Just because you hide it doesn't mean that you're safe
Nervous wasn't the right word that described his situation. Terrified he wouldn't use either since getting scared meant that you were paranoid and could miss a lot of signs. He had learned that the hard way.
Despite this, he was yet again walking around the alleyways, one hand firmly clutched around the hedgehog's wrist, his senses somewhat getting used to him being there. Being as quiet as a mouse was an overstatement since the best animal, he could use to describe his 'stealth' was a cow. Sonic shuffled, ran his toes into boxes he couldn't see due to the darkness and had to run his feet through every puddle of water that there was. Hissing reminders at him only worked for ten minutes until his mind had forgotten afterwards.
Their trek had been slowed down due to that, but also because of them hiding every few minutes, since shadows were moving around them at practically every corner. The guards must still be looking since every criminal in this city must be hiding in the alley – both from the soldiers and the others.
He was getting closer and closer to the heart of the thieves' turf, making his pace quicken from that thought alone. He hadn't visited his contacts in a long time, properly two years ago or something since they had sacrificed a bit to get him self-sufficient. An inexperienced fox in battle getting taught how to treat wounds, giving him food when he hadn't eaten for a week and let him have shelter twice or thrice before.
But since then, he had completely cut off all contact with them, since he had almost brought a lot of them in danger. He hated the thought of being the reason that someone suffered the consequences of disobeying the rules and therefore had kept to himself ever since. Not that he had been relying on them for protection quite the opposite – they had been a last resort back then.
But back then wasn't now, and he just hoped that he hadn't left any bad blood behind, knew that there was at least one mobian who wanted to help him. Darting around another set of barrels, he swirled his ears around for any threats, fully concentrated. Mobians were moving from place to place, hiding, and running as much as they were. He ignored the hedgehog's sounds as much as he could, listening thoroughly to the small pebbles that was shifted around and the cracks of the wooden beams that gave way when someone left pressure.
"Why are you hiding it?" He choked back his startled yelp, turning his head around towards the hedgehog with an annoyed glare.
He was used to being alone, therefore small talk was completely foreign to him and something that he hated. Still, the question made his interest peak, stopped for a second to listen before continuing their walk.
"Hiding what?" He asked in a much lower voice than Sonic had, a silent indicator that he needed to be silent as well, yanking him around a corner, stopped again to listen.
"Your other tail. It doesn't make you less obvious you know?" Tails narrowed his eyes without looking at him, yanking a bit harder in him around another corner, turning around a box and ducked under a fence.
"It's an inconvenience," Was all he chose to explain, despite there being more to it.
That extra tail was the sole reason why he was out here in the first place. Why he wasn't obeying to the rules and why he wasn't a part of the system.
"How come?" Curiosity – of course, had he expected something else?
He turned his head around to hiss at him that it was none of his business when his ears swirled around, eyes widening. He stopped dead in his track, suddenly realized where he was.
A wide alley, boxes and barrels pushed off to the side, the ground trembled down from overuse. He had been tricked.
"Dammit!" He voiced out loud, knew that keeping quiet didn't matter anymore. Watching out for the shadows and making sure that he was walking the right way had made his thoughts travel elsewhere and hadn't paid attention to what had happened around him. He had been lured, averting away from the sounds and the shadows, led into an area that was perfect for the criminal's intention.
And he knew exactly what was going to happen.
"Watch your language kid. A mouth like that isn't pretty you know?" His blue eyes shot forward from the voice, a pair of light feet walking into the middle of the alley, arms folded and a smirk expression on his face. His night vision saw every bit of him, his entire form and immediately knew that this wasn't going to be easy.
Broad shoulders, clear muscles adoring his arms and chest, a beige colored dog with a green vest and brown heavy boots. He was tall and broad, standing almost like a tree, which meant he was easy to fall as well. Heavy mobians didn't move as quickly, something that he took to his advantage.
His ears zipped to the right when a match was lit, another mobian standing by an oil lantern, sending the fox a smirk as they lit the old oil, creating light. A yellow bird, swift, light and with his red sneakers he was quick on his feet, though he lacked visible muscle. The same performance happened to the left, another bird, blue and more muscles in his legs, upper body thin with a purple beanie on their head. He looked straight again when two other mobians showed themselves as well, a wolf and a rabbit, not as muscle heavy, light like the yellow bird but shorter and small, could move swiftly.
He felt his heart skip a beat, suddenly realizing the situation he had gotten himself into: Five mobians.
It was hard enough to tackle three, now he needed to get rid of five. And from the confident pose and the smug expression, you didn't have to be an expert body ready to know that these guys had been in a fight before. Thieves didn't give up that easily.
"I agree, he talks like a sailor," Tails whipped his head backwards to look at Sonic, was slightly taken back by his expression.
Confidence, and so much more than he had expected for anyone to have in a predicament such as this. He held a smirk, every inch of his body practically radiating smugness – he already knew that he was going to win this.
The dog lifted a brow at the hedgehog, his eyes narrowing slightly. Annoyance.
"It's the prisoner. The soldiers hollered for a blue hedgehog; you've been stirring up a lotta trouble pincushion!"
The fox's eyes widened at the next sound that pierced the entire atmosphere, confusion as well as offended stares directly faced towards the beginner.
He was laughing – and not just a giggle, but a full on blow out, even having the courtesy to wipe a tear from his eye. Tails clutched his hand tighter around his wrist, not speaking out of shock alone. Was he trying to get them killed?
"Pincushion?! Man, that is too real! If you weren't a couple of bullies, I would have high-fived ya," He said, finally getting his composure, apparently not minding that Tails was practically blocking his blood flow to his hand. The dog took a step forward, the oil lanterns on either side of the alley illuminating his back, giving him a dark silhouette.
"We're not bullies. We're thieves, and one of the most respected around so you better keep your mouth shut boy!" He yelled, his eyes averting back to the fox, the smirk widening. Satisfaction. "You've been running around on our turf for too long, and now you're tagging the prisoner around like some tourist. He's made a lot of trouble for our friends and we're not gonna let you walk anymore."
Tails could feel his confidence bleed away in his fur, since the five mobians knew who he was, knew what he could do. They hadn't underestimated him, his greatest weapon against any enemy, meaning that he needed to rely on his feet and eyes. His heartbeat went faster, while he tried to maintain control over his breathing.
Don't panic – if you panic then you've already lost. He let out a deep breath, pulled out a confident expression for the show and smirked towards the dog.
"You think five mobians is enough to beat me?" He chuckled lightly. "Come and get it if you think this is gonna be easy," He tried to get the upper hand, tried to get them to underestimate him again, get the situation under his control instead. But the broad shouldered mobian was having none of it, gave the fox a chuckle of his own, a sound that made his spine shiver slightly.
"As you wish," With that, the mobian slammed his fist into his palm as he took his first steps towards the fox, the two birds on either side of the alley closing in on the middle.
Tails was quick to categorize the situation, had seen this set up before – broad shouldered and strong in the middle, light and fast in the corners, which would force him into the middle, getting the heavy blows from the dog instead of the birds. He lifted his cloak in advance, letting his second tail sway along the other, their quick whips speaking of his agitated and slightly nervous mind. This was going to be tough.
He didn't get to wait for them to charge him, as his hold on Sonic's wrist suddenly disappeared, a blue blur appeared before his eyes and suddenly the dog was careening over the gravel, his back and head slammed into the ground. Tails stood shocked, the hedgehog standing with his leg outstretched in a clear show off, before he brought it down to the ground, looking at the two birds that had halted in their pursuit. The hedgehog gave off his most wide smirk that the fox had ever seen, and as he stood in the oil lamps' light, he could now see him more clearly than ever.
His body might be slender, but his legs had clear muscles hidden underneath his fur, his royal blue color almost glowing in the light in contrast to the dark night. His arms didn't have a lot of muscle, but their swift and controlled movement, told the pick pocketer that he knew how to use them. His entire posture was straight, his body language alone telling him that he wasn't being overconfident or stupid. He knew that he could win this – there was no doubt in his mind. It wasn't over displayed like a cocky fimble rigger who thought they could punch out two burglars, it was a fact. A truth, that this hedgehog knew the outcome of the fight despite it not getting started yet.
"What? I'm not gonna stand around and let you guys beat up a kid. I wanna be part of the fun to," He practically laughed, looking at the two birds that had been standing in shock alone, the blue bird turning their head to the dog when he made a sound. He groaned slightly and rubbed his sore nose, slowly getting to his feet with an angry expression on his face.
Tails hadn't seen that kind of face on a lot of mobians, but the few instances he had seen it, he knew that it wasn't something to step lightly on. When that expression came forth, business was about to go down.
"Friends – give them a piece of our mind," He said, calm and controlled, well-knowing that they still had the odds in their favor, that the fight wasn't lost. The rabbit and the wolf that had been standing by as a backup, separately cracked their knuckles and helped the dog up to stand, the two birds beforehand, walking towards the duo. Smirking, confident and not at all worried from the display of swiftness from before.
Tails found himself flappergasted when Sonic put one leg and a hand behind himself, towards the fox.
"Leave this to me," He said, the pick pocketer not being able to see his face, but he could hear from his voice alone, the smirk that accompanied that sentence. He found himself frowning, slightly offended and at the same time a bit of worry settled into him.
Worry? Worry for what? He shook it off him, instead saw the feet move positioning from the yellow bird, Tails' blue eyes narrowed slightly, well-knowing what was about to happen.
"Watch me," In a swift motion he sprinted past the hedgehog, dodged the punch sent his way and swung his body around, both tails swung around to send the bird off their feet. Lightweight, easy to pull to the ground.
His ears and eyes turned to the other bird, charging at him as well, not at all taken back by the attack, and instead twisted his body to kick him. Tails ducked in time, remained crouched and send an uppercut into their jaw, making them stagger backwards. The fox almost punched the blur that sped past him, charging at the wolf that had come closer, and kicked them as well, sending them into a tower of boxes, making them fall down on the unfortunate soul. Tails hissed as his ears went into the skull, before turning back to the blue bird that had got to his feet, his moment of disturbance sending a punch into Tails' right eye.
Staggering backwards to get his composure rather than the force of the blow, he was momentarily blinded, stars and bright lights remaining in his black vision. It only lasted for a couple of seconds, using his ears to hear the bird shift around and dodged a punch sent towards his other eye. He narrowed his eyes when his vision returned, the bird's composure turned into overconfidence, thinking that he had the upper hand. When another punch was sent his way, Tails twisted around again, muscles stiff in the fluffy appendages, sending the bird into the ground on their stomach. Straightening his hand, he sends the side of it into the back of the bird's head, the mobian letting out a grunt of pain before they were knocked out. Tails whipped his head around, seeing the hedgehog spin around the broad-shouldered dog, realized that he was talking to him, taunting the mobian.
"What?! You can't move faster than that? C'mon pal, give this hedgehog a challenge!" Tails didn't get to either see or register anything else when he was sent into the ground with a kick on his side, his head burrowed into the dry dirt.
It only remained for a second, experience alone teaching him what was gonna happen next and therefore rolled to the side, avoiding a kick to his back, and quickly got to his feet. Swinging one tail around he hit the yellow bird on the side of his head, the blow coming to him as a surprise as he had to stagger, eyes widened. Taking it to his advantage, he punched the bird in the beak, sending them backwards into the dirt, clutching their beak and remained curled on the ground, defeated.
Tails looked at the two birds to make sure they remained on the ground, and therefore missed the punch sent to the side of his face, the force of it sending him into the side of the building that created the ally, sitting on his bottom. His head was swimming, dizzy and his vision was blurry, a string of pain creating a temporary migraine. It remained in a couple of dangerous seconds, could make out the silhouette of the broad shouldered dog, walking towards him, throwing a fist into his palm, and through the blurriness he could see the smirk that was plastered on his face. Despite his mind screaming at him to move, he found himself unable to as the dog pulled his arm backwards to send a bone breaking punch into his face.
A sudden blue blur passed his sight, as he slowly got his composure, the pain in his head disappearing with the adrenaline and the shake of his head, whipping his head towards the dog that had suddenly disappeared.
"Think you can pound on my new friend huh?" Sonic smirked, had sent the dog into the ground on his stomach, on his way to his feet.
Tails saw his chance, stumbling as he got to his own feet and ran towards him, planting his foot on the dog's back, and thrusted the side of his hand into their neck. A grunt of pain, and they remained.
He swiftly moved around to search for the rabbit, saw them on the ground while he was stumbling in place, his head dizzy and the blurriness appearing briefly in his vision again. A pair of hands latched around both of his arms, steadying him, and made him stand still, a blurry face appearing in front of him.
"Hey, you alright? That was quiet a punch," He had no idea which punch he was talking about, ignored the question for now and instead focused his attention on making the world stop spinning. It slowly regained, the pain in his head making a brief return accompanied by the adrenaline that was still rushing through his body.
"Don't – don't call me that," He forced out of his mouth, as his legs stopped wobbling, realized that his hood had fallen off his head at some point, as his ears were automatically swirling around for any more attacks or curious individuals. For now, things remained calm, other criminals hurrying away from getting involved into the fight, putting the battlefield into the silence of the night. He realized that Sonic was still looking at him, had seen a concentrated façade remain on his face, though it disappeared with a blink, and confusion was littering it instead.
"Call you what?" His brow was slightly furrowed, eyes darting around the fox's face. Confused, and that might be worry again.
he pick pocketer shook his head slightly to wash out the remains of the blurriness, his eyes regaining their sight and the dizziness slowly subsided.
"Friend. I don't have friends," He merely answered, could feel his right eye thumping slightly, and a mild headache was soothing the area where the dog had punched him. Sonic tilted his head slightly, the worry disappearing with the confusion, leaving behind the concentration instead.
"Alright fine I won't, but are you okay?" Tails looked at him with confusion of his own, realizing that the hedgehog was still holding on to him, instantly pulling away from his grip.
"I'm fine," He said, looking around at the thieves, making sure that they were staying down. "You?" His eyes fixated on the bird he had punched on the beak, scoffed at them whimpering, still curled around themselves.
"I'm good," Sonic said, looking at the mobians himself, putting his hands on his hips. "Dude, what was that punch?!" He suddenly exclaimed, Tails fixating back to him, seeing him point to the unconscious dog on the ground. A purple and blue mark was starting to form in the back of his neck, making the fox slightly narrow his eyes.
"A trick I learned from someone," He merely answered, pulling the hood over his ears, and swirled one of his tails underneath the cloak. "C'mon. We don't wanna linger around," He answered, stopping any further questions from the hedgehog, latching his hand once again on his wrist and ran the rest of the way past the ally, turning a corner.
He ignored the pain in his eye and head to the best of his ability, getting back to his mindset of concentration and listening, the adrenaline slowly seeping out of his body, calm breaths going through his nostrils. In the privacy of his own mind, he was glad that the hedgehog had been there.
If he hadn't, then only Chaos knows what would have happened to him.