Preface: There's enough of a anxiety attack in this chapter and I appreciate it when people tell me when there is sexual content in a story to skip. There's an anxiety attack in Alyx's sub-chapter when she wakes up from her dream, intense dream too. Dark sci fi elements.


Chapter 10: Dawn of the second day


Mobius - Knothole - Manor - 3226

It was early morning and the young chipmunk was helping her nanny prep breakfast for the rest of the group. They had managed to find some pancake mix on their last supply run for the winter. Their continued raids on the newly named Robotropolis would have to wait until the snows thawed. Bunnie had found a blackberry bush to the north, they weren't blueberries but one thing led to another and they were having blackberry pancakes. She grabbed her bowl, pouring the water and berries on top of the flour mix. They didn't have any syrup or sugar though… the berries would have to do. Sally moved to the windowsill of the manor with her bowl of batter, she started watching the rain outside as she mixed the stale flour and baking agents. They had just entered into the short rainy season before the snows and it had been storming for a week, it reminded her of the week following the coup…

She frowned in concern as she thought back to the little kit she had taken. The kid's two tails hadn't been the only strange thing about him. In those beginning weeks she had given the toddler a bath and noticed a bump at the base of his neck, a small capped medical port of some kind? She had freaked out when she had found that, frantically yelling for her nanny. Rosie had practically knocked the door down to the washroom as Sally unlocked it. The woodchuck had examined the boy's neck with a practiced hand the princess had all but forgotten, Rosie had been a surgeon before retiring early to become her nanny. Sally had just been relieved there was an adult there who knew what to do.

The older woman had been shocked then unnerved at the port. The woodchuck explained these kinds of ports had been for regular medication injections for cancer treatment but were not installed on the neck… Rosie didn't think it was a good idea to leave it in him, so she made a plan to remove the device. There was a huge reason kids weren't fitted with these things, as if he started picking at it, it could cause a serious infection. Sally had panicked for a week after that, her mind toiling at the purpose and consequences of the medical device. Every worst case scenario had been dragged in front of her mind's eye, none of which had manifested. Rosie had been able to scrounge up enough supplies to knock the kid out and remove it safely and cleanly, it seemed to be tapping his spine?! The princess's mind started drifting again, why put something like that on a child? and in such an odd way... He didn't seem terminally ill… He hadn't been ill, not in that way at least… It had been almost two years since that incident.

The months after their arrival at Knothole and their stay at the manor had been depressing to say the least. They waited and waited for the rest of the cavalry to arrive, but they never did… The kid's behavior the first day seemed to be strangely lucid on retrospect… Bouts of half knowing what was going on and then terrified episodes followed in the days to come. They had later come to realize it was probably him suffering withdrawal from whatever medication he had been on. After he had detoxed, he had become strangely quiet, following the princess almost everywhere she went. Sometimes, it seemed the only time she had to herself was when he was sleeping or when she was out with the others raiding their city. His clingy phase had lasted around 9 months, after that he had started talking and socializing with some of the other kids that had been found wandering outside the city. After he had started talking again, Sally had been disappointed, he didn't seem to remember anything about his parents. He didn't remember the medical port that Rosie had pulled from the back of his neck, in fact that conversation had confused and terrified him. If she hadn't of gotten his name that day, she doubted he'd remember that either… He might not even remember the day they met. That might be for the better though… That was a horrible day for a kid so small to remember… Rosie thought he may be around 2 or 3 when Sally had taken him from the arcade, so he was probably 4 or 5 now.

*CRACK*

She glanced up at the thunder, watching the downpour out the window start to intensify. They had just entered into the short rainy season before the snows, quite miserable and cold outside right now. Her mind drifted back to the child she had been taking care of with the help of her Nanny. The little tike was probably huddled in a nest of blankets and pillows in his closet right now, he didn't like loud noises… She gave a sigh, she would check on him in a bit. He knew they were in for a bunch of storms, he understood… he seemed to understand a lot for his age. She smiled, strangely proud of him, in the last year he had learned so much! It was amazing watching him grow! It filled her with so much joy to teach the young boy. It hadn't taken much time for him to start sounding out words as she read him books and comics before bed. In a surprisingly short time he had started reading by himself! Rosie had said it was a bit early but not out of the question. Her nanny had second guessed herself as the little boy had moved from the bedtime stories to the rest of the manor's library. He was like a little sponge, mopping up every bit of info he could. By her estimate, he was now reading the books her own grade level! The chipmunk's grin got bigger, that had freaked her nanny out! Rosie said it wasn't normal but Sally wasn't worried about her boy, she was proud of her little guy.

Her smile faltered, she shouldn't think of Miles as hers… Miles wasn't her son and she was too young to be thinking like this… At least Rosie thought so... Her nanny was insistent that she not think of the boy as her son. Rosie was right though, she was really young to be raising a kid and she knew it, even if... She shook her head, trying to banish the thoughts. It didn't help that the kid was starting to question her about where he was from. When she had mustered up the courage to tell him the story, he hadn't believed her, insisting she was his Mom based on some of the books he had read… Rosie didn't like that but didnt know what to do other than to talk to both of them. She herself had understood, but the little tike didn't…

Sally started to feel a little queasy. Whether malicious or not, she had Sonic snatch Miles from his real Mother writhing on the ground, then they abandoned her. She shuttered, even if it was to save his life it just made her feel on edge. Her mind began to swim with more of the uncomfortable thoughts. Maybe his mom had survived and she would be able to give Miles back someday… That was unlikely, they hadn't seen a lot of adults, just a lot of those fully roboticized Mobians… That thought made her feel even more queasy, her people… Her mind ran through that day and she again failed to see a better way of dealing with the situation. She shouldn't pretend to be Mile's Mother, but maybe she could be like an older sister like how Sonic was treating the kid like a little brother… or maybe an Aunt… Being an honorary Aunt didn't seem too bad.

"You keep stirring those pancakes and they'll be chewy like rubber." Her Nanny cheekily quipped, interrupting her thoughts.

The girl paused, glancing down to her mixing bowl and indeed it was already thoroughly mixed. She looked over her shoulder to her nanny prepping a griddle at the electric stove, greasing it with some cooking oil they had found. "Sorry, a lot on my mind." She walked over next to the woodchuck and set the bowl with the other, giving the older woman a nervous grin. Her nanny rose an eyebrow as she poured the first pancake. Sally's grin pulled back into a nervous line as she looked down at the misshapen cake on the stove-top.

Her nanny picked up her charges fidgets and wavering expression. "I don't know what you have to be nervous about. We have heat, shelter and food, a lot to be thankful for. We should be set to survive the winter all right." The Woodchuck said as she flipped the first cake.

"It's not that…" Sally sighed.

"What's on your mind, kiddo?" She glanced at her young charge and smiled. "You want the sacrificial pancake?" She asked, picking up the cake and holding the misshapen circle on her spatula to the girl.

Sally shook her head. "I'm good, I'll eat with everyone else." She sighed as she grabbed for a cloth to start cleaning their prep area.

"So what's on your mind?" Her nanny asked again.

Sally paused thinking of what to say. She didn't really want to talk about Miles with Rosie right now… There was another conversation they needed to have though and maybe right now was a good time. Sally hesitated. "We've been going deeper into the city."

The woodchuck got stiff, almost dropping the cake. Her head snapped to the chipmunk. "What?!"

Sally stood her ground. "As long as we stay low, Robotnik's been leaving us alone. We're thinking of trying to sabotage one of his factories…"

The older woman got an uncomfortable look on her face. "I–" She sighed as she set her cooking tools down. She turned, leaning against the counter as her hands moved to her face. "Why…" she groaned. "WHY WOULD YOU RISK YOURSELF LIKE THAT!" The older woman snapped. "IT'S ALREADY BAD ENOUGH YOU GO LOOTING THE CITY WITH THE REST!" Her hands dropped and Sally shrunk for a second as she saw the building rage on her caretaker's face. "I KNEW I shouldn't have let you–"

"LET ME FINISH!" Sally snapped as something in her broke. "I have full understanding of my position! And something YOU don't understand is…" The teen started to waver. "It's been a few years already… No one is coming to help…" Her voice cracked. "If we don't make a move soon… Then there won't be any kingdom of mine left… Julian keeps building machines and raiding nearby kingdoms…"

Rosie wavered, cooling down seeing how distressed her little girl was. "Honey…"

"If I serve the people and the people serve me, then I NEED TO SERVE MY PEOPLE! I CANT JUST WAIT FOR AN ARMY THAT ISN'T GOING TO SHOW UP!" The young chipmunk snapped. The girl deflated. "I want your blessing Rosie. If you want me to start acting like a Monarch then maybe I should start acting like a Monarch!" Her face got a pleading look. "Wasn't Grandpa Alexander some great warrior or something?"

There was a pause. The woodchuck looked stressed, her eyes trying to avoid Sally's. "Your grandfather died on the front lines of the last war, he continued service past what his station was and well past when he should have retired, I think he was almost 70." She bit. "I'm trying to make sure you don't make the same mistake."

Sally stood her ground. "I'm going to lead by example like he did!" She snapped. "We are going to be careful, we've already been making test runs and I don't plan on charging in guns blazing!" She let out a choked laugh. "The only one that can even attempt that is Sonic!" She began growling. "And if he does that I'm going to throttle him!" She bit. There was an awkward pause as things cooled down. "I know enough of our laws and I know your oath... Next year I'm 16, I'll outrank you and I can override your decisions while maintaining my honor." She gave a hard stare towards her adoptive mother figure. "I don't want to use that authority, but this is happening… whether you're a part of it or not." She affirmed.

Sally wilted as she saw her adoptive mother figure shrink in on herself, cupping her face and sliding down to the ground. "Y-you're an Acorn alright…" Her soft voice muffled as she gently shook. "I just don't want anyone else to die…"

"Neither do I!" The girl exasperated as she got down to her knees trying to get her nanny to look at her. "That's why we need to start fighting back!" Sally got nervous again as she realized how she had been talking to her loving caretaker and the absolute stress on the already taxed woman's mental state she must have caused. She grabbed her shoulder and squeezed three times as her sign of love. "D–do I have your blessing? Will you support us?"

Rosie dropped her hands and scooched forward, bringing her adoptive daughter into a hug as she gently shook. "I love you too dear... that's why this is so difficult..." The two sat there for what seemed like minutes as Sally melted into the hug. "I know you…" The older woman said as Sally was taking deep breaths. "I know that no matter what I say or do, you're going to grow up, and that's a good thing! I'm just supposed to make sure you get to be an adult without dying in the process… I–I can't stand the thought of you going off and dying a meaningless death." The older woman pulled back giving her charge a stern look. "I'll give you my blessing if you include me in the planning process." She got a thoughtful look "I think I know where some more holotape lessons are, if we can get to one of the old royal archives then we should take them." The woodchuck gave a wry grin. "I spent a little bit of time as a field surgeon for the army before your father chose me, so I know a tiny bit about the caches. Sonic's keycard from Chuck should come in handy for that." Rosie got up, pulling the chipmunk to her feet. She backed up, crossing her arms as she gave her charge a stern look. "Everyone is going to learn the basics of trauma care. No ifs ands or buts. Period! NO STUPID MISTAKES!" She bit.

Sally sharply nodded, that could have gone way worse. Sally gave a breath of relief as the emotional tension left her. "That sounds amazing! Yes, I can agree to that!" She watched her nanny relax and turn back to hesitantly continue on the soon to be pile of pancakes.

"You're right… something probably needs to be done… The sea dweller's caravans haven't shown in ages… the other kingdoms are probably barricading our kingdom." Rosie mumbled as she continued to collect herself.

*CRACK*

The sound of thunder echoed around the house. Sally glanced at the door to the hall. "Is it ok–"

"Yeah, go check on him." Her nanny sighed. "This is a one person job anyways, It's not like it's a huge mess either. Not like these are fancy pancakes, just an old box of powder mix. Just have to wipe up after. Should be done soon." The woodchuck glanced to meet the princess's eyes. "Why not see if you can coax young Miles to have breakfast with the rest of us."

Sally got a relieved look and made for the door. "Thank you!"

Rosie lifted her head. "Sally, before you go."

Sally paused, wondering if this was going to be about what she thought it was going to be about.

"Has miles been calling you mom again?" Rosie asked.

It was exactly what she dreaded it was going to be about and she winced. "M-maybe?" She questioned.

Rosie frowned. "I-" The woodchuck closed her eyes, letting out a deep breath. "We talked about this already, It's inappropriate-"

"I know..." Sally cut her off, deflating at the thought. "I'll talk to him again." She looked forlorn at her caretaker. "Even if it was something I wanted..." She trailed off.

Rosie's mouth turned into an uncomfortable line. "I'm not telling you you can't love him as a caretaker. But your 15." She reiterated. "Maybe when your older if he still thinks of you like that he can call you his mom, but... remember, the plan is that we can find his mother and you can give him back..." Sally could tell her nanny also doubted that they would ever find the vixen from the tone of her voice.

"Noted." The teen emotionlessly replied. "I'll talk to him again, you and I don't need to talk about this anymore."

"Good." Her nanny affirmed as she flipped a pancake. "Go check on the little genius…" Her tone seemed distant, her mind probably starting to think of everything she needed to start teaching them to survive if wounded.

Sally paused in the silence then exited the kitchen, she made her way to the entrance and up the stairway to the second floor. Her mind drifted to her own charge. Rosie was right, he was a little genius, he seemed way smarter then he should be for his age… or so said Rosie. She walked down the tall ceiling hallway, this place was huge but they didn't have access to the whole thing. There was a kitchen and dining room on the first floor along with a den and library. There was a steel doored elevator they couldn't figure out how to open in the center of the residence. The second floor had bedrooms and washrooms all over, guess this really was supposed to be ground zero for a reconstruction effort… They couldn't get to the third floor. It wasn't locked or anything, but whenever they got to the top of the staircase and into the hallway, a portal would open under their feet and usually dumped them outside the manor on the grass. She smiled, she didn't know how the portals had been tamed or how they knew what was going on, but she felt glad for whatever was helping protect them. Her soft smile grew into a grin, some of the kids they had found in the outskirts tried to make it a game to get to the third floor, none had been successful. She had watched some of those attempts from near the top of the banister, it was almost like the portals were playing the game of keepaway with them. Some of the kids got closer than anyone, but eventually they always ended up somewhere outside or sometimes splayed in a restroom tub or dumped in the pond out back if they could swim.

She made her way upstairs, hearing the morning stirrings of some of her friends and some of the other kids. She started heading to the far corner of the floor with her and Rosie's rooms, Mile's room was just past theirs on the corner. She got to his door and knocked. "Sweety are you awake?" There wasn't an answer, not a big surprise. She gently opened the door peeking her head in. "You okay Miles?" She whispered. No answer, all the blankets and pillows were gone from his bed. She was right, probably a nest in the closet again. She made her way to the sliding door closet and knelt to his height. Using the knuckle of a finger, she knocked on the wood. "You in there sweetie?" She heard some muffled scrambles and the door slid a crack open, showing his worried little face.

His intelligent little eyes lit at the sight of her. "Mom!" He scrambled, sliding the door open and jumping forward to give her a hug.

She met his hug, feeling conflicted. The title made her feel warm but also… It felt stolen and undeserved. "Honey…" She pleaded. "You know I'm not your mom…"

*CRACK*

Another reverberation of thunder echoed causing him to start shaking in her grasp. She winced, her ears flattening, probably not the best time to have this conversation. He started to sniffle as he winced. "But Mo–Sally! You have to be my Mom! You take care of me just like the Moms do in the books!" He cried. His grip got tighter as he buried his little head in the crook of her neck. "Tangle says you're my Mom like how her Aunt was her new Mom!"

She felt so terrible… Why did there have to be lightning right now… She rubbed his back trying to sooth his shivers and sniffles. "I'm sorry, I... Rosie doesn't think it's appropriate right now for you to call me that… but…" She thought back to her musings this morning. "I–I'd be honored to be your Aunt." Sally pulled back, looking into his wavering little face. "Would that be ok? You can call me Aunt Sally?" Her smile got nervous. "I–I want to be able to give you back to your real Mom someday. If that's possible… It's going to be difficult to do that for both of us if you think of me as your real Mom."

"But I want you! I choose you!" His eyes started watering as he reaffirmed his grip on her hug. "I don't want you to leave! Please don't leave!" He started shaking more.

Sally felt terrible for causing more distress. "Miles… I'm not going to leave. I plan on being in your life no matter what. I saw your Mother a little before the coup, she loved you very much."

"Then why did she leave me! WHY CAN'T I REMEMBER HER?!" He started bawling uncontrollably.

Sally swept him up off the floor and moved to sit on the reading seat in the corner. "Shhhh. She didn't leave you…" Sally got uncomfortable again. "Something terrible happened… and she wasn't able to take care of you… I had Sonic grab you away from the danger and we made our way here… A lot like what happened to the other kids we've found..." The little kit started hiccuping from the sobs.

*CRACK*

She pushed forward, continuing to shush the kit, gently rocking him and rubbing gentle circles into his back. "That's when I chose you. I chose you Miles and I don't ever plan on abandoning you, remember that I won't abandon you."

his sobs started to subside. "Y–you wo–you won't leave?" His grip tightened, looking for reassurance.

She hefted him up to nuzzle her cheek against the side of his head, causing the kit to melt into her warm embrace. "That's right. I won't leave. You're stuck with me." She smiled. "Can't get rid of me if you tried." The two sat there with the sound of the rain pounding against the glass as she gently rocked the kit back and forth. When Miles was finally calm she gave a sigh. "All I'm asking is that you call me Aunt Sally… for Rosie. Please just try, that's all I'm asking…" She whispered. "Aunts can be just as good as Moms…"

The little two tailed kit gave a defeated sniff. "O–okay, I can try... Aunt Sally…" The kit sounded disappointed, but he was finally calming.

She pulled him back, setting him on his feet in front of her. The little fox looked miserable, eyes still red and puffy from his cries. She pursed her lips and looked away in thought... She put on a gentle smile and put her hand forward. "I want to show you something my mother showed me. Put your hand in mine." The little boy looked curious as he placed his little hand in hers. "My mom couldn't always tell me she loved me, there were times where we had to be silent but she showed me another way." The chipmunk gently squeezed his hand. "I." another squeeze. "Love." a third squeeze. "You." she smiled. When I wasn't aloud to call her Mom and needed her, I could tap her or squeeze her hand and she would confirm to me I was loved by responding." Sally gently squeezed his hand 3 more times. "You're loved and please don't ever forget it. If you ever want a to let someone know you love them you can do this."

He squeezed back 3 times as a little smile grew on his face. He closed his eyes as he put out his arms and she got up, picking him up for another hug. "I love you." He squeezed her 3 more times.

"I love you." She responded, rubbing his back 3 times. She let out a sigh as she put down her charge and smiled. "Let's start the day strong, okay?" Her smile got nervous at the sound of a low rumble in the distance. "You think you can survive the thunder?"

The little boy was visibly nervous from the rumble, but he puffed up with a determined look and turned towards the door. "It's just a big noise!" He said, trying to sound tough, his hands on his hips. "I'll be ok!"

*CRACK*

He got stiff and his bravado crumbled, the terror returning to his face. "JUST NOISE!" He yipped, his little voice cracking.

Sally placed a comforting hand on his crown, his little hair fringe poking between her fingers as she gently rubbed his head in comfort. "Come on, sweetie. We got a treat from our last raid on the city."

His nervous expression grew hopeful as he looked up to her, past her fingers. "Did you find another tin of mints in the city?"

She gave a laugh. "Maybe… but that's not what I'm talking about." She gave his hair a gentle ruffle as she started to walk towards the door. "They aren't as sugary as what they usually are, but I think you'll love the berries all the same."

He nervously trailed after her. "What is it?"

She let him through the door, closing it behind him as they made their way to the stairs. "Blackberry pancakes. I think you'll enjoy them."

"You can make cake with berries?!" The little boy looked mystified. "Do you have to dry them and grind them first?"

She got an amused look. "Probably not the way you're thinking. It'll make sense soon. Come on!" She led him to the kitchen for them to start their day.


Mobius - Knothole village - Sally and Sonic's cabin - 3239 current year

Sally shifted in her bed as her husband got up for the day. The haze of the dream still semi present, she looked over to her husband. Sonic was up and stretching, the bleary eyed hedgehog yawning. Sally shifted, rolling over to press her face into her pillow. Sonic moved to poke and nudge her. "It's light out, long day ahead of us."

"Just five more minutes." She muffled into her pillow.

"Sure, if you want to nap then I think I'll go take a nap on the couch on the porch. I just wanted to get up and move. You could join me." He grinned. "That would be a great look for our household."

She rolled and swatted him with the pillow as he chortled. "Nevermind. Guess that's it for beauty sleep." She quipped.

He moved to grab some clothes for the day and scoffed. "Since when have you needed beauty sleep? Maybe power naps or just passing out from work but beauty sleep? Just doesn't fit you Sal."

"Oh hush you!" She tossed the pillow at his head only for him to doge and give her a mock offended look.

"Sal! first a swat and now a throw! You're on the attack!" He began changing from his pajamas to his normal clothes. "And to think all this time I thought you were the perfect Princess! Come to sweep me off my feet!"

"You got your roles reversed, you're supposed to be the prince charming." She chuckled as she got up for the day, stretching. "Besides, I'm not a perfect princess and you're not even a prince, perfect or not."

"How could you say that!" He replied with mock hurt. "You're the warrior princess! Sally Alicia Acorn!" The dramatic flair rising in his voice. He put on his favorite jacket and grabbed her favorite hoodie from the closet, getting on one knee to present it to her with a bowed head. "Your royal robe lady Acorn… You have a big day ahead of you, the harvest festival is upon us! Your loyal subjects eagerly await your arrival!"

She snatched it from him. "Too much." She quipped. "Back it off Sir Speedy the Knight."

He looked up meeting her deadpan gaze with a stupid grin. "Too much?"

"WAY TOO MUCH!" She exasperated, rolling her eyes. "Stop it, the only one you're embarrassing here is yourself, maybe Uncle Chuck if he saw that show... It's getting cringey and if i feel embarrassed it's for you, not for me."

He got up, the stupid grin getting wider. "Yeah… not as funny as I thought it would be… Little funny though, you got to admit!"

"Not even close." She deadpanned, moving to grab her day clothes.

He finished putting on his jacket. "You're still my warrior princess though, no matter how much paperwork you push." He teased.

She sighed. "Yeah... I miss field missions, too much to do here and people to mediate between these last 2 years…" She gave a sigh as she pulled on her blue jacket hoodie "Grandfather managed to do both... So I should figure out someone who can mediate in my stead, it's great for morale if I'm with my people in the field." She glanced at him. "So what's your plan for your day off?"

"Catch up with people mostly." He shrugged. "Most everyone who could make it arrived before the firebombings started last night. They are in a camp site just north of the village so I thought I'd go say hi to Lupe first." He glanced to her, moving to open their bedroom door. "I take it you're on party planner coordinator duty then?"

She followed him to the living room. "Yay…" She dryly said, twirling a finger in the air in mock excitement. "As if I don't have enough to do already… Now I have to entertain people…"

"Come on!" He picked her up by the waste, twirling her. "Liven up! It's once a year! Tradition an all, and a fun one!"

She smacked his shoulder. "Down! Not in the mood!" She snipped. "Not before caffeine!"

He dropped her back to the ground, wincing. "Sorry."

"Good!" She gave him a half amused grin with her tired eyes. "He's listening..." She grumbled. She took a deep breath and rubbed one of her eyes with a palm. "I'm going to make some green tea then finish the little bit of last night's paperwork. Got some final touches on the speeches for tonight's bonfire too. Probably go for my morning run after, get my blood pumping." She raised an eyebrow at him. "You got your story ready for the bonfire tonight, right?" Her eyes narrowed at him. "It's a full story too, A REAL ONE, RIGHT?" She gave her husband a glare.

He gave a sheepish grin. "You didn't like last year's story?"

She didn't look amused. "How you spray painted "Suck Eggs", and "Eat it! or beat it!" backwards on Robotnik's control tower window doesn't count! No pranks! I don't even know how you come up with time to pull off those stunts to begin with!" She griped. She looked at him funny. "Was that all you wrote?"

He gave a wry grin. "That's what I did, signed." He spread his arms in front of himself as if to show off. "The youth of Knothole Village." He smiled. "I did some stuff from me personally and from you as well."

She rose an eyebrow. "You left messages signed by me?!" She uttered in shock.

His grin dropped. "I didn't sign that one, I know how big of an issue that is to forge your signature, even for something that silly. No, I just wrote some of your quotes about humans to boil his blood."

She put her face in her palms, sighing in relief. "Good..." She peered at him through her fingers. "I don't need you pulling that again this year. You know the point of the story tellings isn't just for entertainment." She groaned. "It's for morale! To show we are actually winning!"

"The kids thought it was great!" His confidence grew.

She gave him a withering glare through her fingers and his grin dropped. "I have two stories this year…" He said, fidgeting. "A prank and a real one just in case... Have the other captains go before me."

She lifted her head from her hands, squinting at him. "Not perfect but better…" She mumbled. "As long as you have a real story then…" Her expression broke, fed up with the antics. "Sure, whatever, as long as the requirements are covered, I don't care if you want to share a prank." She turned to her desk, pulling the chair. "People will be mingling before the feast and then there's the big bonfire tonight. I've got to get all the yearly announcements ready and just need to come up with something to welcome this year's newcomers…" Her mind thought of Alyx. "I got a last minute addition to that list that's going to be a little complicated…"

He moved to sit on the couch. "Who?"

"Alyx." Sally sighed as she flipped on her electric kettle and got her tea mug ready. "Uncle Chuck forwarded me some more info on her. Realmwalkers are a big deal, especially Mobian ones. It counts for news and it could boost morale to portray her as the returned lost child she is." The chipmunk gave a shrug. "She was kidnapped across the multiverse as a kit, maybe spark some hope into people to hear that it's possible to come back from something so impossible."

"Have you told her this info you got?" He asked.

"I thought it might be a nice surprise for her." A half grin formed on Sally's face "Little moment in the spotlight."

Sonic frowned. "You know not everyone likes the spotlight."

She waved him off as she turned to her computer. "You're one to talk, Mr Ego…"

Sonic gave a thoughtful glance. "You've meshed with her for A, a video call with Tails. B, a debrief and C, a family dinner... but if you think she'll like a surprise like that..."

"She seemed energetic enough." Sally smiled. "She seems like a social butterfly, at least when she was around me."

"What, she's been around a FEW people. That's different from the whole village, multiple villages..." He looked a bit concerned. "I mean Tails is fine until you drop the spotlight on him."

She glanced at him. "It'll be fine, don't ruin my surprise!" She whined. "I want a real reaction on her face, we need every bit of morale we can get." She turned back to her computer. "Can you take care of Xander and make sure he gets ready properly? Take him out to say hi to Lupe at the camp. He can hang out with his friends after he's done with his royal obligation of greeting the other leaders. He doesn't need to do any lessons today but I want us to all spend time as a family later." Her eyes lit. "Tails included! Make sure he knows! at least for a bit!"

Sonic got up to move to his son's door in the hallway. "Yeah, I can do that." He yawned as he scratched behind his ear.

"Thanks!" She looked over her shoulder to her husband who was knocking on their son's door. "Oh! make sure he fixes his clock!" He nodded tiredly as he decided to enter. She turned back to her booting terminal and brought her unfinished paperwork forward. Pouring the water from her tabletop kettle into her mug, she set her tea to steep. She glanced at Nicole who was sitting in sleep mode, charging on the shelf. The drone's eye optic was a flickering diagnostic blue, Nicole was probably in a memory defrag cycle. She smiled at the thought her friend could dream since the migration from her old body. She'd leave the AI to sort out her memories or dreams, She could take care of her paperwork by herself for now. She buckled down to get to work before her morning run.


Earth - Western Europe - City 14 - Year 2012

Alyx was silent as she followed Eli through the rainfall, she clutched Dog as she struggled to keep up with her Dad. It was the dead of night and they were making their way through the trainyard of city 14, they were looking for a train outbound for city 17.

*BOOM*

Thunder flashed above them, this wasn't as bad as the portal storms when she was five, but she wished she was inside, the rain was cold. She hugged the small robot to her chest as she hefted her shoulders, re-adjusting the straps of her backpack. During one of the pauses she glanced down to see the still outline of Dog, she had to power him off so he wouldn't cause a fuss during their move… She huffed as she trudged on, keeping up with her dad as they snaked their way through the yard, He may have a fake leg at the shin, but he liked to gloat that he was still nimble as a fox. They snuck by the few Civil Protection officers on patrol. The officer's routes were getting fewer and fewer, but every once in a while the two resistance members stopped to huddle next to a car and wait for one of the white masked officers to walk by. She shuddered as she could feel her gut churn, she was stressed and so was her dad. This was the third time they moved this year, hopefully they could set up shop in city 17 permanently. She got nervous again, thinking of all the risks Dad was taking to take care of her. Hopefully she would hit a growth spurt soon, then she wouldn't look like a kid anymore… She wouldn't have to worry so much about them confiscating her and punishing Dad…

They slowed as they got to a quiet part of the yard. Eli slowed as he got out a small penlight to start checking the cargo numbers. She blindly followed him, her mind drifting to the few possessions they were able to take this time, thankfully she was able to grab Dog… She squeezed the still robot again, she wished there were other kids to play with, but Dog was wonderful. She was so glad Dad was able to make him from broken city scanners. She wilted, they brought little possessions, just a few pictures and documents, a little food and clothes… Also some of the software her dad couldn't leave behind, not like the internet existed anymore, whatever that was, supposedly it was impressive...

Eli stopped at one of the trains. "This one." He ducked under, looking between the wheels for a cavity and nodded. "Perfect, thank God they haven't gotten rid of all of them yet…"

Alyx slowly followed her dad as her mind drifted. The Combine had been slowly decommissioning old human tech and replacing it with different stuff produced off world, the new trains were impossible to hide in or under.

"Come on honey." Eli turned to his daughter and picked the robot from her arms, he set Dog on the ground and turned to lift her towards the ladder.

She frowned as she let herself be picked up so easily, she was small for 12… she was really hopeful for that growth spurt soon… "Easy, easy…" He lifted her up to the ladder so she could start climbing the end of the train to the little platform.

She climbed up to the platform and turned to grab Dog from his hands. She moved out of the way as he hopped up, it took him longer to climb the ladder with his prosthetic. It was currently a flat pry-bar with a hook, the end was covered in electrical tape so he wouldn't slip from the slick metal. He finished climbing up after her. She sighed as she looked back towards the dim lights of city 14, they needed to find a place to live permanently before it became impossible to move between cities on the trains... Dad had found intel that the Combine were setting up their main operation center in City 17, so that's where they were headed. Alyx watched her Dad move towards the door to the old car, he knelt down and pulled out a small leather pouch. Her eyes lit up. "Can I try to pick the lock this time?" She whispered as she began rocking back and forth in excitement.

"Any other time than this honey." He gave a strained expression.

"Dad! I can do it!" The pre teen whispered, her eyes lit with excitement. "Come on, just give me a chance!"

He paused and smiled at her as he pulled the wire pic and hex wrench from the case "I have full faith in your ability to pick it, baby girl." The smile dropped. "But we gotta hurry, I tried to get the schedules of the watch, but there's no telling for sure if what I got is accurate." He turned, starting to rake the pins with his wire and tension the tumbler with the hex key.

She sighed. "Fine…" Setting Dog by her Dad she turned to lean against the small guard rail at the side of the car. Leaning forward, she looked past the rail down the aisle, looking for the searchlights of Civil Protection officers. "We sure everyone's going to be there?" She whispered, looking back to her Dad. "Are Uncle Kleiner and Barney really there already?" She lit up. "Is that how you found those jerks were making a big base in city 17?"

*CLICK*

The lock opened letting the man open the door into the converted transit car. He softly smiled as he got up to put his tools away. "They should be heading there, it's difficult to know when they'll make it though… You know that… Things have been getting more and more difficult to slip by with all this alien tech they keep replacing ours with..." The older man turned to his daughter, who was picking up her pet. She hugged the modified camera drone tight. "Come on sweetie." He whispered, gesturing her to follow.

They entered the car, it looked to have been an old multi cabin passenger car but all the partitions had been torn away. Most of all these kinds of cars had been hastily converted into box car vehicles, there was even a smart locked door that slid open on the side of the train car. The Combine were smart in some areas and dumb in others, the aliens had converted all vehicles not needed for personnel transport into generic utility. They were dumb in the fact they neglected to think about things like the existing doors like the one they just broke into. They had realized later and their bureaucratic solution was to just phase out the potentially bad equipment with re-designs from their overworld. Black steel monoliths were replacing the trains like these. Most everything was getting a re-design, the armored police cars looked imposing, like black armored tanks with wheels.

Eli pulled his penlight again, focusing it on the crates in front of him. He frowned as he didn't see any of the long hinged crates his daughter could lay down in. He moved towards the back to pause on… a small dumpster? Guess the Civil protection needed waste disposal too or this thing was going to go be melted and turned into weapons…

Alyx saw her Dad move towards the dumpster in the dim light and winced. "Can't we look for a crate?"

The man pulled up the lid, propping it up with a nearby pipe and peered down into the old dumpster. "I already checked, couldn't find any." He gave a nervous smile back to her. "I'm sorry honey, but it looks like it's not been used for trash in a while." He turned back to the bin. "Little funk, but nothing awful. Looks like it's got some scrap metal in it, so be careful." He said as he began moving things around, making a spot where she could safely lay without fear of getting scraped or impaled.

She approached the medium green bin, peering in at the piled scrap. Her nose wrinkled at the smell. "Are you kidding me?! It smells awful! What's wrong with your nose!?" She hissed.

He bumped her with his elbow. "Either this or crawl under the car with me, I got some more magnets and rope. You think you're ready for that?"

She looked at him in mute horror, terrified at the thought. Her head snapped back to the bin and she peered down, it did look clean for a bin but her nose still told her it had held rancid food at some point. She took a deep breath through her mouth, pinching her nose. She just had to remember her nose would get used to it. Apparently her nose used to be a bit more sensitive but it had dulled to what she could tell was normal compared to her dad… Maybe she was weird… Sometimes things got intense but she just had to remember that it would dull, this should be no different… She opened her eyes, setting Dog down by her side. She took another deep breath, steeling herself. "OK, help me in."

"Atta girl." The man nodded as he picked her up, helping her to slowly shimmy over the lip. She carefully climbed over, setting her boots on the scrap metal below, the insides bounced a bit as she sat down on a piece of sheet metal. She shuddered at the stench, this was overpowering… but it already seemed to be dulling.

"You see? Not that bad!" Her dad nervously chimed.

She gagged, her eyes watering. "Last time we gotta move right, at least like this?" She looked at him unsure as he passed her Dog. "Think I'll be big enough soon so we don't gotta do this anymore?"

She shimmied to the side corner, looking at him. He leaned over and gave her a hug, touching their foreheads. "If I have anything to do with it. This will be the last time until those monsters are gone. I'm sorry sweetie… I'll see you soon." He let go of the hug and she shimmied on her side, positioning her head so she could peer out the crack of the lid… and get fresh air…

Her dad gently closed the lid. "I'll see you soon, remember that." He made his way to the door, re locking it and moving into his own position under the train. She took comfort, hearing the click of the magnets against the bottom, he wasn't spotted. She laid down, hugging her pet and closing her eyes…

A bump woke her and she blearily blinked awake, she could see the dim morning light through the lid's crack. She suppressed a yawn as she squinted through her little portal to the outside world, she was able to make out tree's passing through the remaining windows. She felt another bump and settled back into her spot to wait out the ride. She gave an internal sigh, the train was moving and they hadn't been detected, good… The train ride was going to be a long one, they were going someplace in eastern Europe. Her Dad had said something about post soviet era territory, whatever that was. They had chosen this train because it was supposed to leave and arrive under the cover of night. It was important they not be seen or detected, for obvious reasons...

*CLICK*

She froze as she heard the car's door open.

"I don't care how long it'll take, just search them!" A vocoded voice barked. "The fuel burned is off by just enough to show the weight estimate has been thrown! You want your privileges?! SEARCH!" There was heavy booted footfalls as an Overwatch Enforcer stomped towards her hiding spot, brandishing a slug thrower shotgun. She froze, terrified at the transhuman mechanized soldier. She got queasy at the sight of his armor, it wasn't just armor anymore, it was like his skin! He couldn't take it off! It made her own skin crawl just thinking about it. Her Dad had compared the Overwatch Soldiers to some guy from a movie named Darth Vader. These soldiers weren't like the Civil Protection officers, they weren't in it for better food, they had completely sold themselves to the Combine. The armored terror turned back to the door he had entered. "Mark the crates you check with the spray paint." His voicebox clicked behind his dark blue gasmask. "Get going."

"Yes sir." A first officer acknowledged.

"Yep, I mean Yes sir." A second affirmed.

"Whatever, I got it." A third bit.

There were more footsteps as 3 Civil protection officers in their black and white uniforms walked in. They brandished clawed hammers and cans of spray paint as they entered the traincar's cabin. She could see the morning light gleam off of the opaque white resin and silicon of their gas masks. Each had a pistol on one hip and a shock baton on the other.

The Overwatch Soldier shoved past them as he made his way towards the exit. "Get a move on it, The engineer is checking the fuel sensor calibrations just in case. Put the lids back on with the nails I gave you." He turned his mask to the third unprofessional officer. "This is your one and only warning, you're a soldier of peace and order now. You protect the social cohesion of our society. YOU REPRESENT HUMANITY TO THE UNIVERSAL UNION!" He grabbed the front of the officer's uniform, bringing him eye level. "Don't think offworld reassignment is just for failure in our ranks." He shoved the man to the floor. "Get in line or you WILL get in line. Get up and get to work." He turned to leave. "Once you're done in this car check the rest! Don't waste time rechecking stuff! That's why I gave you the spray paint! Mark them as you go!"

The door closed. The unprofessional Officer on the ground slowly got up. "Wow, what's his problem? Aren't we on the same team?"

The first officer moved to a crate and started prying the top off. "Just get to work man..."

The unprofessional officer dusted off his now scuffed uniform. "This is worse then I thought, I just wanted something real to eat! This seems ridiculous! The whole back section?! That's like 8 cars!"

"Then we better get moving." The second officer quipped as he started on his box.

"Whatever dude, I'm going to start in the back." He started walking towards Alyx's hiding spot. Her heart rate picked up as silent terror started to take over. "This job was supposed to be better than rotting in the streets!" The miffed officer quipped.

"Are you really that new?" The first officer barked as he started wrenching the lid off. "Take it from me, you're in! Now there's no way out unless you want to be brainwashed or shipped offworld for whatever happens to those unfortunate suckers." The unprofessional officer looked back to stare at the first. The metrocop didn't even look up from his task. "Oh yea, want to know what they do with us or a citizen if they get out of line? They turn you into a Stalker. You ever seen those? They install hinged blinders in your head and brainwash you, mindless drones I tell ya. Kept alive with implants and chemicals, only good for operating equipment in irradiated zones." The man's shoulders sagged. "Somehow offworld reassignment is worse..." The first officer looked up, meeting the third's gaze. "That's what he just threatened you with!" He began grumbling as he looked back at the supply shipment he had opened. "Been a while since you've seen a kid hasn't it." The unprofessional officer seemed to flinch at the first officer's quip. The first officer noticed the third's reaction. "Yeah, now you're gettin it!" He glanced back down. "Not sure where they take them but I've heard they ship 'em off world to harvest their reproductive organs, ya know, outside of the suppression field? Freshest DNA for their synth experiments. Where do you think all these synths come from? They're from other aliens the Union's already conquered." The metrocop continued to grumble then sighed "Look, there are perks to this job verses rotting in the gutter like one of the civies, but keep your head down and swing when they tell you if you don't wanna die."

The unprofessional officer looked really tense. "Oh… I heard rumor's it was getting bad but I'd never imagined…"

The second officer looked up from his task to stare down the unprofessional officer. "You from one of the sectors up north where they're just starting to crack down? I mean it wasn't pleasant but it was livable, I remember those times. They aren't even pretending anymore, it's the real 1984 or Brave New World or… I can't remember anymore, drank some of the so-called filtered water." He kicked the lid off his box then looked at him. "Well, they are still pretending I guess… They could just be outright slaughtering us like they did in the beginning." He shook his head as he turned to his box, returning to his task. "Get to work man, don't get us in trouble…"

The third officer sighed. "Yea… I–I got it…" He turned and made his way to the metal bin in the back. He lifted the lid only to freeze at the sight of the young girl silently crying inside. The two stared at each other for a solid five seconds, he slowly glanced back at the two other officers who were not paying him any mind. He made a patting gesture in the air as if to pacify her, slowly turning to look at her terrified and bewildered gaze. He brought a finger up to his mouthpiece in a shushing gesture then reached in the bin to move some metal around, making noise. He made a thumbs up and then softly, he let the lid close. He grabbed for his can of spray paint and marked a big X on the side of the bin. "Nothing wrong with this one." He barked, turning to the other low ranking soldiers.

The first officer glanced at him. "Great! one down and hundreds more to go! Don't just go for the easy stuff man, choose a corner and work your way, this is going to take all day so just buckle down and work."

Alyx was terrified, what happened?! Why did he ignore her!? He did see her, right? He obviously saw her! He told her to be quiet! They made eye contact! She started slowly breathing, trying to calm herself as she tugged at her hair. Her stomach was roiling and she would have probably vomited if there was anything in it. Was he going to come back and turn her in? What was going to happen to her?! She closed her eyes and just waited as she forced herself to be still as her empty gut churned. She listened to their banter as she was trying to not freak out at how close she came to being carted off for whatever experiments the Universal Union did on kids. Her mind started to swim with the rumor she had just overheard of reproductive organ harvesting. She clutched her gut in terror, she didn't want that! Even if the suppression field made it useless! She kept herself from whimpering, it wasn't over yet. She did her best to relax as she continued to listen to the officer's small talk. It only took a few hours for them to finish and move to the next cart. When they left, she laid down exhausted, quickly passing out to the rumble of the moving car…

She opened her eyes at the sound of her dad opening the lid of the bin. He shined his pen light in, the tension of his shoulders leaving as he saw she was safe. "I told you I'd see you soon." He smiled. She shakily crept forward, dragging her pet with her. She hopped over the ledge and down onto the ground, her knees wobbling under her. He noticed her odd behavior. "You okay honey?"

She shuttered, choking back a sob. "I was seen..."

He froze. "What? What do you mean you were seen?!" He hissed, looking terrified. His eyes darted as he turned his light off to look for the low glow of trip mines or proximity sensors. There was nothing there.

"There were stupid metro cops searching the stupid boxes on the stupid train because they could tell we were there based on how much the train weighed! I don't know! But the stupid cop saw me and ignored me!" She choked out in a rambling fit of frustration. "I want to get out of here, I want off this stupid thing!" She hissed. She shuddered as she moved from the bin, hugging her still pet tight like a doll. Her eyes were watering. "I- I think I know where the other kids went… I think I know what they do to them..."

Eli was petrified, his daughter wasn't supposed to know that! She knew a lot for her age, but he didn't want her to know those horrible rumors. He knelt down, trying to pull her into a hug. "I'm so sorry, It's going to be ok sweetie, I'm going to protect yo–"

She roughly pulled away from him. "We need to leave!" She hissed. "I can't stand to be in here anymore!" She wavered as tears were rolling down her cheeks. She turned, bolting for the door.

Her Dad snapped to follow, stumbling after her with his stiff prosthetic. "Alyx honey, wait!" He Hissed.

She paused, wilting. She shakily turned to her Dad. "Can we please just go…" She whimpered. "I can't stand to be in here anymore, I'd rather sleep in the woods… I've slept so much but I'm still tired…"

He caught up and sank at her expression, she looked miserable. "Of corse... We just have to be safe..." He offered her his callused hand to hold.

She shuttered, she felt like such a little girl right now... She didn't care and gave in, grabbing her dad's hand and let him lead her out the train and through the yard to safety.


Mobius - Knothole, Alyx's tree house - year 3239

Alyx's eyes shot open, she was breathing hard, clutching her lower gut, what a horrible dream! She rolled over, gazing out the open window letting in a fresh breeze, it was morning. Her mind wandered to that repulsive rumor about reproductive organ harvesting for cloning and synth production. Her gut flipped, her nausea increasing at the thought she almost got inducted into something so horrible. She got chills and felt sick. Shooting up from her bed, she ran to the restroom as she started coughing and gagging from her building anxiety. She began to wretch and heave at the toilet, the horrible memories and toxic possibilities not letting her alone.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

"ALYX!" A feminine voice frantically blurted. "It's Tangle! I came over to show you around the village! Are you ok!? You weren't up yet so I decided to wait a bit!" The tension in her voice built with the stress of hearing someone about to vomit. "WHAT'S WRONG?!" She blurted over the building sound of the girl retching uncontrollably.

*KNOCK* *KNOCK* *KNOCK*

"SCREW IT!" The lemur yelled as she scrambled through the open window. Face planting on the bed and rolling to her feet, she darted to the open door of the restroom. "WHAT'S HAPPENING!? ARE YOU OK?!" The frazzled girl was freaking out, looking for some sort of cause to this. She grabbed a canteen at her hip and unscrewed it, bringing the water to the retching girl and beginning to rub her back. "Did you eat something bad? Do you need water?!"

Alyx pushed the water away from her face as she upchucked a mouth-full of bile. "STOP!" She spat.

Tangle was still freaking out, she noticed the girl was shaking, holding her lower gut. Tangle started panicking. "Is this morning sickness? ARE YOU PREGNANT?!" The lemur shrieked. She nervously backed up, looking around for someone to help. She remembered she was the only one there and moved forward, starting to rub circles into the vixen's back again. "Is this what morning sickness is!?" She nervously chuckled as her fur began to bristle. The lemur's hackles rose as she snapped. "I HEARD IT WAS BAD, BUT THIS SEEMS TOO MUCH!" She shrieked.

Alyx got up and tore away from the concerned girl. "It's from a nightmare! ULGH! Bad memories from when I was caught as a kid!" She vomited. "The last few days... ULGH!" She spat again. "Or weeks... have been REALLY stressful! I NEED A BREAK!" She winced as she continued gagging and spitting bile. "THIS IS NOT MORNING SICKNESS! I'M NOT PREGNANT!" The vixen ran to the sink, grabbing onto the rim. She was now just coughing. "Did you really just think I was- HACK HACK!" She slumped over the sink and spat the contents of her mouth. She bent forward, now ready to take a drink of water. She swished to clean the bitter sour taste and spat. She bent forward, gasping, doing her best to force off the toxic memories. She made it, she was out, she had been safe from that fate for a long time. She wasn't a little girl anymore, she had hit that growth spurt when she was 14. She shuddered as she began calming down. She felt gentle circles being rubbed into her back again and she turned to see a frazzled girl beside her.

"I'm so sorry!" She eeped. "I didn't know and still don't..." She nervously chuckled. "Ta be honest, kids are great but the thought of motherhood terrifies me!" Her face was so embarrassed as she avoided eye contact. "I'm SOOOO sorry for assuming."

Alyx groaned as she hid her face in her own embarrassment. "Stop talking about that!" She shook her head. "I get it, it was a mistake, but PLEASE! Stop talking about that…" She got up from the sink to move back to sit on her bed.

Tangle rubbed her arm as she slowly followed. "Again, sorry…" Her eyes darted to meet the vixen's covered face. "D–do you want me to leave?"

Alyx sat down on her bed and took a deep breath. "No… it's fine, I don't care… You can stay if you want..." She continued slowly breathing as the coughing fit was subsiding. This rarely happened but it sucked when it did. Things had already been intense but the memory of how close she had come to that horrible death had been just enough to tip her over the edge... She was calmer, reestablishing in her mind that she was fine and that childhood fear had no hold over her. She gave a sigh as she looked at the nervous lemur. "How did you get in?"

Tangle's eyes dropped to the floor, her ridged tail swishing back and forth as she nervously chuckled. "I–I climbed in the window when I heard you getting sick… to see if I could help… I'm sorry if that wasn't cool..." She met the fox's eyes in worry. "That was a panic attack!?"

Alyx flopped on her back, looking at the wooden ceiling. "Anxiety attack, stress attack, whatever attack, I think it's different but I don't know. Been a rough few days and I had a nightmare about the time I was caught as a kid and almost carted off to have my organs harvested."

The lemur's eyes widened. "Wait, when you said they confiscated kids..."

"That's what we think happens to them." The fox took deep breaths deep breaths as her tail twitched at her side. "They combine species, that's part of the reason we call them that I guess... I don't want to talk about this anymore." She closed her eyes and gave a deep sigh. "Too much..." She growled. She grabbed her pillow and pressed it against her face. "IT'S GOING TO BE OK!" She screamed into the pillow to muffle the sound. "THINGS ARE BETTER NOW! THINGS CAN BE SO MUCH BETTER NOW!" She tossed the pillow at the head of the bed only for it to flop off and hit the floor. The lemur gave her a bewildered wide eyed stare. Alyx sighed, flopping to her side on her stomach, not caring about what the other girl thought of her stressed out moment.

"Are you going to be ok?" Tangle nervously asked. "I mean… I get if you want to rest more, I've had some intense things happen before… a–and I didn't want to leave my room for weeks."

Alyx's mind drifted to the story Tails had told her about Tangle having to slice a breathing hole into her best friend's throat. She propped herself up, tiredly smiling at the girl. "It's ok, give me a moment to collect myself and…" She vaguely remembered hearing the Lemur shouting about wanting to show her the village. "You wanted to show me the village, right?"

The Lemur held her hands up in a placating manor. "Only if you feel up for that, I enjoy doing stuff like that but if your not feeling good–"

"I'd love to see around the village." She smiled at the girl.

"Great!" Tangle smiled as she relaxed. "Come on! Lets go! Today is going to be a busy day!" She gestured for the door.

Alyx tiredly smiled. "Let's close me close up the window and door, then we can go. I'll meet you outside, just give me a few minutes."

Tangle slowly nodded as she made her way to the door and let herself out. She decided to take off her hoodie and just wear her tank top. It was too warm in general, it was strange having fur. She moved to her bag and made sure nothing had gone missing from the open window that night, all was accounted for. Her eyes landed on the vodka that she had liberated from the distillery. That had been an interesting conversation with Russel, drinking poison? It had mystified her at first, but his reason seemed realistic, it was a mild neurotoxin that could help people relax and forget in the temporary, this stuff was strong though. Too much could cause addiction or kill her... She didn't think she was at that point and she'd survived without it this far... She could relax today, she didn't need to try it right now, today was going to be good.

She closed her bag and got up, stretching, she yawned. She moved to the mirror in the restroom again to wash her face and the small red streak of blood from her neck fur. She tried to rub some of the grime from her teeth, maybe she'd find a stick to chew on later... Maybe they had tooth brushes? Oh... her teeth were similar but her canines were definitely a bit sharper on the end and not dulled like her old teeth... She let go of her cheek and examined her face a bit more, memorizing her new look. She spun a little, examining herself in the mirror. Her Black Mesa tank top was a little baggy but it didn't look like it was going to be an issue, there were a few small holes from previous gun wounds but nothing was showing that she could tell. It might be a little longer on the bottom though, maybe she was a little shorter? She gave herself a smile and decided to start the day good, the queasiness was almost all gone.

"You almost ready?" tangle shouted from outside.

"Yea! on my way!" She returned, a confident smile on her face.


Mobius - Dark Swamp - 3239

Victor and Nigel stared at the pair of Mobians cowering on the ground before them, the drone hovering menacingly above. Victor whistled and held up a hand to stay the drone from firing. It was a girl in her pre teens and a woman maybe in her 50's. Both were in tribal swamp leathers and cloth garb. Victor was speechless, he was expecting tribals but not a teenage girl and an old woman…The girl was a orange and brown badger with bushy twin braids, she seemed to twitch a bit and had old blood stains streaking her uncovered arms? under her nose seemed dirty too, that was a little concerning, a medical condition? Or… hopefully not a parasite… The woman on the other hand was a brown chipmunk with silvering red hair that was done up in an ornamental braid. She seemed rather fit for her old age, maybe there was something too living off the land like this, he'd have to look into their diet. There was something soft about her round face too, maybe a descendant from the north western region? Her tail was strangely short for a chipmunk, another sign of her north western heritage. There was something wrong with her vivid blue eyes, her pupils were mismatched in size, maybe some past trauma or a stroke?

the older woman scrambled to the girl and hugged her tight, her head darting between the drone and the two royals. "P–P–lease! Don't hurrrt us!" The older woman struggled out, with each word she looked more and more frustrated. She glared at the younger girl. "Y- you were wrrrrong. I knew w–weee shouldn't h–have followed!" She hissed to the nervous girl eyeing the drones.

The young badger began struggling in the woman's grip as she began to plead. "But Tikal said!"

"SHH!" The red headed chipmunk held her tight. "P–please stop! Not n–now! We should just go and l–leave!" She hissed.

Nigel slowly looked to Victor. "Back the drones off, fully." He choked as he glanced back to the cowering girls. "By the looks of the young one, they're Badger tribe. They aren't a violent tribe unless we threaten them first. If they do anything, it's not anything you and I can't stop… but put the drone away for now…" He wilted.

The platypus slowly nodded, stepping back he snapped his metallic fingers at the waiting drone. "You." He pointed to the ground next to himself. "Make me a seat." The drone snapped its hull closed, withdrawing the gun. It hovered over the girls to their unease to comply with its master's order. Victor sat atop the white drone, his back leaned up against a tree. He glanced at Nigel. "Your move brother." He gestured to the uneasy tribals as he raised an eyebrow. Nigel gave him an odd look and the platypus shrugged. "Don't look at me like that, I was going to stun them and we would have been on our merry way." He raised an eyebrow at the king. "This is your show now, deal with them."

The young girl nervously pulled away from the older chipmunk. "You're the one that Tikal told me about!" She directed to the ragged looking monarch.

That grabbed both royals attention. Nigel glanced back at the young girl, then the strangely familiar chipmunk who nervously rose behind the badger. His gaze shifted back to the youth addressing woman. "I am." He knelt a little to get on her level, she looked a little malnourished. "Who, may I ask, are you?"

The girl's eyes stopped darting to the drone and her confidence rose as she locked eyes with the monarch. "Sticks, Sticks of the badger tribe…" There was a pause and she grimaced. "Used to be of the badger tribe, I'm banished…" She wilted. She turned to the aged chipmunk behind her and grabbed her hand to pull her forward. "This is Zera, Zera the Squirrel–"

"Chipmunk." Nigel corrected, his tone distant. "She's a chipmunk, not a squirrel."

The older woman looked a little stunned. "O–Oh…"

There was an awkward silence, the girl looking between the two chipmunks. "Heh..." She got a nervous grin. "Mom don't talk too well, so that's usually my job…" Nigel looked shocked. He gulped as a tremor started. He gave a deep breath as a pained look crossed his face shifting from hurt to rage. He began clenching a fist open and closed at his side as he brought the other to his head, as if to stave off a headache. Both tribal's eyes widened as they saw his state of distress, his hand clenching right next to one of those magic technomancer sabers that could cut through stone and metal on his hip.

The badger youth got a frightened look as she shrunk back into her mother's arms. "W–What, what's wrong?" She stammered. "Did I do something wrong?! Tikal said you could help!" She cried as she began to shake.

"Sir?" Victor leaned forward, a tinge of nervousness in his voice. his friend had been on edge more then he remembered but he was beginning to get worried. "Are you ok?"

"W–we'll Leave!" The older woman shouted. "I'mmm S–Sorry, We'll Leave!" She stumbled back, dragging her daughter causing the girl to stumble as she made to leave.

"WAIT!" The girl screamed. "TIKAL SAID HE'D HELP!" She began to tear up as she began to struggle. "TIKAL SAID HE'D HELP! HE HAS TO HELP! I'M TIRED OF LIVING COLD AND ALONE WITH NO TRIBE AND NO FOOD!" The girl shrieked "TIKAL SAID HE'D LEAD US TO A NEW TRIBE!" She began whaling, writhing to get away from her mother's grip.

Victor was shocked at the reaction, he looked to Nigel who's building rage had extinguished. He looked panicked now. "Wait! You didn't do anything wrong!" He moved forward causing both girls to flinch. He hesitated, his ears flattening. "I–I apologize… It's been I think the worst day of my life and so much is pent up, so much has been taken from me. I don't know what to do!" He blurted. "You don't need to leave, we won't hurt you! I can help both of you!" He stepped forward towards the tribal woman, his arms wide in a welcoming gesture.

Victor gave a grimace in his confusion of Nigel's apparent need to interact with these barbarians. He noticed movement from the older woman as she reached down to her hip. His eyes widened at the glint of a black dagger being pulled. He jumped to his feet to intervene as he saw the woman draw back defensively.

The tribal chipmunk yanked her struggling daughter's arm to pull her behind her, putting the knife between her and Nigel. "Why do you seem to c–care what h–happens to us? I sh–should have never let it get th–this far!" She spat towards the now broken looking Mobian. She snarled, a crazed look in her unsettling eyes as she tried to puff up and slashed the air in front of her.

"BOYS!" Starline snapped his metallic fingers, getting both drone's attention. "I order you to–"

"STOP! ALL OF YOU!" The youth screamed, getting all of their attention. She finally managed to wrench her arm from her mother's grip. "THIS ISN'T SUPPOSED TO GO THIS WAY!" She wailed. She started snarling. "Mom, put away the knife or I WILL SCREAM LIKE A DYING ANIMAL AND SUMMON EVERY SCAVENGING SWAMP FLYER I CAN!" The girl's stressed look grew manic. "THERE WILL BE A BLOODBATH ON THIS VERY SPOT IF YOU DON'T STOP NOW!" She turned looking at the stupefied royals. "ALL OF YOU!" The badger screamed as her breaths increased in pace. Her head snapped to her shocked mother. "YOU KNOW I'LL DO IT!" She pointed at her face. "DON'T MAKE ME DO IT!"

Her mom's eyes grew, a look of shock overtook her face as she dropped the knife and huttled back. She nervously looked between her daughter and the nobles looking uncomfortable and on the verge of a panic attack. "I–I'm sorry…" She winced. "I just w–want to get back to the den s–safe..."

There was a moment of awkward silence as no one really knew how to proceed. The pre teen badger's breathing slowed as the situation deflated. "Good!" She deflated, looking tired. "Maybe we can–" A trickle of blood started to drip from her nose and she paused. The girl gave a small sniff and she blinked as if transfixed. "YOU MADE IT!" She shouted ecstatically. She smiled to all of them. "Give me a little! Tikal made it! She'll know what to do!" Her head darted around looking around then darted over to a toppled tree. "Tikal! You made it! you came early! I thought you had to wait!" The girl started hopping excitedly at the foot of a stump as she wiped the dripping blood on the fur of her arm. "You were right, they were at the castle right after the meteors! They do look fancy! well except for the mud on that one." She started into a one sided conversation with the log.

Her nervous mother wilted then groaned. "Not n–now…" She cupped her face. "P–Please not now…"

Victor and Nigel looked awkwardly at the scene as the girl was excitedly chatting away with the air. "I'd say that wasn't creepy but it obviously is..." Victor mumbled. "Guess that explains the blood stains on her arms." He slowly turned to the red headed chipmunk who was nervously looking between Nigel and her crazed looking daughter. The woman settled her gaze on the monarch and began chuckling nervously as her gaze kept dropping from his face to the vibra-sabers on his hips. She slowly bent down, watching for any sudden movement as she took her own knife to sheath back on her hip.

Nigel let out a deep breath. "I don't want to hurt you… I…" He paused, not knowing what to say.

"That is so interesting…" Victor got closer to the badger, pausing to look at the mother. "I'm guessing thats why she's banished?"

The mother wilted, her eyes darting, as if embarrassed. She was clutching her hands to her stomach, as if pained at the thought. "Y–Yes…" She grimaced. "I ch- chose to follow her… She's all I have l–left. My husband is no longer of this world..." She sat down, kneeling on the ground in front of them to beg. "P–please don't hurt us with your metal servants and technomancer relics…"

"I wouldn't dream of it." Nigel breathed. He un-clipped his belt that held his swords and tried passing the gear to a shocked starline. "Hold these."

Victor's eyes widened as he fumbled to grab the ornate vibrasabers in their sheaths. "What?"

"Order your drones not to harm these Mobians." He nodded to his friend.

The platypus got a flabergasted look. "WHAT?!"

"Please just do it!" The chipmunk hissed.

"Are you crazy?!" The platypus hissed, an enraged look on his face. "Mama bear looks like she's been on the verge of a panic attack this entire time and trash panda over there is talking to a stump!"

"DO NOT CALL HER THAT!" The monarch hissed back. "I PUT UP WITH A LOT OF YOUR UPPER CLASS CRAP, BUT THAT'S A CHILD WHO OBVIOUSLY NEEDS HELP!" He snapped. The chipmunk wilted. "Victor… trust me. Please trust me." He paused, looking uncomfortable. "I don't want to order you to do this, I'm asking you."

The platypus looked wide eyed then miffed, his eyes darted to the curious looking woman, kneeling on the ground. "I can back them off but if they come at me with a knife or something like that they will default to protect, I cannot override that, that's a failsafe for brainwashing I can't overturn." He whispered as he turned to his king. "Is that acceptable?" He gave a little mock bow.

"Your highness?" He glared.

Nigel gave a frown. "And this is why I didn't want to order you, yes that's acceptable. Make a show of the order and stop being a snob!" he bit as he shoved his swords at the platypus.

Starline gave him a withering glare as he grumbled under his breath. "As you wish…" He mumbled. draping the belt over his shoulder he turned to make himself visible to the chipmunk on the ground. "You know these machines serve me, correct?" he snapped his fingers twice and both drones zoomed to be at his side. the older woman's eyes grew wide as she started to get up. "Don't worry, Ehem." He cleared his throat. "Alpha, Beta, new units to protect, register the woman here and the girl over there. Make sure no harm come to them while they are with us." He turned to the monarch and gave a curt nod as a bow. "Your will is my command sire, your minister lives to serve he who serves the people." He bit, annoyed.

"Don't be a prick." Nigel bit back under his breath. "I told you I didn't want to order you, I value you valuing my opinion."

"You think this is a game?'' Starline seethed. "We may be tiptoeing around each other but... BUT!" He glared. "I'm stressed!" He snapped. "Just like you! You think I'm crazy for prioritizing our safety? You've just met crazy." He pointed to the girl still having an ecstatic conversation with the air. "That is a red flag if I ever saw one. From what I remember you were shielded from some of the more unstable nobility, or am I wrong, did you ever meet Maxwell before his nobility was stripped?" He paused as the gears in his head turned, his finger going to his chin in thought. "That reminds me… Whatever happened with Maxwell? Scheming to replace my family no doubt…"

Nigel looked confused. "That name sounds familiar but I'm having trouble recalling."

Starline looked miffed. "Maxwell Powers! Of the Powers estate! The other family of scientists and artists!" He bit as his hair fell forward over his eyes again. "GRR!" He seethed as he pushed his locks from his view. It had been a while since his mohawk had been trimmed, he'd have to deal with the inconvenience for now.

"I'd need to refer to my index." The monarch in ruined blues bit back. He rose a brow. "You do realize how many people I have to keep track of, right?"

*tap* *tap* *tap*

Nigel internally jumped as he whirled to see the now curious looking red head with an outstretched hand, the other nervously at her chest. His heart was racing, she looked so familiar! Her round face with electric blue eyes, that red hair, her short tail... Those taps on his shoulder, did she remember what three gestures meant between them? His mind raced back to all the times she had squeezed his hand or poked and nudged him in 3's to say I Love You. He took in her curious expression, no… she was obviously just trying to get his attention. He forced a grin, this was painful. He was almost positive now, this was his wife. If it had been 15 years then they would be about the same age, he'd have to think about the dates but she might even be a few years older than him now. His gut roiled at the thought of what she must have gone through but there was also the faded shadow of bitterness at her betrayal… He had to kill that thought now, if Julian had damaged Annabell in such a way to erase her memories then she would have no idea she had been married and already had a family. The badger in the corner of his vision was a surprise he'd have to live with if he wanted to try and get his wife back… if there was any possibility of that…

"You're serious…" She said, the stress no longer in her voice. "I–I'm curious… Why do you care what happens to me a–a–and my pup?"

Starline looked over the king's shoulder with disdain. "You call her your pup? What is she, 8? Isn't that old to be calling her a pup?" He snipped as Nigel gave him a withering stare.

"She's 11 cycles…" The woman glared back at the platypus, then glanced at her animated daughter. "As you can see, she m–must be watched like a pup…" She whispered as she fidgeted. "So she is my pup…" She glanced back to the chipmunk in front of her and tapped his shoulder again 3 times, catching his attention and causing him to flinch. "I've heard l–legends of your peoples medicines…" Her face formed a hopeful plea. "Surely you must have a way of treating something like this… She can't r–r–really be talking to a spirit like that?!" She asked the slightly flustered swordsman. "If you really do care, would you help me with this?" She seemed unsure, pulling back a bit. "And… why do you c–care?"

He looked uncomfortable. "You remind me of someone I know…" His eyes shifted away. "In honor of her memory, I'd be honored to help you… and your daughter… find a new tribe." He met her uneven gaze, her pupils off kilter gave her an unsettling look, he'd have to get over that. "Let's start fresh." He breathed, a soft smile forming. "Nigel Acorn, at your service." He put his fist forward.

She gently met it with her own. "Nice to m–meet y–you Nigel. I'm Zera, Zera the squ…" she paused. "Chipmunk? You said I was a chipmunk?"

He gave a shy chuckle. "Undoubtedly, you'd be a head taller if you were a squirrel. Your tail is a rare variant of northern chipmunks, very distinct. Not many in this kingdom have it."

She looked very interested at his explanation. "That's good to know. Maybe I'll ask around if we find any–" She was tackled from the side by the small badger.

Sticks was giving her mom a hug as her eyes darted between the now chatting adults. "Tikal said you guys would work it out!" she beamed. "She had to leave because of my nose but she told me more about you!" She pointed to the now uncomfortable Nigel. "You're Nigel Acorn, The previous king! You've been trapped in the void–"

Her mother turned and tried to calm the girl. "H–honey please c–calm down. D–do you really think a k–king would be–"

"Now that…" Starline pushed forward. "Is interesting…" He was looming over the pre teen who let go of her mother, taking a step back. "This Tikal told you this? And your nose bleeds only when she's around?"

The girl regained her composure. "My nose bleeds when it breaks too! What's your point?" her eyes squinted, un-trusting at the platypus. "Tikal said you were hard to see, she said it was like looking at fog. I don't get it…"

This threw the doctor off. "Umm…" He regained his composure and decided to take another approach. He put on the most genuine smile he could muster and got down to her level. "My deepest apologies…" He said as he placed his hand upon his heart as his eyes lidded closed. "For any attitude and demeanor earlier…" His eyes lidded open. "I may have misjudged you, and your ability…"

"What are you doing?" Nigel hissed. "Did you not hear her mother doesn't want to entertain–"

"One moment please!" He gave a forced smile to the girl, he stood and snapped his head to look at his miffed honorary brother. "Just roll with it!" He grit through the smile, whispering. "I thought she may have a parasite but the fact she knows anything about the void... And this Tikal entity tells her information that specific, possibly how to find us to begin with is a way bigger red flag!" He cleared his throat. "There's a good chance there's something else going on here that medicine isn't going to be able to fix!" His face lit. "If you actually care about fixing this then let me entertain this for a bit, let me sate my curiosity and maybe we can figure out what's really going on!" He forced a smile. "Entertain the mother for a little, just keep her company." He whispered.

The pre teen was eyeing the silently bickering adults suspiciously as her mother had dragged her away, bringing her in for a hug and tending to her matted fur. "You were r–right." Zera softly quipped. "At least for n-now. He disarmed himself like you said he'd do and h-he said he'd bring us to a new tribe… I detected no lie in h-him."

"Tikal said you knew him, from whatever came before your time in the swamp." She mumbled as her mother kept grooming the blood from her. "The kingly one not the other one."

Her mother paused for a moment then continued tending to her daughter's bloody fur and nose. "Then maybe He'll tell me... If not I'm sure I can get it out of him eventually."

The girl got an unnerving thought. "If you remember, you won't leave me right?" She sounded so unsure.

Zera brought her daughter into a hug. "Never th-think that way." Absent mindedly she rubbed three circles into the girls back. "You are my daughter, that will n-never ch-change."

Sticks returned the hug, her eyes closed. "I love you." She said. The two held the hug for a solid 10 seconds then her mother returned to cleaning the now drying blood from her fur. The badger frowned. "You know I'm going to have to rub dirt into the fur to kill the scent soon anyways, why do you want my fur to be nice like that?"

The woman's ears wilted. She picked up a small handful of dry dirt and started rubbing the girls forearm, darkening the stain. "I–I don't like your fur like this, it used to be so pretty. Maybe we can find a stream on the way to wherever they are going."

The girl's eyes picked up, a look of hope. "So you're ok with us leaving the swamp?!"

"I want to k–keep you safe and for you to have a real life." She sighed. "We have a ch–chance to survive the metal t–titans if we are in a bigger group." Her eyes glanced at the nearby hovering drones. "The white one commands metal flyers of his own… They seem to know where they are going too. This knothole…" She hugged her daughter again, giving a squeeze then got up holding her daughter's hand and faced the two silently bickering mobians.

Zera got fidgety again, building up the courage to try and interrupt them. Sticks squeezed her hand 3 times in re-assurance. The older woman relaxed as she squeezed her confirmation of love back to her daughter, three times, I love you. Her confidence built back up, she walked back up to the chipmunk and tapped him on the shoulder to get his attention again, he flinched again, head darting to meet her eyes. "I d–don't want to i–interrupt but we should p–probably get going." Her nervous smile wilted. "There is a scent of blood on Sticks we try a–and conceal, but the noise has p–probably drawn some flyers. We can follow you from a d–distance if you'd like…"

Nigel stepped forward. "You don't need to follow at a distance. I'd be glad for your company."

"Can I give him his heavy swords back?" Starline quipped, looking to the tribal matriarch. There was a pause as she slowly nodded. "Great!" He held the equipment back to his friend. "Let's get a move on then, we've got a lot of ground to cover, why don't you take the front and clear the way, it's getting thicker with vines." He snapped his fingers to get the drones to pay attention to him as Nigel took his swords back. "Previous formation." He ordered. "Alpha you lead and Beta you tail. Watch for threats… and again, protect our guests…" He clapped as his expression relaxed. "Let's get a move on." He motioned Nigel up front to start cutting away some of the thicket.

Nigel nodded as he finished equipping his belt and drew a saber, marching their little caravan forward with Zera at his side. Sticks followed besides the platypus, giving him an odd look. "You're a technomancer, aren't you!" She poked at his metal hand, causing him to retract it, a look of discomfort on his face. She noticed, looking uncomfortable. "I'm sorry, I didn't mean to hurt it!"

He gave a huff. "You didn't hurt it." He glared forward. "Personal bubble." He lightened up. "Sorry about that. So, Sticks is it?" He gave a warm smile to the girl. "Tell me about Tikal."

"Can I ask some questions?" The girl glanced between the drones as she began rubbing her arm nervously.

Starline's expression dropped, he gave a small huff as he pointed forward. "Ask away."

"I get you're a technomancer but… how do you get the metal flyers to listen to you?! How can you trust them!" She looked a little worried. "Aren't you scared they'll turn on you?!" She hissed as she skipped to keep up with her slightly shorter legs, she seemed a bit small for her age if she was 11 cycles. "Do they listen to you because they see you as one of your own? Is your metal arm enough to trick them?! Where did you get that arm or find them anyways?!"

Victor furrowed his brows, an "are you serious" look on his face. "You're not joking."

"This is no time for jokes!" she snapped. "This is time for questions!" a bite of irritation in her voice as her little fists shook at her side. "Why would I joke about giant metal bees that shoot lightning!"

That… was an odd comparison for a utility stealth drone… the odd expression lessened into an almost grimace. "I made them? Well, I commissioned them from my company, factory line and all."

"Her eyes widened. "You made them… you really are a technomancer!" Her eyes were beaming. "If you know how to make them you know how to destroy them!"

"I… I guess?" He grimaced. This girl was strange, guess he should expect her to know much more then how to speak considering where she was raised. His expression melted into a thoughtful look. Maybe he should just enjoy someone being interested in what he knew, it was fun to talk about his hobby. He could ask the girl about her friend Tikal later. He gave a grin. "You called me a technomancer? Is that what you call builders in your tribe?"

"Magic of machines, like the stories of the wizards of old." she looked him up and down. "You don't look like you can summon a warp zone though… So not a wizard, a technomancer!"

Starline got a thoughtful look, he leaned down, a grin on his face. "I've got a secret to tell you." he looked back and forth as if to check if they were alone. "Make sure to keep it a secret ok?"

Her eyes widened. "What kid of secret?"

He slipped the warp topaz half from his pocket and showed her the gem. "This will make me a wizard someday, I'll be able to craft portals all over the place, but don't tell anyone." He slipped the stone back into his pocket. He smiled, that should help her trust him a little, if he was occluded from this Tikal then maybe he could figure out what was really going on. Nigel and the woman may not believe she's talking to a spirit but he'd read of higher dimensional beings. Why one would choose a young girl like this was unclear, but he'd get to the bottom of it. Maybe he could build a medium for it to communicate through instead of the girl.

"YOU ARE A WIZARD!" Her eyes widened. She glanced to the drones and her expression perked. "They listen to you because you built them? How does that work!" she got a weird look. "How can you know they won't turn on you?"

"Ahh!" He got excited. "They won't turn on me because I designed their… souls? They are like animals, but I don't believe they have any spirit, maybe not these ones with how limited I made them. They do exactly what I say with little exception."

She looked to the drone leading them with an unsure expression on her face. "If you say so…" She huffed, putting on a brave face. "Tikal wasn't worried about the lightning bee's so I don't need to be worried."

"Drones. Not bees." The platypus corrected.

"Drones are bees. Boy bees!" She pointed an accusing finger at him.

He thought for a second. She was technically correct but how did she learn that? "You… are correct, but…" He thought for a second, he didn't know why unmanned autonomous vehicles and flying utility platforms were called drones… huh… maybe the word did have root with the large colony insects. "Hmmm." He looked over to the young girl. "Not every day a child can bring a thought that stumps me, I'll have to look the root of that word up when I have access to the archives again. How did you learn that a drone is a male bee?"

She preened. "We kept them, the small ones that fit in your palm." She smiled. "The hive was amazing, inside a big waxy clump of trees and stumps! It went deep underground! We brought them fruit and they let us take sugar and wax to preserve our food and trade!" She beamed. "Had to bathe in bitter smoke beforehand so they wouldn't sting or bite, but it was neat!" She looked so proud. "The badger tribes are known for their honey and wax! We're friends with everyone, even if the other tribes hate each other!" Her demeanor dropped. "I miss my tribe…" She wilted. "Being banished sucks…"

"Interesting…" He smiled at the quirky youth. "You heard Mr. Acorn up there though." he got an amused look. "I guess we'll be looking for a nice settlement along the way, it can't be too bad outside the swamp."

Her face got excited again. "I've heard rumors about more people made of metal that roam outside the forest but that can't all be true! There can't be that many people made of metal! I've been wanting to explore outside for years but Mom insists we stay for safety." Her gaze dropped again as her voice got uncomfortable. "Ever since Dad's gone, she got clingy… I miss him." There was an awkward silence between them as they continued to walk.

Victor didn't really know what to say, he didn't know the girl well enough to comfort her without it sounding fake. The platypus had a memory of his younger sister, a little white bat so curious about the world outside their pristine town home, so devastated when their parents died she just wanted to run away, he had convinced her to stay… Guess she did leave when he was banished… He gave a sigh as he turned forward.

His mind combed through the different details he had gleaned, what an odd day… Nigel had been acting odd as well. He looked in front of him to see the chipmunk talking to the woman, his friends tail gently swaying back and forth in contentment. Victor's face scrunched, why was he so interested in that woman? She was obviously suffering long term head trauma and there was no telling– His eyes widened as his grimace fell. Wait… Hadn't he said his wife and daughter might have been dumped in the swamps by Gerald's grandson after potentially being… Oh no... That would explain his distress and rage, hearing about the existence of his potential step daughter and seeing what must be a ghost of his wife. He grimaced, he'd have to be careful how he interacted with them if his suspicion was correct, no wonder the volatile attitude, it was more than just stress...

The group continued their walk through the swamp towards the north western coastline towards the great bay and its hamlets.


Chapter 10 End.


Author's notes: WOW 100k Words! I'm finally one of those authors! thought it would take me a year! only took under 4 months! If you don't know, I've crossposted this story on another site, the other site that is really popular. There's another document under my profile on that with notes for the story if something ever happens and this story is abandoned. I do not plan on abandoning this story, its just in case. Like 50 something character profiles and a timeline spanning like a hundred years. That document is full of spoilers though for upcoming chapters. I've gotten some really nice reviews too! Thank you to all who have told me their thoughts. As always comments are not necessary as I understand being a lurker but hearing people's thoughts on this has been such a motivation. I spend a LOT of my free time on this. Just the proof reading on this chapter I started around 6:30 something AM and right now it's 2:28 PM, off and on editing on it but yea. Thank you all for your interest. I hope to do more practice on this, still just in awe that I was able to type this much, it's like 220+ pages. Thanks again! Thank you for your reviews!