Author's Note:
I apologize for the wait! I actually really had no idea where I was going past the first / second chapter of this fic, really. I re-wrote this chapter 3 times, changing everything about it all 3 times ahaha-
So hopefully this chapter isn't too all over the place and rambly
Anyways, enjoy!
Tails' mind was muddled when he woke up in the morning, a small bit of sunlight lighting the room around him up. He was an early riser naturally, but his mind still felt a little slow this morning- and he didn't really remember when he fell asleep either.
Jolting a little more awake, he slowly realized that where he was right now, was not a place he recognized. It took his young brain a few moments to remember the previous night- the storm, hiding, and then being found. The storm was so terrifying. So scary in fact, that even these strangers in an unfamiliar place were a comforting thought to him at the time.
But now, he should... Er... what was I...? Suddenly stumped, he frowned. Thinking on it now, he couldn't remember what exactly he'd been doing before... before he ended up here. Well, not here in this home, or the place he had been when Sonic and Tom found him, but...
He couldn't remember how he got on this planet. Or... why he came here.
Putting a hand to his head, the kit tried to recall anything, but he found that the longer he thought about it, his head began to hurt. Maybe thinking about that right now wasn't such a good idea.
His eyes roamed his surroundings, settling on the blanket that was half covering him first, then across the room where the T.V. was, then towards the direction of the kitchen where he had been first brought into the house at.
A small shifting near him caused him to look back to the couch. The source of the shifting surprised the fox enough that he gasped quietly. Just across from him, sharing part of the blanket sprawled along the cushions, was a bright blue hedgehog.
It was the same one from last night thankfully; the mobian named Sonic, his brain supplied helpfully. He was the one who offered to help the fox last night, and also offered up a simple nickname to him. In truth, Tails knew he should have mentioned his real name, but he didn't really like it- and it seemed a lot easier to just accept the other's nickname offer.
Sonic was settled underneath the other end of the blanket, not yet awake, but if the shifting were to tell the kit anything was that he might wake up soon.
A little spooked due to the realization, Tails slowly shifted the blanket off his lap, and scooted off the couch, landing on the large rug without much noise at all. Free from their soft confinement, his twin-tails waved behind him as he curiously looked around again, before walking slowly towards the kitchen.
The table and chairs were tall, for much taller creatures than mobians, which was a strange thing to the kit. However, upon thinking about it further, he thought it would make sense given the two taller humans that had been here last night; Tom and Maddie. They probably live here. Where were they now?
A sudden, scratching noise sliced through the silence. It caught the kit's attention immediately- his ears pricked, and swiveled, searching for the source. He kept still, for a moment, when the scratching seemed to pause.
Then it continued, and Tails found himself walking towards it. It wasn't very loud, but it kept going. The kit entered the hall, eventually ending up in front of a door.
The scratching noise was definitely coming from behind here. Encouraged by curiosity more than anything, the twin-tail looked up towards the handle, and then hopped up, once, then twice, tails twirling as he did so. He caught it on the second hop, which caused it to twist and immediately start opening.
As it did so, Tails landed back on the ground and looked through the slowly widening crack. On the other side, was something that he hadn't expected.
A large, yellow canine face stared back, waiting almost politely for the door to open fully. The dog was pretty big, too.
The vulpine's fur immediately fluffed up, not prepared for a fluffy canine to appear before him, and squeaked, immediately scrambling away from the door.
This encouraged Ozzy, the dog, to use his paw to open the door further. He was excited by a new friend, and rushed towards him once the door widened enough for him to slip through. In reaction, it spooked the kit further. Tails made a mad dash for the couch, the only current safe place he could think of- where Sonic was.
The dog excitedly raced after him, on the fox's heels- which only made the panic worse. Ozzy was only trying to play, and not harm, but Tails unfortunately wasn't aware of this fact.
He dived straight onto the cushions, and dug straight under the blanket, and towards the hedgehog, who rightfully woke up from the commotion.
"Woah!" Sonic almost yelped in response to the sudden fluffy weight next to him, ripping him out of his slow wake all at once. The weight bounced the cushion with the force of the movement, and was pushing into his side. Eyes opening and looking down, he was greeted with a lump underneath the blanket that was on him.
The hedgehog had no time to feel disoriented and confused, because just after this moment, Ozzy came barreling onto the couch as well, almost squashing the speedster in the process.
This was something Sonic knew- as Tom had sometimes let the dog wake up him abruptly when he'd be having a nice dream. "Ozzy! Ozzy, down!" He laughed good-naturedly, voice slurred a little from sleepiness.
The dog in question, in turn, didn't listen, and simply slobbered all over him, making the speedster snort and move his head away awkwardly. Eventually, he managed to persuade the big canine to get off the couch. Ozzie, still excited, barked once, loudly at Sonic.
This didn't scare him, he knew this dog was a huge softie, and wouldn't dare hurt a fly. However, it was at this point that Sonic registered that the lump underneath the blanket pushing into him flinched.
Mind suddenly blank, Sonic glanced around the room, realizing that this wasn't his room, and Tom hadn't let the dog up to get him. No one seemed to be up, but then, wait...
Oh.
Oh!
He remembered last night, and the fox mobian- which brought on a whole wave of different emotions he didn't' feel like dealing with right now.
Mentally shaking his head to get rid of those thoughts, he moved the blanket upwards to look under, and revealed exactly who he thought it was- the kit who he had given the nickname 'Tails' to last night.
The poor kid was curled up next to him, fur messy and slightly puffed, and his limbs were shifting as he attempted to keep away from the edge of the couch. Glancing back at the dog, it didn't take a genius to figure out that the golden retriever had scared the kit somehow.
"Are you okay?" He asked, which prompted big blue eyes to open and stare at him. Sonic kept speaking without waiting for a proper response. "That's just Ozzy, he's friendly. He just wants to play with you, and me!"
Those giant eyes blinked a few times, and then slowly he rose from his position, and out of the blanket to look back at the canine in question.
"Oh," The kit said, feeling a little dumb. "He scared me."
Smiling, Sonic moved the blanket away from himself and took no time to hop off the couch and pat the dog, which was calming down from not having anyone to chase anymore. "You should pet him, so he'll be your friend too. His fur's really soft." The speedster rambled further. Ozzy's tail wagged, happy to be out of confinement of the bedroom, and happy to see someone knew. He stepped forwards to Tails, and attempted to lick at his face.
Tails couldn't help but make a quiet giggle at the weird feeling of slobber on his face, and then move backwards to avoid the dog-kisses. "Ew."
"See? He's just a big love bug!" Sonic moved so he could continue to pet Ozzy, moving a hand over his ears and bringing the pup's attention back to him, making the hedgehog laugh as he moved away to prevent his face to be licked.
"You know, Sonic, if I remember correctly, you didn't like him at first. But now look at you." A new voice caused both mobians eyes to dart towards the hallway, where Tom suddenly seemed to appear without either of them noticing.
"I didn't say I didn't like him, I just was skeptical of the one you labeled your best animal friend!" Sonic replied quickly, sticking his tongue. "He likes me more than you now, too!"
Instead of responding to that, Tom's gaze turned towards the fox kit who's ears lowered slightly, looking unsure.
"Good morning," Tom greeted.
Tails took a moment, but he smiled shyly and responded quietly "G-good morning."
"You look a lot better today, than you did yesterday. Do you feel any better?" Tom's voice was casual, and he chose to lean against the wall instead of coming into the living room fully.
Tails nodded. "Uh.. yeah. I think so. Thank you... for helping me." His gratitude sounded genuine without a doubt.
Sonic's gaze focused fully on the kit, now, and hummed. He opened his mouth to ask the questions that had been on his mind since last night- what was he doing here, how he got here, but he hesitated instead, not voicing it.
With perfect timing, Sonic's stomach growled loudly and suddenly. Sonic looked down at himself, silently offended that it chose to interrupt.
Tom laughed in response. "Guess that means it's about time we start making breakfast. Who wants to help me make some pancakes?"
Sonic raised his hand, "I'll help! Come on, Tails, you can help too!" He grabbed the kit's hand before he could respond, and sped right into the kitchen, causing a yip from the fox who had not been expecting the sudden change of speed. He became a little disoriented for a moment, but Sonic held onto his arm to prevent him from tipping over and falling.
"Alright, good!" Tom followed them, with a slower pace than the hyper hedgehog had. "Food first, then we'll figure everything else out with you, okay, kid?"
The question was directed towards Tails, who hadn't realized it at first. His ears pricked and straightened once he registered that it was him who should answer, and made a small nod. "Uh, yeah, okay."
Author's Note:
That's all for now! Next chapter we'll finally get some offical answers on what Tails is doing here, and why
Hopefully that wasn't too hard to understand / read? I've been thinking about coming back and just re-writing this entire fic in general, focusing on more detail around the plot than just writing everything without a plan haha
and also, for those who are unaware since I've gotten a few questions, once again I'll say that this fic is an AU!(Alternate Universe) - Meaning that Tails did not arrive here like he did in the Sonic 2020 Movie credits, he arrived in a different way that I'll get to in another chapter hopefully! He is also younger than 8.
Let me know what you think !
