Chapter 11: Snowboarding Angels

Above the clouds, a blue biplane soared, in transit to another adventure. One of the passengers, Sapphire, looked down at the world below. She wasn't afraid of heights, but her prior experience with flying hadn't exactly left her feeling comfortable in the air.

Of course, it was Tails who piloting the Tornado 2, while Sapphire was sitting behind him, and Sonic, once again, standing on the top wing of the plane.

Sonic had another exciting "adventure" he wanted to take Sapphire on. This time, he wanted to take her snowboarding. It sounded simple, much better than flying a plane. But Sapphire was still nervous, of course, despite having agreed to this.

"Sonic, ...I'm having second thoughts," she told her brother.

"Hey, come on, it'll be great. Trust me, and believe in yourself," the blue hedgehog replied.

"But, you know people get hurt doing this," Sapphire argued.

"Don't worry, I'll be there to show you the ropes. And besides, we're going to the best slopes in the world."

"And where is that?"

"Right there, in the distance!" Sonic exclaimed, pointing over the clouds.

Off in the distance, was a large mass of rock... that was just floating in the air, several hundred feet above the ground. On the top, vast amounts of plant life spread across the airborne grounds, with lush jungles and forests. Old ruins dotted the landscape, and near the back, a range of tall, snow-capped mountains stood.

"A sky island..." Sapphire said in awe. "How is it float- What is that place!?"

"That... is Angel Island," Sonic told her.

"Angel Island... I've heard stories of this place, but I was never sure if it was real..."

"Well, here it is. The legendary island in the sky!"

"...But it's not the only 'island in the sky' we've been to," Tails commented. "By the way, you sure Knuckles won't be mad if we do this here? Without his knowledge?"

"'Course not. He's gotta know that his slopes are the absolute best!" Sonic replied.

"Right..."

Tails flew the Tornado 2 up to the tallest peak. Once they landed, Sonic lept off the top wing, and began rummaging in the storage unit of the plane, before pulling out a pair of snowboards.

Tails and Sapphire hopped out. "I'm really not sure about this," Sapphire said, looking down at the snowy slopes. For the snowy weather, she was wearing blue earmuffs, a large blue coat, dark snow pants, and blue and black boots.

"Yep, it's another crazy stunt from Sonic, eh?" Tails replied.

"Hey!" Sonic called out. "I just want my sis to experience the thrills of life."

"Yeah, but I'm not as much of an adventure as you are," Sapphire argued.

"That's why I'm doing smaller things, like this. Get you comfortable with the idea," Sonic said, before rushing off to a position to start boarding.

"Don't worry, I made sure to land near one of the safer slopes I could find," Tails told Sapphire. "And I'll fly overhead to catch you in case something goes wrong."

"Okay..." Sapphire said.

Sapphire walked over to Sonic, who offered her one of his snowboards. This one was blue with yellow lines, while Sonic's was simple red. "You ready?"

"Um... maybe...?" Sapphire replied. "Give me a minute..."

"Okay."

Sapphire took a deep breath... breath out... another deep breath... breath out... in... out... in... out...

"So..." Sonic said, getting a little impatient. "Do you want me to help you get set up?"

"Sure..." Sapphire said. She was kind of glad Sonic asked that, because she wasn't sure if she could hype herself to do this if her thoughts weren't interrupted.

Sonic helped her get strapped onto her board, and showed her how to balance on it, before getting himself ready.

"Alright, just stick with me," Sonic told her. "Keep your stance, and lean side-to-side to turn. Just remember to be brave, and you'll be fine."

Be brave... right, Sapphire thought. She wasn't very brave. It was the main reason she didn't think she could be an adventurer.

...But being with Sonic... his confidence, his care-free nature, his kindness... it was almost contagious. She was scared, but he made her more confident in facing those fears.

Staring down the slopes, she took one more deep breath. Sonic rolled his eyes, and then pushed Sapphire's back, causing her to freak out as she began sliding down.

"W-woah!"

"You got this!" Sonic called out as he kicked off the ground, and followed after her, while Tails simply face-palmed before flying after them.

Sapphire quickly started losing her balance, and soon after, she finally fell over. Luckily, as a hedgehog, she was able to detach from the board and roll into a ball.

Which of course, led her to being rolled into a snowball before hitting a wall.

Sonic caught up to her as she was digging herself out of the snow.

"Whooh! Th-that's cold..." Sapphire said.

"Okay, maybe I shouldn't have pushed you," Sonic replied. "I thought that would help, guess not."

"Th-that's okay." Sapphire shook all the snow off her, and looked at Sonic, before deciding, "I... I want to try again."

"You sure?"

"Yes."

"Okay, let's try again."

Tails lifted her back to the top, while Sonic grabbed her board. They strapped back up, and Sonic held out his hand. "Come on, I'll hold you up, and help you keep your balance, 'kay?"

"Oh, okay," Sapphire said, grabbing his hand.

Sonic started sliding down, pulling Sapphire along with him. Sonic began weaving down the slopes, Sapphire doing her best to keep her balance as she was pulled behind.

"You're doing great!" Sonic told her.

"Y- Yeah!" Sapphire replied.

"Okay, think you can handle yourself from here?"

"Uh- um, sure."

"Okay, you ready? Here we go!" Sonic said as he pulled Sapphire in front of him, then let go, speeding her down the hill as Sapphire tried to ride the slopes on her own.

She was able to keep her balance for a bit, until she nearly fell again, though this time, Tails caught her.

"Hey, you were pretty good that time," Tails said.

"Thanks," Sapphire said. "...I want to try again, until I get this right."

"You sure..."

Sapphire nodded.

"Okay..." turning his attention to Sonic, Tails called out, "hey, Sonic, she wants to go again!"

Sonic gave thumps up as he came to a stop.

Sapphire tried, again and again, trying to get the hang of snowboarding. And slowly, but surely, she did. It wasn't great, but eventually, she got her balance.

Reaching the bottom of the first slope for the first time, Sapphire proudly stood, Sonic sliding in by her.

"Nice job, Saph," Sonic told his sister.

"Yes... I did it. WOO-HOO!" Sapphire cheered with a loud echo.

Which, unfortunately, was the last thing they needed at that moment.

Tails, who was again, flying above them, was going to land to congratulate Sapphire, but then he noticed some snow falling off the cliffsides. Eyes widening, he shouted down to them, "Guys, avalanche!"

The two hedgehogs look up to Tails, before Sonic's gaze lowered to the snow starting to fall down. A large amount of snow.

"We gotta go!" he said, pulling Sapphire away.

"But Tails could-" she started, before Sonic interrupted her.

"No time!" Sonic grabbed his board. Sapphire was still strapped to her board, so she simply dragged along, sliding behind Sonic as he stepped on his board and boarded down the next slopes as the snow toppled down into a large wave of white doom.

Sapphire wasn't exactly happy to be chased by an avalanche, but looking at Sonic, his face of shock and worry had been replaced by one of glee. An extremely dangerous situation, and yet, he was enjoying it.

He loves seeking adventure, ...and danger, Sapphire thought, that's why I always looked up to him, though.

As they rode down, Sonic pointed over to one of the rocky walls. "Look, a cavern!" Sure enough, there was an open cavern in the side.

Sonic leaned to the left, guiding the two of them into the cavern, with the snow barely behind them. Sapphire squeezed her eyes shut, bracing for the worst, until there was nothing but cold and darkness.

"Hey, Saph."

No response.

"Sapphire...?"

Still no response.

"We're good now. Come on, say something."

"It's over?" a soft, female voice replied, "we're safe?"

"Yeah. ...But, the entrance is blocked. The snow is packed pretty tightly. I tried digging through it, but I nearly got myself stuck instead."

"Oh." At this moment, the second of the two, Sapphire, began to process her surroundings. Or rather, the fact she couldn't see them. It was dark. Pitch-black dark. She couldn't see her own hand, much less what was in front of her, if anything.

Sapphire curled up into a ball, while Sonic, who also couldn't see anything, made that painful aware. "Man, I can't see anything. I wish I had a torch or something. That be so helpful right about now, right, Saph?"

Sapphire didn't reply.

"Oh, come. Are you mad at me?" he asked. "Hey, sorry if you feel I forced you into this. But hey, it was pretty exciting, you got to admit!"

Still no response.

"Okay, come on. We gotta find a way out of here, Saph."

"I... I can't... it's... it's..." Sapphire whimpered.

"Saph? You okay?"

"NO!" she shouted. "I can't stand the dark! I don't want to go through there if I can't see anything!"

"Wait, you're afraid of the dark?" Sonic asked softly.

Sapphire started crying softly.

"Hey, hey, it's okay," Sonic said, as he knelt down by the girl. He carefully wrapped his arm around her, trying to comfort her. "I'm here, you're not alone."

Sapphire clutched her brother. "I'm sorry... I'm trying to be the best sister can... but I'm not even strong enough to face my fears."

"Hey, you did great with the snowboarding!"

"But I was... you're so strong, and I want to be strong, too, because of you."

Sonic was silent for a bit, as he took that in. "I guess I'm not being a good brother. I might be a little too pushy with you joining me on these little escapades."

"No, I was the one who wanted to-"

"Because I'm someone to look up to," Sonic interjected. "But you don't need to be like me. I shouldn't have been so... insistent on making you come with me. You're different from me. You have your own strengths and weaknesses. You shouldn't try to do what I do just because I want you to try it, and I shouldn't ask you to do anything you're not comfortable with."

"It's okay... Sonic, you're a great brother. And as your sister, I love you."

"Heh, thanks, sis." Sonic got up, and grabbed Sapphire's hand. "Come on, get up. I'll help lead you through the dark."

"But... you don't know where you're going either," she replied, though she got up anyway.

"It's my fault we're in this situation., so I'll get us out. Now, come on."

Sonic began to lead Sapphire further into the dark cavern, with the latter staying close to her brother. Sonic moved slowly, keeping his hand on the wall to make sure they didn't run into anything.

It wasn't long before they found a light source, an orange glow around the corner. Sapphire was excited, being terrified of the darkness, and wanted to get into the light, so to speak.

"Sonic, look, light!" she dashed off, leaving Sonic behind her. She rounded that corner...

And found herself smacking into a fist.

"Saph!" Sonic cried out, running after her.

Sapphire had a bump on her head, and was a little dazed, but was alright, already trying to get up. Sonic turned to see what hit her, starting to shout, "okay, you're going to get... uh, Knuckles?"

"Sonic!?" a deep gruff voice replied. "What the heck are you doing here!? Who is this!?"

Sapphire sat up, and found herself looking at a mobian, a species she'd never seen before. He had red fur with dreadlock-like spines, and a crooked tail, along with purple eyes and a white crescent mark on his chest. He wore white mittens over large fists with two spikes on his knuckles for each hand, and red and yellow shoes with green cuffs and grey plates with six bolts on each one (which reminded Sapphire of toys that she used to play with at her old orphanage). He was holding up a fire-lit torch.

"Wha..." Sapphire started, still trying to regain her focus, "who..."

"Is there I reason you hit my sister?" Sonic said, his anger rising back up.

"Sister!?" The red mobian replied. "How was I supposed to know this was your sister!? She tried attacking me!?"

"I wha..." Sapphire replied, still in a daze.

"She's afraid of the dark, and you have light. And you really shouldn't hit random people, especially girls!" Sonic countered.

"I am the guardian of this island! I'm supposed to deal with intruders, like HER!" the red mobian said, pointing to Sapphire, then to Sonic. "YOU shouldn't be here either!"

"Oh, yeah! Wanna go?" Sonic said smugly. "You know you can't beat me!"

"Bring it on!"

This was quickly going from a shouting match to a rivalry fight, and now that Sapphire had (mostly) regained focus, she didn't want to see this happen. "STOP!"

The two mobians stopped and looked over to Sapphire as she stood up, almost stumbling back down.

"Stop! Please don't fight! I don't want to see any fighting..." she started to tear up.

The red mobian looked to Sonic. "What's her deal?"

"Well... perhaps she's right, Knux," Sonic told him.

"Fine," the red mobian turned to Sapphire. "What's your name?"

"It's... Sapphire," she replied shyly.

"Alright, my name's Knuckles," the red mobian told her, raising his hand. "Knuckles the Echidna, the guardian of Angel Island."

"Oh, okay..." Sapphire said, as she shook Knuckles' hand. "Echidna, huh. I've never met an echidna before."

"Yeah..." both Sonic and Knuckles replied.

"What?"

"I'm... one of the last of my kind," Knuckles explained.

"Oh... oh, I'm so sorry!"

"It's okay."

"So... you're the guardian of this island?" Sapphire asked.

"Yes, which brings us back to my first question. Why are you two here, especially in these caves!?"

"Well, me and Saph here come to do some boarding in Ice Cap..." Sonic explained.

"You came here for SNOWBOARDING!" Knuckles responded, once again angry. "This is a sacred island. You can't just come here to snowboard!"

"Hey, you've got a carnival here!" Sonic countered.

"Eggman was the one who put it there!"

"Yeah, when you decided to trust him, and he stole the Master Emerald!"

"STOP!" Sapphire interjected. "Please, stop!"

"Sorry..." the boys replied.

"Thank you... So, um... Knuckles, can you help us?" Sapphire asked.

"Yeah?"

"We're down here because when we were boarding, an avalanche started, and we got stuck because the snow blocked the entrance. Do you know a way out?"

"Well," Knuckles said, with a smug expression, "this is my island, and I know it like the back off my hand. I know another way out. Or..." he pulled out a pair of metal, glove-like gauntlets, each with a pair of sharp, shovel-like blades, and put them on, the blades fitting right over his spiked hands. "...If it's just packed snow, with my Shovel Claws, I could dig right through it!"

"You can?"

"Have to give it to him, he's right," Sonic said. "I'd say we go with that second option. Tails is probably worrying about us on the other side, and we're not too far away."

"R-right, okay, Knuckles, let's do it!" Sapphire replied.

Tails was, of course, worried, and already trying to save his friends. Luckily for him, his Tornado 2 plane was designed to transform. Its second form, the Cyclone, was a combat walker. Flying the Cyclone down to where Sonic and Sapphire got trapped, Tails intended to use the walker's features to free them from the packed snow.

He started by performing a geological scan of the area, so he could make a plan on the best way to breakthrough. At least, he was trying to, but then the hardened snow wall started to break.

Looking up, Tails watched as the snow wall broke open, revealing a red echidna wearing metal digging gloves. Tails was happy to see his old friend, but was even happier to see the two figures who walked out behind him.

"Knuckles! Sonic! Sapphire!" Tails called out in joy and relief. "You guys are okay!"

"'Sup, bro!" Sonic replied. "Glad you're okay!"

"I'm okay!? I was worried you two got buried!"

"Don't worry, we're fine. Knux got us out."

Tails breathed a sigh of relief. "Thank goodness. Knuckles, you really came through."

"You're welcome," he replied. "Now, I'll see you guys later. Got off my island."

"Wow, you're not beating around the bush, are ya, Knuckle Head," Sonic remarked.

"What did you just say!"

"We... should probably listen to him," Tails replied.

Sonic rolled his eyes while smiling, and hopped on the Cyclone.

Sapphire picked up the dropped boards in the cave, and walked up to Knuckles. "It was nice to meet you, Knuckles. Um... do you... do you mind if I come to visit? You know... just to hang out?"

Knuckles' eyes closed as he thought about it, then sighed. "Sure, you can. Just let me know first before you try something like this again on MY island."

"Yes, of course!" Sapphire then walked over to the Cyclone, packed the boards into the vehicle, and climbed into the back seat.

"Sonic, that sister of yours, she's got a good head on her," Knuckles said. "You should take good care of her."

"Of course. Wouldn't have it any other way," Sonic replied.

Knuckles smiled. "Well, goodbye. And Sapphire, I know dealing with Sonic isn't easy, but he's a good guy. Trust him, and you can't go wrong."

Sapphire smiled and waved goodbye to the echidna, as Tails moved his vehicle into a better position where he could take off.

Once the plane was in the air, and the three mobians were flying away from Angel Island, Sapphire couldn't help but stare back at the island.

"I feel sorry for him," Sapphire said.

"Knuckles, why?" Sonic asked, once again, standing on the plane's top wing.

"He must be so alone there. Without anyone to keep him company."

"Well, Knuckles has a big job. He has to protect the Master Emerald, and that's a pretty important job," Tails explained.

"The Master Emerald... what is that?" Sapphire asked.

"It's this massive gem that sits on a shrine on the island," Sonic answered.

"It is the controller of the Chaos Emeralds," Tails added. "And its power is the reason Angel Island floats in the air. Without it, the whole island will fall into the ocean."

"Oh... that does sound important," Sapphire said.

"Knuckles is a good guy, if a bit of a loner," Sonic said. "We bring him along in our adventures sometimes, and his strength is immensely useful, not to mention he's a fantastic friend to have on your team."

"So, you bring him along, like you did with me?"

"Yeah... like that..." Sonic replied cheekily.

"People follow Sonic," Tails said. "A friendly, free-spirited guy who protects the world, that's just what happens. Even people like Knuckles will join in when asked."

"Yeah, guess so," Sapphire replied.

The three laughed at that, as they flew home, ready to rest from another exciting day.

Author's Note: Finally, at long last, I have introduced Knuckles to this story. I could not really tell you why it took ELEVEN chapters to introduce one of the biggest characters in the Sonic series to this story. All I know is that I kept wanting to write other chapters before this, for various reasons.

Snowboarding in Angel Island's Ice Cap Zone was one of the earliest ideas I came up with for this story, and I knew it would be the best time to introduce Knuckles. I've been wanting to write this story for a while. And yes, this is exactly how I wanted to play out this whole time, save for one thing. This seemed like a good time for Sonic and Sapphire to have a heart-to-heart. Hopefully, from now on, Sonic will be a lot more lenient on what he wants to do with Sapphire.

I also found this to be a good time to bring up Sapphire's fear of the dark (to be specific, roaming around in the dark), and how she hates people fighting for no reason. She also feels sorry for Knuckles, who is all alone.

If you're wondering why I said the Knuckles is "one of the last of his kind", instead of "the last of his kind", like in the lore, ...it's because of Sonic Chronicles and Shade the Echidna. I don't know if I'm going to add those story elements to this story's background, but I do consider it canon. If you want a good explanation as to what I think happened after that cliffhanger, I saw theory (that makes a lot of sense to me) that Sonic Unleashed takes place right after. Firstly, they came out in the same year (2008), even if Unleashed came out first, and if you think about Unleashed's opening cutscene, where Sonic is assaulting Eggman's space fleet, it does look kind of like a natural follow up to Chronicles ending. What happened to Shade, I couldn't tell you, but she's probably around somewhere.

Anyways, for the next chapter, I plan to introduce even a lot of characters, with an interesting plot. But I'll need some time to plan it out. Look forward to it!