Author's note: Now things are kicking off - enjoy :D

In this world, the consequences are anything but mild

She sighed, while he heels echoed around the walls, he arms crossed over her chest.

That wasn't good news.

The soldier's report told her that the prisoner was here to talk to her. About what? If he wanted to talk, he could have made an audience like any other mobian would.

Something was wrong, yet she trusted that the soldiers and the criminal she had called had done a good job.

She had seen him - when she had heard from the soldiers about a thief in the poor parts of town that could read you and tell you your secrets, she was skeptical but intrigued. The soldier that had reported to her earlier who said that he had found him had seemed shaken, like it had been uncomfortable that he had met him, confirming her suspicion that he was the right one for the job. Merely an hour ago she had caught him, as she had stood on the upper level and looked out a window from a returning meeting, seeing someone standing by the bed of flowers on the pathway to the kitchen staff she hadn't recognized before.

He had a green cloak that covered his head, meaning she didn't know what he looked like though her eyes had widened at seeing two pairs of tails wailing in the air, most likely thinking that he was alone. A fox. Though, her opinion had softened about him when he had crouched down and smelled the flowers, most likely not experienced something like that before. He was young. Much younger than she had expected and a part of her thought how someone like him lived on the streets. Something must have kept him there.

She shook her head dismissing the thought, was rather glad that she had decided to pack a smaller pair of gloves than a big, hoping that they would fit his hands.

She turned the corner, her eyes briefly glancing over the pictures that hung there. She scoffed uninterested, quickening her pace. He pink and white heels clicked in the plush carpet underneath her feet, as her dress covered her body, cut in the middle, purple, while a pair of white leggings adored her legs. Her gloves had white fluff at the wrists as well around her ankles while a golden necklace was around her neck. Her purple fur on her head was pulled back with a red band, a red dot in the middle of her forehead, as a pair of amber eyes were scanning the walls, a purple cat tail swaying back and forth.

She reached her desired destination, turning her head around for any soldiers. It was absurd to her, that she was sneaking around in her own castle, but she had to. She turned the knob on the door, opening it and immediately scooted inside, closing it quietly behind her. She heaved a sigh of relief looking into the seemingly empty room. A queen size bed was there, curtains around two windows as a settee was on the foot of the bed, an impressive wooden wardrobe pushed against the wall. Everything was elegant, no dust littering the room though no one used it, impressive woods, and expensive fabrics was on the bed, made and ready to sleep in. It was one of the many guest rooms in the castle, though she hadn't had any guests to occupy the rooms with yet.

She took another breath into the room, talking a few steps into it as her eyes scanned over the area. She looked out the windows, no one looking in, leaning against the door, no one listening.

"Silver?" She called into the empty room. First a bout of nothing happened until she turned her head towards the bed, a shuffling sound coming from underneath it.

"Blaze?" Another voice echoed, scooting out from under the bed and sitting on his knees.

He was a hedgehog, young and colored silver. He had chest fur covering around his neck, though the fur on the rest of his buddy was stubbier. Five spines shot straight into the air, creating a fan silhouette while two longer and broader spines were on either side of his head. He wore a pair of white gloves with a turquoise outline while his shoes were black and white striped. A tan muzzle with a small black nose and yellow eyes that looked confused at the cat who had entered.

She breathed a sigh of relief, while the hedgehog dusted himself up, getting on his feet.

"You almost gave me a heart attack, why were you hiding?" She asked with an edge of panic in her voice. She had almost thought that he hadn't been here, despite the princess' ability to stay calm in seemingly any situation. Had been faced against threatening royal guides more than once.

"Because someone entered the room, you told me to do that when they come to clean the room," -

"But they do that every Thursday you know that!" She almost spit back but breathed out the annoyance that was in her voice. A beat of awkward silence went through the room where the hedgehog scratched the back of his head, before sitting on the edge of the bed.

"So - what'd you do today?" He asked, the cat more than happy to get into their usual conversation, since she didn't feel like getting mad. This day had been frustrating enough.

"A lot of things. First, I had to figure out what to do with that prisoner who infiltrated the walls yesterday. An hour ago, or so the soldiers told me that he wasn't here to steal anything or kill me but wanted to talk to me," -

"Talk?" Silver echoed, complete disbelief littering his voice while the princess nodded.

"And now I don't know what to do with him. I don't think he just wants to talk to me, why infiltrate a castle to do that?" -

"Why don't you just go down there and get it over with?" -

"The general won't let me," Blaze continued, began pacing around the room while an annoyed sigh escaped her, an offended scoff from the silver individual on her behalf. "They won't even let me go down into the vault to check what he might have stolen!" It felt good to let her frustrations out, getting a vent to extract her thoughts from her mind.

"They're packing you into foam, don't they know you can take care of yourself?" She shook her head, her eyes narrowing out the window, as if she were scrutinizing the setting sun that created orange and yellow marbled colors on the beforehand blue sky.

"They know. They just wanna be careful," She defended, though she couldn't agree more, but understood why. Ever since she had been adopted by the king about four years ago she had been left to herself, left to an entire city, having a wave of responsibilities pushed onto her shoulders from seemingly nowhere. Of course, she had royal guides, assistants, and generals to aide her with it, since she wasn't eighteen yet, but still - it was her that ruled over everything. Over the entire city.

"Because I'm the only one remaining who can take charge of everything. Nobody knows where the king is, there is some people that speculates that he ran away," -

"Do you believe that?" Silver chimed in afterwards. Blaze bit her lip in hesitation, turning back around towards the room and leaned up against the windowsill, her tail whipping in a hidden emotion.

"I don't know what to believe. He is technically my father, but I've never even met him," She answered, letting a defeated sigh escape her as she closed her eyes. Everything was a mess in itself - in the beginning she had no idea what she had agreed to but now it seemed more incomprehensible than before.

It had seemed like a dream, when a couple of guards had come to her and asked her to be the daughter of the king of Croford and hereby take the responsibilites within. It all seemed illegal, just as easily she was suddenly royaly, taking care of an entire city because the king - her father - wasn't home. There were politics, regulations and rules that had been overlooked. There had been no introduction, no party, no nothing that officially made her the princess of the entire thing. It was downright weird, and even weirder that everyone in the castle seemingly had accepted that fact without asking questions. She had been acquired a room, had assistants and royal advisors to guide her through the rules and the decision that she wanted to make. From day one she had gained a responsibility over the city, something that she couldn't say no to now.

Why she had agreed in the beginning she still questioned.

"Blaze can I ask a question?" She turned her head towards the silver hedgehog, who innocently smiled at her. He was young, and in some way didn't fit in this world. She nodded in approval, said hedgehog shifting a bit on the bed, as if he thought the question would be offensive. "Why are you still here? You tell me about what's on the other side of the walls like you wanna go there. If this is so hard then why are you staying?" He asked, his eyes gleaming with sympathy more than anything. She shook her head, as she walked away from the window and plopped down beside the hedgehog, her hands joined together in her lap.

"Because it's my duty. I had no idea what I said yes to, but I can't just leave them. As of right now - this city is thriving. The economy is high, we have immigrants coming every single day and the criminality is lower, well at least in this part of town. I have no idea what to do in the poor area," She said, her eyes darting over the plush red carpet on the floor, the hedgehog shifting next to her in thought.

"Can't you just give them money?" She grinned at that, turning his head towards him and slowly shook her head.

"It doesn't work like that Silver. I can't just give them money since they will use it - wrong. The problem is that they don't trust us, and I don't blame them," She explained, bit her lip as her thoughts went back to the thief she had hired. The way that he had smelled the flower had told her everything, as he had seemed relaxed, a tranquility washing over him like a dam from a river. It had been a luxury for him, something that she could do every single day if she wanted to.

"No, I can't leave because I have responsibilities here, and so do you," He sighed at that, leaving his head in his hands, as Blaze looked at him with curious eyes.

"I don't get it Blaze. I don't get why I'm here. Why you're hiding me," He said, sighed into his hands. Though a hand on his shoulder made him turn his head around, the cat giving him a stern expression though she was smiling.

"Because you're special Silver. You have some amazing powers and I know you are destined for something big. I'm sorry that I have to hide you but if the royal advisors find out that I have hidden a civilian for months then- "She didn't want to end the sentence and instead bit her lip. Silver wiggled the hand off of him, looking out the window with a long sigh.

"I wanna go out and explore Blaze. I know you said that it's dangerous for me out there, but I don't- "-

"Silver, I don't wanna se you get hurt. There are some things that you have yet to learn and I hate to think what could happen to you. You're like a little brother to me," He turned his head around in surprise from the statement, though Blaze merely smiled at him.

She knew that he had a secret, a power that no one else had and something that no one else would gain. But there was something else. She could feel it. He had some sort of ability, something in him that could make him powerful, make him strong. Her only idea as to what it could be, she couldn't properly check without getting caught. In reality she had no idea why she was hiding him, but it just felt - right to her.

Both of their ears swirled towards the doors when a sudden shout could be heard throughout the hall.

"Princess Blaze! Princess, where are you?! He has escaped! He has escaped!"

The road was getting quieter and more people returned home as he walked in a fast pace to get back to the other side of town. Clutching the pouch close to his chest he had his head low, as he concentrated on listening.

This was unknown territory - one invisible wrong step and he could make enemies he had no idea he could made. He knew the thieves were here, especially at night, so if he were walking around their turf, he was sure that he would meet more than three mobians.

As mobians thinned out ahead of him, he glanced towards every alleyway that were there, would much rather hide in the shadows in there, though he knew he was more prone to getting attacked there. Despite the criminals' intentions, no matter what kind they were none of them liked creating commotion and gain a lot of attention, so he knew he wouldn't get ambushed in the middle of the road. Though, he could feel his tail cramping and screaming at him to let lose, but he only bit down his lip, and quickened his pace hopefully unnoticed.

In all honesty he had no idea what he had done. He was pretty sure that he was stupid, that he was the dumbest mobian on the entire planet and that he had created his own deathbed. Lying to the royals was something they didn't step lightly on, or he thought at least. A part of him was amazed, that they had believed in him right then and there which told him that they really had no idea what he was doing there. Why he had lied he had no idea, other than that hedgehog's face.

He had read it, could almost read his thoughts alone from his green emerald eyes. The pleading, almost begging of him not telling the truth. And he had succumbed to it.

Why?! Why had he been so foolish?! Was it because of the concern? The fact that a mobian he had no idea who was had shown a very little amount of concern for someone like him?

"That's ridiculous Tails. There is no way he could have looked at you like that; you just met the guy! It doesn't matter anyway; I'll never see him again. Right now, let's just get back and move. It's too dangerous to stay where I'm at now," He thought to himself, raised his head a bit to see the bridge in the distance. He heaved a sigh of relief, now that he was closer to the areas he knew, taking comfort in the thought that he was going to have a nice dinner tonight.

He whipped his ears backwards as well as his head when he suddenly heard shouting.

And then the running, clanking feet of soldiers that ran in a big group, could now see the light of the torches they ran with. He felt his heartbeat as fright started to fill his body - had they figured it out?

With a trained mind he quickly darted into the alleyway to his left, using the comfort of the barrels and the boxes around him while his mind was running.

"So many soldiers?! They couldn't be hunting for me, that is too many mobians for one pick pocketer?!"

He put a hand over his heart in a fruitless effort to calm it down, hiding behind a barrel as he saw the soldiers luckily run past. They were shouting, yelling orders that he couldn't comprehend, while civilians were pushed aside, some of them stumbling onto the ground. He strained his ears to figure out what they were saying, though his large yellow years were trained in listening for small sounds rather than high. The only words he could catch was where the soldiers were getting stationed out and then their clanking feet washed out everything else.

His eyes widened when a group of them turned to the alleyway, adrenaline being his only energy as he turned around and sprinted. Trained feet were making as little noise as possible as he ran around a corner, jumping on barrels, his ears turned backwards. Though they weren't following him but searched the area he had just been. He stopped, looked around at his surroundings, his mind demanding him to calm down. He needed to head the other way, get past the bridge.

Sounds were everywhere around him, soldiers, clanks of metal and commands getting yelled around him, making it impossible for him to figure out where they were. He gulped as he darted around another corner, getting further back towards the outer wall though it was a dead end. Going around a barrel and tripping over a stone he almost smashed headfirst into a wall, his ears swirling around. They were near him.

He whipped his head around when running came towards him, feet that ran faster than he could have ever imagined. His eyes blurred for a minute when all he saw was blue, hanging in the air like a veil and then suddenly stopping. Surprise overwhelmed him, his body clinging to the wall as if he tried to push himself against it.

At the corner of the wall he was against stood that same hedgehog, leaning forward out towards an alleyway, his small blue ears turned towards it. The fox kept his breathing under control, suddenly understand that it wasn't him they were after.

The hedgehog's head suddenly turned around, and when his eyes met him, they widened as well. Surprise. Nothing more than that.

"You?!" He blurted out, louder than comfortable.

The fox's ears swirled around again, suddenly hearing the soldiers getting closer to them.

"I thought- " He had no control over his movements, survival instinct and deep habit made him run over to the hedgehog and clap his hand over his mouth. Pulling him away from the corner and behind a barrel he ducked and pushed the hedgehog's head with him. He tugged the cloak closer to himself as a group of soldiers made it into the alley.

He couldn't see them as he was hidden behind the barrel, could only see the light of the torches in the squashed road. Clanking feet and low talk, mumbling about they thought they heard something. Eight feet, four soldiers. Less than comfortable if he needed to fight. The hedgehog beside him was still, not moving a muscle and didn't say anything behind his hand that was still there. As the feet came closer to them, he felt his heart beating out of his chest, did everything in his power to calm his breathing.

His right ear turned when shouting could be heard from an ally a ways away from them, the feet stopping dead in their track. A command was shouted he didn't understand, as the soldiers moved, the light disappearing around them as their feet disappeared. He took a moment to listen, swirling his ears around him though the clanking metal was further away from them.

He heaved a sigh of relief, feeling his heart almost beat out of his chest. That was close. He almost forgot the hedgehog that was next to him, though a slight shuffle of his foot made him turn his head around and take back his hand.

"Stay quiet," The pick pocketer practically hissed in a whisper. "You almost made them find us."

The blue one's eyes darted around the fox's, his own eyes analyzing his face. Surprise, and slightly impressed though a slight sternness sat in the corner of his eyes.

"Well excuse me for running away from them and stumble into you," He said back in a whisper of his own, though it was louder than comfortable. "I hadn't expected to find you," -

"Then what did you expect?" He added, could feel annoyance creep under his fur. He didn't have time for this, he needed to get back to his hideout before it got too dark and the soldiers getting on his tails.

"I don't know kid; I just ran as quickly as I could. I'm on my way out anyway," He explained, his green eyes almost shining in the alleyways light from the orange sun.

Tails blinked at him, thinking that he must be an idiot thinking that.

"You can't do that?! You're their hottest target as of right now. If you run through town without thinking you're gonna get a lot of people in trouble. Besides, the gates are protected because of the immigrants and you can be sure as hell that a lot of more soldiers are gonna be stationed out there now," -

"Calm with the language," He blinked confused at him, as a grin spread across the hedgehog's face. That was what he focused on? Though he could see from his eyes that seriousness crossed it instead of the surprise, the grin being more of a - comfort?

"Alright I get it, I don't wanna bring people into trouble because of me," He then added, turning his head around though Tails knew they were alone for now, his ears erect and listening for anything and everything around them. "Alright uhm I'm at a lost here kid, know a place where I could go?" He then asked, turning his face towards him, his eyes somewhat looking lost and defeated.

Tails bit his lip, well-knowing that there was literally no safe place for him to go. Except one.

He sighed, saw the confusion in the hedgehog's eyes though he turned away from him to think. If he ran around town, he would stir up a lot trouble, that much he knew. If it didn't give trouble to the thieves and gamblers then it would for the poor people, seeing how they got pushed around without their consent. But he couldn't take him with him, that would be too dangerous. If someone saw him walking around with the guy the soldiers were looking for it could mean a lot of trouble for him.

But what choice did he have?

"Alright," He breathed out, had no idea what he was doing, as he turned back around towards the blue one. "Come with me and we'll figure it out. Though, you're staying close and listen to what I say, okay?" He said, with a serious edge to his tone, narrowing his eyes at the hedgehog.

At first, he looked hesitant, biting his lip, and looked around him. He could practically read his thoughts, which gave him another wave of surprise. He didn't want to bring him into trouble. Though, the hedgehog apparently concluded that he was out of options, sighing and then looked at him with a smile.

"Alright, your call man. Thanks," Tails blinked, and then got back into reality as he nodded.

His ears swirled around, determining where the sound came from before he goes up on his feet, the hedgehog following up on his own feet. The fur on his back puffed up and pricked, feeling his presence right behind him. He ignored the feeling and instead darted ahead, mentally winched at how much noise the hedgehog made when he followed. Looking around barrels, ears turning and head checking for sporadic shadows he disappeared around corners, going around boxes.

He was following fine, close and wasn't that loud, but he was disturbing his senses. It was a weird sensation, he was so used to be alone that the hedgehog's presence was an automatic threat, though he knew that he was for now helping him. They stopped again behind a barrel, felt the hedgehog brush against his arm which made his fur puff up. He sighed annoyed and turned his head towards him, green eyes blinking confused at him.

"You're messing me up," He mumbled, this time around the hedgehog shaking his head in complete confusion, though Tails merely latched onto his wrist with his hand. "Be quiet," He then said, turning his head back around and began walking. Now that he could physically feel the hedgehog his senses were somewhat calm again, eyes and ears darting around the alleys, as the soldiers ran around the entire city.

What was he doing?!

He breathed a sigh of relief when they got out of thieves' turf, had been hearing shuffling and seeing fleeing shadows, thinking that they were after them. Though, they merely hid from the soldiers, as their clanking metal was subsiding, and they were much further away than before the bridge. Turning a familiar corner with is fingers digging into the hedgehog's fur, he stopped in his track and turned his ears around for one last check.

Luckily, the hedgehog had stayed quiet and kept up, not even heaving for breath like he had to sometime. He was loud on his feet though he knew how to keep hidden and luckily his dark blue fur was dark enough to hide in the shadows. Night had fallen at this point, his night vision working around the last ten minutes of the way, as stars twinkled in the sky above him.

When he determined it was safe enough to enter, he yanked in his arm and turned towards a curtain and drew it behind him. He let go of the hedgehog as he squished through his barrel tower, turning around to make sure that he didn't knock it over. He was slender but broader than he was, though he made it fine through the barrels, his eyes looking around where the fox had taken him.

Tails slumped down on the box that stood by his desk, running his hands through his face. He felt exhausted, had been on high alert practically all day and he could feel everything run down on him, despite his sudden visitor. Though, he somehow knew that the hedgehog wasn't a threat, despite him being locked up.

"Nice place you got," Apparently, he thought it was safe enough to talk fully, making the fox look back at him, though the hedgehog merely took a couple of steps inside and sat down on the edge of his makeshift bed. His face was relaxed, almost carefree about the whole ordeal, which made him mentally scoff at him. He had just brought him through half of town and made sure that they didn't run into anything and now he sat and looked like everything was just perfect?!

He didn't answer to the comment nonetheless, instead he stood up from the box and opened his small chest behind him, fishing out the oil and the matches since they were practically sitting in the darkness.

"What's your name?" He looked up from the question, holding the two items in each hand he had been searching for. The hedgehog gave him a grin - still relaxed, curious and weirdly calm. Either his eyes had played tricks on him all day or this mobian was crazy.

He tilted his head to the side, when he didn't get an outward answer, as the fox opened the lamp hanging in the ceiling, pouring in the oil. Swiping the match across the small box while his thoughts whirled around, he caught the oil on fire, putting the lamp back. Throwing his name around like a piece of fabric could be dangerous, though he highly doubted that the hedgehog wanted to seek out thieves or any other criminal for that matter. After putting the items away, he sat down on the same box from before as he extracted the pouch from his tail, feeling his stomach rumble now that they were somewhat safe.

"Tails," He said in a low voice, looking down at the pouch in his lap he had opened and fishing out the bread and the jam.

A questioning 'hm' came from the bed, which he reacted to, though the hedgehog merely smiled at him.

"They're pretty cool," -

"They?" The fox quickly asked in confusion, as the hedgehog seemed to have changed topics. Though he waved a seemingly lazy hand towards him, the same time that Tails realized that old habits had made him take his guard down. His cramping tail hadn't been able to take it anymore and was now wailing in the air along the other one, though from the mention they fell to the ground in a false attempt at hiding them.

He was a surprised, but that was from himself, and yet he felt bewilderment filling his mind as well. Cool? No one had ever called them cool; no one had ever complimented him.

He shook the thought of him, though he couldn't escape the warm feeling in his stomach from it.

"Hey, thanks for showing me through the city. You seemed to know your way around," The hedgehog then said, heard him scratching his head as the pick pocketer broke the bread apart and spread a small amount of jam on it. The jar was only small enough for the two pieces he had, and despite his gurgling stomach he reached forward and showed the hedgehog the food.

"It's not safe being in the ally without knowing what is there," Tails explained, as the hedgehog took the bread with another thanks. "You would have messed up a lot of things," -

"Most likely," The blue one grinned, taking a generous bite of the bread. "I'm Sonic by the way," He winked. "The hedgehog," He grinned again, something that made him feel oddly relaxed. "Though I don't know what I could have messed up,"

Tails almost didn't hear him as he bit into his own bread with jam, the sweetness and sugar overwhelming his mouth since the bread wasn't stale. He didn't have to chew hard on it and had most likely been baked today. Two days with bread for dinner - it was luxurious. Though as he swallowed, he looked back at the hedgehog who cleaned his fingers off of crumbs, curiously looking at him.

There was something about him, something he couldn't pinpoint but his presence alone made him feel. Welcome. Like that whatever trouble that was going on outside was going to be okay, his entire body screaming relaxation. Though, he blamed it on ignorance more than anything since he most definitely wasn't used to the life on the streets.

"The system," He then answered, taking another bite of his own food. "We have different areas of operation. The thieves are around the market and the alleyways around us. Gamblers and such are more out on the road. You can't just waltz around everywhere you go, there is a system. A ranking, system," The hedgehog's eyes shone with interest, a question coming to his mind.

"And where are you in that system?" Tails swallowed his bite, blinking in hesitation.

"I'm one of the pick pocketers. We're not thieves but not thimble riggers either. We don't have a specific place to be but goes around the other areas," He explained, was confused to see surprise wash over the hedgehog.

He then took a moment to look around, his green eyes darting over the few items he had around him.

"And you do that alone?" He asked, turning back to the fox.

It couldn't be - was that concern yet again? He felt another bit of annoyance creep under him, thinking that he was more than capable of taking care of himself.

"Yeah, so?" He quirked an annoyed eyebrow at him as he ate his last bite of the bread, taking his hand back into the pouch and fished out the bunches of grapes.

"Can I see your face?" He looked up in mild confusion, though the hedgehog grinned amused at him. "You saw my face back in the prison. Isn't it fair if I see yours?" He had had the hood over his head ever since he had left his hideout and could feel his ears wanting to get relieved from the fabric covering it.

He had never had anyone asking if they could look at him and now understood how uncomfortable that was. Though, basing his reasoning on fairness wasn't the most convincing question since that didn't exist in this city. But a part of him felt like he owed it to him, many deals he had done making him feel slightly guilty as he always completed a deal when making one.

He sighed out his hesitation as he pulled his hood back with one swipe of his hand, his ears twisting from freedom. The immediate surprise in the hedgehog's eyes made him look back down at the grapes and plucked one and threw it into his mouth. They were slightly acidic, though a tinge of sweetness swirled his tongue as well. Sonic must have realized that he read the surprise as he shook his head and shifted a bit.

"I'm sorry, you're just much younger than I expected. How long have you been living on the street?" -

"Stop sounding concerned, it's annoying!" Tails cut across, realized that he had raised his voice and by instinct swirled his ears backwards. Though, no sounds reached them as the hedgehog blinked at him. He shrugged though and caught the three grapes that was tossed towards him.

"Annoying? Dude, I'm just asking. When I see a kid out living on the street my reaction is to ask how they are. I know you must have lived here for a while and can take care of yourself but don't be mad about me being concerned."

He felt like he was getting lectured - like an adult was trying to give him advice on something that he already knew. He didn't care much of it, but as he swallowed his grape, he somehow felt complied to give him an answer.

"All my life," He said. "I'm eight, if you're wondering," He then added, and didn't have to look at him to know that he was surprised yet again. Wild day huh?

"Wow," He looked up from the exclamation, though Sonic put up both of his hands in front of him, in a mild defense. "Don't get me wrong, I'm just impressed," -

"I know. I can read it off you," He deadpanned, throwing the last grapes on the bunch to the hedgehog who had ate his.

"Yeah by the way that is seriously cool, how'd you learn it?" His interest was a cause for concern, as he thought he had already told him too much about himself. In reality there weren't a lot of people that knew the things that he had told him, though he blamed it on the circumstances rather than him trusting him. Trusting mobians was the last thing you wanted to do.

"Let's just say that people lie to me almost every day," He said, while taking out the water bottle from the pouch though he looked back at the hedgehog before he could answer another question.

"But now it's my turn. Who are you? What was so important that you had to infiltrate the castle?" He asked, his eyes locking together with the hedgehog's. He was determined to get an answer out of him, now that he knew practically everything about him, where he lived and the ranking system. He had told him too much, blaming on the relaxed nature of the blue one, since his whole presence radiated calmness.

Sonic blinked at him, apparently saw the determination shoot through him, as he shrugged his shoulders, placing his elbows on his knees and leaned forward a bit. Still relaxed, though something else showed up in his eyes.

"Like I told ya I'm Sonic. I'm not from here, I travelled quite a bit to be honest, came here yesterday. And uh, I came because I have a mission," He scratched the back of his head. Hesitation? "My village is small, but we stick together. Our chief, Tikal is - special. She gets visions sometimes."

Tails quirked and eyebrow in disbelief. Visions was a word that shouldn't exist since it was categorized as someone who could predict the future from getting images from seemingly nowhere. That was impossible. The only visions you could get was from the mushrooms that was passed around the poor people, though he had never had some himself, but had experienced mobians who had.

"A couple of days ago she got a vision and wanted to talk to me. She said that Chaos had opened his eyes to me and realized that I was something special. That I, apparently, had some sort of destiny to make the world peaceful," His lip twisted, his eye twitching very slightly. He didn't believe it himself. Good, that meant that he wasn't the only one around feeling like he was getting told a fairytale rather than an actual anecdote.

"So, she sent me out to gather a Chaos Emerald, since I apparently can do something with it. Truth be told I have no idea what she talked about, but since I felt like running, I didn't deny."

Tails managed to hold back the gasp that sat in his throat. Chaos Emerald? He had heard of it? And he had been told that he could do something with it? He shook his head, unnoticed by the hedgehog, bringing himself back to reality. Visions weren't real.

"Then why did you do it if you don't believe in what she told you?" He found himself asking, was getting tired of the surprise that overcame the hedgehog when he practically read his thoughts. Though it disappeared from him quickly, instead shrugged again, grinning towards him.

"Like I said I wanted to go running. I don't say no to an adventure, though I hadn't expected to get locked up while getting caught," He explained, then apparently remembered something. "By the way, thanks for covering for me. I - didn't know if you could tell or something, but I really didn't want them to know," He was hesitant to say 'you're welcome' or 'no problem' since he had no idea why he had helped him in the first place. What had made him feel compelled to lie to him - he was sure it wasn't out of pity, might be curiosity though he wasn't sure.

"What'd you steal?" He instead asked, as he took a drink out of the bottle, the cold and clean liquid going satisfyingly down his throat.

His silence was enough of a hesitant thought that he could be given, as he looked back at him, the hedgehog biting his lip. Apparently, a thought made him change his mind as he instead smirked towards him and reached a hand behind his quills.

"This," He announced before he even had gotten a hold of the item, taking it out of his spikes, the item resting in his hand, liked it belonged there.

The pick pocketer couldn't catch the gasp in time, almost dropping the bottle in his hand as his eyes were glued to the white Chaos Emerald in the hedgehog's hand. It seemed like it was pulsating, that it was blinking very softly and radiated a very dim light in the shadows the oil lamp was casting. He could feel it, the power within it, tingling in his fingertips, forced his hands to suddenly not shake.

"You know," He found himself whispering, the hedgehog blinking at him in mild confusion.

"I what now?" His eyes somehow averted away from the emerald, looking back at the green orbs that flashed around in confusion and bewilderment. His eyes found the emerald again, his mind repeating what he already knew about them.

"You know about them. The Chaos Emeralds. I've read books that spoke about chaos wielders, mobians who could use their powers to do something with them. I don't know what and I don't know how, but apparently they could use them to bend nature itself," His eyes got lost in the dim light, his thoughts travelling to his emerald that was nestled in the bottom of the chest beside him.

There was more than one.

An impressed whistle brought him out of his thoughts, as the hedgehog carelessly threw the emerald into the air and caught it again in a practiced manner.

"You don't say," He smirked. "Maybe Tikal was right after all," He then said, suddenly blinked and looked back at them. "Wait them? There's more than one?"

Tails looked back, suddenly realized the slip of his tongue. Sonic merely blinked at him, awaited his answer, the emerald snuggled safely in his hand. He couldn't help but notice the amount of rightfulness that was in it, that it seemed like it belonged there, and nowhere else. Like a key in a lock, a foot in a shoe.

Curiosity was swarming him like crazy, he still didn't believe in visions but couldn't help himself, as he turned back towards his storage chest, and opened it, rummaging around it. The dim light was there again, there, in the very bottom of the wooden storage-compartment, a dim light blue light. He took it and fished it out, was set back by the power that was sent through his fingers. Closing the lid, he turned back towards the hedgehog, saw the amount of surprise that filled his eyes, as his gaze fell on the light blue emerald that sat in the fox's hand.

"You're kidding," He exclaimed, his green emerald eyes fixated onto the emerald. Tails slowly shook his head, not believing it himself anymore. Two emeralds. How many was there? And another thing – the one he had was light blue, while the one Sonic had was white. Was there a difference?

As his thoughts swirled around his head, he twisted his whole body around when noises could be heard from outside of his curtain. He lifted his hand at the hedgehog when he heard the wood crack on the pallet he sat on as he shifted his weight, a silent command to sit still. He obliged, while his large ears were concentrated on the shuffling on the outside, could feel his fur prickle with anticipation. It lasted for a couple of moments, until running could be heard, away from his hideout, away from the alley. He breathed out a sigh of relief, his heart beating out of his chest as he looked back at the hedgehog, his green eyes fixated to where they had been.

"Have someone been listening all the time?" Tails was quick to shake his head, his ears still pined backwards to make sure that whoever that was, had been alone.

"They just came. Otherwise I would have heard them," He explained, looking back down at his emerald.

This place wasn't safe anymore – he had meant to look for a new place to stay today, and now it was getting more and more risqué to stay. The sheer thought of sleeping here tonight didn't ease his mind one bit. And he had another problem to worry about, looking up from the emerald and the hedgehog.

Sonic gaze was fastened onto their entrance, one hand scratching the back of his head while his eyes were a bit wide. Confused, bewildered but also a hint of being – impressed? He lightly shook his head, sighing since he couldn't think about that now.

"It's not safe," He mumbled somewhat aloud, making the hedgehog look back at him.

"It's not what now?"

Did he never listen? The blue orbs looked back up at him, turning his head towards the desk and at the items he had stashed underneath.

"It's not safe. We haven't been careful enough, someone might have followed us," He said, leaving the detail out that he most likely had been watched for the past week as it was. If the three mobians he had fought yesterday being evidence enough.

When the hedgehog opened his mouth to say something, he instead closed it, his eyes going back to the emerald. Regret – and he felt lost as well. He had regretted coming with him, a thing that told him that he worried.

The fox didn't have any more sighs in him, though he opted for a deep exhale instead, thinking that this hedgehog was a whole puddle of emotions. Despite this, he didn't want to tell him to go and leave him out in the streets – with how much noise he's making he's going to stir up a lot of trouble and make things harder for a lot of people. Both mobians in the criminal line and the poor.

His mind wondered to his contacts, furrowing his brow since he didn't like the thought of it. But he didn't have any other choice – Sonic wanted to leave the city, which was most likely for the best, but the gates were heavily guarded, especially now. He hated the thought of it, more the thought of him bringing potential danger to them, but he was out of options. He needed to get the hedgehog to them and then find another place to sleep for the night, despite the thought making him feel uneasy.

It was dangerous to just hide out in a broken and left out house, hoping that no one would find it. A lot of criminal activity was done during the night, every single mobian with a little bit of common sense using the empty alleyways, houses and wells to hide their stash or do meetings – crashing down into an empty house could be a death sentence.

Decision taken.

"You want to get out of, here right?" Tails asked, gaining the hedgehog's attention, emerald green eyes blinking confused at him. "I know some people that can help us. But you need to follow my lead and for the love of Chaos stay quiet!" He demanded, could feel his tails behind him whip agitated beyond his control.

Sonic blinked again, before something else appeared in them, the first hint of annoyance he had seen all day.

"Keep quiet? I'm as quiet as a mouse!" –

"If you believe that you'll be a dead mouse pretty soon," Tails shot back quickly, turning around to open the small box underneath his foldable table. That, the box he was sitting on and the chest he could pick up later, but the valuable items, he wanted to take with him. Pulling out the metal device he had created and the few tools he had, he turned his ears towards the hedgehog when he sputtered.

"How are you quieter than me?" He protested, as the fox hid his things in one tail, turning around towards the chest and fished out a couple of items.

"Your feet. You sound like you're running all the time despite walking. You need to step lighter, use your toes as leverage rather than your heel," He instructed, closing the lid on the chest, catching his battered gloves.

Mind turned back to the pouch he had left on the table; he quickly drew out the new gloves that was inside, as well as the two small things wrapped in green paper, hiding it away for later consumption. His own gloves were dirtied and had a few holes in them, pulling them off and frowned at the smell his hands gave off from the frequently used fabric. The new gloves were a pristine white, almost too white considering that he needed to be hidden out in the darkness. Thinking that he could dip them in mud later, he slid them over his hands and satisfying found that they fitted perfectly. Snapping the cuffs into place, he hid the water bottle in another tail, standing up and looked at the hedgehog.

"You ready? We need to walk quiet a distance and fast," He asked, pulling the hood back over his ears again.

He almost sighed at the smirk that the hedgehog gave him, standing up from the pallet and even had the courtesy to wink at him.

"Lead the way," He said, the fox this time letting his eyes roll into the ceiling, turning around to squeeze through his makeshift entrance.

Why was he still doing this? He had no idea.