If there was any chance of me getting out of the temple before, there's absolutely no chance of it now. Knuckles did manage to talk Rouge down from freaking out when she found me, but I can tell she's still nervous about my presence here. She even had Knuckles tie me down again -to which I wildly refuted- just to ensure I don't do anything.
I shift in the drawer, trying to find a comfortable position. My wrists are tied to the dresser with thick rope, and in my weakened state there's no way I could easily get out of it. Not that I really want to at this point, with Rouge staring at me from the other side of the room. She'll probably kick me in the face the moment she thinks I'm trying to get loose. No one wants that, that would be an ugly sight.
Speaking of sights, my leg is bare of wrappings for once, propped up on a rolled towel while Knuckles looks around for fresh bandages. The wound is still obviously infected, with puffy red edges and some ick clinging to the insides. That's what Rouge is mainly staring at, and I previous glance I took showed me an expression of horror, sorrow, and mild disgust.
Trust me though Rouge, I feel the same about it. At least she isn't having to deal with the painful throbbing that's traveling though my leg in both directions. Heck, even my toes hurt. I cough again, feeling pressure in my ears as I do. Leaning my head back to rest on the drawer's edge, I can do nothing but wait for the echidna to return and wrap my leg, which will undoubtedly hurt even more as he'll have to clean it first.
I wiggle my toes in a bored manner, wincing as the infected muscles sluggishly moved at my command. Rouge made some strange, gasping noise at about the time I feel something begin to run down my leg. Ears pricking, I lean over to inspect, finding the answer in a bloody trail of pus traveling down the limb, pushed out by the moving muscles, dripping onto the floor since my leg is draped out of the dresser.
Rouge stands and heads towards the door, "I'll find something to c-clean that with." and suddenly I'm alone in the room. It's the first time in a long time that I've been alone and safe at the same time. A few moments of silence pass, before I feel the urge to cry in relief.
Safety. Something I definitely took for granted a year ago. Now it's akin to a novelty. I don't want to be a sobbing mess when Knuckles or Rouge returns, so I swallow it down and lean my head back.
Despite my best efforts, the tears squeeze themselves out anyways.
When Rouge and Knuckles return, there's no sign of my quiet breakdown on my face aside from a few wet patches. They look at me long and hard, concerned, but not wanting to pressure me right now. I don't doubt that they'll ask about it later. Knuckles crouched down and began to tend my leg. He tries to be as gentle as he can, but with the infection being as bad as it is, I can't help but squirm.
Time passes, and it's now officially been a year since I was pronounced guilty and sentenced to Life in Hell. A year since I took off, giving up everything in search of freedom. Rouge lets me wander around in the temple without being tied to something, but she still keeps an eye on me. I've been able to hold a few conversations with her, but they almost always get turned back around to the topic of my innocence.
I hate it, how that's all she thinks of when I'm around. It hurts, but I can't get her to change the subject without her giving me some suspicious stare. My leg has completely healed by now, leaving behind a ragged scar.
I've been getting more and more antsy. I want to leave the temple and run again, to get away and hide. I know that the longer I stay, the more likely I am to be found here. I can't risk my friend...s? Does Rouge count as a friend again? I don't know at this point.
My socked foot scuffs the dirt floor of Knuckles's room, I'm bored out of my mind. The echidna is above ground with his big shiny rock. Rouge left for her home in Metropolis not long ago, which was nerve-wracking for me because I didn't know, and still don't know, if she left to turn me in. The urge to flee intensified after that, and Knuckles banned me from going above the second level. With the temple only having four levels, including the shrine above ground, I don't have much space to roam around.
Anxiety is gonna eat me alive if I don't move around soon. I hop off the bed and begin to roam the tunnels again. For the fifteenth time. Passing some disarmed traps, I sigh in boredom. There is absolutely nothing to do down here. I crouch and mess with one of the contraptions at my feet, trying to figure out how it worked. Some kind of tripwire-thingy. Very complicated. I'm so caught up in examining the trap that I don't hear the Guardian walk up to me.
"Sonic." My head snaps up to look at the echidna who called my name.
"Hey Knux, what's up?" I respond smoothly, standing and dusting my knees. His purple eyes glitter like thoughtful gems as he glances between me and the contraption I was looking at. From behind his back, he produces a pair of running shoes I thought I'd never see again.
"Want to go outside?"
I can't help but bounce from one foot to another in excitement as the echidna slowly opens the heavy doors of the temple, revealing to me the dazzling sunlight. From behind Knuckles, all I can see is open field for quite a notable distance, and I can feel my adrenaline ramping up already. The good kind of adrenaline. The fun kind. My familiar red sneakers hug my feet comfortably, bringing back memories of days gone bye. Knuckles glances over his shoulder and grins at me, turning around with his hands resting on the doors, blocking my path.
"Two rules, hedgehog." he begins with a smile. I nod quickly, my fawn lips mimicking his, "One, stay in the field where I can see you. Don't go into the woods, or I'll come after you and lock you back in the temple. Two: Don't break the sound barrier. From what I hear, tech these days can pick up on that stuff. Stay slow enough that they won't see it. Got it Blue?"
"Yeah Knux, I getcha!" I can hardly contain myself. In my excitement, some of my old slang pokes it's head in. The echidna chuckles at my tone, before stepping aside, silently giving me permission to run free.
That was all I needed.
Rushing forwards, the field around me becomes a rush of green as I tear through the meadow, whooping to my hearts content as now armed with my beloved shoes and Knuckles's protective eyes out here, nothing can catch me but the wind itself.
I don't know how he got a hold of my runners, with them having been taken by GUN nearly a year ago, but honestly I don't care right now. All that matters is the ground rushing beneath my feet, the wind roaring in my ears… Chaos, how I've missed this. Freedom, Speed, and the safety they provide. No one can catch me or command me.
Ahead of me, the forest's edge grows closer and closer, prompting me to take a sharp turn left and speed towards Knuckles's mushroom garden. I can almost feel his stare on my head. How he loves his fungus. Personally I'm not a fan. I take another sharp turn, heading straight back for the temple, rushing straight at Knuckles with a devious grin. Without thought, I leap straight over his head, land behind him, and throw a kick. He whirls about almost like he expected it, catching my ankle in both hands. His expression is confused, but he relaxes at the grin I sport.
"C'mon Knux, spar with me." I state simply, relaxing my pose and letting my arms hang. As if a foot to the face wouldn't have ended in a spar with the hot-head, but either way I'm getting the tussle I asked for. The red male laughs, jerking my leg up and throwing my balance. Briefly I see him lunge towards me with a pulled-back fist, ready to strike, but I throw my weight the rest of the way and land on my back. From there, I kick my feet up with the momentum of my fall, catching him square in the chest and throwing him back. He hits the ground with a huff but rolls to his right, dodging another spindash.
The spar continued for hours, both of us having fun and neither truly winning. Now we were laid out on our backs in the grass, side by side in the fading daylight with out chests heaving.
"You know Blue," Knuckles began quietly, "I always wondered how you kept a smile on your face all these years." He turned to face me with a soft smile, "Even before all this manhunt crap went down. I mean, you spent your life fighting."
The question catches me off-guard, "Er… Well, I mostly kept the smile on for Tails. Being little, he needed some kind of… reassurance, I guess, that everything was gonna be okay at the end of the fight."
Knuckles hummed thoughtfully, but he didn't say more on the subject.
I looked up at the stars, feeling more relaxed now than I have in a year. The grass is soft and makes a nice cushion against my back and head. The quiet is only disturbed by the sound of our breathing and the chirp if crickets and a few soft-spoken night birds. Worn out from our play-fight, I start to doze off until I'm stirred by the echidna's words again. "You know, I always enjoyed having you around Sonic."
"Whut?" I mumble turning my head to look at him. It the growing darkness his features are a bit hard to see. He seems to be relaxed, looking up at the nighttime sky thoughtfully. "I enjoy hanging out with you too Knux." I mumble tiredly, wiggling deeper into the soft grass of Angel Island, "It's very fun."
The guardian snorts softly at my slurred speech. "Not what I meant but alright." he said something else as well, but my ears don't catch it as my mind slips away into a heavy, dreamless sleep.
I wake to the sound of whirring off in the distance, very faint but it's enough to wake me. It's still dark, the moon lingering in the sky above us. I'd guess it's around midnight, maybe one o'clock. I lean my head up off the ground, only to find that apparently it's not the ground I was laying on. Knuckles's arm was folded beneath my head while he lays his own in the palm of his hand. I look at my friend in confusion, only to find that he's completely asleep. I'm so surprised by this that I temporarily forgot about the strange noise.
"Knuckles...?" I call softly, reaching over to gently shake him awake, "Knuckles wake up." He opens his eyes and looks around, foggy-headed but awake.
"Wha's goin' on?" he asks as he sits up while rubbing his eyes. Knuckles seems to watch me for a minute, before grinning ear-to-ear.
"What? Why you looking at me like that?" I ask, suddenly self-conscious.
"Nothin'… You're quills are all messed up though." He laughs out loud, "Your head looks like a star!" My hands reach up to grasp the messy blue strands and I try to smooth them out, "Shut it Knucklehead!" I fuss, "You're the one turning into a billy goat!" I reach out and tug a tuft of tan fur hanging from his chin. He laughs again and swats me away.
The whirring noise continues behind us, growing loud enough to catch the attention of us both and we stand to investigate. I can see two or three dark spots on the horizon, each with small blinking lights. Warning bells start going off in my head, and I start to back away without Knuckles noticing. I can see his amethyst eyes widening in surprise and dread as he too realizes what they are and turns to find me still backing towards the woods in terror.
I can't believe they've found me, after all this time… Was it Rouge? Did she tell them where I am? I make it to the forest's edge when the Guardian suddenly blocks my view of the helicopters, his large mitted hands grasp one of my fawn wrists and he drags me the rest of the way into the tropical forest, crouching with me among some tall ferns.
"N-no..." I start, wanting to pull out from under them and run. The helicopters are probably equipped with cameras that sense heat, meaning they would see me even through all the trees and bushes.
Knuckles won't let me pull away though, "Sonic stop, we're safe right here. They can't see you if you stay under the-" his words cut off and he pulls me close as the plant-life rattles and shakes around us from the winds caused by a helicopter passing over head. The forest is flooded with painfully bright-white light from an aptly-named flood light. The ferns we're hiding under block the searing brightness from hitting out pelts though.
I look up anxiously, seeing nothing but the retreating aerial death-machine through the fronds of the oddly-colored cyan-and-green tropical plant Knuckles has hidden us beneath. Quite suddenly, the seriousness of the situation hits me and I start to give in to my nerves, standing and starting to try to escape my friend's hold. "I can't stay here Knuckles!" I shout, panicked, "Let go!"
The echidna's steel grip on my wrists tightens, "If you take off now, they'll catch you! We need to get back to the temple!" he finishes the cry with a harsh tug, my bare feet sliding through the lush grass towards him as he too stands. I scramble to keep upright as the strength in Knuckle's arms and upper body is far beyond that of my own. In this bizarre tug-of-war, I stand no real chance if the Guardian decides to drag me away.
The trees shake again as the helicopter flies over us, unable to see us through the leafy canopy. Panic surges through me again. "Let go Knuckles! I don't wanna die!"
"You won't if you trust me Blue!" he yanks me forward again, further than before. I land against his chest with a huff and his muscled arms wrap around me, lifting my feet from the ground. He runs with me in his grip, clutched against his chest like a toddler. A particularly frightened toddler who's fighting with everything he's got to escape.
"Stop kicking Sonic, I've got you and I'm not gonna let go." the echidna murmurs in my ear as he hesitates on the edge of a meadow. Ahead of him, there's at least a hundred feet of open field before he could get to the temple, which sits on the other side. I feel Knuckles look up at the sky, and I nervously copy the motion.
Three helicopters, all marked with the same three terrifying letters. GUN. They're circling the floating island with floodlights searching the ground. Searching for me.
"Hang on to me, big blue, we're gonna make a run for it."
"No no wait-!" my arms tighten as the echidna darts forward, speeding towards the temple. We're almost to the other side when a chopper nears us, and Knuckles does the unthinkable.
He threw me the rest of the way. I careen through the air like a baseball straight into the temple's front entrance, skidding in my rear down the front hall before rolling down the first staircase, landing in a heap of bruises and bent quills.
"Owww…." I whine softly, too dazed to bother trying to stand. My hand rubs my head, wincing as I find a sensitive spot where a bruise is surely forming.
"-not fucking here!" My ear picks up a rather angry Rouge down the hall, and looking up I can see her standing a few dozen feet away with her hands on her hips. She's glaring down another hall, obviously in a fight with someone standing just out of sight. I stand, stumbling slightly, and turn around to run towards another hall. Luckily I find it empty as I rush down it, seeking Knuckles's room. On my first night here, he showed me a spot where I could hide, hidden beneath his dresser. There is a secret tunnel down there that the Ancients used whenever the Island was invaded by other echidna tribes.
I'm nearly there when a beam of light erupts from the dusty stone doorway, alerting me to the presence of someone in the room that I need to be in. My breathing picks up as I turn in a circle, realizing there was nowhere to hide. My only other option is to run back to the other hall, or try to make a dash out of the temple and hopefully not be seen. Choosing the latter of the two options, I turn to head for the entrance of the temple only to bump into someone.
I nearly shriek, only to be muted by Knuckles's wide hand covering my mouth as he pushes me back against the wall. As he presses against me I don't realize who he is at first, only feeling the body's chest heaving for breath as though he'd just run forty miles. I can smell blood. Not a lot of it, but enough to be noticed.
My cry may have been mostly silenced, but not the shuffling of feet as I nearly attacked him in retaliation to the scare. Wordlessly, Knuckles holds me against the stone wall and pushes in a brick, revealing it to have actually been a button. A puffy of dust fills the air and a crawlspace opens up next to me, leading down a narrow tunnel with no lights.
Soundlessly, Knuckles lifts me beneath the arms and pushes me into the tunnel, handing me a small torch, "It'll burn for an hour," he whispers to me, head turning to look towards the room where the flashlight had been, "Follow the tunnels marked with yellow sandstones. Be careful, Blue." and with that said, he pulls me close once more, and kisses me.
It wasn't long, or deep, or any of those cheesy romantic-types of kisses, but I could feel the emotion it held. The desperation and fear for my safety, not knowing if he'd see me again soon, or even at all. When he releases me, I can only stare at him in shock and wonder, not really sure how to respond. I don't get the chance to respond anyway, as the echidna pushes me back into the crawlspace and closes it, sending me into a darkness so thick, I can't even see my own nose.