TeirusuOtaku: Hey people! It's me again, and I'm back with the second chapter of the story! Naturally. Anyway, I hope you guys enjoyed the cliffhanger I provided! If you couldn't tell that was a cliffhanger then either you need help, or I do.
Italics represent thinking.
Asterisks represent a long passage of time.
Now then, I'm sure your dying to know what happened, so I won't bore you with my gabbing any longer. ...Gab. Okay, I'm done now, seriously.
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Tails Takes Flight
Disclaimer: I don't own anything here except the story plot.
But even that may have been done already, so I guess I don't own it either.
Chapter Two: To the Floating Island
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Looking left to right nonchalantly, Knuckles crossed the street. The crimson echidna didn't particularly care what traffic was like, he could simply tap a car to stop it in its tracks. Of course, that was too braggy; he could never accomplish such a feat. He would have to punch the car to actually stop it, and that would endanger the person or people inside. So instead of bothering to waste energy unnecessarily punching a car, he waits and crosses at the right time.
These thoughts seem to randomly cross the Guardian's mind as he strolled down the street carelessly, wondering if the Master Emerald would be safe with Rouge guarding it. Sure, she's after jewels, but she wouldn't dare try to sink an entire civilization, would she? Especially his. She knew his power.
As he pondered, an alarmlingly loud gasp tore him from his thoughts. He opened eyes he didn't even know he closed, and looked up, following the gazes of the crowd in front of him. "What the--!" His amethyst eyes widened as he watched the familiar twin-tailed fox step out his bedroom window and plummet down, through the air, to what would inevitably be his demise. "Aw, jeez!"
Thinking quickly, Knuckles scaled a nearby building, leaping off after calculating his projectory. The crowd watched as everything seemed to happen in slow motion. Knuckles soared almost gracefully through the air, his long quills flowing behind him, providing a bit of needed air resistance. Narrowing his eyes and focusing on Tails, he kept gliding. The echidna was right under him now, he made a grab for the fox...
And missed.
Growling deeply, Knuckles stopped abruptly, falling for a bit, then caught himself on another air current. Turning around and glinding toward Tails again, he outstretched his arms again, his palms face up this time. As he passed under again, the fox fell right into his arms, knocking him out of the sky. Knuckles was in practically perfect condition, considering he caught Tails only three feet from the ground.
Tails on the other hand, was a mess. His fur was wild from the fall, and nearly dry tears stained his face. Little patches of dirt sullied his fur, giving him the appearance of a hobo.
Knuckles stood. "Alright, alright, nothin' to see here. Go on, get outta here!" He practically barked. The crowd scattered and the people went about their business. "Tails...wake up..." He said softly, nudging the fox's cheek lightly with a free fist.
Tails stirred, coughing a little. Not much movement after that. "Come on, wake up," the Guardian continued. This time he was rewarded with a smile, which he found strange. Then Tails spoke.
"Your voice...It's...soothing..." Well that was weird. Knuckles thought. I know I have a pleasing baritone, but why would Tails notice something like that? Or even bring it up for that matter. Oh well, I guess if he finds it soothing, he should hear more of it. Maybe it'll relaxing him enough so that he can sleep. I don't know what happened, but it must have been really horrible to make someone like Tails jump out a window.
"You think so, huh?" the scarlet echidna chuckled. "I didn't know you liked it so much. Are you sure you aren't delirious?" Knuckles asked, half-jokingly, half-seriously. If he was, he needed help, and if he wasn't, then...he'll need sleep. The Guardian carried Tails upstairs, opening the door upon finding it unlocked. Walking into Tails' room, he got hit smack in the face with Sonic's scent. "Ugh, how pungent. Though it kinda smells like lilacs. I hate lilacs..." he added, speaking to himself. Tails responded anyway, waking up just enough to be able to speak properly.
"Lilacs are my favorite flowers. Beside carnations. What's your favorite flower, Knuckles?...Knuckles!" His eyes snapped open, and he struggled violently in surprise. Knuckles was so surprised, he actually dropped the poor kitsune. "Ow!" the fox cried upon landing.
"Hm. That's a funny way to greet someone who just saved your life." Knuckles said, crossing his arms, his amethyst eyes staring into the aquamarine below him.
Tails shivered as he felt Knuckles' gaze. He felt as if the echidna was staring straight into him, into his mind, into his soul. It creeped him out so much. Knuckles tends to do that a lot. Blinking disbelievingly and brushing his bangs from his eyes, he echoed Knuckles. "You...saved my life?" The Guardian nodded. "Why would you do something like that?"
Knuckles' unwavering gaze faltered a bit, and he frowned. What does he mean by that? Surely he isn't serious. I just saved his life! How could he not thank me! I suppose he wanted to die, and I got in the way of that, but still, he could at least be grateful! "..." Despite all the thoughts swirling in his head, he couldn't think of a response.
"Well...Thanks." Tails stood up, hugging the echinda and catching him off guard. "That was probably the biggest mistake I've ever made. I don't know how to thank you, Knuckles." the fox's hug tightened, and his eyes shut tightly as he started to cry.
Knuckles, on the other hand, was completely surprised by the kitsune's sudden change of mood. Thinking it rude not to return the hug, he did so. "Um...you're welcome." Pulling back and patting Tails on the head, he smiled. "Don't do anything like that anymore, alright?" He tilted his head. "What happened anyway?" Tails sobs stopped as his eyes widened, then closed. "I don't wanna talk about it..." he replied, shaking his head.
"Oh...that bad huh? Well, listen. You seem real down and all, so uh...why don't you come with me to the island?" Knuckles seemed to tense as he asked the question. Tails' jaw dropped slightly in disbelief.
"The Floating Island? That island? YOUR island!" Tails rapidfired the questions, hold his head to try to think straight. "But that's your island! The sacred island of the echidna tribe! I can't set foot on there!"
"You've been before."
"But that was because I had to! I can't just...go there!" Tails nearly tripped over his feet.
"If I can let Rouge onto the island, surely I can allow you, too." Knuckles' voice was calm, calmer than usual in fact. It creeped Tails out even more so than his gaze.
How can he just stand there, talking about Rouge on the island so calmly! She could steal the Master Emerald! Well...she wouldn't do that. She knows his power. Timidly, Tails finally agreed to go to the island. "Fine...I guess I can go...but only if you don't have a problem with it."
Knuckles smiled. "Okay. We're leaving tomorrow. Pack anything you want to take with you." He turned to leave the room, but was stopped suddenly by Tails.
"What do you mean, 'pack'?" He asked with trembling legs. HE didn't know why, but he was nervous. Nervous of something. But he couldn't place what.
"You don't want to stay here, where constant reminders of things that have happened will haunt you forever, do you? At least, not for a while anyway. You're still upset, I can tell," the Guardian replied simply, not bothering to turn back around to face Tails.
"But..." he sighed, knowing the echidna would reason him into going anyway. "Okay. I guess I can take--"
"But nothing mechanical. After all, it IS a place of nature."
The fox's eyes widened and his jaw dropped. "What! But, but, but," he stammered, not being able to find the right words. "Machines are practically my life!"
Knuckles sighed, facing Tails and shaking his head. "You really do need to stop depending on your machines. That's why people think you're weak. That's why people think of you as Sonic's sidekick. Because they haven't seen what you can actually do without your machines." He smirked toothily, a fang glinting in the sunlight.
"Hey! That's not true!" The kitsune shouted, the anger that had ebbed away recently coming to full boil again. "I can fly, and use Tail Spin and...fly..." Tails' voice trailed off as he realized Knuckles was right. Wow...I'm more useless than I thought...
"Don't worry. I can train you. I am the strongest guy around, you know," Knuckles offered, his pride getting the best of him.
"No, that's okay. You've already done enough for me, and I don't want to impose..." The fox quickly bent down and began gathering things he thought were necessary, trying not to look directly at Knuckles.
"If you insist. Remember, we leave tomorrow, bright and early," he reminded Tails, walking out of the room. "I'll be asleep in my room if you need me," he added.
Tails placed everything he wanted to take (a book, a notebook, a pencil, and another book) onto a polka-dot sheet and tied it to a fishing rod. Who knows, he thought, I might need to catch something.
As he made his way toward his bed, Tails was bombarded with Sonic's scent again. "It's still there. Well, I don't want to sleep on it--and I don't know anyone besides Amy who would--so I'll just sleep on the couch. It's comfortable, I suppose. Maybe I can do laundry in the morning, before Knuckles gets up."
Making his way to the living room with a blanket, he looked out the window. "Hm. It's evening. I guess I can get some reading in before I go to bed." Picking a random book from the messy room floor, he opened it, immediately blushing and tossing the book away. "O-one's of S-Sonic's books, I-I'm sure..." He picked up another. "Hey, this one's about fighting. It HAS to belong to Knuckles."
His eyes darted left, then right. "I suppose he won't mind me reading his books..." he said, opening the cover. After half an hour of reading, Tails was fast asleep, the book lying cover-up on his chest.
Later that night, Knuckles woke up feeling hungry. He looked at the clock. "Midnight. Great." Getting out of bed and walking down the hall, only the living room separated him from the kitchen. The messy, messy, jungle-like living room. This, of course, was no problem for Knuckles; the island had loads of forests and jungles that he was used to. He began walking through the various items on the floor.
As he made it halfway through the room, he heard a light snore, and immediately adopted a fighting stance, growling. Seeing no one there but Tails on the couch, he calmed down and continued walking. After a few seconds, he quickly turned to face Tails, doing a double-take. "Why is he...oh, his bed. He probably didn't want to sleep in Sonic's either, who knows what that hedgehog's been doing in there." Shrugging it off, he grabbed a hot dog from the fridge and stuck it into the microwave.
He looked at the buttons. "How does this thing work again? I hate machines..." Pressing the '2' button three times, and pressing 'START', he crossed his arms and waited as the microwave heated up the hot dog. Another snore. The Guardian looked back to Tails, watching him sleep for no particular reason. His eyes widened as he saw one of his books laying on the fox's chest. "That's one of MY books!"
It was at the moment the hot dog exploded, shocking the fox awake and scaring the heck out of Knuckles. "Don't shoot me!" Tails cried. "Oh. It was just the microwave." Getting off the couch, apparently not noticing Knuckles at all, he opened the microwave. "Eww...I suppose I'll have to clean that up. I don't know who'd be stupid enough to put a hot dog in the microwave without a bun, or a plate, or--" he felt a sharp pain on the top of his head, "YOW!" He turned to face a growling Knuckles.
"Oh! Knuckles! I didn't know--hey look at this mess, I better clean it up!" He spoke rapidly, immediately turning around to clean up the mess.
"It was my first time, okay?" The echidna said through clenched teeth. He calmed down as he saw the bump on Tails' head. "Sorry about that...by the way..."
"No, no, it's okay. If it was your first time using a microwave--"
"Not that. Sorry about hitting you."
"Oh, that's okay. No harm done," Tails lied, feeling the pulsing bump. He finished cleaning the microwave. It wasn't completely clean, but it was clean enough. "Well then, I'm going back to bed. If you're hungry, I suggest a sandwich," he joked.
As he watched Tails set the book on a table and climb onto the couch, Knuckles suddenly felt sorry for the fox. After what he's been through, he shouldn't have to sleep on the couch. "Go sleep on my bed, Tails," he meant to suggest it, but it came out more commanding. "I'll sleep on the couch."
"I'm fine, really," the kitsune replied as he place the covers over himself.
"No, really, you can sleep on my bed," Knuckles tried again, walking over to the couch. "I'll sleep in here."
"I'd hate to take your bed, I'll just sleep here." Tails insisted, unintentionally thinning Knuckles' patience.
"Fine, if it'll make you feel better, I'll sleep on half of the bed, and you sleep on the other half." Did I really just say that?
Did he really just say that? Tails couldn't respond as he took a moment to comtemplate the situation. Finally, he nodded. "Okay. I guess that's fine." He climbed off the couch, grabbing Knuckles' book and handing it to him. "Here...I was reading this. I hope you don't mind. It was really good." He folded the blanket and walked to the hall closet, storing it there and continuing down the hall to Knuckles' room.
The Guardian looked from the book, to the hall, to the book again and placed it back on the table, following the fox. Upon entering the room, he found Tails sound asleep already, on half of the bed. Smiling and shaking his head, Knuckles made his way to his half of the bed. He climbed in, covering himself, and closed his eyes. Then he heard rustling and felt something brush his chest, and opened an eye. Tails had turned in his sleep, and his hand had landed on the echidna's chest.
Knuckles tried to nudge it off lightly, as to not awaken Tails, but to no avail. Giving up, he closed his eyes and drifted off to sleep.
Tails woke up the next morning to find that he was practically hugging Knuckles, and his face was inches away from the echidna's. Blushing deeply, quickly jumped out of bed, causing Knuckles to wake up.
Yawning and stretching, Knuckles got out of bed and adopted a fighting stance, punching the air.
"...What are you doing? Tails asked, still blushing.
Knuckled replied groggily, still recovering from sleep. "My...morning exercises..." he said, grunting as he continued to punch the air.
Tails just watched him, becoming hypnotized by the way Knuckles moved. Blushing deeper, Tails shook his head and focused on getting ready to leave.
After breakfast, face-washing, and teeth-brushing, Tails and Knuckles took to the sky. "So how long is this going to be?" Tails asked, trying his hardest to keep up with Knuckles.
"Oh, about five miles." The echidna replied.
"What! Five miles!"
Tails' fatigue began to grow after 2 long miles. He slowed down, falling slowly. "Knuckles, I can't make it..." he panted, his face flushed a light red through his fur.
"Sure you can," Knuckles said, looking back at the fox. "...Maybe you can't," he added after seeing Tails' condition. Turning around, he took the fox into his arms and continued toward the island. "Try to get some rest. We should be there soon."
Tails nodded, and for extra support he wrapped his arms around Knuckles loosely, closing his eyes and falling asleep quickly.
Knuckles looked down at the sleeping kitsune, smiling. He's so cute when he's sleeping...Wait, what am I thinking! Did I just say 'cute'! My hunger's getting to me...yeah, that's it. The hunger. I'm sure of it. It's making me delirious.
Thoughts still sqirling around in his head, Knuckles finally landed on the shoreline of the island. Wait...shoreline?
"No..." Knuckles said softly, dashing through the jungle ahead of him. As the jungle opened to a clearing, an ancient shrine became visible. Knuckles dropped Tails in disbelief, waking him up.
"You're going to have to stop doing that..." Tails said, standing up and rubbing the side of his thigh. He followed Knuckles' bewildered gaze and his eyes widened slightly. The pair cried in perfect unison:
"The Master Emerald is GONE!"
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TeirusuOtaku: Wow, betcha didn't see that coming! Sorry if anyone was OOC...you can complain if you want, but I won't listen. You're opinion is valued. ...If it's a good opinion. Bad opinions will result in...well, bad opinions. Until next time, this is TeirusuOtaku, signing out...off...whatever.