Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in this time of introspection… especially for the ones who are making a realization.

~保護者~

"Cold-Hearted"

~保護者~

The first thing Jet was really aware of was the fact that his head wasn't hurting. Next came the realization that he was laying down again, despite his last memory being of him holding Lucas and trying his damnedest not to cry while they sat outside. This was… definitely not outside. In fact, opening his eyes quickly proved that he was back in the sitting room where he had been resting before. He just didn't understand why.

Pushing himself up, his eyes fell upon Wave. She was fast asleep on the other couch, so though he had questions he decided not to bother her with them now. His mother's energies suggested she was asleep as well, albeit in a different room nearby. That left his father and Kath (it was still weird to think that the man he'd always considered to be a grandfather to him really was) awake and seemingly just standing around in the hall for… some reason. So, with another glance at Wave to make sure she was really alright - and she seemed to be - he stood and quietly exited the room.

Sein was quick to turn to look at Jet, a bright smile breaking onto his face at the sight of his son. "Hey, how are you feeling?" he asked softly.

Getting the sudden and distinct feeling that he was missing something, Jet took a moment to answer. "...Fine," he answered after a pause. Then he asked, "Where's Lucas?"

"He's with Calypso," Sein explained quickly. "I had to come here, and I didn't want him to see what was going on with you. He's safe with her."

That only heightened Jet's suspicion and concern. "What are you talking about?" he demanded quietly, trying not to get too upset but not quite succeeding.

Sein deeply frowned, crossing his arms slowly. "That migraine you were experiencing was anything but natural. Astra was taking control of your mind, and she forced you to fight us. Not that she did well at fighting, though."

A sickening feeling took hold, prompting Jet to immediately ask, "What happened?" If anyone got hurt because of him…

"You were fighting us. You threw me around a bit, blasted me with wind once, and didn't really hurt any of us. It wasn't anything all that bad, and then she did something that made you… transform." Sein wasn't sure of how to explain this, his eyebrows furrowing as he tried to pull the words together. "You were in a state where you were comprised of aura energy with no physical body, something that me, Kath, and your mom all agreed was similar to what the Faein would be like." Stunned into silence, Jet just stared, unable to comprehend what Sein was telling him. Sein turned to Kath, hoping he might be able to help Jet a bit more with understanding this.

The older hawk glanced at Sein, then looked at Jet. He was quiet for a short time before saying, "I do not understand it any more than anyone else. If I did, I would say so."

Sein looked to Jet, shrugging. "We don't know what really happened there, but we do know what you did in that form. You managed to grab Astra from where she was and completely purify her. You then apparently sent her off to Mobius, and she's with her sister now."

Purely on reflex, Jet took a step back as a sharp sense of disbelief and fear hit him. "I- what?"

Sein nodded. "You… you did that. I'm not sure why you did it, but you did. So… what do you want to do from here? I imagine you have no desire to be anywhere near her."

Fighting against sudden panic, Jet managed to get out, "I can't. I can't go near her."

Catching onto this, as if it wasn't one of the few things Jet didn't fully hide, Sein carefully set a hand on his shoulder and managed a faint smile. "Hey. You don't have to, especially not right now. You just woke up, so let's just stay here for a bit and figure out what we're doing next. Is that okay?" Jet didn't really answer as he slowly slid down the wall into a sitting position with his head in his hands. That he started taking deep, slow breaths was proof that he was trying to collect himself, but he had no words to spare right this minute. Sein was careful to kneel down by Jet and simply be there, glancing to Kath as if to ask what they should do.

Taking his eyes off of his grandson for a moment, Kath mouthed to him, "Stay with him. Keep talking." After that, he walked off to find Alana.

Sein leaned up against the wall beside Jet, a soft frown on his face as he looked to his son. "Hey, Jet. Are you okay?" Jet didn't respond for a long moment. When he finally did, it was just with a shake of his head. Sein sat there, a small sigh escaping him. "I had a bad feeling that would upset you a lot, but… I had to tell you. I didn't want to leave you in the dark."

Finally, Jet managed to choke out a small reply. "I know."

"As much as I don't want to admit it… I'm kind of glad you didn't just outright kill her. The only reason I say that is because you showed a kind of compassion that even I wasn't willing to. That takes a lot of heart. I'm really proud of what you've become."

It took a bit of time, but eventually Jet managed to force some more words out. "I never planned to… to kill her," he mumbled. "But I can't have her here. I can't have her nearby. I can't."

"We'll figure something out. I won't make you go near her, and I won't suggest it unless you're ready to face that. There's a lot of pain that you had to experience at her hand, and I could never force you to relive that by seeing her. You don't have to be around her." He tried to give a smile, but it faltered. Seeing his son like this just broke his heart, almost as much as when he'd given his life for Jet to be born and knowing he wouldn't get to raise his son. It hurt, more than he wanted to admit.

It wasn't until Jet moved to quickly wipe at his eyes with his arms that he realized how bad he was shaking. Like a damned leaf… Taking another deep breath, he tried to force himself to just calm down already.

Sein frowned softly. "Don't try to force it. Let your mind and body calm down naturally, or you'll make it worse later. It's me and you, just us here right now. Don't worry about anyone or anything else for right now, okay?" There were so many arguments that Jet could have made against that, but he found that he lacked the strength to follow through with the idea. So, for now, he just answered with a vague nod. "So, can I ask you a few questions? I'll make them really simple so you don't have to try and give deep responses. Shaking or nodding your head will be okay."

There wasn't any better idea presenting itself, so Jet agreed with a tiny nod and equally small, "Okay." He had his head in his hands again and kept his eyes shut, hoping that that would help to keep them dry. He also did his best to ignore the weakness and shaking that had colored his voice just then.

"So, you and Sonic are close, but would you consider him your best friend in life?" Sein asked gently, a smile slowly building on his face. The question was random and Jet was tempted to ask why Sein even wanted to know, but in the end he just nodded. There was no use denying the truth. "So… Wave. I can tell you are close, and you've been that way for a long time. Do you like her?"

Unexpectedly and purely on reflex, Jet reached over and smacked Sein's arm. "You're as bad as Sonic," he accused, voice wavering with emotion still but not as badly as before. He made a point not to answer the question whatsoever.

Sein laughed audibly, smiling brightly. "So you do, then?"

Swallowing past the lump in his throat, Jet tried to make himself sound convincing as he responded, "I did not say that."

The older man rolled his eyes. "Sure, you're definitely not lying. Maybe I should ask Kath what he thinks when he comes back." A sly smirk formed on his face, glancing to Jet mischievously.

"Kaicha does not involve himself in petty squabbles, by his own telling," Jet responded quietly.

"I've drug him into a fair share of them on my own," Sein answered easily, arms crossing. Jet shrugged a little before wiping at his eyes again. He didn't have to do so as much this time. "So, you've definitely had people who helped you in life. Who would you say has helped the most, in whatever way you can think of?"

Jet didn't even have to think about it in order to reply. "Sonic and Wave."

"When did you meet them?"

"Sonic and I were… fourteen. He was trying to make his prototype Extreme Gear fly. We talked about it." Jet paused for a short moment before continuing. "When we were fifteen, we were flying on an airship I stole from Ross. We crashed close to Wave's house. She approached us there."

"Hold on, Extreme Gear, and a crashed airship?" Sein asked, a bit bewildered but also very amused. "You've gotta tell me about both of those."

Finally, Jet opened his eyes. "That hoverboard you saw in my room here is Extreme Gear. It's not the same one he was working on that day, though. That one is his."

"And what about this crashed airship you mentioned?"

"It was a large ship kept afloat by helium cells covering the exterior. Enough of them burst that it made us crash."

Sein snickered faintly before daring to ask, "And you stole it?"

"He deserved it," Jet mumbled.

"I've done similar things before," Sein answered easily, arms crossed. "Good job." Jet managed a very slight and fleeting smile for about a split second or so. Sein set a hand on his shoulder, smiling brightly. "I'm really proud of who you've become, Jet. Honestly." Not really knowing what to say, Jet looked over at him before looking away with another shrug. Sein continued to smile, saying, "Is there anything you wanna ask me? I've asked you a lot of questions, and asked a lot of questions about you."

There was a notable pause before Jet asked, "How did you meet Mom and Kaicha?"

Sein's smile softened a bit. "I was essentially orphaned on a battlefield. Kath found me on that battlefield, alone, and he brought me back to the palace. I somehow ended up staying with them and I grew up in the palace." Jet nodded slowly, silently processing all of this. "I'm glad they took me in, though, because I met the love of my life." Jet nodded again. He understood the sentiment well enough. Sein smiled, leaning further against the wall. "I'm also really glad I met her because I was able to have such a great son."

Thankfully, Jet was saved from trying to conjure up a reply when Kath finally returned with Alana. The two were quietly bickering about something in a very old dialect of Babylonian, but let the matter drop as soon as they reached Sein and Jet. Naturally, Alana hurried over to her son and knelt down to check him over and ensure he was alright. Once she was satisfied that he was (physically, at least), she gave him a gentle smile. "I see your father has managed to lift your spirits somewhat. I am happy to see it." Sein simply kept smiling. Tilting her head, Alana asked Jet, "Is there anything you need?"

Aside from escaping all of this concern, as awkward as all of it made him feel, no. There wasn't. Jet decided to be honest and tell her such, but minus that first detail. "No. I'm… fine."

Alana watched him for a moment, reading into his demeanor before saying, "You look as though your attention is elsewhere. What is the matter?"

He hadn't intended for it to be that obvious that he was already worrying over other things. Many other things. Internally, he cursed himself a little. "It's nothing."

Finally, Kath felt compelled to step in. "Jet." The younger hawk looked up at him sharply and in almost a startled manner, like a deer caught in the headlights of a car. "Do not lie. No one can assist you when you do not speak up."

Damn it all to hell. Why did he have to get involved? It was so fucking impossible to get anything past him… "I can deal with it myself," he mumbled, looking down.

Kath frowned faintly. "No, you will not," he directed simply. "You are to rest, at least for now."

"And even if you could," Sein answered, a small frown on his face, "I can't let you do it alone. We're here for a reason, and we all want to help you."

When their son didn't immediately respond, Alana moved to sit down in front of him. "Jet, please. What is going on?"

Eventually, Jet caved and admitted, "I don't know… exactly."

"What do you know?"

"...Someone is on A'latria. I don't know how they got there or why they're there."

Puzzled, Alana turned her gaze to Sein. What is A'latria?

Sein looked at Jet. "How about one of us go check it out? You can stay here and rest, hang out with Wave when she wakes up, and whoever goes can come back and tell us what's happening."

When no argument was forthcoming, Alana pressed the matter by asking, "What is A'latria, Jet?"

After a pause, Jet seemed to realize his mistake and clarified, "My world. One I made as a safe haven from… all of this."

"And where is it?"

There was another second of hesitation before Jet moved his hand and turned on his communicator screen. He pulled up a holographic star map without a word and zeroed in on a particular region of space. Then he pointed to one small, white dot on the screen and simply said, "There." Kath's eyes zeroed in on the spot, no doubt immediately recognizing most if not all the stars in the region. He was familiar with most areas of space, after all. It was his main area of expertise, largely thanks to his Vision power.

"And you created it yourself?" Sein asked softly. Jet nodded once. "What's it like?"

"It's a wintry world," Jet answered with a vague shrug, "with minimal flora and fauna. It is just ice and snow." Kath raised an eyebrow at this, but said nothing.

"Well, that's definitely interesting," Sein answered with a smile.

Alana looked over at Sein. "Do you wish to stay here? I can go if you do not want to."

"I'd rather stay, personally," Sein said, a soft frown on his face.

She started to get up, but Kath surprised her by firmly saying, "Sit. I will go, Alana."

Whether or not she intended to argue the point, she lost the opportunity to when Jet spoke up again. "You'll need a coat, Kaicha."

His tone gentling unexpectedly, Kath shook his head. "I will be fine. Worry about resting yourself, nothing more."

Sein raised an eyebrow. "And how are you going to be 'fine'?"

Something about the way that Sein asked this question seemed to spark a very, very rare note of mischief in his father-in-law. He appeared by Sein's side and lightly poked Sein's forehead with two fingers before vanishing entirely… leaving a rapidly expanding circle of ice on Sein's forehead that soon covered his eyes and nose. "H-hey! You asshole! Get back here and tell me why the hell you never mentioned you had ice powers!"

Somehow, some way, Jet managed to smile.

~保護者~

Mere seconds after abandoning Sein's face to freeze, Kath appeared standing in the snow somewhere on A'latria's bitterly cold surface. A fierce blizzard was tearing through the area, impeding his ability to see, but the cold had no affect on him whatsoever. Making use of his aura senses, he made his way down the steep hill he had found himself on and began walking toward the only truly formidable source of power that seemed to be present on this planet. It wasn't terribly close, but also not very far away, either.

Yareis sensed Kath's approach, a heavily confused expression on her face as she stood and made her way toward him as well. The fact that he was braving this storm had her immensely curious as to what was going on with this person. Sensing her approaching him as well, Kath decided to take a more defensive approach to the matter just in case. He kept his hand lightly resting on the handle of his sword, but made no moves to draw the gleaming white blade just yet. However, once the stranger came into view, any suspicions he might have had about this person and their intentions evaporated. ...I know that face. Inwardly surprised but keeping his expression flat, he stopped walking.

Yareis continued approaching until she was almost upon him, a blade of pure ice in hand as she examined him quietly. "Who are you?" she demanded, faint distrust entering her tone.

Kath tactfully removed his hand from his own weapon and crossed his arms. "Kath," he supplied simply. There was a very slight pause, then he asked, "How and why are you here, Yareis?"

The woman was visibly surprised at hearing someone utter her name that wasn't among her usual allies. "Answer this first and I'll explain everything I'm allowed to. How do you know me?"

Eyebrows rising slightly, Kath told her frankly, "I make it my business to know all that I can."

"Well, you studied well, Kath. I assume you know my identity, in that case?"

"The embodiment of all things cold… to put it simply."

She shook her hand lightly. "Eh, an oversimplification but good enough. I'm here after discovering this place due to the God of the Forge working here. I questioned him on recent events, and then I invaded the realm of the God of Demons." Yareis motioned to the torn up dress she had been wearing, a sigh escaping her. "Such brutal, worthless beings. Had that woman been outside of their realm, I would have killed her."

A neutral hum was Kath's only initial reply, but soon he followed it up with, "The others from your era… I assume they are awake as well?"

"Don't go telling people," she murmured, crossing her arms. "We're trying to not solve every problem."

Kath blinked slowly. "Fine, then."

"So… you're not bothered by this storm. Ice powers, or something else?" she asked, inching closer to examine him further. "You seem like a cold person, and I kinda like that."

Ignoring that last comment, Kath answered the initial question. "Ice. Nothing more."

Yareis smiled, almost in a cocky manner. "You're strong, too. How much do you know of how to use your ice?"

"Enough to survive," Kath answered with a vague shrug. "I had no mentor."

"You don't know me, but I'd be damn pleased to teach someone like you," Yareis suddenly said. "I thought that fire users were too abundant, but here you are."

Though normally not one for spontaneous decisions, Kath found himself respectfully inclining his head. "Your offer is appreciated."

"Oh, I didn't answer part of your question," she suddenly observed. "As I showed you, I didn't escape uninjured. I came here to recover because it's one of the few places that has the right climate for my body."

With a slow nod, he gestured meaningfully to the east. "The coldest region appears to be that way right now. The snow is especially heavy over there. It may aid you in recovering quicker."

Yareis waved him off. "Unless you're going over there, I'm content to stand where we are and keep talking. I've been around that insufferable Pyrun for too long already. I need people that get me."

After a slight pause, Kath lifted a shoulder in a slight shrug and conceded, "Fire users can be… difficult to tolerate."

"Too damn passionate and headstrong a lot of the time. They also tend to incinerate things just 'cause they're pissy," Yareis huffed, crossing her arms tightly. Kath nodded faintly in general agreement. He had had enough experiences of a similar kind to not have an argument against her. "Anyway, your blade," she randomly decided to point out. "What is it? Doesn't seem entirely normal."

Deciding it was safe now to do so, Kath drew his sword and handed it to her handle-first so she could examine it. It was as cold as ice itself to the touch and as shimmering white as pure, fresh-fallen snow. "Some took to calling it 'the Blade of Winter'," he told her, "due to its cold properties. It functions by feeding off of the emotions within its user. The colder their heart at the time of each strike, the stronger the ice it can utilize."

Her eyes roved the blade with some sort of satisfaction on her face. "Amazing, but wouldn't it be better to have a weapon that can consistently handle the strongest you can put out?"

"This can," Kath pointed out evenly, "but it also has the capacity to not kill when that is not my intention. It is why I favor this blade and not another."

Yareis nodded slowly, glancing to her own sword. "Mine doesn't have a name, never needed one, but I know for a fact that it cannot melt and that if anyone so much as dares to touch it without a power to protect them from ice, it will freeze them solid. Provided they can't overwhelm that ice, since it's not the same as what the sword is made of." She shrugged. "I suppose there's merit in both."

"Perhaps there is," Kath agreed neutrally.

"So, how did you even know I was here? Surely you didn't just happen to notice me," Yareis crossed her arms, eyebrows raised.

"This world was crafted by an Immortal's hand," Kath explained to her. "He sensed you here, and I came to investigate. I just did not know it was you, in particular, that I would find."

Yareis huffed. "And here I thought you came looking for me specifically. Such a shame." Her tone of voice was meant to convey that she was joking, but it came out the exact same way her normal speaking would have.

Nevertheless, Kath caught on and smirked very slightly for a second. "Indeed," he murmured in vague amusement as he gently took his sword back from her in order to sheath it again.

"I'm still so surprised to have met someone who actually has ice powers," Yareis murmured. "I mean, sure, you don't have all the same powers I do, but you've got something. And you taught yourself." She tried to sound impressed. She failed at doing it properly.

Kath gave that matter some thought. "I have noticed that it is… more rare than fire to a significant degree. But there remain some in existence with a notable amount of power akin to yours."

Yareis scoffed, harshly. "Surely you're joking that anyone with my powers could be anything akin to me in power."

At this point, Kath directly met her gaze, something he rarely did with anyone. "There exists a person with the capacity to utilize nearly all powers found within nature, to include ice, temperatures, winds, and so on. I believe, should you ever meet him, you would not judge the matter quite so severely." He paused, then thought to add, "Though he, like I, will lack much refinement in his techniques. He was forced to learn many things on his own as well."

Her eyes narrowed briefly before she sighed. "I need to meet him as well, then. I can't simply let the knowledge of more people with powers like mine being out there not be used."

Kath nodded in understanding. "As he is now, a meeting is unlikely to pan out well. He is recovering and needs a short time to rest. I will not allow anyone to bother him for any reason until he is ready."

"So you know him directly?" she questioned quickly, almost stepping into what would have been his personal space before thinking better of it. I will attempt to… not piss off the first person I have gotten along with properly in a long time. "How so?"

"Somewhat," he answered. "I did not meet him all that long ago." There was a pause, then he relented and further explained, "I have come to learn that he is family."

Yareis opened her mouth to speak before frowning. "Family? As in, blood relation?"

"Yes. That is generally what that means, but not always."

"Ah, well, I just don't actually have blood family. Kinda just existed." Yareis shrugged softly. "But I've always had the other Gods and Goddesses. Guess they were the best family I had."

With a slow tilt of his head, Kath took a chance by saying, "Your kin can also be a form of family… if you ever allow them to be."

Yareis clicked her tongue. "Dunno about that. I just… don't get along with people. Ever." Whether or not this really bothered her was lost in the infinitely cold expression she bore, a frown on her face.

In the quiet that followed, Kath's eyes filled with the shimmer of countless stars as he activated his Vision and turned his attention to the sky. "Some of them linger near this world… perhaps in an effort to protect you from afar. Will you need to rejoin them?"

She waved her hand. "Ah, they can fuck off. I'm fine." Kath answered with a vague nod, blinking his eyes clear. His normal vision was left a bit blurred as a result of utilizing his power even for so brief a moment, but he ignored that matter right now. Yareis noticed this, a frown on her face. "Oi, you alright?"

Supremely unconcerned (as this was by no means the first time this had happened), Kath responded, "Fine."

"The hell did you do?"

"To put it as simply as possible… I viewed the stars from where I was standing. Nothing more."

"How?" she questioned further. "I'm not going to leave this alone until I have answers."

Huffing, Kath obliged and explained, "It is a power known as 'Vision'. It allows me to view any point in space whenever I wish, regardless of where I am or what I am doing, but at risk of damaging my normal vision in the process."

"Don't do that when it comes to me. I'll handle my own business," she huffed. Some part of her was surprised that she wasn't getting extremely snappy with him over something like that.

"It had little to do with you. There were strangers in the atmosphere and I intended to find out who they were. Nothing more."

Atmosphere… those bastards. She suddenly turned her attention upwards, glaring hatefully. "Piss off, all of you!" Kath raised an eyebrow at her, but said nothing. Whether or not the individuals hovering high above them listened, he made no effort to communicate it to her. Yareis groaned and began storming off. "Follow me." Squinting slightly in order to see more clearly (mostly so he could mind his footing in the deep snow), Kath followed after her without complaint.

~保護者~

Toru was leaning up against a tree, arms crossed and eyes closed as he almost visibly thought things over. He had a lot going on in his mind that he wasn't sure about how to handle, things he'd done recently that he'd never done before. Nothing about any of it made real sense to him, but he did have some idea of what was going on. The fact that it didn't make sense to him seemed to tip him off, but not enough for things to click.

He wasn't given proper time to think over this too heavily, an annoyingly familiar presence making itself known above him. "What do you want?"

His mother dropped down, several weapons strapped to all parts of her body as she regarded him curiously. "I have not seen you this deep in thought since you were a teenager."

Toru rolled his eyes at her, though they remained closed for the time being. "Maybe because that's around the time I stopped actively talking to you. Could have something to do with it."

Ekai raised an eyebrow, but didn't bother to comment on that. "You have something on your mind. I may be able to help."

"No offense, but I wouldn't mind if you did still take some… I don't want your help," he muttered, finally opening his eyes to look at her. "In case you didn't notice, I avoid you."

The usual emotionless face of his mother dropped for just a moment, enough for him to see genuine concern and care for him before the mask returned. She set a hand on his shoulder softly, sighing. "We may not get along, but I am your mother. We can talk to each other."

Whether Toru disagreed or had any real reaction to her actions, he didn't dare show it. Instead, he brushed her hand off and huffed. "If I talk to you about it, will you go bother someone else?"

"Perhaps."

He huffed once more. "Fine. So, let's say it this way. I've been hanging around someone for a bit and I've been acting… unusual around them, for lack of better words."

Ekai blinked a few times. "What do you mean? Unusual how?"

Toru rolled his eyes at her. "I've just been getting close to them a lot quicker than I do most others."

"You are talking to a man, yes?"

How his mother figured that out was beyond him. He knew she'd only arrived here about half an hour ago, since she always seemed to bother him shortly after making it to wherever he was at the time. "Yeah. And?"

"You like him?"

Toru blinked several times. That had been his guess on how he felt, but having it thrown in his face seemed to make it make more sense. That would explain why he was growing so close to Shadow already, and it would definitely help add to why he'd been so… awkward. "Er, maybe?"

His mother blinked once before simply turning away. "If you like him, pursue him. Know that if I catch wind of him harming you, however, he will not survive the coming night." Toru wanted to protest his mother's threat, but she vanished before he could speak.

Fucking bastard.

~保護者~

Though he kept it limited to mere thoughts as opposed to words spoken aloud, Shadow couldn't help but curse his luck. Silver had returned from his little errand for Tails and, seeing Shadow sitting alone away from everyone else, come over to check on him. At the younger hedgehog's insistence (namely, his insistence that something seemed wrong and he wanted to help), Shadow had relented and tasked the hedgehog with retrieving another vial of medicine from Sein. A bit of mental communication and a quick teleport landed the vial right into Silver's hands.

Now that Shadow had it, he was busy looking it over, reading the directions for its use. It was those directions that had him cursing in his head… because of course he could only use it in "severe" circumstances. According to the directions, that meant he had to be experiencing two or more symptoms to a nearly unbearable extent before he could have another dose. Normally, that was his experience anyway (hence them getting this medicine in particular, he'd wager), but that meant he was screwed right now. If not for the fact that it didn't say what the consequences were of taking the medicine early, he would have just done it. As things stood, however, it seemed wiser not to take the risk.

One symptom. One symptom was all he was starting to suffer through at the moment, but it was bad enough that he borderline didn't trust himself to behave intelligently. Maybe that was why he allowed Silver to sit here with him. Staying near someone might help him retain some level of sense… even as another wave of strong cravings washed over him. Focus, he told himself. Focus on something else. Anything else.

Silver chose that moment to speak up again. That was immediately suspicious. Shadow didn't think Silver was reading his mind, but he wouldn't put it past his nephew whatsoever. "Hey… Uncle Shadow?"

For some reason, Shadow huffed. "Dare I ask what happened to the nickname?"

"Oh, uh… I dunno," Silver laughed. "Guess you told me off about it enough times that I thought I'd give you a break from it."

Another huff. Shadow decided not to press the matter, lest Silver start immediately calling him Shads again like the brat he was. "You had a question," he invited instead, looking away, "so ask it."

Seeming pleased to have permission for once to potentially bombard Shadow with inquiries (he was certainly a curious brat, if not outright nosy), Silver grinned. "Right. So, before I ask, you have to promise not to shoot me, 'kay?"

That earned him a glance, and a raised eyebrow. So far, this was proving to be a decent enough distraction. He decided not to be foolish by letting the conversation drop by not answering. "...That depends entirely on you minding your words, Silver."

"C'mon, how am I supposed to ask you stuff if I can't speak freely without the risk of death?" Silver complained, quickly followed up by a petulant, "I thought you loved me!"

Shadow openly rolled his eyes. "Note how I never said that," he retorted dryly.

For some reason, Silver's grin turned victorious. "But you also never denied it even when given a clear opportunity to, so ha!" Shadow reached over and flicked his nephew's ear, causing the younger hedgehog to laugh again. "Anyway, in all seriousness, don't get mad, okay? I promise that it's not my intention to annoy you or anything right now. I genuinely have a question."

Although he huffed again, Shadow couldn't deny the sincerity in Silver's voice, so he decided to stop giving his nephew so much shit. ...For now. "Fine, then," he agreed with a small nod.

Pleased anew, Silver continued to smile. "Awesome. Okay, so… this question's gonna have a few parts to it, probably. To start with, I've gotta know, what's the name of that cool-looking chameleon you've been hanging out with?"

Hanging out was not something Shadow did. He was about ready to remind Silver of that before thinking better of it. Hadn't he just resolved to cooperate for now, after all? "His name is Toru," he said instead.

Silver nodded. "Cool. Got it. Next question, then. How long have you two known one another? You seem kinda close."

That… caught Shadow off-guard. "Close"? We are not… close. Frowning a little, he slowly answered, "We only met recently."

His response seemed to surprise Silver quite a bit. "Wait, really?" There was a slight pause. "So, hold on, I don't get it. If you guys barely know each other, why've you been talking so much? I thought you don't really do that."

Actually, Silver had a point. Shadow normally didn't do this sort of thing. In fact, he found himself doing a fair few things around and with Toru that he normally never did. For one thing, as Silver pointed out, he spoke far more freely and openly with Toru than he did with anyone else. When had that started, and why? He didn't even talk to Tails this much, and he had known the fox far longer. He'd even told Toru several secrets of his without even thinking, things like his past addiction to Zero and the fact he'd been freaking created instead of born. None of this… made any logical sense. He didn't get it, and that was a fact he didn't enjoy at all.

Sounding even more confused than Shadow currently felt, Silver interrupted his thoughts with a new question. "And that gun he's been carrying around… that's one of yours, right? It looks like something built in your style."

Something abruptly occurred to Shadow. Something he hadn't even remotely realized before. Something he didn't know what to make of. Without even realizing it at the time, he'd given Toru a freaking gift. Namely, one of his prized guns. He'd done so out of nowhere and purely on a whim - and he wasn't entirely sure why he'd wanted to do that, much less followed through with the idea. All of this confusion was bizarre, frustrating, strange. He didn't know what to make of any of it. "...Yes," he eventually answered, frowning to himself all the while.

The pair fell silent for a moment. Then Silver let out a little cough. "Well, I was gonna ask about how long you guys've been friends, since I was curious, but…" Another long pause. Silver eventually shook his head. "Guess I'll leave you be for now, if you want."

Suddenly, Shadow had a lot to think about. More than enough to keep his mind off of other matters. None of it was anything he wanted to think about around someone with a track record of reading people's thoughts without their knowledge or consent. As such, he didn't reject the offer, merely accepted it with a vague nod, watched Silver go, then focused entirely on the matter at hand. He had a lot to work out, suddenly…

~保護者~

A white flash of Light interrupted all goings on within the village. Chameleons peered distrustfully out of their homes. Silver, Tails, Calypso, and the others all turned their eyes skyward. As everyone looked on in astonishment, a bundle of fiery orange fur began dropping like a rock from the clouds and down toward the ground far below. Limbs briefly failed before claws extended from toes and fingertips and found purchase within the thick bark of one of the trees relatively close to the village center. Those claws dug deep and tore downward in an effort to slow the descent, a task which they succeeded at before long. Visibly relieved, the owner of those claws sighed and dislodged themselves from the tree before dropping to the grass that waited now mere feet below.

Recovering from his shock, Silver blurted out, "Marthal?"

Glancing at the hedgehog, Shei frowned. He took note of the name, but focused more on another fact entirely. Given the mystical lands within which his kind lived, chameleons knew what yokai looked like at a glance… even when they were only half-breeds. To think that these individuals personally know a yokai in spite of how secretive and well-hidden yokai are… I suppose I should not be so surprised, all things considered, but I am.

Tails hurried over toward the cat, only to pause beside Silver. The cat in question was currently busying himself with plucking bits of bark out of his fur and off of his claws. "Oh, crap, I forgot… he's not going to be able to hear us."

"Why w- Oh, wait, I remember." Silver sighed. "You're right. I forgot that he's mostly deaf. And he doesn't have his hearing aids since he was… erm, dead."

"Right. Which, of course, begs the question of how he's here." Tails bit his lip, thinking, then said, "Sonic and Rose worked together to bring you back, but Sonic's not here still. I don't think Rose did this, but can you go ask her for me? Or, better yet, will you see if she'll come over here to talk?"

"Yeah, sure, why?" Silver answered, standing up. At around this time, Shadow finally bothered to walk over to see what was going on.

"Well, Marthal can't read lips too well, as far as I can remember," Tails said. "He can pick up some things when the person he's looking at pronounces things really clearly, but that won't be enough for any of us to really talk to him. I'm hoping that maybe she can sign to him, if she knows how."

Silver frowned out of confusion. "Or I could just use my awesome mental powers."

"Normally, I'd agree," Tails chuckled. "I have a bit of a different job for you, though, if you don't mind. Namely, I'd like you to head over to my place and see if you can track down the stuff on this list for me. I need some extra supplies for the work that's being done on my ship."

"Ooh, a new ship? Nice." Grinning, Silver took the slip of paper from Tails and then jokingly saluted him. "Sure, I'll fetch Rose for you and then head out. See you in a bit." He teleported in the direction of the white-furred cat without further ado. He appeared nearby to where Rose and her sister was, being very sure to keep a respectable distance between himself and them. "Hey, uh, Rose?"

Rose was quickly protective, obviously moving herself between both Silver and Eila with a concerned expression on her face. He threw his hands up defensively. "What is it?" she asked softly.

"Don't kill the messenger, please," Silver was very quick to say, eyes a bit wide. "Tails asked me to come get you. I'm literally just here to tell you that he wants your help."

"I… didn't plan to harm you," Rose murmured softly, looking down momentarily before turning her gaze back to him. "What does he need me for?"

"An old friend was revived out of nowhere," Silver explained to her, lowering his hands again. "Tails and I were trying to figure out how and why. And… there's also the issue that we can't communicate with him super well. ...Or, at least, he can't. I could, but I've gotta go for a bit. Tails could just type everything he wants to say on his communicator for Marthal to read, but that'd probably take too long. Guessing that's why he didn't suggest it."

With a quiet glance to her sister, Rose slowly nodded. She hoped to return before her sister could wake back up, especially since she had to be concerned with the possibility of Eila running away. "I should be able to help, if he knows sign language," she murmured.

"He does," Silver nodded. He paused, then asked, "How'd you guess that that's what we needed? I didn't mention it yet."

"The way you spoke insinuated that he could not hear, but he could still see. I simply had to guess that much," Rose explained.

"Oh. Right. That makes sense." Silver thought for a second before giving a good-natured shrug. "Real quick, just a couple brief explanations for your reference before I head out. Firstly, he can hear kind of, but only if things are really loud. Otherwise, everything is just muffled to him. And he can kinda read lips enough to sort of pick up words here and there, but not much else."

Rose nodded softly. "I see."

"Also, this isn't directly involved but might still wind up being relevant. See, Marthal is half-yokai, so his temper and behavior can be a little wild and unpredictable at times. He's usually pretty mellow, but he relies heavily on instinct to judge how to react. I doubt you would trigger anything negative, but I figured you might wanna know to be careful of it regardless."

Another nod served as her initial response. "I suppose I have dealt with some similar situations in the past. I may be able to handle it even if something does occur."

"Okay. Last thing, then." Silver took a second to collect his thoughts before continuing. "Being half-yokai, his nose is extremely sharp. He'll react to any scents people and things give off more than he will to their words and stuff. So that's definitely the biggest thing you have to be mindful of with him. Like, for example, if the people around him start giving off scents that tell him they're agitated or whatever, he'll start to react in the same way. Maybe even more so, because of the whole 'instinctual reactions' thing."

"As long as nothing happens with my sister… that should not be a problem either," Rose murmured softly, one last glance cast toward Eila.

"He won't hurt her, but if you're worried I can help put a barrier around her before I go," Silver offered. "I know there's a variety of dangerous creatures living out here."

"Please," Rose murmured softly, eyes imploring of him. Silver obliged without further ado, a cyan barrier of psychokinetic energy shimmering into existence around the sleeping cat. Rose offered him a thankful look before teleporting back to where she had been before Eila had been sent to her. Silver disappeared a second later.

Tails immediately turned when he saw Rose appear and he smiled gratefully in her direction. "Hi, Rose," he called out to her. By now, Marthal had finished cleaning and then retracted his claws and was busy scenting the air in an effort to gain his bearings. He had obviously come to realize already that there were some familiar faces around (there was no way he couldn't have, since Tails was standing right by him), but he wasn't paying anyone too much mind just yet.

Rose walked over to Tails quickly, her gaze shifting briefly to the new face of Wery marveling over the Tornado-Z (which she and Tails had moved over to the group not too long ago) before letting it fall back on the more familiar fox. "You required my help for some translating, correct?"

"If it's not too much trouble," Tails told her. "I know you've got your sister to worry about, too."

Being reminded of her concerns certainly didn't improve her mood on the matter, but she waved it off gently. "It will be fine. She should be safe for the time being."

"If you're sure, then I really would like your help," Tails said. "I can't sign at all. ...Which, in hindsight, is a problem I really should've remedied a lot of years ago."

"Perhaps in the future we can work on that together," she murmured, a small smile on her face. "I would not be against helping others to be able to communicate more."

Tails smiled back at her. "Anyway… since he was just revived, we should make sure Marthal is feeling okay, right? Like, ensure he's just tired and nothing worse?"

"Tell me whatever you wish to ask and I can check with him," she answered. "Is that where you would like me to start?"

"It might be a good idea," Tails replied. Forgetting himself for a moment, he waved his hand and called out Marthal's name to get his attention on them.

Frowning, Marthal turned his attention toward the movement. Seeing Tails's mouth move, he spoke, reflexively signing as he did so. "I can't hear you."

Tails sheepishly rubbed the back of his head. "...Right. My bad."

Rose smiled softly in amusement and signed to Marthal in Tails's stead. "Hello, Marthal."

Visibly relieved to be able to communicate with someone, even if that "someone" was a stranger, Marthal was quick to sign back. "You know my name?"

"Your friend told it to me. He asked me to communicate with you since he could not."

"About what? What was he trying to say a second ago?"

"He was simply calling for your attention." Marthal huffed but just nodded in reply as he moved to sit down in the grass. "How are you feeling?"

"Tired as shit. Is that normal?" Marthal signed back before moving to flick some residual bits of bark off of his bare feet. Even to this day he still refused to wear shoes, and so had died without them. Hence, he had none now.

Rose frowned softly. "Perhaps. As far as I am aware, all who were revived have been left in a fairly exhausted state for a short time after. Recovery time varies between individuals."

"Lovely. Glad to hear it." Despite the fact that they weren't talking, the sheer amount of sarcasm in his response was clear.

The female cat managed an amused smile before it faded once more. "You were not injured any time after your revival, correct?"

"Think I might've bruised my fingers a bit, but it's not like I haven't done that before," Marthal answered with another huff. "Just didn't expect to have to suddenly catch myself on the side of a damn tree to avoid slamming headlong into the ground."

Rose's eyes sparkled briefly, healing energy slowly washing over his body before fading away once more. "I am sorry for the way you were forced to enter. If I had any control over the situation regarding your revival, I would have not allowed such a thing to happen."

Knowing what little he did about the matter of revival, Marthal asked her, "If you didn't do it, then who did? I don't sense any other Light users around here, and it smells like Sonic hasn't been here in a while. Pretty sure he's needed for the whole revival process, isn't he?"

"I… do not know who it was."

"Because that's not concerning at all," Marthal responded with a dry expression.

"I will do what investigation I can into this," Rose promised softly. "Aside from being tired, are you doing well in other ways? I can bring you something to eat if you need me to."

That made him hesitate. "Yokai don't eat things you'd probably be comfortable handling. I'll deal with that in a bit. But thanks anyway."

Rose nodded slowly, seeming to understand what he meant to some degree. Her attention shifted to Tails. "Is there anything you need me to inquire of him?"

"We should definitely ask if his nose is bothering him at all," Tails answered. "If the scents in this area are too much, I'll need to throw together something to protect his nose so that he can tolerate sticking around. We're safer together, you know?"

The female turned to Marthal. "Is there anything bothering your nose currently? Tails wished to know."

The orange-furred cat shook his head. "No. The air is pretty fresh and clean out here. I'm fine. Can you ask him if it's possible to get me some hearing aids, though? That'd make my life a lot easier."

"I will do so. Do you need anything else, so that I can let him know all at once?"

"Don't think so."

"I will inform him, then." Rose turned to Tails once more. "He asked if it would be possible to get hearing aids. What do you wish for me to tell him?"

"I can definitely do that," Tails grinned. He was quick to tell Marthal such by way of a thumbs up and quick nod. That earned a tentative smile in response. "That should probably be it, I think. Thanks for your help, Rose. I really appreciate it."

She nodded softly. "Anything I can do to help, I will do," she murmured, already turning to head back. Rose certainly had her priorities in mind, though she was quick to check one last thing before leaving. "Do you need my help with anything else?"

"Not at the moment, no. I'll let you know if anything comes up." With this said, she teleported away while Tails hurried back over to Wery and their tools.

Lacking anything better to do, Marthal curled up in the grass to get in a small nap.

~保護者~

"So, uh… who's the new guy who kinda fell out of the sky?" Wery asked Tails slowly, obviously not sure what to make of this.

Tails, who was already sitting off to the side of his ship with some tools and other supplies, glanced up from his work on the first hearing aid he was working on. "Oh, that's Marthal. He's one of our old friends, one of the ones who was part of the larger group I used to travel with way back in the day. He's pretty nice, don't worry."

Wery blinked a few times. "Why'd you have to get that other cat to use sign language?"

"Marthal can't hear most things," Tails patiently explained. "Unless sounds are especially loud, everything is so muffled that it's rendered incomprehensible to him. And he can't read lips very well anymore, though I think he used to be able to, so we had to have someone else translate."

She nodded slowly, understanding what was happening. "That makes sense. I feel bad that he can't really understand us, though," she said softly, a frown on her face.

"That's why I'm making these," Tails smiled. "He had hearing aids in the past, and he could hear just fine with those. They were designed in such a way that they bypassed the non-functioning parts of his ears to allow sound to… get through, in a sense. Those old ones are long gone by now, but I remember enough to make them again."

Wery wanted to offer her help with this, but she ultimately realized that this project would be too small for them both to work on it at the same time. "You said you were sending someone after some parts and stuff, right?"

"Yep. His name is Silver. He's the one with the golden eyes and, naturally, the silver fur." Tails found himself laughing. "His dad named him well, eh?"

"I suppose so," she giggled. "At least he wasn't named Yellow or something like that. His name is befitting of him, if nothing else."

"Yep." Tails worked on in silence for about a second or so before a thought occurred to him. "Hey… I don't suppose you know of any cleaning agents that are good at removing smells. I don't think I have any right now, and I'm gonna need to remove as many scents as possible from these before I hand them over. Even my nose can smell the fresh metal shavings and stuff we've got over here, and my sense of smell isn't especially powerful."

Wery frowned a bit. "I… could make one, but I don't have any of my equipment for stuff like that. Carrying chemicals around is an awful idea, and I had to learn that the hard way."

"Oh, yikes. I hope you didn't hurt yourself."

She laughed for a moment, then the embarrassment came and she moved back some fur on her leg to reveal a sizable scar. "It's not bad, but it happened. Kinda… feel stupid admitting to it, considering I was carrying hydrochloric acid."

Tails winced sympathetically. "Ouch… sorry to hear that." There was a small pause, then he asked, "Would you be willing to go get whatever you needed if I lent you a teleporter? I'm sorry to suddenly ask this of you, but I'd really appreciate the help and so will he."

Wery blinked. "Oh, it's not a problem at all! I'll just go by my house and make some really quickly, then come back here. I shouldn't be gone for more than like, ten or fifteen minutes."

"Great!" Grinning a little, Tails tossed her his teleporter. "Just think about where you want to go and press the button to activate it. It'll take you wherever you want without an issue."

She fumbled for a moment with it, nearly dropping the device before she miraculously was able to grab it in both hands. "Sure thing!" With that, Wery pressed the button and teleported away.

~保護者~

9,682 words this time. Hope you all enjoyed, and many thanks as always to Blazing Winds for all of his help and support. Posted (at about 10:00 p.m.) 06-17-20.