Part 1:
Building a future
"For every action there is an equal, but opposite, reaction"

Shadow laughed easily, a real, true laugh, for once unhindered by bubbling anger or suppressed pain. The object of his mirth? Knuckles, hanging upside down by his foot, from the roof of their half built house.
"I swear, I leave you alone for five minutes… And I thought you were an Echidna, not a monkey"
"Ha ha, very funny Shadow, just get me down from here!"
Grinning he jumped up onto the top of the thick stone wall and walked along to where Knuckles' foot was trapped between two sections of stone. Shadow pulled at Knuckles foot, and he fell unceremoniously to the ground, just in time for Sonic to see him. Groaning Knuckles lay on the floor. On the wall of the house Shadow was bent over with laughter, so much so that he risked falling from the wall himself.
"Its not funny Shadow! I'll box your ears!"
Shadow jumped down from the wall.
"No you won't" He said mildly, offering him a hand to his feet. "Because you're my Guardian and that would be abuse"
"Would it really?" Knuckles cuffed Shadow round the head.
"You're right Knuckles, he does giggle"
Shadow immediately stopped his laughter "I do not"
"Sorry Shads, you do"
"Don't make me barbeque you both"
Knuckles grinned wryly "You can grill Sonic if you like"
"No he can't!"
Sonic hastily skipped behind Knuckles.
"I'm immune Sonicu"
He peered over Knuckles' shoulder "Gits"

They decided the barbeque idea was a good one. Shadow was only just dissuaded from flash frying all the food after the damp firewood failed to light. So it was that the four of them stood around eating venison stakes. Sonic and Tails had been at the house for several days, helping Shadow and Knuckles build it. They'd come to this part of the country for just over two months. Shadow and Knuckles had decided after weeks of hunting that this was the place to set up home. In many ways it was perfect, Knuckles had always wanted to live amongst the mountains, and with Shadow, a place far from the densest areas of human populous, to keep him out of sight and out of mind. The nearest human habitation was Skytop village just down the hill, an hour or so's walk away. For Knuckles there was a bonus, an Echidna colony just up the hill from them, a few hours walk away. It allowed Knuckles to be near what he deemed his own people, giving him a chance to be social without having to go on a long journey leaving Shadow behind. Shadow on the other hand didn't seem to mind the isolation of the place, as long as he had Knuckles, and the occasional visitors he seemed quite content.

Tails was here because he had agreed to take Knuckles into the city to buy furniture for their house. They'd decided it was best to leave Shadow behind with the house, rather than risk his being recognised in the city. Sonic was here because he'd tagged along. They'd spent a few days together but now it was time to go. Knuckles, was perhaps understandably, a little insecure about leaving Shadow behind on his own.
"Are you sure you'll be ok while I'm gone?"
"Yes!" Shadow cried exasperated "I can look after myself you know!"
Knuckles frowned "Promise me you'll be good"
Shadow smiled softly "Of course my Guardian"
"And that you won't get into mischief, or wander too far from home"
"Knuckles!" Shadow said sharply "I've managed without you for fifty years; I think I can stand to be without you for one night!"
"Mmm… Alright…"
"I won't even talk to any strangers" Shadow chuckled "Now go on!" He made a gesture as though shoving him away "Have fun… bring me back a present!"
Knuckles nodded and finally turned and trotted to the waiting Tornado. Shadow watched as Tails revved the engines and prepared to depart. Just as they were about to draw away Shadow heard Knuckles shout something.
"And no tormenting the wildlife!"
Shadow smirked and waved as the Tornado lifted into the air. Knuckles watched him disappear back into the half built house.

Once the Tornado had levelled out and the engine noise had died down Sonic looked back to Knuckles.
"You worry too much"
"Really?" He asked softly sitting back slightly "The first time he was left alone he nearly succeeded in killing us all… Don't even get me started on what happened with the Coreinth"
Sonic raised an eyebrow "Good point… but he'll behave won't he?"
Knuckles leant back and closed his eyes "Yes…" He opened one eye and grinned "Or he'll get his butt kicked" His eye closed again and after a moment, he was asleep.
"Lazy git" Sonic muttered to himself as he turned to watch the landscape pass by beneath them.

After about an hour the Tornado landed in Tails' backyard. Knuckles was immensely pleased to be out of the plane and able to stretch his legs. That done he stood for a while, taking in the sounds and smells of the city. The last time he'd been in a city was months ago, hunting for the pieces of the broken Master Emerald, the few times before that had almost all been on equally bad circumstances. Knuckles did not like cities, they put him on edge. When he listened he could hear the constant low drone of traffic, a faint incessant background noise where he'd always been used to the birds and the wind through trees and grass. Cities made Knuckles feel dirty, and left him with a desperate urge to scratch. When he turned round he could look at Tails' house. It was a large old building that seemed to be a mismatch of many styles. For all intensive purposes it looked like an old dilapidated warehouse, with the top part of a Victorian mansion sticking out of its roof. Tails' house was unique, Knuckles would give him that much. Instead of a backdoor Tails had a huge set of warehouse doors through which he could move the Tornado and his various other contraptions as and when he needed to. Knuckles followed uncertainly as he opened a small section of those warehouse doors and went inside.

They found themselves in Tails' workshop. After a moment Tails switched off the various security systems and florescent lights in the ceiling pinged and flickered on. The only other light in the room came from a strip of windows at the top of either wall. As he looked around Knuckles couldn't help but think he'd stepped into another world, and long for the one he'd left behind. The workshop was vast. Stretching away to a blank wall at the opposite end about 40 meters away. Sonic and Tails began quickly walking towards the other end of the room, their feet echoing on the cold floor. Knuckles took more time about it, the last time he'd been in Tails' workshop he hadn't been conscious for it. The place wasn't tidy. The innards of a large machine were strewn out across the pale concrete floor, accompanied by various tools and scraps of paper. Mildly scratching his head Knuckles tried to figure out what the tangle of metal was going to be. He drew a blank. At the end of the room Sonic and Tails were waiting for him, grinning at his bemused expression. As soon as Knuckles noticed they were watching him he hastily trotted up to join them.

A human sized red door at the end of the room opened onto a concrete staircase. The three of them walked up this. At the top they passed through another door to reach Tails' actual house. The door opened into the back of the kitchen.
"Umm… It's a little bit of a mess…" Tails giggled
Knuckles could only distantly remember Tails house, so he looked around it now with interest. The whole place had obviously been originally designed with humans in mind, but had undergone extensive redesign several times. Though the outside looked old the inside was thoroughly modern. Knuckles expected no less from Tails. The kitchen had been modified to fit a Shremu sized inhabitant. Consequentially in a room originally designed for a human everything couldn't help looking like it had shrunk in the wash. Knuckles got the impression Tails wasn't the kind of person that did a lot of cooking, the kitchen was the only part of the room that looked clean.

The kitchen joined onto Tails' main living area. This was whitewashed and simple. The wall opposite the workshop door was lined with windows. Knuckles walked past Tails' two simple sofas facing towards a central coffee table, covered by the schematics of yet another interesting looking machine to look out of the windows. From here he could look down over the end of the slanting warehouse roof to Tails' front garden, then out onto the street. The neighbourhood around Tails' house looked like any other, older than most of the city, but still thoroughly unremarkable. Tails' house was definitely the odd one out.
"I don't know how you afford to live here…" Knuckles said, looking round. Sonic and Tails were investigating the contents of the fridge.
"The humans said I could have this place after I helped save the city that time…" Tails voice said from somewhere behind the fridge door "It was in a state then, they were going to demolish it" Tails emerged from the fridge, grinning "but I fixed it!" Knuckles watched as he brought a carton of orange juice and three glasses to the coffee table
"The neighbours called the last person who lived here Doctor Frankenstein, most of them think I'm an improvement, and ignore the occasional explosion. Nice to know if I blow myself up there's plenty of people around to come and help me out" Tails giggled "You want orange juice Knux?"
Knuckles shrugged off the offer. "I helped save the city… they didn't offer me anything"
"You ran away before they could" Tails chuckled "Besides, you're a Guardian, what could they offer you that you didn't already have?"
"A roof that didn't leak might have been nice"
"I always thought your little hut looked kinda cosy" Sonic chuckled
"Huh, not in the winter"
"Besides" Tails continued "I pay my way… I give my designs to a research company… That pays for me to live…" A small smile crossed his young face "I reckon I'm the richest eight year old in the city!... but I'll be nine soon!"
"Sometimes I worry that we leave you alone here Tails" Knuckles said softly, looking out at the road again
"You worry too much Knuckles, besides, I have my robots to clean up after me… I just thought it better to leave them switched off while you're here, judging by your past record"
"I didn't break your mecha on purpose!"
"Yeah, yeah I know" Tails chuckled "But better safe than sorry right?"
"Whatever you say"
With that Knuckles went back to looking out the window.

Later the three of them walked down the city's main shopping street. Knuckles was beginning to think he was allergic to humans, the longer he spent around them the more he itched. He did his best to try to avoid looking uncomfortable, but wasn't sure if he was succeeding. For a while they just took in the sights. The shopping centre of the city sprawled over a large area but for now they were on what Tails claimed was the best street. Knuckles and Sonic smirked to each other every time they passed an electronics store. There were no cars in this part of the city, for which Knuckles was grateful, the too casual driver had a habit of missing a Shremu crossing in front of them. Knuckles was unsurprised by how dirty the place was, fast food wrappers littered the floor, and despite the lack of cars the air still smelt smoky. He couldn't understand how Tails stood to live here, each to their own he supposed.

Tails led them to the section they needed, a vast shop seeming to sell every kind of furniture imaginable. As they entered through the automatic doors they were hit by a blast of air-conditioning, welcome relief from the warmth outside. Again Knuckles stared around. He'd walked into an Aladdin's cave of furniture. Shaking his head he mumbled something about not understanding humans. The humans in the shop looked up to give them a casual glance, then went back to what they'd been doing. Obviously Shremu were common enough here to be worth no more than a brief observation.
"Will they think I'm weird if I ask for metal everything?" Knuckles asked uncertainly, looking around at the plywood furniture.
"You're in the big city now Knux… nothing's weird here" Sonic laughed
"If that was true I would have been able to bring Shadow along"
Together the three of them walked through the shop.
"You sure you're still ok with this Tails?"
"For the last time, yes! Furnishing your little place won't cost very much at all…"
"But I don't have anything to give you…"
"You can owe me a favour…" Tails chuckled "Sure I'll think of something…"
Knuckles laughed softly and looked at Sonic "Do I want to be in Tails debt?"
"Probably not" Sonic chuckled
Tails had run ahead "Hey guys… I think I found something!"

After a while Knuckles had selected two metal beds, human sized, a set of uncomfortable looking Shremu sized chairs, and an unforgiving metal table to go with them. The saleswoman looked at them with raised eyebrows when he picked them, despite the ample labels on lots of the sofas in the shop saying they wouldn't burn Knuckles didn't want to chance it with Shadow around. Her eyebrows arched even further when Tails produced the soul means of payment. When she asked if they wanted insurance on what they'd bought all three of them laughed.
"Does it cover against fire damage?" Sonic asked smirking
"Yes…" The increasingly bemused woman answered.
Tails refused the insurance and gave her his address to have the stuff delivered to. He paid extra to make sure it arrived the next day.

As they were leaving the shop Knuckles spoke up.
"I don't know how we're going to get all that stuff back home"
"It comes flat packed. I can put it in a box and hang it under the Tornado"
"Flat… Packed?" Knuckles asked, bemused
"Yes Knux… In pieces… You know how to use a screwdriver right?"
"Umm… Yes?"
"Good… I'll leave you to figure our the instructions"
A wave of nausea swept across Knuckles, but his face didn't show it "It'll have pictures… wont it?"
"Yes… they're often clearer than the words… you'd need a degree to figure out what they mean" Tails chuckled
"Ah, Knuckles you're growing up, you're entering the wonderful world of flat packed furniture"
Knuckles struggled to understand what was so wonderful about it, but decided to keep his mouth shut.

Outside the furniture shop Tails left them, he had other things to do in the city, and frankly didn't want Knuckles spending anymore of his money. Knuckles had managed to clean Tails out for most of his cash before they'd parted, enough to buy the small things they still needed. Knuckles felt guilty for that, but Tails left them with laughter, and plans for what he could get Knuckles to do to repay him. Waving they agreed to meet back at Tails' house in the evening. After a moment Sonic and Knuckles walked off in the other direction. Sonic led Knuckles as far as the main street.
"I'll see you tonight Knux… everything you should need is on this street or nearby-"
Knuckles' expression gave him away "Come with me Sonic… I'll get lost on my own"
"Tails lives on Knot Street. You can read signposts can't you?"
Knuckles face was hard to read "Please… Cities make me nervous… I'd be really glad of the company…"
Sonic frowned, that was as close to begging you ever got with Knuckles.
"Oh ok…"
"Thanks…"
They wandered down the street a little further, each watching the humans pass them by.
"Why don't you like cities Knux?"
"Bad associations" Knuckles said simply
Sonic didn't press, if Knuckles wasn't willing to give the information he stood no chance of getting it out of him, he was nothing if not stubborn.

He crept through the green undergrowth, feeling the leaves tickle at the fur on his chest. Up ahead a nervous looking deer was feeding in a small wooded glade. Shadow wriggled a little closer, his ruby eyes locked on the animal, slowly pushing Knuckles' hunting crossbow ahead of him. The deer looked up and sniffed the air. Its dark eyes glinting in the soft emerald light coming through the canopy. It turned its white marked rump towards Shadow and took a few steps away. Shadow moved forward again. He watched the fine brown ears move around, scanning the forest sounds for anything unusual. It was on the alert. Shadow guessed it knew something was amiss, that there was a predator around somewhere, but wasn't entirely certain where he was. Shadow crept further forward; a stick broke beneath his body. The deer raised its head, and with a leap, bolted into the trees. All around him the birds broke out into alarm calls. Growling to himself Shadow climbed to his feet, brushed the dirt off his fur and set off back towards the house.

They spent a fairly pleasant day in the city wandering around the shops, picking up the little essentials like knives, cups and plates that were required to make a house work. It was a novel experience for Knuckles, who'd never lived in a house before. Having Sonic along was all the more useful because he could point out all the things they might need. With all the essentials bought Knuckles had a little money left over. It was only as they were passing a small friendly looking toy shop that he remembered he'd promised to buy Shadow a present. He skittered inside, followed by a bemused Sonic.
"What do you want in here?" Sonic asked looking up at the rows of shelves stacked with brightly coloured toys.
"I promised Shadow I'd bring him something back"
Sonic raised a sceptical eyebrow "Something from in here, Knuckles this is a toy shop"
"I know… I may not be the brightest star in the sky but I know that much"
"What could Shadow possibly want from in here?"
Knuckles stopped beside a huge pile of cuddly toys and smiled
"Do you have any idea how fast these things burn?"
Knuckles ignored him as he picked out a blue bunny rabbit teddy from the pile, designed for a human child it was almost half his size. He looked at the tag attached to its ear, compared it with the symbols on his last remaining note and hoped he had enough. Followed by Sonic he went up to the till, which he couldn't see over, and paid for it.
"I won't even ask" Sonic muttered as he followed him out the door.

It was only as night fell that Shadow began to feel lonely. Suddenly he felt isolated on the mountain. For the first time he noticed how creepy the night time noises were. There seemed to be monsters lurking in every dark corner. As darkness enveloped him he retreated to the relative safety of the house. The rooms were large enough for his claustrophobia not to bite; for once the monsters were outside, not in. He curled up in the pile of blankets that served them as a bed, pulling them up to his chin. They smelt of him and Knuckles, that, for its small part was comforting. An owl flying overhead screeched. Shadow jumped and pulled the blankets over his head. They caught alight. Shadow jumped up. Mentally he forced the fire surrounding his body, and his fear back. The blue flames around him went out. Hastily picked up the blanket and ran outside in an attempt to prevent the flames spreading. After a moment he stood shivering in the twilight outside the house, standing over the charred remains of the blankets. All he could hear were the normal nightly noises. He told himself there was nothing to fear. Nervously he returned to the house, and pulled the blankets back up over his head.

Knuckles stared up at the dark ceiling of one of Tails' many spare rooms. The odd set of emotions he'd just received from Shadow had him worried. Shadow's power had escaped them both. Mildly he wondered if the house would still be there when he got back. He sighed to himself; he had to admit it-he was lonely.

The furniture, to everyone's surprise arrived at the expected time the next morning. Knuckles grew increasingly bemused by the concept of flat packed furniture as he watched his bed arrive in a comparatively small box. The mattresses, one flammable thing he hadn't been able to get away without, proved to be the largest items and only narrowly fitted into the box slung beneath the Tornado.

Sonic didn't accompany Tails and Knuckles back to the house in the mountains. He was eager to be back on his incessant wanderings across the globe. So they bid their farewells in Tails' living room just after lunch. As Knuckles watched Sonic run off down the street he wondered where he found to go. For someone who could travel that fast he assumed the world must hold few surprises. It occurred to him that the world was now his oyster, now that he didn't have the Master Emerald to guard. He and Shadow could go more or less wherever they pleased. That was an optimistic idea for Knuckles, one he longed to make use of. With Sonic gone, Tails and Knuckles took up their places in the Tornado, and burdened with the box of furniture headed back towards the mountains.

It was late afternoon when they arrived back at Shadow and Knuckles' house. Tails carefully landed the Tornado in a large clearing just below the bottom of their garden after dropping the crate containing the furniture as close to the house as he could manage. As they both climbed down from the plane they spotted Shadow running down to meet them. Knuckles and Shadow greeted each other warmly, then Shadow turned to greet Tails in almost as warm a manner.
"Were you lonely without me?" Knuckles asked
Shadow tried to look casual, then softly admitted "Yes"
"Come on guys lets have a look at this furniture!" Tails yelled.

As the light was beginning to fade Shadow, Knuckles and Tails stood scratching their heads over the pieces of a metal framed bed. Shadow stood reading out the instructions, he couldn't make sense of any of the languages, or the pictures, neither could Tails, and Knuckles had refused to try. They'd been at it for over an hour and so far they'd only succeeded in putting together two of the twenty or so parts. Just as Knuckles was beginning to despair Tails decided to make his exit. Claiming that if he wanted to get home before midnight he would have to leave, he made himself scarce. That left Shadow and Knuckles alone with the pieces of their furniture. About half an hour after Tails left them they decided to give up. They ate their evening meal and retired to their nest like bed.