As of March 2021 All existing chapters (1-8) have been remastered for spelling, grammar, and some other minor issues. Hopefully this will improve the experience. - Sarilleny
Fractured Frequency | Quiver
"CHAOS CONTROL!"
Everything went cold; a weightless moment made Knuckles' muscles tense in trepidation, then a blunt impact slammed him back into familiar reality.
His eyes opened to a dizzy white haze. Seconds passed into minutes before his sight cleared and focused on the Chaos Emerald still clenched in his fist. Out of shock he hastily released it in a half toss, and it rolled away a few steps. This was not Robotropolis. The afternoon sun was gone, replaced by the moon just visible through a layer of tree cover. The warp had actually worked. He stared in blank shock until reflex took over and drew him to reach out to his own emerald. He folded over on hands and knees, eyes closing, as he seized a firm grasp on the thread of his connection. As it surrounded him he instantly felt the truth of two things. First—that he was strikingly displaced. His breath hitched at the sheer distance. He couldn't recall a time he had last been so far from the Master Emerald, or his connection stretched so thin. It felt no more than a distant flicker. That reality made the second truth all the worse—it was a realization of absolute certainty, despite distance and disorientation—that the emerald sensations he had experienced in Robotropolis had not been his Master Emerald. Though he couldn't fathom why that truth struck him so clearly now —shock ridden and lost as he was—there was no doubt. He was unable to process past the knowing of it, to understand how. It just hung there at the forefront of his mind—an unfathomable betrayal of his own making.
A flurry of sparks down at this side, from the remains of Metal's neck drew Knuckles' attention, outward.
"Give me—tzzst—rld"
Knuckles seized the disunited head where it lay near his feet.
"—Reserv—tzzst- depleted—tzzst—itical failure."
"No, No, NO! HOW DID YOU KNOW!? METAL! Tell me! How'd you know it would work!? What did he do!?"
"Criiitical failu...—tzzst—vve me the Chaos Eeemer—tzzst—"
"What? No. PLEASE! Answer me. What frequency!? What does that mean!? What is in shift!?"
"Criiiitical failuuurrrre. Shuuuutttting doowww—tzzst—.
"NO!"
Knuckles stretched out and grasped for the emerald frantically. Once seized, he shoved the gem in Metal's direction wondering if contact would transfer enough power, or if it required more of a link.
It was millimeters from connecting when he froze in a wave of horror at what he was about to do. The gem shook in his hand, and he just stared petrified as the robot spiraled out of function.
"—tzzst——tzzst—RMEALD—tzzst—POWW—ER—RR FAILU—URRRRR—GIVE CHAOS EMMMM—tzzst—tzzst—tzzst...
The red light in Metal's eyes died at last.
Knuckles, still holding the emerald out, remained frozen for many seconds until another thought seized him. What would Sonic think of such weakness?
"Sonic..." It escaped his lips with a shutter.
A wave of nausea and dread struck him at the disbelief that he hadn't checked on Sonic first. He dropped the gem, and found Sonic lying face down a step behind him. He scrambled to Sonic's side, rolled him over as quickly and gently as possible, and pressed two fingers to his neck in search of a pulse.
Time stopped silent and terrifying until the first beat pushed back against his dread.
The pulse was weak. He could see a shallow rise and fall of breath too. It was too overwhelming for Knuckles to feel relieved. Instead he shuffled a few scoots away, far as he could manage, and vomited into the brush.
When the episode of sickness had faded enough, Knuckles crawled back to Sonic and checked his pulse again. At the same time he reached under Sonic's shoulder, and grazed the bandage. He felt a warm stickiness there. When he pulled his hand out, his glove was covered in blood—a mix of fresh and clotted. He carefully turned Sonic on his side to inspect the wound properly. It was large, about the size of Knuckles hand spread wide, centered on Sonic's right shoulder blade. In the moonlight he could see the center was still oozing bright red.
The sight paralyzed him. How long had it been? The whole time? How much blood had Sonic lost already? The bandage was soaked through. He needed to act quickly now. Why wasn't he acting—Sonic needed help. He stared on, frozen, feeling as though he was unable to know things that should be ingrained in him. 'What to do? What?' He needed to stop the bleeding. 'Yes.' And clean the wound. 'No. Yes?' It was a burn. He needed to cool it first. 'Yes. No. No.' It had been an hour or more already—hadn't it? And it was icy here. 'Warmth.' A hand on Sonic's cheek confirmed he was losing heat alarmingly fast. 'So a fire.' He should start a fire now quickly. 'NO! NO! NONONONO. The Bleeding. STOP THE BLEEDING. NOW. FIRST. QUICKLY!' How? With what? He had nothing.
'HOME. Get him home!'
Knuckles looked up and about frantically and for the discarded purple Emerald. He found it at this left, grabbed it, then grabbed Sonic's hand—Metal lay forgotten a short distance away—and repeated his actions from minutes ago, but with a firm vision of Angel Island in his mind.
"Home," he whispered fiercely, then, "CHAOS CONTROL!"
The emerald tingled in that familiar way, wild, and electric. Its glow bled bright for an instance, and for one instance he felt its power firm within his grasp, then it snapped away.
His eyes open to darkness, surrounded by the same trees.
In that moment Knuckles felt the strangling claws of hysteria take hold.
"No..." He looked down at Sonic, then back up, and out at their surroundings—a forest, night time, dark and snowy—taking them in for the first time. 'No.' What had he done? They were stuck. Lost.
He was vaguely aware of tears streaming down his face, and felt held hostage by the fear of all that was happening—his inability to act.
'Think. Think! Move. Stand up. SAVE HIM.'
He laid Sonic down careful on his side, and with effort pushed himself up to his knees, and looked at his surroundings with a modicum more clarity.
A forest. It was night here—dark, and cold. A forest—'So far away'—with snow on the ground. 'A Winter Forest.' Needle tip trees. No healing herbs or fleshy stems to extract a balm from. No largeflat leaves to cover the wound, No fibers or vines to strip as a bandage either. 'NO. Not good enough. What DOES it have?' His eyes scanned desperately. The snow around them was patchy. Snow—so water. The brush was sparse. Brush, rocks—'Robotnik...has... the... Echidnovian... ... ... ... NO! Focus or Sonic DIES.'—Trees... Trees. Winter Trees. A Winter Forest. A Pine Forest. A Pine Forest. "YES!" He actually exclaimed aloud. Pine would have sap. That was good. Better than good. It was everything.
He scanned the visible trees for the right combination of species, age and formation, thankful to every spirit and power he could name that this knowledge didn't escape him. He settled on one just a few paces away, with desperate relief.
He pushed up quickly with his arms to get upright; however, in taking a step towards the tree, agony struck him like a lightning bolt—a hot, sharp blinding white pain.
When his eyes opened excruciating seconds later, he was face down in the dirt. He sucked in a deep gasp, realizing he'd been wreathing on a choked breath. A slight shift sent another jolt of pain; it stabbed throughout his ankle, stealing his breath away once more, and he understood then that he'd almost surely broken it. He recalled then the ugly snap that had nearly sabotaged him in running from that ungodly Mantis beast... 'only what, minutes before?' Was that right?
With fragile, shaky care, Knuckles raised his leg, then pushed up with his arms, and pivoted until he was able to settle, seated upright. Carefully he pulled his right leg in towards himself, then reached down precariously, to let fingers ghost over the area of his ankle. What he felt was a jagged break distorting the natural line of the outer side of the bone. The brush of his unsteady fingers sparked a twinge of pain that radiated out in waves. He circled the area a few times more anyway, through gritted teeth until he was rather sure of the extent of displacement. Knuckles took one glance over at Sonic, still unconscious just a step away, to sure his resolve. His other hand joined the first at his ankle in a stabilizing grip on the inside. Doing so set alight a shiver that wracked his whole person, and had nothing to do with shock or cold. He traced up and down with the other hand once more, to find his positioning, and didn't allow himself a moment to reconsider—PRESSURE—SHIFT—AGONY—and the bone was back in place.
Distantly he heard himself scream, but then even that was drowned out by the intense pain. This time when he came out of it his eyes opened on the tree cover above. He was back flat to the ground, acutely aware of the cutting icy wind that burned his throat when he tried to suck in breath, and then the coppery taste of blood that seeped from his lip, to his tongue, and caused him to gasp and cough when it trickled on down his throat.
It took a minute to collect himself out of the pain. Minutes he didn't have. It was torture to sit back up, but he forced his way through it. The back of his head throbbed where it had slammed down. He was shivering all over. The pain from his ankle radiated into his foot and up through his leg, but in testing movement, he managed a slight shift without the debilitating white shockwave. The ankle would need a splint, but later. He couldn't now. Knuckles pivoted back around with great effort—careful of the injury once again—to weak hands and knees, and began a hindered crawl to the pine tree.
Across the few steps distance to the tree's base, Knuckles propped himself up, then dug in the spines of his left hand under a section of bark and began to tear it away. It was quick work to clear a small section. Once the area was big enough, he pressed the tips of his spines into the soft flesh of the wood and dragged down to create two diagonal gashes. He repeated this several times, moving down until a hashed line stretched top to bottom in the cleared area. He began again, right next to it then, in an opposite diagonal hash, which together created a 'V' pattern like a chevron running down the bare section. By the time he completed the second side, pine sap had already begun to bead out of the left; it caught the reflection of the moonlight and Knuckles got lost in watching ooze for a few delirious seconds.
He couldn't pinpoint what pulled him out of the moment, but when he did regain his urgency, he shuffled back to Sonic's side to check his pulse again. He found it at the same slow but unwavering pace. His own heartbeat was rattling erratically still. 'Keep moving,' he thought under a shaky breath. He followed it with a deep steadying one, and tried to still his frazzled state.
Knuckles surveyed his soundings hurriedly once more taking note of anything he could make use of. The next frantic minutes were spent gathering the elements to build a fire. There was a small comfort in the practiced ease of it—or at least the practiced knowledge. Movement was excruciating. Even in a crawl it was near impossible to avoid jostling his ankle.
He was able to find an adequate flint within close reach. For kindling he had to venture out further, and upright, which he managed with the aid of a large stick and a heavy limp. He retuned with a small bundle of sticks a short time later. There wasn't much in the way of dry tinder about the forest—the leaves and mulch had all frozen damp. Best he could manage was a few dried out pine needles, so instead, he took a stick and coated it with the pine sap which he knew could burn like fuel. He assembled the pile of wood near enough to Sonic to lend warmth, but still be safe, then turned precariously to the robotic head discarded a few steps away.
He needed a bit of metal for a spark.
A bit more would go a long way to serve, other needs... but the idea held him uncertain for many seconds, because the whole thing seemed so disjointedly twisted and awful. Without real resolve, he grabbed the head, but turned his own away keeping his eyes diverted. He tried for a small quill off the back side first, bending and pulling between shaking fingers to break it off. That earned him a rather deep slice in palm of his left hand when he slipped. It stung awfully, but he didn't stop to inspect the damage. He switched hands, grabbed from a different angle and actually watched what he was doing the next time. It took a bit of finagling, and a fair amount of brute strength before the thing finally snapped off. He stripped two additional domed pieces of sheeting off the back from a gash ripped by the Mantis' scythe, then hurriedly set the head away, nearly out of sight, and returned to the assembled fire wood pile.
Building fire was instinctual.
Once the elements were assembled he managed to get it burning within a couple of minutes, as he had done many hundreds of times before. The only hiccup along the way had been nearly drowning out the first spark with a few ill met drops of blood from his palm. He'd had to stop, and tie up the cut with his own ripped glove in order to continue. Now he watched as the fire came to life; he felt the flame warm his fingertips, and with it a layer of strangled hysteria lighten within him. He could do this if he kept moving.
Trusting the fire to grow on its own, he filled one domed sheet with snow, and placed it to warm by the fire, then gathered the pine sap in the other, using the metal quill to scrape it off the trunk.
Back at Sonic's side then, he stared down at the blood soaked bandage. He found the tie off, snapped through it with a spike, and then began to unravel it from the shoulder carefully. It was delicate work because blood had dried in places causing it to stick to fur and wounded flesh, while other parts just began to spill red new from being disturbed. At one point he had to pause because of how badly his hands were shaking, and the thought crossed his mind to rip the whole thing instead of unwrapping, but with no other supplies he couldn't justify ruining it. Altogether took a couple minutes until the bandage was off.
Finally, he reached for the two makeshift bowls. He readied the pine sap at his side, then took the other bowl, now filled with slightly warmed water, and carefully poured it over the wound, washing away blood and grime until the skin beneath was visible again. The sap followed, poured over until it covered a good amount of the wound, then he spread it thin using the third metal piece, pushing well into the undamaged fur to create a seal. He watched closely as a small amount of blood tried to pool underneath, but was stemmed quickly, sealed off by the stick coated substance.
An honest sigh of relief escaped Knuckles' lips, but was immediately overwhelmed by the emotion it untethered. Tears spilled down his cheeks with the feeling, and one hand rose to his face to stifle a choked cry. The wound was sealed, and a fire lit. It was a measure of safety. Finally.
Several minutes passed before he could move from the spot.
Eventually he reached out and checked Sonic's pulse again, then the wound, and made sure he was gaining some warmth despite the biting wind. The thought of laying down at the opposite side of the fire and letting exhaustion take him was compelling, but he knew that was a dangerous choice. The fire was still small, and wouldn't burn long without tending.
Another several minutes passed without decline in Sonic's condition, so Knuckles forced himself up to tend his own injury. Applying a splint to his ankle wasn't exactly difficult, more just an exercise in pain. He managed it at a steady pace, eager to return to Sonic's side. It didn't take much —shearing a couple of straight sturdy sticks took the most effort. The hardest part was removing and replacing his shoe to remove the sock and place it as padding between the braces. He used his opposite sock to stabilize them, and a small portion of the bandage—which he had rinsed clean—to securely wrap it. Finally he filled his intact right glove with a bit of snow, and placed it over the break to combat the swelling.
In the next hour, Knuckles remained watchful of Sonic and tended the fire. He sat close, one hand attached constantly to Sonic's wrist—half out of paranoia to track his pulse, but also just to stay tethered to the present moment. His thoughts were swirling with so many terrible intrusive things; he feared he would lose himself to that despair completely if he examined it. He already had— back in that room, trapped under that awful scowl—he'd lost himself. He remembered the fingers clenched around his throat, and that he wouldn't have stood up again—not without Sonic. Much of the rest thereafter was a rushed blur, but, 'I'm in this with you,' he remembered that, and emerald eyes pulling him back.
The hour passed, and then another, and another. Sonic remained still at the foot of the fire, and Knuckles stayed by his side.
Some time later, a shift in the wind drew Knuckles' attention. It whipped harshly at the fire, causing it to flicker, but a distinct change in direction was what he really took notice of. There was a slight change in the air too. Harsher weather was building. It was still a way off, but would surely arrive before daylight.
A glance at the wood pile showed it had dwindled to only a few little twigs. He took half of what was left, and fed it to the flame after shifting the large pieces to burn better against the wind. With the fire stoked, he pushed himself up tiredly once more, looking out toward the forest; he would need to collect another bundle of sticks for the next round of fire.
"Red."
It was quiet, but Knuckles turned immediately in surprise. Sonic was awake, staring at him through half lidded eyes.
"Sonic..." It came out a rough whisper. He noticed for the first time in speaking how raw and
swollen his throat felt. "You're awake..."
"We're... alive." Sonic countered, just above a whisper. A sliver of a smile, graced his face in the firelight.
Knuckles felt relief rise and spill out, overtaking every shred of his waking thoughts. He nodded softly back to Sonic too overcome for words.
"What... happened? How did we get out?" Sonic asked, clearing his throat as he went.
Knuckles was nodding in that dumbfounded way still, stunned by the turn of fortune. It took him a few moments to find his voice. "It was... we... we almost didn't. Are you..." He stopped, took a breath, and began again. "Be... be careful with your shoulder—that you don't disturb the wound... How do you... feel? You were unconscious... a long time Sonic."
Sonic pushed himself up a little further, a groan escaping his lips. "Ugh... Let's just... go with, alive for now. How... did we make... it out of tha... that blast?" He quieted then, in a similar struggle to steady his breathing. His stance went rigid a moment later though, and with new clarity he set a hard stare on Knuckles. "Knuckles... are you... alright? What did Eggman say?"
It gave Knuckles pause, and stunned him in a completely different way. Barely awake, in pain, bearing life threatening injury, yet still Sonic had the audacity to spare no concern for himself at all. But that was Sonic—not perfect, but somehow never far from it. Knuckles felt beyond undeserving of such care.
"Sonic..." he began, in his scratchy drawl. "You lost so much blood. We need to find a way home. That burn will need proper treatment before—"
"Knuckles." Sonic's unwavering eyes held him captive. "I saw the world stop for you in there. What did he say?"
And Knuckles thought maybe he was shaking again. His breath felt short, and he slowly sank to his knees at the foot of the fire, thinking distantly of its need to be stoked, and how the light would reveal his every expression. He stared across it at Sonic unable to find the words.
Sonic rolled to the side with his uninjured shoulder, and pushed up to a loose sitting position. He reached around, to take one of Knuckles' hands.
"Trust me."
Knuckles closed his eyes, because he felt wetness threaten to spill over anew. He drew one hitched breath. "He has everything... Sonic."
"What is everything? What does he have Knux?"
"All... Everything. All the sacred knowledge of my people—of The Master Emerald, Chaos Emeralds, chaos energy arts, theories, histories, all explained in detail. He has it... it's...There is... a sacred book. The Echidnovian. It reveals all he could ever want. More... Far more."
"How? When did he get it?"
"I... I...It was... a gift. I gave it to him."
"When?"
Knuckles dropped his head in shame. "Dammit Sonic, it was before I even knew you. A day, maybe two or three before you first came to the island. When it was just Robotnik and me. Before I...before..."
"You never tried to get back?" Sonic asked, though his tone wasn't accusing.
"I... didn't remember anymore. Not until then... until he told me there."
"And he can read it? How? Shouldn't it be..."
"He translated it! There was an inscription that... I wrote... it was... He said... Oh chaos... He... has everything Sonic. Everything."
Sonic remained quiet for a while ruminating over the new information. When he spoke again, he asked, "This is how he's been able to affect you and the Master Emerald then? Would the book give him that kind of knowledge? To... cause the blackouts? To block some of your abilities, and... whatever else he might be doing?"
"It... wouldn't... not in and of itself. Or... I don't know. Weaknesses maybe? With the technology, and knowledge of chaos energies he already had, I can't imagine any of it is beyond his ability."
Sonic sat up a little straighter, but winced sharply having momentarily forgotten the burn at his shoulder. He waved his free hand shooting Knuckles's wide eyed attempt to assist. "I'm okay. We need to get back to Tails with this information." He looked around noticing their surroundings for the first time. "Speaking of, where are we exactly? And what happened to old Metal over there? Don't tell me you had to shred him like that."
"No. Not me. The city... exploded. Do you remember?" he asked, his voice a terrible rasp. "You were knocked out in the blast. Right after that, we were attacked by another Mantis robot, but giant."
"It attacked Metal too?"
"Yes."
"Ooookay, and how did we get out of that, and end up here? And where is here?"
"I...don't know where. We teleported here."
"Chaos Control? Did Metal..."
"No..."
"You?" Sonic asked , genuine surprise on his face. Knuckles nodded.
"Using the Master Emerald or..."
"With that Chaos Emerald." Knuckles explained, pointing across the way where the purple gem lay.
Sonic looked from the emerald to him and back. "And the plot thickens..." he murmured thoughtfully to himself. "Have you ever..."
"Never."
"And you don't know where you've taken us? You've never been here before?"
Reflexively Knuckles looked once round at their surroundings, then shook his head. "I just...I
know we are far. I can feel it."
Sonic frowned, "how far?"
"Far north. Across the globe maybe?"
Sonic stared at him long and pensive in thought after that revelation. Knuckles thought he would ask another question, but Sonic didn't press further, so Knuckles shared more. "Metal knew, Sonic. He knew the Chaos Emerald would... 'the frequency is in shift,' he said. I don't know how. He... went offline when..." In the heavy pause that followed, something in his expression must have given him away.
"There was something else?" Sonic pressed.
"I almost... Metal was shutting down... failing... before I could get an answer... He needed
power... or wanted it, and... I almost gave him the Chaos Emerald... gods... what was I..."
"But you didn't."
"Almost!"
"Almost doesn't count. There must have been a million things running thr... through your head then. It's alright though. You worked it out. No harm done."
Knuckles felt he could have gone on protesting, but in truth he was thankful to let it be.
A strong gust of wind picked up around them, and tore at the dwindling fire. It startled a visible shutter in Sonic, which reminded Knuckles he had been on course to collect more wood for the fire before Sonic stirred. Instead of leaving, he set about tending it. He pulled from the last bit of kindling collected earlier, minding to use just enough to keep the fire going steady.
"Your hand... what happened?" Sonic asked, as Knuckles stoked the fading flame to new life.
Knuckles glanced down briefly at his palm. "It's just a cut." He flipped his hand back and forth once, then looked back up and continued, "this is probably more your... blood than mine."
"Oh... Right." Sonic replied reluctantly, ears tucked down in concern. "And your ankle?"
"Fine Sonic. You should be more concerned about that shoulder." Knuckles snapped.
"Yeah, yeah," Sonic conceded. He glanced over at the purple emerald, and instead asked, "you didn't try to teleport back home?"
"I did..." Knuckles whispered regretfully. "I couldn't do it again." In his periphery he could see Sonic ruminating about that answer. A minute passed before the hedgehog continued.
"Tell me again... we're how far?"
"I don't know exactly! Just... it feels about as far as I've ever been away..."
"But literally, across the world? Knuckles... Man you just baffle me with this stuff. You flung us across the globe, but can't send us back—"
Knuckles couldn't help the flinch that rippled through him at hearing that, nor did the reaction escape Sonic.
"Damn. M'sorry," Sonic said quickly. "My head's not on strait yet. It's this... this damn headache. Seriously, I meant no offense, or stress by that," he assured palliatively before a weary sigh, and while rubbing a spot between his eyes. "I just meant... there are like Chaos rules right? But some of them just bend around you like they don't apply. It's mind boggling... or damn impressive. Haven't figured out which yet."
Knuckles stared off into the forest lost in a wayward moment. Those were questions he himself was unsure of, with a weight and complexity he could not hope to unravel just then.
Sonic was watching him closely. His head tilted with a growing question. "Is this... you said earlier... before, that it's difficult to be away from the island... I never knew before. Are you... I mean, that must be affecting you now."
A few seconds passed before Knuckles realized he was staring back blankly still, lips parting, trying to form an answer. He tried several times, but got hung up at each attempt with his inner voice echoing, 'WRONG QUESTION. That's the wrong question.'
"Wrong question? Wrong how? I don't understand."
He'd spoken that? 'No...Yes?' None of it mattered anyway. Certainly not the question Sonic was asking. The question—the one that actually mattered—was a huge unknowable thing. How ruinous would his mistake be? How many would suffer for this failure? Had he doomed them all a treacherous fate? Would there be no end—ever—to his original sin?
"Whoa whoa, hey," Sonic threw out his right arm in a halting gesture, and caused himself another flinch of pain. He continued through a sharp wince. "breathe Red... I'm sorry. I didn't mean to freak you out. HEY—"
The demanding call finally drew Knuckles outward, eyes looking up to meet Sonic's again. "Stay with me Knux."
Only then did Knuckles realize he'd been on the verge of an inward spiral once more. There was a slight ringing in his ears and he was panting short breaths.
"I know you're running at a breakneck pace in your head, but you're leavin' me in the dust. I can't help if you don't tell me."
The knot in his throat was so tight, Knuckles knew he couldn't speak if he tried, so he just nodded up and down until he was sure he'd said yes twenty times.
Sonic offered an uncharacteristic display of patience while Knuckles attempted to recenter his composure. Several minutes passed before Sonic finally spoke again.
"Red? I know this isn't easy, but I'd appreciate if you would tell me more. Did he give anything else away?"
Knuckles pulled his left knee up, and let his chin rest there, as he revisited the memory. "He's... causing the blackouts. He didn't say it in so many words, but... 'have you been sleeping well,' he said. "And... the last thing... he said he would... he said, I'm going to... kill your wretched friends while you sleep."
"He said that?" Sonic asked, actually a bit shocked. "That's... deranged... even for Eggman. I mean, not that he doesn't have it out for me but... he's not usually so blatant."
"The whole time, he kept calling me friend, just... gods the whole thing... it was like he was trying to be... that person. The one from before. The doctor who I knew back then."
"Knuckles, he was never any different."
"He was for me! Or... I was different.
"It doesn't matter now Knux. Don't get hung up on that. What he did to you back then... he knows it still hurts you."
"He knows I'm a weak link."
"No. That's not what I said. It's not the same thing. He knows that you—that we can be hurt. Because unlike him, there are things we care about more than power. Knuckles... I know this one cuts deep for you but don't let him twist it around like that. Having a scar isn't the same thing as being weak.
"But it's still a weakness to exploit."
"Grrr, dammit. Ya know, we'd have been in the dark for it, but I really, really wish you'd just laid
him out when you had him by the throat."
"...You could see?"
"Yeah. I could... I know, the shield was blocked for you, but from my side, I could see everything that was happening. Another cruel game for Eggman."
Knuckles looked away, heavy with the weight of revisiting the moments spent in that room.
Sonic seemed to sense his reluctance and moved on. "So... he's causing the blackouts? He didn't elaborate? Nothing about the drones?"
Knuckles shook his head, 'no,' but looked up a moment later with alarm when another memory came flooding back.
"There's something else..." He felt his heart rate pick up again as he remembered the absurdity of the realization. "The Master Emerald—I felt it there in the city, but it wasn't my emerald."
"What? Not your emerald... I don't understand. What does that mean?"
"That str... strange emerald sensation I felt after Tails called... It came back. In the hanger when we were... fighting the Egg pawns. It felt like... like the Master Emerald was pulling me... to follow it somewhere. Towards the city center I think, and I—"
"Ohhhhhh. So that's why you ran off..."
"—So I did follow it, until I hit a dead end then... then I tried it without my mental barriers up. I was almost there when—"
"—When I slammed into you. Well damn. That makes so much more sense now. Crap Knux I'm really sorr—"
"—Stop it. That doesn't matter now. Listen to me Sonic. It was the Master Emerald energy but not my Master Emerald."
"Knuckles, I still don't understand what that means." Sonic wiped his palms down his face tiredly, then wrapped his arms around himself again against the chill. "Not yours how?"
"It was... I connected to it. It called to me like it was mine, drawing me in, but it was something else. I can feel now in the memory that it was different, but... it was so close, so similar, I didn't... I couldn't then... I... don't know how..."
"Could it have been something making you feel like it was there? We did see those M.B.-whatever drone things floating around there after all."
"I DIDN'T imagine it!"
"Knuckles, I believe you. With everything that's happened I'd be an idiot not to. I'm just trying to understand, okay?" Sonic looked away pensively then. "I'm not even sure what I should be asking. So... Ok wait. So you did the weird feeling auras thing, but I thought you said... actually whatever, so did you sense this other thing because you... opened yourself to those auras, or however you'd explain it?"
"No, not because of it. I was following the pull further."
"Further to what?"
"I don't know. It was just a feeling like I needed to be there where... whatever it was that was calling me was."
"A different trap you think? I feel like that energy field he sprung on us could have been used anywhere. Maybe there was something specific he was trying to lead you too?"
"Maybe? I don't know. Does that really make sense?"
"Not the most... Sense isn't exactly Eggheads hallmark though. What else then? What did we say before—maybe he's trying to keep you from detecting something right? Was that it? If it was an attempt to block us from finding whatever that sensation was, it worked."
"But... that doesn't make sense either does it? Why not stop us sooner?"
"Because we weren't close enough we'd cause trouble? Or... He wanted to watch us for some reason? See if you'd catch it?"
"Or how..."
"Maybe... like, monitoring your reaction? Okay wait, what was it Metal said again?"
"The frequency is in shift."
"And then he told you to teleport?
Knuckles sat up straighter in alarm. "You don't think... After all that to rescue us, he... that, that was what Robotnik wanted... all along?"
"Errrr..." Sonic pinched the bridge of his nose and flicked his ears in frustration. "I don't know anymore. We've reached so many levels of absurd and confusing at this point, really I don't know. Metal rescued us. And then—if I understood you correctly—was attacked with us... If that was a deception, it's one I haven't seen Eggman use before."
Knuckles looked up with a shiver. "You haven't... but me... he goes out of his way to do this to me."
"Ok, but you gotta keep in mind, Metal is autonomous. Or at least he is to a degree. We have seen him break with Egghead before and do his own thing."
"Nggg," Knuckles groaned in frustration. He squeezed his eyes shut and pressed his palms to them.
"Let's... give that one a rest," Sonic suggested. "It's a question for later. How... how did you realize the difference about the Master Emerald?"
"I just felt it... when we got here, and I reached out to connect to my emerald, I knew."
"So... the energy was... interacting with you somehow... and then later you were able to invoke Chaos Control... And—oh, whoa, whoa, hey... This is like... Do you remember that imitation yellow Chaos Emerald Tails made back during the Ark thing? Did you ever get a good look, or feel for that one?"
"I recall that it existed but I didn't—oh... but you... used it to Chaos Control?"
"For the first time, yeah. So, maybe that energy you felt was a fake? There's no doubt if Tails could make one, Egghead could. Aaand you just used Chaos Control. All seems kinda related to me."
"A fake emerald... But... I used the purple one to do it. And what I felt... it was the... a... like the Master Emerald."
"You're certain?"
"Yes Sonic, yes!"
"Ok, but you gotta admit it's a little suspect."
"It's... I don't know. I don't... If Robotnik has his own Master Emerald... with the... Chaos... with all the forbidden... or was that in the other texts... I can't—"
"—Knuckles you're losing me again. Slow down."
"I... I can't think... can't remember all the texts. There are forbidden acts. Powers greater than… than, but... I can't... I need to go back and... You need to sen—"
—
For a moment Sonic was sure Knuckles was on the verge of spiraling into complete hysteria, but then he just froze suddenly, and left Sonic spectating in confusion. He stared at Sonic a moment, eyes wide like saucers, as though he'd said something truly awful, then his whole expression shifted one degree short of neutral.
It was alarming, and certainly didn't fool Sonic into thinking he was calm. There seemed to be some internal battle waging there. Sonic fought his urge to ask immediately, and instead waited to see if Knuckles would clarify the sudden turn.
Once Sonic was watching him, Knuckles dropped his eyes down and away. He looked out into the dark forest suddenly. Then back down at the fire. He remained still and quiet a while longer, eyes finally settling unfocused on his hands, which wrung around in each-other with nervous energy.
Just as Sonic was about to question him further, Knuckles pushed himself up in one swift movement, and announced, "We need firewood."
"Uh... what? Wait, wait." Sonic flung out an arm again—the uninjured this time—to reach for him. Why did you just... Knuckles what's up? What was that? What happened?"
"The temperature is dropping. We need more firewood and..." Knuckles eyed him critically for a few seconds. "How do you feel? Are you dizzy? Do you need—I can bring you some water. We'll warm it on the fire. ."
"Knuckles. Answer me."
"The... the temperature is dropping. It's going to snow. We need better shelter, or a better fire, or—"
—Bullshit. Why are you acting weird all of a sudden?"
"...I'm not," he said, and Sonic was a little surprised, because it was said openly and genuine, though his voice still quivered as he went on. "We just... this needs to come first."
Despite the honesty, Sonic felt as though he'd missed some detail.
"How's your pain? I treated your shoulder... as best I was able while you were still unconscious."
Sonic couldn't quite decide if the sudden change was a coping mechanism or something else, but decided that perhaps it would be best to go along with it, at least until he could make that determination.
"Uh, yeah it's... it stings pretty bad. Can I just slap some ice there to numb it out or something?"
"Not unless you want frostbite."
"Right. Ok then. I imagine there isn't much else we can do for it anyway. Thanks for—"
"—Are you dizzy? Or feeling weak? I don't think you should try to stand anytime soon."
"Not... dizzy while sitting down... and yeah, I worked out the part about not standing too. Honestly... this splitting headache is almost eclipsing everything else pain wise. Must'a hit my head pretty hard."
"You did—in that blast. Rest your eyes. It'll help. I'll get you some water. It won't take long."
"You don't have too..." But Knuckles had already begun. "...Alright then..." Sonic watched Knuckles reach for something at the opposite side of the fire. The firelight reflected off of it, and he recognized it as something like metal sheeting. The glare of it made him wince and irritated the throbbing pain in his temples.
"Close your eyes Blue."
"Yeah, yeah..." He did as instructed and immediately became extra aware of his numerous aches and pains, and a general feeling of weariness. The idea of sleep was inviting, but was out of consideration. He wouldn't put that sudden change out of mind. What triggered it? Surely Knuckles was exhausted too. He was covered in just as many scrapes and bruises as Sonic.
Had he revealed something he wished to conceal? He'd been rambling something about the book. The word 'forbidden' had passed his lips. Perhaps it was something not to be spoken of.
Sonic spun that idea around a few times then settled into listening to the gentle sounds of Knuckles tinkering about. It quickly became a mesmerizing loop that drew down his awareness of mounting pain. Though he was still aware, he jumped a short while later when Knuckles tapped him lightly, and beckoned, "Sonic?"
Knuckles was right in front of him, holding what appeared to be a jagged edged, metal, bowl like container filled with liquid.
Recognition took a few seconds staring, then he groaned with the realization. "Oh, that's just... kinda morbid."
It seemed Knuckles had borrowed some material from the side of Metal's head to fashion a makeshift bowl.
"I'm gonna have weird dreams about this."
Knuckles looked as though he wanted to apologize, but he settled on, "drink."
Sonic eyed it precariously, but accepted. The bowl was warm, the liquid clear, though there were pine needles and some other bits floating in the center. "What is it?"
"Water mostly—melted from the snow. There isn't really enough of anything else to call it tea, but it may aid the headache anyway. At least the warmth should."
Sonic nodded, then took a sip, and followed with, "thank you." It warmed him immensely, and for a moment again, pulled him out of the dual ebb of throbbing pain from his shoulder and headache.
Knuckles watched him through a few more sips, then said,"finish that, and then try to rest. I'll collect more wood while you do."
Though Sonic was hesitant for he and Knuckles to be apart, there was obvious sense in keeping the fire alight. "Alright... Don't wander off too far, yeah?"
Knuckles nodded, then slowly stood, and stepped around Sonic to the forest behind. "I won't be long."
When Knuckles returned, Sonic was sitting up normally, close to the fire waiting for the guardian's arrival. It had taken a few studied minutes of retracing the ebb and flow of their conversation, but he thought he'd probably worked out the trigger of Knuckles' night and day shift. He understood Knuckles' concern about his injuries, but it was too much to let the guardian ignore his own well being. Sonic should have recognized it immediately, but the headache really was making it harder to think straight.
He heard right away when the guardian reentered the vicinity at the edge of the firelight's reach. Knuckles appeared to have a bundle of wood gathered together and tied with something and hung off his shoulder. He was moving rather slowly. Sonic watched as he approached and realized there was a pronounced hitch to each step—he was using a long straight branch like a crutch to support every other step. Sonic stood sharply before he remembered not to—felt himself sway unsteadily as a result, but he leveled Knuckles with a stern stare anyway.
"Knuckles, are you injured!?"
Knuckles looked up, eyes wide. The guardian had only then taken notice that his approach was under watch.
"I... it's not...it's not that bad..." he managed, in flustered form.
But even in the dark, at a distance Sonic could see now some swelling if he compared the ankles.
A slew of curses flittered across Sonic's thoughts and held at his tongue, because 'by seven sisters of chaos,' he'd been moments away from petitioning Knuckles to be unguarded with him. After everything that had happened, Sonic wanted only to strip away any pretense left between them.
He had missed a cue before, when Knuckles had closed up on him suddenly. Now it was apparent he'd missed a great deal more. Was it his lack of attention? Or maybe Knuckles had made more than a small effort to conceal the injury? Their combined track record would suggest both likely.
Sonic clenched his jaw in something deeper than frustration—sorrow maybe. He should have asked already, should have known. Knuckles was even worse—much worse—than he himself about offering such details.
He made a difficult conscious choice to not pick a fight about the omission. Of the now two wounds to tend to, Sonic feared this physical one would be the lesser. He drew his eyes away from Knuckles back to the fire, and as a peace offering asked, "Find enough firewood?"
Knuckles remained still a while, but eventually when he realized Sonic wasn't going to force the issue, continued his labored approach toward their quaint clearing. "Yes. This should last a few hours, yes," He said quietly.
"Good, so... how long was I out?" Sonic asked. "What else happened since I passed out?" It was a roundabout way to broach the matter. He figured Knuckles probably wouldn't notice.
"A few hours."
Up close, Sonic could see that the bandage actually concealed a splint, and the guardian was straining to conceal a wince with each step. When Knuckles reached the space just opposite him across the fire, he knelt carefully and began to feed the flame.
"How long?"
"Maybe... three or four or so... I wasn't paying attention."
"Did we warp straight here?"
"Yes." Knuckles insisted. "Nothing else happened... I told you... I tried to question Metal. And... I didn't know if you were ali... okay. I... so I tried to warp us back. But when that didn't work I had to work quickly to treat your shoulder. It was still bleeding. And... I wanted to find a better shelter, but..."
"This is fine," Sonic assured.
"No it's not. If the temperature keeps dropping, or if it starts to snow... I can build something though. For the night... to protect from the—"
Knuckles rambled on haphazardly for a moment, and Sonic didn't bother to stop him. The response all but confirmed Sonic's concern.
He lowered himself back down to his knees slowly. Knuckles really hadn't been wrong before about dizziness and the like. The edge of his vision was swaying enough to unsettle his stomach. When he looked up again, he found Knuckles watching him with more than a note of concern.
"Don't," he whispered back.
There were so many questions. So many things Sonic didn't know, but this—this he should have looked for right away. He sighed a weary heave of a sigh, because he was just so tired of battling this one fault in the guardian. Even so, even if he was ever powerless to fix it, he'd keep trying. His friend meant that much to him.
"Knuckles... why haven't you just asked me to send us back?"
Caught off guard by the question, Knuckles floundered a moment with his response. "I... I didn't want to... you're still... because you... I won't push you. You should just... rest for now and—"
"Knuckles, ask me. Just ask me to do it."
For a long moment Knuckles stared back at him, contemplating, then hesitantly he asked, "Can you... Will you please, teleport us back to the island?"
"No."
Knuckles' surprise was instant, and it quickly morphed into an indigent frown.
"No...? Then what are you... Why make me ask!" He threw his arms up in frustration, and his hands then slid down to tug at his quills nervously. "I told you I can't do it! Do you wanna watch me try!? Or do you just want...to throw in my face how much I've... how I... I... what a... failure I am! Gods... I can't..."
The cascade from anger to desperation was swift. Knuckles' words began to fade into uneven gasps, and Sonic knew he was robbing Knuckles of the last vestiges poise. Sonic's jaw ached, clenched tight to bite back the comforting words he wished he could lead with instead.
"No Knuckles." He spoke, measured and calm. "I want you to ask, because you're not alone here. You don't have to do it alone. I'm okay. You've done enough."
"But why won't you... if you..."
"Because of that. Because you won't even ask me when you know I can do it, unless I force you!"
"Chaos, Sonic... I... I was trying to..."
"Trying to what?" he pressed on, firmly.
"YOU COULD HAVE DIED! Chaos! I don't even know how you are awake right now!"
"Alright, but I am okay. It's fine now. You don't have to—
"It's NOT fine!" The edge of panic was growing sharper in his voice. "It's freezing here! And you were hardly breathing! And gods, the blood... there was so much blood... You ALMOST died! You were just... you... Nothing is fine Sonic!"
"Knuckles..."
"NO! DON'T TELL ME IT'S FINE! It would have been my fault. Hell, this is all my fault! Stuck in a barren arctic snowscape, no shelter, barely a fire, you're laying there bleeding out, and the world is falling apart out there!
"And yet here I am... still—with you."
Knuckles looked as though he didn't know whether to argue, or to fall apart.
It hurt Sonic's heart terribly that Knuckles would think it all not enough; that he missed his own resilience, his strength in it all. A swell protective devotion surged within Sonic; Knuckles did not deserve this. After the trauma at Eggman's hand he'd barely been able to speak or stand, but when Sonic had faltered only minutes later, Knuckles had risen from that broken state to indefinable— even chaos law defying—heights. He'd saved them from death—and he'd kept hold on that mantle all the while after, ever the guardian—a solid pillar on broken foundation.
Sonic knew it was his task now to deliver them the rest of the way. He could see Knuckles didn't know anymore how to stop. He held an iron grip on a mantle called, 'survive' and couldn't let go. The guardian wouldn't by request. He'd sooner crumble from within.
Sonic would have had to push.
And as if to confirm this Knuckles raised another protest.
"But... we still need to go back. We can't just sit around here. Everything is at risk. Eggman said he would—"
"—The Master Emerald is protected Knuckles. The island will be safe until we return."
"Not the Emerald Sonic! I'M TALKING ABOUT OUR FRIENDS!"
"Our friends are okay. Just slow down a sec and—"
"—GODS! Are you even listening to me! They're in danger!"
"IN MORE DANGER THAN YOU?" Sonic snapped back.
Knuckles seemed caught off guard by that. He was uncertain for a moment before, pleading on, "Robotnik said he would—"
"I don't care what he said! The Chaotix, Tails, everyone, they're there waiting for him to show up. They can handle it. Knuckles, ya gotta stop worrying more about everyone else, and Master Emerald, more than yourself."
"You're exactly the same Sonic!"
"I know I am! Why do you think it scares me so much to watch you do it, while you shut all of us out! Just because I got hurt, doesn't mean you're not allowed to be hurt too! It's not a competition! But you're out here walkin around on a broken ankle—"
"What part of—You. Were. Bleeding. Out.—don't you understa—"
"I THOUGHT I WAS GONNA WATCH YOU DIE TOO! ... ... ... Oh god, Knuckles, you're killing me with this. My head feels like it's about to explode. We can't go back yet, okay? We just... I— can't—go back yet... Please... just hear me out."
That finally drove Knuckles to silence. He shrunk back a little at the outburst, startled by seeing Sonic lose his composure. He stared back, and then just nodded once, like it was all he could manage.
"Our friends... are okay..." Sonic began slowly, reaching for calm. "I'm sure of this. I'll tell you why."
He hesitated just a moment. His words would be inflammatory, but he believed Knuckles needed to hear them. He deliberately released his doubt and continued.
"Eggman always has a plan. Call it a script even. When have we ever faced him where he didn't wait until the end of some drawn out ordeal to spring his big plan? He was waiting for us there today, right? He told you his intention. He won't make another move now, Knuckles. Not if you aren't there to witness it. Doesn't matter if it's about the book, or the Emerald, or our friends. He's cruel like that. Especially...with you. And with me. He's going to make you watch. He'll stick you in a corner, and make you watch like he... did to me. AND, if somehow this were to be the one exception—the Emerald is still protected. Our friends are powerful. They. Will. Be. Fine.
Now... you may have to forgive me, because the next thing I'm going to say is lacking charity.
Our friends are worried sick right now; they may even think we're dead—I don't care."
Knuckles' expression had shifted from panicked frustration when Sonic began speaking, to a weak neutral, and now to something akin of weary shock. Sonic went on."Honestly, I don't right now. I can't. I watched that bastard disarm you completely in there. I damn near thought I was goi... going to watch him kill you. So... so all in the world I care about, at this moment, is to sit here with you, in the cold if I have to, and appreciate that we're both alive.
Let everything stop for a few minutes. I want you to tell me everything. Please. Or tell me anything. Or we can just sit here together silently—we don't have to speak at all if that's better. But please, please don't pretend to be okay for my sake. And don't ignore that you're not. I'll heal from this stupid injury, but that—standing there helpless, useless, to stop him nearly killing you... and then realizing we were probably going to die down in that pit, gods—I'm not okay after that Knuckles. I'm not. And I'm not ready yet, to face the hundreds of questions, and explanations that I'll owe everyone who is waiting for us. Please. We will go back, soon, but please... just sit here and be... not okay... with me, for a little while."
In the dim fire light he could see the wrinkle in Knuckles' brow, but his face was casted down, blocking the full expression from view. He remained there unmoving, long enough that Sonic thought he might go on protesting. When Knuckles did finally look up, he was glassy eyed and shivering; his expression finally revealed the full trauma that had befallen him.
Sonic felt the sting of it. 'Awful.' He could barely think any avenue past that thought, as each flicker of the light revealed another angle of his abuse—dread, fear, guilt, relief, regret, loathing, sorrow. All together it radiated from Knuckles with absolute despair. His chest lobbed back and forth barely able to clear a breath. Sonic shuffled forward awkwardly; each shift was torturous on his shoulder and strained muscles, but he was determined to close the space between them. He pulled Knuckles into a tight embrace with his left arm. Knuckles leaned into it almost unaware at first, but after a while Sonic felt arms snake around his back, and hands grasp desperately into the fur at his sides. He just barely heard Knuckles whisper, "I'm not okay..." and it nearly broke him down too.
"I know. I know Red... You don't have to be. Not right now."
The wind began to whip about wildly, as if to mimic their tumultuous state. They weren't okay, but they were alive, and nothing was good, but they were together. They stayed there huddled together until the shivering and silent sobs subsided, and for a long time after just in stillness. Eventually Sonic pulled them back a few steps to lean against the nearest trunk. They didn't speak for a very long time, but when the minutes collected past fifteen, and twenty or more, Sonic couldn't contain his concern any longer.
"Knuckles..." he whispered. "You still with me?" A slight nod nudged his shoulder in reply.
There were so many things Sonic wanted to say, but all of them felt obtuse in the moment. He was wary of disrupting the fragile calm over the guardian.
Instead he settled for drawing Knuckles in closer in a hint of a hug.
A tiny shuttered breath escaped the guradian, and after a few moments passed he raised his head and looked at Sonic, with eyes that were weary, and heavy with exhaustion. It was a long while before he spoke.
"I'm so lost..." he whispered. "How will I ever fix this?"
"Not you Knuckles. Us. We'll... find a way. You won't face this alone."
Sonic wasn't sure if Knuckles actually believed him, but in that moment at least, he simply nodded and laid his head back down.
His urge to speak more, to reassure, and comfort, and apologize was mounting, but he knew it was all too much for the moment. Still he couldn't stop himself from just whispering, "I'm sorry I did this Knuckles."
He half expected some sort of protest, but when he glanced down, the guardian's eyes were closed—his breathing gone soft and even. "Good," Sonic whispered to himself.
He'd hated driving Knuckles towards that emotional demise, but he'd truly have been more fearful of the consequence of watching him wallow in such despair indefinitely. Wasn't this better—a controlled breakdown, away from danger, from prying and sympathetic eyes, or other pressures? He hoped Knuckles would forgive him for it.
Sonic drew his eyes up towards the fire, but the firelight's glint on purple facets caught his eye.
He reached out with his free hand, palm upwards and open towards the Chaos Emerald. His fingers gave a light wave beckoning it, as he felt for the warm tingle of energy. It lit up in a soft glow at his call, and rose into a light hover. Another wave of his fingers sent it into a gentle arc towards him where it settled in his palm. When he wrapped his hand around it, a sensation of warmth and power washed over him immediately; It dulled the heavy ache at his shoulder, and soothed his nerves. He breathed into it as it flooded his senses, and then exhaled the sensation away.
Sonic closed his eyes for a long breath, then opened them again. The emerald sparked several curious questions. First of which was how long could he wait to send them back home. With Knuckles abated, there was only his own will to belay them. He was not cruel; he would not add hours to the waiting worry that surely held their friends. Soon—but not just yet.
Perhaps it was selfish, but he wasn't ready. He felt barely more held together than Knuckles had been. There would be questions, anger, and blame when he returned—rightfully deserved—and he'd hardly worked out for himself whether they now stood better off, or worse for the knowledge they'd gained. He glanced down at Knuckles resting at his shoulder. 'Worse,' a pained voice chided within. He breathed a heavy sigh, which almost hitched in his throat. His eyes fell closed, and he tilted his head down to rest with Knuckles'.
He couldn't go back like this. He at least needed to pull himself together before returning. How long could he wait? Until Knuckles awoke? 'No.' But maybe the guardian was exhausted enough that Sonic could warp them without waking him? He could maybe spare Knuckles the dismay of all those first questions and worried faces.
An icy gust whipped a biting chill at his ears, and reminded him that time was not the only constraint. A glance at the fire showed it was holding steady, but would fade before long without tending. Perhaps that was his answer. He would stay until the fire died down.
His eyes fell back to the emerald in hand, then over to Knuckles again. Were they really as far as Knuckles suggested? He believed it well enough, but the how, and where, were nagging him. He couldn't decide which seemed more out of place—Knuckles' use of the Chaos Emerald at all, or the exceptional magnitude with which he'd wielded it.
It was probably furthest from what he should be trying to work out, but the question wouldn't leave his mind—and honestly, it was the only one that didn't hurt. He pondered over it, again and again, allowing himself this lesser distraction for a little while to fend off pain, and a mountain of misgivings. He worried exhaustion might claim him if he allowed himself to close his eyes. That could be a disastrous danger, so he let his thoughts ramble on instead. He managed to hold out about forty minutes before he did nearly drift off, but a tickle of something colder than the wind brushed his nose, and his eyes opened to a flutter of snow flurries sparkling against the dim light. It was beautiful. A tiny grin graced his lips, at the joy still to be found in something so simple.
The fire was truly dying now, with only a few embers left to cast a faded glow. 'It's time,' he decided. With a bit of a lean, and a stretch he managed to get a hand on Metal's head without disturbing Knuckles.
A feeling directed down at the emerald made its light grow in brightness and reach. The purple hue wasn't ideal, but it would have to do. He looked out past the trees and brush to the horizon, then scanned from one peripheral to the other, committing everything to memory. The chevron-like scar on a pine tree, just opposite him stood out most prominent. That rough mark, and this scene would surely stay with him. How long had Knuckles had struggled to save him? How long had he waited alone in cold silence here?
Where, and how were answers to questions far and away, probably nothing more, and surely meant for another time, but perhaps he'd like to find this place again.
With that final though Sonic closed his eyes. He squeezed Knuckles a little closer, then with a breath and flooding desire for home, they disappeared once more.
TBC
Quiver : a slight trembling movement or sound, especially one caused by a sudden strong emotion.
NOTES
And another year has passed. I'm right on the mark with this one though. Ch.6 posted one year ago. (BTH—Happy Birthday Knuckles!) Maybe I can get the next one down to 6 months. (Don't quote me on that.) But hey, if you're here, Thank you! I'm so thankful all of you have such with me in epic undertaking. I hope some of you have been enjoying Unlikely as well. My writing game has definitely been on the up & up this year. I'm so excited for you all to check out this new chapter. Enjoy!
—
So I just want to say thank you again for all the very kind and insightful comments from last chapter. You guys are the best. I wanted to share that all of your reactions from chapter 6 had a very strong effect on the course of this one. I realized from the collective response that I really needed to delve in much more the immediate effect and cost of last chapters shenanigans, than I had originally planned. I think this chapter definitely benefited from that. I'm a bit nervous about the response to this chapter, since I feel it's a bit of a turn from everything that's come before. I do hope you all enjoyed it, and would love to hear your thoughts.
Oh last thing, I drew a scene from the last chapter a while back, & did a pic Knux's birthday yesterday. Check them out at my deviantart if you feel so inclined.
Alright, that's all for now.
~ Sarilleny