Author's note: This has a lot of talking in it, as well as some action sprinkled into the mix - some character development if I should say. Also longest chapter yet - I got carried away
Enjoy :D
As the stories progressed and the truths told
It didn't seem like they were making progress. Other than he could see the river bending into different shapes and becoming either broader or narrower, he could have sworn that he had been here before. The forest looked like itself wherever he walked, the same trees, the same ground, the same bushes, and the same grass. If they didn't have the river to guide them then he was pretty sure that he would have been walking in circles.
He looked up, noticing the position of the sun and could easily guess that it was well past afternoon, almost evening since he could spot the first lines of orange and pink in the horizon. He wondered when they were going to stop, could feel his stomach growling louder than before, the berries they had found beforehand not filling it completely. It could have been because of the running, the two of them going again after a couple of minutes had passed after their arguing.
Right now, nothing might as well have happened, Sonic bouncing in front of him, walking because the fox had gotten tired again after the second bout of sprinting. How he had that much stamina still wondered the pick pocketer, who had already given up trying to make a scientific explanation to the prisoner's running, blaming it entirely on the emeralds alone. They had a connection either way.
"Hey Tails?" He looked ahead again from his observation of the sun, watching as the hedgehog had turned his head towards him, grinning. He noticed that he used his name rather than the nickname beforehand. "I was wondering about a couple of stuff," He started, slowing down his pace.
The fox blinked, thinking what he wanted to know now. It was partially annoying, simple because he had no desire to talk about himself, let alone explain something to the hedgehog. But Sonic wasn't deterred, walking in the same pace as Tails when he came up beside him, lacing his hands behind his head. His face was utterly relaxed, seemingly full of energy despite being on the go the entire day.
He was used to keep moving as well, always hiding and always listening, though he relished in the fact that he didn't have to strain his hearing all the time, the hood pulled down, and not having a tail cramped behind him. It was freeing, how his tails didn't need to be hidden, his muscles relaxed and not tense like they would have been.
"How'd you learn to do all of that stuff?" Of course, he could correctly guess that it indeed was a question about him, already wanting to tell him off.
"What stuff?" He deadpanned, raising a questioning brow at him. Sonic shrugged, looking ahead as if he wondered what he indeed was talking about, but either found the answer now or had been hesitant to say. He couldn't tell, the sun being in his eyes as Sonic had his head turned away from him.
"All that sneaking around and listening and all that. And that cool move where you knock people out using your hand, how did you learn it?" Sonic turned his head towards him, making him able to read him. His eyes were wide, smiling more than grinning now. He was curious and excited to know, no ill-littered lie hidden somewhere. He didn't allow himself to smile despite the compliment, instead shrugged his shoulders in a neutral reaction.
"I grew up on the street," He simply answered, looking back at the hedgehog. "Where'd you grow up?" He really didn't have any desire to know, knew enough as far as he was concerned. It wasn't his deal to know.
His topic change was more than obvious, making Sonic raise a questioning brow towards him. It remained for a couple of seconds, before he seemingly gave up, grinning instead.
"Like I told ya back in the city, I'm from a village. It's far north-west from here, past the mushroom hills and jungle regions. It's small but it's my home," He answered, while the fox read his gaze.
He could see that he was gone, back into anecdotes and memories from where he came from, eyes completely still, looking at the trees in front of him but not seeing them. Though, he wore a small smile on his lips, telling the experienced pick pocketer that he liked it there, maybe even missed it a little bit.
"How about your folks?" He wasn't all in all interested, but just wanted the hedgehog to keep talking, trying to make him forget his questions. He shook his head, a pang of surprise surpassing the fox's heart.
"Never knew them. I lived with my uncle for a long time, grew up with him. He taught me everything I know – reading, writing, doing math, using forks and knives, you know," Tails didn't know, but wasn't going to comment on it.
"It's a peaceful place. Of course, people have their bouts every now and then, but I got a lotta friends in that place. You would like my uncle, he likes to tinker with stuff as well, build his own radio and everything," Sonic said, a small grin accompanying his lips, a memory passing his head. "One time I accidentally ran into it and it broke apart on the floor. I tried to rebuild it, but I think I made it worse. When my uncle came back, I hid it somewhere and ran away. I came back in the evening cause' a hedgehog's gotta eat right? I was scared of what he might say, but instead of yelling at me he thanked me for trying. I apologized for breaking it, but he said it was alright, and that I should tell him next time. He's a good old hedgehog," He said nostalgically, not even looking at the fox anymore. Though he could read the smile, read his relaxed eyes and the bouncy body language had calmed. He really liked his uncle.
"It had happened when I was five or something. I took off when I was ten. I had wanted to explore the world for such a long time. Sticking around in the village and the surrounding forest was boring to me. But my uncle had done so much for me, I couldn't run away without him giving me permission," He continued. "Then one night, he told me that he didn't want to pin me down if I wanted to go. The next morning, he had packed a couple of stuff for me and told me to have a nice journey," He laughed, his emerald green eyes lighting up, the grin widening on his lips.
"I visit him from time to time, going back home only to talk about my stories and my travels, stay around for a bit before I take off again. Now, the last time I came back Tikal had that thing for me and now I'm here," He chuckled lastly, shaking his head slightly. His eyes told the fox that he was still inside of his own head, eyes still and his walk on full automation, walking around a tree last minute.
A blink pulled him out of it, looking at Tails for some kind of response. Though, he was thinking himself, having looked away and looked down at his shoes.
He wondered how that was like. How it was like having someone who worried about you, having someone around who had raised you.
Was it a burden? You were bound by somebody else, bound by pure relationship to make sure that you kept yourself safe otherwise you would be hurting people who cared for you. A part of him wanted to ask, while another part of him didn't want to know more. Would rather be left in the unknown than get to know that he was missing out on something he wouldn't gain otherwise.
He looked briefly back at Sonic when the silence had lasted for too long, the hedgehog's smile widening, clearly awaited elaborated questions or get the question thrown back at him. He raked his brain to come up with something, letting out a sigh.
"What if you don't-" He cut himself off when the ground shook underneath his feet.
He blinked in perplexity more than anything, had to stop and look at the ground where his feet should be still. He had to take a second to agree with himself, yet it wasn't his feet that were shaking but it was the ground. He looked at Sonic, only to seek an answer, wondering if this was what an earthquake felt like, yet the hedgehog looked just as confused, standing beside the fox with his hands on his hips. The former didn't have the time to ask, when something crashed nearby, the two of them spinning around simultaneously.
His eyes widened, felt his heart skip another beat as it began beating faster, not seeing, not believing what was in front of him. It was huge. Humongous and so much taller than him. Maybe 8 feet tall.
At first, he had no idea what it was, only that it had arms and legs, the latter taking a step forward, making the ground shake underneath him. It had a body of sorts, completely round and big, bigger than the round metal head, having two golden eyes that lit up. Its arms were made of metal balls, about 8 inches in diameter, a long line of them linking together a sort of grapple hook, three metal fingers held together at the 'wrist'. They hung limp, slouched over as if its round metal ball of a body was too heavy for itself to handle, every step shaking the grass under his feet.
Where did this thing come from?!
"Alright! Never seen a dude this big before!"
Tails' head whipped towards him, at a speed which could have broken his neck, eyes wide in pure disbelief.
"You've seen something like this before!?" He ludicrously asked, whipping his head back to the robotic being, suddenly stopping approximately 3 yards in front of them, its golden lit eyes staring at them.
Sonic looked back at the fox, his lips wide in a manic looking grin, eyes sparking with nothing but excitement.
"Yeah, I used to fight robots all the time when running around. Haven't seen them around here though," He said leisurely, as if he was talking about having seen a bird here and there. He must be insane!
The hedgehog was practically smiling, looking more insane than he had ever seen him, his body language utterly relaxed despite the living machine that stood in front of them! He looked back at the living metal, cerulean eyes staring and calculating, wondering if he maybe had fallen asleep at some point and was dreaming. He stepped on a tail just to make sure – no, he was here. Awake, somehow.
He would have been fascinated if his beating heart and his shaking hands didn't scream at him that he needed to run. Though, he was more mad than scared, whipping his head back towards the hedgehog.
"And you didn't think it was worth mentioning that these things roam around in the middle of nowhere?!" Sonic's head turned equally as fast back towards him, face screwed into surprise, clearly not expecting the outburst at all.
"Dude, like I told ya I haven't seen these things around, if I knew it was here I would've-" He didn't get to explain himself further as the metal monster in front of them let out a mechanical roar of sorts, the metal ball at the top split into two, held together by mechanical hinges.
Tails jumped startled, suddenly realized that the thing was charging at them, arms flailing around itself as the stumps revibrated the ground underneath him. He jumped to his right, landing on his side as the robot passed where the two of them had been standing seconds beforehand, spinning around to his back in instinct alone looking where it had gone. It ran four steps more before it stopped, a part of its internal servos registering that the targets had disappeared.
"Alright listen," The fox turned his head around, watching as Sonic had gotten the same idea and had jumped as well, though he was getting to his feet, still having a manic smirk plastered onto his muzzle. His entire stance was screaming confidence, having that same body language that stated that he had won the fight even before it began, something he had seen before. "Punching and kicking is not going do anything to this. Your best bet is to dodge and then let me do the attacking," He said, had been looking at the fox, bot looked back at the robot as it turned around, arms flailing.
The pick pocketer sprung to his feet, staring at the thing, could feel his heart beating and hands shaking, having never encountered something like this before. He had fought numerous thieves and other criminals, knew how to utilize their body language and fighting techniques to his advantage, his ultimate weapon being others underestimating him.
He understood mobian logic, the basic rules of dodging and counter attacking, could read how people wanted to fight him and how they wanted to end it. Seeing the small moments of dramatic effect, criminals standing and looking at him instead of kicking him when he was down, utilizing pure mobian behavior to his own advantage. This was a robot!
He couldn't read anything, couldn't rely on normal fighting technique since this didn't have a technique! It's made of pure metal, something a punch wouldn't penetrate, servos and internal coding that made commands to attack no matter what. He was pretty sure that it wasn't going to flee, wasn't going to run away because it couldn't get a black eye or a sore back, it was going to continue until it was done. And he could do nothing!
He looked at Sonic, begged for explanation since he clearly had fought this before, thinking how he was going to fight this thing, when he didn't have time to ask. The robot's optics focused on the blue hedgehog and looked like it was about to charge at him, when a blue blur obscured his vision. He had hardly seen what had happened, Sonic having charged at the robot, rolled into a completely round spiked ball and hit its' armor. It lost its balance, trying to regain it on one leg as the hedgehog landed where he stood before.
"Phew. Armor's tough on this one," He said, turning his shoulder around in its socket once, but didn't seemed deterred one bit. "Usually, I get them at one spin attack."
Tails had a hard time trying to file up all the information piled on top of him at once.
First, Sonic just charged himself at pure metal, somehow survived it without a concussion or a bruise or anything.
Second, the robot had an indent in its armor, the hit being much more forceful that first anticipated, telling him that he somehow could bend that metal.
Third, he had defeated robots with one attack before.
Fourth, he was insane. He was downright insane, standing like everything was in its perfect condition, no worries to be had.
"Head's up!" Tails' head turned back to the robot, lunged himself to the right when an arm tried to swipe at him, getting to his feet.
Focus! Leave the questions after the fight, do as he say.
He swallowed something in his throat, as he with shaking hands ducked at another swipe of its large hand, concentrating on staying on his feet. Its movements are slow, the arms heavier than they look, though that means getting hit could be fatal. Slow pace but tough armor. As it charges it stops when the targets disappear, the servos needing a reboot, about 3-7 seconds pause.
He saw in his peripheral vision Sonic charging up another attack, a round hedgehog ball hitting its chest. The area had thicker armor, not making it stumble in place like last time. The attack before, Sonic had hit it around the arm, a more vulnerable spot. He was about to say it out loud, when the robot charged at the two of them.
He dodged again, hitting his head against the ground, getting grass into his nose. He snorted out the plant material, wiping his nose with his hands as he got back to his feet. Sonic attacked it again, the same spin, but it didn't react the same again, having hit it in the back.
"It's vulnerable around the hinges," He almost shouted, adrenaline alone making him worked up, paying attention as the robot turned around.
"The what?" –
"The hinges! Where the arms and the legs are connected to the rest of the body!" He dodged another swipe of the arm, having gotten used to its pattern by now, its attacks repetitive and predictive. It swiped at the hedgehog too, said hedgehog jumping to avoid it, landing somewhat less gracefully on his feet, still having a confident smirk on his lips, not deterred one bit by the unsuccessful hits.
The robot began to charge again, the fox immediately seeing the pattern: Two swings, a charge – he ducked to the side, avoiding hitting himself on the ground as the robot passed them again. This time he saw Sonic curl into a ball, slamming himself against the base of the right arm, the robot almost falling to the side, balancing on one leg.
"Nice catch!" Sonic praised as he landed on his feet again in a crouch, the robot turning around. Tails realized now that he was breathing deeply, adrenaline keeping his reflexes sharp as he dodged the swing, turning his head towards the hedgehog, being aware it was about to charge again.
"Maybe if you-" –
"Watch it!" He only managed to turn his head, hadn't accounted for the robot to swing its arm back after trying to go for Sonic, a wall of pure metal hitting him.
He quickly slammed into a tree, the air getting knocked out of his lungs from the hit, sliding down to land on the ground. His mouth was open, trying to get oxygen back in, all his air capacity completely depleted in his organ. His vision was slightly blurry, could feel his heart beating in his ears as his eyes caught hold of the hedgehog. Emerald green eyes were staring back at him, the fox's blue eyes widening as he saw the arm unexpectantly come back for another swing at Sonic.
Successful hit. Instead of getting hit into the trees he was flung into the air, behind the robot, a cry accompanying the involuntarily travel into the air.
Tails got a big chunk of oxygen into his lungs, reacting on instinct alone, his mind going into a simple command: Catch him.
Without thinking, without a doubt, he spun his behind appendages around, quicker than he had ever done, making them cram up but he was airborne. He flew past the robot, seeing the hedgehog flailing in the air, trying to catch something that wasn't there. He didn't think, flew directly towards him, and bodily collided with him, his updrift with his tails somewhat softening the landing, rolling on the ground before a tree stopped their race.
Tails breathed heavily, out of adrenaline more than anything, pressed into the ground by a hedgehog that was on top of his back.
"Dude!" He turned his head around, looking directly into a pair of amazed green eyes, mouth agape in pure surprise.
"You can fly!" Tails didn't have time to react, only saw the robot behind the hedgehog's head charge directly towards them.
"Move,move,move!"
The last command got through Sonic's thick skull, only felt a hand latch onto his wrist and suddenly disappeared in pure wind alone, pulled from the ground and everything. He lost his breath again when he somehow stopped, trying to take in oxygen, would have landed on his rear end if the hand that switched from his wrist to his arm wasn't keeping him steady. He looked up to watch the robot having almost knocked a pine tree over, its arms swinging around its body.
"It's tougher than it looks," Tails looked back at Sonic, seeing the first small twitch of doubt that sat in his right eye, despite the still confident grin on his face. The fox looked back at the robot, as it turned around, scanning for the two of them. He breathed in again, licking his lip as he got an idea, whipping his head back towards Sonic.
"What about the emerald?" The hedgehog looked back confused as expected, turning his head to watch the robot's movements.
"What about them?" Suddenly they moved again, getting pulled without his consent, the ground disappearing under his feet not as quickly as before, but still swift enough that he lost his breath. When the world stopped running, he yanked his arm back after regaining his balance, watching as the flailing arms had supposed to hit them.
"Use them!" Adrenaline made him yell, his chest hurting slightly as he was getting tired of his heart beating and his hands shaking. He didn't know how to beat it, so Sonic had to. He blinked at him, consideration appearing in his green irises, looking back at the robot that was readying a charge.
"Alright, but keep a distance okay?" Tails didn't care, would have nodded no matter what he said, as the robot charged at them again. He jumped aside, almost ramming himself into a tree, but stopped before his nose got flattened, turning around to watch what Sonic was thinking, mildly curious.
At first, it looked like Sonic was going to hurl himself towards at it again, but instead at ramming into the robot he began running around it in a circle. Faster and faster. A blue circle surrounding its metal body, keeping enough distance so its arms wouldn't hit him, standing comically still as its optics was trying to get a scan at the organic.
Then Tails felt his fur prickling, the tips of his fingers tickling, a familiar feeling of energy surpassing his body. And then he saw it – the dark blue veil having a white glow, wind suddenly picking up around them.
His cloak got grabbed quickly, and felt his feet starting to slip from the force. He hugged the tree in front of him for stability, bangs and tails flailing in front of him trying to not get caught up in the sudden tornado. He had squinted his eyes shut from it, but opened them up as much as he could, making out a thin line in front of him. Needles flew everywhere around them, the branches of the trees leaning and getting pulled, affected by the sudden force of bend nature. Grass got plucked from here and there, dirt and flowers starting to getting picked up as well, as the wind intensified.
And then he saw the robot lastly lifting from the ground, a sudden extra force that he felt through the entirety of his body, suddenly making it disappear, straight into the air. Then it quieted down, almost as fast as it had appeared, the wind slowing down, plant and dirt as well as needles raining down on them briefly. He breathed out again when he wasn't getting pushed against the trunk anymore, could feel his chest aching as he blinked to concentrate. Sonic had stopped, and was looking into the air, hands on his hips, a victorious gleam in his eyes. The fox looked up as well, suddenly saw the blob of metal mass coming down fast towards the ground. He managed to see the hedgehog move away, when it suddenly hit, the entire ground underneath him shaking and turning around on itself, everything bounced.
He landed onto his bottom and on his back from the impact, his ears ringing from the sound alone, hearing the trees give in around him. Dust of dirt suddenly filled his nose, making him cough and turn over, blinking to get it out of his eyes. Then it was silent. Deadly silent. No birds singing around him, no wind that moved.
He coughed the last dirt out of his lungs, turning around to his back again, looking at the damage it had caused. The robot remained still, its eyes turned off, hopefully signifying that it was offline, sitting in a crater of a grave, as the dirt had given in and curled in on itself. A tree had fallen, the fox not even remembering hearing it timber, the needles settling as the dust started to fall back to the ground, the forest resting back to its normal program.
He took a couple of deep breaths, settling his heart and clenched his fists to try and force the last adrenaline out of his system. Done. It was done. And he was okay.
"Tails?!" He looked up from the call, seeing a blue veil first before the hedgehog appeared, frantically looking around himself. When he turned his head, they caught eyes, Sonic speeding over to him. "You okay?"
He didn't particularly accepted the hands that pulled him up, since he hadn't even registered the hedgehog being there in the first place. Placed on his feet too quickly, he looked at the hedgehog in front of him, cerulean orbs checking him over. The bruise on the side of his head was old news, but other than that he looked fine. His quills were risen in the back of his head and green eyes darted around, adrenaline still more than present in his body.
"I'm okay," He repeated as he remembered that the hedgehog had asked, looking over his shoulder to analyze the robot in the crater. As the dust started to settle completely, he saw that its head had been crushed into the ground, sparks of remaining electricity flickering in the air.
"You?" He looked back at Sonic who had turned to look at the now dead metal, but was nodding, his quills slowly falling back into their place.
"Yeah, I'm good. That was cool though."
A part of Tails couldn't disagree.
Though instead of verbally expressing that, he swallowed something in his throat and walked towards the robot, curiosity eating him alive. It was a robot – living metal that was most likely programmed and some pretty advanced technical internal workings. He walked closer to it, and slid down the crater, looking at its head in case it wasn't offline. Though, he could see up close that it was almost split completely apart, the main processors of its existence existing there, like a brain in a head.
He looked at the side of its chest, the robot having landed on its left 'hip', seeing a crack in the metal. He squinted one eye and looked through it, immediately seeing some servos or data chips, his eager mind wanting to get a closer look. He took a step back, looking at the metal that seemed pretty fragile here, but he couldn't do anything with it.
"Hey Sonic?" He looked back, haven't realized that he had been observing him, hands crossed over his chest, emerald green eyes back into relaxation, adrenaline having disappeared from his body.
"Mind opening this further for me?" He took another step back when the hedgehog tried to peer over his shoulder to look, though he eventually saw what the fox mentioned. He saw the confusion that lingered there for a couple of seconds, before he apparently came to some kind of a conclusion, chuckling to himself.
"Sure," Without warning, he balled up again, and hurled himself at the cracked metal, a shrieking sound of sharp quills hitting most likely titanium, making the fox pull his ears to his skull. Then it disappeared, and he turned to look at a descent hole that had been made in the armor, the interior of it now more than visible to him.
"Thanks," He said in automation alone, as Sonic stepped back, Tails spending no time crouching in front of it, went to work on checking over it. Some of it were oiled gears and regular inner workings of robotic movement, but he saw the chips and the servos imbedded randomly, taking hold of one of them, his own mental gears in full working order.
"Welcome bud," He turned his ear towards him from the nickname, but didn't react otherwise on it, settling on listening to the snicker that had accompanied, a sudden surge of warmth appearing inside of him.
They had survived this. Not an attack from multiple mobians, no, a giant robot. But he hadn't done anything
He dropped the servo he had in his hand into his lap, biting his lip as he studied the gears in front of him.
"Sonic?" He heard the 'hmm', not wanting to turn his head around in shame alone. "I'm sorry," He said, his eyes having caught hold of a chip, reaching out to take it, only studied it for two seconds before he turned his head around, the hedgehog taking a long time to answer.
He was temporarily perplexed by Sonic's own confusion, until he again found his answer, shaking his head.
"Dude don't think about it. In a fight like this you yell sometimes and it's-" -
"No, it's. It's not that," He said, concentration broken by the utter guilt erupting back into his soul, twisting, and turning the servo around in his hands just to make them do something.
"I'm sorry for trying to – make you talk earlier. About your fear," He said, and looked back at him this time, since he meant what he said.
Sonic's face relaxed into understanding, the grin disappearing though his eyes were relaxed, revealing the first bit of tiredness he had seen in him yet. It didn't last long, however, as the grin appeared, with a nod afterwards.
"It's okay. Thanks for the apology," He said, then gave him a smile, an utterly warm thing that made the guilt disappear just as quickly. Tails couldn't help but give him a faint smile back. "Find what ya need and then we can continue for a bit more before setting up camp. I'm starving," Sonic said, emphasizing his point by padding his stomach.
The pick pocketer nodded at him, looking at the servo in his hand before returning his attention back to the robot, both feeling and hearing his stomach grumble unsatisfied.
He couldn't have said it better himself.
The crackling of the fire eased his mind, and made him feel utterly relaxed, a different kind of warmth that made him loosen his natural attentive nature. The night had fallen long ago, engulfing the entire forest into complete darkness, though his night vision eyes didn't see it. His ears were for once not strained to listen for anything around him, his body slumped a bit forward, though that was courtesy of the tablet in his lap.
Sitting crossed legged with either tail curling around their own leg, and hood drawn back he found himself in a moment of quietness. He turned his head to his right with a frown, looking at the book he had opened, laying on the soft grass, opened to a worn-out page with the writing bleeding out of the page from water damage. It was the book that he had brought with him from his hideout, the one he had found long ago and had been his initial introduction to the Chaos Emeralds in general. Right beside it laid a thicker book, pages pristine and completely new, the corners of them bended by eager fingers, the information different yet the topic was the same.
The book he had found he had quickly realized was either outdated or had less information, since the book that Amy had let him have was more thorough in its explanation, but at the same time was vague. It could tell him that the emeralds could bend the forces of nature, using the naturally created energy in the elements that could be bended – now what that energy was, was the question he hadn't gotten an answer to, although he was pretty sure he was on the right track.
He picked up the screwdriver that had been sitting on the grass, unscrewing the circuit board he had made himself, frowned at the wires that needed to be soldered, before biting down at the screw for safe keeping. Nimble fingers worked around the intricate wires, a dexterity acquired through experience alone, while thinking rather than mumbling. The bandages on his left hand had been changed, the wound not looking worse, so he supposed he was going to be fine. His stomach was full, thankfully, the sausages Amy had given them making him full and not queasy, though he knew it would be a while before he became nauseous again.
Sonic was nowhere around him, talking about taking a run through the area, though the fox suspected that it was out of boredom. He had noticed when he got fidgety, one finger tapping at his arm, a shoe lightly padding the ground, utterly impatience plastered across his eyes. He wanted to be on the move, had been holding himself back for their sake when they had been with Mighty and Ray, but now that it was only the two of them, he guessed that he allowed himself to loosen up, doing what he wanted to do.
And he preferred it that way, enjoyed his alone time, especially when tinkering around with his device and doing his thing. He hadn't realized how much he would have liked it, considering that he had been alone for a very long time. But sitting in his own world made him ease up, being well aware that if more robots showed up, he was going to easily hear it before it would attack. But he wasn't worried per se – he just, didn't care that much.
He took the screw from his mouth and place the circuit back into its rightful place, reaching into his left tail to search for his pliers. His hand grasped something else, his thought process ruined by the touch of crackling plastic instead. He pulled it out and saw two small round balls wrapped in green paper, having completely forgotten about them since the castle. He was pretty sure that it was food, having both seen and felt the kind of paper before when a poor mobian had asked that he swiped some candy for their kid.
If it was sugar, he didn't know, but curiously twirled his fingers around the paper on one of the small balls, unwrapping it from its prison. He frowned when the ball reveled to be brown, slightly sticky on his glove instead of the white sugary pieces he had seen before. He pulled it to his nose and sniffed it, his frown deepening even more. He had smelled chocolate before, but the strong odor of something sharp he hadn't smelled before, completely cleared all other smells that was around him.
"Whatcha got there?" He jumped startled from the voice, having been in his own head for a while before he turned his head towards Sonic.
The hedgehog was still grinning, standing beside him with his arms crossed over his chest, again not looking like he had been running for more than an hour. The fire lit up his face, a faint orange glow coating the edges of his head and the sharp ends of his quills, the fox having slowly realized that they were much sharper than he first anticipated.
"Something I got from the castle. I think it's candy," He explained for the sake of explaining, having wanted to try it either way, turning the chocolate ball around in his hand.
"Can I see?" Tails first saw the hand that reached out to him, before looking up at him, the frown deepening. "I'm not gonna eat it from ya, I promise," Sonic chuckled, as if he had read his thoughts, having the courtesy of giving him a mockery wink as well.
The fox hesitated for a bit, not seeing any lies through his face, and figured that he had two in case he dropped it or something, depositing it into the hedgehog's hand. Sonic promptly took a big sniff of it, before his face morphed into complete disgust, shaking his head.
"Bleurgh, it's chocolate mint. I don't think you're gonna like it," The hedgehog said, quickly giving the candy back as if it had burned him, walking around the fire, and sat himself in front of it, the flames partially obscuring their vision.
Tails looked at the candy that had been mostly thrown back into his hand, thinking that he hadn't thought it smelled that horrible. With a shrug of his shoulders and a rational thought that said he could spit it out if he didn't like it, he put it in his mouth and chewed carefully. Sweetness was the first taste that filled his mouth, the chocolate melting on his tongue before the mint hit him at full force. He felt his nose clear up, and his throat cleared as well, the sharp taste of the mint making his breath feel lighter.
It tasted really good.
He perked up after swallowing the chocolate, eagerly unwrapping the other candy that had been waiting in his lap.
"You like that stuff?" Tails nodded while he was already chewing on the other candy, the mint once again hitting his tongue, didn't notice his tail tips whipping once in satisfaction. He looked across the flames at the hedgehog after swallowing, the taste of mint still sitting in the corners of his teeth, saw the questioning brow he had raised, though he shrugged his shoulders in conclusion. "Suit yourself," He commented, laying down with his hands laced behind his head, one leg crossed over at the knee, the foot tapping to a random melody in the hedgehog's head.
"You got it from the castle you said?" Tails looked up, having fully intended to keep working on his scanner, but the question threw him off, the hedgehog's grin appearing. He was getting used to it at this point, his mind not even working on trying to read it since he knew what it meant, and what it entailed.
"Yes. I got a reward for reading you – that and they promised to get rid of the charges that had been reported about me," –
"But that hardly matters now," He thought bitterly, frowning at his tablet, his tongue going around his mouth to catch the mint that was stuck in his teeth.
Sonic let out a 'huh', his gaze shifted to look at the night sky, stars blinking down at them, the same stars that had been following them around for a while now.
"That seems like a long time ago now doesn't it? Man, sitting in prison was not comfortable – they didn't give me any food or something. I'm glad I stumbled into you again," The fox's gaze landed on Sonic from the comment, though the latter didn't look back, his own gaze lost in the sky above them, a thoughtful expression plastered across his face.
A 'hmpf' commented the statement after a bit, the fox turning his head back to one of the books.
"I only did it so you wouldn't create trouble," –
"Dude c'mon that's a lie."
He whipped his head up from the statement, Sonic having turned his head back towards him, the grin turned into a smirk instead, was convinced that he had backed him up into a corner. Although, the experienced pick pocketer knew how to avoid that, shaking his head at him.
"No. If I had let you run around by yourself then a whole heap of trouble could have come out of it," –
"Then why did you leave as well?"
Tails had opened his mouth to continue, but the words stopped him from releasing the comment. The smirk widened on Sonic in celebration, knew that he now had cornered him. The fox closed his mouth, letting out a sigh and fiddled with the screwdriver.
"None of your business," He mumbled, not wanting to look at the hedgehog.
He was stupid. Of course, he wanted answers – he had never told Sonic why he decided to leave as well, let alone that he was forced to leave the city. Hadn't told him that people were after him and if he had stayed then he would have been dead. He wouldn't had made it to become nine-years-old let alone older if he hadn't left. If he would now though, he didn't dare question.
The silence that remained made him curiously look up again, a thoughtful frown appearing on Sonic's forehead, the foot tapping stopping in the air, telling the pick pocketer that he was thinking. No, wondering.
"Back in the sewer," He had caught up to something, Tails could tell, a question that either disturbed the hedgehog or made him sympathetic, a whole wave of emotions passing his eyes, some kind of theory having conjugated from the fox's previous answer. "Where that assassin lady said that she had been looking for me, you said that they could take you instead," Sonic blinked. "Why?"
An ember in the fire cracked up, as if it wanted to emphasize the question, another beat of silence remaining between them.
Cerulean orbs were observing and reading the hedgehog, could feel the tension slowly arise between them. He wanted an answer. Did he owe it to him? Well, he had asked where he grew up and hadn't given him an answer back. He knew why he was here and why he was collecting the emeralds; he knew he had an uncle, and he knew he had a home to go back to. He knew a lot about Sonic, both from reading him and the verbal explanations as well. Sonic knew nothing about him.
They had saved each other's backs; they had rescued one another from the simple fact that they didn't want the other to die. If it was normal morale or something else, he didn't know, and didn't care either way because he didn't want to tell him. And nevertheless, he truly felt like he was in a corner now, mobians towering over him, people having pipes or planks in their hands, wanting to make him tell the truth. That's what it felt like.
He let out a sigh, realizing that he had been avoiding this road for a long time, and if he was going to walk down it then it might as well be now.
"Because I have nothing to lose," He said without looking at Sonic, felt the urge to pull his ears into his skull, but refused to do so.
"Say what?" He didn't have to look at him, he could hear the pure confusion in his words alone. His frown deepened, letting out a quick sigh as he looked up at the hedgehog, eyes narrowed, and his hands fisted at his sides.
"Are you really that stupid?! I said I have nothing! You have your village, Ray has Mighty and Espio has the Chaotix while I have no one!" He shouted, could feel that anger.
That deep burning rage, that volcano that erupted at random intervals because everything was unfair. There was nothing fair about this world, there was nothing that made sure that everyone was happy. He didn't have an uncle; he didn't have someone who liked him, and he didn't have someone who cared for him. Because nobody wanted to, because nobody wanted to take responsibility!
His hands were shaking once again, but this time it was from rage, pure, and a deep sense of feeling like he had been treated differently, because of something that was out of his control. Through his anger he could read Sonic's expression morph into pity and sympathy, something he didn't want and didn't like, but he knew that he would be asking questions. He knew he had dug his own grave and therefore let out a deep sigh, moving his disassembled device to lay on the grass instead, looking into the glowing embers and wild flames.
"I grew up on the street. I have no memory of my own folks, I've been on the street since I was three, maybe four, and remained there. I had to figure out the rules myself, working around the thieves and got to know where they were when I got pulled into fights. I both taught myself and were taught by the Chaotix how to swipe food and other items, how to avoid the gangs and where the safest areas are at different times of the day. It was how I lived, how I was supposed to live," He let out a sigh, could feel the anger dimming, could feel something else behind that anger, something he hid away both from others and himself.
"When you're not normal like everybody else, then you're destined to be on the streets. I was bullied early on, thrown to the next alleyway, and ignored by almost everybody because I have two tails. It's bad enough that foxes are rare, but having an extra tail is not acceptable," He paused, getting his thoughts straight, a part of him trying to sort through his memories and only tell the most necessary, but he knew he was rambling and couldn't stop it.
"When I was younger and didn't know how to fight, younger kids sought me out to make fun of me and beat me up. I was hungry, thirsty, and tired," He closed his eyes, letting out a sigh "If it hadn't been for Espio I didn't know if I would have-" He swallowed a lump in his throat, could feel himself slowly deteriorating, but he kept his composure.
"After the Chaotix took me in and taught me all that they knew I said thanks and never contacted them again. I was taught how to fight, how to live on the street, and when the kids realized that they left me alone. I learned how to avoid the criminals, how to live as a criminal, since I couldn't be anything else. When you're a freak like me, there isn't much to do," The last sentence made his voice crack in the back of his throat, could feel water conjugating around his eyes but he wiped it away with a bicep, sniffing and looked away.
Now he knew. What he wanted with that information Tails didn't know, and a part of him wanted to just leave and walk away. He remembered everything vividly. How scared he had been, how scared he partially still was. Back then wondering if he were going to live the next day, where he could hide so people wouldn't beat him up, when he could swipe something without getting caught. Being hungry for more than days at a time, getting sick from the water at the well, but knew it was necessary. Asking adults where he could go, and where his folks were, but they either kicked him or spat at him.
After that, the cloak became his identity, being taught that his extra extremity was a curse more than a blessing. He had thought of... amputation, but he had been too scared to go through with it. Instead, he had adapted and thanked a million times to both Chaos and himsel that he hadn't done it. Back then he hadn't believed that he would have been older than six. And now he was eight. Luckily.
He shook his head, when he felt the threat of tears once more, let out a sigh and forced himself to look at Sonic. The hedgehog had been quiet throughout his explanation, his emerald green eyes reflecting in the light of the flames, looking at the fox in front of him.
"So that's why. You didn't tell me that you could fly... and why you punched that guy in the warehouse - so much," Tails found himself nodding to the statements, his tails curling a bit more around his knees, frowning at the statements as he looked up at Sonic.
He could read it, the sympathy, the pity, and a slight desire to give comfort. Something that he didn't need and didn't want, could precisely predict what the hedgehog was going to say as he licked his lips.
"Tails, I'm sorry – I-," –
"Don't give me that," The heat returned with the force of his decline, Sonic blinking in mild confusion.
"I don't need your pity. I don't need you to tell me that it sounds really bad and was horrible because I already know Sonic," He emphasized, his brow furrowed and his eyes slightly squinting, felt both tails move in an agitated manner.
Sonic stared back at him, deep consideration swimming around in his eyes, before they slowly fell and landed on the fire, figuring out what to say. Tails didn't care, now he had told him, and they were even. He didn't want anything from him anyway.
"Okay bud, your choice," He looked up, partially surprised by the sudden chipper statement, completely ignoring the nickname that accompanied it. "But I'm going to tell you this," He was smiling, but it was wide in more than a smirk, his eyes sparkling with no wrinkles around his eyes or twitches at the mouth. He was dead serious.
"No matter what, I'm not going to call you names or ridicule you while you're with me. I'm not going to run away from you, and I promise that I won't let you ever experience that again. I promise."
The silence that remained lingered for long, embers cracking and fire dancing. Tails' face morphed into utter surprise, lifting his head and pupils wide, staring at Sonic. He had already read him, had already seen that no face muscles were pulled, and he sat still. He wasn't lying. He was telling the truth. One of the most truthful promises he had ever seen.
Sonic's smile widened a bit, nodding towards him. It really was – true. Tails lowered his head again, at first not knowing what to think about the promise, licking his lips as he stared into the flames.
"Thanks. Sonic," He said in a low voice, the utter surprise still lingering in his soul, his hands linked in front of him. He saw the hedgehog nod in his peripheral vision, leaning back against the grass.
"Of course, kiddo. Now, get some sleep alright? You need it – I'll take first watch. We don't want any robots attacking us at night, do we?" He also saw the wink but didn't react otherwise, didn't want to completely look at him.
He didn't know how to feel. Didn't know what he was supposed to feel. Comforted? Appreciated? He had no idea. This was the first time he had shared his story with someone who wasn't the Chaotix, the first time where he had given him his deepest secret, his past with near starvation and bullying being a part of his life he had promised himself to forget and never bring up again
Nobody wanted him, he had gotten confirmation of that, and therefore had accepted it as such. But he found himself wondering, thinking why he felt so warm inside, why he felt like he hadn't been cast aside this time, that he had somebody who had promised him something without wanting anything in return.
Why? ... He figured he would figure it out later. All he knew now was that he didn't know what to do. What he essentially wanted to do.
He shivered as he clutched the bun close to his chest, sitting against the corner of the alley, hiding behind the first box he could find. He flinched when he heard them shouting again, hollers and yells to go find that stupid kid or there would be hell to pay! He didn't dare look around the box, merely curled together behind it, trying to hide himself with his twin appendages, not wanting to be found.
He was hungry. He was so hungry; his stomach having turned into a dark pit of nothingness since yesterday and had thrown itself up this morning. He was tired, he was so tired and exhausted. If he didn't know that it was bad that he didn't get food then he would have been sleeping right now, trying to make the pain go away. He had been woken up multiple times at night, running from place to place, hearing all the noises around him, hearing all the calls and the shoes that shifted around. His own feet were bare, frozen to the point of where he couldn't feel them anymore, naked fingers clutching the bun close to his chest.
The voices began to dim, the shouts getting further away from him, making the toddler squint one eye open, daring to look around the box. At the end of the alley, he could see the busy street at the small market, people walking back and forth but the ones who had seen him taking the bun were gone. His ears perked up from the realization, jumping to his feet and ran deeper into the dilapidated area.
He had explored these houses for a long time, running around the corners and finding the ones who were empty. Although, he knew that sleeping in an empty house was not a good idea – he had been woken up by thieves a ton of times, could still feel his right tail thumping, the wound not yet healed. He knew it looked bad, and if he didn't get it cleaned then maybe it could be become worse… But maybe that was for the better.
He panted as he darted around another set of barrels, almost tumbling into a wall before he hid beside a well, the area around him a bit larger, the houses around him left alone for time to deteriorate. There was nobody here, and the swirl of his ears told him that he was alone for now. He breathed out a deep sigh, both in relief and to make his heart stop pounding and his hands to stop shaking.
He smiled to himself, looking more than forward to his meal as he looked down at his haul and eagerly opened his mouth to take a bite.
Until somebody grabbed him from behind, lifting him up in the scruff of his neck, causing him to yip out in pain as well as drop the bun onto the ground.
"Well, look who we have here," The cub felt his heart pounding faster, looking into a pair of eyes he had seen before. Yellow and piercing, a smirk wide on the wolf's face, a fast grip onto the yellow dirty fur of the two tailed fox.
He couldn't comprehend yelling at himself, didn't have the extra energy to scream at himself that he should have been more careful since his heart was pounding. His tails hid between his legs in fright, hands trying to frantically pry the fingers off his fur, but they held on. And it was hurting.
"The little freak who once again has stolen around the market," –
"Leave him alone Frank. He's just a kid," A female voice suddenly broke in, a yellow cat standing beside the wolf, while a bird ganged up on his other side. Despite the woman criminal trying to help, it did nothing to change the wolf's mind, tightening his grip.
"I've told this kid before that we roam there. He should know better than to ignore a command like that," The bird chimed in, useful for the wolf but not for the cub.
The toddler could feel the tears starting to sprout in his eyes, a part of him hoping that they would let him go because of it, but the wolf wasn't deterred, ignoring the fat tear drops that dripped down the fox's face.
"I agree," He said, making the little cub gasp, trying to wiggle, trying to kick, trying to do something! But it didn't help. He could do nothing but accept that this was it.
"So, let's teach this kid a lesson he'll never forget," He saw the punch that was drawn back, and closed his eyes, getting ready for a pounding head and pain. So much pain.
But a yell cut into the action, the fox opened his eyes to suddenly see the bird landing on his stomach, face planted into the ground. Then another grunt appeared, and he was suddenly unconscious.
"What the-" The wolf interrupted himself when the female cat suddenly staggered, clutching her side as she drew her knife, randomly cutting the air.
The cub watched with amazement, thinking that he must've already died as the woman fell to the ground, hitting her head against the brick wall, sitting still. The male who still held him, looked around frantically, trying to figure out what was going on. Then he was dropped, the wolf letting out a cry, as the cub fell to the ground, letting out another pained yip from the hit.
He looked up to watch the wolf being on the ground, but kicked the air, suddenly something ramming into a couple of boxes that was on the other side. Whatever it was it remained there for a bit, before the toddler heard running steps, the wolf suddenly rolling to his stomach. A grunt of pain and he was out.
The cub backed up, ignoring the bun that was now inedible, hitting a wall behind him. For moments nothing happened, could hear his own heavy breathing, a hand clutching his fur where his heart was against his ribcage. His palms were sweating, thinking that now it was definitely his turn. He thought he could hear quiet breathing, remaining still until it would eventually disappear. Hopefully.
Until something appeared before him in his vision, something that blurred the dark grey wall into a shape he hadn't seen before. Then colors started to fade in, and he was suddenly met with a mobian. He tried to crawl further back into the wall, wanting to morph into it since he knew he had no chance against whoever they were.
"Easy now. It's okay," He stopped his frantic and failed attempt at an escape, instead turned his head back around towards the stranger. They were hidden behind a dark cloak of sorts, not that tall but seemed less – intimidating. He didn't know what it was, had never seen this kind of mobian before, eyeing the yellow horn that was in his forehead.
"I'm not gonna hurt you," He didn't believe him, swallowing something in his throat and sniffed as the tears landed on his chest, the mobian crouching in front of him, being about 2 feet away from him. He was smiling, being completely purple in color, hands linked in front of him.
"I took them out for you. It's okay, you're gonna be fine," He said, that same smile plastered on his muzzle. The toddler was still breathing heavily, staring at the mobian in front of him.
His expression changed. He didn't know what changed, if it were his eyes or if it was the mouth but he could see it. He had noticed It before, faces that did something different when people lied, or told them something they weren't comfortable with.
He swallowed something again, building up his boldness.
"You're lying," Whatever this mobian was, his eyes widened from the explanation, mouth half-way opening. He had been right – he had been lying.
He tried to scramble away once again, having learned that when he caught people with their lies, they tended to being more aggressive towards him. Despite that, the mobian licked his lips, taking a small step forward, the smile staying on his lips.
"What's your name?" The cub was confused by the question, wondering why he wanted to know. Because he didn't want to tell. He had gotten into a lot of trouble if he did.
"I don't wanna say," He therefore answered, looking into the ground, a pang of pain surging through his stomach, making him squint his eyes, the tears falling once again. He looked back at his savior when the pain disappeared, trying to read him. He had gotten somewhat good at it by now and had learned that he could use it to his advantage.
The mobian's interest in his name fell, instead gestured a hand towards him.
"Is see that your tail has gotten wounded. And you look thin as well – are you hungry?" The pit of his stomach wailed out in response, making him clutch it with both hands, tails curling around in pain. He nodded nonetheless, biting his lip in mild regret. He didn't know him. He could be luring him into a trap.
"Then come with me. I have a place where you can get some food. I promise I won't hurt you," The cub looked at the hand that stretched out towards him, his heart still beating and his breathing sporadic. The tears had stopped for now, sitting in his fur as he considered the offer, eyes staring at the mobian's face. But nothing changed, he looked the same, with the smile still on his muzzle. He wasn't lying.
A part of him thought that it couldn't be possible worse than what he was already in, and therefore nodded and reached out with a shaking hand. The mobian walked forward and took it, the fox's hand much smaller in the older's, small fingers holding on tight.
He was helped up on his feet, wiping at his eyes with the other hand as the mobian lead him away with that same smile. What was going to happen now? He didn't know, but really didn't care.
His eyes flickered and opened slowly as the sunlight woke him up from his dream. That had been a long time ago, a very long time ago. He yawned wide, and ran a hand through his face, slowly getting up from his laid position.
"Hey morning Tails!"
The fox looked up from the greeting, seeing the hedgehog standing and looked at him. The grin was there, wide, and big, welcoming, and warm. "Let's catch some breakfast and get going! I feel like going for a good run today!" The pick pocketer didn't react outwardly on the request, didn't answer him in pure confusion alone.
It was morning. When he had closed his eyes last night it had been completely dark. He had slept. Actually slept – not waking up multiple times at night, like he usually did. He felt. Good – refreshed.
He smiled to himself, shaking his head at the hedgehog, as he got to his feet, thinking that the adventure might as well continue, now that they were here.
Author's note: You probably thought I forgot about that crackling paper didn't you? Or maybe you had forgotten too? ;)