They reached the beach with a small jog, the newborn forest behind them stretching into the sun for warmth. In front of them close to the water stood their biplane, red and undisturbed in the sand.
Though, the three figures they had seen within the forest was standing by it with a few steps separating it. Apparently, none of them had dared to go near it, or strip it for parts, or food or something. The two wolves were larger than the dog, all three of them carrying around old age, one of the wolves gesturing wildly towards the plane and the forest, the other two looking at him.
As Sonic kept walking, one of the wolves eventually spotted him, slighter shorter than the one who were talking to him, wearing blue overalls. He padded the largest wolf on the shoulder, and pointed towards him, said person turning around and looking at their visitor. He wore a dark green vest, his face littered with more wrinkles than the others.
The dog had a yellow shirt and black shorts on, crossing his arms over his chest as the hedgehog came near them.
"Hi there, checking out our plane? Neat isn't it?" Sonic grinned good naturally, while the shortest wolf began scratching the back of his head.
"We-We're sorry Mr. Sonic. We didn't know it was your plane. Joe told us yesterday that you came, and we were curious whether or not-" His track faltered when his eyes fell on the individual behind the hedgehog.
Sonic turned his head around as his sidekick came and stood beside him, tails calmly whipping up and down, his face fierce.
Something told him that he recognized them.
"Miles Prower?" The dog suddenly spurted out in disbelief, shaking his head. "Man, I was sure that you were lone gone from this planet," –
"Well, life is just full of surprises ain't it Bruce?" Tails said back, calm but with a tinge of anger behind his voice. "Still carry around that metal pole?"
Sonic couldn't help but whip his head towards him, suddenly realizing what he was asking about.
The three of them didn't answer for a beat of silence, most likely taking in the much older fox, taller and longer tails, most likely not as emaciated and no bruises littering his body.
"Is this your plane?" The oldest wolf asked, nodded towards the hedgehog, seemed like he had ignored the conversation between the two.
"It was, but I gave it to Tails when he-," –
"Tails?" The shorter wolf echoed, then laughed into the air, slapping his hand on his knee. "You really think that name is better than miles per hour?"
he hedgehog didn't have time to ponder about the pun, as his best friend only scuffed, crossing arms over his chest as his tails began whipping in agitation.
"It certainly isn't something that reminds of this place. You have no idea how happy I was when I got off," –
"And we were happy that you left," The oldest wolf said back, crossing his own arms over his chest. "What are you doing here?"
Tails was about to retort when Sonic was quicker, throwing in a nonchalant answer, feeling the situation become tense.
"Just exploring around, taking in the new forest and stuff like that. Nothing important." The wolf's eyes darted around the hedgehog's face, before returning back to the two-tailed fox, his face screwed into a fierce expression.
"I'm fine with you being here. But he's not welcome," He nodded towards Tails, who snorted at him, an action the wolf was obviously offended by.
"You know I lived here just as much as you did. I came from here," –
"You might have, that still doesn't mean that we want you here. You were an annoying little brat who lived like a hermit in the forest," –
"And who's fault was that?" The fox asked, quirking an eyebrow towards him, his comment obviously targeted towards the three of them. The shortest wolf and the dog exchanged an unknown expression, the largest wolf narrowing his eyes towards the fox.
"Watch your tongue. Or do you want to get five years of postponed beating in action?" He asked, an obvious threat if Sonic had ever heard one.
He was rather glad that Tails didn't want to instigate anything, standing in the same manner though his tails spoke of his inner anger.
"You still wanna beat me? Like you said that was five years ago. It's outdated by now – bullying someone just because they're different is something people did in the old days. But living as isolated as I remember, you most likely didn't get the memo," He said, his eyes having the same fierce expression, as the wolf snarled at him.
"The cargo ships haven't been here for four and a half years. We don't know what's happening on the mainland since no one can go there."
Sonic glanced back at Tails, seeing his expression soften a little at the comment. He bit his lip, thinking about his next sentence.
"I'm sorry. I didn't want to offend you, I didn't know you haven't had fresh supplies in-," –
"Shut up! It was your fault that those ships stopped coming!" The dog suddenly cut across, throwing a hand towards him. The sympathy immediately disappeared from Tails' face, his fierce and slow growing anger returning to his façade.
"My fault?! How was it my fault?" –
"When the crew saw that the forest had burned down, and the ground was destroyed we couldn't grow or harvest any produce to trade. They said that there was no reason for coming anymore," The shorter wolf explained, his tail whipping at his side. "Because someone antagonized the birds instead of accepting their demands," –
"Did you want them to have the Chaos Emeralds? If they had gotten them, they would have continued to other islands, other lands, being powerful and could have destroyed cities! I didn't bring them here, I stopped them!" Tails shot back, pointing at himself and at the forest, the hedgehog feeling the anger starting to bubble in him.
"You shouldn't have fought back in the first place! You had no idea what you were doing, and five years later, you still don't realize what you have done to us?!" The dog was yelling at him, fist clenched at his sides, his tail whipping around him.
"Yes, your right, I had no idea what I was doing other than defending myself and the island! I was three for Chaos sake! I was the only one who tried to protect you!" –
"Protect?!" The largest wolf practically spat, his voice travelling over the sand, the breeze carrying his voice with it
"You didn't protect anyone, the Kukku empire ransacked our village, hurt our people! If you would have given up then a lot of damage could have been prevented," –
"But then that damage would have travelled to other cities, other civilizations," The fox protested back, emphasizing his point with his hands. "Look, I only did what I did because I didn't know any better. I was scared and alone. I'm sorry the village got attacked, but I-," -
"Alright that's it! I'm gonna blow the living snot out of your-," – "Whouw whouw dude calm down. If you wanna mess with Tails, then you're gonna mess with me as well. He's my sidekick," The dog had taken some steps towards them, fists clenched and had had a punch at the ready when Sonic had cut across.
That stopped him in his tracks, letting his hand go back down by his side, while the hedgehog smirked.
"Besides, I don't think you wanna pick a fight with him. He's been battling badniks with me for five years. I'm pretty sure he knows how to throw a good punch," He grinned, glancing towards the fox who only nodded and smirked towards the dog.
Obviously hesitant, the mobian turned back towards his other two buddies, the larger wolf staring at the blue hedgehog.
"He's your sidekick?" Sonic nodded, grinning towards him and said: "The best I've ever had."
The older wolf's eyes once again darted over the blue hedgehog, looking at both the wolf and the dog.
"Then neither of you are welcome here," He said, the same fierce expression on his face.
"Alright, then we'll leave," Sonic declared, looking back towards Tails who nodded. The three others exchanged glances at each other before the wolf with the vest nodded towards them, stepping away from the aircraft with the other two following. The hedgehog caught the larger wolf's gaze as he jumped on the wing, the fox passing the three of them.
A battle cry went through the air as the dog took a couple of quick steps towards Tails, throwing a punch at him. It didn't hit, instead a pair of stiff tails tail swiped him, making him fall back into the ground, hitting his head against the sand. He was about to get up when a foot was placed on his chest, looking up at a two-tailed fox who looked at him with a fierce expression.
"Still wanna fight me?" He asked, quirking an eyebrow at him. His hands were fisted, his expression alone telling the dog that he was not kidding.
A few moments happened were the mobian blankly looked at him, glanced at the other two, then the hedgehog until he slowly shook his head in defeat. Tails nodded, stepping away from him, making the dog sit up and was helped up by the shorter wolf lastly.
The fox then jumped into the cockpit, turning on the engine and making the propeller spin around, while the three others did nothing than turn around and started walking.
The dog managed to glance at Tails, as the Tornado ran along the beach, before picking up speed and was lifted into the air, creating distance between the red biplane and Cocoa island.
Sonic couldn't help it, he blurted out the laugh that had sat in his throat, making Tails grin behind him.
"Dude, that was awesome! Did you see his face?!" Sonic exclaimed, throwing a thump's up towards his best friend who only smiled at him.
"It felt kinda good to be honest," He said, swinging the plane around to get a feel for the wind, getting the aerodynamics to work in his favor. "I always wanted to get him back for hitting me with that metal pole of his," Sonic hissed at that, glancing back at his sidekick who merely shrugged, the experience five years old at this point.
He felt the wind through his quills as they made their way away from the island, the hedgehog glancing back at it.
"I'm a bit disappointed I didn't get to go cave exploring though," He commented, though his sidekick only shook his head.
"Don't worry about it, there isn't anything interesting in there. There's no magical crystal ceiling lights or underground fortresses or anything. Though if you're still hungry, I can tell you about it if you'd like?" Sonic laughed at that before winking at him.
"That's a deal," He said turning back around towards the win. Though, the argument were still lingering his mind, and a curious question was nagging in the back of his head.
"Why did you apologize to them? If anyone should have apologized it should have been them," He exclaimed, yet again looking back at Tails.
He stared a bit into the open air, thinking about his question until his blue orbs turned towards him.
"It's not my fault or their fault that the cargo ships didn't return. It was the Kukku Empire's fault," He said, then frowned a bit. "You think – we could call GUN or something?"
Sonic quirked and eyebrow at his request, Tails' eyes still clinging to the hedgehog.
"Do you want me to?" He lowered his head at the question, eyes going over the dash board in front of him, though he nodded after a while.
"Not all the people in the village were after me, most of them were but not all of them. It's been five years, I'm over it already. Besides," He said, smiling up at Sonic.
"We don't get called the heroes of Mobius for nothing do we?" He shrugged his shoulders, while the hedgehog only smiled back, the biplane flying through a couple of clouds, the white substance engulfing the two brothers.
"Yeah Cocoa Island outside of Emerald Hill – yeah, it should be there. Yes. Alright. I'm not sure. Okay, yes. Thanks for that General. Yes, bye," Sonic ended, putting the phone back on the wall. A sigh left him at that, glancing at the open door down to the workshop.
Even though it had only been two days, he couldn't help but feel the roller coaster ride he had been on. Emotions raging between worry, curiosity, anger, and sadness, all in two days times.
Normally he only had one or two emotions going at a time, the rest of them saved for whenever they went on adventures. He had learned something new about his sidekick, something he in all honesty hadn't expected but at the same time he was glad that Tails had told him. Not because he was thrilled to get a secret but because he could feel the relief that the fox had had.
Flying back after meeting the three of them, Tails had had a relaxed façade all the way home, something that the hedgehog had loved to see. Something had apparently cleared up in his mind, not only the fact that he had told Sonic and hadn't gone mad at him, but he had resolved something that he had left behind on the island. And he was pretty sure that it had something to do with the burned house rather than the three bullies they met.
He had no idea who they were other than Tails calling one of them Bruce who apparently had had a metal pole with him. He winched, thinking about hitting a three-year-old with that could have done to him, but quickly threw that thought away from him.
He didn't like being angry.
He shook his head slightly, taking the stairs down two at a time, looking into the workshop.
The biplane stood in the hangar untouched and left behind from when they landed, which surprised him for a bit. He turned his head towards the worktable, letting a small smile cross his features seeing his sidekick sitting on it, feet dangling over the edge now that this table was taller, the notebook from the house in his hands.
Walking over to him, Tails looked at him briefly before returning to the book, going through a page.
"So, what did they say?" He asked, his eyes still down in the book but his ears peaked towards the hedgehog. Sonic shrugged his shoulders first, before leaning against the table beside him, arms crossed over his chest.
"They said that they would look into it. They would send one shipment with a couple of supplies to them, but if the cargo ship route would completely return, he wasn't sure," He explained, letting his eyes dart over the pages which Tails was reading.
He still didn't understand the three-year-old handwriting, but the pictures and the numbers on the pages could give him a clear idea of what he had been scribbling down. Right now, he had stopped at a page that displayed a plane, not a biplane but it looked quiet big with details that would have send any other mechanic stumbling. How he knew all of that stuff he didn't know, though he was pretty sure that the bookshelf he had talked about had been filled with that kind of information.
"Great thanks for that. Even if the route won't return at least they get sustained for a while," Tails commented, then tapped the picture in the notebook. "That was my first design of a plane I wanted to build myself. It's quiet simple, and the calculations are wrong, but I remember when I designed it. Though, the little me had no idea of how difficult it was to find parts to it," He chuckled, his eyes scanning the page as a breath escaped his nostrils.
Sonic looked at the plane, then in the workshop and then back to the fox.
"You know," He said, threw his hand around which made Tails look at him. "The hangar's big enough for two planes. If you wanna build it I think you should."
His sidekick looked at him with a bewildered expression, looking back at the book in his hand. A couple of thoughts travelled through his head, before he looked up from the pages, and then back down again.
"That – isn't a bad idea Sonic," He said, and then smiled towards him. "I could do the improvements and build the parts that your plane is too old for. Though that requires a lot of metal and a lot of welding. Though if I build the skeletal part of it first, then I can create the engine and-," He stopped in his track when he realized that he was rambling, knew that Sonic had tuned out a while ago.
The hedgehog grinned at him when he realized, the fox grinning towards him.
"I can paint it blue if you want. That way its more camouflaged in the sky than the red coloring," He explained, while Sonic grinned back at him, turning his head towards his own biplane. It was battle worn at this point, bumps, and indents in the crimson paint, though he really didn't mind that. It was a good reminder for what it had been through.
"The Tornado 2," He blurted out, turning back to look at Tails who had been scrambling something into his notebook, head whipping up from the pages. His own eyes darted over the red biplane, before a small smile went over his lips.
"I like it," He said, then started scribbling again. "I think I'm gonna add in a battle mode. Something that makes the Tornado 2 more aerodynamic whenever I do theatrics to avoid Eggman's missiles," He explained, eagerly drawing something on his old drawing, writing scribbles and numbers into the page, filling it completely with words that Sonic somewhat understood.
"Looks like you'll be spending even more time down here. You might as well install a fridge and a bed down here while you're at it," He laughed, which only made the fox grin back, temporarily focused on his calculations and new design. Sonic let his eyes glance back around in the workshop, mentally thinking where he should go running, since they still had the day ahead of them.
He turned his head towards the fox when he closed the book with a sigh, a pen stuck to the page where the plane was putting it down on the table on top of the two blue prints he had fished out of his tail as well.
"Something wrong?" Sonic asked, quirking an eyebrow when the fox looked down at his hands in his lap, fingers slightly fidgeting and tail tips whipping on either side of his dangling legs.
He was thinking about something, his mind gone again like last time, until his head rose again.
"I thought about telling you for a long time you know?" He said. "But every time I got scared that you were gonna be mad at me. And whenever I found the courage to tell you Eggman did something stupid and we had to stop him. Eventually I gave up and never thought about it again, until you pointed out the islands yesterday. And then everything just came back," He explained, placing his hands on the edge of the table, letting his feet swing very slowly back and forth, in a thoughtful manor.
Sonic nodded silently at that, his eyes returning to the hangar.
"You didn't have to tell me. I would've been fine if I didn't know. Like I told you I don't care about what you had to do back then, so if you had told me or not I wouldn't have gotten mad," He explained, though he turned back to Tails when he shook his head.
"I felt like I owed it to you. Since you, without knowing, helped me get over it. Telling me that the past is in the past, we can't do something about it. Taught me how to fight and live with the choices that we make. I know everything about you and yet you didn't know everything about me," He said, then his ears and head lowered again.
"I had difficulty accepting it. My bones and skin would heal but the words will never go away. I lied a couple of times to you whenever I told you my nightmare was about lightning. Man, it took a long time for those to go away," He said, then a sigh left him, a deep and sad thing that brought every single sadden memory with it.
Sonic blinked at him for a second, before leaning away from the table and stood in front of him, arms reaching out and around his back, hugging him. Tails returned it immediately, his head hidden in his shoulder with a deep breath, making the hedgehog squeeze him a bit.
"Listen to yourself Tails," He said. "Don't think about the past. You're here now, in your own house, with lots of friends and a whole playground of knots and bolts. You're about to build your own plane squirt," The name made the fox chuckle, as Sonic hadn't called him squirt in a long time, a very long time.
The fox eventually pulled away, quickly rubbed at his eyes were water had taken place in the corners of them, smiling at Sonic.
"Thank you Sonic. I'm so glad that you found me," The hedgehog chuckled at that, ruffling the fox's bangs playfully.
"Me to Tails," He smiled, the fox smiling back at him.
He then jumped down from the workbench, making the hedgehog take a step back, picking up the book again.
"I have a loooot of work ahead of me," He grinned, his eyes scanning over the shelves on either side of the workshop, most likely counting and figuring out whether or not he had the things he needed.
"Then you get going with that. I'll head out and come back for dinner," –
"Are you gonna make chili dogs again?" –
"What's wrong with that?" Tails sighed, looking back at him but smiled playfully.
"You dumb hedgehog," He mumbled, making the hedgehog smile at him and ruffled his bangs one more time, turned around towards the hangar door and ran out.
The wind ruffled his quills satisfyingly, running into the forest, out of the zone and into the horizon. The road and path ahead of him was nice and smooth, no rocks or not obstacles obscuring his pathway. Though a couple of them were bound to happen, as no road was ever clean.
A lot of paths were filled with boulders, gaps rocks and fallen trees, and some of us have a lot of them in the past, some of us have them ahead of us in the future. There's no one telling what's going to happen, but if you look back and take reassurance knowing that if you could run over and avoid those rocks, boulders and trees then you sure as hell can do it at the ones headed your way.
It's your pathway – sometimes you form it into your own, other times other forms it for you but no matter what, it is you who is walking, running, spelunking and laughing on it. If you need help avoiding the boulders, then that's okay. Much rather get it than stand still.
Because standing still was something that Sonic the Hedgehog didn't. He kept moving forward.
No matter what obstacle came in his way.