Water Upon A Rock

In the morning after the Freedom Fighter debriefing, Lupe returned to her people and Lobo gathered the Pack to accept me as their own. Kneeling in a small meadow beyond the village, each wolf touched their noses with mine. They snorted in sharp puffs and memorised my scent. For nearly an hour, they breathed onto me.

Lupe had not only taken in my scent but had also offered me one of her homemade necklaces. Lyco jabbering all the while had snuffed me in several places like an over-eager dog. Leeta had not waited in line at all but sniffed me by sneaking up from behind.

It was almost too painful to think of the future they faced. I knew that if help didn't arrive soon there would be no future for The Pack and the rest of the Freedom Fighters. No future for Sonic and I. I find myself thinking about him often. In some ways, we had become even closer, working side by side to defeat Robotnik. But the easy fun, the trust, of our earlier times was gone. I treasured our more carefree times, like when we held a play wedding together. I held on to that memory.

After sniffing my nose, Lobo with his mannequin stiff posture and his steely eyes rubbed my cheek with his muzzle and whispered terrible oaths of allegiance on behalf of the Wolf Pack Nation - the very same he had sworn to King Acorn.

After all, they had been through. All that they would go through as they stuck with me. Would I have the heart to commit them into battle?

The morning sun rose steadily into the Mobian sky as I plodded down to the dirt path through the village centre. When I reached my destination I paused, placing a hand on my hip and with the other shielded my eyes from the sun. There stood the hut that was once King Acorn's inner sanctum and if all went well our new centre of operations. Sally had gone through the place many years ago in search of valuable supplies but had since locked up the place. Although whether she had done so in anticipation of the monarch's forestalled return or to preserve the place as a sort of museum was lost to memory.

Peering through the cobweb-laced windows, I observed the bare walls, the writing desk and a simple bed all covered in a thick layer of dust and came to wonder if the room had always been so bare. Considering how lavishly the Acorns were once used to living, it came as a complete shock that King Acorn had himself been an aesthetic.

I took a moment to mull over why this disturbed me: it changed my impression of King Maximillian, giving the strong impression that he had lived entirely for his people's sake and reserved little or nothing for himself. That plucked from my heart a faint note of guilt.

"Chilidog for your thoughts, Sal." the voice that broke the contemplative silence was as light as the breeze on which it rode and as I turned around I found the hedgehog leaning on the doorframe with an easy smile spread across his face.

"That's a creative interpretation on an all too common turn of phrase," I remarked wryly.

"So, Howzit hanging?" he asked as he stood beside me, gloved hands hanging on his side.

As I returned his steady gaze with his own, I felt myself being irresistibly drawn toward towards the hedgehog's eyes as though some hidden force of magnetism was at work "Oh, I was just…" I began, my voice trailing off.

"Sal…" Sonic's eyes were serious as he tracked my every movement. "…it's been a long day, ya know? Even a big ol' hero like you needs her beauty sleep"

"But it's the beginning of the day and I don't have time for a nap" I answered, feeling every bit like a hypocrite as I yawned loudly. Pausing, I waited for the hedgehog to make some snide remark that would take the edge off my inner feelings of melancholy, isolation and sadness. But to my surprise, he remained silent even as I let loose a bone-weary chuckle.

"All this sage advice coming from our resident hog who regularly scarfs down his own body weight in junk food and dozes off the aftermath?"

Sonic reacted to this verbal snipe not by pulling a face of comical indignation and launching into some facile argument about how he needed the extra calories for his enhanced metabolism as I had anticipated. This time, the hedgehog's eyes remained grave as they gazed at me, waiting, clearly unwilling to drop the matter until he received an explanation for the bout of melancholy faced by his beloved.

I tried to look away in order to avoid Sonic's eyes but as though hypnotised by those two bright spheres I could not help but be drawn toward his gaze. "I was just thinking …" I began knowing that even before those words had departed from my lips that it was going to sound lame.

It should be me that gets roboticized, I mumbled.

"Uh, got a bug in my ear-" Sonic said rubbing his earlobes "-try that one more time." My hand reached up lightly to clasp my throat. Sonic had surprised me. He did not try to make light of a situation that he didn't understand, didn't try to change the subject, but rather he endeavoured to figure it out to the best of his understanding. "Tell me, Sal," he demanded

I knew that I must've looked tired and as I heaved a great sigh I felt it too. Like a tidal wave, exhaustion from multiple sleepless nights rushed over me. "Sonic…" I paused, biting my lower lip in a vain attempt to stem back the onslaught of words gushing from the tip of my tongue."…do you think that after this war of ours is over will things will ever go back to normal and that…you and I…".

Silence reigned as Sonic stared breath-taken aback at my behaviour, barely believing that he had just heard before recovering "Well," he said "-a little of the ol' hedgehog encouragement is just what the doctor called for" Standing at my shoulder, Sonic bent down and gave my shoulders a firm squeeze which immediately caused one leg to flop out involuntarily as I winced in pain.

"Why, that's your problem there. You're all seized up."

"Uh, you lost me."

"I always thought you girls would give each other rubdowns."

"Well, Bunnie and I give each other spa treatments, but not as often as I would like, of course, since I can't afford it on my tight schedule. But sometimes we do give each other facials and-"

"But no rubdowns."

"No, I skip out on that part because it makes me feel uncomfortable."

"Alright, let Doc Sonic sort you out. Now it'll be best if I could do the full-body works but none of us has the time for that." Sonic moved his hands up to the left side of my neck and, with his fingertips, rubbed in circles just under the poll. "Alright, now I'm going to loosen up your shoulders."

After that, he knelt down and, holding his hands in loose fists, gently punched my left triceps, making the heavy muscles jiggle. "You've been skipping your aerobics, haven't you?" he asked as he bore down as hard as he could onto my back muscles, forcing me to scrunch up my face while I nodded fiercely. "Well, I know that you're a busy person but don't just keep hitting the weights."

"You know, Bunnie had me working hard to strengthen myself. It's really developed my chest, and for a while, I was afraid I was starting to look like a guy."

"With all those extra muscles, you probably are bulkier in the front than you used to be, but I wouldn't worry about it. Bunnie does have all the same muscles, and she doesn't look like a guy, does she?"

"Well, she does a little bit."

"Oh. Well, never mind. Still, I think everyone worries when their body changes: don't tell anyone I said this, but when I was about ten or so and started putting on more chest muscle, I was afraid I was starting to look like a girl."

"Like a girl? But that doesn't make any ... oh, wait, I remember. Yes, I suppose I can understand that."

Sonic continued to push on my pressure points until I felt a release, and I let loose a loud sigh as I felt my ears swung outward, and my eyelids lowered "Anyway," Sonic said, "don't do nothing but strength training. You've gotta stretch. If your muscles get overworked, they can get inflamed."

For a while, neither of us said anything while Sonic applied pressure in all the right spots "Do you think we'll ever be able to beat Robotnik once and for all, Sonic?" I asked

"Of course, we will, Sal!" he loudly exclaimed, looking about as though he'd have thought that such a notion was blatantly obvious. "Is there any doubt? Whatever my gal is cooking up is going to put one big crimper in Robotnik's parade isn't that right?"

Even before he was half of the way through his gushing stream of platitudes, Sonic looked pensive and stopped his message almost as though he could tell that his actions weren't having the desired effect. Squeezing my eyes shut and loudly exhaling I felt something ignite within me. "We just might have a chance now and... I just don't want to get my hopes up in case this all comes crashing down." I blurted feeling myself trembling as I aired out my innermost thoughts to him. But it was no more than a moment, for Sonic closed the short distance that had separated us, reaching out and enveloping me in his arms.

"But some things are certain, Sal," he said, peering deep into my eyes. "Just like this moment-" he said, gesturing about the room "-just like you and me….". Even before he had fully formed the words, I was somehow preternaturally aware of just where this was going.

My eyes fluttered and my knees trembled as I slowly tilted my head back. As I did so, all of the doubt and fear seemed to ebb away as quickly as water being poured from a cup. At once, a certain sense of serenity and leaving my mind clear. and as I reached one hand over my vest I felt my heart thudding away, so loud that I felt my ears throb with each beat.

By my reckoning, a mere three inches separated Sonic's lips from my own which were already tingling with yearning. Yes, there was something just so alluring about him. The way he always had a certain muse about him: to lighten my unbearable burden.

I thought you were the fastest thing alive. Two inches…one inch…come on, kiss me sempai…

"Your Highness … a word in your ear?" an all too familiar nasally voice interrupted and I almost let loose a loud groan of disappointment as reality proved to be a cruel mistress wiping away the magic of the moment I had so nearly partaken in.

Immediately, Sonic disentangled himself from me and I felt the sides of Sonic's spikes brush past as they bristled with chaos energy. "Of course, Snively" I answered as graciously as though I hadn't been interrupted from a tryst. "What is it you have to say to me?"

Snively shifted from one booted foot to the other. If he felt the slightest bit on edge for living among the enemy it would be his just desserts. But if Robotnik's endless torrents of gratuitous physical violence were anything to go by Snively's capture may have been a boon in disguise. He was to the extent possible by the Freedom Fighter's watchful eye able to walk wherever he wanted whenever he wanted without the possibility of punishment for having done so out of turn.

"Today, your pet skunk had me setting up all manner of broadcasting equipment throughout the Great Forrest and I can't but help something is amiss," Snively reported, his voice clipped and his words directly to the point. "Suffice to say, my task has been completed in record time and my new instructions were to report to you."

"Oh," I stammered feeling more than a little self-conscious over my weak response since he had probably expected at least a little recognition for his expectation "Why thank you, Snively."

Snively lowered his arms down to his sides looking to all of Mobius as less of a man and more like a flag-pole with a nose. "Not at all, Your Highness. Are there any other degrading tasks that you would have me perform: a clogged toilet perhaps?"

"Erm sorry, Sniv- I mean Collin-" I froze upon observing the dark grey circles which ringed his icy blue eyes…" at once, guilt and annoyance raised their ugly heads again as I realised that what I was said was starting to sound a lot more like condescending criticism rather than genuine praise for a difficult job well done. "What I really mean to say is that wouldn't you like to take a break after all your hard work."

"Yeah. Why don'cha?"

Snively looked at Sonic, his thin eyebrow raised "Why … why my brave hedgehog knight-" he said mockingly, in a clear attempt to goad the hedgehog on. Whatever Snively's intentions, it was clear his overt mockery was having a noticeable effect on the spiked hero. If the way Sonic's pointed blue ears were pressed flat against his skull in anger didn't cue me in, the simple fact that Sonic sentences tended to grow noticeably shorter and far less animated certainly had.

I reflected upon the cause of the little man's attempts to tempt fate and came to the conclusion that this sort of situation was a regular occurrence for Snively who had spent many years treading on eggshells around his infamous uncle. Now, he must have felt freely able to flaunt his own brand of impudence before the Freedom Fighters in the full knowledge that they would never violate their own rigid code of honour to harm him.

Unless, of course, he gave them a good reason to.

"I am so sorry-" Snively said with a mocking bow "-if my report to 'The Princess' has inflicted undue inconvenience upon either of you. If such is the case then, I offer my deepest apologies," he said smugly placing his clammy left hand upon his chest. "I've judged my report to be of great significance, however, feeling certain that 'Her Highness' would have found news of her imminent broadcasts to be of weightier matter than a private rendezvous."

I hardened my lips into a single straight line and once again violent thoughts invaded my mind when I came to realise that though the words themselves were spoken to Sonic, the sting was directed squarely at me. When I met the unspoken challenge, my voice was as graciously and dignified as befitted a person of Sally's stature especially when dealing with someone who had been as insufferable as he but yet had delivered an invaluable service. "Sonic, Snively is right-" I reasoned. Biting my tongue as I did so "- to have brought these matters directly up to my attention."

For a moment Sonic stared back, stung by the reprimand then he looked again at Snively and, at the sight of that expanding sneer and twitching eyebrow, decided that the war was far from over. "Okay…so ya said your piece-" the hedgehog growled, "-now git."

Snively beamed widely as though propelled by a morbid curiosity as to just how far his once greatest nemesis could be pushed before he would impale the little man. " 'Git', you low-brow cretin? Them's fighting words hedgehog and in front of the princess too? I think not."

Then, in the blink of an eye Sonic seemed to materialise right in front of Snively or at least as close as he could manage without poking his own eye out on the human's nose. "Yeah?" he snarled. "Well guess what, I've just about had enough putting up with you…"

"Enough."

The command was briefly uttered and low in tone yet it had succeeded in forcing the mutual rivals to break eye-contact with each other to look back at me.

Drawing a few deep breathes, I composed myself and spoke in a decorous manner "Sonic, stop this at once and stand down." Having dealt with the hedgehog, I turned toward the main cause of my present ire. "Snively…now that you mention it there is one more thing that you do. We'll need to get a communication console all wired up. Think you can manage?"

"Anything else, my princess?" Snively asked as he emerged from the back of the newly installed communications console which now set on King Acorn's former writing desk. A sprawl of wires ran from the reactivated ranger station to the console.

"Stay, we'll know whether this will work in a few minutes."

Given the fact that we would be piggy bagging off of one of Robotnik's satellites, it was imperative for NICOLE to bypass any encryptions before Robotnik could trace the source of the broadcast. If all went according to plan we would have precious few minutes' of conversation to get the communications across. All I could hope was that someone on the other end was going to pick up the phone.

"NICOLE, activate communications array," I ordered. "Outgoing message. First address: Acorn 'South Isle' regiment. Priority one, two-way communication demanded."

"Tapping into Robotnik's communication array…Ready" NICOLE said.

"Open channels," I commanded.

"Begin search…" I chewed on my tongue.

What if they didn't pick up? What if all this was just a trap? No, Snively might have been an utterly reprehensible character but he wasn't suicidal. If he was? Then, I would make sure he died very slowly and very painfully at my hands before it was my turn.

"Channels open, begin message," NICOLE responded interrupting my morbid train of thoughts.

I faced the computer panel and tried to compose myself to make a good impression. "This is Princess Sally Alicia Acorn. I'm-"

"Communications locked out." NICOLE cautioned.

"What? How?" I sputtered.

"Oh, that. Robotnik's Satellite communications are heavily encrypted and the codes cycle through every thirty minutes. Think your little handheld can match?" Snively replied smugly.

Having no desire to waste any more time with Snively I wracked my head for a solution and came up blank. "NICOLE any ideas?"

"Calculating possible solutions…solution found. In the time where I was running my additional modules my efficiency had gone up ny approximately two hundred and sixty-four percent. I estimate I'll be able to breach Robotnik's codes within fifteen minutes while running them."

"Do it."

Several tense minutes followed while NICOLE worked her magic on the communications array, "Firewall breached. User access granted."

"Computer, resume previous communication."

"Begin message."

"This is Princess Sally Alicia Acorn communicating from the Knothole Freedom Fighting Group based in the Great Forrest. We have urgent news for Prince Elias."

The communication officer appearing on screen was a snake wearing a faded Acorn army beret, a native of the hard-won province and the newest addition to the Acorn Kingdom before its untimely demise. "Yeesh, 'your highness' a 'priority one' message is reserved only for the utmost of-"

I was not feeling patient. I'd been punched, kicked, and stomped upon and I had to bring my point across swiftly. "Then maybe this will be important enough for you: We've captured Robotnik's nephew. His second in charge and we have news of an alliance to bring to the prince."

The young warrior nearly fell over. "What?"

"I said," dragging Snively into view. "We have Snively in our possession and we would like to forge an alliance with your prince."

The afternoon and night passed and there was no response. Perhaps Snively had been lying to me the whole time. Maybe, they were having difficulties reaching us, That happens frequently enough. Or maybe Elias thought it was a trap set by Robotnik Or maybe, maybe, maybe. I went through every "maybe" I could think of. Still, no response came. In any case, I did not spend the time being by moping and being idle but to dispatch various scout parties to salvage whatever could be found from Robotnik's various abandoned operations within the Great Forrest.

Sometime late into the night, another group of refugees came in. One of them was suffering from a festering infection resulting from a cut on a can. He was taken to Doctor Quack where after a long drawn out overnight battle the patient died. These days, Robotnik didn't even need his machines. Simple Mobian frailties were enough to do us in. In the morning, we found a tree away from any robotic concentrations, dug a hole in the roots and buried him in typical Knothole tradition.

I looked around at our small army: less than a hundred Mobians and myself. The majority is of us armed with older-model firearms or newer model laser rifles repurposed from our fallen robotic foes. None of us was without scars. We could commit to fights and win small local engagements. But at the rate we're going there would not be enough of us left alive to carry on the struggle.

"Look!" Sonic gasped.

My heart hammered loudly but steadily in my chest as my head snapped up into the sky, then back and forth at my fellow Freedom Fighters. Unthinkingly, at this announcement of a threat, I balled my fists and stepped forward. But it was plain to see there was nothing to fight. Everything in the meadow slowed down and I became keenly aware of each blade of grass and the intense smells of flowers. When I looked up once again, the sky certainly was strange today.

Up against the pastels of blue, I saw swift-moving lights. The distant roar of engines. Then, the bright beams of light and the distant rumble of a far-off explosion.

"There's a dogfight going on up there!" Sonic grabbed me, almost too roughly.

"Do you think it's -?"

"Well, it sure ain't those four-fingered Overlander freaks up there c'mon."

The first Hover Swat decked in Acorn army pastels of brown and blue swooped in for a landing on a clearing within the Great Forrest. The Mobians who stepped out were battle-scarred but seemed confident. "You must be Princess Sally" a well-endowed bat dressed in a definitely non-regulation skin-tight suit complete with a pink heart-shaped breastplate greeted. "I'm Special Agent Rogue and I'll be escorting you over to the prince."

"I'm very glad to see you too," I said before turning to Sonic who had practically fallen over himself to make an exaggerated salute to the disinterested bat "This is Sonic, the hero of Mobius."

"Scary-looking tyke," Rogue said, looking him up and down. "Run along now, youngster. The prince is not known for his patience, and we've had a hot welcome to this hellhole."

"Sonic is coming with me and fortunately for you, we are patient," I said, stepping forward. "We've waited years for you to get here."

"And so, you have. But the prince only wishes to see you," she reiterated.

"No," I interrupted. "I am not going with you. These are my people and for a decade, this has been our war. You," I said, pointing at the arrogant bat, "you will tell your prince that we welcome him. We'll be glad to meet him. When he comes here."

I turned and walked away not knowing if Sonic would follow. But after a few seconds, I heard the sound of his footsteps on the grass beside me.

"Was that a smart move, Sal? They've come to help." He asked, matching my stride.

"No. They're here to stop Robotnik. Not to help."

"Look, I hate the idea of having to put anyone six feet under. But I'll make an exception for Robuttnik. Besides, when you stop and think about it isn't it really the same thing!"

I stopped walking. "Listen to me, Sonic. If we don't play our cards right, we're going to end up being pawns in this struggle."

"Nu-uh, that's your brother we're talking about. He's one of the good guys. That's not going to happen." he said.

"We'll see," I said.

Shortly thereafter, Johnny Lightfoot bounding through the foliage to inform me that another much larger aircraft was inbound in one of the clearings.

"Are you happy now?" Sonic asked.

"It's a start."

Sonic took us to the clearing where Elias's men had gathered. The troops disgorging from the transports were primarily Acorn army personnel, the majority of whom still donning on their old uniforms but dotted among them were Echidna warriors with their flowing dreadlocks and wielding their advanced particle wave technology.

Eventually, we were escorted aboard a rather beautiful aircraft, unlike the others I'd seen.

It was five times the size of any fighter I'd ever encountered. The main section was a fantastically elongated oval that stretched way out in front of three oversized, swept-back engines. Overhead was the long, gracefully arced spike of the main top-of-the-line Echidna laser. Oh, she was a thing of beauty. Mounted the rear was stationed powerful telecommunication array from an Egg Mobile. One of Robotnik's own personal craft. I had never fallen in love with a machine before, but the former Royal Shuttle was a work of art that would have made Rotor drool with envy.

Elias was there on the unloading ramp issuing orders to corral the menagerie scurrying below into some semblance of order. In spite of the great blue overcoat around his slender frame and the faint traces of burn scars that marred his face, he was instantly recognisable. Beside him stood a stocky bulldog who seemed to be carved out of solid steel and glared at us with the intensity a laser beam.

"Princess Acorn," Colonel Somersby said. "You're no doubt to be commended for having hidden out all these years. We'll reward whoever took care of you. Was it you, hedgehog? You have my gratitude. Anything you want."

To his subordinates, he barked. "Get the perimeter set-up. I want a full sensor sweep as soon as we clear tree level. There may still be one or two Buzz Bombers left flying."

Here it was, Sally's childhood fantasy, coming true at long last. But I had no time to enjoy it. This makes me feel very sad. I had to remain totally unimpressed. I had to lead my people.

"Brother... Elias," I said, in a friendly but not deferential tone. "You have a lot to learn about the situation here. If you'd like, we can give you a briefing."

"A briefing? I have a little time, " he chuckled and I had to struggle to control my temper.

"There are seventeen robofacs spread throughout Robotropolis with a further thirty-three minifacs engaged into all manner of mining, salvage and recycling operations in the outlying areas," I said.

"You've actually seen them?"

"We're aware that Robotnik is busy extracting iron, bauxite, nickel, tin, copper, uranium, as well as various gemstones that are useful for focusing laser weapons for his new project: a moon-sized station capable of raining destruction from above."

Elias stared. His officers stared.

"Shall I continue?"

Elias nodded his head slowly.

"We also suspect that he might also be building an updated version of Silver Sonic, based upon a new design but similar in capabilities."

"By the source," Elias gasped. "Is that information reliable?"

"Snively has defected to us and has been a big help," I confirmed.

Elias paused "We have two-dozen fighters, two transport re-supply craft. A total of less than a thousand combat capable warriors."

"But that's not enough!" I protested.

"This is going to be a tough little war, sis," Elias said grimly. "A very tough little war."