The night was peaceful, occasionally punctuated by the chirp of a cricket and the howl of an animal. Jacob shuddered, his fur standing in end. After being attacked by feral wolves, he couldn't listen to those howls quite the same way. He unconsciously rubbed the scar running down his right eye, a trophy from the attack.

"Hopefully Josh didn't see that one." He sighed.

"What about Josh?" A voice asked behind him. Jacob turned and smiled, seeing Blaze and Silver come back with the firewood they promised. The boy wanted to go with them, but the older two told him to stay and tend the fire.

"Mind your own business Silv." Jacob teased. Silver rolled his eyes and set his wood down, Blaze doing the same, albeit a bit more carefully. The purple cat knelt in front of the red, and checked out the scar.

"...It looks better..." She said quietly, gently touching the pink tissue. Jacob shied away slightly from the touch and offered Blaze a small smile. He was never a fan of being mothered.

"No hospital or hotel tonight." Silver chirped, putting his hands behind his head and looking up at the stars. "Just us and the stars."

"No shower, no bed-" Blaze muttered as she sat down next to Jacob.

"Stop being such a lemon!" Silver retorted. Jacob giggled between the two.

"I'm just glad to smell something besides rubbing alcohol." He said, earning discreet, sympathizing gazes from Blaze and Silver. Ever since he (somewhat literally) fell into Blaze's life, she found she cared deeply for the young boy she quickly nursed back to health, and Silver felt the same way, being more than willing to tuck the young boy under his wing, despite neither of them knowing what transpired in his past. They knew he was an orphan, who lived with his brother, but that was it. Other details he simply wouldn't, or perhaps couldn't, share.

The two had their theories though.

They suspected that he saw his parents die, or something equally traumatic. Certain sounds or images, like gun fire or black hunter's boots, caused him to shudder and occasionally go into a trance, as if remembering something horrible. But he would always shake it off and put that wide smile back onto his face.

Blaze smirked as she ran her hand over Jacob's head, giving him a small scratch behind his ear. His smile lit up whatever room they were in, and people just found themselves oddly drawn to the red cat with the fiery personality. Even when he was being serious, even during battle, he always had a smile in his eyes, his tail swishing gleefully back and forth.

The purple cat frowned again as she recalled the one... And, she hoped, the only... Time he has lost that light in his eyes.

...

The hotel they just stayed at only had rooms with two beds. Rather than force someone onto the floor, Blaze decided to rent two rooms, planning on letting the boys share a room. But Jacob insisted on taking the room for himself, coming close to begging. ("I've always wanted a room to myself, I always shared with Josh!") She finally relented, but secretly swiped a key card to his room, just in case. She was glad she did.

Silver was the one who heard it first. He bolted to the window, thinking someone was firing a gun outside. Blaze joined him quickly thinking the same thing. They were both greatly relieved to see it was only the sound of a staff member slamming down the lids on a large dumpster. They almost laughed it off when they heard the loud cry from Jacob's room next door. They ran over as quickly as they could, Blaze thanking her lucky stars that she took his key card.

"Jakie!" Silver called out as Blaze scrambled to unlock the door. "You ok?" There was no response, which only served to worsen their anxiety. Blaze finally managed to slam the card into the reader and burst into the room.

Blaze's heart stopped when she didn't see Jacob anywhere. "Jakie?!" She called out desperately. Her answer was a small whimper from under the bed. The cat and hedgehog exchanged worried glances before walking over and kneeling down. What they saw shocked them, to say the least. The boy that had previously been a ball of passion an energy was curled up into a ball, under a bed, trembling and sobbing, hiding his face in his arms.

"Jakie...?" Silver tentatively reached out and touched Jacob's shaking form. The boy flinched and whimpered at the touch before looking up from his arms.

"...A-Are they gone...?" He asked hoarsely.

...

It took the two of them fifteen minutes to coax Jacob out from under the bed, and ten more to convince him that it was safe to go outside. But even now, an hour later, Jacob was still trembling, casting wary glances out into the darkness beyond the fire. He held a near death grip on Silver's gloved hand, reaching to grab one of Blaze's hands as well.

"Nothing's coming Jacob, I promise." Blaze assured her brother.

"I-I know..." The cat replied quietly. He began to absent-mindedly trace the turquoise patterns on Silver's glove. All went quiet, the crickets even seeming to hold their breath, the only sound being the crackling of the fire.

Silver finally broke the silence. "Jakie... Your parents... Were they..."

"Shot?" Jacob finished, looking up at Silver. "Mm-hm." He stared back into the fire. "Someone broke into our house... And my parents told us to hide under the bed." Blaze went back to stroking Jacob's head fur. "Me and my brother heard them... D-die..."

"...I'm sorry Jacob." Blaze said quietly, gently stroking his cheek. Jacob reached up and grabbed her hand, holding it against his face for a moment.

"...I think what's scariest was that he almost found us too..." Jacob nuzzled Blaze's hand, seeking comfort. "We could have been next..."

"Hey, look at me." Blaze said firmly, scooting in front of Jacob and gently taking his face in one of her hands. "You don't need to live in fear any more. That man is lightyears away, he can't hurt you." Blaze smiled a bit. "And I promise I won't let anyone else hurt you either."

"Don't forget about me Jakie." Silver chimed in, quickly kneeling next to Blaze. "I got your back." Silver grinned. "I've told you that from the beginning!" His grin shrank into a caring smile. He mirrored Blaze and put a hand on the other side of Jacob's face. "I've always got your back..."

A tiny smile of Jacob's own flickered onto his face, as the familiar light started to return to his eyes, if only dimly. "Thanks guys..."

Silver chuckled and leaned forward, hugging the young cat. Jacob rested his head on Silver's shoulder and hugged back. "Don't fear the shadows Jakie..." Silver murmured comfortingly. "That's all they are." Jacob nodded a bit and sniffed, tears threatening to spill once again. He let go of Silver and turned to Blaze. He quickly flung his arms around her neck and pulled her to him, which, after a moment of shock, she returned.

"I love you Jacob." She whispered, gently resting a hand on the back of his head.

"I love you too sis." He replied just as quietly, pulling himself closer to Blaze. She hummed a bit as he tightened her hold on him, and the two stayed like that for a while. It wasn't until Silver cleared his throat that the two looked up.

"So, we have a campfire," Silver held up a sleek, brown guitar, "How about a campfire song."

Jacob chuckled as he stood and took the guitar. "I need somewhere to sit."

"Not a problem." Silver replied cheerfully. He scanned the are for a moment before spying a fallen log. He held his hands out and focused for a moment, the quills on the back of his head rising. The log started glowing a turquoise blue as it started to levitate a few inches off the ground and move towards them. Silver let out a sigh as he lowered his hands, the log rolling to a stop a few feet from the fire, creating a makeshift bench.

"So what are you going to treat us to tonight?" Blaze asked as she sat down, crossing her legs. Jacob sat next to her, Silver next to him.

"Tonight, I'm going to play 18 Wheels on a Big-rig." Jacob teased, grinning toothily at Blaze. She gently slapped his shoulder.

"I was tired!" She retorted.

"You couldn't count to 18!" Silver laughed. "I can do that in my sleep!"

"In roman numerals!" Jacob added. Blaze rolled her eyes.

"Play. Something. Else." She said firmly.

"F-fine." Jacob said, getting over his case of the giggles. He strummed a few random chords on the guitar. "I don't know, name a song."

"We don't know what you can play!" Silver said. "Just play your favorite song!"

"I can't think of one on the spot!" Jacob retorted. "Help me out here guys!"

"Play 'What a Wonderful World' again." Blaze said, putting a hand on his shoulder. "I love that song." Jacob nodded to his sister and played a few more experimental cords.

"Hey, when'd you get my guitar anyway Silv?" Jacob asked, looking up from the instrument.

"I just ran over to the hotel while you two hugged. I thought you'd be done by the time you got back!" Jacob brought the guitar he had bought early on in their adventure almost everywhere with him. Forgetting it somewhere was yet another sign of how shaken up the boy was. Silver was just grateful that he and Blaze knew exactly why now.

Jacob cleared his throat. He wasn't as good a singer as his brother, but he liked to think he wasn't half bad. He began to strum his guitar.

I see skies of blue,

Clouds of white,

The bright sunny day,

The dark stormy night...

And I think to myself,

"What a wonderful world..."

...

Blaze watched as the fire slowly died out, leaving flickering embers and glowing ashes. She turned and giggled again at the sight in front of her. As Jacob started to fall asleep, he had nestled up against Silver, and, over the course of the night, the two somehow ended up spooning, Silver hugging Jacob's midsection from behind. She gave a slightly more evil chuckle as she checked her Comm, looking at the picture of the two of them she took.

"Revenge you two." She whispered, thinking back to all the pranks they pulled on her.

"Wh't w's tha'...?" She heard a sleepy mumble coming from Silver. She looked back over at them, quickly hiding her Comm.

"Go back to sleep." Blaze said calmly.

"Well what do you mean revenge...?" Silver asked as he rubbed his eye and sat up slightly. Blaze arched her eyebrow and looked at the two of them. Silver at last finally seemed to realize the position he was in. "You took a picture, didn't you." Silver more said than questioned. Blaze smirked and nodded smugly. Silver tiredly shrugged and lay back down, closing his eyes and readjusting his hold on Jacob. "We're bros. S'not like he cares."

"I think you might in the morning." Blaze replied. Silver quietly chuckled.

"Maybe..." He whispered. Blaze shook her head and laid down, facing Jacob. She ran her hands through his head fur again, giggling again as he started to purr in his sleep. She scooted as close to him as she could and hugged his neck, resting her forehead against his.

"Good night Jacob... I love you... I always will." She murmured to him. She gave him a quick peck on his forehead and returned to stroking his hair. She felt her eyelids slowly droop downwards, letting sleep take over...

JJ: Okay, so this didn't turn out as good as I had hoped... I wanted to show how Jacob was doing and his relationship with Blaze and Silver, but... I dunno, it was just bland in my opinion... I'M SORRY!

Jake: I'm just happy I got to have a chapter!

JJ: You're nicer than Josh, you know that?

Jake: I like to think of myself as the good child.

Josh: Hmph... Suck up.

JJ: He can suck up to me all he wants, I like it!

Jake: YAY!

JJ and Jake, BFFLS!

Josh: I'm gonna be sick... Make sure to review, favorite, follow, leave a comment, all that fun stuff. And tell your friends about this, it's a love fest going on here... Yech, I gotta wash my eyes...