Chapter 8 - The Island
I know, people will think I've ran away, but I haven't. I just got side tracked ^^' I want these stories done and dusted, especially. It probably wont happen, but you never know XD
Still, my sincerest apologies, but please enjoy :)
"Take it easy, Knuckles. You're okay," Aeronniell soothed, rubbing his back. This was the third time Knuckles had been sick. The first time Aeronniell hadn't been quick enough to get a bucket and Knuckles had been sick on the floor, leaving a mess for her to clean up.
"Sorry," he groaned as Aeronniell quickly cleaned up the mess with a mop.
"Don't worry about it... Here, try to get a drink."
Aeronniell smiled at him weakly, crouching down beside him and held a cup up to his mouth. Knuckles took a small sip and began to fall asleep again. "That's it, get some rest," Aeronniell encouraged quietly, stroking his cheek in a calming way.
Knuckles suddenly began to cough and choke and vomited again. Aeronniell sat him up and rubbed his back for a little while.
"Easy.. Sshhh," she soothed. Aeronniell could see how much pain he was in, in fact, he was close to tears. Aeronniell looked at him and rubbed his arm.
"Hey, come on. You can do this," she whispered encouragingly. Knuckles just clamped his eyes shut and looked down, a single tear rolled down his cheek. Aeronniell lifted his chin up and held his head in her hands. "Oh, Knuckles. I can't even imagine how much pain you're in but you have to hold on. In a few hours you'll be back to your old self," Aeronniell smiled gently, trying to keep the mask of confidence and fearlessness fixed firmly upon her face.
However, as she looked Knuckles in the eyes, the mask continued to slip away. The glittering purple amethysts in his eyes were gone. The loyalty, strength, and resilience were all slipping away, leaving only a dark shell. It was killing Aeronniell as much as it was Knuckles to see him in such a way. He was just... fading...
Aeronniell forced the lump in her throat back down, helped Knuckles get a drink and then helped him lie down again. She noticed that Knuckles was holding his right hand tightly, so she carefully took his ripped glove off, to see what was wrong. Aeronniell's eyes widened as she saw that the palm of his hand was turning black. The colour covered most of his palm and was spreading rapidly.
"It... hurts," Knuckles groaned. Aeronniell looked at Knuckles, then at his hand. How had she not seen this before?!
"Let me see," she asked quietly. Knuckles weakly pulled his hand towards him.
"Please. I promise I won't touch it," Aeronniell pleaded.
Reluctantly, Knuckles allowed Aeronniell to examine his hand. He was trembling and his hand was freezing cold. It sent a chill down Aeronniell's spine. "Just like Lilly," Aeronniell muttered.
Aeronniell was close to tears when Sonic finally arrived. Aeronniell quickly wiped her eyes and turned to face them. "Hey, guys," she choked, gently putting Knuckles's hand on his chest and leaving him to rest.
"Hey, Aero." Sonic smiled sympathetically. He knew that this was getting harder and harder for her to cope with. "We now know where the Fireflower should be and Tails has the Tornado outside," he explained gently. Aeronniell nodded but Sonic hadn't expected her to say much. She desperately needed to get some more rest.
"You ok? You look like you've been fighting," she asked.
"Yeah... You remember the Hydra? I may have bumped into it on the way."
"I'm guessing it's been flattened?"
Sonic was surprised by her attempt to lighten the mood. "Oh yeah, that thing is on its way to the scrapyard. I think my friend Amy caused more damage to it than me," he smiled.
Sonic looked around, and a flash of confusion fell upon his face. "Um, Aero, where's Rouge?" Sonic asked.
"She went to have a shower, I'll go get her. You guys should get ready, we have to leave now." Aeronniell said, standing up off the floor and walking into the passage and knocking on the bathroom door.
"Rouge, it's time to go. You coming?"
"Just a second," Rouge exclaimed.
Aeronniell walked back into the sitting room and sat down on the arm of the chair, beside Knuckles. A few seconds later, Rouge opened the door and quickly walked into the sitting room.
Sonic couldn't help but look at Knuckles. He was running out of time.
"Hang in there, Knuckles. It won't be long now," Sonic muttered.
Knuckles suddenly clutched his hand whilst curling into a ball because of the pain. Sonic leapt from the seat and stepped towards him. Aeronniell also moved towards Knuckles but she crouched down beside him.
"Come on, Knuckles. You're okay, just hold on," Aeronniell whispered in an attempt to comfort him.
"What's happening to him?!" Rouge exclaimed as Knuckles's hand and wrist turned black.
"Sonic, we have to go. He only has an hour or so left, if that!" Aeronniell exclaimed. "We're losing him," she choked.
Sonic nodded, stepped forth, carefully picked Knuckles up and carried him outside. The others quickly followed.
"Sonic, Shadow and Aero, you'll have to get on the wings. Will you be ok up there?" Tails asked, from the pilot's seat. Tails had been rushing around getting last minute supplies. They didn't know what to expect and Tails knew he couldn't just fly back and get something they had forgotten.
"We'll be fine. I've been able to hang on when Sonic was driving, so this should be easy," Aeronniell smiled weakly.
"Hey," Sonic protested whilst forcing a smile.
Aeronniell was trying to lighten the mood, Sonic could tell but he could also tell that seeing Knuckles like this was killing her inside. Shadow had very briefly explained why Aeronniell was taking this so hard, and Sonic felt guilty and sorry for her.
Sonic imagined Tails taking Lilly's place; that alone would have driven him crazy. The two were like brothers and if he had lost Tails and risked losing Knuckles it would tear him apart. But that was how Aeronniell felt, and Sonic realised how brave she was being. If only I could tell her that everything was going to be alright, Sonic thought. But we don't know what is going to happen. I guess I'll just have to try and make things easier for them, but how?
"Rouge will you be ok to fly?" Tails asked, bringing Sonic out of his trance- like state.
"Ol' Rouge is back in town, thanks to Aeronniell," Rouge winked. Aeronniell gently smiled.
"Glad I could help. Now, we really need to get going."
Sonic carefully put Knuckles in the passenger's seat and tried to rest his head against the side, but Knuckles didn't have the strength to stay sat up straight and he just fell forwards. Aeronniell noticed this almost instantly.
"Tighten his seat belt a little and put a cushion under his head, it should keep him comfortable," Aeronniell instructed gently. Sonic did as he was asked and it worked, to an extent, Knuckles's head still fell forwards a little but not as much.
"I'll hold his head," she muttered.
"Aeronniell, wait!" a voice called. Aeronniell turned to see Aqua running towards her with a strange piece of relic in her hand.
"You'll need this," she said, handing the relic to Aeronniell.
"Thanks, Aqua... I'm sorry about before too," Aeronniell said, looking down in shame.
"Don't worry about it, besides, I'm the one who should apologise," Aqua said.
"Uuhh, I hate to be rude, but we really need to be going," Sonic interrupted.
"Sonic is right, you should go. Good luck," Karn suddenly said, walking over to the group.
"How does he do that?" Sonic muttered.
Aeronniell smiled, climbed onto the plane wing and crouched behind Knuckles. Sonic and Shadow then also climbed aboard. Aqua and Karn stepped back as the plane shuddered into life.
"Oh and Aeronniell, Wisdom is knowing when to turn back!" Aqua called as the plane moved along the ground. Aeronniell nodded and waved.
"I wonder what Aqua meant by that," Aeronniell said to herself.
"Aero... Aero!" Knuckles yelped as he threw himself forwards, luckily his seat belt stopped him from headbutting Tails's seat.
"It's alright, Knuckles, I'm here" Aeronniell said softly, rubbing his arm.
"I thought... You'd left me," Knuckles choked.
"Come here," Aeronniell sighed, putting her arm around him and pulling him closer to her as he trembled. "Ssshhhh, I'm right here, Knuckles. I've never left you and I never will...I promise," Aeronniell whispered to him as tears rolled down her cheeks.
Knuckles managed to rest his head on Aeronniell and drift off into an unsettled sleep. He was shivering and muttering her name, so Aeronniell put her cloak over him.
"Ssshh," Aeronniell soothed.
As Sonic looked at Aeronniell, something seemed to finally click into place. She loved Knuckles and he loved her. Sonic smiled and looked at Shadow. He too, seemed to realise how Aeronniell felt.
Rouge was flying beside Aeronniell. It's about time she thought to herself as a small smirk escaped her lips.
"How long will it take to get to the island?" Rouge asked, turning her attention back to Tails.
"It should only take a few minutes," Tails replied.
"Just go as quickly as possible," Aeronniell said, wiping escaping tears off Knuckles's face with her thumb.
"There's Angel Island, so the island is just underneath," said Sonic, pointing ahead. Sonic could just make out a tiny pink and red dot on Angel Island, that was Amy.
"Quick question: How do we land a plane on three meters of land?!" Shadow asked.
"Don't worry, I'll land the plane in the water. Then I've just got to line the plane up with the island," Tails explained.
Knuckles began to scream again as the dark curse slithered up to his elbow. "Knuckles, hold on! Please, just a few more minutes," Aeronniell wept. "Don't give up," she quietly repeated over and over again.
"Aero, can you not prevent it spreading?" Rouge asked.
Aeronniell shook her head and tried to get Knuckles to relax again.
"No, I tried before and it's even stronger now. If it keeps spreading this quickly he might only have half an hour left!" she explained.
Knuckles was exhausted, flustered and upset, his breathing had increased and tears were escaping the corners of his eyes. As well as this, his entire body had stiffened up and he was so tense. "Try to relax a little, Knuckles," Aeronniell advised gently, pulling the cloak up to his chin.
"Hold on, guys. It's time to land," Tails announced. Everyone seemed relieved at the news and looked out at their destination.
"Then let's do this," Aeronniell said determinedly...