SaffraEchidna: Yeah, I think it does take a lot for Bait to trust someone...can you blame him? ;)
Treasurehunter: Yep, I did, hope you don't mind :) I just fell in love with it and it had to go in here somewhere ;)
FriedBrickWall: Heh, you'll have to wait and see :P (Tails: Okay, yeah, I keep meaning to respond but I've had a couple other things on my mind right now. Sorry.) Yeah, and he's shy ;)
Zaln: Tails, absolutely helpless? Hell no; you should have your mind and mouth washed out with soap for even suggesting such a thing :P I'm glad you're enjoying it so far though ;) And yes, there will be plenty of KnuxTails interaction in the future (not to mention the sequel to this one is pure KnuxTails ;))
XTailsX: Maybe yes, maybe no :P You'll find out soon enough.
TC Chan: Hee hee, yep, you were right ;) As for Knux...hmm, what can I do to little Knux? (Knuckles: You've done plenty already!) And thanks; I'm glad you're still reading and enjoying it :D
You're partly right about hypochondria, but sufferers aren't obsessed with medicine, just diseases. Put it this way; if me or (presumably ;)) you got a headache, we'd just take Nurofen and get on with things. If a hypochondriac got a headache, they'd be like, "Oh my god, I have a headache, I gotta go to the doctor's for a CAT scan, I must have a brain tumour developing there or be building up to a stroke or something, or maybe I'm developing some rare new disease!" It's also slang for someone who makes a big thing out of being ill; if someone had a cold and went around moaning that they were coming down with flu and oh poor me and by dose ig all stubbed ub, one person would probably say about them to the other, "God, that guy's such a hypochondriac."
(reads answer) Oh boy. Sorry. I tend to get carried away when it comes to anything like that; I have a rather worrying interest in medical science...the online medical encyclopedia's one of my favourite bookmarks (and I did double-check hypochondria before writing that chapter :P) Comes of having a student nurse for a mother I guess. Anyway...does that clear things up a bit:S
Tails forced his eyes open. It didn't seem to make any difference; he still couldn't see a thing.
He'd overstepped the line. He knew that, knew it as well as he knew his own name. He remembered passing out on the other side of that chasm, just after dropping both the food and the pickaxe (both cardinal sins in themselves) and of being found and thrashed into wakefulness again. They'd screamed insults into his ears – his head was still throbbing painfully – and finally driven him down here, into the very prison he was supposed to be delivering food to. He'd only been semi-conscious at the end of that nightmarish journey, and as soon as they'd stopped kicking him along had collapsed thankfully and fallen asleep. That was one good thing about the prison; the overseers didn't bother with you.
It was, however, the only good thing about being there. Tails understood how you could go mad in this place. There was nothing, nothing to say you were still alive short of your own rasping breaths. You couldn't see anything, couldn't hear anything save the shrieks and pleas of those others unlucky enough to be thrown down here, and most of those died after a while. Tails had been determined that he wouldn't scream and he hadn't, hadn't so much as whimpered when they'd forced him down that tunnel, not even when one of them had seized him around the neck and half shoved, half kicked him into this pit. He'd been proud of himself then, had dared to flatter himself that even Sonic or Knuckles might have made some sound in that situation.
Yeah. If Knux was dumb enough to wind up here in the first place. Tails wasn't worried about Sonic, and not entirely because of how his so-called big brother had acted towards him; no overseer would want a crippled slave. But Knuckles...no. He didn't like the idea of Knuckles being trapped in this place. Tails would rather stay here himself and suffer than let them get Knuckles.
The pain from both his ear and tail was almost dizzying, to say nothing of the lacerations – both old and new – on his back. For a long minute, Tails just wanted to lie down and try to take the pain in silence. He couldn't even curl into a ball like he usually did when upset; doing that made his back hurt unbearably.
As always when feeling especially miserable, Tails slid into what he fondly liked to think of as plotting, but which was really little more than a seamless blend of memories and daydreams. He remembered how he, Sonic and Knuckles had gone racing through that city, how Knuckles had astounded both Sonic and Tails by actually participating. He remembered how Knuckles had always acted as the mediator between him and Sonic – pretty weird, really, when you considered the echidna's character – and how he'd stuck by Tails after Sonic's accident. Tails had often thought that if Sonic was like the wind, then Knuckles was the mountain. He liked that thought. There was something very comforting about a mountain, something solid. You could rely on a mountain to always be there.
Yeah. Sonic's the wind, Knux is the mountain and what am I? Just some drip in a cave.
Tails shook his head, furious with himself. He couldn't, wouldn't allow himself to think like that. He'd always wanted a chance to be a hero, to prove to Sonic that he was more than just a tagalong kid with a gift for machinery.
Yeah, Tails, c'mon. What would Knuckles think if he saw you in this place all bitter like Sonic? You can't wait for him to worry about you and come looking; that'll take forever, so you gotta get out of here without being rescued.
Rescue would be wonderful though. Tails' fondest and most frequent daydream had been that of Knuckles arriving in a blaze of anger, wiping out all those who had dared to lay a finger on the fox and taking him safely back to Angel Island.
Tails snorted.
"Yeah, right," he said aloud. His throat hurt, more from disuse than anything, and he winced. He hadn't spoken to anyone since Max had died, and even when he and Max had spoken it had been in almost inaudible whispers.
Something pricked Tails' eyes and the bridge of his nose started to itch. Crying was okay, long's you were somewhere real private and didn't make a meal of it. It was only when you bawled and wailed like a little kid that you had to be ashamed of yourself.
He hadn't cried at Sonic's alleged death, even though it had felt like someone had lifted his heart right out of his body. Tails supposed that was it, he'd been too numb to cry and besides, he thought that someone like Knuckles probably wouldn't have had any patience with tears or grief.
Had this been how Sonic had felt? If so, no wonder he'd gone sour.
One other good thing; he didn't have to dig down here either. Though that was almost a shame; he didn't know how long he'd been out for, but he was feeling fully rested for the first time since being captured in Emerald Hill Zone, and he wouldn't have minded showing the overseers just what he could do.
He shook his head. No. No, he couldn't start thinking like that either. Once he started taking pride in his work as a slave, there really would be no hope for him! Dropping his chin onto his hands, Tails sighed, the sound reverberating off the walls and amplifying itself in the black silence.
To pass the time, he tried to remember one of the stories Knuckles had told him. Tails had been surprised – no, more like completely and utterly gobsmacked – to find out that story-telling was a big part of echidna culture. He'd only managed to squeeze a couple of those stories out of Knuckles – the echidna never volunteered them and only told one after extreme persuasion, cajoling and a lot of mechanical repairs on Tails' part – but something about them stuck in his mind.
Let's see...there was that one about the echidna who bragged he could sing like the birds, or that one about the echidna warrior who wanted to tunnel all the way through Mobius and come out on the other side. Ha, he should've come here, he could've tunnelled to his heart's content. Probably would've dug his way out after a week and thrown down his pickaxe, though. Tails snorted again. Yeah, sure. Tunnel all the way out and come out on the other side of Mobius? Ha! What an idea!
What an idea...
A mischievous gleam appeared in the fox's eyes. Wouldn't that be something, to escape under his own steam and just oh-so-casually mention the fact to Knuckles? Tails had a feeling that such an achievement would impress even the echidna. He wasn't planning to dig all the way through, just out and up into one of the Zones.
Okay. Yeah, it would be great if Knux was here, but since he isn't, I'm gonna have to make do by myself. Step one, dig. Step two, get back to Angel Island. Step three...
Actually, now that he thought about it, there wasn't a step three. Just as well, really; steps one and two would be more than enough to keep him occupied.
Tails pulled himself to his feet, swayed slightly and had to grab onto the wall to stay upright.
Not gonna faint...not gonna faint...
After a long time, the dizziness passed and he was able to push himself away from the wall, albeit gingerly.
One tiny flaw in your plan, a little voice spoke up in his mind (one which sounded oddly like Knuckles). You got nothing to dig with. What're you planning to do, try and scrabble through the rock like it's mud?
Tails almost slumped back down in despair, then shook his head defiantly. No! He wouldn't give in, not now, not ever! He started moving forward, pain making his steps slow and jerky. Maybe if he knew how big this pit was, or if there was a weaker point, maybe he could exploit that. Maybe there was—
His foot caught in something at this point and caught off guard, he went sprawling onto the hard floor with a yelp which he immediately tried to pretend hadn't happened. He wasn't supposed to yelp, not here.
Irritated now, he kicked back at whatever it was had tripped him and barely managed to stifle another yelp as whatever it was jarred his bare foot, already sore from being forced to stand and work on rough, stony terrain.
Swallowing the pain bravely, ignoring the hot sensation in his eyes – pain tears were okay, they didn't count as actual crying – Tails pushed himself onto hands and knees and started to feel around for the guilty rock.
His hand brushed against something cold and metal and he jerked it back convulsively, then touched it again, warily this time. It had a feel about it...it...no, surely it couldn't be...
Hardly daring to believe it, Tails lifted the object up, feeling eagerly around the edges. It was! It was the same tray he'd been carrying down here, the one he'd dropped into the chasm. He craned his head back, trying to see.
Nothing. He now knew the chasm ended up in these pits (the journey down had been too harrowing for him to observe any niceties such as location, and besides, he didn't know the tunnels around there at all) even if he couldn't see it. How this knowledge was going to help in his current situation he didn't know, but something inside him said that it would, that it was important.
Wait a minute. If the tray's down here...
Tails felt around on the floor again, feverishly this time. Before long his efforts were rewarded; his questing hand felt the shape of the pickaxe he'd dropped with the tray and a small smile appeared on his face.
Wow. Who'da thought I'd be pleased to see this thing again?
Well. He had a plan and now he had the tool he needed to implement it as well. What was he waiting for?
Feeling around, he located the nearest wall and his smile broadened. Tails ignored the resultant pain as the action split dry lips; for the first time, he thought he might have a very small chance of getting out of this place.
As quietly as possible, he turned to face the wall and started chipping away at the rock, digging what he hoped would be his final tunnel.
Okay, that's it for Tails' adventures (for now) Hope you're enjoying it and if you read this, please leave a review :)