Woohoo! After weeks of struggling with writer's block, the next episode of The Faith Tenrec Saga is here!

Prepare to have your hearts melted by Faith's sweetness once more :D

NOTE: I DO NOT OWN SONIC BOOM. ALL CHARACTERS (except Faith) BELONG TO SEGA

Episode 6: Into the Wilderness… Again!

"Wow!"

Tails grinned at Faith's reaction to her new gear. Compared to the Tornado, the Miles Electric, and his Un-Bolterizer, Faith's gloves and boots were small creations. But, like all his creations, he made sure to craft them with as much love, care, and attention to detail as he could. The gloves were fingerless and made with a breathable teal fabric. And the boots were made of durable material of the same color with yellow soles. The coils of orange-ish copper wrapped around them were what took quite a bit of time to forge. He'd studied the inhibitor ring Shadow had loaned him extensively and managed to obtain materials similar to the ones found in it. With a copper base, he had forged the coils and carefully fitted them onto Faith's gloves and boots. The coils will help Faith channel her electrokinesis better to direct her lightning strikes as well as act as a limiter to keep her from using too much electricity all at once.

Hopefully, over time, he could lessen the coils' inhibitor capacities so Faith could utilize her powers to their fullest.

"Here, Faith. Try them on!" he said, handing the tenrec her new gear.

Faith pulled off her old gray shoes, put on a fresh pair of socks, and slipped the boots on. "I like them! They look so cool!" she exclaimed, skipping around while putting on her new gloves. The gloves were soft and comfy. Faith gasped with delight as her lightning danced across the coils.

"Gotta admit, Tails. This new project of yours is up there with our luminous suits," Sonic complimented, ruffling his brother's head.

"Thank you, Tails!" Faith said, running over to the two-tailed fox and giving him a hug.

Tails chuckled, glancing at the other members of his team gathered around in his workshop. Hugging back Faith, he examined Faith's gear. "All right. Looks like everything checks out. Now you gotta test them out, Faith," he told the young tenrec.

"Which means it's time to finally start your official training," Shadow said.

Sticks' eyes gleamed and she stood up on Tails' workbench. "Which means we gotta start with the basics: Survival in the wilderness!" she cheered.

Amy and Knuckles glanced at each other, expressions uneasy. Tails gulped and nervously wrapped his namesakes around Faith, whom he was still hugging, while Faith herself looked curious.

"Actually, Sonic and I were thinking of starting Faith with basic shooting and self-defense…" Shadow muttered.

"Well what better way to teach Faith those skills than bringing her to the wilderness?" Sticks raised her arms up. "She'll learn to shoot moving targets and defend herself from predators," she added.

"I dunno, Sticks. That sounds a little too much for a little kid to handle," Sonic said uncertainly.

"I lived in the jungle on the island for a few days. I survived," Faith piped up from Tails' protective swaddle.

"Yeah, but just barely." Jumping down from the workbench, Sticks looked her in the eye with a stern expression. "You didn't know how to forage for food except from trash cans. I gotta teach you how to find edible plants and mushrooms, where to find drinking water, how to navigate without a compass, protect yourself from predators, and build a shelter," she told her.

"I had shelter. I found a cave in the jungle during my first night on the island… Oh! I left my bag there. I should go and get it…" Faith mumbled, getting out of Tails' hug.

Sticks grinned then looked to Sonic and Shadow. The two hedgehogs' sighed then looked at each other. After a moment of silent communication, they nodded.

"Alright. Tomorrow. You can teach Faith survival skills tomorrow and help her find her bag," Shadow said.

"But, today, Shadow and I are gonna teach her basic attack and defense moves. And, we're coming with you two to the jungle tomorrow," Sonic added.

"A fair trade." Sticks shrugged, whipping out her planner. She scribbled something onto a blank page, which she tore out and handed to Faith. "Here you go, kid. You'll need to bring the items on this list with you tomorrow," she instructed.

Faith looked at the list carefully. "Water, food, bug spray… Why do we need tinfoil, Ms. Sticks?" she asked.

"So we've got something to cook our food on. And it doubles as protection from mind control and people trying to read out thoughts," Sticks explained.

"At least she included the practical use…" Tails muttered.

Sticks left early, promising Faith that she'd put together all the remaining necessities for their survival training lesson. Meanwhile, at the beach, Amy, Tails, and Knuckles watched as Sonic and Shadow began Faith's training. The little tenrec was eager to learn and listened as Shadow taught her some breathing exercises to hone her focus.

For two hours, they taught Faith proper fighting forms and how to block attacks. While Faith was able to copy the fighting stances easily, she was nervous about learning how to block attacks. Just the sight of a raised hand made her flinch and brace herself. Seeing that she was struggling, Sonic and Shadow made sure to proceed with that particular lesson with caution.

"Remember, kiddo. We're just training. Shadow and I aren't going to hurt you," Sonic reassured her in between lessons, making sure to give Faith a hug or a pat on the head after each successful one.

He and Shadow showed Faith how to block a punch or a kick with care, making sure to slow their movements down in time for Faith to pull off the right maneuver to either block or intercept their "attack."

After a quick lunch prepared by Amy, it was on to target practice where Shadow took over as teacher.

"Keep your mind calm, focus your energy, and think clearly about what you want it to do. Then turn that switch in your brain on," Shadow instructed, holding his right arm out. A Chaos Spear sparked to life in his hand.

At his boyfriend's signal, Sonic threw a paper plate into the air that Shadow fired his Chaos Spear at.

Now, it was Faith's turn. She closed her eyes and imagined lightning bolts forming in her hands at her command. Her lightning danced across the coils, the sparks steadily getting bigger as they accumulated at her fingertips. Opening her eyes, she felt a burst of heat in her palms just as Sonic threw two paper plates. Grinning, Faith thrust both hands out… and screamed as she was hurled backward by her lightning. She landed on her back, breathless and dazed.

"Did I hit them?" she asked, woozy.

"Not a bad first try, kiddo!" Sonic hollered, noting that only burnt flakes were what remained of the plates.

"Next time, plant your feet firmly on the ground to lessen recoil. Keep your stance wide." Shadow demonstrated the proper stance. "Might also help to be aware of how much electricity you're discharging. If you feel like it's too much for you to handle, lower the voltage to a level you feel comfortable with," he suggested.

"That's a lot to think about. And I have to be using my lightning at the same time while avoiding getting hit… that's a lot of stuff to do," Faith said, frowning and rubbing her head.

Shadow chuckled, ruffling Faith's quills. "You'll get the hang of it someday, kid. Remember what I told you about trying new things?" he asked.

"The first try is always the hardest. What matters is that you keep trying," Faith said, smiling a little. She then giggled as Shadow booped her nose.

"Exactly. Now, let's try that again, shall we?" Shadow went over to Sonic and took a plate from the stack his boyfriend was carrying.

Faith shifted her left leg back and planted her feet firmly on the sand. She felt the electricity coursing through her body, making its way up to her arms, and finally crackling in her palms. She could feel the intensity of her lightning as it made the fur on her arms bristle. Maybe she needed only one hand for this shot! Closing her eyes, she imagined switching off the electricity flowing through her right hand, leaving her left hand with more sparks. The prickly feeling in her right arm vanished, making Faith open her eyes. She smiled upon seeing that only her left hand now had sparks coming out of it. Looking at Shadow, she could see the pride in the black hedgehog's eyes as he tossed the paper plate into the air.

With a grunt, Faith threw her left hand out and transferred her weight onto her right leg. This time, the force of her attack only made her wobble in place. The paper plate was burnt to a crisp.

"All right, Faith!" Knuckles whooped while Amy and Tails cheered.

Faith laughed as Sonic and Shadow raced over to her and hugged her. She made sure to give Shadow a big hug, snuggling into his fluffy white chest. "Was that better?" she asked.

"Much better, sweetheart. And you're only going to get better the more you practice," Shadow murmured, nuzzling her. Then, almost immediately, he blushed.

'I called her 'sweetheart…' I called Faith 'sweetheart' like… like I'm her father or something…' he realized. Glancing to his right, he could see Sonic's soft smile as he gently massaged Faith's head while the little tenrec purred in contentment.

That's when Shadow had an idea.

When Faith's birth father was finally behind bars (not if, because he and his friends were definitely going to make sure that that monster would never hurt Faith again), and unless Faith had other living relatives who may be looking for her, maybe… just maybe…

…Maybe he and Sonic could be Faith's fathers instead.

The next day – the day of Faith's survival lesson – made Shadow put the idea away in his brain for the meantime as the three of them made their way to Sticks' burrow. Faith was all decked out in different shades of green and brown. No doubt Amy had helped put together the outfit consisting of a dark green beanie, a camouflage-patterned t-shirt, and khaki shorts. Faith's new gloves and boots were the only spots of bright color in her getup.

But, as the closer they got to the badger's residence, the more doubtful Shadow became. "Are you sure we can trust Sticks with this, Sonic?" he asked his boyfriend, who paused from chatting with Faith.

Looking at Shadow, Sonic could see the uncertainty and sighed. "Sticks knows her way around the wilderness, Shads. She taught Amy how to survive. Now she knows how to craft shelters and woodland salads aside from potpourri and art centerpieces," he informed Shadow.

"I still can't believe you and Knuckles goofed off during that race through the jungle and didn't get all the hints those two were giving you," Shadow said, rolling his eyes.

"Okay, I'll admit that we were victims of our own hubris. But, it was a lesson hard learned. I'll have you know that, since then, Knux and I have been learning from Sticks how to properly start fires and how to pitch tents. And Knuckles is surprisingly good at identifying poisonous plants," Sonic replied, smiling proudly.

"I don't doubt her wilderness savvy, Blue. What I'm concerned with are her… eccentricities," Shadow said, carefully choosing his words.

"What's 'eccen-trick-cities' mean?" Faith asked, looking at the two hedgehogs curiously.

"What Shadow is trying to say, kiddo, is that Sticks… she does things her own way. And for most people, her way isn't how they would usually do things," Sonic explained.

"Is that bad?"

"No." Sonic shook his head quickly. "It just means that Sticks can seem very different to other people who meet her for the first time. And, sometimes, people don't… always like it when someone's different from them…" he trailed off, his green eyes suddenly glazing over. He swallowed, feeling a small lump in his throat, but calmed down when Shadow reached for his hand and squeezed it.

Faith nodded slowly but noticed that Sonic looked sad all of a sudden. Did people think he was different too and didn't like him? She sidled closer to Sonic and gave the blue hedgehog a hug. Sonic managed a weak smile and patted her head.

When they arrived at Sticks' burrow, the badger was already waiting for them with three regular-sized rucksacks and one miniature one.

"Camouflage. Good choice." Sticks nodded in approval at Faith's clothing. Putting on a whistle, she blew it. "Okay, Team Sticks 2.0! Wilderness Survival Boot Camp starts now! Our objective: find Faith's missing bag in the jungle and survive while looking for it. We head out now!" she declared.

Shrugging on their rucksacks, the two hedgehogs and one tenrec followed Sticks into the jungle. Faith looked around, eyes wide with wonder. With the sunlight filtering through the dense canopy, the jungle didn't look so scary. And because she no longer had to worry about staying hidden, she felt the urge to go exploring.

"Okay, Faith. You said you left your bag in a cave. Do you remember where it was?" Sticks asked.

Faith lightly pulled at the quills framing her face. She looked at the wilderness all around her and found everything to be unfamiliar. "I don't remember the way. Sorry…" she mumbled, looking down at her boots, her cheeks reddening.

"No need to apologize, kiddo. We'll find the cave eventually," Sonic reassured her.

"Yup. And that gives me more time to teach you all you need to know. The first thing you need to know about survival skills is that it's using what you've got. I want you three to check out your rucksacks to see what tools you have," Sticks instructed, seating herself on a fallen log.

Opening their rucksacks, Sonic, Shadow, and Faith did an inventory of their supplies.

All three of them had brought a ration of food and water each along with one can of bug spray and a small roll of tinfoil. All three of them were given compasses and first aid kits. Sonic and Shadow split the tents and sleeping bags between the two of them. But there were some rather… unusual items Sticks included in their packs.

For Shadow, he had a fridge magnet, a piece of cork, and a sewing kit. And Sonic found stickers and drawing supplies in his pack.

"Maybe you'll find a use for them." Sticks winked when they asked.

"Faith, kiddo, let me see what you have," Sonic said and turned to his little girl who was pulling out supplies from her little rucksack.

"I got a knife!" Faith announced, holding up a serrated knife that was just the right size for her small hands.

"No!" Sonic screamed, snatching the knife away from her and putting it in his rucksack where it would be far out of Faith's reach. 'I think I just had a mini heart attack…' he thought then blinked.

'Hold on. Did I just call Faith 'my little girl' in my head?' he asked himself before hearing Shadow.

"Why would you give a child a knife?!" Shadow hissed, glaring at Sticks.

"She'll need something to defend herself with! Look at all these trees! One stray lightning bolt and it could cause the whole jungle to burn down!" Sticks pointed out.

Faith gulped and looked down at her hands. It looked like she wasn't going to be able to use her powers in the jungle…

Shadow's mood towards Sticks had definitely changed once they were done doing inventory. The black hedgehog made sure to keep himself between Faith and Sticks as they walked. Sonic sighed but chose not to comment. Shadow could be overprotective of his loved ones. And he had to agree with him. Giving Faith a knife when she didn't know how to use it was not a good idea.

The group walked for about 30 minutes. Every now and then, Sticks stopped to point out edible plants and mushrooms which she gathered.

"Flowers can be edible, too. They don't provide much energy though so it's best to have them with some heavier stuff. But some parts of some edible plants can be poisonous so pick carefully," Sticks said as she gathered dandelions and violets.

Faith nodded, watching the badger pluck the flowers. Upon seeing the bright yellow dandelions, she remembered. "I remember! The cave was near a patch of dandelions growing next to a river!" she announced.

"The river's not far from here." Sticks pointed westward. "Let's find a clearing to set up camp then we can search the banks," she instructed.

The team hiked on until they found a small clearing where they pitched their tents. Checking the time, Sonic realized it was time for lunch. He set up a small fire and he, Shadow, and Sticks prepped a stew of dandelion leaves, potatoes, carrots, and meatballs. Seeing Faith watching them as they cut the ingredients, Sticks approached Sonic and asked for the knife.

"C'mon. Kid looks eager to learn," Sticks pressed, motioning to Faith who was just sitting on a fallen log twiddling her thumbs.

Sonic sighed and got out the knife. Shadow frowned and opened his mouth to protest.

"Relax, Shady, I'll keep an eye on Faith so she doesn't cut herself," Sticks said, rolling her eyes at him. Shadow's cheeks went red and he huffed, crossing his arms, but didn't say anything.

Sonic called Faith over and, pretty soon, the little tenrec was cutting up carrots and dandelion leaves like a pro under the trio's supervision.

"I know you're worried, Shads. But have a little faith," Sonic reassured Shadow while they waited for the stew to cook.

"In whom?" Shadow asked.

"In both of them. Have faith in Sticks that she knows what she's doing. And have…" Sonic chuckled. "Have faith in Faith that she'll be okay," he said, his words drawing out an amused smile from his boyfriend.

"I guess Sticks is a good survival teacher. She might even help boost Faith's confidence in herself," Shadow mused, watching Faith cut a carrot into perfectly even slices while Sticks watched her. The way the little tenrec's cheeks flushed with pride as she tipped the carrots into the bubbling pot gave Shadow a feeling of warm pride.

Looking at Sonic, he could see the blue hedgehog also watching Faith. Pride shone in his boyfriend's eyes as Sticks poured the finished stew into a bowl and handed it to Faith, the little tenrec carefully blowing on it before having her first spoonful.

'Should I tell him about my proposal? His feelings for Faith… I'm sure they're as strong as mine…' Shadow thought just as Faith and Sticks came with bowls of stew for them.

The stew was simple but delicious. Faith had seconds and Sticks surprised her with a piece of beige berry pie from her own rations. Even better, Sonic and Shadow let her keep the knife this time.

"Only use it when you need to. And Sticks has to supervise. Okay?" Shadow reminded her.

"Yes, Shadow," Faith replied, nodding seriously. With lunch over, the group went back to their hike, going West until they found the river.

"Okay, Faith. Take a good look around. See anything familiar?" Sticks asked, hands on her hips.

Faith turned a full circle, checking her surroundings. Tilting her head up, she faced the other side of the river and spotted a cluster of bamboo trees. Her eyes widened as she saw a flash of white among them. "Over there. I wrapped a towel around one of those," she said, pointing to the cluster of bamboos.

Sticks waded into the river, checking the depth. The water only came up to her upper thighs. "Water's not too deep and the current's not strong. We just gotta wade through this river," she told her team.

"Up you go, kiddo." Sonic hoisted Faith onto his shoulders. Then he and Shadow followed Sticks into the river. Lucky for them, the part they crossed was a narrow channel and they made it to the other side in no time.

Making it to the cluster of bamboo trees, Faith took the towel wrapped around the slimmest one. "I found the dandelions growing by the river not far from here," she said.

"Which way?" Shadow asked, looking to his left and right.

Faith was just about to answer when, suddenly, the ground shook. A herd of wild widabits emerged from the vegetation, snorting like mad and running straight at them!

"STAMPEDE!" Sticks shrieked, grabbing Faith and taking off in a run followed by the two hedgehogs. The widabit herd chased them downstream and deeper into the jungle. In the chaos, Team Sticks 2.0 was split into two pairs as the herd broke up.

"Where's Faith?!" Shadow yelled as he and Sonic ran.

"I don't know! She was with Sticks!" Sonic shouted, panic flooding his system as he and Shadow reached a dead end at a rock wall. Wild widabits stomped their hooves and prepared to charge. Clenching his fists, Sonic stepped forward and flexed his quills. Upon seeing the blue hedgehog's sharp spines, the widabits quieted down. Shadow charged up a Chaos Spear and brandished it threateningly in front of him, causing some widabits to back off with frightened squeals.

"Go on! Shoo! Scram!" Sonic waved his arms wildly at the widabits. "Get out of here!" he yelled, keeping his spines raised, the widabits running off. Once they were gone, he huffed. "I hate those things…" he muttered.

"Still grumpy about them occupying your shack for their mating ritual last season?" Shadow inquired, the Chaos Spear dissipating in his hand. He'd heard about the incident from Sonic two weeks after the widabit couple who had taken over his shack left.

"Say no more. I don't want to remember those weeks…" Sonic grimaced.

"All right. But I do need to ask. Why didn't you just come live with me in my man cave when those things arrived?" Shadow raised an eye ridge, curious.

"I know how much you value your personal space, Shads. I didn't want to go there and mooch off of ya. Plus, if I just disappeared, the gang would have worried," Sonic explained.

"Aw, well that was really considerate of you, love." Shadow smiled, giving his boyfriend a peck on the cheek. Then his expression turned serious. "We need to find Faith and Sticks," he said.

The two hedgehogs pulled out their compasses, only for two birds to come swooping out of nowhere to snatch them right out of their hands!

"Seriously?! Is nature trying to screw with us today?! What did we ever do to you?!" Sonic exclaimed, shaking his fists at the two birds.

"I can think of one or two reasons…" Shadow muttered, looking through his rucksack. Seeing the sewing kit, Shadow mumbled, "Wait a minute…"

"All I got are stickers of puppies and kittens, a drawing pad, and colored pencils… I suppose I could draw something but how's that gonna help us find Faith and Sticks?" Sonic grumbled before turning to see Shadow holding the sewing kit and staring at it intently.

"Shads?" Sonic gently tapped him on the shoulder.

"Hold on… I'm remembering something…" Shadow held up a hand and closed his eyes. After a few more seconds of sifting through his memories, he snapped his fingers. "Aha! I got it!" he proclaimed.

Digging out the fridge magnet and piece of cork, Shadow opened up the sewing kit and pulled out a large needle. "What are you doing?" Sonic asked, watching the black hedgehog rub the needle against the fridge magnet.

"Improvising a compass. This was something Maria and I tried after reading a nature magazine once," Shadow explained as he rubbed the needle against the fridge magnet. He then pushed the needle through the piece of cork and set it in a small puddle. "See? The needle's been magnetized thanks to the fridge magnet. Now it's pointing North."

True to Shadow's word, the needle embedded in the cork spun around before settling down with the pointy end pointing in what was true North.

"Now we know where North is, we can try retracing our steps," Shadow said.

Sonic put a hand to his chin. "Okay… The herd chased us all the way here. We took a turn to the left at some point…" he murmured before looking behind him. Seeing the widabit tracks, he looked at Shadow's makeshift compass. "So that means the river is to the South now."

"Let's get going then," Shadow said, shrugging on his rucksack.

The two hedgehogs began making their way through the jungle, keeping their ears cocked for the sounds of a river. As they walked, Sonic took out his sketchpad and began drawing the flowers growing around them.

"That stampede must have really spooked Faith. Maybe looking at drawings of pretty flowers will help cheer her up when we find her and Sticks," Sonic said when Shadow gave him a curious glance.

Shadow hummed then took a deep breath. "Sonic, I've been thinking…" he began before trailing off.

"Go on." Sonic raised an eyebrow, curious.

"When we find Faith's birth father and, you know, put him in jail for everything he's done to her… maybe we can let her stay with us? A-at least until a relative comes by looking for her, I mean," Shadow suggested.

Sonic paused from drawing some sunflowers. "And… if no relatives come looking for Faith…?"

"Then Faith can… stay with us, I suppose?" Shadow looked to his boyfriend hopefully.

For a minute, Sonic considered his boyfriend's suggestion. Then, he smiled lovingly at Shadow. "That sounds like a good idea, Shads," he said.

Shadow smiled back. "We might need to get Faith a proper bed at this rate, then," he remarked.

"We'll get her one as soon as we get back." Sonic looked up at the sky. "I just hope she and Sticks are okay…" he murmured.

While Sonic and Shadow tried to find their way back to the river, Sticks and Faith were walking alongside its banks. Now that the widabits had lost interest in chasing them, the two girls could focus on finding the cave where Faith left her bag as well as patch up the small scratches they got while running for their lives.

"Ouch!" Faith whimpered as Sticks applied iodine to a cut on her arm.

"Hold still, kid. This will be over in a bit," Sticks soothed her, wrapping a bandage around the cut. "There. Feel better?"

Faith nodded and tried her hand at treating a scrape on her knee. The knife she got proved to be very effective in cutting up bandages.

"Maybe this was a mistake…" Sticks sighed as they rested by the river to tend to their wounds. "If it was Sonic or any other member of the team, getting chased by widabits would have been normal wilderness hijinks for us. I'm sorry, Faith… for dragging you into this mess…" she mumbled, her eyes downcast.

"It's okay, Ms. Sticks. Getting chased was a little scary, but it's been really fun for me today. I learned how to look for food in the jungle and how to use a knife… I learned all kinds of stuff today. And it's been so much fun," Faith said, helping the badger wrap a bandage around her hand.

Sticks laughed bitterly. "Whenever I take the lead on adventures, the rest of the gang usually worry that I'm gonna lead them somewhere dangerous. It's not my fault there's government agents watching our every move and forcing me to take the crazy routes," she muttered before glaring at her shadow. "Quit following me!" she shouted at it before realizing that Faith was right there.

The little tenrec was looking at Sticks with worry. "Ms. Sticks… that's your shadow. It's supposed to follow you around," she said quietly.

Sticks blushed and tugged at her brown-streaked locks. "Sorry… I get a little paranoid when I'm stressed…" she mumbled.

Truth be told, Sticks was always stressed. But now she had another reason, aside from government conspiracies and robo-apocalypses, for being stressed. Not only was she lost, but she was also lost with a small child who should never have to face the dangers of the wild at such a young age. Guilt gnawed at Sticks' insides until she bowed her head in shame and mumbled, "You must think I'm a lunatic…"

Faith shook her head. Remembering Sonic's words about people being different, she looked at Sticks intently. Sure, she dressed a little more messily than Amy but that didn't make her look ugly. In fact, Faith liked Sticks' jungle garb. It looked really cool and showed that she was a person connected to nature through and through. And, sure, Sticks acted differently compared to Sonic and the others. But that's okay. It would be a boring world if people acted the same.

And, while a little concerned about Sticks yelling at her shadow, Faith didn't think Sticks was a lunatic… whatever that was.

"I don't know what a 'lunatic' is… but I don't think you're one, Ms. Sticks. I think you're a fun person."

Sticks looked up, mouth falling open, as Faith went on.

"You are super smart in that you know how to survive in the wilderness. Not to mention really strong and you can fight evil robots. And there's just something about you that makes you so much fun to be around!" Hugging Sticks, Faith looked into the badger girl's eyes and said, "I don't think you're crazy, Ms. Sticks. I think you're fun!" with the sweetest smile ever.

Tears welled up in Sticks' eyes and she quickly wiped them away before the child could see them. "I've been called crazy... nuts, wacko, off my rocker, kooky, a wack-a-ding..." she whispered before hugging Faith tightly.

"No one's ever called me 'fun' before."

Meanwhile, Sonic and Shadow had found the river and were building a raft. Hopefully, by rafting upstream, they could find the girls much quicker. The raft was big enough for four people and made from sturdy branches tied together with vines and reinforced with the stickers from Sonic's pack.

"It's weird… Maybe Sticks had a feeling we were gonna need a raft and added the stickers to my pack so we can use them for tape," Sonic said as Shadow lashed the last two branches together, placing stickers on the sides when he was done.

"Why didn't she just put tape in your rucksack?" Shadow asked, confused.

"No idea. Her mind's an enigma, Shads." Sonic shrugged as they finished building the raft. Pushing it into the river, the two hedgehogs got on and started sailing upstream. About an hour into taking turns to steer the raft through the bends, they heard two voices they were so glad to hear.

"Sonic! Shadow!" Faith waved to the couple, jumping up and down in excitement.

"We found the dandelion patch! Faith's cave is just up ahead!" Sticks called out to them.

Once their raft was dragged back onto the riverbank, Sonic and Shadow checked Faith for injuries, the little tenrec reassuring them that she was fine and only had minor cuts and scrapes. Sticks led them past the dandelion patch and, soon, they found themselves at the entrance to a cave.

Faith went inside first and found what she was looking for. "Found my bag!" she cheered, picking up a dirty pink backpack as Sticks, Shadow, and Sonic went in.

Looking around, the adults felt their hearts sink. The cave was little more than a shallow hole in the rock, barely able to hold all four of them. Water dripped from cracks in the ceiling and there was a small pile of leaves in one corner that Faith said was where she slept.

"You could barely keep dry in here… No wonder you got sick…" Sticks said softly.

Faith opened her backpack and tipped out all of the contents. Apart from a few biscuit wrappers, a set of threadbare clothes, and a toothbrush, there was an unopened bar of soap and some thick fluffy hand towels that had a monogram of a gold ring with the letters G.R.L.

"These towels look like the ones at Golden Ring Luxury Suites. Where'd you get these, Faith?" Sonic asked, inspecting the towels.

Faith bit her lip and rubbed her fingers against the coils wrapped around her gloves. "I got them from the hotel before I ran away…" she said.

"Does your Daddy work at the hotel?" Sticks inquired.

Faith shook her head, staring down at her boots. Shadow sighed and approached her. Kneeling so he was at eye level with her, he gently cupped Faith's cheek in his hand so she would look at him. "Faith, it's okay. We want to help you. You can tell us anything," he reassured her.

"I… I don't want you guys to get in trouble. I don't want Daddy to know I told you guys anything. H-He'll get angry and I-I don't want him to hurt you!" Faith said, shaking.

"We've fought giant robots. One angry papa tenrec won't scare us that easily," Sticks said, giving Faith a confident smile.

"She's right, Faith. I know you're scared of your Daddy. But we're here. And we'll protect you." Kneeling beside Shadow, Sonic placed his hand on Faith's shoulder. "We won't let him hurt you ever again," he told her, emerald green eyes sparkling with determination.

"P-promise?" Faith held up her right hand, pinky raised.

"Promise," Sonic and Shadow said in unison, each interlocking pinkies with her.

Taking a deep breath, Faith nodded. "Okay… I'll tell you guys everything, but… can I tell you after we get out of here?" she asked.

Shadow smiled and pulled the red Chaos Emerald out from his quills. "Let's go home then," he said, motioning to the rest to gather around him. Tapping into the Emerald's power, Shadow thought of Sonic's shack on the beach… of home.

"Chaos Control!"

Next episode will center on Faith telling her story to Team Sonic. How will the team react to her tale of woe?

In the meantime, stay safe out there!

-GuardianDragon98