"You know if you just handed over that stone, all of this could end. It's all we want."

"All you want?! You showed up here and didn't even ask! You set the forest on fire and now everyone is gone! I don't care what you want with this stone, you don't deserve it!"

"..."

"You know… I'm a kid like you."

"Huh..?"

"I didn't want to do this, get involved, hurt so many people. I tried to convince my father that this wasn't how we had to go about this."

"But…"

"He didn't listen, he told me that once we have this stone. Everything will be alright again, no matter what we have to do. And I'm prepared to do anything for him."

"Wait- what?!"

"Sorry about this, but at least you'll find peace with the rest of the island's inhabitants."

"No- No stay back! HEY NO-"

A loud scream, wind rushing past deafening the senses. It was too much all at once-

And then everything went dark.

—

Miles woke up with a gasp, snapping up as he held his chest. Feeling his heart beat painfully underneath his hand. His fur was soaked with sweat, and he could feel his whole body shivering from the nightmare it had been put through. Or- was it a memory of the time he'd rather not think about?

Ugh, he should have known talking with the doctor about it would have dredged something up in his mind to torment him when he fell asleep. He wondered if the doctor…

Wait.

THE DOCTOR-

Miles snapped back to reality and looked around in a panic, remembering what had happened back at the base before he- before Sonic- before the doctor! He was in the middle of the woods, but not a section he knew by heart. The base was nowhere in sight and Miles could only assume the worst of what happened to the man in the blast.

Pushing himself up, Miles stood on shaky legs for a few moments before they gave out, sending him to his knees. He hissed at the feeling, trying to keep tears from welling up in his eyes as he tried to push himself up again. Slowly but surely, he managed to get to his feet and tried to take a step forward before his leg gave out again sending him forward with a yelp.

Instead of hitting the floor though, his shoulder was grabbed as he was pulled against someone's chest-

"Hey now! You gotta be careful you're pretty in-" Miles didn't see who was talking, he just knew that the voice was familiar and it wasn't the doctor's. So he reacted by instinct and swung around, throwing a fist at the other person with his eyes closed.

Considering the feeling of something soft hitting his hand and the noise of someone getting taken by surprise. Miles could say he managed to hit the other. Though, as he did, the other let go of him, and his legs still couldn't support him. So they both ended up hitting the ground around the same time.

Miles whimpered as his already battered body took another hit and felt his vision flick in and out. Everything was screaming at him to rest, go back to sleep for a while longer. He reached out and clawed into the ground, telling himself that he had to keep going.

He had been here before, and he kept going then. He could keep going. He wouldn't give up yet-!

"Augh- okay hard punch, noted. Kid- hey hey!" The voice got closer and Miles found himself picked up again and held to someone's chest. His arms being pinned so he wouldn't swing at them again. Miles tried to squirm, and debated biting the person before the other adjusted and his head fell against the other's chest.

His hearing was quickly overwhelmed by the sound of a heartbeat, one that wasn't his own, and was far more calm than his at the moment.

Along with the beating, his other ear picked up the sound of the other talking. The words being lost on him- but the tone being that of comfort. They were trying to calm him down..?

Miles couldn't help but blink, listening to the sound as his body unwillingly relaxed. After a minute he was looking blankly ahead, completely limp as he listened to the others' heartbeat. His mind completely calmed from the events that had just happened to him.

Soon after, Miles was pulled away from the other's chest, blinking as his senses came back to him and his ears pulled away from the other. That was a dirty trick!

"You calm now?" The other spoke again, sounding amused as Miles looked up to them. His eyes widened as he recognized Sonic- how could he have forgotten?! He wanted to say something, but the other just chuckled and finally let Miles go. "Sorry bout that, but you were freaking out too much! That trick works every time on the keeds." The hedgehog seemed happy, far too happy despite the fact he just blew up an entire building and caused weeks worth of damage!

Miles felt his tails puff outward as he glared at Sonic, he had so many things he had to say to this stupid hedgehog! Hurting the doctor, ruining his plans! Not to mention the fact that he just up and kidnapped him too! Miles wanted to yell at him, punch him- do ANYTHING to show just how upset he was!

But…

This guy managed to defeat the doctor, and destroy a bunch of robots he knew were well built… not to mention his body was still injured because the villagers. He was in no position to fight, much less try to start one.

Slowly, the anger faded as Miles' ears folded downward, knowing very well he had to try to cooperate or else something worse might happen.

Sonic, on the other hand, had been watching the kit, fully prepared to get swung at again. Seeing that the fix had obviously been really wound up for a number of reasons, though, when he saw the other's ears fall and his shoulders untense. He assumed that the other was calming down. Sonic offered a warm smile and knelt down, putting a hand on Miles's shoulder to grab his attention again.

"Hey, don't worry I'm not mad. I'm sorry I just grabbed you like that, I musta scared you pretty badly huh?" He kept a lighthearted tone, obviously trying to make a joke about getting punched in the face.

Miles didn't see the amusement in it though, and just frowned at the other as he crossed his arms. Though, he just appeared to be hiding himself from Sonic, causing the hedgehog to rub the back of his head in thought. He really wasn't the best with kids, more a solo guy…

"Ah- well you know me already! I'm Sonic, but what about you keed? You got captured before I could get your name last time." Sonic was still kicking himself for that, when he had found the fox he had just wanted to get him somewhere safe! But after they ran into those badniks he automatically put all his focus on destroying those stupid bots, and when he finished and tried to find the fox again. He had vanished..

Sonic could only assume some kind of badnik had managed to sneak up behind them and steal the poor kid away. Sonic wasn't sure what Eggman would want with a fox kit, but Sonic wouldn't let anything happen.

But protecting this kit was one thing, considering how the other was acting- getting him to trust Sonic was a whole other mission in itself. He could tell when a person didn't want to open up, but he was great at breaking down walls and making people laugh! After all, he did it with his red, aggressive friend as well! So a small kit shouldn't be nearly as hard, or as painful considering Knuckles had one hell of a punch…

Sonic finally snapped out of his thoughts and looked back at Miles, realizing that the other still hadn't told him his name. Sonic thought about it, watching the other, obviously watching him distrustfully and smiled as he pulled his hand back from the other's shoulder.

"Hey, if you don't wanna say your name that's fine. I can always call ya by a nickname." Sonic tried to sound as friendly as possible, which made Miles look at him in confusion. Sonic instead rubbed his chin, looking thoughtful as he glanced over the fox. Goggles and bandages, but Goggles didn't sound too fitting for the kit.

Sonic was almost at a loss before a flick caught his eye, well- two flicks actually. He hadn't noticed before but the fox had- two tails? That was amazing! He watched them for a moment in surprise before grinning.

"I'll call ya Tails!"

That got a reaction out of the other for sure. Tails- or Miles, taking a step back in disbelief and shock.

"What?!"

Miles hadn't wanted to tell the other his name, and had just expected Sonic to drop it. Yet the other just had to bring up a nickname- and why Tails of all things? Was he…

"Are you making fun of me?!" His voice sounded more upset than he wanted it to sound- Miles had meant to come across as angry. Though either way, from the shock on Sonic's face he managed to get the other to backtrack as the hedgehog raised his hands up in defense.

"Whoa whoa! I didn't mean it in a bad way kiddo! I think your tails are pretty cool! Never seen a fox with two before after all." Sonic offered a small smile, as Miles looked over at him confused and distrustfully.

"Yeah right… everyone makes fun of my tails!" Everyone but the doctor… "If you wanna call me a freak just say it to my face!" Miles all but spat at the other, his tails fluffing up as he said this to try to get Sonic to back down. Miles knew the best route of action was to be cooperative, but he was so angry at what the other did- at what he ruined for his own gain! Miles felt like he lost everything, and it made him want to cry. But he didn't have time to show that kind of weakness, so he forced it into anger, though cracks were quickly appearing no matter how much he didn't want them too.

"Hey- I didn't mean it that way! You're no freak!" The amount of assurance in Sonic's voice caught the other by surprise. Miles blinked in shock as Sonic frowned at him "I don't know what others have said to you, but you having two tails does not make you a freak! It makes you unique, special!"

That was the first time anyone had ever said anything nice about his tails. The doctor didn't make fun of him but- well the other never chose to mention his extra appendage, it was nice. He was treated like a normal person instead of a freak, but Sonic, Sonic wanted to put that strange part of him in the spotlight. Miles didn't get that, who would ever consider him special?

"I don't know who would ever say such awful things about you, but I'll be the first to tell you they're wrong about you keed!" Sonic looked at the shocked fox as he spoke, and felt awful when the other watched him in disbelief. Who would say such things to a child? Sonic wouldn't let that stand, he'd make sure the other thought otherwise!

"Do… Do you really mean that? You- you don't even know me."

"More than anything keed. It doesn't matter that I don't know you, whoever called you a freak probably didn't know you either."

Miles watched him, still looking unsure as his tails wrapped around his legs.

"You're weird…"

"I guess I am! But there's nothing wrong with being a little weird. Everyone's a little weird if you look close enough you know!"

That made Miles pause, and think for a moment. He… supposed that Sonic had a point when it came to that. Sonic was certainly a weird one, people thought he was weird… maybe the doctor was a little weird too, especially with how he made robots. Though the doctor wasn't weird in a bad way! At least- not to Miles…

Did Sonic think he was weird in a good way? He still didn't understand why…

"Hey, if you still feel unsure about the nickname. Don't worry! We can figure something else out, or wait until you feel comfortable to tell me what your real name is! I don't mind, but either way we have to get moving okay?"

The sudden change of topic made Miles look over-confused, blinking at him.

"Why do we have to get moving?"

"Well I need to go stop Eggman, and I can't leave you alone! So I know it's a lot, but you're gonna join me on a small adventure okay?"

Stop Eggman? Miles wasn't sure why Sonic would stop him, if anything Sonic was the one that had to be stopped after wrecking the base! But… if he was saying that then that meant the doctor-

"He's okay after that explosion?" The words slipped out of Miles' mouth before he meant to ask them, and he quickly covered it moments after he spoke. He wanted to make sure the other was okay- but if he blew his cover now..!

"Unfortunately, the guy can bounce back from nearly anything!" Sonic easily answered, mistaking Miles' worry for concern about his kidnapper. "Trust me I learned that the hard way from our last encounter, but don't worry! I've stopped him before, I can stop him again! We just gotta find the Chaos Emeralds! I saw them spreading over the island after I busted open that machine of his, now we just have to grab them before he does!"

Sonic was never a person of plans, oftentimes always just running forward and considering what came next to be whatever the world wanted to happen. He knew the emeralds were on this island, so the next course would be to simply gather them all just like he had done before. All six and then he could fix everything just like last time on South Island after Eggman had all but nearly destroyed it.

"The Chaos Emeralds scattered…? How does that…" Miles frowned, thinking about it. Now that his own memory was clearing up slightly- there was a burst of color just before the explosion happened. Had that been the emeralds? He knew they were powerful but to just… go wherever? No wonder so many people wanted them.

"Afraid I can't answer that one Keed! The emeralds are really strange things, but they've helped me a lot so I'll always help them in return! Now come on, we really got to get going!"

Sonic reached out, offering a hand to Miles with a warm smile.

"Stick by me and I promise nothin will happen to ya. I'll be right by your side the whole time okay?"

Miles looked at him, thinking about what this would do- what he could possibly gain from agreeing to work with the enemy instead of just heading back to the doctor…. But then he got an idea. Sonic was looking for the emeralds, and the doctor would want them back to finish their plan!

So if Miles went with Sonic and they gathered the emeralds… he could take them back to the doctor!

Also it'd be revenge for causing them so much trouble in the first place! The best revenge was always served by hitting someone in a place you knew it would hurt. He grinned as he thought up a new plan, one that would be best in the long run.

Miles took the other's hand, shaking it as he took in a deep breath.

"Okay, but I'll hold you to that!"

"Alright it's a deal then! Let's get going Keed!"

Sonic let the other's hand go and started to head off, Miles hesitating for a moment before heading off after him.

"...I guess you can call me Tails too."

"Oh-?" Sonic looked back in surprise at this, almost stopping. Miles wasn't looking at him, glancing off at some random part of the forest.

"I don't want you to call me Keed the whole time. I'm not some little kit! While I'm not the biggest fan of Tails… it's the better option, but if you ever try to use it as an insult I'm leaving!"

Sonic blinked at him, before smiling warmly at the other.

"You have my word Tails."

And at that, the duo headed off through the woods with one another. Both having their own personal plans of what would come next.

This is short and bad and I'm so sorry but midterms have been awful and I just had to get this chapter out cause it's this weird halfway filler not filler point-

BASICALLY, it will get better next chapter and I'm gonna fix my upload schedule! Thank you for everyone who's been so patient with me- and to the person who said my story was terrible thanks for making me laugh. Anyways- that's all, later!