Disclaimer: I hereby disclaim all rights to all characters (save for those of my own creation) in these scenes… especially for the one who makes a bold move.

~保護者~

"Tension"

~保護者~

Simply walking without any express need to get anywhere was strange, Shadow decided. He couldn't recall having ever taken a walk for the mere sake of it before. What was the point of it? What was the purpose? If there wasn't, then why were they doing this? He didn't quite understand, debated asking, but ultimately he decided not to. It didn't seem worth it, somehow. Things were fairly… peaceful, for the moment, and Toru seemed perfectly content with doing this. Perhaps that made it alright. Perhaps.

Toru glanced over to Shadow, a faint thoughtful frown on the chameleon's face. "So, I think I covered most of the details of my culture's approach to dating and the like." He turned his attention forward once more, this frown growing. "Though… I'm not gonna say I'm bound to those ideals. Whatever works between us… that's what I'm going to do."

With a slow nod, Shadow said, "I do not care much how this is done, overall. Matters like these are not the sort that I spend time… fussing over, I suppose you could say."

"Well, we'll just do whatever works with the both of us. Preferably what comes naturally," Toru answered, a gentle smile on his face. Shadow answered with another slow nod. In all honesty, he was trying not to think too deeply about actually going through with the idea of dating again. He hated to admit that it apparently still made him a bit wary. After some time, and a few ideas that seemed to derail on their own, Toru let out a sigh and crossed his arms. "I suppose that letting you meet my mother now as opposed to when she comes and finds me is the best choice." There was obvious reluctance in his voice, a clear disdain for the idea of seeing his relative.

"You say 'let me' like it is some sort of privilege," Shadow retorted dryly. Then he let out a sigh of his own. "We can go whenever you're ready." He wasn't looking forward to this (mostly because everything about Toru's demeanor suggested that this woman wasn't pleasant), but it was probably for the best to just get it over with.

"Far from a privilege," Toru answered just as dryly. "More like a burden." He was quiet for a moment before sighing and nodding. "Let's go." He teleported the both of them to Hyale and began walking the moment the village's scenery came into view. Toru seemed to know exactly where he was heading, arms crossed and a deep frown on his face. A hand shifted to the handle of his blade and he huffed. "Get out of the god damn tree," Toru snapped lightly.

In response to this, a woman dropped onto the ground in front of them. On her back was an array of weapons while her face bore no signs of such an assortment of emotion. She raised an eyebrow to Shadow, vaguely curious before she decided it wasn't worth questioning. "So this is the man you have sought? An outsider?" Shadow's eyebrows drew downward a degree, both in response to Toru's shift in attitude and this woman's words, but he kept his mouth firmly shut for now. He had agreed to not let himself get riled up and bicker with her, after all.

The hedgehog saw how Toru's arm twitched, how his eyes flared in a borderline aggressive manner. The faint rise of Darkness that the chameleon took so much care to keep under wraps. How harshly he gripped his blade's handle when he stepped forward and none-too-politely got in her face. "You will not disrespect him," he uttered hatefully. "And you will certainly not treat him like you treat me." These words caused Shadow to frown more and he tossed Toru a subtle glance, but he still didn't speak. If he had to intervene he would, but for now it seemed best to just stay out of it.

Ekai leaned forward a bit and stared into her son's eyes, her own eyes seeming to briefly flare before she stepped back. "You are far too violent, Toru."

Toru's left eye twitched noticeably and he took a deliberately slow step forward. "Acknowledge. What. I. Said."

"I acknowledge nothing of him. He has not proven himself worthy to be within our society, at least not to me," she answered coldly, frowning. Her gaze flicked to Shadow briefly, eyes narrowing. "Do you believe yourself able to live amongst our people, despite being an outsider?"

Schooling his expression, Shadow fell back on a response that was taught to him by Espio long ago purely to handle confrontations like these. And, crucially, it was considered to be a respectful (if brief) reply. "I make no claims," he said very simply.

"So you know our culture," she commented briefly, turning back to her son. "I will not accept him."

Something in Toru's demeanor shifted and there was the faintest of smirks. "I don't fucking remember asking for your acceptance."

Eika stood up straighter, recognizing the threat laced deep within his words. "Are you planning to show your mother any respect while introducing her to the one you wish to be with?"

Faster than Ekai or Shadow could have reacted, Toru slammed the woman against a tree with his palm pinning her neck against the trunk. Shadow decided to surreptitiously position himself several feet away, as Toru clearly did not want him involved in this and he therefore needed to be out of the way. "You don't deserve my respect. You don't deserve me caring about your thoughts. And you sure as hell don't have the right to speak to me or Shadow in this way." The growing confrontation in this normally quiet village inevitably drew attention. Other chameleons began to turn their attention to it and keep their eye on things, but none of them showed any interest in getting in the way. They knew Eika and Toru. They only enjoyed the company of one of those people. So they left well enough alone and let events unfold.

"Get your hand off me," Eika spat, gripping Toru's arm tight. "You will not treat me this way."

Toru's eyes shifted to a metallic silver, a sign that his Darkness had surfaced and he was very actively using the power it gave him. His words were cold and cutting, much like the blade he wielded. "You will not treat me in this way."A slight shift in his stance was enough to launch the female chameleon through the tree she was pinned against and sent her flying away from the scene. Toru's hate-filled gaze fell on Shadow and something in his eyes softened briefly. "Stay here. If she hurts you…" The chameleon shook his head, a touch bothered by the thoughts filling his head in this moment. "I'm killing her regardless."

Crimson eyes blinked slowly and Shadow inclined his head. "I will remain here," he assured.

"If she somehow gets hold of you, blast her fucking head off." Toru vanished immediately and went off in search of his mother. His eyes briefly locked onto a few Hollows he passed by. He couldn't find it in himself to care about them right now, especially since he knew they'd stay away while he was in this state. He found his target in a scar on the ground, left behind by the landing that she'd endured after being launched away. Toru climbed down calmly, sliding almost serenely to the bottom, before walking up and picking her up by the horn on her head. "Still breathing."

These words were followed with harsh blows that only deepened the gouge left in their wake, causing it to grow deeper and wider. At some point, she seemed to regain consciousness and drew a weapon only for it to be cleaved in half by his hand coated in Darkness. Before she could attempt to draw another weapon, he pinned her to the ground with a foot and made quick work of the rest of her weapons so he could discard them. When this was finished, he picked her back up and teleported to level ground, throwing her to her feet. His Darkness leveled itself out and he took a stance, a calm expression on his face. "You better not just give up and bring more dishonor to our family."

If she attempted to fight back, Toru didn't notice as he grabbed her by the legs and slammed her through a tree. It started to fall and time seemed to slow down for him, moving so fast that it barely had a chance to move before he careened her body back through it over and over until all that remained of the tree was an explosion of dust. A flaming blade cut into the woman's skin repeatedly before thrusting her against a rock that threatened to burst on contact.

In a flash of cold, unrelenting hatred for the woman who had gone so far and ruined so much of his life, Toru drew the gun Shadow had gifted him and blasted a hole through his mother's skull, taking no satisfaction in her death. "You were always worthless… it just took me this long to notice because I finally met someone who makes me feel like I'm doing something good." He then collected his mother's deceased body and, ignoring the blood, carried her to the nearest Hollow he could sense. Without hesitation or remorse, he tossed Ekai to the beast and let it feed. Before this mattered and it was able to really gain power from the body however, Toru slaughtered it with his blade and left. He had no intention of leaving any remainder of his mother behind.

Toru walked back to Shadow calmly, stepping toward the hedgehog with no immediate residual anger left behind. He seemed… almost peaceful in contrast to how he'd been mere moments before. The chameleon flashed the faintest of smiles before turning his attention to Aniko, who had arrived after sensing the short-lived brawl. They seemed to have a silent conversation before Aniko simply nodded and sighed. "Toru, you should leave for a bit. Clear your head and relax. I think that would do you good."

"Got it," Toru answered, walking to Shadow and gently grabbing the other man's wrist with the obvious intent to keep him close. "I'd like to meet your family instead. Could be a lot better than that shitshow," he murmured.

Doing his best to ignore the sudden physical contact, Shadow nodded once before saying, "You have met everyone who remains alive, aside from my mother."

Toru nodded gently. "Then we should meet her sometime soon. I'm sure that she's a lot… better." What this was supposed to mean went without saying.

"She is elsewhere," Shadow hedged, not wanting to go into details whatsoever. "Right now, she is… recovering. I do not know when she will be strong enough to be visited."

Toru sighed. "Well, damn. Hopefully she'll feel good enough to be visiting soon, then." It was plainly obvious that the chameleon was trying to keep how he was feeling under wraps, especially in how his eyes shifted every so often.

Shadow took a second to read into Toru's expression and body language before twisting his wrist around so that he could give Toru's own a tug. "Come. We should leave now, as Aniko suggested."

It took Toru a moment to really respond, but he did so with a gentle smile. "Yeah… that would be good." Without any real hesitation, Toru teleported the both of them back to Shadow's house.

~保護者~

A day after the start of this unexpected time of peace, Calypso arrived on New Babylon, having finally decided to leave Mobius again for now. Sensing her sudden appearance, Kath went straight to her - a fact which she naturally used as ammunition against him straight away. "You rush here quickly," the Therian teased. She stood on the steps leading up to the palace's main entrance, and he joined her there with Azerel by his side as always. "You can no wait to see me, hm?"

The desire to argue against her was there, but Kath ultimately refrained. "You are ridiculous," he murmured instead, turning his head away.

"I only speak t'e truth," Calypso answered flippantly. "You know it well as I do."

Catching on to the fact that there were deeper implications to what she was saying, Kath fixed her with a wary look. "Know what, exactly?" he found himself asking. At about that time, Azerel wandered off toward one of courtyards, abandoning Kath to his fate with silent laughter. The hawk tossed him a glare. Bastard.

There was a moment of silence. It was subtle and difficult to witness, but Kath noticed she very lightly bit down on her inner lip. This was something he had learned that she did only when thinking very emotionally about something important to her. Which practically never happened. He hardly dared consider what she might be thinking about. When she finally spoke up again, she did so with all the seriousness she could muster. That never did bode well for him. "Come wit' me, Kash."

She hadn't called him Kash in a long while. Why she had ever started, he wasn't entirely certain. Mostly, he chalked it up to her early struggles to say his name properly. He wasn't sure why she used the name now, but he supposed that focusing on that detail was just an effort to distract himself. And she was clearly expecting an answer. "Why?" he asked her. After a slight pause, he thought to add, "Where are you going to go?"

Calypso's arms crossed. "You tell me. Where there be less people? We no need people listen in on us."

"Why?" Kath questioned again, feeling wary all over again.

In response, she reached out and snagged his one long sleeve between her fingers. With a surprisingly firm grip, she gave his arm a tug. "Pick a place and come wit' me," she insisted.

Something in her aura convinced him. With a heavy sigh, he relented and gestured broadly to the right of where they were standing using his free arm. "There are gardens that way. One is fairly private."

Appearing satisfied with this, Calypso tugged him along and walked in the direction he had indicated. They soon arrived in the desired location, and almost as soon as they did she rounded on him… but what she said was the furthest thing from what he had expected. "You a brilliant man," she murmured, slowly relaxing her hold on his sleeve. Both of their arms fell by their sides. "Brilliant but stupid."

Kath wasn't prideful enough of a person to take any offense to that claim at all, but he still scowled at her a little. "What are you talking about?"

She seemed to curb the desire to say one thing and instead said another. "Stupid is wrong word," she sighed. It struggled visibly to find the word she needed, but soon gave up. "You can no see t'ings right in front o' you. I need word for t'at."

"Blind," Kath answered unhappily. He disagreed with what she was clearly trying to say, though. He wasn't blind. Just, maybe in denial, perhaps… though he did try to avoid thinking about that.

"Blind," she repeated slowly, testing the word. Soon, she continued on by saying, "Yes, you t'at. You blind. I okay wit' it before, but t'is war could kill us all. I no want to die wit'out us saying t'ese t'ings."

"You will not die," Kath told her firmly, "and neither will I."

"You no know t'at, and I no know t'at," Calypso answered with just as firm a tone. "We will talk here and now whet'er or not you like it." When he remained silent, unsure of what to say, she huffed and made an admission he had not been expecting. "I care about you. I care much about you. What word is it in t'is tongue?"

Dazed by the depth of what she was trying to admit, Kath could only half-whisper, "...Love?"

Her eyes lit up. "Yes. Yes, t'at. T'at t'e word. Love."

In a rare moment of stunned stupidity, Kath could only murmur, "You… you can't be serious, Calypso."

She huffed at him again and once again grabbed his sleeve. This time, she used it as leverage to yank him forward. It took his brain a surprisingly long time to catch up with what was actually happening after that point. By the time it registered that she had just kissed him, it was over. All he could do was stare in shock, and she gave him an unusually gentle smile. "Now you less blind, eh?" she murmured. Leaving him with that teasing little statement, she turned and walked out of the garden and out of sight.

~保護者~

Two days after peace was somehow secured for everyone, Espio was back out in the dense wilderness foraging for food. He had been coming here off and on over the past couple of days, gathering what he could find and returning in the evenings to check on Zei and Sako. Anxiety over his argument with Armaris proved a compelling force, and he steered clear of her entirely. He knew that the fight had made her upset, but his inability to determine whether that was directed at him and whether that upset was more specifically anger was both irritating and nerve-wracking. He opted to just not confront the issue at all. He didn't want to make things worse.

Despite her insistence that he talk to them, Espio avoided his parents as well. He'd meant it when he'd said that he hadn't wanted to speak with them about any of the concerns he had. If Armaris was wrong and they really thought what he was now starting to worry they did… it was better not knowing. Not knowing wasn't pleasant, but at least it didn't hurt. Hurt was something he wished to avoid for the rest of his life. Nyokae had left him with more than his fair share of it.

Avoiding Shei and Aniko while checking up on his children each night proved difficult (they were the ones watching the pair in his absence, after all), but he accomplished it one way or another. He tried not to dwell on the idea that they might have been avoiding him as well. It was difficult to tell where irrationality and anxiety ended and where logic and reason began. Separating the two was more difficult than he could handle right now. He just wanted to escape from it all. The fact that he still needed to find enough food to fill the storage compartments in his home proved a welcome distraction.

Kneeling ankle-deep in icy ocean water (the most northern stretches of the Highlands connected with the sea), he checked over the mussels he had gathered from beneath the waves. Some were thrown back for various reasons, others were put into the bag his father had given him days before and then set aside. He debated going back under the water to see what else he could find, but for now he decided not to. It wasn't that the cold or the water bothered him (his people were well adapted to the cold and had always lived semi-aquatic lifestyles), but he decided he had gathered enough for one day.

On top of the mussels, he had already gathered a variety of nuts, leaves, and roots to store away, as well as a surprisingly fat tetzu fruit - quite possibly one of the last of the season. It was a fairly rare treat even when it was in season, as the wildlife usually picked the trees clean of these, but one had been spared. Despite his fears and wanting to overall keep his distance from them for their own safety, he wanted to give this to Zei and Sako. They would no doubt enjoy it. So, with that in mind, he stepped out of the water and tied his bag shut, only to pause before he could do anything else. After no more than a second, he muttered, "Come out."

Mildly surprised that they had been detected so quickly (and yet also feeling quite pleased by the show of perceptiveness), Kal smirked faintly at her partner and murmured, "It would seem that we've been discovered. Shall we go and say hello?"

Ryuji slipped off the branch he'd been sitting on, arms lightly crossed and no evidence of any surprise or concern on his face. "Espio… I knew you'd be exceptional, and you're already starting to show that." As he spoke, Kal also dropped to the ground.

Eyes betraying nothing and his anxiety entirely forgotten for now, Espio stood and crossed his own arms. "Who are you?" he demanded quietly. He had an idea, judging by how these two people looked, but he didn't dare make assumptions.

"I don't think it's necessary to tell you what you've already figured out," Ryuji answered lightly. "We spoke with Aniko… and that was a painfully disappointing encounter. So, we came to say hello to you."

Kal smiled darkly, but focused her attention solely on Ryuji. "Have you got this handled? It would seem that there is another forager nearby. I would rather there not be any eavesdropping."

Ryuji nodded. "Yeah, I've got this. Go on and keep them away," he answered before turning his attention back to Espio. Kal promptly vanished. "Something's troubling you, yes?"

Remaining expressionless, Espio answered with a flat, "No."

"You seem to be avoiding people, though," Ryuji stated. "It's a bit obvious."

"I do not care what you think," Espio retorted, brazenly turning his back and walking back to his bag.

Ryuji sighed, shaking his head. "It's not about what I think, now is it? It's more about you. Who and what you are, and what you're doing to yourself."

"You have no business pretending to give a damn," Espio retorted, slinging the bag over his shoulder in preparation to leave.

The man's expression darkened faintly. "I never said anything like that, grandson. It's your family, the people that think they can call you friends, that are pretending to give a damn."

Barely resisting the urge to roll his eyes, Espio responded dryly and with disinterest, "Pray tell."

"That little girl you fraternize with, the cat. How do you know that she 'cares'?" Ryuji questioned. Espio said nothing, but he stopped walking for now and turned back around to listen. Ryuji shook his head, seeming a bit disappointed. "She's afraid of you. She thinks that you're just… evil. Wouldn't the best way to shield oneself from an evil force be gaining it's trust and affection?"

This earned a slight scoff. "You do not know as much as you are claiming," he accused quietly.

"Can you prove otherwise?" Ryuji questioned, an eyebrow raised. "Can you assuredly tell me that she's speaking nothing but the truth? Or are you being deceived by a pawn of the God of Demons like the rest of your so-called friends?"

"Why do you care enough to question me about it?" Espio returned, scowling faintly. It didn't seem right that people like this man would actually care, and he most likely didn't. So what was his aim here, exactly? There were several possibilities, but which was the correct one?

"I'm trying to protect you and help you hone your abilities. For you to be associated with those people… it'll be your downfall. They'll turn against you the moment they perceive you as a threat," Ryuji explained, sighing.

Enough negativity took hold to prompt Espio to immediately give a dark reply. "They are not a threat. If it comes to that, I will handle them."

Ryuji raised an eyebrow. "And the Immortals? Surely they wouldn't let you just do that."

"I don't care what they would let me do."

"Then what about letting us teach you so that even the Immortals have no say in what you do? Your abilities… you could prove to be far too powerful and skilled for them to handle as they are now, especially if you gain proper training."

Espio's gaze flicked to the right just a split second before Kal reappeared. She seemed quite satisfied, and her sword was bloodied. Smiling vaguely to herself, she said, "My partner is correct. Your parents failed you. They did not give you the training you not only needed but deserved. That is a wrong we are more than capable of correcting if you allow us." She glanced up at the sky. "Perhaps today is a bad time, however. It is getting late and others are expecting you. Come here again tomorrow, if you wish… we can speak more then."

Ryuji motioned for Espio to leave, a smile on his face. "I look forward to teaching you, grandchild. We've been away for too long."

After a lengthy pause, the youngest of the three chameleons disappeared. Kal shook her head, but not because she was upset. In fact, she was still quite pleased with the day's events. "What do you think of him, Ryuji, now that we've met?"

The man frowned lightly. "He's going to be troublesome if his Darkness isn't active, especially if those he's close to find us. If it is active, however, we should be fine to do as we need to."

"That's true," Kal nodded, "but what do you think of him? That is what I asked." She busied herself with cleaning up her sword a bit.

Ryuji sighed. "I gave an answer to the question. I've got no opinion yet, because I've only seen one side of him." The male chameleon closed his eyes and shook his head. "He's easy enough to get to if you know the right words, but he didn't want to listen at all at first."

"He will only be 'easy' to handle until he has some more training," Kal murmured. "Once he is less volatile… I daresay his control could rival our own." Her mouth shifted into a grin. "I look forward to the possibilities."

"I want Aniko out of the picture," Ryuji muttered. "Shei and that cat too. They're going to be the problematic ones." A flicker of anger moved across his features, but it was gone as soon as it had appeared.

Kal nodded once. "I believe that after a few meetings, he will be less resistant to the idea of coming along with us. His Darkness is already a formidable and compelling force that he wants to give in to. All he needs is a bit more pushing. Once he is ready, we can take him to our true home. As with us, he will find the best training there, in the heart of the Garden."

Ryuji nodded briefly before turning to her. "You saw what happened with that other chameleon, correct? The onyx colored one."

"Yes, I did," Kal confirmed.

"He might become a problem, too. I felt his energies, and he didn't bother using the full capacity of what he could do. What do you think on that?" Ryuji asked.

"He is extremely unlikely to be swayed to our side, though his Darkness is impressive. We should keep an eye on him, as he may well attempt to stand in our way." Kal sheathed her sword before adding, "Perhaps we should eventually see if there is any way to tempt him to follow our kind's proper path in life… but it seems unlikely with this one. He is too set in his ways in this regard."

Ryuji nodded. There were a fair few intriguing things about this other chameleon, but he didn't trust the chances of potentially swaying Toru to their side. "Regardless… we should be off soon. If too many villagers go missing, some may begin to suspect something."

"Indeed. I already fed that last one to a Hollow, so she will not be found. Nevertheless, we should take our leave." To this, Ryuji nodded once more and disappeared with Kal close behind.

~保護者~

Tired from having spent most of the night before in a call with Wave while they verbally beat all of the kinks in their plan for a device that could help Steam, Tails headed back to his house. It was earlier enough in the morning that Sonic, being the night owl he was, was still fast asleep on the roof. Silver was still passed out as well, most likely, but Blaze was outside enjoying the fresh air. Tails gave her a quick hello before slipping inside. Sure enough, a quick walk down the hall and an even quicker peak into his room where he had laid out a spare mattress proved that Silver was still out like a light.

The door to his one guest bedroom directly across from his own room was shut. He wasn't sure if Wery was still in there sleeping, and he saw no reason to bother her this early, anyway. He focused instead on quietly retrieving what he wanted from his bedroom. Namely, the water bottle he usually took with him into his workshop when he pulled all-nighters so that he didn't have to run back into the house constantly. He hadn't done that the night before and was terribly thirsty as a result.

Sneaking back out of the room, he headed straight for the kitchen and got himself a drink. Once done with that, he set about finding what he needed to prepare a hearty breakfast later on. With not one but two hedgehogs in his home, he was going to need to make plenty of food once they woke up. He could wait to make anything for a bit longer, but he still lingered in the kitchen long enough to figure out what could be cooked. After that, he headed into the living room.

Wery was currently standing in this room, staring at a framed picture with her practically trademarked curiosity. She seemed to be attempting to study it without actually touching it. Seeing her there, Tails walked over. His eyes fell upon the now ancient photograph, and he found himself smiling a smile that was equal parts sad and happy. "It's okay to pick it up, if you want," he told her. "It's terribly old, but the frame isn't. It's safe to be handled."

The female fox jumped lightly at him seemingly appearing by her (she hadn't been paying attention to much else), eyes blinking rapidly before she managed to calm down and breathe a sigh of relief. Without another word, she gently picked up the picture frame and looked at the picture inside. "So… this was the whole group of friends you had?"

"Yeah," Tails confirmed easily. "That… that was all of us. This picture was taken right around the time people started getting married and stuff, so we were all still pretty young. And we were in a time of peace, so everyone was… happy. It was a wonderful time. I miss those days, honestly."

Wery managed a small smile at hearing this and looked around. "Oh, there's Sonic… Blaze, Silver, you, obviously… and Marthal!" she pointed out, sounding proud for remembering that many people before she looked again. "Wow it's such a big group."

Taking a seat on the couch beside the old photo, Tails nodded. "Yeah, it really was. But we all knew each other really well, believe it or not." Slowly, he smiled. "I can tell you about them, if you want."

Wery sat down as well, glancing over it and frowning. "Is that… a bee? I never see their kind around, at least not where I live."

"They never were terribly common, for whatever reason. But, yeah, he's a bee. Or, was." Tails paused, thinking about past events, then shrugged them off. "His name was Charmy. He lived with the two reptiles you can see in that photo, Vector and Espio. Actually, they were all part of a detective agency for a long time. Charmy grew up within it and took on a proper detective job himself once he was old enough."

"That's… wow. At one point, I was actually over in Spagonia and I saw a building that was… just kind of there. Thought about trying to move there so I could have my own space for tech and stuff, but research told me it was owned by…" The fox blinked a few times before her eyes widened. "Oh my god it was owned by Espio!"

Tails's smile widened, though there was a sad note to it. "Vector started the Chaotix Detective Agency a little while before meeting Charmy and, later, Espio. When Vector died many years later, he left everything to Espio, but Espio doesn't exactly live in a society that functions on money. He scrapes together enough to pay for the land the building is on each month, but not enough for proper upkeep." After a small pause, he continued, "Anyway, that was the building Charmy grew up in. It was a fun place to visit sometimes. I know Cream liked it."

Wery looked to Tails and blinked. "Who is Cream?"

In response, Tails pointed to the picture. "That's her there. She's the only bunny beside her mother that we had the good fortune of befriending. And let me tell you, she was always as sweet as the pies her village was once famous for baking."

"Wow," Wery said gently, tilting her head. She took a moment before looking at the picture again. "So… tell me about Sonic."

"Hoo, boy, do I have some stories about him." Tails laughed at himself a little. "We actually first met in these woods, just like you and I did. Only, this time it was me who was lost. Well, myself and a friend. She had insisted I take a walk and get some fresh air since I'd been holed up in my workshop for ages, and because I was distracted by chatting with her… well, we got lost. That was when we ran into him. He was… really different back then." Tails closed his eyes, thinking back. "He was really… serious and withdrawn. 'Course, we later found out that that was because he'd been through a lot in the past, but we didn't know that back then. The him you'll be seeing now is actually really open about his emotions and thoughts, which is a far cry from how he used to be. It's a good thing, trust me."

Wery frowned deeply and tilted her head further. "What… happened to him?"

"A lot, it turns out. For one thing… I assume you know about South Island and the Cataclysm, right? You know, the giant event that ended with South Island blowing up and society going to the dark ages essentially for a while."

"Well… yeah. It's a huge part of history," Wery answered. "What about it?"

"He was at the heart of it," Tails reported quietly, "though it wasn't his fault. He was just ten or so at the time, and he was trying everything he could to stop the explosions from happening. He lost a lot of friends that day, as did so many other people, and the fact that he wasn't able to save everyone… he blamed himself for it for a long, long time." He sighed heavily. "Everything else was more miscellaneous events, I suppose, but this one incident definitely had enough of an impact on him to be significant. We're just lucky that having friends and family around him later on healed him enough that we got to see how he really is."

Wery looked at her hands briefly and frowned. "That's… wow…" Tails could only nod, at a loss for further words. She cleared her throat and looked to Silver this time. "So… what about Silver?"

That earned another smile finally. "Silver's gotta be one of my best friends, honestly. He and I were around the same age when we met, and we used to get into all sorts of trouble together. Back in the day, he was pretty infamous for starting all-out prank wars with the rest of the group. Though, he was out-pranked quite a few times."

The fox blinked a few times before nodding, warily so. "Is he… likely to drag me into any of that?"

"No, not at all. He may be a big, giant goofball, but he knows when to leave people alone, who can handle pranks and who won't want to, that sort of thing. He won't bother you, I promise." Tails tilted his head, then added, "Well, not with pranks, anyway. He can be really curious, so he might badger you with questions now and then, especially if you're building something, but he really does try his best not to be invasive or annoying to people."

Wery managed a gentle smile at this. "Well… if that happens, I won't mind answering as long as he doesn't start touching things."

"He won't," Tails chuckled. He paused, then suddenly remembered a crucial detail. "Also, uh… I promise I won't go into mind-bending detail right now, but that stuff that Steam and I told you about other timelines the other day… that's actually relevant when you're talking about Silver and Blaze."

"Huh? What do you mean?" Wery asked.

"They're from an alternate reality," Tails explained simply. "One where the world was little more than fiery ruin. It's probably part of why Blaze not only has the name that she does, but also why she developed the fire powers she has. It also plays into Silver's own power, since his relies on mental fortitude and living in a place like that… it really does leave you strong." He shrugged. "Anyway, they lived there for a long time until a weird accident allowed us and them to meet. One long, hot adventure later, they decided to travel with us and we've all been friends ever since." Tails paused, then added, "Oh, and I dunno if you happened to hear yet or not, but Silver is actually Sonic's son. Though, the Silver from this timeline didn't… make it past infancy. Still, they're family, regardless."

Wery blinked a few times and it became immensely obvious that she was thinking hard about something. "So… this Silver is from… another timeline, and the one that was here didn't…" Her eyebrows furrowed. "So… are they actually related or just technically?"

"No matter what timeline a person is from, their parents always remain the same," Tails shrugged. "So, for example, any other version of me that's found in any other reality will still be born to the same parents that I was. So, as far as I understand, they're still biologically family as well. Just from other versions of our existence."

"I'm not even going to try to comprehend that," Wery admitted lightly. "Anyway… what about the pink hedgehog?"

"That's Amy, the friend I was lost in the woods with that one time," Tails answered. "Later on, she and Sonic actually fell in love. So, she's his wife."

"Oh, wow," Wery answered. "That's… wow."

"Yeah," Tails chuckled. "She definitely had a temper on her, and she was brutally strong. Ever heard of a giant piko piko hammer? 'Cause one of those things has been her weapon of choice since childhood. Though, she used to just use it to chase off my bullies for me."

Wery blinked a few times before nodding slowly. "That… sounds terrifying."

"A bit, yeah. But she cared so much about her friends and family that she was never a threat to any of us." Tails took another quick drink of water from his water bottle before continuing. "Oh, and we discovered late into one of our adventures that she actually had healing powers. So she was really instrumental in us being able to get by throughout all of those old conflicts."

"Wow," Wery answered. "That's really… cool. She could heal like that white cat?"

"Yeah, only with an energy that's strictly used for that purpose," Tails nodded. "It's just dubbed 'healing energy' for that reason."

Wery nodded slowly at this, frowning in thought. "That's really interesting." Tails murmured a quiet agreement, but otherwise stayed quiet so that she could ask more questions if she wanted. "So… what about the dark hedgehog?" She pointed at Kaden, not entirely realizing that there were two dark hedgehogs in the picture.

"His name is Kaden," Tails answered. "He's Sonic's dad, actually. I'm guessing you know about pure-blooded hedgehog lifespans, so it shouldn't surprise you that he's from really ancient times, back before technology was a thing. He used to be a soldier, a craftsman, a traveler, and a bunch of other things. In the modern era that came when we were all travelling together, he became known again. This time it was for his art, such as writing. Chances are that you've at least heard of some of his work. It's all still very famous."

The female fox blinked a few times before pulling out her tablet, rapidly tapping away until she found her collection of books and documents. "Yeah, I've got a few things he wrote saved because it was so interesting."

"Case in point," Tails smiled. "Anyway… in our group, he was really one of the power-houses. He was always very strong. And being a true sword master, he was never easily defeated, even when fighting against high-tech enemies like robots. We never would have survived without the help of people like him."

"Woah," Wery murmured. "Do you… by chance have any recordings of how he fought?"

"Mm… maybe somewhere, yeah," Tails answered slowly. "Why do you ask?"

"You mentioned he was a swordmaster," Wery pointed out. "Learning how he fought with swords could be really interesting and insightful."

Tails gave that some thought, then said, "I'll see what I can find, though I can't promise I have much of anything anymore. ...If I had anything at all."

Wery smiled. "Even if you've got nothing, it's fine. It was just an idea, really."

"Alright," Tails smiled back. He then prompted, "Any other questions?"

"What was he like?" Wery dared to ask.

"He was always really quiet and difficult to understand," Tails answered her. "He's the sort of person who never trusts easily, doesn't ever risk wearing his heart on his sleeve, and so on. And he definitely has a serious temper and other traits like that in him, but overall… he's a good person. He's probably the most protective and loving person, in terms of loving family, I've ever met. It was really a privilege to know him."

"What happened to him? Hedgehogs only live so long, but you guys seem to have a lot of anomalies that just don't die of old age," Wery frowned lightly, mostly out of thought.

Tails sighed heavily. "He did… die. In a manner of speaking. But I'm not sure it's a good idea to talk about what happened beyond that just yet. I promise I'll explain more, but maybe not today. It might be a bit… much right now."

Wery frowned more at this, but she didn't question it and instead looked to the pure blue hedgehog beside him in the photo. "What about her?"

"That's Analia, Kaden's wife and Sonic's mother," Tails explained. "She, like Rose, is a Light user. Probably the most powerful one we've ever met, or even just heard of aside from the original being of Light. But, yeah. She's very powerful, but also probably one of the kindest people out there."

"That's cool," Wery answered. Then, she suddenly honed in on a particular detail. "'Original'?"

"Erm, yeah," Tails answered sheepishly. "More on that later, I guess."

Wery nodded slowly then glanced over the picture. "What about the echidnas? They're not… common at all."

"You should have seen how uncommon they were before Mobians got in contact with the echidna homeworld," Tails sighed. "The younger of the two echidnas in that picture is named Knuckles. The other one is Locke, Knuckles's dad. They used to be the very last of their kind on the whole planet."

"Woah," Wery answered. "What were they like? Oh, and what kind of abilities did they have? Were they as strong as I've heard their race is?"

"Absolutely," Tails smiled. "Locke especially. He could punch a house apart without much effort, if you can believe that. Both of them were brutally strong and could glide, just like the rest of their kind, and Locke also had fire that was gifted to him in his youth, though I don't know the story behind that. They didn't have any abilities beyond that, and they didn't need any. They were both very intelligent, though, and very perceptive. They understand people incredibly well."

"That's really cool, honestly," Wery answered, "They sound interesting."

"They were, definitely," Tails confirmed easily.

"Is that a bat?" Wery asked curiously all of a sudden.

"Yeah, her name was Rouge," Tails answered. "She was Knuckle's wife, a treasure hunter, a bit of an archaeologist and historian, and also a really hard kicker. And I mean that literally, by the way. She could kick boulders to smithereens."

The female fox blinked several times. "Oh." She blinked more before simply looking to the picture again. "What about Marthal? I only know a little bit about him."

"So, we've already covered his yokai heritage and whatnot a bit, and I don't personally know too much else about him," Tails said, "but I do know that he was one of Kaden, Locke, and Analia's closest friends in the ancient past. The four of them together were all friends. At one point, they thought a fight they had been in resulted in his death. Only in the modern era did we all find out together that he had actually survived and was alive and well." He thought a bit before speaking again. "As far as personality goes… he's usually pretty calm and mellow, and he can loosen up enough to be goofy with his close friends. He's serious when he needs to be, and he has all the usual sparks of temper that all fire users tend to have. But he's a nice guy, so you don't need to be afraid of him at all."

"That's good to know," Wery answered. "He seemed interesting, too. He's a lot more… cat-like than other cats I've seen."

"If by that you mean that he's more animalistic, then you'd be correct," Tails nodded. "That's the result of his mom being a full yokai. They are, after all, mystical and often animal-like creatures. So that influences his behavior and abilities a lot. Hence the super sense of smell."

Wery nodded slowly before coming to an understanding. Her attention shifted back to the picture and her eyes widened. "Hey… that's the black hedgehog from when I met you guys. Shadow, right?"

"Yeah," Tails answered. "He's Sonic's half-brother, actually, and probably… probably one of the most interesting people in our group if you ask me."

"Neat," Wery answered. "What's he like?"

"He's a lot like Kaden, to put it briefly," Tails answered. "He's the most likely of the two to openly talk to a stranger, though. But that doesn't necessarily mean he will. You probably won't get much out of him right now if you try to talk to him, partly because of his personality and partly because of… Well, I don't know, actually. All I know is that he dated a girl once, things went bad, and he's pretty wary of women now. So he might honestly avoid you. It's nothing against you personally, though."

"Oh," Wery answered slowly. "That sucks."

"As far as why I consider him to be so interesting, though… well, to put it simply, he's a cyborg," Tails told her frankly.

The female fox completely paused at this, blinking several times. "I… what?"

"A cyborg," Tails repeated. "Someone created him."

"Uh…" Wery visibly grew confused for a moment before she either gave up on comprehending that or understood it. "Really?"

Tails nodded once. "Yeah," he said. "He's got a lot of non-biological parts and components throughout his whole body."

"That's… really cool," Wery admitted. "I've got a lot of questions but there's no way you could answer them all right now."

"We can still talk more about it later, if you want," Tails smiled.

"That would be cool," Wery said brightly. "So… what about the crocodile?"

"That would be Vector," Tails told her. "Like I said earlier, he ran the detective agency. He was also, for all intents and purposes, Charmy's unofficial adoptive dad. He basically raised Charmy from age three to adulthood. He was also one of Espio's closest - and only - friends. Plus he was just all around a friendly, happy, and caring person. Smarter than he usually let on, too. Of course, he had to be, in his line of work."

"That's sweet," Wery said. "Seems like a genuinely good guy."

"He really was," Tails smiled.

Wery glanced down and looked at Espio, frowning. "Who's this?"

"Espio," Tails was quick to reply. "So, you're looking at a chameleon. I don't think you actually got to see any while you were in their village, did you? They're a pretty reclusive bunch, to put it mildly." He paused, then added, "I know you saw Toru briefly, though, since he was with me and Shadow when we found you in the woods."

"I didn't see any in the village, no… Are they all that stealthy?"

"Yeah, they are. It's how they are naturally, but they also actively train to make that trait even better than it would normally be." Tails grinned and winked. "They're literally real-life ninjas."

Wery nodded slowly. "So… what's Espio like?"

"He's another really quiet and withdrawn person," Tails told her slowly. "He can seem more… unapproachable than everyone else, though. He can be exceptionally dangerous because that's just how his people are, but he cares about his friends and allies so much that it's our enemies who have to be afraid, not us. He's an extremely loyal and powerful friend, and we're lucky to have him on our side. Especially since, right now… he's probably one of the single strongest allies we've got."

"That's… cool to know. I'll keep that all in mind," Wery said with a smile. Tails answered with a small nod and another smile of his own. She then looked down again and frowned. "These are Babylonian races, right?"

"Yeah, they are," Tails confirmed. "The big grey one is Storm. He is, or I guess was, an albatross. Wave is the girl standing there. She's half swallow and half Hexan. The green one is Jet. He's a hawk, and the Immortal I told you about as you likely recall. You know, the equally famous friend of the famous Sonic the hedgehog." He said this last part with a small smile, hoping the tiny dose of humor would help keep her from freaking out.

Wery sat there quietly for a moment before she did her usual bit of locking on to one detail. "Hexan? What's that?"

"Another race from somewhere really far away," Tails answered vaguely. "They have a lot of visual similarities to Babylonians, but they're different in many other ways."

"Well then," Wery answered. "That's another race I'll have to do research on."

"Guess so," Tails chuckled.

"So… is that all of them?" Wery asked.

"Yeah, it is," Tails answered. "There were a lot of us, but not that many. So that was everyone."

Wery smiled. "You had… quite the group of heroes."

That earned a soft, wistful smile. "Yeah… I suppose we did."

"So… what did you do?" Wery dared to ask. "You've mentioned the powers and stuff others had, but nothing about yourself."

"I mostly just supported everyone who could fight better than me," Tails admitted. "I flew one of the ships, built and provided communicators, that sort of thing. I also trained under Jet for a while and developed a few powers of my own, but I was never much of a fighter. I'm still not, as you might have guessed. I believe in the cause and want to support it however I can, but I'm just not a combatant myself."

Wery nodded slowly and looked at her own body for a moment. "I'm not much of a fighter, either… I know some self-defense stuff, but nothing that's gonna let me do anything about those demons. I'll probably be doing the same thing you do, really," Wery admitted quietly. "But… I do want to help."

"We can't, and won't, ask anything more of you than that. And, trust me, that stuff will be hugely helpful," Tails smiled.

She smiled briefly as well. "Glad to hear it. I enjoy being helpful."

"I understand completely," Tails chuckled.

Wery sat back on the couch and sighed. "How do you comprehend all of this insane information?"

"I dunno. I guess the fact that I learned everything over time and when I was so young helped me accept it all." Tails chuckled again. "Or something like that, at least."

She laughed softly before shaking her head. "I can't promise I'll be particularly good at what I do, but I'll try."

"And we'll all be deeply grateful for it," Tails told her honestly. "We appreciate and need all the help we can get."

Wery then pushed herself up and gasped, motioning for Tails to follow. "I wanna show you something!" She then bolted off, clumsily, to the bedroom she'd stayed in. Blinking once in confusion, Tails got up and hurried after her. The female fox suddenly grabbed some blueprints from a table she'd apparently brought with her (likely within one of her storage devices) and held them out to him. "So, I was up most of last night working on some ideas based on what that Steam guy was talking about. The sword design is rudimentary and the communication device is really just theoretical, but I thought this might be a good start!"

Tails took a moment to examine everything she had displayed before him, then broke out into a bright smile. "These are incredible, Wery. You did these just last night?"

She laughed sheepishly. "With the help of uh… several caffeinated drinks," Wery admitted briefly. "I've had ideas for the communication device for a while, so I just expanded on them. The really concerning thing is that I don't… have a clue as to how to make it communicate between timelines, but I estimated that it would require a lot more power for a few reasons. So… this is just a blueprint of how to contain that and keep the normal functions working."

"Wave and I are working all of that stuff," Tails assured. "But the device itself that you've designed could really work."

Wery grabbed her arm, clearly a bit embarrassed at the amount of attention this brought. "Well, er… I'm sure it'll need some tinkering. It might honestly be a bit too big for his arm and all." It was painfully obvious that she was trying to come up with something to make it seem that this wasn't even close to what they'd need, and she wasn't good at hiding it.

"Most first plans need revision," Tails agreed, "but this one won't need much. A few adjustments here and there, and it'd be just what he needs."

"The weapon one is mostly a system based on siphoning and expending energy," Wery said suddenly, trying to shift the subject. "But without running any tests on the crystals or… Light, I can't be sure of how to go about any of it."

"I'm not really sure, either," Tails admitted thoughtfully. "We'll both have to just sort of wait and see how this goes."

Wery smiled gently to him. "I'm glad you think at least one of them is usable."

"Of course it is," Tails grinned. "You're a great inventor. Way more so than you give yourself credit for."

She laughed sheepishly. "I'm not really that great. Nothing I've made has done much to help society. Mostly some local stuff, if anything."

"That's how I got my start," Tails smiled. "Nothing wrong with it. It doesn't mean you're not great. You don't have to be famous or something to be skilled at what you do."

"Well… thanks," she murmured gently, appreciative of his words. "Means a lot."

"Of course," Tails murmured back. Then he turned his head. "Sounds like Silver's awake, which means he's probably hungry. Might be time to get started on breakfast. French toast sound good to you?"

She gasped audibly and nodded quickly. "Oh my god, absolutely."

Grinning again, Tails turned and led the way out of the room.

~保護者~

9,799 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 2:25 p.m.) 07-29-20.