Ever since the two spent time together on the fateful day they declared their fellowship, every week they've spent time together: Friday afternoons, weekends alike.
Ivo made sure to make each day interesting for Sonic, even if it was just walking around the city. Seeing the hedgehog react to such normal things he's seen many times before, but the hedgehog having never experienced such beforehand at the orphanage. And every weekday Ivo would pass by the Orphanage, heading somewhere, then somewhere else by the afternoon or early evening, Sonic always waving to him a good morning or a good evening.
But, even then, Sonic was curious. Where exactly was Ivo going, and where did he keep going back to? The second was easy; he was going back home, probably with his own family. But where did he always go, besides the orphanage to spend time together? A question, he felt he must answer!
It's a Tuesday morning. Sonic had gotten up early, heading outside to the courtyard, watching for Ivo, making sure he didn't miss him. As he waits, the children of the orphanage were waking up; cars were passing by; people were walking, going on about their daily lives as Sonic watches, just like many times days before.
..with Ivo, eventually passing by.
"Hey- Egghead!"
Ivo turns, seeing the blue hedgehog waving, climbing over the fence, crossing the street in the blink of an eye. Not being hit by any cars, of course. "I was wondering when you were going to show up again!"
"It's not Friday afternoon, you know." He rolls his eyes. Least he knows he can't wait to hang out. At least, it's what he thought at the moment.
"I know. But I actually want to ask you something. Every other day besides the weekends and Friday, you go somewhere past the orphanage, then back. Where exactly DO you go?"
"Oh- it's a simple answer. I go to school."
"School?"
"Have you never heard of school before?"
"Nope! First time it hit my ears." Sonic flicks both his ears, shrugging.
How lucky, Ivo thought. Sonic's lucky he doesn't have school. He's lucky he's never heard of such a thing before!
"Sooo- what is it?"
"Well, it's a place where you go to learn. Make friends. Or, the opposite in my case: the perfect opportunity to be harassed, stressed, and worried."
"Yeesh! Sounds like you shouldn't be going there in the first place!"
"I'm well-aware, but I don't really have any choice in the matter. It's something you need in life. Besides, it's not completely all bad there, curriculums are tolerable at least."
"Curriculum?" He tilts his head.
"Think of it like a timeline: You learn one thing today, learn more about it, then the next week you learn a different thing relating to the same subject. To summarize it."
"Righttt." He seems only more intrigued by this 'school' place. Socially, it sounded terrible; the learning part was what caught his attention. The orphanage never really had a curriculum, nor sent them to a school. He remembers one kid asking something about it, but the staff member they asked just said it wasn't the orphanage's problem; it'd be the parent's problem, but Sonic never really took note of it until this point. Just a moment floating in his head.
"Can I come with you?"
"What- no! Besides they wouldn't let you in with me anyways." Ivo stares at Sonic for his question. They definitely wouldn't let a child like him into high school, that'd be ridiculous if they did!
"Either way, I need to get going, otherwise I'll be late. I'll see you soon though, Sonic." Ivo pats Sonic on the head, walking away from the blue hedgehog. But even as he walks away, Sonic persists, following behind Ivo. He could hear his footsteps behind him, sighing.
He should've figured the hedgehog's curiosity would be too strong to not persist with this. The question is though: How would Sonic even get into the school undetected? Obviously, people would notice a mobian hedgehog speeding around the school, even if he could disappear in the blink of an eye, someone would notice, right? He'd have to be smuggled in somehow. He does have an idea, and though it'd probably be a dumb idea, it might work. Long as Sonic doesn't make himself known.
"..Alright, if you want to come with me, you can."
"Really? Awesome!" His ears perk.
"However.."
"?"
"There are two conditions."
Half an hour passes, the blue hedgehog in a rather cramped space. Not heavily cramped, but still cramped. Not surprising for hiding inside of Ivo's backpack. He was light enough \ the bottom wouldn't rip from the weight, but also small enough to fit in it, with Ivo having left it slightly open, so he had some light, along with some necessary air. He just had to stay in here: Not move too much, not make too much noise. Though despite those conditions, it's exciting for him, daring even. A game of hide-and-seek in a much larger orphanage, with many more places to hide, with this particular hiding spot being a mobile one.
Ivo, meanwhile, is nervous about the idea. He isn't sure if it'll work, isn't sure if they're going to get caught quickly either. But there is no turning back now as they arrive at the gates to the High School, thankfully early by about 5 minutes, so the two had time to kill, though not very much of it. He walks over to a bench which is against a planter with a tall bush in the middle of it, good for shade. Sitting down, he avoids the eye contact of other students coming over as well. Some by bus, some by car, or others like him, who live close enough that it's a walkable distance.
Luckily enough, to him at least, the three bullies dont even notice him, walking right by. He was worrying if they would, worrying if they would get back at him for the little blue hedgehog, a child, standing up for him, a teenager. Not like he doesn't appreciate the gesture from Sonic; no, it is what started this fellowship after all. Sonic's probably his only friend at the moment, having never really gotten close to other people as much as he does him. Normally people would think you'd be friends with those of your age or around it, but with a kid is something else.
Shaking his head off the thoughts, the school gates open as kids begin walking in, getting up from the bench, he follows. Sonic inches his eye to the open hole in the backpack, seeing, well, people for the most part, also wearing backpacks like Ivo. But there were others who weren't, a bit odd to the blue hedgehog, but he shakes off the feeling.
So, the day begins: A repetitive routine for Ivo Robotnik; an entirely new one for the blue hedgehog Sonic.
Nothing too interesting happened at the beginning of the school day, the first class being English, with Ivo sitting in the middle, back of the class. Sonic didn't pay too much attention to it, except for the first part: Turning to a certain page of a 'textbook', reading it. To most, they probably wouldn't pay too much attention to the actual content, only caring about where the answers to the questions are. But to Sonic, he gave his attention to it, having never heard of the story before, something about someone being accused of something for being different in a way.
(A/N: If you figure out which book is referenced here, you are truly a Highschooler. Or you just like old books. Depends since I'm not one yet.)
On the other hand, Ivo was taking careful notes of certain pieces of information in the textbook, turning the page to the questions, then back to the page, with the actual snippets of the story being there to find all the answers. The class may have been reading before answering the questions, but Ivo was taking steps ahead, answering each question vigorously as he found the answers. Soon enough he was already finished before the others even began answering the questions.
..Curiously, Sonic tried poking his eye out more to see what exactly was happening, but Ivo simply put his hand over the slightly open backpack, Sonic pouting as a result. They wouldn't be paying attention to him anyway, having gotten a glimpse and only seeing people either staring at the textbook, or trying to mess around with each other. He bets even if his head was sticking out of the backpack, they wouldn't notice a thing!
..Either way, after some more waiting, the class was over with, moving onto the next class of the day, with Sonic commenting on the first class:
"Well, the first one wasn't too bad. But why with all of the analysis stuff?"
"To teach critical thinking, break down texts into ideas. Though, I will admit it gets rather repetitive after doing it for years.."
"You had to what now?"
"Do it for years."
"No way!"
"Very least they change it up with the occasional essays and such. You could consider it the same thing though, with even more analyzing of ideas, and writing pages worth about them."
"Yeesh!" Sonic shakes his head. Sounds extremely not fun to do. And boring.
"Don't worry. The next classes won't be as repetitive, trust me. Actually, you might like this next one."
And like the next one, Sonic would like indeed, even love. The next class after English is P.E, otherwise just known as Physical Education. Walking into the gym, Sonic could tell how big it was based off how far away the ceiling looked.
Ivo walks into the male locker room, putting his backpack down next to a bench in the locker room, opening part of it, taking out a shirt of some kind. "I'll be back in a moment alright?"
"I'll be here!" Sonic winks.
Ivo walks away from his backpack, leaving Sonic to his own devices for the moment. First off, he opens up the hole just enough for his head to fit out, but not his spines. Poking his head out and looking around he spots people changing shirts. Didn't weird him out; no, he didn't even wear shirts or pants, only his gloves and shoes. Though, some staff tried to force him to wear them at the orphanage when he first came there, eventually giving up since he was too fast for them. Besides, he felt more free this way.
..Though worryingly, he spots the jerks from when he defended Ivo walking towards him, quickly moving his head back down into the backpack so they wouldn't see him. Not good. At ALL not good.
"-Hey Ivo Robuttnik! Still hanging out with that baby hedgehog?" The first chuckles at his own joke while the other two laugh.
"What are you, his older b-"
"That's enough." An unfamiliar voice hits Sonic's ears; unbeknownst to him, it was one of the coaches. "If I hear any more insults from you three, you'll be back to having lunch detention every week!"
The three jerks sigh, rolling their eyes as their fun is interrupted. "Alright everyone- Let's head to the field!" The unfamiliar voice strikes Sonic's ears again, hearing footsteps and a door opening, with kids pouring out of the locker room, some footsteps going towards the backpack: "-C'mon Ivo!"
"Coming." Ivo's voice replies, the footsteps heading away from the backpack, the door shuts. Silence engulfing the locker room besides the very quiet noise from what could be either the lights, or the still air.
The sound of investigation calling, Sonic thinks to himself as he opens up the backpack and gets out of it. Looking around the empty locker room, he sees cabinets, he assumes they're cabinets anyway, benches with other backpacks around, and in one corner he notices some metal pipes with some kind of enlargement at the end of them, and multiple tiny holes at the bottom like cheese graters. Along with some closed-off spaces, though, he can see toilets underneath the door. He didn't spend too much time looking at them, though, to say the least some of them look like they've been needing a janitor for the past few hours.
'Where did everyone go anyway?' He questions, walking over to a door in the back where he heard the footsteps leave. He reaches for the door handle, but he's too short to get ahold of it, even when he picks up his feet like wearing heels.
"C'mon..!"
He jumps, snatching the handle of the door and opening it. Beyond the door lay a field before him, separated into different sections: One was a track; another looked to be a tennis area, and another basketball, with a baseball area in the corner, near the track, the sun shining on the field.
"Woah.." He walks out of the door, not realizing the door slowly closed behind him, automatically locking.
"..Ivo definitely wasn't kidding.. This is running heaven!" He excitedly exclaims to himself, it's ten times bigger than the orphanage's courtyard at the very minimum! Tag, freeze tag, hide and seek would be so much more fun here.
He begins walking, turning into running to a sprint, forgetting about the students, the coaches who could've seen him, what matters to him is the wind brushing against his face, touching every quill as he goes from one side of the field to the other, around, around each corner, each base of the bliss, the freedom!
20 minutes he spent running around the large field, stopping back at the closed door, satisfied with the exercise. "Whew. I definitely need to sneak over here often now!" His ears perk with delight, every day or night he could sneak over, run around the field, then come back, do it over again the next!
He jumps to grab the handle again, trying to open the door. But it doesn't budge. "Huh?"
He tries again, but the door remains a wall among its brick-walled siblings. Now he's in a pickle, or a cucumber, if someone sees him before he can get back to the backpack, he'd probably get kicked out of the high school. And Ivo would probably get into trouble, too. But how was he supposed to get the door open?
'Ivo would probably know how to get it open! He's been going here for- what, years, according to what he said from the last class? But where IS he?'
Sonic shakes his head; he has to find Ivo to get out of this situation. The problem is finding him, though, the field is big enough to house a hundred or a thousand Ivo Robotniks! Despite the challenge, however, he'd take it, running off back to the large field to start searching, being careful, to make sure nobody would even notice his breathing.
vo had finished another lap of the track, hands on his knees, sweating as other teens on the track team passed him. "How's that?"
"Not a bad run, Ivo. In fact, I think you saved yourself a minute with the good pace!" The coach assures Ivo, giving him a thumbs up.
"Good for me." Or, rather, good for his sweat, he could probably do another lap after a bit of letting his energy come back to him. Wiping some sweat off his forehead, he notices a familiar blue, peeking from behind the stands and looking nervously at Ivo. 'Sonic? Didn't I tell him to.. Well, I did tell him he'd enjoy the next class, which is P.E. So, if he's here out on the field, then..'
He didn't need a verbal explanation of why or how Sonic is on the field, nor did he need much time to figure out what to do. "May I go get some water from the fountain in the locker rooms?"
"Sure thing" The coach had no problem with it, knowing Ivo's a good student, handing the locker room keys to him. "We'll be heading in soon anyways."
Ivo looks to Sonic, nodding his head as he starts walking back to the gymnasium, with Sonic speeding right over soon as he was far enough away.
"Should've known you would follow me out."
"Well I wouldn't turn down running in a big open field even if it meant getting caught! They can't stop what they can't catch, right?" Sonic crosses his arms pridefully.
"..The door locked you out didn't it."
"..Yep.." He admits. "..But I did manage to grab the handle though to open it in the first place! Just took a jump-and-grab."
"..Either way, I'm glad you enjoyed stretching your legs." Ivo smiles. "Though if this ever happens again, dont let the door close on you, or stay in the locker room."
"Noted!"
As they get to the door, Ivo opens it using the keys given to him by the coach, Sonic speeding inside and getting back inside the backpack. Well, not before taking a sip of water from the water fountain, he was thirsty from all the running after all. Ivo also drinking from the same fountain before opening the door, seeing his classmates and the other coach's classes heading over to head inside.
Soon enough, everyone was in the locker room, dressing back to their regular shirts, grabbing their backpacks, some putting their gym shirts into the gym lockers, others into their backpacks. Once Ivo finishes changing, he grabs his backpack, the bell ringing as he exits the locker room and the gymnasium.
The next two classes were Math and Spanish. To Sonic, he didn't really get them so well. He understood the premises of them: Math, being learning how to solve certain equations and problems. Spanish being a different language entirely to English. But the executions confused him. It sounded difficult to him to grasp the complex, high school math formulas, and Spanish just sounded like gibberish to him, a made-up language, secret code.
..But to Ivo, he could understand them. He took note of the important details, even writing down a few tips for himself to help him remember the Spanish counterparts of sentences or words, or even finding better ways to handle the formulas of Math that were more efficient, easier. Smart he was, and smart he will continue to be.
Afterwards came lunch, with Ivo heading to a secluded part of the campus to eat. Making sure to not get spotted by anyone of course, he wouldn't want people seeing a Mobian child who got into the school in the first place eating with him. And not just because of the idiots who don't realize the potential he has. The potential he will never live up to.
The secluded part of the campus was a nice, shaded area, trees above shielding from the loving, yet blazing sun with a few chairs around. It's a designated lunch area, though often nobody comes here, preferring to hang out with friends inside the cafeteria or just the outside portion, with benches littered about. But this portion was somewhere most, never came.
Ivo sits down, placing the backpack beside the chair. "You can come out now."
Sonic scrambles out of the backpack upon hearing the words, looking around the area. "Well, this is a nice change of scenery!"
"Indeed, it is." Ivo smiles, watching Sonic speed over to one of the chairs, opposite to the one Ivo's sitting on. "We're getting close to near the end of the day now, just three more classes to go."
He reaches for one of the pockets of his backpack, unzipping it to grab his lunch. Nothing terribly special, just some crackers and a homemade chilidog. A chili-dog insignificant to him, but to Sonic it is, as his stomach grumbles from not having food pretty much all day..
Ivo could even hear it from where he was sitting. Obviously, he wouldn't let his best friend starve. "Want to share? I can easily split it in half, to make it 50/50."
"Yes please!" He runs up to Ivo in the blink of an eye. "Yeesh- at least let me break it in half first!"
Ivo splits the chilidog in half, wasn't too hard to do. Might've not been the prettiest split in half, but good enough, with Sonic taking his half and dashing back off to the opposite chair. "Thanks Ivo!"
Taking a bite into the chilidog, Sonic's tastebuds are electrocuted with flavor: a mix of the sauce on the chilidog with cheese on top mixed with chili, fusing with the actual raw portions of the typical hot dog: sausage, and a bun to go with it. Ivo smiles at Sonic's expression as he watches the hedgehog dig into the food, as he digs into his own.
As the two are eating though, he does realize something. Didn't he call Sonic his 'best friend' earlier? It rolled off his mind's tongue so smoothly he never even noticed it. But it fits. After all, Sonic did say they would be the best of friends anyone's ever seen. So far, the quote's holding up rather well, and may live up to be itself as well. Hopefully, it will stay in that direction for the long times to come.
"This is the best food I've ever tasted..." He finishes the chili dog, eating up any bits which happened to get stuck on his fingers, instead of getting stuck inside his mouth to be digested.
Ivo, unlike Sonic, just cleans the remaining bits of chilidog using a napkin which was also in the lunch box. "I'm surprised you liked it so much."
"Well, I got to admit, the vertical-sandwich is definitely always welcome!"
"It's actually called a Chili-Dog, you know."
"The name makes it even better!"
The next class, once lunch was over, was Science, one of Ivo's most favorite subjects of all time, just behind his most favorite, which would be the class afterward, and the fourth favorite being the last of the day.
The science classroom wasn't too different from the other classrooms the two had been in, though it had a more appealing design: Science projects from the year before, or the many years before the last year, sitting on top of cabinets in the back of the classroom, though some were on the sides. A model of a skeleton, wearing a deep red fedora with a yellow lining, classy. There was even a stuffed orca whale plush sitting on the front table of the room (Teacher's desk, of course.), a realistic looking one.
Ivo happened to be one of the first kids there; a few others were also there; probably the rest were still getting there, or some were messing around in the bathrooms.
Sitting down at his table with an empty seat next to him, he places his backpack down next to the chair. The tables are solid, so nobody would see Sonic anyway unless he made a noise, or someone takes a close look. Though, he didn't plan on taking chances, the science teacher, a brown, Mobian Owl greeting him:
"Good afternoon, Ivo! How has your day been so far?" She asks, her voice bouncing with interest.
"It's been good, nothing much happening. Though I have been working on some interesting ideas. They're still in the 'thinking it over and through' phase, but getting there."
"Oh really? That's wonderful to hear! By the way, I have to say your effort in the last lab was rather creative, I nearly forgot about the possibility you found." She smiles.
Sonic pokes his head out a bit from the bag, listening in on the conversation. The owl, to him seems rather nice. Happy, interested in her students, giving them positive thoughts-
"Oh! By the way, who's your little friend here? His eyes seem to glint with their emerald coloring."
Quickly, his head shoots back down into the backpack, stupid him! Why did he have to eavesdrop out of curiousity?! Now he, Ivo, are going to be in a lot of trouble. Probably lose their friendship too, returning to being just acquaintances, the relation he has with most of the children he knows at the orphanage.
'Stupid, stupid.!'
"-I apologize, I can explain surely!" Of course, this plan wasn't going to work. Ivo facepalms in his mind. Nobody is perfect, neither is he, neither is Sonic. What are his parents going to think when they get a call about their son having snuck in his friend from the orphanage? Has he.. Has he jeopardized whatever chance Sonic had left to be..?
However, as the two were panicking with the other kids in the classroom seeing the situation, the owl instead seems rather amused, matter-of fact.
"No need to act as if you're jumping sharks here, boys." She approaches the backpack, crouching down. Surprising both Ivo and Sonic, both thinking they were done for.
"Hullo there, little hedge. May I see those lovely eyes of yours again?"
Sonic slowly sticks his head back out of the backpack, the teacher not getting any closer, wanting him to be comfortable. "Well, aren't you something? A sneaky little hedgehog as well. Your fur as well, I dont think I've seen a hedgehog with blue fur such like yours before."
"..Th-Thank you." He stutters, nervous. He's never truly seen another one of his own kind before, let alone a kind who didn't even look like him, only similar by body type. The compliments though, lessened the anxiety from the fear.
"You may call me Mrs. Rei. What shall I call you?" She reaches her hand out slowly to the blue hedgehog for a handshake.
He takes her hand in return for her gentleness. "I'm.. Sonic. Sonic the Hedgehog."
"Well, Sonic, I think your name certainly has the ring to it. Would you like to come out of your hiding spot and join us?"
"You don't mind?"
"Of course not! Afterall, why else would you take the effort to sneak in here? I must say, it's quite impressive how you two pulled a stunt like this off without a word getting out yet."
Ivo couldn't believe his eyes, or even the words processing in his ears. They weren't getting in trouble for this? 'His luck must be high enough to win the lottery at this rate!'
"Well dear, you may sit next to Ivo."
"Already planned it." -Once more he speeds out of the backpack, onto the chair sitting and waiting for class to start as Mrs. Rei heads back to the front of the room. Ivo still in shock from the moment.
"Don't get too jealous from my unfathomable luck, Ives." He smirks, looking at Ivo.
"I am n- wait, did you call me Ives?"
"Yep. Afterall, every best of friends has unfathomably cool nicknames for eachother, righttt?"
"Stop saying unfathomable!"
"Aw, but I learned it from the best."
Some of the students chuckle at the blue hedgehog's expressiveness, as the others eventually pour into the classroom, confused about the blue hedgehog being there, not having the context, being told to sit down anyways:
"Alright everyone, I hope you dont mind but for today, and perhaps future days we have a special guest here with us as you may see, Sonic the Hedgehog. Treat him as you would treat your fellow classmates!"
Some students weren't quite keen on treating the hedgehog well, though, others seemed to like him, along with being curious about him too:
"-Sonic?" A girl behind the two friends speaks up.
"Huh?" He spins around to the girl.
"Are your quils a natural color? I only know hedgehogs with dark grey and black quils- with white tips."
"Hm, good question." He puts both his hands on his head, ruffling his quills, before turning back to the girl. "As natural as they can get!"
The class continued with Ivo paying great attention to detail of the new topic being taught, still writing down notes. While Sonic simply listens, inquiring on the seemingly complex subject for it to be broken down for him, since, well, they were too complex for him at his age. However, Mrs. Rei was happy to do so for the little hedgehog, happy to see him interested, eager to learn.
And once the class was over, the students slowly left, slowly because of waving goodbye and good day to Sonic, Sonic waving back, of course. The attention to him, along with the kindness of the teacher, felt great! He never got this much attention from the other kids, at least once hide and seek, and all the other games he wanted to play with them got boring to them..
Sonic stuffs himself right back into Ivo's backpack, as Ivo waves farewell to Mrs. Rei. "You two have a good day!"
After science was Ivo's favorite class of all-time: Robotics. Ivo had a great passion for robotics ever since he saw anything with them in it, useful for both automations, but also improving the lives of others. During class he always wrote down both notes on one paper, ideas on another paper, sketching out rough concepts, listing how they would work and what parts they'd use.
He showed Sonic quite a few during the class: One was called a "Pawn", designed to be relatively weak but easily produced, making up for their weakness in numbers, their uses ranging from helping out in the home to assisting in security and labor. Another was called a "Spinner", having the appearance of a bat with two blades attached, as the name says, they spin to produce force to fly, serving as surveillance drones, and a concept design for them to be much bulkier to transport materials through the air.
There were many more than just the two, but each of them was as detailed as the last, perhaps even more. Sonic knew Ivo had potential, but now he really could see it. Now if only those jerks could see it like he can!
..Leading up to the final class: History. And the lesson, would be much more interesting than any of the others.
As the students pour into the classroom, heading to their desks, some sleep; some prepare paper to take notes; others wait quietly for directions. Ivo is one of the paper-preparers. Sonic unzips the backpack, slightly, curious as to what History would teach.
"-Alright class, today we will be moving onto the history of Mobius. As you know this is a relatively new topic we're required to teach for this year and future years. Today, we'll be learning about the leaders of each of the three tribes of Mobius, and a little bit about the cultural aspects of each, we'll dive into their cultures more thoroughly next week."
'Tribes of Mobius?' Sonic's ears perk. Now this is interesting..
"As you know, Mobius is a continent inhabited by mostly Mobians, however there are also some human settlements there. Mobians are separated by three main tribes, each of which represent a different species."
"The first tribe is the Windcaller Tribe. They consist of mostly avian Mobians such as seagulls or crows, and also contain flying insects like Butterflies or Bees. Their leader is Esscenir, a Phoenix Mobian and the only one of his kind. He's known to be respectful to those inside and outside of the Windcallers, having established trade routes between the other two tribes, along with the other continents of North America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa, and Australia."
So, Mrs. Rei is a Windcaller.. Does this mean Mobius is where he came from? He was never really told what continent he came from.. Nobody said anything to him about it. It has to be where he came from!
"Culturally, they are merchants along with transporters. They build unique airships like those from, say Steampunk stories. These airships are also built for self-sustainment for Windcallers to live on them whilst they soar the large skies. Their main homeland, however, are several floating islands high above the continent. These floating islands circle the continent making it difficult to travel to pinpoint its proper location. As I said before, we'll dive more into the cultures of the tribes next week."
'Floating islands?!' Sonic's even more eager to see Mobius. What was it like to live up in the clouds so high up in the air? Maybe he could see the whole earth from up there!
Ivo looks to Sonic, seeing his face poking out, intrigued by the lesson. 'Maybe this wasn't a bad idea.' He thinks to himself, smiling a little as he returns to writing down his notes.
"The second tribe is the Aquatic Tribe. consisting of sea creatures such as orca whales, sharks, manta rays, etcetera. Their leader is Kepeta, a Kappa Mobian known for her extroverted nature. She treats those around her as equals despite her position, some say she treats them as her own family."
'Treating those unrelated to you as family isn't uncommon. Especially when adoption exists. But with so many people?' Ivo wonders. Must sound like a good social life, unlike he who is an introverted mess of a teenager. Even with his ideas, the world around him ignores him. All except his parents.
"As for the culture of Aquatic Mobians, they do not use most modern technologies, like electronics or modern-processed medicines, distrusting them. Along with the distrust of modern medicines, they keep out most fishing boats sailing to Mobius, due to the suffering of the unique marine life around the continent's coast and deeper ocean areas. They have many of their own holidays, but do not celebrate most human holidays like Christmas or Halloween."
'Christmas and Halloween.' Sonic notes. He knows of the two holidays, well; he mainly knows the most popular ones. Though he hasn't experienced them properly himself due to the rules at the orphanage. Sure, they got Christmas presents, but they were mostly donated. The one he got was a small, brown backpack fit for his size; a useful one, but rather basic. He's never really used it, but he keeps it anyways, nicely tucked under his bed. At very least, it is in excellent condition.
"Lastly, are the Terrestrial Mobians, consisting of mammals such as Elephants, Wolves, Squirrels, along with non-flying insects like Centipedes. Surprisingly, unlike the other two leaders who are rather rare in species, the current leader of the Terrestrial Mobians is Quelther, a wise Bobcat with a unique outlook on life along with the rest of his people."
Ivo raises his hand in curiosity.
"Yes Ivo?"
"I have to say I'm curious. You said Quelther is the current leader of the Terrestrial Mobians, so it must mean there was a previous, right?"
Sonic pokes his head out of Ivo's backpack a little; he too is curious about the previous leader of the Terrestrial Mobians.
"A great question Ivo, One I was going to explain just now. You see, before Quelther lead the Terrestrials, there was a previous leader, though nobody is quite sure of who they are, as if they were only a mirage in a desert for comparison. All that's known is, the leader unfortunately perished during a war between all three of the tribes, which we will cover after we cover more about the cultures of each of the tribes."
The duo didn't particularly pay attention to the short rundown of the culture of the Terrestrial Mobians, the two even more curious than before about the previous leader. Disappearing like a mirage.
Ivo knows it has happened throughout history before. He doesn't know all of them, of course; they aren't in his field of interest. Killers have disappeared without a trace, royalty as well. There's a lot of people who go missing, end up never being found.
On the other hand, Sonic didn't even know how someone could disappear off the face of the earth just like that! And with nobody knowing who the leader originally was..? He couldn't help but want to solve such a mystery himself if he knew where to look. Or knew who to ask.
But unfortunately, finding someone who disappeared with little to no traces can be either a near-impossible task, or completely cold. Besides, the leader was said to have perished during a war. Even if Sonic didn't know what the word meant, and Ivo did. They both know what perishing means.
As the school bell rings throughout the school, Ivo had finished putting away the books he didn't need at home into his locker. Meanwhile, Sonic was waiting outside for him, kicking his legs into the air, one up, one down, the two feet of his switching positions repeatedly. Like one of those physics desk decorations, he's seen on the reception desk at the Orphanage. It was made of, he believes, 5 small balls; one going up, then coming back down as the last one suddenly went up afterward, repeatedly, too.
Finally, Ivo walks out of the school gates. Sonic, smirking, dashing happily over to him. "Took ya long enough, Ives!"
"Not everyone is as fast as you."
"And not everyone is as smart as you either!" He smiles brightly, the two chuckling while walking back towards the Orphanage. Back on the route to Ivo's own home, but for the moment he couldn't care any more about school or the day's events.
Right now, he cares about the young, childish yet upbeat friend beside him. Maybe not the same age as him, but it didn't stop them from being closely tied together by chains, in a good way. His smile, his laughter, it's a source of motivation and happiness he hasn't had with other people or his hobbies before, at least, not up to this level.
"C'mon- I bet we can sneak me in a second time!"
"Hm.. I'll think about it."
"Alright! and the next time I'll run around the whole field more times than twenty, or thirty, or whatever the biggest number is! Annnd maybe teach me what secret codes the one teacher was talking in.."
"Spanish?"
"I didn't even know half of what she said!"
"Welcome to other languages, then." He smirks. "You would hate trying to learn Japanese or Chinese. Their language is written in symbols, hundreds of them!"
"..Leave me out of those!"
The two continuing to chatter about the day, even the most uninteresting of topics could be made interesting by the blue hedgehog. Though they have spent all this time together, along the road would be something to see if they could not just spend time together..
..But innovate together as well.