Hello everyone! I'm sorry it's been so long but it's time for another chapter of Nightstalkers! But first, we've got the reviews to address!
Void Reader: Minerva's guarded the Emerald quite effectively up until now, so the one at the temple is definitely safe, which leaves them with four to locate, and the new information about Sonic's destiny is definitely going to change some things!
Perturbo: I figured a bit of slow chapters were in order, but it'll inevitably pick up again soon enough!
AndTails: It certainly has been a while since the last update, hopefully the wait wasn't too bad! But at the very least, I'm glad you enjoyed last chapter!
That's everyone, so let's get started!
Nightstalkers
Frozen Frustrations
"Okay so let me make sure I've got this straight, we need to track down some magical gemstones and bring them all here, and apparently I'm qualified to do it because I'm some chosen one or something?"
"Pretty much sums it up." Knuckles responded as he watched Sonic pace back and forth within their small shack on Angel Island, where they had stayed last night.
"I mean, I don't know why she thinks I'm supposed to be the one to do this. So what if I'm a descendant of some hero, that doesn't suddenly make me capable of doing all of this!"
"Sonic, maybe she's right though!" Tails interjected from his spot sitting on the edge of his bed. "Maybe there's something more to this!"
"He's got a point." Sally added, "What if we figure out where the rest of these Chaos Emeralds are? Maybe we can find some answers while we do it."
Sonic sighed, "Fine… We'll at least give it a shot. But I'm still not convinced."
"About that…" Knuckles spoke. "I don't think that I will be coming with you."
"Wait, why not?" Tails replied, seemingly concerned about the echidna's comment.
"My home is here, and I have a responsibility to help protect Angel Island and the Master Emerald. I want to help, but I can't just ignore what I'm supposed to be doing. I'll keep the Chaos Emeralds safe for you, but I have a purpose here."
"I just wish you could come with… I still need to pay you back for saving my life…"
"Don't worry about that, besides I'll still be here. If any of you need anything just feel free to ask."
"It's been nice having you with us Knuckles." Sonic added.
"Thanks for all the help." Sally continued, "Really, it means a lot."
"I'm sure you three will do great, just don't get yourselves into too much trouble."
"We'll try our best!" Sonic replied as the echidna exited, leaving the other three Freedom Fighters to themselves.
"Well, why don't we stay here for the night, get some sleep, and resupply so we can set off in the morning," Sally suggested.
The other two agreed and finally went to bed, sleeping peacefully through the night.
The next morning they awoke early to ensure they would have plenty of time to travel, there was no telling how far they would have to go, but they figured having more time was always better.
After a moment to gather more supplies, the three of them descended the steps that led to Angel Island, setting their feet back on the grassy plain as they prepared to set off on another adventure.
Sonic produced the vial of red smoke that Minerva had given him, looking over at the other two mobians with him. "You two ready?"
They both nodded and Sonic then threw the vial to the floor, shattering it and freeing the cloud of smoke within. The red colored smoke drifted upward, gathering itself together until it coalesced into a small red sphere, hovering at eye level of the assembled mobians. The sphere started to float off, away from the group, and toward the mountains where Knothole was located. It didn't seem to be moving toward their former home but rather, leading them to a completely different mountain in the same area. The trio carefully traveled along behind it, moving through the thick forest at the base of the mountain in relative silence until nightfall. There was snow here, but just enough to cover the ground, not quite as much as the group was used to. As it got dark the smoke led the group to one of the nearby caves, stopping to hover out front before slowly dissipating and vanishing into the air. The Freedom Fighters took this as an opportunity to get some sleep for the night and they quickly set up inside the cave.
"I hope we don't have to go back to Knothole for this…" Sonic commented, "They're probably still mad at us after all…"
"Doesn't seem like we're headed that way, so we should be fine." Sally answered, "Guess Knothole was just really close to two of the Chaos Emeralds all this time."
"Seems that way, how you holding up Tails?"
"I'm fine… Just… The hunting urges are definitely getting stronger… I'm going to go deal with them if that's alright…" The fox responded, a bit of subtle embarrassment and shame in his voice as he made his way to his feet, removing his headband and cloak and setting them aside, as well as placing his satchel near the entrance to the cave.
"You're alright bud. Just make sure you don't get yourself hurt."
The fox nodded and was about to leave before he heard Sally add her own comment.
"Tails," She began. "You don't have to be ashamed about it, you can't control it after all. We understand."
The Nightspawn gently smiled before exiting the cave and vanishing into the thick trees, leaving the other two mobians alone.
"So…" Sally spoke, "I assume you're not totally convinced by what Minerva said about you?"
"Sal I'm not some chosen one. I know that much."
"What makes you think that? Tails certainly seems to think you've got it in you."
"That's because Tails is family Sal, you know how he is, of course he'd think I'm up to it…"
"But maybe he's onto something, I mean, he's the best judge of character that I know of."
"I know that, but that doesn't make me capable of fulfilling some prophecy… I mean I'm just, not all that I guess…"
"Well, I for one agree with Tails on this. If there was anyone I'd trust to fulfill some prophecy, it'd be you."
Sonic seemingly ignored her comment for a moment before he spoke again.
"I'll take the first watch tonight…" He said.
"That's fine, but could you do something for me?"
"Like what?"
"I just want to know why Tails feels ashamed talking to us about the whole Nightspawn thing. I mean, he knows we're here to help him right?"
"I'll talk to him about it, he's probably just scared. But I'll bring it up."
"Thanks, hopefully he'll be willing to talk about it."
"I'm sure he will, you sleep well Sal."
"Good night Sonic." She responded.
The chipmunk let herself get some rest as Sonic took his spot at the entrance to the cave, awaiting for when Tails inevitably returned.
-X-
"Alright… That should be far enough…" Tails thought as he finished his trek through the snow. The last thing he wanted was for him to attack the other Freedom Fighters, he figured this was a good spot, far enough away from the cave that he wouldn't be a threat.
The fox took a second to relax, carefully breathing in and out, allowing his instinct to take over, it wasn't long until his mind went black as his monster half took over.
The next thing Tails knew, he was staring down at blood-red snow. He was exhausted, evidently hunting this time around had been more tiring than usual, and it left the fox completely drained, still, at the very least it had indeed helped.
With morbid curiosity the fox looked up, checking what exactly his Nightstalker half had managed to kill during its hunt.
He immediately wished he hadn't.
A destroyed carcass of a dead Nightstalker rested in the snow, the dark furred beast had been torn apart, leaving quite the grisly scene behind.
Recoiling from the sight the fox almost instantly felt sick, and the knowledge that he had definitely eaten at least some of the recent kill was more than enough to make him vomit.
To top that off, Tails was positively exhausted, collapsing to his knees, taking a second to rest and catch his breath as he tried to regain his composure, fighting off the panic and dread that was starting to pour in. He could still taste some of what he'd eaten in his mouth, almost causing him to vomit again.
Eventually, he had enough strength to stand up on shaky legs and take in the rest of his surroundings. It was still dark out, and with the dim moonlight helping the fox to see, he could faintly make out which way he needed to go to return to the cave. At least, that's where he thought he needed to go, the panic in his system was making it hard to think straight.
Quickly checking over himself, he discovered he'd gotten more than a bit of blood on his chest, a very noticeable red patch covered a good part of the fox's chest, and a few other smaller splotches surrounded it. Tails tried his best to frantically rub off some of the bright red stains, but it didn't seem to help much.
"Why won't this come off!?" He thought.
Eventually, he found that trying to deal with the blood here was useless. It'd long since dried into his fur, making it impossible to remove by hand.
With his mind still somewhat in a frenzy, Tails started back toward the cave, and it wasn't long before he arrived, catching sight of Sonic at the entrance.
"Tails, what happened!? Are you hurt!?" The hedgehog said, noticing the deep red stains on the fox's chest and speckled around his mouth, along with his wide eyes and fearful expression.
"I… I…" The fox stammered as Sonic pulled him into a hug, trying his best to help calm Tails down. "I killed a Nightstalker."
"Tails, you do that all the time though."
"No, you don't understand! Whoever I'm out hunting I just lose control and the monster half just eats stuff!"
"But that still doesn't answer what-" Sonic went to respond before his brain put the pieces together, realizing what the blood on the fox's chest and mouth were from. Immediately he tried to push the thought out of his mind before it made him sick.
"Tails, that's…" The hedgehog continued, "I'll get you something to get the taste out of your mouth. Just take a seat and relax for a minute."
He grabbed a bit of food from Tails' satchel and handed it to the fox, who seemed to be starting to calm down a bit. The fox quickly ate, clearing out the horrible aftertaste.
"Not sure how we're going to get the blood off you…" Sonic mused, sitting down next to the fox. "Maybe there's somewhere close to here where you could maybe wash it off in the morning… It's probably not a good idea to head out on your own tonight. Has this happened before?"
"N-No…"
"Tails I'm sorry. That's just horrible."
The fox didn't answer him for a moment as the two of them sat outside the cave.
"I'm a monster…" Tails muttered, the recent events still playing in the forefront of his mind.
"Tails you're not-"
"Look at me Sonic!" The kit exclaimed, his tone full of anger as he gestured to the blood on his chest. "Of course I'm a monster! You just keep telling me that I'm not over and over again when I know that's not true! I am a monster!"
A tense silence settled over the two of them, broken only by Tails' quiet panting as he cooled off from the outburst.
"You know what…" Sonic said, "You're right…"
Tails looked at him curiously as the hedgehog continued. "I guess I've just been trying to get you to realize you're not a monster this whole time, but no matter what I say, it's not going to change that. So Tails, I want you to know that while you might be a monster, you're still family to me. I don't care if you've got three eyes or if you sometimes just need to deal with stuff. I've been trying to force you to think about things the way I want to, when really it should be the other way around. I'm really sorry Tails…"
"Sonic… That's… Thank you…" The Nightspawn replied, somewhat surprised by the hedgehog's response. "That's what I've just been frustrated about… Every time you said that I wasn't a monster, I couldn't help but feel bad… It would maybe help for a bit, but I'd always have the thought that really, I am a monster… I think it's about time I stopped pretending I'm something that I'm not."
"It's really not something to be ashamed of bud, me and Sal have just been worried about you. But now, I think I understand. I've just been making things worse…"
"No you haven't Sonic, it's just I'm tired of always lying to myself. You've helped out a lot, but maybe there's a different way we can both think about this."
"Thanks Tails, I'll be better, I promise."
"Thanks Sonic."
"You know you're my favorite Nightspawn right?"
The comment earned a laugh from Tails, seemingly lightening up the somewhat somber mood that had settled over the two of them.
"I'm the only Nightspawn you know!"
"That doesn't make it any less true!"
"Fair enough, but Sonic, if you've ever got any questions about anything, just ask."
"Well… I do have one I guess. What's up with the two tails? Like, where does that come in?"
"Well, it's probably because both my parents' generics don't exactly line up perfectly."
"You could say that again. I imagine there's some strange stuff going on with that."
"Maybe I'm lucky to only have two!"
"Maybe so, either way, makes you a bit more unique."
Tails smiled as the two took a moment to reflect on the conversation before Sonic spoke again.
"Well, I figure you better get some rest. Long day tomorrow, we'll figure out how to deal with the bloodstains in the morning."
"Yeah… Good night Sonic…"
"Good night Tails."
The fox retired to the cave and quickly fell asleep, once again leaving Sonic alone under the peaceful night sky…
-X-
The trio awoke early the next morning as the sun crested over the horizon. Sally had taken over after Sonic's watch, and the two had discussed the events of the night, catching her up to speed on what had happened with Tails and their conversation last night.
The fox had left quickly in the morning, taking the opportunity to wash himself off in a small nearby pond. He was glad to be able to wash away any evidence of what had happened the night before, but he was even happier knowing that he could now be more open with the other two mobians about his feelings from here on.
It wasn't long before the trio was once again ready to travel. As if on command the small red orb of smoke reappeared outside the cave once they were completely ready. The orb started off further up the mountain, leading the group close behind it as they followed. The weather progressively got colder and colder as they ascended, the temperature slowly dropping further, with little additional warmth coming on account of the sunlight being obscured by a thick layer of clouds above.
It didn't bother the group too much, their cloaks were well designed to accommodate the cold mountainous weather of Knothole, and the frigid winds didn't do much to deter them.
Small particles of snow drifted down from above, resting on their outfits and dotting their fur as they walked. But it wasn't long before the winds brought with them something they hadn't been expecting.
The snowfall only continued to increase, with more and more falling down to the ground, leaving fresh powder to be kicked up by the wind, blowing in the faces of the three mobians and making it much harder to see much of anything. Sonic had to really pay attention to even spot the orb of smoke guiding them forward.
"Sonic, maybe we should take a second and let the storm pass." Sally suggested, "If anything, it's just going to keep getting worse."
"I would Sal, but there's nowhere to go." The hedgehog responded, "I'm not even sure where we even are right now."
"There's got to be somewhere around here, maybe if we-"
A powerful gust of wind rushed over the mountainside, interrupting Sally's sentence as it kicked up and blew snow everywhere, reducing visibility to near zero for a moment as the snowfall only grew stronger. There was no denying things now, they had gotten themselves caught in a blizzard.
"We're just going to have to keep moving," Sonic yelled over the wind.
To Tails, that was suicide, the fox's own cloak was made of a bit thinner material, normally his thick fur was more than enough to keep him warm. Now however, he found himself shivering as the temperature continued to lower, and he suspected the other two mobians weren't fairing much better.
While Sonic sounded crazy, it was the only thing they could do. Waiting out here in the cold air would get problematic fast, they needed to find somewhere to wait out the storm.
Carefully the group trudged on, shivering from the cold and barely able to see one another directly in front of them. Sonic had all but lost sight of the orb of smoke that was supposed to be guiding them.
After traveling a bit further, Sonic could faintly make out the outline of some sort of structure. It was tall, almost more like a tower than anything. Though any more detail than that was completely obscured by the frantic snowfall.
Still, it would have to do.
Trying to yell to the other two mobians would be futile, so he did his best to usher them over to the base of the structure. From here, the hedgehog could tell that it was made of metal, it was solid and cold to the touch, an entryway of sorts was recessed into the exterior, ending in a vault-like sealed door. It was seemingly hydraulic operated from the inside, as Sonic couldn't find any way to open the thing.
Still, the small recessed area provided decent protection from the cold, and he figured that if there even was anybody still here they wouldn't mind the three of them waiting out the storm here.
The trio huddled together in the small area, protected from the snow but still chilled to their cores.
Then, nothing short of a miracle happened. The door at the end of the entryway slowly unsealed and opened, providing a method for the trio of mobians to enter inside.
Not one to complain about better shelter, the three of them quickly hurried inside, it wasn't long after they entered that the door shut behind them, completely protecting them from the storm outside.
The group had entered what looked to be a small workshop of sorts. Several tables around the room had various mechanical parts and tools scattered across their surfaces. It wasn't long before Sonic and the rest of the group came to a conclusion.
It was heated in here, and the amount of stuff just left here confirmed this wasn't just some old abandoned shelter.
Someone lived here.
"Well, this wasn't something I was expecting today…"
Turning to look to the source of the voice, the trio of mobians were surprised at what they saw.
The tall man was dressed in a white and red outfit, covered by a crimson red cloak with yellow trim. A satchel rested at his side underneath the cloak, with several different tools attached to the straps. A tall pair of black boots with white tops completed the outfit. The man's entire left arm was mechanical, a faint blue glow emanated from a small transparent section just under his shoulder, allowing a view of some of the mechanism's internals.
Looking into the man's face, his features were dominated by a large pair of round bronze glasses with darkened lenses, obscuring his eyes from view. A thick orange-brown mustache and beard covered most of the rest of his face. A set of engineering goggles rested on top of his head.
"But as long as you're here." The man continued, "I figure it's worth introducing myself. My name is Doctor Ivo Robotnik, and welcome to my sanctuary."
Alright everyone, that's it for this chapter! Let me know what you thought about it in a review! I'd also like to thank my editor and friend Perturbo for all the help with this chapter! Go check out his stuff! Until next time!
