Teardrops and Bloodstains - Chapter 12
Well, I got my 5 reviews! Coolness! My wrist (right) REALLY hurts, but so does my elbow (left), Knee (left) and ankle (right)! 'Tis painful playing basketball with two 9 and 11 year olds. Alas, 'twas fun! Can you tell me if you like the "someone else's point of view" thing? Thanks!
Don't leave me! I've lost someone who was on alerts... :'( COME BACK!
SWEARING: YOU HAVE BEEN WARNED!
Tails: Owww!
Blood Wren: You'll live 'snigger'
Cream: Are you sure? Last time I looked, she was flying vertically down the side of a building...
Blood Wren: Just do the bloody disclaimer!
Cream: Don't swear or I'll tell mum! But... alright... all of the characters in the fanfic belong to "SEGA"tm and/or "Sonic Team"tm and not to Deyzi Bailey, AKA Blood Wren. However, Twin, Dark, Super, Flare and Fuchsia the Chaos DO belong to the aforementioned "Blood Wren".
Blood Wren: Explanation for the formality? Some dude e-mailed me saying my disclaimer wasn't err... "disclaiming" enough... HAPPY NOW ASSHOLE?
Tails and Cream: We'll be off then? 'Scarpers'
BTW, Shadow starts! )
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Reminder of what happened last time:
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'THUD' (Blood Wren: Hee hee!)
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"No... she can't be!"
Eggman's insane cries of laughter horribly fill my ears. The people run screaming from the street, leaving it deserted. I land softly by Tails... she's already covered in blood, my chaos form now gone, and I'm shaking uncontrollably. I crouch, then kneel beside her.
"I... I couldn't save you? The forcefield didn't... didn't work? I..."
My body goes numb, and my breathing becomes heavy.
"SHADOW?"
"Is she? I mean..."
Knuckles and Sonic come running out of the front door.
"I don't know... She just... I tried... but...oh god..."
Then, I do something that I haven't done in ages. I let a tear run down my face. I dash it away quickly with my hand, and look at Sonic. He looks... different. His face has lost its cheeriness, his ears are flat on his head, he's standing perfectly still, his spikes seem to have lost their sheen, and he looks on the verge of tears as well. Knuckles bends down to her, and I feel like... hurting him... for getting to close to her. I have to restrain myself, my body twitching. He takes one of his gloves off, and reaches for her wrist. Looking confused, he puts his hand over her mouth...
"She's alive!"
"WHAT!"
"She's breathing, and she's got a pulse!"
Sonic starts to ramble.
"But all the blood, for god sake... It's about 500 meters high! Not even Eggman with his 50 layers of fat could have survived that!"
"You're starting to sound like you wanted her to die..."
Sonic just stares back at Knuckles, eyes wide.
"ARE YOU CRAZY! She's my little sister! My best friend! She's... she's..."
"...everything."
Sonic looks at me, confused. I struggle a small, weak smile and turn away again. His face returns to normal.
"Yeah... she's everything."
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Back to Tails
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Where... am I? All I can see is white... am I dead? I remember being warm, and that red but... I try and move my arms and legs, but I can't even twitch a finger.
'You're not dead...'
Who, or what said that?
'Get up!'
Who are you?
'It doesn't matter... get up!'
But I can't move!
'Well, wake up then! Open your eyes, they need you... HE needs you.'
He? Who's he? Hey! Answer me? They? Speak to me! Come back...
"Tails... Tails? Wake up! Open your eyes... It's no use, she's just not even remotely conscious..."
Knuckles...
"You try."
"Tails? Wake up... please?"
Sonic...
The white around me starts to disappear. I open my eyes. All I can see is a bluey-grey colour...
"Tails! Shadow! She's opened her eyes!"
"Hang on Sonic. Tails, can you see anything?"
I try to shake my head, but a sharp pain erupts in the back of my head.
"...n...no..."
Just saying 'no' hurts my chest...
"I'm gonna check for any broken bones, ok?"
I try to speak, but no noise comes out.
"Ok... blink once for 'Yes', and twice for 'No'"
I crack a tiny smile, and blink once.
"I warn you now, this IS gonna hurt... sorry"
I close my eyes, and take as deep a breath as I dare. I can't feel him put pressure on my arms, and then on my legs. My eyesight is very slowly returning... I can now see shapes, but they're blurred.
"Did you feel anything?"
I go to shake my head, but stop and blink twice.
"Can you move anything?"
I try to move something again, and give up. Just as I go to shake my head, the piercing pain returns. I let out a gasp, moving the obviously blood-matted fur around my muzzle.
"Well, I can't feel anything broken, but the fact that you can't feel anything is quite worrying..."
He looks around, trying to find what to say next. I can just make out his face turning away.
"And your skull's cracked a bit..."
He hovers before saying 'Bit' then sighs at himself in disappointment.
"Shadow, have you got enough chaos energy to get yourself and Tails back?"
Shadow nods. Dr. Knuckles... how he learnt these things is still a great mystery to me... maybe it was all the time of looking after himself, alone on his island...
"Me and Sonic will walk back, we shouldn't be too long... get Amy and Cream to put more bandages on her fresh wounds... sorry Tails..."
Shadow nods and picks me up. I wince as he hits a particularly sore spot, and a small growl rises in my throat, but nothing more. I can see my blood already staining his gloves and covering his arms, but he doesn't seem to care. He just looks forward, not directly at Knuckles, just past his shoulder, with an un-readable look on his face. I try to reassure him by lightly nuzzling his chest fur with what strength I have left. He tightens his grip significantly and mutters:
"Chaos Control"
Everything around us suddenly turns pitch black. The cold sends a shiver down my spine, causing pain to erupt everywhere. I cry out in pain, knowing no one can hear me, not even Shadow. His eyes are closed and his ears are turned away. The red lights flash by occasionally as they did the first time I travelled by Chaos Control, and we land safely just outside the house. As he opens his eyes, his footing falters slightly, but he steadies himself. I can feel him shaking, and I wish there was something I could do to reassure him. He knocks the door with his foot. Cream answers.
"Oh no! What happened!"
Shadow closes his eyes again and breathes in deeply, not ready to explain.
"Nevermind... AMY! Come in quick!"
"Oh my god! Shadow bring her in here now!"
Amy indicates to the living room. Shadow gently puts me down onto the sofa. I can't even wince.
"Cream, could you get the spare bed stuff... yeah, at the top of the cupboard. Right then... where's the others?"
After taking another deep breath, Shadow finally speaks.
"Sonic and Knuckles are on their way, and Mighty is looking after Vector and I think the Chaos are with them."
"What happened to Vector?"
"He was shot in the tail."
Amy pulls a face and turns to me.
"So, what happened?"
'Knock Knock'
"D'you think that's Sonic and Knuckles?"
Shadow nods, and Amy leaves. He comes over to me, and kneels beside me. He opens his mouth to say something, but closes it again. I smile slightly, and he smiles back.
"Where is she?"
"In the living room... look, what happened?"
"Sonic, you tell her, I'll go and see how she's doing."
Knuckles walks in with Flare, Twin and Dark. Twin comes zooming up to me, wailing with tiny Chao tears streaming down her face. She's about to land next to me, but stops when she sees the colour. What was a pale blue sofa, is now dark red, as is Shadow's gloves and forearms. I start to feel light-headed and dizzy.
"...ngg..."
Shadow looks worriedly into my eyes. I try to breathe in deeply, but only to let all of the air in a painful gasp. I close my eyes as tightly as I can, wishing the pain away... This painful silence is at last broken by Knuckles.
"Amy... where do you keep the bandages? And the... umm.. err"
His voice is panicky, and he's trying to hide his emotions, but failing.
"Salve? I've got them..."
Amy hands them to Knuckles, who tries to look calm. He walks slowly towards me, and Shadow moves quickly out of the way.
"Sorry"
He whispered in my ear. Amy turns out and ushers a bedding-laden Cream out of the room. He gently turns my head, every inch that he moves it, the more I scrunch my eyes up. I can sense his hand close to the wound and I brace myself, my heart in my throat and my lungs working overtime. He puts the salve on the wound, and I inadvertently scream out in pain, and tears fall from my now wide open eyes. I try and glance at Sonic, only to see Shadow dash over to the door.
"Shadow... Tails, hang in there."
And he runs off after him, leaving me morally alone.
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Over to you, Sonic
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I look quickly up and down the hallway, searching for Shadow. I open the room directly in front of me, the spare room. Cream and Amy are here with the old TV turned up high.
"Have you seen Shadow?"
"No... why? He hasn't left Tails in there alone?"
"Only her and Knux.. thanks though, I've gotta go look for him."
"Why's it so bad now? This has happened to her before..."
"Yeah.. but she's never fallen off a building before, it's never been quite this bad and she's never been conscious..."
I close the door and sigh. I walk quickly into the dining room, not expecting what I see. Shadow's just sat there, his head in his hands and he's... he's crying... really crying. Another scream comes from the living room, and the TV where Cream and Amy are gets even louder. Shadow poses himself to get up, but slumps back again.
"Shadow?"
He pauses, turns, looks at me, then turns back.
"I bet you really hate me now... running out when she's like... like that..."
"No..."
"I just can't stand seeing her... like that..."
She screams louder than ever, but cuts out prematurely, and is followed by a loud 'Shit' from Knuckles. This time, Shadow leaps out of his seat and follows me in running back to the living room.
"What happened!"
"She's stopped breathing..."
"Oh shit..."
And with that, Shadow promptly collapses beside me. I grab him, and heave him onto the smaller sofa.
"C'mon Tails, don't do this to yourself... don't do this to Shadow... Sonic, call an ambulance... I can't do this on my own anymore."
I run out of the room to the opposite side of the hallway.
"Amy... TV off, phone, ambulance, Tails not breathing, quick."
She seems to understand. Cream's eyes grow wide and full of tears, and she leaps off the sofa, runs up the stairs and into the room Tails and her share, slamming the door. Now I know how Tails felt at the beach party, just before she got attacked.Now I'm the one making no sense. I can keep my cool when Tails is around, I know she needs me to be strong, I'm someone she can fall back on, but once she's not there, I'm just as insecure as she is. I walk round the corner, and lean on the wall behind me. I can hear Cream sobbing upstairs, and Twin screaming. I blot them out, and all I can hear is my own heart, beating so slowly that I'm not sure it's beating at all. Coughing and spluttering suddenly erupt from the other room.
"She breathes!"
I feel as though I've held my breath with her all this time, and sigh it out.
"Yeah... what is she? Oh, a fox... thanks. They're on their way. Sonic? Are you ok?"
"No... I feel as if part of me's died, even though she's breathing..."
"Hey... she's ok now, right?"
I feel anger burning a trail through my mind... but restrain it as much as I can.
"Hardly... Amy, she's just stopped breathing, and not even Tails has an infinite amount of blood... she's not 'ok'" I snap at her.
"Sorry..."
I pause and think...
"No., I'm sorry. I shouldn't have said that. I'm just feeling so... that's no excuse..."
Instead of replying, she hugs me, which I return. It's times like this that I realise how much I love her. Sure, she can be more annoying than Charmy, she wines all too often, and when she's in a bad mood, her hammer REALLY hurts... but she has this side of her that helps me put up with all of that... even the half pink- half blue bedroom.
"What happened to Shadow?"
"Wha? Oh, he couldn't take the strain of it all... don't blame him... he's had to be strong for her once too many times recently."
She releases me, and I unwillingly let go.
"Go and see her, I think she needs someone she's really close to, and only two people fit into that category, and one of them out cold... go on."
"Thanks..."
I peck her on the cheek, then poke my head around the corner. Tails is lying there, exercising her lungs with her eyes closed, and Knuckles is checking on Shadow.
"Hiya... how are they doing?"
"Shadow's fine... but Tails... not so."
"D'you think I could talk to her?"
"You can try, but I doubt you'll get a decent reply..."
I walk over to the panting young fox, and kneel just beyond a large puddle of blood.
"Tails?"
She stops panting and relaxes into a steady rhythm.
"Hiya Sonic..."
"Hey... you take it easy!"
"I just said hi..."
"I know but... nevermind."
"What happened to Shadow?"
She breathes in heavily and closes her eyes, the strain of talking catching up.
"He just... he couldn't see you this way, and when you stopped breathing... he just couldn't take it."
As if he heard us, Shadow stirs and opens his eyes, succeeding in falling face first onto the floor. Tails starts to laugh, but soon stops as it starts to hurt.
"Oww... no Knux, I can get up..."
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Tails
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I can feel my lungs finally working by themselves. The salve on my head still stings viciously, and my entire body aches. Shadow looks up at me, lets out the biggest sigh ever, and sits back down again. I try to put my ears back, but it moves too much skin around my head, making me growl quietly in pain.
"They shouldn't be long now... how are you feeling?"
I glance up at him.
"Sorry, stupid question..."
Sirens blare out from the arriving ambulance, making my head spin. I try to clench my fists to ease the pain, but they only twitch.
"After that, I can't remember much more. Apparently, I'd fallen unconscious before the paramedics got in, and didn't wake up for 3 weeks. When I did, I could move a bit, and my wounds where healing quickly. I was on a drip, and Sonic gave me his blood again... I'd lost so much. I was let home one week after, but I was, unfortunately, bed bound again... 'fun'"
"How are you feeling?"
I sigh, Sonic's becoming his usual worrying self again.
"Sonic, I told you five minutes ago, I'm fine."
Even though I feel like the bandage on my head is holding my brain in. I've had a headache since I first came back from the hospital. Like lots of things, this is something I've decided not to tell Sonic about, cos if I did... well, he'd be making it worse by asking me was I ok every minute. No, only Shadow and Knuckles know. Now that I'm strong enough, I can walk around for a few minutes, just as exercise. Sonic, of course, objected to the idea... so Knuckles set Twin, Dark and Flare on him. Twin found her mini frying pan and put it to good use. It was good fun for a bit, but I get tired too easily at the moment and I had to sit down again. Cream and Cheese come in and break me from my thoughts.
"Tails! Me and Amy have just finished baking lotsa cookies! Umm... could we bring them in here, and some drinks... we could have a little party! Only... you've not been up for the last few days, and you haven't seen hardly anyone... of course, if you're not feeling good then..."
"No Cream, it's cool... really!"
"Yay! Hear that Cheese!"
And they both zoom of together. I smile to myself, then heave my legs off the sofa... which has been re-covered, so now it's dark blue. Knuckles comes in, beaming for no apparent reason. I give him a questioning look.
"Just wait..."
Come to think about it, Sonic and Knuckles have been playing pranks on each other more often now... just silly things like whoopee cushions and switching the sugar with the salt. Judging by Knuckles' face though, it's an old one... you know, like the ones you read in comics. Just as Shadow walks through the door, a clatter of buckets comes from the kitchen, followed by an "Ahhhhhh!"
"Yes! Got 'im!"
"What did you do!"
"I'LL GET THAT BLOODY ECHIDNA!"
"What did you do?" I repeat.
Knuckles just points at the door, and covers his mouth with his other hand to stop him laughing. Sonic walks through the door... covered in feathers. Knuckles can't hold it in anymore, Shadow turns around and smirks and due to the shock, I have a coughing fit with laughter in-between. Amy walks past with the cookies and pauses.
"Suits you, Sonic."
Then she walks towards the table, smiling. Sonic glares at Knuckles and grits his teeth.
"If anyone wants me, I'll be upstairs plucking myself."
He slips through the door and leaves in a flurry of feathers. And we all burst out laughing.
"He'll be in a mood with you Knux... don't think he'll forget this."
Knuckles is almost on the floor, eyes streaming.
"Hahahahaha... haha...ha. Funny though...Hahaha... he looks like a chicken!"
"Yeah but Amy, Sonic DID start all this..."
We eventually calm down, and eat. I've gotta admit, this is making me feel better. Cream was right, I haven't seen everyone together since just after I came home, and it's nice to talk to them again. But after a while, I get dizzy again and have to sit down.
Twin and Flare fly over with a few chocolate chips, and sit next to me, talking in Chao. I sit there watching them for ages, and they give me a few pieces from their stash. Dark flies over with more. I start to drift off into a light sleep, but I wake up when I feel someone sit down next to me. I open my left eye slightly... it's Shadow.
"Morning sleepy..."
"Hi."
I open both my eyes fully, and watch Super flying towards he other Chaos, only to get whacked by Twin's frying pan. I laugh a little, but a sharp pain bursts into my chest, like it did when Shadow fell off the sofa. I close my eyes and breathe slowly, becoming more and more dizzy. I can feel Shadow's hand hold mine, and I squeeze it lightly. I lean my head on his shoulder, and open my eyes. I can feel the pain leaving. I take a few more steady breaths, then relax again. I look up and see Knuckles with a serious face, so I smile at him. He rolls his eyes, smiles back, and continues talking to Cream.
"You ok?"
I nod. I scan the room, and for the first time, I notice a large package in the corner.
"Shadow? What's in the box?"
"Don't tell me you don't know... you honestly don't? Ok... err... what where you waiting for before we went to... you know."
"It's the mainframe? But no one told me it had arrived!"
"Well... we kinda forgot, given the circumstances..."
"Oh... yeah. Sorry."
"Just promise me that you won't get it out this week, you need to rest..."
"Next week?"
"We'll see..."
I sigh. Twin and dark give us both their last chocolate chips, and fly off to get more. I begin to doze off again, on Shadow's shoulder.
"I remember feeling his hand on my back, but then I fell asleep..."
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SEE! I got 5 reviews - I kept her ALIVE! YAY! PLEASE put criticism into your reviews! I love them all, but I need to know if I'm doing anything wrong... and could you e-mail me if you find any spelling mistakes or grammar errors... or tense changingness :)... I have IDEAS People.. so now I can write chapters 13 and 14! YES! 2 Chapters are in the making! Anyways... cya in chapter 13!
B.W.