the desert. The townspeople called him 'Desert Fox'. It was kind of a catchy name. Tails walked to the store and noticed a vixen looking for groceries. The vixen didn't see him, but he was kind of glad that she didn't. He was at the stage where he was old enough to find a mate. But he decided to hold it off a little bit longer. He went in and got some chips with a soda. He didn't have enough change to pay the clerk, but the dog just smiled. "Desert Fox, you know you can get one thing for free everyday." the clerk said. Tails decided to pay for the soda and took the chips with him. "Thank you." he said. "Anytime, Desert Fox." the clerk said. The vixen looked up from what she was doing, "Was that really Desert Fox? How could I miss him? I heard he's so cute." the vixen said. "Now Monica, you can't just crowd the hero. Then he will probably leave." the clerk said.

The vixen looked down at the ground, "You're probably right." she said. The clerk looked at the young vixen and saw the look of hope gone in her eyes. 'Well, kids should dream.' the clerk thought to himself. "Maybe he would be looking for a nice girl like you though, seeing how it is his time to look for someone special." the clerk said. That really put up her spirits. "Thanks, Mr. Wells. I'll see if I can catch him." she said. Just as she was about to see where Tails went, her brother came into the store. "Hey Matt, what are you doing here?" the vixen asked. "I just wanted to tell you that Desert Fox stopped another robbery. Our hero has done it again." the orange vulpine said. 'Wow, that kid sure can work fast.' the clerk thought.

Six months later, the present…

"So Tails, or should I say Desert Fox, what did you do when you were gone for so long?" Sonic asked. Tails was shocked to even know that Sonic knew the whole time. But he couldn't underestimate his own friend, if he wanted to find something, he would find it. "Maybe another time, perhaps." Tails said and smiled.

To Be Continued