Chapter 8: The Search Begins

Sonic could no longer sit still and watch computer screens in hopes of catching sight of his best friend. He wasn't patient, he couldn't stand waiting. It was slowly driving him insane.

He had a bad feeling about Tails disappearing. Sure, the event in and of itself caused him some anxiety, but the fact that there had been no sign of Tails for over three weeks just made his stomach turn. Usually if anyone he knew went missing, they turned up after a few days, with some evil mastermind claiming he had captured them and that they could only get them back if they surrendered to him.

Sonic had no clue where Tails was or what had happened to him and to be honest he was starting to wish he'd been kidnapped by Eggman instead of just vanishing suddenly.

And so, he had gotten up from the computers without a word and left the room. Shadow had followed, knowing full well that Sonic was going to go out and look for Tails.

Shadow had no emotional attachment to the young fox, not in the slightest, but for some reason he reminded him of Maria, and he couldn't help but want to help Sonic find him. He knew how attached the blue hedgehog was to that little fox, and he could sympathize with him.

He refused to admit that he was really doing this because he wanted to.

Admitting that would be like admitting that he had loved Maria. That is to say, it shouldn't be said aloud. Ever.

"Shadow." Sonic said, sounding so much more serious than Shadow was used to, "Check around Knothole, will you?"

Shadow nodded. "Alright. Where are you going?"
"I'm gonna go talk to an old friend of mine… She might be able to find him…"

And, with only a gust of wind and a streak of blue, he was gone. Shadow stood there for less than a second before heading off in the opposite direction. Knothole village wasn't far from where they were.

Snow's mountain, on the other hand, was quite a ways away, even for Sonic. A trip to see her took about 30 minutes of him running at almost 800 miles per hour.

"Snow!" He entered, hoping she'd be there as usual and not out running any errands.

"Yes?" She appeared from behind a rock. She seemed out of breath and somewhat worried.

"I hate to ask but…" He trailed off.

"Yes…" She said with a sigh, "I can look for him."

"Thank you, Snow. You're a lifesaver."

She merely waved her hand at him, then walked over to the lake. "… Do you have anything of his? It would make it easier."

Sonic, without hesitation, proceeded to pull out a scarf. It was short and bright red, and looked as if it had experienced a great deal of wear and tear. He held it out to her, and when she took it, Sonic thought it looked like blood against her white skin.

She ran it through her fingers for a moment, noting the soft texture and the frayed and burnt edges. The scarf itself made her gut twist. Who knew what had happened to Tails while wearing this? Sonic probably did.

She shook her head and sat down on the very edge of the lake. Sonic followed. She noticed he made a point of looking at her and not the waters.

She held out the scarf and let it fall, slowly, into the water. Sonic blinked. He seemed startled. It laid on the surface for a moment, turning darker with the water soaking into it, then floated back up to her hands.

"Here." She said, "It will lead you to him now." She turned back to the water and watched her reflection shift. "As the lake leads you to your destiny."

Sonic held the scarf somewhat tightly. "Thanks Snow, I…"

"Be careful when you use it, though." She advised, "It may pull you toward your vision instead."

Sonic bowed his head slightly in thanks, "Alright. Thank you." He went to walk out, then hesitated at the door, "You know where he is, don't you?" He asked softly.

Snow nodded. "Yes."

"And you're not telling me because you know that…" He sighed, "That I already know where he went."

"Yes." Snow sighed as well.

Sonic's gaze went to the lake for a fraction of a second before he put his head down and walked out. He tried not to let his shoulders slump until he was out of her view, but she still saw them suddenly drop down right as he turned to start his walk down the mountain.

It was true that he already knew where Tails had ended up. But he refused to believe it until he'd gotten proof. He refused to believe that what he'd seen would become reality. He refused to believe it simply because he didn't fathom the thought of his little brother doing something like that. It just wasn't like Tails.

But Tails had been different lately. He'd gotten more reclusive, spent more time by himself.

Hell, Sonic hadn't seen him in days even before he'd actually disappeared. Had he not stopped by to see him when he did, no one would even realize he was gone.

He only hoped that, wherever Tails had gone, he hadn't gone willingly. It would kill him to know that Tails had agreed to go… Wherever it was he had gone.

Tails sighed and leaned against the rails. He shouldn't be here right now - Sonic was likely to check here.

The cold was already seeping into his very bones. The wind was whipping him, lashing at his face, making his eyes water. He didn't mind the bite of the wind - it was nice to be outside. No matter how cold it was, he was going to enjoy being out here. He hadn't been outside in a while now, and this place had plenty of memories to comfort him.

Mrothtar's lair was uncomfortable to him.

Sure, there he had everything he could possibly want - a large, open space for living quarters, no one ever bothered him, there was plenty of food - but it just wasn't home. He had no good memories there, and in fact was beginning to have far more bad ones involving the place than he'd ever have good ones.

He supposed that might've gone along with siding with the villain. He couldn't think of any villains who loved where they were - or had a lot of good memories in their lairs. He sighed deeply and looked out at the snow. His ear twitched. There was a distant sound of someone beginning to approach. He doubted they could see him yet - this place was at the top of a large hill. It was difficult to see the top from behind it.

Even so, it was probably Sonic - coming out for some peace of mind. Tails sighed and ducked under the rails, then slid all the way down the front of the hill and landed in a snow bank at the bottom.

"... Might as well stay right here." He muttered to himself as he dug out a small snow cave into the side of the hill. He quickly curled up in it and tried to get far enough in that no one would notice him.

He wanted to see Sonic, he really did. But he would no doubt chicken out of his alliance with Mrothtar. He'd chicken out and he'd regret it. Greatly. Not only because of the loss of this opportunity to master his powers, but also because Ramku would no doubt come after him. While he didn't exactly intimidate Tails, Tails knew that he could and would kill him if given the chance. And seeing as Ramku was hundreds of times faster than him, he'd be given plenty.

He sat against the snow and closed his eyes. He really hoped Sonic wouldn't find him.