Everyone is a part of the spiderweb – whether you like it or not

To be surprised could be a death sentence - getting caught in your daily routine and standing in involuntary shock at whatever had disturbed you.

It was dangerous, especially in the ally, in the dark spots and many hiding places, it was downright deadly to be surprised here. It was a long time ago since he had felt surprised, his eyes and ears always active, senses on high alert and every fiber in his body ready to sprint, fight or sneak. He was never relaxed, since relaxation meant that you took your guard down, and then ultimately get surprised.

So, when he turned the corner around a barrel and had excepted, to get full view onto the main street from the alley and a soldier stood there he froze in place. His trained mind immediately began categorizing his situation, thinking, and reflecting. He was alone - soldiers did not hide or ambush you, they were trained in combat and were send into fights in the royal's names.

They were also messengers, was always walking around the city, listening to mobians conversations, and reported anything that sounded suspicious. Not a lot of soldiers were around the poor part of town, since there wasn't anything interesting happening, but since he was closer to the bridge, he guessed that it was where he came from. Though, his absence in any comrades and allies told him that he wasn't here to fight or arrest him but was the messenger that they were.

That he stood in this ally way and intercepted his stride however was very worrisome since he had expected to find him here, which meant that someone had spilled a secret about where his temporary place to be where situated. Someone knew where he lived.

He quickly shook his head to get out of his surprise, took a second to mentally scold himself for being unaware and instead narrowed his eyes at the soldier, his fur puffing up underneath his cloak in pure mobian instinct.

"Tails the fox?" The soldier asked, a mechanical and formal tone lacing his words. A male, with chainmail armor, going down to his waist, armored pants covering his legs and heavy boots over his feet. A shield was on his back, a belt that held a sword on his hip, while a helmet hid most of his face. A round iron helmet that covered the entirety of his head, as well as his ears, one long metal strip down in the middle of his face. "The royal castle of Croford is asking for your assistance."

The fox bowed his head a bit, a wolf tail telling him what kind of race he was, green fur on his face telling him his color. And yet again, his exterior faltered a bit and swam with surprise. It was a known fact that the royals knew the most common criminals around town, the nicknames scattering around crowds and gaining the soldiers attention. But that he was well-known enough for the royals to know who he was, surprised him.

And then the second problem - them asking for assistance. He had never heard of the royals to ask for lowlifes for their help. Richer mobians sometimes sought out the criminals to get something they couldn't because of their reputation, and more times than one it was to get revenge without getting blood on their own hands. He had only made a deal with a rich mobian once since he had promised him meat for the swipe of some alcohol. It hadn't been worth it since the meat had been halfway contaminated and inedible. Go figure.

A trap? The thought circled around his mind until he dismissed it - he was apparently known enough for the royals to seek him out, but he knew mobians who had done more serious things than him swiping a couple of items. This was dangerous. He had already been standing still for too long, and whatever this soldier wanted from him was most likely not something that would interest him.

But at the same time, he was a bit intrigued. The soldier was alone and despite him having a weapon he could easily take him down if it came to it, and whatever he would tell him he could dismiss.

"If you take your helmet off then we can talk," The fox concluded, lifting his head a bit to see him in the light.

The morning routine was already happening behind the soldier, the main street crowded with poor people and the market in the distance having the common shouts of deals and angry tones of stubborn mobians. The soldier sighed while he strained his ears to hear him mumble 'go figure', until both of his hands took hold of the helmet, holding it in the crook of his arm.

From his face alone he could tell that he was an old soldier, his green fur matted with age, but his eyes were sharp. Determination, a thick held duty to whatever job he was assigned.

"Your assistance is requested at the royal prison ward," His eyes widened and felt his heartbeat, thinking that this was a trap. "We caught an intruder last night who doesn't want to spill out what he was doing there."

Tails calmed down again, but his heart was still beating the same. An intruder? Any criminal he had heard that tried to infiltrate the castle had paid the price dearly for it. No one had been able to cross the castle walls - until now.

His eyes darted over the wolf's, but his pupils were relaxed, and his lips didn't quiver. He spoke the truth.

"The reputation says that you can determine whether or not mobians lie or tell the truth," He heard an edge of disbelief, his eyes narrowing very slightly. This job was dumb, he had gone out here for nothing in his opinion. He felt a smirk go over his lips, feeling his confidence boost up in his child mind.

"I can," He nodded, only needed a heartbeat to look at him, gesturing a lazy hand towards him. "Your face is relaxed, though your pupils had gone a bit smaller and your lip is twisting a bit. You're telling the truth, but you don't believe in me. You don't stand erect but you're resting on your right foot while your other hand is tapping your hip. You don't plan on attacking me since you don't expect me to be able to do anything to you. You think that this is ridiculous, and you would much rather be in the other parts of town. Despite this, you're still experienced and wary of your surroundings. And now your tail is whipping because you realize you made a mistake and are getting annoyed over the fact that I read you easily like a book."

As if he was reminded he stood upright afterwards, his hand relaxing by his side though the wolf's face had changed.

He was annoyed, not offended but irritated, slight surprise in his irises though he could see that he was impressed as well.

"Very well," He licked his lips. Uncomfortable, but reassured. "You are asked to meet at the castle this afternoon and attend the questioning of the prisoner. You will tell us if he is lying or not, and in exchange you will receive food, water and clothes and the charges that had been faced against you for the last two months will be ignored," The offer was intriguing, mostly the food and the new fabrics since the charges didn't matter - there was no evidence for it.

"However, if we find out that you were lying to us then we will execute you for royal treason," A small smirk crossed his lip, so small that only the fox could read it. Satisfaction. He narrowed his own eyes, running the deal one more time around in his head.

He could easily see if people lied or not, that wasn't his problem, the problem was that it was a deal made with the royals. A part of him knew that he couldn't decline no matter what - if he says no in the name of the royals then this soldier might go away and leave him alone, but then fate will decide if he will seek some thieves and ask them to hunt him down. Might even ask an assassin.

Not helping higher powers could be dangerous, and therefore he didn't have a choice. Though, the thought intrigued him as well, as a part of him had wondered how it was like up there, since he had never travelled that far into the city.

"I accept," He said. The soldier nodded, his eyes shining a bit. Job done, satisfaction but still annoyance hanging around his frame. He put his helmet on, putting a hand on his sword in habit.

"You need to be there at around four - when you reach the gates go around the corner and into the back way. If you meet soldiers tell them who you are and they will let you through," With the information told he promptly turned around and marched off, disappearing out into the main street. Tails raised his ears forwards and focused his hearing on the metal clanking, though it disappeared instead of going back into another ally.

He let out a breath, looking up at the sun that was shining down at him - eleven. If he needed to reach the castle at around four, he needed to move now. A warning was in the back of his head, a nagging thought that screamed at him why the hell he had taken a deal with the royals. If the others found out, then he might become even a hotter target.

Though, he shook his head, began to walk forward thinking that there was no way out of it now. Besides - the thrill of something else happening than his trivial hide and seek life, made a smirk cross his lips.

The royals were the ones who decided what happened in the city and what changes could be made. They lived under a hidden curtain of thoughts, a belief that they had everything under control and that the city was thriving. Infrastructure had been the number one priority for the last year, since a lot of immigrants travelled to the city, hence why every opening the outer walls had was covered with soldiers.

They claimed that mobians were their number one priority and that every single resource that the castle held was funneled into the lives of the people living and working in the city. But obviously they were blind to the real problem, either that or that they were so ignorant to think that there was no problems going on in the city, that they thought that everything was so perfect that it was downright impossible for anything bad to happened. But he knew that they merely turned a blind eye, avoided the dark and disgusting parts of the city, and focused on what thrived the city into popularity and wealth. Anything else that didn't contribute to that factor was ignored.

Travelling across town was more dangerous, he knew this, and had gone through the alleyways most of the way there, hiding, listening, and darting around corners. He was trudging heavily around thief turf, going around their hunting grounds where no pick pocketers were allowed since they got in their way. He needed to have patience, his number one enemy since he didn't have a lot of it, and be careful, the latter easier to comply to.

He knew that if he made the wrong step words would gather around and he might find himself in a group of seven or eight or worse. And at that point he had no one who would help him, since the soldiers didn't care about the criminals. They were just that - criminals. Mobians who seemingly chose to ignore the rules when the truth of the matter was that the system had failed them.

After he had crossed the bridge, the slow sounds of the river underneath brought him a sense of calm as he had been forced to stay on the middle path. That meant that he rarely ducked into alleyways for cover since he was on unknown ground. The closer you got to the palace the more he saw the houses and the mobians change. The poverty he was used to was practically erased, like an entire new world since people walked around with smiles on their faces, clean dresses, shirts and garments, their feather or fur twirled together with elastic bands and such, baskets in their hands.

They talked and walked differently, their speeches having such a tone of unbearable high notes that he pulled back the need to fake retch every time they talked. Their stride was like a show, some of them walking with clear trained movements to make other notice them - who he had no idea. But as he travelled into this part of time, he knew that he was standing out more, and if the alleys had been any less dangerous, he would have walked behind the kept houses than here.

Despite his head looking down at his shoes he could see people in his peripheral vision look at him, stare, and whisper to their friends. He highly doubted that they knew who he was since criminality in these parts of town where kept to the thieves and burglars who were greedy for higher prices. It was because of his exterior, the way that he practically screamed at everybody that he was poor and didn't belong here. That mobian couldn't even afford the bread from the baker, even a slice, they could see it. His cloak that had old splotches, ripped at the bottom of it and smelled a bit. His yellow tail that was dirty as well, not having the opportunity to sneak out to a well in a while. The other tail was cramping at this point, being hidden for a long time, and screamed at him to let it loose from the fabric. Yet he couldn't. His extra appendage was the culprit of him ending where he was anyway.

His fur pricked, and he felt uncomfortable, the whispers and the stares that he got as he kept close proximity to the side of the road, the stone under his feet being brighter and actually looked like it was swept by someone. His ears stood erect in habit more than anything, though he wished that he could pin them down to his skull and not hear the words that was flung around. They were mild, not ones he had heard before, but they still stung, making him want to turn around and scurry back to the poor part of town. Instead, he concentrated on lifting his head and his eyes looking around for a potential swipe for something, since none of them kept their baskets or bags close to their body, though every time someone was forced to walk beside him they clutched it closer to their chests, like they expected him to steal something.

Which was correct, that was his intention, as he saw a group of people talking and laughing about something. He scoffed low to himself as he swiped into a female's basket, thinking that laughter was something that wasn't welcome in the other end of the city. It gave you away, loud and unnecessary since there weren't a lot of things to be happy about.

He almost gasped in surprise when he realized he had grabbed a handful of strawberries, something he had only tasted two times in his life. Carefully he bit into one underneath his hood, making it his afternoon lunch. His eyes widened at the sweetness that overwhelmed his mouth, while the slight acidity marked the tip of his tongue. He swallowed the bite as well as saliva that had conjugated from the incredible flavor almost greedily putting the entire fruit into his mouth.

Quicker than he had liked the handful of sweet fruits disappeared from his hand, lifting his head from the ground. Ahead of him towered the castle like never before, always behind a shadow in the distance, though now it was in his full vision, making him feel even more tiny than he already was.

The road ahead of him had side roads that travelled into the residential areas, the middle road ending out in bigger circles of trading carts and shops, though the end of it was at the castle gate, a high white castle wall surrounding the entire premise. That was tall in itself, the sturdy door in the gate wide open with two small spiers on either side. Soldiers were in rows, two meters between each other on either side of the road, guards that stood there for nothing in his opinion. Where the soldiers stood the houses abruptly stopped and was transformed into grass and flowers instead, which was kept since no weeds were present.

A couple of female mobians were plucking the flowers, big and small in wild colors. Plants were common, trees that stood somewhat sporadically around the poor parts of town and the flowers that were there had dull colors and half withered in neglect. These on the other hand were shining with color, rising towards the sun before someone plucked it from life. His eyes widened seeing the amount of colors and could stumble backwards from the sweet smells that overwhelmed him.

Ahead of the field, behind the gate, was the rest of the castle, tall and slender, whitewashed and glinted in the sun. Spires were in the ends of it, creating rooms with balconies, vines growing on the outer bricks. The roofs were red, dirty and old, the seemingly only structure that was unclean due to it being unreachable except the occasional rain. Six spiers stood there, four on one side and two on the other, non-symmetrical but somehow still stood beautiful.

Windows were on the slender spires, but the broader main structures of the castle had bigger windows, pained glass decorating with some sort of pattern he couldn't recognize. It was beautiful - in the distance he could only make out its white structure and the tall spires, which did not showcase the whole ordeal. Immediately curiosity overwhelmed him like a river, eyes darting over the structure, looking through the windows.

"I never thought it would be this big. How do people even live in there? They should get lost the whole thing is so big," He shook his head, realizing that he was about to walk onto the road where the soldiers were. "Don't think now Tails. Concentrate on getting inside and get it over with," He agreed with himself, felt his next step as it hit the road, a soldier standing directly next to him.

In uncomfortable instinct he moved into the middle of the path, bowing his head so low it seemed like he was paying them respects. He could feel their eyes following him, confused minds wondering why this poor kid was about to walk up to the castle gates, though nobody stopped him. He walked faster until he lifted his head and stood almost in front of the open gate.

Inside was a courtyard of some sort, an array of flowers and plants displayed in a circle in the middle while servants walked around carrying various items, he didn't have time to register. He stopped when he was in front of it, the soldier standing to his right looking at him. They didn't have to say anything, he could feel from their authority alone that he wasn't allowed to walk inside. He lifted his head without taking his hood down, their eyes meeting. He remembered the one soldier from the alleyway had told him and was about to open his mouth to say his name. But the mobian merely nodded his head to the right, his face apparently being enough of a recognizing.

He turned his head to the motioned way, saw a gravel pathway heading around the castle wall where a wooden door was embedded, most likely used for anyone that didn't have a high rank. He blinked at it in mild confusion before he trotted his way onto the path, felt the soldier follow him with his eyes. He took at moment to stand in front of the door, and placed his hand on the handle, opening it without knocking. He peaked his head inside, saw another bed of flowers and plants growing, a gravel pathway leading inside the walls.

He walked inside and closed the door behind him, heaving a sigh of relief as he let the other tail swipe out from its hidden place, happily wailing in the air when he had heard that he was alone. Distant talk and shuffling were what awaited him, but it was far enough away for him to take a moment to get his bearings. He turned around to look at his surroundings, the small courtyard and the gravel pathway being the servants' ways of walking outside to get groceries for the royals. Deliveries most likely, but since he had never been here, never imaged that he could even be here, he didn't feel disappointed that he was inside the main castle. This alone was enough of an experience.

Curiously, his eyes averted to a flower bed in front of him and took a step forward, his eyes going over the flowers. A part of him, call it animalistic or ancient if you want, made him crouch down and cub one of the flowers in his hand without plucking it. It was pink, big pedals that expanded out in the air, a couple of thorns on its stem. He leaned forward and took in a large sniff, smelling the flowers.

The smell was instantaneous, a sweetness filled the entirety of his nostrils and made a sudden calmness overwhelmed him. He met a lot of smells in his daily life, everything from newly baked bread to alcohol, the latter being enough for him to get nauseous. He had never had a desire to drink it, had tasted it once and made him recoil in disgust. Not a lot of great smells were around the poor areas, despite when he walked by a group of rich, perfumes and fresh produce alike hitting his sensitive nose. Though this, this was heavenly.

He had always liked plants and trees in a weird way, despite him having no experience with them. That was one of the reasons why he wanted to leave the city as well. Leave the spiderweb yeah, but he wanted to explore a forest, had seen tall trees whenever he had reached the outer walls of the city, and had a distant desire to reach them. He hadn't been able to fly over since he knew he would be spotted.

He caught himself in his daze, and immediately sprung to his feet, shaking his head. This was dangerous - he might be alone right now, but he was on castle grounds, somewhere that was unknown and not friendly towards criminals. That much he knew.

"Concentrate. You can't stand around like this," He reminded himself, as he swung one tail back underneath his cloak, as he walked beside the plants, around the gravel path.

A bush had been obscuring his eyes but as he took his steps, he saw a small wooden shed, most likely a storage area for different items and another open door into a room. Another wave of smells hit his nose, making saliva involuntary conjugate in his mouth which he swallowed. It was amazing, the smell of baked goods, bread, and sugar alike he could tell from the smell alone. Since there was nowhere else, he could go, he walked over to the open door and stood in the doorway, looking inside.

Cabinets, upon cabinet were on the walls, cobber pots and pans hanging on the walls, countertops, kitchen island and a lot of storage space was everywhere. Lamps hung in the ceiling, the floor dirty with flour and grease, a wave of warmth hitting him from the hot kitchen. Two servants stood with their back tuned to him, wearing an apron, two birds differently orange and blue. One of them was stirring in a bowl while the other stood in front of a stove.

His eyes widened upon seeing it, interest immediately peaking and if he hadn't had a better grip on himself, he would have darted inside. Technology was foreign in the poor parts of town, so seeing an electrical working heating device he could feel his fingers tinkle. It was working - the glass in the middle lightning up where some sort of dish was getting cooked inside in a large pan. His mind began wondering, thinking how it would work, how the electricity was wired and where they got it in the first place.

His wondering stopped when the servant turned around, and you didn't have to be an expert facial reader to see the shock that shot through the body, jumping while they got startled. The fox blinked at the female, her curvatures giving away her gender, as a pair of yellow eyes met him, until something apparently overcame her.

"Oh," Was the only word she exclaimed, until she turned around and leaned on a frame when she shouted up a staircase: "Mel he's here!" The other servant turned their head to look at him, raised a brow and then continued stirring like he was nothing. Confusion, but unimportant.

He raised his ears when someone came down the stairs, the servant that had been shouting walking over to another part of the kitchen and did nothing he cared for. A larger mobian came into view, a yellow cat who had an apron adoring her body and was washing her hands in a cloth. Her eyes were narrowed as she took a once over at his own body. Annoyed, uninterested but wary of him.

"I don't get why the princess wants a common thief to help her with an intruder for Chaos sake but I'm not one to judge," She said, to no one in particular as she took another step into the kitchen.

Her one sentence told him a lot of things, bringing him into another wave of surprise. He didn't know the royal ranks, but he knew that it was either commanders, lieutenants or generals that issued orders to the soldiers, meaning that if the princess herself had called for him then his job was more important that first anticipated. Now that it dawned on him, the surprise slid out of his body as quickly as it had appeared. It was abnormal for someone to break into the castle walls since it had never happened before, but apparently his reputation was important enough for the princess to think that he was enough assistance that she was going to need.

"Follow me - and if you even think about stealing something in here then I'll hit you myself with my best cake roll!" His eyes darted over hers, weren't threatened at all since he first of all had heard worse threats and second of all could easily avoid it if it came to it. He decided to play along for now, his eyes going over potential items that could be swiped as he crossed the kitchen, following the bigger cat who had opened a door and disappeared through it.

"Thieves, unworthy bastards that doesn't know how to have a life," She was mumbling, but his ears caught her sentence, immediately felt the anger bubble up in himself.

First of all, he wasn't a thief, they stole and didn't care who saw it, while pick pocketers on the other hand were more careful. And second of fall it wasn't his fault that he had ended up like he had.

He breathed out a desire to knock her across the head, as he followed her down some stairs, the walls getting significantly rougher as older stones were replaced with the new. The higher priced lamps disappeared and was replaced with small bulbs instead, a part of him still wondering where they got the electricity from. When they reached the bottom of it, there was another door, guarded by a soldier that greeted the cat that had walked down.

"He's here," She gestured towards Tails, who placed himself beside the stairs, looking at the soldier's face. He looked back at him - serious, determined, and wary - as he nodded back at the cat. It was her cue to leave, sending the fox a clear sour look before she disappeared back up the stairs.

His fur pricked with warning, now that he was in a smaller room alone with a soldier that looked like the exact same, he had met earlier, other than he was a rabbit instead. The sword at his hip was glistening in the low light, though his hand weren't on it, and his stance told him that he wasn't going to attack.

"We're only waiting for you. Remember: If you lie, we will hunt you down," The soldier said, didn't warn. His eyes held an edge of sternness, which was the only thing he could see since his face was obscured by the helmet.

"I hear you," The fox answered with annoyance from himself, narrowing his eyes at the mobian. His own eyes narrowed before he opened the door beside him, nodding his head to gesture that he went first. Tails' eyes were fixated onto him in a couple of moments before he walked through the door, his night vision slightly activating in the low light in the room.

In front of him was a set of bars, reaching form the ceiling to the floor, a door that could be opened to the left. His nose was hit with a smell of humidity, the damp cell being underground, in the low light. The soldier closed the door behind him and stood beside the fox, Tails instantly taking a step to his right from the proximity. In front of him was three other soldiers, one of them greeting the one who had walked inside with a nod. They stood in a row, the soldier in the middle holding up a piece of parchment, looking into the cell. The pick pocketer widened his eyes in surprise, seeing who was inside.

It wasn't an ordinary mobian, not one he had seen before at least, since hedgehogs weren't that common around Croford. The mobians' body easily gave away that they were male, as no feminine curvatures were around his hips. He was blue - a royal dark blue colored fur, though his chest and arms had a tan color, his legs blue and feet covered with dirty red and white sneakers with a golden buckle. His spikes in the back of his head were long and relaxed, five bundles of them. His back held two more spikes and a small blue tail was on his bottom. His body was slim, though you could see the muscles underneath the fur on his legs, hinting at strong thighs rather than biceps.

His body language was what impressed him the most, since any other prisoner would most likely be trembling or shaking in fear, this mobian wasn't. He was laying on a bed, a piece of wood with chains that held it to the wall and a pillow, legged crossed over each other and hands laced behind his head. One of his feet were tapping in the air, like he was listening to a song or something. He seemed - comfortable, relaxed, making him almost admit that his eyes were deceiving him.

"Everything good?" The solder with the paper in hand asked, turning around towards Tails. He blinked at the question, eyes somehow averting away from the prisoner though he was almost hidden in the back of the cell.

"I need to see his face," He said, saw the hedgehog's head whip towards him, though he couldn't see his features from the bars.

"Sit up," The soldier commanded, the solder to his left banging his sword against the bars, sending a ringing sound throughout the cell that made the fox's ears go back into his skull.

"Alright, sorry I was relaxing," His voice was deep, telling him that he was older than him most definitely, but what surprised him was the fact that his voice held a hint of amusement, and not annoyance as expected. He swung his legs from out of the bed, sitting on the edge of it before standing up, stretching his arms into the celling.

His face was not fully visible from the bars, a tan muzzle as his mouth morphed into a yawn, a semi-long nose, and big eyes. He had green eyes, emerald green that almost pierced right through him when they locked together in a couple of seconds. A wave of emotions ran through the hedgehog, his eyes and lips giving the smallest of tweaks and pulls that no one saw but him.

Surprise had been there, then morphed into confusion until he had seen something that he rarely saw, something that he pretty much had thought he had determined wrong since no one had that emotion anymore in his opinion - concern?

"Bringing an audience, I see? Well, I would like to do some tricks, but this cell is too- " -

"Shut up hedgehog! He's none of your business," The soldier warned, his back turned to him so he couldn't see his face, but he could hear that he was stern. To his surprise, the hedgehog smirked and crossed his arms over his chest, casualness practically radiating over him. He didn't know what he had expected from his visit, but this wasn't it.

"Alright. We will ask a series of questions and you will answer to them. Don't try to lie to us since we will know if you do," The soldier then explained, the hedgehog rolling his eyes into the ceiling. Bored.

Boredom? Really? He was in a prison cell Chaos dammit!

"Yeah fine, just hurry up so I can get out of here. I don't plan on creating roots here," A tinge of annoyance, no, impatience more than anything, tapping his foot into the floor again. Though the smirk was held in place, like the entire thing was humorous. Tails felt annoyance of his own creep around his fur, thinking that this was ridiculous.

"Alright," The soldier said, head lowered down to the paper. "Are you the one who broke inside?"

Tails' senses peaked, recognizing that this was what they needed him for.

"Yeah I was. Pretty easy as well," His smirk widened. His pupils didn't enlarge, no twisting at his lips and his quills were still. Confident, really confident. All soldiers suddenly turned to him, as he blinked out of his analysis, nodding.

"He's telling the truth," The soldier scribbled something down on the paper, while he caught the hedgehog's face turning towards him again. Surprise, and understanding. Mild disbelief crossing his eyes again, as the soldier cleared his throat, turning his head back.

"How'd you get in?" His grin spread so wide that hedgehog's teeth could be seen, confidence radiating through him.

"I just climbed the wall, sped around the place, went through your unlocked door to the kitchen, you should really put a lock on that, and went down into your little basement. Seriously, it looks like any other basement you could have hid it a bit better - anyway I went inside but couldn't do anything until I was ambushed by you guys. Pulled in here ever since, oh and by the way when is dinner? I'm starving," He padded his stomach as if that were the most important point he had to establish.

His face had held the same smug impression, confidence and even feeling proud of himself. No difference in his facial feature just yet. The soldiers' heads turned to him again though he nodded.

"Truth," He simply said, the soldier taking a couple of moments to scribble his explanation down. The hedgehog's face once again turned to him, his brow raising just a tad. Confusion, but the disbelief gone, making him smirk towards the hedgehog. He could have imagined the smirk that was sent back to him, when the soldier raised his head

"Were you planning on assassinating the princess?" -

"What? No! Who do you take me for?!" Offended, quite a bit actually, but his façade stayed the same despite the scrunching up at his features from disgust.

"Truth," Tails echoed, when the heads returned, avoided the hedgehog's gaze this time around.

The soldier leaned forward a bit, as he could feel his eyes narrowing now that he couldn't see it.

"Were you planning on stealing anything?"

The hedgehog shook his head, standing completely still, the food tapping stopping.

"No, I'm not trying anything man," His pupils widened a fraction, a very slight twist of the lip, and his foot stopped tapping. He was lying.

Before he could open his mouth and say something though the hedgehog's eyes averted away from the soldier to him. They pierced right through him, making him immediately stop. His eyes were sharp, the green of his irises seemingly shining in the light. He was asking him something. Asking for a favor.

The importance, the sternness in his expression told him that whatever he was doing here weren't because he needed money. He was here for a reason - an important one. Something that he was now practically begging him of not preventing.

The soldiers were now staring at him since a couple of seconds had passed by.

Tails blinked, taking in the hedgehog's expression, and answered in a lower voice.

"Truth," -

"What?" The soldier blurted out, had fully expected it to be a lie. Tails saw the faintest of smiles from the hedgehog, though his attention turned to the soldier, gesturing a hand towards the prisoner.

"Yeah. Can't you see his stance? He's confident, standing erect and his back straight, his quills aren't rising and he's not moving. His eyes didn't change, and his lips didn't quiver, he isn't lying. He thinks this is hilarious though and is impatient as all hell and just wants to get out of there."

The soldier blinked as he turned back to the prisoner whose expression had changed into someone who was impressed. He sighed before scribbling something down on his paper, the fox biting his lip in mild regret.

"Then what are you doing here?" The soldier then asked, impatience in his voice as well.

"I wanted to talk to the princess but since none of you wanted to show me to her I had to get in here somehow," -

"By going down into the basement?" -

"I got lost! This place is big," He was lying again. Standing completely still, which he had said to the others were confidence.

Though, his expression held that same beg, that same plead that he didn't want the fox to call out on him. He didn't have to look at him, as Tails looked at the soldier again.

"Truth," The soldier sighed audibly, writing something down on the paper before he leaned back, standing by the other two soldiers.

"We'll value your answers and decide your fate tonight," He said, turning towards the fox. "You're dismissed," He then said, as he and the two other soldiers turned around.

"Hey, wait when was dinner time?!" The hedgehog asked almost ludicrously like he hadn't eaten in days, though his clean form told the fox that he was fine. Though he didn't get an answer as the soldiers disappeared out a door, slamming shut behind them.

Tails caught the hedgehog's gaze before he was gestured out of the room, said hedgehog's previously saddened expression from denied food turned into a small smile and warmth in his eyes. Thanks. He was thanking him.

"Out," The fox was pushed the last bit when he turned around, as the door slammed behind him, the soldier looking at him with a stern expression. "Now get out before we change our minds," -

"You promised me a reward!" Tails immediately dejected, getting ready for a fight if it was necessary.

"Mel will fix it up for you. Now go," He gestured towards the stairs, that edge back in his throat. He didn't challenge him, feeling the situation heating up with their raising disgust towards him and instead turned around and darted up the stairs.

Once again, the smells of the kitchen hit him like a brick wall, the same cat from before turning around when she heard him coming. She visibly scoffed at him, before she picked up a pouch and walked over to him, shoving it into his hand.

"There you go. Now scram, before I call the guards to chase you out," She nodded towards the door, the other two servants looking over their shoulders at him. His eyes narrowed in slight challenge, though he ignored it as he went through the kitchen and the door.

The door slammed behind him, making his ears pin to his skull as he continued his trek. He reached the flower bed and couldn't hold his curiosity as he opened the seam on the small pouch. His eyes widened in surprise once more, practically not believing the contents of the bag. Whoever had put this together certainly hadn't been the cat.

The pouch held a small loaf of bread, a small jar with jam, grapes and two wrapped things in crackling green paper. A small water bottle that was easily reusable and a pair of gloves was stuffed into the bottom of it. It was a nice haul - making the entire trip worth it, despite the dangers that most likely had followed him.

He closed it again with a satisfied smile, looking at the sun, though it was dipping down into the horizon before he walked past the small garden, and reached the wooden door disappearing out of it.

"Another day, another great haul," He smirked, walking back out to the gravel path and down the road, almost running, since it was turning dark.