There are EXTREMELY small notations(or whatever you call them) regarding KnuxRouge and ShadTikal. Even if you don't support the pairings you might like the oneshot anyway.

I do not own Knuckles, Shadow, Tikal, or Rouge.

Circuity

XxXxXxXxXx

The field was lone and barren. Strange fan-like machines, used to collect the wind, covered the plain as far as the eye could see. The winter chill nearly froze the grass and the dirt below. The last place where you would find anyone, let alone an echidna girl. Yet, there she stood, long tan hair blowing in the cold air, staring at the monsterous mechainary that towered before her. Clothed in a patched sweater and long tribal skirt, and wielding nothing but a picnic basket and a journal, she set out to rest beneath its shadowed gaze. For on top of it, was the pair she had been watching long before, of who her companion told her about. She was going to do what she did everyday. Sit beneath the place where they worked, and write down what they said.

The girl looked behind her. On her back were two small, fluffy white wings. If one saw them, hopefully they would remember her companion, for she had them too, before she had to leave. She could only hope, though.

XxXxXxXxXx

On top of one of the largest mill, stood the pair the girl went to listen to. One, a black and melancholy hedgehog, sat down, tinkering with the wires the mech held within. His name, best suiting his character, was Shadow. The other, a crimson echidna with his long dreadlocks blowing, faced the direction of the wind, feeling winter seep through the fall. Knuckles, he was called. The tactical gear they wore protected them for the harsh enviroments.

The two had been searching for a way to use the mills for some good purpose. No one knows who made them, or how they were there, but in hopes of finding a way to use them, they set out each day to search inside them.

"The wind has shifted. Its coming over the wall. Winter is coming," Knuckles said. What he meant by 'over the wall' was that a storm was moving in. "If we could push it back...I think--"

"It wouldn't work," Shadow said. "You can't push back the wind."

"The wind pushes the blades and makes them spin," Knuckles continued. "If we are to find a way to spin the blades without the help of the wind, I'm sure we could push it back."

"Right," Shadow said. "And how would you do that? We barely know how these things work, let alone changing how they work."

"Details!" Knuckles said turning around. "I'm sure there is a way!"

"Great," Shadow sarcastically remarked as he reached for a wrench. "If you don't mind, I'd like to finish this before winter really does--ah!" He cut himself off when he knocked the wrench off the side. But on closer inspection to the ground, he saw someone there. A tan echidna girl...with wings?

"What the...?" Shadow said. "There's someone--Hey! Watch out!" The girl perked her head up at the noise, and saw the wrench falling down towards her. As she went to grab her picnic basket, the wrench hit her arm. A crack emitted from the colision and she fell to the ground. Blood poured out of the wound. She started to panic, and finally let out a scream.

"AHHIIEEEEEH!"

"Oh no! I hit her!" Shadow yelled. He was about to use his climbing gear to go down andaid her, but Knuckles grabbed his arm.

"Stop!" he said. "Don't you see the wings? Do not go down. She is... They are... They are the cursed. You stay here. I'll go down."

Shadow gave a stern look. "Let go of me," he said.

Knuckles let him go, following him down all the way.

XxXxXxXxXx

The two of them came down as fast as they could to assist the girl with wings. Shadow reached her first and helped her onto her knees. "She's shuddering--" he started.

"Keep her still," Knuckles said. He tore off the sleeves of his tactical suit and wrapped it around her wound.

"Blood loss. Pain. Shock," he counted. "Keep her warm."

"With what!" Shadow yelled. "We have no blankets, and the storm is moving in fast!" Knuckles found the diary on the ground and picked it up while Shadow continued to examine their options. "The closest shelter is the utility barn at the edge of--"

Knuckles cut him off again. "No. Their place. Its much closer,"

He lead Shadow a mile or two away from the mills, to an odd tower-like structure, made of brick and stone. "Is that it?" Shadow asked. "But its a ruin!"

"We'll be much safer here," Knuckles said heading for the door. "Come."

XxXxXxXxXx

In one of the towers many floors, they found a simple bedroom. Shadow spared no time in laying the girl down and corvering her in the bed's blankets. "So..." he said. "They really do exist. But...shouldn't she have a halo? Did I..."

Knuckles had the journal clenched in his hands. "Where is she..." he murmered. "What?" Shadow asked. "Where is the other one!" Knuckles yelled.

He walked closer to the girl. "Where is she!" he roared.

"Hey!" Shadow yelled pulling him back. "What is your problem!"

Knuckles looked at the girl, a tiny hint of sadness in his eyes. "She was going to make this one a halo. It was the first thing she was going to do." He asked the echidna girl his question again, but calmer. "Why hasn't she made it yet? Where is she?" The girl was able to answer, her voice a bit hoarse.

"She wanted to make one for me...but she didn't know how. She left...to try to find out...but she never came back. She never came home."

To Shadow's surpise, Knuckles fell to his knees in disbelief.

The girl shifted through the sheets up to him. "Please! Don't be sad!" she cried. "She told me about you! She made me promise not to tell you if she ever had to..." Her voice lowered. "...go away."

The lights went out and the room started to shake. Knuckles stood up and headed for the door. "I'll go re-start the generator. Start a fire. The winter chill can kill them."

XxXxXxXxXx

Shadow was able to start a fire. The girl was holding on, but was still in a critical state. Knuckles had not yet returned.

"The storm's getting worse," Shadow said with concern. "He's been gone a long time. I hope he's ok." The girl began to talk, which surprised Shadow. She shouldn't be able to say anything at all in her state.

"It was soon after I came here..." she said softly. "That she couldn't see him anymore... A week later, she was gone. I had hoped...that she had gone to him...but I went and listened to him work...I knew...she was gone. All I had left was her journal. I began to write what he said in it...what he said to you...so that she could hear too. So they could still be close... For over a year, I listened to the voices from above and wrote down what they said. But...I have to go soon... I can feel it. That's why I was there...waiting for you at the base of the mill. I wanted...to give it to him...so he could keep talking to her... And to meet you...the other voice. I wanted to...before I..." She started to cry. "I don't want to go..."

Shadow moved the blankets up her shoulders and quietly reassured her. "Shh..." he said. " You don't have to go anywhere. Now rest."

XxXxXxXxXx

It was early in the morning, at least four, when Knuckles returned. He found Shadow asleep, head in his arms, which was resting on the edge of the bed. Knuckles roughly shook his shoulder. "Wake," he said.

Shadow got up, a groggy feeling about him. "Uweh...?" Shadow moaned.

"It's morning. The storm's settled down," Knuckles said.

"It has?...Good. I was begining to worry." Shadow said with a small smile. "But...what took you so long, anyway?" Knuckles didn't say anything. He stared at the girl with a grim look. Shadow turned his head in horror.

The girl was lying down, unmoving, not breathing.

"No..." Shadow whispered.

No...

"Knuckles...we can't... leave her here...like this..." he said. "We can't..." Knuckles never returned his answer. "Knuckles?" Shadow then realized he wasn't talking to anyone. He ran out, not even noticing that the journalhad gone along with Knuckles.

XxXxXxXxXx

Shadow treked through the newly fallen snow, following Knuckles' footprints. They led him to the mill where they had worked the day before. Knuckles was at the top, approaching therapidly spinning blades, journal still in his hands. Shadow climbed up as quick as he could. He thought Knuckles had finally snapped.

"What are you doing!" he yelled to Knuckles, who did not look back.

"So you just let it take you! You don't even fight it!" the echidna roared over the sound of the blades. "I said I would push the wind back for you!" Knuckles spoke a little softer.

"Why wouldn't you let me?" he asked.

Knuckles lept forward to the blades just as Shadow climbed over the edge.

"NO!" Shadow yelled.

The journal broke. Pages flew everywhere. The cover fell forgotten into the snow.

Shadow stared at the blades, pure terror in his eyes. The journal's pages flew past him, and large specks of blood made contact with his skin.

To push back the wind...

Is such a thing even possible?

To change the way it blows, to force it back, back over the wall...

To not accept what it brings...

I...

I want to push it back.

But I'm too scared to try.

XxXxXxXxXx

Circuity: Fin

Shadow- We hoped you enjoyed our presentation just as much as we enjoyed doing it. -pulls out cell phone- Unfortunately, Knuckles could not be here because he's still in the hospital, recovering from serious injuries sustained during the performance.

Knuckles- -through the cell phone- Head...spinning...pain...much...pain...must share...ooh cookie...

K.O.- Just remember, when I make a oneshot, these guys do all their own stunts!

Rouge- What a ham. Could you have laid it any thicker?

Tikal- -arm in a sling- Eh heh heh... Gomen!

Rouge- At least you got screen time...