I do not own... anything. Seriously, I don't. Not even this computer ;; Instead of suing me, send me things...? xD And I don't make any money, so, um, yeah.

The rating will go up. Yes. But mostly for just the occasional bad word

The air was thick in the mists, the sun penetrating the canopy of the jungle just barely. Streams of light came down, breaking the dimness in the dusty chamber, reflecting off of old artifacts and carvings on the wall. The room wasn't unkempt, just unused, for a long time it seemed.

It wasn't silent either, by any means. Birds sang outside, small animals occasionally chirped, the noises too soft to echo, but enough to fill the chamber, and filter out into the halls to join the others. No, this peaceful place was full of life, just untouched by civilization for a long time.

One brave little bush baby climbed down one of the pillars, little claws finding a foothold in the occasional crack, and skittered against the jade tile floor, wide eyes peering about for food. It stopped at a yellowing scroll and leaned forward cautiously, sniffed, then made a happy little squeak, chewing on the corner of it. Tearing a significant part off of it and chewing, the little snacking sounds joining the noises of the other animals.

Yes, a peaceful scene, all until a frazzled echidna ran in, waving a broom over its head, "Be gone! Shoo!"

The bush baby squealed and ran, echidna hot on its foot, until it was safely up the pillar and back into a brush of over hanging leaves, wide eyes peering out at Knuckles. The guardian scowled up to it, then looked down to the scroll, and visibly twitched as he inspected the nibble marks. Fouled... "Ill get you one of these days, don't chew on my scrolls!" He waved the broom at the brush, causing the birds and animals to stir up into a little frenzy of chirps and coos, sound way too much like laughter.

The echidna puffed up, then deadpanned, sighing as it dragged the broom behind him, "One of these days..." He turned and began to sweep out in the hallway again, not noticing that black, beady eyes weren't the only ones watching him. Crouched on one of the many over hanging limbs, the figure's red eyes narrowed, grip tightening on the branch, slender lips pulled back in a smile.

Knuckles' head spines spun as he looked back all of a sudden at a noise, differing painfully from the insulting chatter. It was smooth, deep, he could have sworn he had just heard something purring...

"A little more..."

"Come on, you can do it!"

"I.. I don't know..."

"Come on.. Come on!"

Sally's ear perked to the seemingly strained voices coming from her living room and frowned, looking up from her computer. What in the world...

Blink.

Tails laid on the couch, with Sonic straddling his waist, leaning forward.

Blink again.

"What are you two...--"

"Shh! Don't break his concentration!" The cobalt hedgehog snapped, and leaned, picking up the half of a chilidog that almost fell out of Tails' limp hand, and hovered it above the fox's nose, "Just a few more bites, and then you will be able to compete with me this weekend! Come on, I don't want to be up there alone!"

Tails took another distasteful bite and grimaced up at him, "But, Sonic, you are always the winner at the eating contest. You have the metabolism of a jet rocket and... And... And alright fine!" He huffed and snatched up the rest of the chilidog and stuffed it into his mouth, being broken by the mournful look from Sonic.

The cobalt hedgehog grinned wide and whooped, tumbling off the now bloated fox and bounced around the room, "Finally! A little competition!"

Sally rolled her eyes and patted Tails, who looked like he swallowed a balloon, on the head, "Sonic, the eating contest isn't the only part of the fair..."

"Sure it is! No one has beaten me at it, I'm the champ running on three years now, and if Tails eats 20 chilidogs this week he can enter in it with me. Its not my fault if he put it off until now. Come on Tails', you did your part, I'll do my part."

Tails' ears perked and he grinned, apparently shaking off the gorging of food just a few moments before, "You will help my train my chao? Awesome! Come on!"

And the two left in blue and yellow blur, without even acknowledging Sally. The princess huffed and crossed her arms, staring after the two. Tails' was understandable, but Sonic? She had thought, since he had invited her to this fair he would act differently. It was an annual fair that most of the citizens of Knothole went to, something to get away to. There was rides, and contests, and food, and.. And dancing. At night, there was always a few slow dances to wind everyone down, and he had told her she could dance with him..

She sat on the couch for a long time, thinking about that, curled to herself a bit. Her house wasn't modest by Knothole's standards, but no one minded, it was shared with everyone. Her large bathroom doubled as a medic if something happened down at the doctor's hut, or if it was something personal. Her kitchen was packed with food, but not for her, for emergencies. Her study was cluttered with plans and messages, all trying to run the village. And her living room doubled as a meeting hall, she lived in City hall. And, even though the space was nice, it was draining always having at least one other person in the house, always having some sort of trouble, never going too long without being woken up in the middle of night because of something happening in the village...

A soft beeping from her computer room woke her up from her musings and she slide off the couch and walked over to close the sliding door, "Alright, alright, coming..."

Ooo what will happen? Will Sonic finally grow up and act more maturely around Sally? Will Knuckles ever find a way to keep things from chewing on his scrolls? Do you even care?

Only one way to find out...

Review and wait for the next chapter. (Yes, I know they are longish chapters compared to others. I get on a roll.)